printI’m always appalled by individuals, even on this site, who keep faith with the two-party system—and especially, the Republican Party—which, they insist, can be reformed. They’ve been watching the worms wriggle longer than I; but from where I’m perched, it is plain that had Republicans not made such a nuisance of themselves for so long, they’d be standing where BO is standing, heralding the near completion of the work of FDR.
That ObamaCare is awfully similar to (Mitt) RomneyCare is also plain to policy wonks who’re in the know. David Frum is an example. Admonishing the GOP for losing it by ostensibly tacking right—engaging in “overheated talk” and refusing “to deal”—David Frum points out that,
The Obama plan has a broad family resemblance to Mitt Romney’s Massachusetts plan. It builds on ideas developed at the Heritage Foundation in the early 1990s that formed the basis for Republican counter-proposals to Clintoncare in 1993-1994.
The FrumForum has more on the statist points of intersection between Romney- and ObamaCare:
Romneycare … did not create a federal bureaucracy; it created a state bureaucracy. It did not raise taxes; but instead was based on $300 million in free federal money. But in the main outlines, the two programs are identical.
My colleague Vox Day writes the following:
“…it is completely shameless for Republicans to complain that nationalizing health care is an unconstitutional expansion of federal power.”
“It wasn’t all that long ago that Republicans held the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives. With the exception of an 18-month senatorial interregnum from May 2001 to November 2002, the Republican Party held unilateral control of all three branches of the federal government for six years. And what did it do with it?”
“Republicans wasted their electoral popularity on two unnecessary and unpopular military occupations. They foolishly transformed what had briefly been a bipartisan budget surplus into what were then thought to be nearly unprecedented deficits. They stupidly created a new federal entitlement program that has turned out to cost far more than was originally estimated. And, to top it all off, they arrogantly ignored the clearly expressed wishes of the American public and handed over $700 billion to a collection of corrupt and insolvent bankers.”
Ilana,
Vox Day has hit upon a truth that needs repeating concerning conservatives looking for a home within the Republican Party: “Unless and until Republican voters and the conservative media realize that supporting the lesser evil only guarantees more and more evil, they will continue to be responsible for creating the very monsters that they so vehemently oppose.”
You are so right Ilana! I finally woke up and left the Republican Party in 2008. I did vote for a Republican in the primary (Ron Paul) and was blasted by friends for doing so. I refused to vote for John McCain. Thank you for writing this. True conservatives need to read this.
The succinct words of Vox Day are irrefutable. This message needs to be drilled into the brains of any Republicons who think the two-headed hydra in D.C. can be tamed.
(1) You, Vox Day, and a few others can sort through the mainstream political bull***t
served up by our two party (power hungry statist) criminal conspirators.
(2) The disaster that is Romneycare:
http://dailycaller.com/2010/01/10/massachusetts-health-program-a-model-for-obamas-national-reform-strains-state-budget/
‘Since 2006, the cost of the state’s insurance program has increased by 42 percent, or almost $600 million. According to an analysis by the Rand Corporation, “in the absence of policy change, health care spending in Massachusetts is projected to nearly double to $123 billion in 2020, increasing 8 percent faster than the state’s gross domestic product (GDP).” ‘
(3) EXCELLENT analysis of the Republicans voting FOR the 2003 Prescription Drug Plan with the Democrats opposing:
http://www.perrspectives.com/blog/archives/001662.htm
2003 Senate – Republicans FOR 43-9, Democrats oppose 11-35. ONLY 14 current House Republicans opposed the 2003 obscenity.
(4) Orwell predicted this all: e.g. Comrade Snowball proposed the windmill and Comrade Napoleon opposed it UNTIL he took over:
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/animalfarm/summary.html
Orwell only missed the numbing effect of the two party system on real political dissent.
(5) We have 2 Welfare-Warfare-Goldman-Sachs-Healthcare parties – the secular/labor /minority leaning Democrats and the religious/management/white leaning Republicans. However, the booboisie-electorate NEVER ever learn as we continue down the primrose path to Authoritarian Armageddon and national bankruptcy.
I always enjoy Vox’s work. He has followed up his column with a rather interesting post on his blog that was sparked by an email he received from another former Republican loyalist (Permalink: http://voxday.blogspot.com/2010/03/mailvox-republican-despair.html)
I, too, worked hard for the Republican Party for nearly a decade, and I would be an absolute fool if I told any of you that it made a damn bit of difference on anything. For those of you fellow Heartlanders, I cannot stress enough that the Republican apparatus looks upon us precisely the same way the Democratic operatives do. Those of you who still believe the great recapturing myth need to take a gander at David Frum’s and Michael Gerson’s latest few missives. To them, if you are not a statist (or at least statist-lite), you are an eccentric freak and a liability that is ripe for purging, in the supposedly great Buckley tradition. Shame on these people.
How do all these true conservatives propose to fight the Democrats? It’s time to stop talking and start fighting.
I still believe we should reform the Republican party. Actually, we have no choice since there is no viable third party and not enough time to form one without giving us Democratic rule in perpetuity. Tea Partiers are determined to purge the statists from the government no matter their party affiliation. I would suggest you jump on that bandwagon while it still offers some hope.
There is a great Party out there called the Constitution Party, formerly known as the Taxpayer Party founded by Howard Phillips. I wish the so called conservatives would join this party. I know I’m asking for too much.