Posted on 03/17/2009 2:49:37 PM PDT by JRochelle
Cesar, if Mitt Romney is the political answer for conservatives, the question must be, "How might the conservative movement commit intellectual suicide in the quickest manner possible?" His ideas about health care are virtually indistinguishable from those offered by President Obama, save for the fact that Romney is more disingenuous than Obama regarding the reforms he has in mind. Regarding the auto industry, he is indecipherable, having taken both pro-bailout and anti-bailout positions (the former as a candidate, the latter as an ex-candidate in the New York Times, and yes, it's just another of the usual set of politically opportunistic Romney flip-flops). His alleged fiscal discipline was on vacation during his governorship in Massachusetts. And he is fond of making the case for protectionism and, as your post pointed out, tighter business regulation, asset valuation divorced from market realities, and industrial policy for any troubled sector with political support.
To be fair, one can't necessarily say that what Romney believed yesterday represents what he believes today, or that what he believes today represents what he will believe tomorrow (witness his incredibly well-timed flip-flops on abortion, gay rights, gun control, and a whole host of social issues). Yet the fact that this unprincipled political chameleon is being offered as "the last, best hope for conservatism" (to steal a phrase) speaks volumes about the intellectual and political wreckage on the Right at the moment.
The catfights between Huck and Mitt are so yesteryear now that we have Sarah Palin.
LOL!!!
romney isn’t a fiscal conservative. He is a keynesian corporatist.
We need to make sure Mitt the RINO doesn’t win anything in the republican party, that includes the Huckster.
Romney is a big waste of time. To those who think he’d been better than McCain, look at both of their records. Whatever his other severe faults, McCain has always been fiscally conservative, good on national defense and anti-abortion. Romneycare is not conservative in any sense of the word.
I would be happy as a clam to see a candidate who actually cared about America and didn’t see the economy as the only thing that matters.
Mitt be there done that, move on.
Personally, I don't care about Romney one way or the other. But, I can certainly see the writing on the wall about health care in America and what impact it will have on the 2012 election.
Whatever number of Americans you believe are without health care coverage today (numbers anywhere from 12 to 40 million), the number will be much larger by election time in 2012. If the GOP doesn't have a reasonable counter proposal other than just "No to socialized medicine" by the fall of 2012, we will certainly loose another Presidential election.
History is clearly on the side of the DEMS. When there's massive unemployment and economic uncertainty, Americans want to be taken care of - right or wrong - that's the reality. One needs look any further than Roosevelt's sweeping social reforms to see what will happen if this economy continues to erode.
Whomever the nominee is, he/she is going to have to have some market-based solutions to health care that can be understood and supported by 50.1% of the country, or we're looking at another four years of Obama.
*ping*
I like Palin, but I LOVE Mark Sanford!
He is the one we have been waiting for. :)
Well said.
He who cannot say “Mitt Romney” is here.
You could at least be honest and add a disclaimer that this article is about UK (that would be British) health care.
Why is Kennedy grimacing in that picture?
Actually, I feel sad for Mitt. He tries way too hard, and doesn’t ‘get it.
Nice guy, lost.
we just don’t have any money for all of this. Remember that all the baby boomers will retire very soon. They won’t be able to work anymore but they will get all this money from the govt.
Looks like Jerry Taylor is reading this forum.
Hey Jerry, its unprincipled, two-faced political chameleon.
I very much doubt that Americans are going to accept, let along clamor for, greatly expanded entitlements. We can't afford the entitlements we have now, and that will soon be widely understood. The brute force of bankruptcy is going to make us reduce the government's social welfare commitments. Obama’s health care proposals are DOA, as are any Republican proposals that would cost the treasury a dime.
The Republicans’ best move right now is to denounce the unfolding mess and blame it on Obama. It would be nobler to propose alternative policies, but it would also present a target to the enemy. If things go poorly (a percentage shot) the Dems will suffer badly in the next two election cycles. If the economy recovers Obama will be reelected and the Dems will be in power for decades.
All Republicans can do now is position themselves to exploit Obama’s failure. They just have to relentlessly criticize Obama and hope that circumstances bring most Americans to agree with their criticism. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it.
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