One thing that might prevent universal, government-run health insurance from coming to America is the price.

Back in April, the Connecticut State Legislature dropped plans to implement a single-payer system when the state Office of Fiscal Analysis estimated that the cost would be $12 billion to $18 billion a year. $18 billion was about the amount Connecticut spent on its entire state budget. (For a look at what it would cost to do single-payer nationwide based on Connecticut numbers, go here.) Even as liberal as Connecticut is, politicians there wouldn’t dare saddle voters with a doubling of the tax burden.

And if they aren’t going to do it in Connecticut, what are the chances they are going to do it in Wisconsin? From the WSJ:

Democrats who run the Wisconsin Senate have dropped the Washington pretense of incremental health-care reform and moved directly to passing a plan to insure every resident under the age of 65 in the state. And, wow, is “free” health care expensive. The plan would cost an estimated $15.2 billion, or $3 billion more than the state currently collects in all income, sales and corporate income taxes. It represents an average of $510 a month in higher taxes for every Wisconsin worker….

The last line of defense against this plan are the Republicans who run the Wisconsin House. So far they’ve been unified and they recently voted the Senate plan down. Democrats are now planning to take their ideas to the voters in legislative races next year, and that’s a debate Wisconsinites should look forward to. At least Wisconsin Democrats are admitting how much it will cost Americans to pay for government-run health care. Would that Washington Democrats were as forthright.

If Wisconsin Democrats really want to run on a platform of a doubling of the state tax burden, then they are insane.