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This week, Hillary Clinton's supporters attacked Barack Obama for not proposing a federal mandate that every American buy health insurance.

The rationale for this mandate is not personal responsibility but "shared responsibility," a polite way of saying shared costs.

These arguments are based on myths, not facts.

The first myth is that it's fair to make everyone pay the same price for health insurance. It is not: For young people who rarely use health services, this is a rip-off. If people in their 20s paid attention to politics and voted, politicians wouldn't dare try this.

The second myth behind federal mandate proposals is this: Lack of insurance forces people into the emergency room for routine health care.

The truth is that the uninsured do not use emergency rooms more than other people.

The third myth, in the words of Mr. Edwards, is that a "system that leaves 47 million Americans without health care is a moral disgrace."

a major cause is immigration