Comments on: Back to Healthcare

By: Mike at The Big Stick

Mike at The Big Stick — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:41:14 +0000

The effort undertaken in 2005 was not an effort to privatize SS. It was an effort to reform SS so it would stay solvent. Privatization was just one aspect, sort of like the public option was just one part of the larger Democrat proposals on healthcare.

The problem is that only the most moderate / centrist of Republican ideas are in the bill. Where are some of the truly conservative measures like those proposed by Paul Ryan? Just because the Left got some Republicans to put their names on liberal ideas doesn’t mean this is a Republican-friendly plan. Now if you’re argument is that the Dems are in the majority and it shouldn’t be a Republican-friendly plan…well then why are we still part of the conversation? Why not just do it yourselves?

By: Mike at The Big Stick

Mike at The Big Stick — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:37:10 +0000

Well you HAVEN’T succeeded in painting it that way (hence the dropping suport for healthcare and Brown’s victory in MA) and you WON’T succeed in doing it down the road. It just doesn’t work. We couldn’t do it after SS reform failed, and Dems won’t be able to do it after this….but by all means please waste a lot of time and money trying.

As for whether or not we have been obstructing – it depends on how you view things. McArdle was right on when she said, “…the public doesn’t get mad at you for obstructing things the public doesn’t like.” When the public doesn’t like your plans our ‘obstructionism’ begins to look more and more like loyal opposition. We’re doing the public’s bidding. You aren’t. We win.

By: MarshallDog

MarshallDog — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:28:32 +0000

I don’t think you can compare privatizing social security with the health care debate. While the health care bill might be unpopular right now, the idea of health care reform is still very popular noation wide. Social security privatization was never popular except with the far right. The democrats were right to demand that proposal should not be considered a solution because it would destroy a vital government program.

Republicans have had almost a year to step up and negotiate in good faith on health care reform. Several of their ideas are already in the bills, which they refuse to acknowlege. The reasonable compromise republicans should be focused on is making the current bills better, not blowing them up and starting over again. Perhaps Obama is staging a bit of polical theater- I say it’s about damn time. All the republicans want to do is play politcal theater, and they’ve managed to gridlock the government. A little push by Obama might get this legislation back on track.

By: ACG

ACG — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:10:57 +0000

First, love the mixed metaphor (chess has quarters? Almost Brannigan-esque!). Second, cf.

Where we are at on February 08, 2010 is that the GOP has been successful in pretty much setting the game back to the first quarter.

with

they try to spin the last year into something productive and try to lay blame at the feet of the guys not in power

Are you trying to argue that the GOP hasn’t been playing the obstruction game? Or that we won’t succeed in painting it that way?