Staff Reports
Ben Shapiro dropped a new video this week and, true to form, he didn’t come to make friends. In “Why Bruce Springsteen (and All Liberals) Are Total Frauds,” Shapiro uses Bruce Springsteen as the poster child for what he calls liberal hypocrisy — celebrities and politicians who rage about “corporations” while backing policies that, he argues, often make health-care costs worse. If you want a shortcut to the debate on healthcare costs, this clip will get you there fast.
Shapiro’s Point: Call Out the Cost Blamers
Shapiro’s argument is simple: liberals, and liberal celebrities, love to point fingers at “big corporations” when health bills climb. He calls out Governor Gavin Newsom and Senator Chris Murphy by name for blaming private actors like insurers and pharmacy benefit managers. Shapiro says the left ignores how taxes, regulation, and government payment rules can push costs higher. It’s a spicy claim, and for those who like neat villains, it lands. The message is clear — pick your target, but don’t pretend government action never adds to the problem.
Reality Check: Multiple Things Drive Health-Care Costs
That said, Shapiro oversimplifies if he says the government is the only problem. Independent reporting and health‑policy analysts point to many culprits: hospitals, drug prices, insurers, PBMs, private equity buying up providers, and market consolidation. Politico and federal data have shown hospitals account for a large chunk of recent spending growth. So yes, government rules matter, but so do market power and business practices. The truth is messy — and politicians on both sides love to ignore that mess when it serves their headlines.
Bruce Springsteen and the Politics of Perfume and Preaching
Then there’s Springsteen. The man who wrote about working-class life has, in recent interviews and on tour, criticized President Trump and even the Democratic Party’s messaging — telling Time “We’re desperately in need of an effective alternative party.” Shapiro seizes on the contrast: a wealthy rock star preaching populism while mixing praise and complaints about Democrats. Call it moral posturing with better tour buses. Pointing that out isn’t cruelty; it’s accountability. If Springsteen wants to scold corporations, he should also ask which policies actually bring down costs and whether his political choices helped or hurt those goals.
Fixes, Not Sermons — A Conservative Prescription
If conservatives want to win this argument, we need solutions, not just style points. Push for price transparency, undo anti‑competitive mergers, limit private‑equity abuse in health care, and reform liability rules that drive up defensive medicine. Celebrate state moves that try to cap runaway costs, but also admit when regulation backfires. Call out celebrity hypocrisy when it happens, and beat the left at the policy game by offering real, workable ways to lower health‑care costs. That way, the next time a rock star takes the stage to lecture, we can point to facts — and better results — not just louder microphones.
