If you've been paying attention to the healthcare debate, a lot of Democrats have been pitching the public option, although currently off the table, as a means of bringing "competition" to the private insurers. This is a brilliant vocabulary tactic that they were surely trained to use. Of course, this only works if you're dealing with idiots. A subsidized federal option with the power to impose mandated regulations is not competition. It is a prelude to a monopoly - much like bringing a shotgun to a knife fight. But in terms of vocabulary, it's smart. It'll get fiscal conservatives to think twice about why they're booing, and get supporters to not think about the negative economics of progressive healthcare policies at all.