The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is running a Web-based campaign: "Fill this out to get a FREE Sticker!"
The Web page makes it look like if you give them your name and address and email, you get a free "I [heart] ObamaCare" bumper sticker.
I filled out the form, not because I [heart] ObamaCare but because I thought the sticker would make a nice addition to the Ron Paul for President and Romney for President bumper stickers decorating the bookshelves here at FutureOfCapitalism world headquarters, and because sometime I can find things to write about in the political mail generated by filling out such forms.
Here's the catch: Filling out the form for a "free" sticker generates a "continue" page that slots the free-sticker recipient in for a $25 contribution to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. That page, in turn, has a "finish" button that makes it look like the donation is step two of the "free" sticker application process.
I laughed when I saw this because it is symbolic of ObamaCare overall. Just like the supposedly "free" ObamaCare sticker actually comes with a hefty price tag, so too the "free" health care that people are going to get under ObamaCare actually isn't free at all, but is going to be paid for by a huge tax increase and by borrowing from the Chinese and from future generations. It's a trick.
If a bank, mortgage-lender, or credit-card company tried this kind of bait-and-switch marketing stunt, the Democrats in Congress would have the Elizabeth Warren types over at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rushing in there to shut the thing down. It's just amazing.
