General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: This, my friends, is far too typical for my generation. [View all]truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)--remember the wage and price controls?--although I think he did do some serious damage regarding health care (I have a vague recollection of him and Haldeman? deciding to allow profit-taking? I can't remember).
Edited to add: Here it is. It wasn't Haldeman, it was Ehrlichman: http://whitehousetapes.net/clip/richard-nixon-john-ehrlichman-all-incentives-are-toward-less-medical-care
All the Incentives are Toward Less Medical Care
In this conversation excerpt, domestic policy advisor John Ehrlichman? briefed President Nixon on what he viewed as the advantages of relying on Health Maintenance Organizations as a key component of the U.S. health care system, using Edgar Kaiser's Permanente as an example. True HMOs at the time had been devised by health care reformers who hoped to control costs, improve patient care, and facilitate coverage for the uninsured. For Ehrichman, however, the HMO idea represented an opportunity to develop a private sector-based, profit-driven alternative to a national health care proposal offered by Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy (D-MA).
But I definitely remember Carter starting the ball rolling on deregulation. After the oil shocks of the seventies and "stagflation" he and others no doubt felt new ideas were called for....I am not as fond of Carter as many are here.