When “compromise” means “giving them half of what they ask for”

And I once held the opinion that Arnold Kling was a smart guy...

1.  We are here whenever President Obama wants to try to stop the insanity on Capitol Hill.  Instead, he keeps outsourcing his policies to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.  Thus, the stimulus that will take effect two years after the recession started.  Thus, the cap and trade bill that is mostly corporate welfare with a smidgen of CO₂ reduction.  And thus a health care bill that worsens the outlook for government spending on health care.

And thus, Arnold assumes that the President has no idea of what his allies in Congress have been up to, that their actions don’t match the President’s desires, and that all these unfortunate consequences were accidental and unintended.

2.  We will help the President convert the tax deductibility of health benefits to a refundable tax credit, as supported by economists of all political persuasions.  That would help pay for reform and also help “bend the cost curve.”

...assuming that “reform” and “bending the cost curve” are actual goals of the president’s program, rather than pretexts.

3.  We will help the President convert Medicare and Medicaid to means-tested and illness-tested vouchers, which would give the United States what other countries have--a fixed budget for health care, rather than an open-ended spending commitment.

...assuming that the Democrats want a program that’s “fixed-budget” rather than an “open ended” one designed to create more and more dependants.

4.  We will support comparative effectiveness research, as long as it is used in the context of a system where patients and doctors make decisions, rather than have rationing imposed on them from the government.

...assuming that the President’s goal is to improve medical care, not tell people what to do.

Kling titles his post “Why I am Not a Republican.”  I’m glad he’s not, his “wet” beltway libertarianism would make him another part of the problem.

UPDATE 090722 21:25:  In the spirit of the above (but with less charity and more rage‘n’snark), “eddiebear” goes after David Brooks.

Kling Via:  Insty.

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 22:03:55 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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