Sophomoric Logic

Arguing with Steven Pearlstein - Part 2

His next point disputes the conservative justices blaming government for the problem.  Pearlstein's version of the conservative argument: "There is a free-rider problem wherein people don't have to purchase insurance, then when they get sick they go to the emergency room which is legally obligated to provide service regardless of their ability to pay.  Therefore it's the government's fault. If they removed that obligation, then there would be no free-rider problem."

Pearlstein then says this is "sophomoric" reasoning.  Admittedly, I believe this to be a cogent argument, and I'm unsure why Pearlstein calls it sophomoric.  It may not be popular, but it is what leads to the free-rider problem.  Of course, maybe his point is that we as a society would not be willing to deny service so there's an unavoidable free-rider problem.  Regardless, I think it's sophomoric to ridicule an argument or the people who make it.