Socialists? No, we're not socialists -- well, except for health care

Beware of a politician who has a long, detailed, plan for how an important area of human life should be run by the government. A politician, for instance, like Sen. Max Baucus:

Baucus, the Senate Finance Committee chairman, called on Congress to create health reform legislation that would achieve “coverage for every American while also addressing the underlying problems in our health system” in a detailed, 87-page plan that was made public yesterday.

Baucus’ plan, which he said is not intended to be a legislative proposal, is very similar to the plan Obama outlined on the campaign trail, the notable exception being that Baucus would eventually mandate coverage for adults as well as children.

Baucus concedes that, "In the short term, health care reform would cost taxpayers more than the government can achieve in savings from all reforms and financing changes..." Making that concession before the plan has even been debated, let alone implemented, is a clear assurance that a real-world version of his universal health care system would be outrageously fucking expensive by an order of magnitude greater than predictions, sort of like Medicare.

Baucus's proposal is actually 89 pages long. The full text can be found here (PDF).

Question: Why does the word "reform" out of a politician's mouth always preface a scheme for putting bureaucrats in charge of our lives?