Caption: Republican U.S. Rep. John Shadegg (AZ-03) explains why individual mandates without a public option is political suicide for Democrats.Image credit: Screenshot of FireDogLake video by Cujo359
Paul Krugman seems to have forgotten the history of this phrase, which I've emphasized in this quote from his blog:
If [passage of the health care "reform" bill] does happen, and Republicans campaign on repeal, Democrats should say “bring ‘em on”.
Health Care Resurrection
The most famous recent use of that phrase was in support of an unqalified disaster. This one looks to be, too. As Brendan of Brendan's Calling notes, once again this phrase was uttered by someone who wouldn't experience the consequences of that failed policy:
When Susie Madrak spent a good portion of 2008-2009 railing against the “educated elites” of the Democratic Party, I would get angry, because I didn’t know what she meant. After all, I’m highly educated and a Democrat, but hardly an elitist: I’m working poor, live in a low-income neighborhood, and work for a nonprofit.
I know what she means now though: she’s talking about the people who, by dint of their education, think they know what’s best for working people and the less-educated; that if only the less-educated would listen to the better-educated, they would learn about what’s best for their families.
The problem is, of course, is that “educated” is a two way street. And unless you’re in those working class shoes (or in my case, those working poor shoes), you don’t “know” what’s best for others. You need to experience those tight margins yourself for an extended period of time before you REALLY understand what it’s like to be on the margin of failure and penury.
How The GOP Will Campaign In 2010
As I've mentioned before, this is a problem with many progressive advocates - they really don't understand what it's like to be an ordinary working stiff in this country.
Here's the problem: The GOP will be happy to emphasize how opposed it is to the individual and employer mandates for insurance. They are, after all, ideas that run counter to a free market. Think I'm kidding? Watch this video of Republican Representative John Shadegg (AZ-03). That's the part of the health care bill the fewest voters seem to like. The Democrats will be killed on this issue at the polls. Needless to say, the GOP won't repeal these provisions. They're just as dependent on insurance company largess as the Democrats are. That won't stop them from using this issue to the Democrats' disadvantage, though. And that won't stop folks who are wondering where they're going to get that extra $1000 or so for the crap insurance they'll soon be required to buy from voting for them.
If people like Krugman are too clueless to understand this, I'll be happy to remind them in November on the day after the elections.
All you need to do to understand how powerless progressives are is to read what our "leaders" write. Stupidity of this magnitude has a price, and part of that price is being powerless.
UPDATE: In the sentence after the quote I changed the word "last" to "most famous recent". I'm sure that wasn't the last time some fool used the phrase, but it's certainly one that many people can recall. Also added the quote from Brendan, which explains this disconnect in a nutshell.
2 comments:
It isn't just the Krugmans that fail to understand the every day working folk. More and more it is blogsites, such as C&L, Huffpost, and even FDL sometimes. It seems they have all excelled and gotten a little wealthier, and so forget where they started. It's too bad. I can read the differences now, from years gone by, and have to check to make sure I'm on the right blog.
As I've written before, I've been well off and I've been poor. When you've been well off for a while it's hard to remember what not being well off was like. In my experience, most people need to be reminded from time to time.
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