The Roanoke Times editorial page yesterday (and
today) made clear that, since the GOP was unwilling to "compromise," their pals in Washington should pass health care reform without them. Their idea of compromise, of course, is always the same package: Come up with a bad liberal idea and sit down with the opposition and determine just how bad it is going to be.
Republicans, to their credit, have said NO. They're not going to inflict further damage on a once-great nation.
But they need to go further than that. They need to confront this bunch. And send them into exile. Forever.
Jennifer Rubin:
It’s the Personal Liberty, Stupid
Republicans must listen to the voters and finally give them what they demand: less government in their lives.
The pressure to find some middle ground on cap and trade, ObamaCare, financial regulation, and an uber-consumer protection agency will become intense. But the Republicans would be foolish to provide cover for and assist Democrats in pursuit of a goal — more government — which is at odds with the wishes of a majority of Americans, including those critical independent voters. And oh yes, it’s never a good idea to vote in ways contrary to your party’s stated core message. In some sense Obama has been invaluable to libertarians and conservatives. It is one thing to rail against excessive discretionary spending but it is quite another to have the public see how ominous a force (not to mention how expensive) government can be when it seeks to regulate and control the most intimate decisions about one’s family finances and personal health. Who would have thought Obama would have created such a consensus in favor of keeping government’s mitts off private insurance companies, doctor-patient interactions, and end-of-life care?
It therefore would behoove Republicans to return to some first principles and explain that their opposition to Obama-ism goes beyond the eye-popping debt and the implications for future economic growth. It is about personal freedom. With this in mind the platform for Republicans struggling to avoid the tag of “do-nothingism” practically writes itself.
In place of ObamaCare, Republicans offer tax credits for individually purchased insurance, market competition (including the right to buy insurance across state lines), and legal reform. In place of cash for clunkers and government-run car companies, Republicans offer car company stock divestiture. In lieu of spending the remainder of the non-stimulus plan monies, Republicans urge tax reform, including reduction of corporate taxes and payroll tax relief, and restoration of funds for a real shovel-ready program: the F-22.
The contrast between the parties is especially great for young voters who were swayed to vote for the hip, young guy over the grumpy senior citizen in 2008. It turns out the hip guy wants to force them to buy health insurance, load debt and an enormous future tax burden on their backs, and raise energy prices. It’s not very 21st century. As Michael Barone observed after ticking off the list of statist policies at the core of the Obama agenda, “The larger point is this: You want policies that will enable you to choose your future. Obama backs policies that would let centralized authorities choose much of your future for you. Is this the hope and change you want?” [link]
I think it has become clear that the kind of change that Obama has introduced is not the kind of change that the American people were expecting.
But they still hold out hope. Hope for real change from the past, not continued growth of government and unsustainable federal profligacy.
The Republicans have a real opportunity here. But sitting down with the Democrats and hashing out a compromise on how long the rope should be with which we hang ourselves cannot be part of it.
Fight them. End it now, before it's too late.