It didn’t take long for Republicans to launch an attack on Senate Democrats for NOT securing a bunch of unnecessary pork spending for their states. One of their targets, Sen. Blanche Lincoln, has come under scrutiny from conservatives, including local talking heads Jason Tolbert of The Tolbert Report and Jeff Hankins of Arkansas Business.
If you recall the GOP’s opposition to health insurance reform was rooted in two broad principles: (1) It would lead to government run health insurance and (2) Additional spending would explode the deficit.
The Senate bill does neither of those things. It reduces the national debt by $132 billion over ten years, and it does not contain a government-run health insurance plan commonly referred to as the public option.
So why in the world would conservatives whose principles are represented in this bill now object on the grounds that it didn’t contain more unnecessary spending? Its contradictory at its core, not to mention galactically stupid.
One can argue that Ms. Lincoln’s bargaining resulted in (a) elimination of the public option; (b) access for small businesses to competitive plans via exchanges; (c) greater tax relief for self-employed workers and small businesses to procure health insurance; (d) reduction in costs for seniors; and (e) federal deficit reduction.
Ms. Lincoln stated many times that these points were non-negotiable. She stated regularly, to the frustration of many, that she would oppose the bill if the bill did not meet her demands. The final product meets all of them. Knowing that, how can anyone, especially Republicans, declare that her efforts were ineffective?
Simply put, the cost of doing nothing was too high. Thousands of Arkansans will benefit from this bill, especially the 260,000 people currently working for small businesses. Once the dialogue begins, voters, to say nothing of history, will view this positively.
What a sad chapter in American History with the passage of the House and Senate healthcare bills. Big Government continues!
Unfortunately, Blake, you posit only two of the many, many objections a genuine Conservative would have to a 2,000 page bill that I’m certain few, if any, Senators read. Absolutely disgusting. And no wonder the public approval numbers for Congress are at very low numbers! Just consider the bribery that went on to secure votes for getting cloture — this is criminal and perverts the Constitution and what it was intended to do: protect individuals and protect the states from the tyranny of a Big, Bad Bloated Federal (Central) Government. The question that should be put to far-left Liberals like yourself is: would you bet all or half of your retirement and savings account that in 10 years the deficit is really going to be reduced by $132 Billion? That just doesn’t pass the straight-face test. Look at the sheer waste, fraud and corruption that the Federal Government has been involved in over the past 80 years: Social Security (broke/a Ponzi scheme that would make Madoff blush), Medicare (broke/more of getting something for nothing), Amtrak (broke), Post Office (broke), assorted welfare programs (broke/never ending/always growing and receiving more money) and I’m sure I could name more and more government programs of the same ilk. The thirst for taxpayer dollars by Liberals is never-ending and always growing and no problem ever gets solved. Always a crisis. Never any introspection by Liberals about what they have set in motion and whether or not it is successful or unsuccessful.
My prayer for America is that somehow, someway, we get 60 U.S. Senators and 261 House members who have a Conservative Philosophy of Governance and are faithful to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and the 4 hallowed and eternal principles embodied in those documents:
1. small and limited government (and we get about the business of dismantling and undoing the last 80 years of Federal Governance)
2. strong National Defense (and especially making sure we call our enemy for what it truly is and not some political correct nonsense . . . see the case of Major Hassan, who recently committed an act of Islamic Terrorism at Fort Hood and also the case of Abdulhakim Muhammed, aka Carlos Bledsoe, who recently committed an act of Islamic Terrorism in Little Rock on Rodney Parham Road)
3. vibrant, thriving Capitalism and Entrepreneurship with minimal taxation and regulation (attention Federal Government: get the heck out of the way of ambitious, hard-working, innovative and determined citizens!)
4. staunch support reflected in every piece of congressional legislation for individual freedom and liberty and private property rights – tempered with moral restraint – and always cognizant that such rights are not given by men or women or a government but flow directly from our Creator
Only when our elected officials govern by this Philosophy of Governance and craft policies that uphold these 4 principles, will we be able to get back on track to creating an “America 2.0″ that far exceeds her past greatness and exceptionalism.
Blake, while I couldn’t disagree with you any more on 99% of the issues you bring up on your site, I still enjoy the discourse and dialogue you present. For a Conservative who seeks to winsomely educate people on why Conservatism is the way to win in one’s personal life and in the public life of America, it is also fun to occasionally check in with the “other side” and reaffirm that Conservatism is a winner!
I know you love to keep saying that this bill will lower the debt. I think you need to read Megan McArdle’s excellent takedown of the CBO shenanigans that went on to produce this claim of budget reduction. http://meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/12/the_process_of_passing_health.php In short, the CBO projection is meaningless and artificially contrived to produce cover for the Democrats who we are supposed to believe are suddenly deficit hawks after doubling the national debt. You certainly got the memo. The rest of us, including the increasing numbers of Americans who are opposed to this legislation, can see through this scam. I do agree with you that no Republican should be criticizing Blanche for the lack of pork for Arkansas. They should criticize her yes vote alone.
Thank you for pointing out how Senator Lincoln’s efforts will help small businesses and the self employed afford health care. Many conservatives ignore that a major thrust of the health care plan that passed the House of Representatives was to reduce the future increases in health care costs. This was a basic element of the public option. Many who want to maintain the status quo in health care should understand that without health care reform there will be no status quo that costs will continue to increase at a rate significantly greater than the CPI and that many business currently offerring good health care insurance to their employees will reduce benefits or eliminate health care insurance. I make these statements on many years of purchasing health care insurance for mid sized companies and living through annual increases in health insurance premiums and making changes in plans that reduced benefits and increased payments by employees. Anyone who believes that no change is needed has their head buried in the sand.
[...] more pork (aka needless federal spending for which the GOP regularly cries foul) for Arkansas. I’ve already argued how silly this argument is, and how [...]