The most important thing to understand about the Democrats' domestic agenda is that they care more about establishing government control over our lives than they do about the stated policy goals of their proposals. The subject of personal liberty — the very impetus for the founding of this nation — is rarely mentioned in the public debate.

Health care is this week's crisis. Here, it's imperative we recognize that they're more interested in imposing their values on abortion, end-stage medical care and economic equality than in the quality of health care.

CNSNews.com reports that congressional Democrats want abortion to be included as a health benefit in both government and private insurance plans — using taxpayer money to fund abortion on demand. This exposes the lie that they want to reduce the number of abortions.

The plan would also inevitably result in government rationing of care, and the liberals driving the plan, such as Tom Daschle (in his 2008 book, "Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis"), have made clear their opinion that the elderly are the most expendable. The plan would result in government bureaucrats, rather than your doctor, having the final say over your care options.

Then there's the wealth-redistribution mentality forever driving President Obama — his obsession with leveling the economic playing field that underlies all of his major policy initiatives.

This obsession explains why he supports capital gains tax increases even though they would hurt everyone, his endless appetite for soaking the rich with increasingly confiscatory taxes and his single-minded determination to bankrupt this nation through nogrowth deficit spending. It explains why he is willing to destroy our health care system in the name of requiring everyone — whether they want it or not — to have health insurance.

This point was brought home to me when I was listening to an audio clip of Sen. Tom Coburn, a physician, wherein he states that if America had established a government-run health care system like Canada's or Britain's 10 years ago, we'd have 1 million fewer Americans alive today. Coburn bases this on our increased life expectancy. "Our survival rates on cancer, malignancies and coronary artery disease," he said, "are so far better because we have available technology and acute intervention, as well as prevention, that those countries don't have."

Obama says he wants to increase competition and choice, improve the quality of health care, reduce costs and achieve universal coverage. But his plan would reduce competition, with mandatory government controls and mandates that would require uniformity of coverage. It would dramatically increase overall costs by artificially increasing demand. It would destroy the quality of health care and force out private insurers, through stacking the deck in favor of the euphemistically labeled "public option."

On top of all this is the bureaucratic nightmare that awaits us if we adopt this plan. And for what? Reduced health care quality, choice, costs and availability — in exchange for economy-destroying tax increases.

Now is the time for all good Blue Dog Democrats to come to the aid of their country.

David Limbaugh is a writer, author and attorney. His commentary is distributed by Creators Syndicate.