Whipping up the passions of the lunatic fringe as a political strategy always bites you in the end. The GOP could go the way of the Whigs if the Palin-Beck-Bachmann crazy town wing of the party holds sway through 2012.
The real beauty which Frum nails is that as the public enjoys medical insurance free of life time caps, being thrown off of insurance when they need to use it the public should be taxed with remembering that not one Republican voted for it. This is the beginning of the end for the Reagan-Bush anti-government revolution.
This article was spot on. For this reason, I've been increasingly distancing myself from the Republican party. I have a few beefs with the new bill, but overall I don't know what more (or less) could have been done, particularly without bipartisan cooperation.
the weird thing about how this has played out is that the democrats have seemed to split themselves into two legitmately sane parties with two legitimate differing philosophies of government involvement. the republicans have really acted as some extreme fringe party. they have not conceded they lost the 08 elections. and even when their ideas are incorporated in the bill they are still obstructionists. and they really think this will play well in Nov. they will make gains in Nov, but when the real election hits in 12 and the obama machine brings out the enthusiasm, they will be crushed.
Frum is a Canadian, and if he remembers anything about Canadian history then he knows the bill will never be repealed. It would be better if the bill took effect immediately and started having a direct impact on people’s lives, however. Those who support this can’t go to sleep on it.
Lunatic Republicans Double Down on Obstruction -- Republicans Scoff At Frum's Thesis, Demand More Obama Opposition
Judd Gregg vows to ratchet up the hatred and rhetoric above last summer's tea party meltdowns: http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...lth-care-bill-to-stir-town-hall-backlash.html Good move Judd. Hopefully you don't get anybody killed.
I thought about this a bit more and I am somewhat confused at Frum's position that republicans "refused" to negotiate. It seems to me like they made a lot of demands, and many of them were met or included. They didn't refuse to negotiate - they refused to support.
I think at times they did. Once the bill was out there and they had the meeting at Blair house, there was a time to come forward with serious proposals. Instead they demanded the whole bill be scrapped. They could have shown on television the ideas they had, and differences they had with Democrats' ideas. Yes, at other times they offered plenty of amendments, which is a slightly different thing than negotiating, but they were at least involved.
That's fair. You're right, it's not the same thing. And when presented with the opportunity to actually contribute, they refused.
And yet we have people around here saying that Obama's offer of compromise was a lie, false, disingenuous, etc. How the hell can you know since you wouldn't even try? I haven't seen people revise history so quickly, or so radically, in my entire life. Pubbies are in trubble....
This is why the radical conservatives do more damage than good. Had the Republicans played ball and tried to actually pass Health Care Reform, we'd have ended up with a bill that would do a lot more to control costs AND cover everyone. Conservatives are the ones who could have done more with the cost control side - but that was lost because instead of negotiating they decided to try to ruin Obama's presidency. It just doesn't hurt Republicans, it hurts the country.
That's about right. And it all comes down to: Ratings. Sadly there are a lot of people who want it their way or the highway, and when talk show hosts are spouting stuff similar to that, they buy in. It's possible to work for the greater good while still granting the individual freedoms that the republicans are crying over. Too bad they are too busy whining about the perceived loss of freedoms than thinking about how to make the country a better place for more than just themselves. Bleh, I'm turning into a Moderate.
