We have got to deny the premise that the Ryan budget is extreme. It saves the welfare and administrative state from itself. Just Scott walker did in WI. Extreme would be eliminating Medicaid and Medicare and half the rest of the federal government within two years. The Ryan plan compromises a lot for conservatives already in my view but it is designed to be something that is a starting point of something that could get passed in a center right country. This idea that it somehow paints a stark divide assumes that we are working in a narrow room rather than a football field. I think it is ok to make that assumption but we should acknowledge that is what we are doing.
Someone wrote today that these are the death rattles of the old blue coalition. The blue coalition can't survive long term with low population growth, aging society, and low or no economic growth. It will lead to a Europe style crisis if unreformed. I assume Rahm E. understands this to some extent. In WI we have a good example of what not to do. IL raised taxes significantly but it wasn't enough and they are now flailing around trying to figure out what to do next.
Do you think it was a mistake for conservatives to not have been harder on GWB's (and congressional Republicans) spending when he was in office? I will admit that I defended them/supported them/looked the other way at the time but wish I hadn't.
James of England, I agree and accept that there are going to be people in the administration that are too liberal for me and others on this or that issue and there will not always be ideological purity. I like Mitt and support him. I think he has great character but may have something of a tax collector for the welfare state tilt. My concern is that the position at issue is an important one with respect to the initial direction the administration takes. Obamacare is a big issue and Romney pre-election doesn't have the greatest track record on that type of health care program. This doesn't make me feel a lot better about it. Also the transition director position (or a chief of staff position) is different than having say a pro choice energy secretary. It is also true that this staffing choice isn't the dispositive predictive data point on this issue. It is good to keep the heat on these candidates so they don't get coopted in DC.
Peronnel is policy. I would prefer a model that got employers out of paying employees in health insurance. This is a wage and price control WW2 relic. Instead of fixing the problem we are going to layer on top of the problem another government program.
That this what is going on in congress is an example of why I prefer a true part time congress. Also get rid of the a/c in the Capitol and the related office buildings.
This is the nature of these bureaucracies. They take a position determined frequently by a nonlawyer bureacrat who thinks they understand how some combination of rules and facts as they understand them should apply to a given situation. They are often not equipped with the intellect and energy to make a correct determination. Rather they shoot from the hip. One major problem even if you agree that the administrative state is a good idea is that the bureaucrats who actually administer the rules have no skin in the game. This is similar to one of the issues the large financial firms have where the managers don't have their personal net worth on the line. There is no cost to them for making incorrect determinations. Instead the regulated bears all the costs. The case described in this post is a particularly egregious example of what goes on everyday on a smaller scale all over the country at the state, local, and federal level. This in part what the regulatory tax looks like.
Here in Wisconsin a significant number of public employees show up to their jobs with Recall Walker t-shirts and buttons on. It makes you very confident that if you meet the profile of a conservative or Republican voter that you will get good fair service/treatment from them.
WI ricocheter here. The walker reforms are working. I am hoping for the income tax cut I hear rumors about. This recall is going to go down in flames. Falk has never and will never get statewide traction and she has made tons of Dane co. Enemies. The Tammy Baldwin campaign should fail as well. I commend everyone to the excellent documentary on talk radio in the milwaukee area called liberty or lies.
The thing about JFK's affairs is that they are not a case of a single mistake or error in judgment one night rather they are systematic and pre-planned, a total rejection of any sort of monogamous relationship with Mrs. Kennedy. It also shows a willingness to use government resources not to mention one's own time organizing all these affairs. The forcing your teenage girlfriend to inhale drug fumes at Bing Crosby's house, if true, seems pretty bad. I am surprised there would be drugs at a Bing Crosby party though perhaps Bing did not control the guest list. It is kind of gross, from an STD perspective among others, the way these guys were passing woman around.
Des moines is actually a decent size metro area and they get some good music acts through Des moines and Iowa city. Also it is cheap to live in Iowa and they still live by traditional values there generally. Which are both great reasons to move there. Des Moines has a pretty sophisticated insurance industry too.
Re: The Case Against Ryan
We have got to deny the premise that the Ryan budget is extreme. It saves the welfare and administrative state from itself. Just Scott walker did in WI. Extreme would be eliminating Medicaid and Medicare and half the rest of the federal government within two years. The Ryan plan compromises a lot for conservatives already in my view but it is designed to be something that is a starting point of something that could get passed in a center right country. This idea that it somehow paints a stark divide assumes that we are working in a narrow room rather than a football field. I think it is ok to make that assumption but we should acknowledge that is what we are doing.