Posted on 09/28/2010 9:54:26 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Matt Yglesias explains his recent shift toward liberaltarianism:
It was suggested to me by a number of parties this week that I should give some explicit account of why the blog has turned in what you might call a more “neoliberal” (though I don’t really like the term) direction of late. There’s a couple of reasons. One is simply product differentiation—I don’t think just writing the same posts as Kevin Drum and Ezra Klein and Jon Chait is what the world needs from me, but we obviously all have similar political opinions. The other is the point I’ve made before, namely that with the passage of the Affordable Care Act the long struggle to expand the scope of the welfare state is largely over.
Last spring Jonah Goldberg observed that if the Democrats passed health care reform:
1) They would suffer negative consequences in the fall elections and in the short term Republicans would benefit.
2) In the long term the Democrats would have won policy-wise because they would set the tone of the discussion from that point on, as the question would the nature of the new expansion to the welfare state, not its existence.
Let’s grant that the Republican victories have some relationship to Democratic policy overreach. If you could eliminate many of the policy changes enacted in the first two years of Barack Obama’s presidency, at the cost of indefinite Democratic control of Congress, would you? If you are a person of the Right I assume you’d accede to this. After all, in theory the ends of a political ideology are to shape the nature of the political economy, not win elections, which are just means.
But the fixation on polls, calculations of the margin of Republican victory, as well as the Democratic panic and ennui, seem to neglect these facts. After the likely losses in the fall the pundits will talk about what Obama needs to do to win back the nation, etc. But the fact is that he’s already changed the nation, by shifting health care policy in a direction broadly consonant with liberal Democratic values. That’s really what matters, and what will echo down through the generations. The Democratic victories of 2006 will be forgotten very soon, and to some extent those of 2008 will be too. But the policies enacted by the Congress of 2008 will impact us in our day to day lives for generations. They already are.
I don’t begrudge the Republicans their exultation after their likely victory in November. But this isn’t professional sports, it’s more than just a game, and it’s even more than just an avenue for professional advancement and self-glorification. Winning isn’t everything; it’s just a vanity which appeals to our baser animal instincts.
He’s probably accurate. Still, it’s not quite over yet.
But we all knew that the Dems were willing to get creamed this year in exchange for taking over health care and our (remaining) freedoms away.
Unless ObamaCare is killed, November’s gains are a joke, no matter how massive they are. As soon as it gets bad enough, the Dems will campaign with “we can run it right, the Republicans can’t, that’s why things are so bad”. And 55-60% of the population will go for it and asked to be saved by the very people that are drowning them.
I am very sorry, but I believe nothing short of significant (probably violent) civil disobedience will slow this fascist juggernaut. And for all the tough talk here, I don’t see sufficient numbers of people willing to do that.
Most people will conclude that it is better to take the crumbs we will be given than to risk losing our property and lives in a quixotic quest for freedom. Too bad, but that’s the way I see most Americans.
According to the VA AG, he and his staff could not find a severability clause in the Obamacare law. If what I have read here on FR is true, that means that if ANY portion of the law is ruled unconstitutional, then the entire bill would ultimately be ruled unconstitutional.
Secession should be peaceful. One or more states should just start ignoring the federal government. I think the feds will push for invasion and war (like they did last time) and I think there will be fighting.
But it's a continued long slow march to slavery otherwise.
Not to say too much, but my real preference is for individual citizens to meet up with individual politicians and seek redress. "Congressman, I have a Henry Bowman waiting to see you." "Oh. Send him in, Marge."
That is correct.
it is what it is....
I have no doubt that we'll face more and more govt intrusion in our lives...including health care....but the govt is already heavily in healthcare people just don't realize it...
there isn't one thing done in a hospital that the govt does not dictate and that goes for in the clinics and drs offices as well...
"guideline".."protocols"...."pharmacy trials"....etc....
what I want:...tort reform...stop the illegals....cut debt.....constitutional judges from the top to bottom.....
it is what it is....
I have no doubt that we'll face more and more govt intrusion in our lives...including health care....but the govt is already heavily in healthcare people just don't realize it...
there isn't one thing done in a hospital that the govt does not dictate and that goes for in the clinics and drs offices as well...
"guideline".."protocols"...."pharmacy trials"....etc....
what I want:...tort reform...stop the illegals....cut debt.....constitutional judges from the top to bottom.....
Well heck, may as well give up.
If the Tea Party anger is still stoked in 2012, I think it will be possible to repeal Obamacare.
-PJ
I disagree and here is why.
Obamacare CANNOT WORK. It’s is a flawed and destructive system. The GOP will be stuck with having to fix a broken system, and here’s the deal -they will HAVE TO REFORM IT AWAY FROM mandate-driven health insurance or the system will stay broken.
- eliminate ALL health insurance mandates
- provide govt subsidies for catastrophic healthcare for those with pre-existing conditions
- create a level-playing field for self-insured and for health savings accounts, with “Universial Savings Accounts”
- post all healthcare prices
oh ... and repeal obamacare and federal exchanges and all the rest.
This will fix the system.
keeping even a scrap of obamacare will keep it broken.
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