Does the GOP Have the Courage to Follow Ryan's Lead?
In the current political climate, Ryan’s plan will never pass. It is not merely too radical for the Democrats; it is too radical for the Republicans. But to be too radical for the party that championed an unfunded prescription drug benefit in 2003 and rang up massive deficits while in power, one need not be radical at all.
Ryan’s reputation as an extremist is based on the standards of the modern-day political mainstream. It may say more about the state of U.S. politics than it does about the congressman from Wisconsin. In a saner world, a civil, even-tempered numbers geek like Ryan wouldn’t find his plans relegated to the policy fringe. -- Peter Suderman
I've got to hope Peter's only right for now. Paul Rahe gives Republicans their marching orders:
Michael Barone reports that Boehner and his troops intend to respond in the manner of Newt Gingrich by drafting a new Contract with America. I hope that they do so. To begin with, it is a step towards nationalizing the election. [...] If, however, Boehner and his troops want to effect a realignment, they will have to do more. They will have to articulate a rationale that makes of their proposals a whole. I would suggest that they do so by prefacing the list of proposals they intend to enact with a clear statement of principle.
[...] What I am proposing is a return to first principles. Absent this, there will be no realignment, and November’s victory for the Republicans will be a blip on the screen. The heart of the matter is that John Boehner and his merry men must remind their fellow Americans who they are and what they stand for – and then act accordingly.
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May '10
Re: Does the GOP Have the Courage to Follow Ryan's Lead?
I'd like Peter Suderman a lot more if he would get over Ayn Rand and live in the real world. 1) Had the Republicans not worked Medicare Part D, it would have been passed in 2007 byd Pelosi and Reid and looked a lot like Obamacare instead of being the best part of Medicare; and 2) had the Republicans taken health care seriously instead of playing "me too" or "H@!# No!" for 20 years, we might have had a semi-rational program rather than the monstrosity that is Obamacare.
May '10
Re: Does the GOP Have the Courage to Follow Ryan's Lead?
I never hold out hope that politicians will be courageous. It always reminds me of Sir Humphrey Appleby's Rules for Dealing with Political Class on Yes, Minister:
“There are four words to be incorporated into a proposal if you want the Minister to accept it. Quick, simple, popular, cheap. And equally four words to use if you want it thrown out. Complicated, lengthy, expensive, controversial. It you want to be really sure the Minister won’t accept it you say the proposal would be courageous.Controversial means this will lose you votes. Courageous means this will lose you the election!”
Jul '10
Re: Does the GOP Have the Courage to Follow Ryan's Lead?
We have a much bigger challenge than simply whether or not the GOP has the stones to get behind Ryan's plan. We have a populace that is woefully ignorant with regard to economics and addicted to magical thinking. An enormous amount of education will have to be done before anything like Ryan's Roadmap would stand a chance against the inevitable storm of demagoguery that will ensue from the Left. It would be worse than folly to press ahead without a substantial majority of the electorate firmly behind the Plan - to do so would guarantee its failure, as Bush 43 discovered when he failed to prepare the ground for Social Security reform.
Every time I reflect on James Madison's statement that "An informed populace is indispensable to a free republic," I despair.
May '10
Re: Does the GOP Have the Courage to Follow Ryan's Lead?
At my small town high school, there was a required course "Americanism vs Communism" or "A vs C". It was no longer taught by the time I was enrolled there in the mid to late '70s. I don't know if this was a state requirement in Florida or a national requirement. Wouldn't it be nice if there were a required course in free market economics for all high schoolers? Or, perhaps, Milton and Rose Friedman's fascinating television series "Free to Choose"? Reading list: Hayek, Rand, "The Incredible Bread Machine"... If liberty and free markets are essential to our republic, isn't some sort of training necessary?
May '10
Re: Does the GOP Have the Courage to Follow Ryan's Lead?
Oh, baloney. Bush ran on SS reform- he didn't suddenly conjure it up. The Republicans in Congress courageously abandoned him as soon as the "what liberal media?" crowd started playing with the Rahm Emanuel talking points for 2006.
If we had term limits on Congress, this would have been done long ago. Listen to Obama on Saturday and read Krugman this morning, and it is clear that The Usual Suspects are already trying to djinn up the demagogy for November. This works less well every time, and at some point something will be done.
Aug '10
Re: Does the GOP Have the Courage to Follow Ryan's Lead?
Briar Ann: Wouldn't it be nice if there were a required course in free market economics for all high schoolers?
Nice, yes. But not gonna happen.
Public schools seem instead to have a requirement to suggest as often as possible that free markets are dangerous and unjust, and that doubting their maleficence is evidence of indoctrination.
I think free-market theory, if parents asked it to be taught in public schools, would meet up with about 1000 times the vitriol that creationism/ID now gets. It would be derided as a pseudoscience, as brainwashing. (I'm a fairly firm Darwinian myself, BTW, but I still don't understand why alternative theories are so hated.)
Better to teach economics at home, or to privately school or home-school your kids altogether.
Jul '10
Re: Does the GOP Have the Courage to Follow Ryan's Lead?
Duane Oyen
Oh, baloney. Bush ran on SS reform- he didn't suddenly conjure it up. The Republicans in Congress courageously abandoned him as soon as the "what liberal media?" crowd started playing with the Rahm Emanuel talking points for 2006.
I
Bush may have "run" on SS reform, but he failed - as he often did - to lay the groundwork and properly, fully communicate, so it was easily defeated. He was a terrible communicator and not a very good politician.
May '10
Re: Does the GOP Have the Courage to Follow Ryan's Lead?
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
Briar Ann: Wouldn't it be nice if there were a required course in free market economics for all high schoolers?
Better to teach economics at home, or to privately school or home-school your kids altogether. · Aug 16 at 11:31am
Well, that's actually what I did- home schooled and included free market economics in our studies. I would just like to see the teaching more widespread; It's so incredibly important to truly understanding our Constitution and our country. Say the class was a compare and contrast such as the Americanism vs Communism class I mentioned earlier, like Free Markets vs Socialism. If teachers sided heavily on the side of the socialism theories, at least there would be a comparison. Not all teenagers 'drink the koolaid' :)