I’m just wondering. We constantly hear Democrats, starting with Obama, insist that Americans should have the same health care options as members of Congress and the federal government. I seem to recall John Edwards demogoging this point relentlessly. Well, why not turn it around? Why shouldn’t Democrats in Congress and the White House pledge to drop their current health insurance and agree to use whatever public plan they come up with? It will save taxpayers’ money and satisfy all sorts of progressive nostrums about equality and whatnot. At minimum, this seems like a good question to ask Obamacare supporters at these town halls. Of course, if Congress did sign up for the public plan, the public plan would inexorably become gold-plated — or two-tier — right?

Update: Tom Coburn, natch, beat me to the punch:

A Taste of Their Own Medicine. (Coburn Amendment #226) For many liberals in Congress, a new public health-insurance plan, to compete against private health insurance, is an absolute “must” for health-care reform. Virtually all independent analysts estimate that, given the special advantages of taxpayer subsidies and regulation, that the competition would be rigged, and millions of Americans with private health insurance today would be dumped by their employers into the new public plan. Sen. Tom Coburn proposed an amendment that would require all members of Congress and their staffs to enroll in the newly-created public health-insurance plan. This means that they would be required to give up their private insurance coverage (nationwide there are 283 plans competing for federal employees’ dollars), which is today provided through the popular and successful Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). With many members of Congress openly willing to create incentives that would drive Americans out of their existing private coverage, Senator Coburn put his colleagues to a test. Although ten Senate Democrats voted against it, the Coburn amendment passed by one vote. Taxpayers should watch very closely whether this amendment is preserved or buried.