Someday we’ll have to have a Glenn Beck open thread because while I am afraid his head is going to explode or — more likely — some Lefty whack job is going to kill him — the stuff he says makes more and more sense. The conventional wisdom on health care, stimulus, cap and trade, etc. is one of two: gotta do these RIGHT NOW! or these people are idiots.
Very few people are actually stupid — and even if they are stupid — they are still acting rationally (which is not the same as logically). Most of the country knows these programs are bad ab initio or at the very least when we are teetering at the edge of financial abyss it’s reckless to spend trillions on unproven and unread bills. So what’s up then? Our political class is corrupt not stupid. Obviously someone somewhere wants this bill — health care — to pass despite the politics. This has transcended any political calculation to the point of ideology. It’s like religion. 99.9% of the world can think Christianity is a waste of time — fine — more room in Heaven for me (God willing of course).
So here’s Senator Mary Landrieu — Democrat from Louisiana. She’s been playing coy with the Harry Reid version of health care and now we get word of this — from ABC News:
ABC News’ Jonathan Karl reports:
What does it take to get a wavering senator to vote for health care reform?
Here’s a case study.
On page 432 of the Reid bill, there is a section increasing federal Medicaid subsidies for “certain states recovering from a major disaster.”
The section spends two pages defining which “states” would qualify, saying, among other things, that it would be states that “during the preceding 7 fiscal years” have been declared a “major disaster area.”
I am told the section applies to exactly one state: Louisiana, the home of moderate Democrat Mary Landrieu, who has been playing hard to get on the health care bill.
In other words, the bill spends two pages describing would could be written with a single world: Louisiana. (This may also help explain why the bill is long.)
Senator Harry Reid, who drafted the bill, cannot pass it without the support of Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu.
How much does it cost? According to the Congressional Budget Office: $100 million.
Is Landrieu just a foolish dupe whoring her vote for money? Perhaps, but not all 60 Senators are that way — there aren’t enough Queen of Diamond cards to trigger that kind of automatism. Foolish, corrupt, yes, but there must be more — not a complicated “more”, but more than just foolishness. Maybe not — maybe they are just that Foolish. The whole thing has me at sixes and sevens.
To paraphrase the documentary title… not stupid — just corrupt. I get the folly, but what is the end game here? To what end are Democrats so focused on wrecking the economy? Losing the war? Denigrating our legal system? They are acting rationally — even if foolishly. I hate to sound conspiratorial, but they’re showing they’re hand — they really don’t like this place. And while that sounds like a “Duh!” moment to many of you and I’ve suspected it all along I guess it’s now so out in the open and up front. The battle lines are clear.
I’m starting a new movement. Dis Passionate Conservatism.
(Ed. note: Kenn Christianson has it right in the comments. We need passionate conservatism.)
I’ll take “passionate” conservative, as one of my passions IS conservatism.
Oh, yeah – it IS a conspiracy.
The thing about social welfare programs is that they’re almost impossible to get rid of once established. Thus, if the Democrats can just get this thing settled in law, they can die smiling inside the enemy’s walls, with the satisfaction that they’ve shed their political blood to turn this evil country socialist. It’s kind of quixotic and admirable, from their point of view.
It’ll take more than a little govt tidy bowl to clean that cesspool up. I’m sure glad that I can keep paying for the failed leadership there. It must suck believing you’re a victim all your life.
I take it ABC isn’t too fond of the Obama/GE/NBC love fest or maybe they are taking note of FOX’s ratings.
Doesn’t surprise me about Mary “Wideload” Landrieu..she is the ultimate TCVL (Talk Conservative,Vote Liberal)
When it comes to 2000+ page bills it is almost impossible for the representatives and senators to consider the overall big picture effects. They pay attention to certain provisions and weigh the pros and cons without thinking of the cumulative effect of the bill and/or the interplay between the sections. Kind of like my estate and gift tax exam I’m studying for. I can explain to you what each code section from 2036-2042 does individually but I’ll be damned if I know how they all work together.
Blanche Lincoln over the river in Arkansas may be the one to watch…she is being hammered by both sides.Interestingly,her husband is a physician.
Passionate conservatism! I love it! Kenn and Floyd, sign me up!
It is important to keep First Principles in mind. The longest-running battle in human history is not Capitalism/Communism it is Elites versus The Commons. That was a big part of the American War for Independence, it is a battle which can be traced back to the Roman Republic. Read Thomas Sowell on The Annointed vs The Benighted. Back in the 70’s I recognized that the Dems had no problem sacrificing national security for power, the demonstrated this when they made support for Desert Storm contingent on breaking G.H.W. Bush on “no new taxes.” Their goal is to claim control of the country, to assure that they and their friends are recognized as the superior, enlightened persons they are and to put the masses “in their place” once and for all.
Alternatively, look at George “The man Who Broke The Bank Of England” Soros who is funding the Left and muse on what his agenda might be. Can anyone point to a single Democrat leader and say that person wouldn’t sell out this country in order to feather their nest?
First Principles – yes, that’s the term I was fumbling for last night. Thanks for the suggestion of Thomas Sowell too.
In reference to the Elites vs. The Commons: I’ve often wondered how much of this philosophy is based on a sincere but erroneous notion that they truly think they know what’s best?
TCW, consider your reaction to being caught behind some dolt wandering around the grocery store blocking aisles from lack of awareness of where their cart happens to be. Consider the annoyance engendered by being caught behind some driver meandering down the street with no particular idea where they want to be, much less go. This is the common state of frustration felt by our moral superiors, people who KNOW what is best and would Just Do It if fools and obstructionists would just stop blocking the way.
Sorta explains the simmering rage which characterizes modern liberals, don’t it?