Aug 16 2009
Liberals About To Face A Major Loss On Health Care, And Maybe More
Liberals came to DC thinking America would allow them to indulge in their most extreme left wing fantasies. They horribly misread the public’s mandate when they threw the GOP out of power and gave President Obama and a Democrat led Congress a chance to prove they could solve problems. As usual, a party dominated by the zealots on the extremes always creates more problems than not. History is about to repeat itself.
The GOP did not lose because of Iraq – that has been a hard won success and no one in their right mind thinks the world was better off with Saddam Hussein in place in the heart of the Arab Muslim world, conniving with terrorists of all forms and types (and he did that for sure). After years of war since 9-11 (and everyone who knew what they were talking about said this effort would extend beyond even two Bush terms) we have the cancer of Islamo Fascism encircled and fighting for its life back in its birth place in the mountainous region covering southern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. The Taliban and al Qaeda are on the run, and only a far left liberal would say this is a bad thing. Their evil was spreading into Muslim Arab communities, it was amazing we were able to turn the tide, because now al Qaeda is the enemy of Islam in Iraq, not its future. America supports Obama’s continuation of Bush policies in Iraq – clearly America sees Iraq differently than the echo chambers of DC.
The GOP stepped too far in their successes, and paid the price. That is where they lost the American electorate. They destroyed comprehensive immigration reform twice, leaving our country with the same growing problems which have been taxing our resources for decades. They became corrupt power brokers, spending more time reaping the rewards of power than using that power to solve problems. They had become preachy and insulting to all who disagreed with them. They were insufferable – to put it mildly. And they therefore lost elections in stunning defeats in 2006 and 2008. It was not a minor shift, their insults thrown at the centrists did a lot of damage, damage that has to this day not been corrected.
When President Obama ran for office he ran as a non-partisan, center of the road, ‘let’s role up are sleeves as Americans and solve problems’ type. That was the “Hope”, that we would “Change” from partisan zealots running amok. As did most of the Democrats in Congress who benefited from the ‘throw the insufferable GOP bums out’ mood and took over GOP districts and conservative leaning states (like VA).
Did the Democrats and President Obama keep their word? Did they govern in a non-partisan manner? Hell no! They did the same things that got the GOP tossed out on its ear. They became insufferable know-it-alls who knew nothing of what America wanted. They ran on wild, unproven political theories that no one in real America supports.
Case in point – the bogus stimulus package which had no ‘stimulus’ in it but was filled with endless pork. It was advertised as a way to create jobs now, but it was actually a liberal smorgasbord of projects and payoffs (turns out many of its programs are union only jobs) that would not come on line until next year. Here is the status of the spending across 6 government entities, two of which were the premier job creating departments (at least that was what the DC liberals claimed).
In the first graph there are 4 sets of columns showing: (from left to right) (1) the amount budgeted for stimulus programs for that organization, (2) the amount allocated to to date to specific programs, (3) the amount actually spent to date creating jobs and (4) the amount left unspent from the total budget. (click image to enlarge)
The second chart translates the dollar amounts for the last three sets of columns in the previous chart into percentages of the budgeted amounts for each organization, showing what is the percent allocated, spent and unspent. (again, click image to enlarge)
Summary:
- $105 billion was budgeted for job creation efforts across the 6 organizations (1/3rd of all job creating stimulus programs in the stimulus bill)
- Nearly 1/3rd, or $33 billion, has been allocated to programs (the only bright spot in this bleak picture)
- Just under 2% has been spent creating jobs, which totals $1.9 billion
- Over 98% of the money, or $103 billion of the money budgeted for job creation, has yet to make its way out of the federal bureaucracy.
As has been the case since February when this bill passed, the job creation money is stuck in the bowels of the federal government. That is why the job market has stayed bad all summer, and why it will probably take another small dive this fall once the summer job bubble ends. The stimulus hasn’t stimulating anything but record deficits, 4 times the level of President Bush’s worst year:
Americans are becoming fed up with the liberals in DC – who do more shouting at, and insulting of, America’s center than they do in solving the nation’s problems. It is so bad the American people are ready to stop the only major legislative win for the Dems in its tracks, and demand instead the feds ‘return’ the stimulus money to the people and let them spend and stimulate the economy and jobs:
With improvements in the economy and only a fraction of the stimulus money having been spent so far, most Americans — 72 percent — say returning the unused portion of the $787 billion dollar stimulus to taxpayers would do more to boost the economy than having the government spend it. Majorities of Democrats (59 percent), Republicans (87 percent) and independents (70 percent) think the money should be returned to taxpayers.
(H/T Ed Morrissey) Not only is there a massive majority of independents (centrists) ready to junk the stimulus mess, even a majority of democrats are ready to walk away from this liberal fantasy. 28% verses 72%, the liberals verses everyone else. The only way to get ‘everyone else’ lined up in firm opposition is to go so far people have to oppose. As a nation we tend to tolerate a lot of well meaning screw ups, but it is very possible to go beyond this tolerance zone, and the liberal leaders of the Democrats have done just that.
But the liberals are also about to lose on their signature nightmare fantasy – government run health care. The backlash has been so broad and deep against the government run option, and handled so badly by President Obama’s young and inexperienced team, that Democrat leaders themselves are starting to lay the ground work for the defeat of a ‘government option’ in any health care bill:
After the toughest week yet for health reform, leading Democrats are warning that the party likely will have to accept major compromises to get a bill passed this year – perhaps even dropping a proposal to create a government-run plan that is almost an article of faith among some liberals.
…
But the signs were everywhere this week that Democrats, stung and seemingly caught by surprise by the vehemence of the opposition to President Barack Obama’s overhaul plans, were already gaming out September and what it would take to get a bill to Obama’s desk.
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Writing in a Washington Post op-ed, Democratic strategist Paul Begala, who is close to White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, warned progressives against turning their backs on reform if it doesn’t include everything they want. As a former consultant to Clinton during the health care battle, Begala said he carries “a heavy burden of regret from my role in setting the bar too high the last time we tried fundamental health reform.” He had urged Clinton to veto any bill short of guaranteeing universal health care.
Even the administration is publicly walking away (sometimes) from the public option.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says Obama still believes there should be choice and competition” in the health insurance market — but that a public option is “not the essential element.”
If the pressure keeps up in the Town Halls and the polls keep dropping, this ‘ground work’ will become part of history’s record.
Update: More reports that the government takeover of health care is DOA – along with government run death panels. – end update.
An the dominoes of liberal failure may not stop here. There are also cracks beginning to form in the the crackpot plan to tax energy to reduce global warming (which has not been around for over ten years now).
The U.S. Senate should abandon efforts to pass legislation curbing greenhouse-gas emissions this year and concentrate on a narrower bill to require use of renewable energy, four Democratic lawmakers say.
“The problem of doing both of them together is that it becomes too big of a lift,†Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas said in an interview last week. “I see the cap-and-trade being a real problem.â€
Removal of the government run option from health care reform, repeal of the failed stimulus bill and a permanent delay on the truly silly idea of taxing energy to change the Earth’s massive and complex climate system. I doubt liberals could take so many losses, which is why I expect them to come out angry and arrogant – and seal those very same losses for prosperity.
The Democrats apparently seem to think that if they eliminate “public option” or replace with co-ops and the death panel provision dropped from HR3200, this will be the compromise that will get the bill passed.
I do not want this bill passed even with these two provisions dropped. There are still too many issues in this bill to even consider a compromise.
No, this is not the reform that I would like to see.
Folks, here’s an important bill that we need to see passed. Bring it up to your congress critter.
The entire bill fits on one page if your browser.
AJ:
A lot of those Independents are conservatives, I think it would be a mistake to think they are all centrists.
The GOP does have its my way or the highway faction, but I can not imagine a Republican Speaker of the House calling people who do not support his or her policy…unAmerican.
Most independents I know are of more “libertarian” ilk but not like the “big L” Libertarian party wackos. They aren’t “centrists” as they have no desire to be in the middle of anything, they have values that probably see the Republicans as less dangerous than the Democrats but don’t really like either one of them.
The independents I associate with detest the “evangelicals” as much as they do the “socialists”. Both would want to use government to force their idea of culture down people’s throats.
What we need are some politicians that don’t kowtow to their party National Committee.
Administration is now saying that Sebelius misspoke about the public option.
An administration official said tonight that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius “misspoke” when she told CNN this morning that a government run health insurance option “is not an essential part” of reform.
Now exactly how do you have a debate when the “authors” of the bill can’t even get the program straight among themselves ?
AJ,
While there are merits in your analysis you are continuing the BS about the “comprehensive immigration reform”.
That “small issue” was one major sour point for the American people, who did not understand how come we are defending our country in Iraq, but we can not defend the border from the hordes of illegals.
It was not the only “sticky point” with the repubics, but it was major.
So, please stop bashing again the patriotic Americans who want their border secured and the illegal immigration reversed.
dbostan,
We can defend the borders AND process the long term illegals so that they become legal immigrants (not citizens).
Only a true conservative only does one thing at a time. Americans are much more capable than that.
Be careful, the dems are in trouble, but the GOP could only be the lesser of two screw ups – which is not a mandate.
AJ:
I was much more on your side than their side in the immigration debate, you know that…but…to be honest the reaction to the immigration debate has been much the same as the reaction to the health care debate. In both istances, regular ordinary people felt like the government was trying to cram something they did not want down their throats.
I think that the right went too far in that debate and in the process alienated a lot of people they did not need to alienate. However, I heard the other day that Obama is wanting to pass comprehensive immigration reform next year and my guess is he is doing that to start a fight among the GOP. It is all about politics, not immigration at this point.
And what is more the last I saw on this in a poll, the conservatives have gained support in the immigration debate. I think that is probably because of the recession. When things were going gang busters and there were lots of jobs and state and local governments were running surpluses people were not so worried about illegals working in motels…now they are more resentful of their presence. That might be why some people have just left.
Terrye,
I hate to say it, but if the GOP was seen as the saviors in immigration they wouldn’t have been tossed out of power. Each time they stood in the way of comprehensive reform they lost massively in the following elections.
As I noted before, it was not Iraq (no one seems to care Obama is following Bush’s policies). That has been proven.
It was the angry right insulting the center which caused them to go the democrats. And even those not ready to go Democrat made sure centrists were the winners of the GOP presidential primary.
You can try and spin history, but you will only find yourself repeating it if you do.
This post has been linked for the HOT5 Daily 8/17/2009, at The Unreligious Right
Terrye:
As much as it pains me to type these words. I have to agree with AJ on the immigration issue. Protectionism in goods as well as protectionism in labor has always been a political loser. Immigration restriction is like tariffs, the fools’ gold of politics. It looks like a big winner and in some districts it is a big winner on a GOP primary basis.
It has always a big loser because it goes against the economic freedom of the American people (think public option). One way to think of the private sector, capitalism, or free enterprise is in terms of economic liberty. Americans love liberty over tyranny (Obama meet reality).
To restrict the labor market goes against the normal impulse of a majority of americans. It hurts small business owners who are angry with all the government interference in how they run their business including who they hire. Eventually it becomes a racial issue and with new ethnic immigrants taking the brunt of the insults. As Karl Rove has pointed out: in politics you cannot be anti anyone.
The real tragedy on immigration for the GOP is that the old line unions are against immigration because they see the % of union membership in the private sector decreasing as a majority of new immigrants find non-union jobs. The new line unions are in favor of immigration because they see the increase in their ranks from the new immigrants. So the new immigrants who get union jobs get jobs in unions not associated with the AFL-CIO, UAW, or USW, etc. This creates a split in the Democratic Party that the GOP could exploit in gaining support in minority districts, which GWB did in 2004.
Democrats did nothing but stand aside and snicker then GWB tried to implement immigration reform. Even though I’ve supported reform strongly along the lines that you do, AJ, if Obama tries to push I it think I’m going to do the same as they did last time.
Turnabout is fair play.
All that said, the GOP that screwed up immigration in 2005: has amazingly an opportunity to redeem themselves in 2010. If they don’t try to spin and ignore history. If the GOP accepts their failure as a failure and changes its immigration position they could score a huge victory in 2010, both in Congress and at the ballot box.
Sarah Palin will be handed another issue to lead the GOP in the right direction. It is remarkable what opportunities history presents. I’m not sure she is up to the task to sieze the moment, but I hope so. I hope she has the ability to change the GOP’s direction on this issue and consequently change their fortunes at the ballot box. That is my version of hope and change.
The death panel comment was a good start but one cannot become a dominant leader from facebook and twitter.
The way Bush and some of the repubics handled the immigration debacle was profoundly destructive to the conservative message, because:
1. it undermined the “party of the law” message, by promoting amnesty.
2. it undermined the “party of sane fiscal policies” along the pork issue, by not fixing the illegal immigration, responsible for overburdening our medical, educational and correctional systems (only in CA alone, the illegals cost approx. $11B/year…)
3. it strengthened, again, the perception that the GOP represents the interests of the big business, which clearly benefits from the illegals, and it doesn’ t care about the regular American people whose jobs and country are being taken away.
So, this “pesky” issue, was extremely damaging to the repubics, because most of the Americans were expecting more from them, as they knew the demsheviks are scumbags…
By far the majority of Americans were in favor of the Senate compromise bill. The House Republicans refused to even discuss it in conference and killed it. As a result, the House Republicans were kicked out en masse and the Republicans lost control of the House in 2006. Republicans lost 30 seats in the House, most to “Blue Dog” Democrats. In the Senate, Republicans lost 6 of the 15 seats up for election.
Now, considering that it is the Democrats who really want immigration reform and that immigration reform was the major issue before the election and that when the Republicans blocked it, they were thrown out of office and Democrats elected, this idiocy that people don’t want immigration reform is purely cognitive dissonance.
[…] they have encountered to the health care bill that awaits their return from August vacation. Liberals About To Face A Major Loss On Health Care, And Maybe More – strata-sphere.com 08/16/2009 Liberals came to do DC thinking America would allow them to indulge […]
CP,
You nailed it. If the GOP was actually the savior of immigration reform they would never have been tossed out. In fact, it was their insults at the centrist conservatives which put Obama and the Dems in power. If they start up again and don’t look at gaining progress verses purity, they will not be able to take advantage of this liberal mistep.
Being the marginally better of two evils is not going to do much. And if the GOP is resurgent, it will be with centrist candidates – not the far right.
[…] the economy is now dead and busted. The so called emergency stimulus bill has yet to even kick in (see here for latest numbers showing 98% of the money STILL stuck in the bureaucracy). Don’t let anyone […]