Aug 07 2009
Peggy Noonan Nails It
It is good to see Peggy Noonan back in form and nailing the current political atmosphere to a “T”:
In his first five months in office, Mr. Obama had racked up big wins—the stimulus, children’s health insurance, House approval of cap-and-trade. But he stayed too long at the hot table. All the Democrats in Washington did. They overinterpreted the meaning of the 2008 election, and didn’t fully take into account how the great recession changed the national mood and atmosphere.
And so the shock on the faces of Congressmen who’ve faced the grillings back home. And really, their shock is the first thing you see in the videos. They had no idea how people were feeling. Their 2008 win left them thinking an election that had been shaped by anti-Bush, anti-Republican, and pro-change feeling was really a mandate without context; they thought that in the middle of a historic recession featuring horrific deficits, they could assume support for the invention of a huge new entitlement carrying huge new costs.
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What has been most unsettling is not the congressmen’s surprise but a hard new tone that emerged this week. The leftosphere and the liberal commentariat charged that the town hall meetings weren’t authentic, the crowds were ginned up by insurance companies, lobbyists and the Republican National Committee. But you can’t get people to leave their homes and go to a meeting with a congressman (of all people) unless they are engaged to the point of passion. And what tends to agitate people most is the idea of loss—loss of money hard earned, loss of autonomy, loss of the few things that work in a great sweeping away of those that don’t.
People are not automatons. They show up only if they care.
Someone noted one of our key founding father’s commentary regarding the ‘angry mob’, which is also a critical observation about our times:
A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.
Thomas Jefferson
Obamacare is losing support. Government destruction of our national health care system is not what the American people voted for. And anyone naive enough not to realize that the 80% of the people happy with their health care quality (but maybe not happy with the cost) would rise up in opposition. If the angry mob is the majority, the Democrats just picked a losing fight with the wrong people.
Update: The WSJ underscores my point about how most Americans are happy with their Health Care and will definitely reject a government takeover:
For all the back and forth about the “public option,†Congressional Budget Office estimates and proposed tax hikes, the fundamentals are really what make health-care reform a hard sell to American voters. As members of Congress head home for the August recess, they should take a close look at some poll numbers before they attempt to pass any new legislation.
The most important fundamental is that 68% of American voters have health-insurance coverage they rate good or excellent. That number comes from polling conducted this past weekend of 1,000 likely voters. Most of these voters approach the health-care reform debate fearing that they have more to lose than to gain.
Adding to President Barack Obama’s challenge as he sells health-care reform to the public is the fact that most voters are skeptical about the government’s ability to do anything well. While the president says his plan will reduce costs, 53% believe it will have the opposite effect.
There’s also the reality that 74% of voters rate the quality of care they now receive as good or excellent. And 50% fear that if Congress passes health-care reform, it will lead to a decline in the quality of that care.
The Dems seem to arrogant to realize they have lost this round. Is it their intention to attack these majorities and expect to not be swept from office in 2010 and 2012? Again I ask, are they that dumb or that desperate they will go to extremes to force this crap down our throats?
It’s so good to see how President Obama has brought us all together … a national “Kumbaya” moment.
Everybody sing …
The Dems MUST know that the HR bill is hurting them badly. What is it they believe is even worse for them if their “reform” doesn’t get done??
Do they see this as their best opportunity to fundamentally
change America? Is this even about health care? I dont think it is.
This is a very scary time in America. God help us.
My main beef with the Obamacare proposal can be summed up in the one paragraph that states that no new private policies can be issued once the law is effective.
That means that new workers entering the workforce will NEVER have a private health insurance option. So Obama’s statement that “if you already have insurance that you like, then you can keep it” is misleading. Yes, you can keep THAT ONE policy. But since 50% of Americans will be working at a different job 5 years from now, they will also lose that policy because their new employer will not be allowed to place them on their private plan.
So … no new workers on private plans and old workers being moved off private plans as they change jobs means that after a decade or so, private plans will be gone and your treatment options will be decided by a government commission.
I don’t mind there being a public option but I want people to ALWAYS have a choice. If you can afford a private plan, you should be able to get one.
This law prevents that and only allows existing coverage to be “grandfathered”. Obama is being misleading and dishonest when he says this isn’t about killing private insurance. It certainly is and I want to keep a private option.
Do they see this as their best opportunity to fundamentally
change America? Is this even about health care?
mikedido58-Good questions!
I think the answer to your first question is yes. The American Left has always abhored capitalism. In the 60’s the “Military-Industrial Complex” was the enemy, and though they cloak their desires well, today’s lefties are no different. Fundamental change is what this guy promised us. Government health care is the essential first step toward socialism-I think the people are beginning to see this, and that’s why there’s so much passion in the town hall meetings, there is so much abject fear.
They have a multi pronged agenda they are working.
The kos konvention is next week and they announced a session on expanding unions to guarantee a progressive lock on government.
It was never about the workers at all but simple power grab to the max, the workers are being used.
Most of the reasons for unions have been moved into laws anyhow like OSHA regs and such.
This is all a smoke screen.
The only thing that can really stop them is just pure debt levels to do their agenda.
But some are suggesting a Cloward-Piven strategy is in play to kill us via heavy debt to take down any recovery of the capitalist system.
They are in a take no prisoners end game because they saw how Clinton blew their chance last time around.
Moderation will not be allowed and they will press on to their end game.
Yeah, my company changes polices even with the same insurance companies.
We are changing to a new policy next year. We changed this year as well.
I try to listen to the pro-health care talkers so as to try to insure that I am not brainwashed. I have read about 1/2 of the bill.
Today I tuned into Randi Rhodes on Air America. She said about the people who are protesting at Town Hall meetings, “I saw them all. I recognize them. They are all from Tom DeLay’s staff. The same people” That is pretty much a quote.
Last night I tuned into Chris Matthews. He said, “Well if you don’t like it, why didn’t the Republicans do anything about if for the last 8 years.” That is pretty much a quote.
It is true that the Reps did nothing significant about the anti-trust laws protecting insurance cos and price fixing and they did nothing to effect the inter-state idea now afloat a la McCain and Jindal et al and did nothing to create “groups” outside of employers groups (which is a great idea) and did nothing to stop excessive tort law suits and did nothing to reward those of us who get onto health (eating and exercise) programs and did nothing to ease the enormous burdens for people who have pre-existing conditions. But because the Reps did nothing, it does not mean that we should do this much bigger form of nothing.
Sibelius last week when asked “why the rush” replied, “We’ve been talking about this for 50 years.” I’ve heard that talking point a lot. It is absurd.
To Sibelius, Rhodes, Matthews and the others and to all Americans who have not read this bill and who nonetheless favor it I say: You are in love and it is as hard to get through to you as it is for a mother to get her teenager in puppy love with the absolutely wrong kid. Please wake up and read the bill. It’s not as long as it seems when they say 1000 pages – the pages are very sparse (albeit difficult to interpret).
I heard someone say last night that in SF the new insurance pays for anyone who wants a sex change operation. Is that true?
God bless us; God help us.
I have a problem with Peggy Noonan.
She persecuted Bush so much that she thought Obama had to be superior to Bush. Now she is changing her mind about Obama.
Obama sure makes Bush look hundreds time better….Peggy did not defend Bush but she defended Obama. Now she’ s no longer defending Obama just because of these townhall meetings.
She’s had her blinders on too long that I still don’t like her. I used to like her.
Once she began to defend Obama, I began to dislike her. I still don’t and don’t trust her.
The Democrats are blowing this bigtime. When they start sending in thugs to intimidate voters, they are going to do the party some serious damage at the ballot box.
I don’t mind there being a public option. I just want everyone to ALSO have a private option. If they would simply remove the clause from the bill that says no new private policies can be written after the law becomes effective, I would have a lot less problem with the bill.
I want NEW workers to have a private option, I want current workers to have a private option when they change jobs and for those that want it, a public option is fine too … but I want it to be by choice, not by force.
lurker9876………………I think the word is two-faced. Yep, that’s our Peg. At least she is not whispering behind her hand about Sarah. Oh, give her time.
Peggy Noonan is one of those conservatives who is beginning to realize what Obama really is.
Crosspatch
The problem with having an option of single payer or your own insurance is that employers will eliminate their insurance programs because they will no longer be tax free so more people will be forced to go on single payer to have any coverage at all. And even if the government did not eliminate this option for employers, employers will still stop the programs as not cost effective and too much trouble.
I do not like Peggy Noonan. I never read anything she writes and if I see her on tv I turn the channel. I will never forgive her for the damage she did to GW and the republican party. I used to like her very much but I now regard her as just another DC elte member of the DC cocktail parties. I have noticed many times that people who go to Washington end up changing their whole outlet on life. Some conservative change to liberals in order to be invited to these things. They get so used to listening to the liberal propaganda that they metamorphisize into liberals or semi- liberals and they wonder why we critisize them for this.