But here is NBC/WSJ’s opinion poll about current Republican Presidential candidates:
Please.
As a result of this poll, I have to be sure that you heard about a recent interview of Huckabee by the right wing nut, Steve Malzberg. Two men who aspire to be President of the United States of America – Huckabee and Gingrich – are Birthers! What’s next, crop circles and alien abductions?
This George Will column is a must read if you have any inclination to vote for Huckabee or Gingrich or if you just enjoy laughing out loud – nobody does sarcasm like George.
Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich and the Spotlight-Chasing Candidates of 2012 by George Will Washington Post, March 6, 2011
Will’s most important point is this:
The 2012 Republican Presidential “nominee may emerge much diminished by involvement in a process cluttered with careless, delusional, egomaniacal, spotlight-chasing candidates to whom the sensible American majority would never entrust a lemonade stand, much less nuclear weapons.”
I make this point regularly to my friends who are on ridiculous email lists or who listen to the professional provocateurs of AM radio and FOX News. These people are low life hucksters who diminish the cause of good government and reform.
While I’m on the subject, I assume that nobody could vote for Sarah Palin not only because she’s a brain dead bimbo but also because we don’t elect people that abandon their duties as governor in order to pursue better opportunities. Governors Sanford and Palin, I hope, need not apply even for Walmart Greeter.
As for Mitt Romney, Obamacare was modeled on Romneycare – no fiscal conservative could vote for the man. We must do what we can to be sure Romney does not get the nomination.
You can listen to the following exchange on NBC’s Meet the Press for 3/6.
Governor Mitt Romney speaking in New Hampshire: Now our approach next door was a state plan to address state problems in ways that were unique to Massachusetts. We were one of the laboratories of democracy. Now, our experiment wasn't perfect. Some things worked, some things didn't, some things I’d change. But one thing I would never do is usurp the constitutional power of states with a one-size-fits-all federal takeover. I would repeal Obamacare.
After showing the above clip, David Gregory asked David Brooks whether that statement would be enough to get conservatives to vote for him.
Mr. Brooks: Yeah right, good in my state but not in the others. No. The individual mandate is the core of the Republican criticism of it. And Romneycare, the Massachusetts plan, has the individual mandate. That's the core problem.
I see the core problem as money. Romneycare and Obamacare vastly raise costs by insuring millions of additional people without paying for them and by doing nothing to “bend the curve” of costs rising faster than the economy. Massachusetts is a state level laboratory and Romneycare has failed. More people are insured there at the moment but costs are up more than the national average and the state will go broke far sooner than it would have before.
Romney will have to admit error – a physical impossibility for politicians – apologize and say he will apply what he’s learned to Obamacare or he’s wasting his time. I hope we will reject him either way, people don’t change.
Here is my last digression.
Every child knows that we can’t insure tens of millions of additional Americans without increasing the deficit. Obama says the reverse, so how can the President of the United States continue to utter such a bold faced lie?
As best as I can understand it, here is the answer:
Progressives believe that it is a moral imperative to provide free healthcare to every American, cradle to grave. The end justifies the means.
Obamacare would not gain even Democratic votes if the bill were seen to raise costs dramatically. To secure votes from Blue Dogs, House leadership invented two ideas:
1. One or more of the over 100 panels put in place by the legislation will find the reforms necessary to both pay for the system and bend the curve. Trust us.
2. Since that faith is not measurable by the CBO, the bill will be structured such that the CBO has no choice but to find savings in the first 10 years. This was accomplished by mandating the double counting of hundreds of billions of dollars and by putting hundreds of billions on the cost side outside the 10 year window while including cost reductions for the entire period.
The Democratic super majority Senate never intended to pass Obamacare without reconciliation; they were careless and lazy and got tricked. As a result, many Blue Dog Democrats are gone and we are stuck with a very bad bill.
Progressives believe three key things that motivate their thinking and actions:
1. It is good for government to provide basic services and people like it that government does that.
2. We can always raise taxes.
3. Conservatives – and pesky actuaries and economists – are always saying we can’t afford Social Security or Medicare or whatever but we’re still here. Europe is worse/better and they are still here. The experts must be wrong.
The President is a progressive. He thinks he’s doing right. I imagine he thinks of his statements as “white lies.” The progressives have to go but we’ve also had enough of the right wing Luddites and libertarians. Vote in the primaries – fight to vote in both party’s primaries. Throw the bums out.
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