Tag: Republicans

Obamacare Rises from the Politically Deadly

| May 17, 2014 | 0 Comments

I’ve been thinking, and occasionally saying, that Obamacare will be a net benefit for Democrats in the midterm election.  There is a growing chorus of speculation among the chattering class about this and they are saying it better than I could.

I particularly like Greg Sargent’s view in the context of the Arkansas race pitting Senator Mark Pryor against Rep. Tom Cotton.

And by the way, Cotton isn’t the only high profile GOP Senate candidate pulling a homina homina homina on his state’s Medicaid expansion. So is Scott Brown. And Thom Tillis’ gyrations on Obamacare repeal are similarly absurd. So clearly, this isn’t the uniform slam dunk issue Republicans claim it is. The scrutiny is entirely on how Democrats are handling Obamacare. But some attention should be paid to how Republicans handle the pitfalls of repeal going forward. Time to take another look at the conventional wisdom here.

Things could get very interesting in the Fall.

 

 

The Real Battle in the GOP

| May 15, 2014 | 0 Comments

E.J. Dionne has an insightful piece in the Washington Post today reframing the battle within the Republican Party.  Rather than describe the struggle as the tea party against the establishment, he points out that there are two establishments.  When you look at where the money comes from to fund the tea party, it is difficult to portray them as a grassroots insurgency.  Moreover, since the so-called “establishment” wing of the GOP has pretty much adopted the policy preferences of the tea party, as well as their loathing for negotiation with Democrats, it shows what the fight is really about.  Power.

So, is this really the grass roots speaking to Washington? Or is it more accurately seen as a cadre of conservative groups, largely working out of Washington, rising up with a ton of cash to persuade voters to listen to them?

I would say the latter.

 

 

The Big Lie

| May 7, 2012 | 0 Comments

That Obama is a socialist big spender.  The numbers speak for themselves.

And Andrew Sullivan puts it into perspective.

No administration has reduced aggregate government spending as a precentage of GDP as much as Obama’s in forty years. If you look at the full chart, back to George HW Bush, you reach an inescapable conclusion: the biggest spenders and borrowers are Republicans and the most fiscally conservative presidents have been Democrats. Given the last two decades, the Tea Party, if they really want to shrink government, should be voting for Obama.

 

 

Santorum’s Values

| January 5, 2012 | 0 Comments

Yesterday, I met with a very bright young British conservative who has come to the U.S. in a bit of a career shift.  I was a bit taken aback by his resume which was loaded with experience working on social justice projects.  He described his work with great enthusiasm and explained the various successes he’s had working on these projects for the Conservative government in the UK.  I told him that I was experiencing cognitive dissonance in our conversation, explaining that, on this side of the pond, assisting the poor is not a high priority for the conservatives.  He, having worked with the Heritage Foundation, acknowledged as much.  In fact, he surprised when he was told to avoid the term “social justice,” by American conservatives.  He had considered “social justice” kind of like “apple pie” for us.  Not so, in the American conservative movement. Continue Reading