Are liberals listening?

One wonders if liberal economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, or any of his far-left brethren really are. My impression is “no”, because as typical of hard-core liberals, he thinks he knows what’s best for you. If only you would shut up and listen.

Liberals like Krugman unendingly preach the same shrill message. So, why won’t people listen? Because we‘re smarter than what the left gives us credit for. The summer’s town hall protests, tea party marches and recent election surprises have had little effect. These undeniable grass roots signals are no more than background static to committed left-wingers. They simply must keep pushing their end goal: complete control of your life. Their version of health care "reform" is just the first step. And that’s why they’re so exasperated – you can see it in their stunned disbelief and arrogance at town hall meetings. Remember Texas’ Sheila Jackson Lee and her cell phone in the middle of being questioned by a constituent? Remember Massachusetts’ Barney Frank’s flippant commentary?

Krugman’s references to “passage of an imperfect but nonetheless history-making bill” are prophetical. “Imperfect”? Make that disastrous! History-making? You bet – if passed, it will mark the point where this nation slides off the edge into a free-fall toward economic and societal destruction. With complete control of the House and Senate, Democrats have yet to push Obamacare into law. They have the votes to do it without a single GOP vote. Yet they haven’t .

Doesn’t that tell you something? To Krugman, it doesn’t matter - he’s an ideologue; it’s the agenda above all. He wants what the Administration wants: one step after another towards some sort of socialist utopia, right here in the United States. You think the President was kidding in what he said to “Joe the Plumber” about “sharing the wealth? He’s dead serious! And like every other acolyte of “the cause”, Krugman and his ilk just keep pressing the issue.

While Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly has had trouble lately in defining communism vs. socialism regarding the Obama agenda, his many guests have not. And the answer is…Socialism! Obamacare is the first step in this President's promised fundamental change of America – to a socialistic state, much like Europe. Any doubt about that? Just take a look at statements made by members of the Administration’s closet cabinet of czars. Any questions?

Claiming that GOP opponents convey nothing but lies is weak: Krugman’s so immersed in ideology, he has trouble separating fact from fiction. Here are a few factors he’s missed:

Tort reform – where’s that? Well, as Democrats love to say: “follow the money”. Trial lawyers are key, highly influential contributors to the Democrat funding machine. As such, Democrats are loath to irritate them. Yet, limiting award judgments in medical law suits through tort reform would go far in reducing the staggering cost of malpractice insurance, as well as ease the need to practice “defensive medicine”.

Supply - Krugman the economist knows you can’t escape the law of supply and demand, but says little about it: In this case, if you massively increase demand through universal coverage without a corresponding increase in the number of medical care-givers, you inevitably wind up with rationing. In fact, I believe that the care-giver supply would actually begin to decrease as doctors, facing further reductions in Medicare reimbursements, would further reduce their Medicare patient loads, just to keep their heads above water. Hence that term Democrats can’t stand – “death panels”. Call them what you want, but someone will have to decide how a finite supply of medical care is allocated. It’s that simple.

“Process” - Republicans’ objections to reconciliation (the nuclear option, requiring a simple 51-vote majority over the customary 60-vote supermajority), to push the health care bill through are clear. They contend that reconciliation is typically used for passing the fine points of selected funding bills, not for a far-reaching overhaul of a major component of our economy – our entire health care system.

Emotional rather than rational arguments – In typical fashion, liberals focus on personal “sob stories” and ignore the far-reaching budgetary havoc wreaked on the entire economy.
Republican plan – a “race to the bottom”? - Conversely, the structure of this 2,500-page Democrat plan would more surely trigger such a decimation of available coverage. Insurance providers, faced the increasing pressure of government regulation would slowly be weeded out of the market to the point where Democrats could claim that the private insurance option has failed. This, of course, would open the door to the liberal holy grail – the “public option” or single-payer health care, just like Canada and Europe.

Finally, here’s an immensely telling line from the Krugman rant giving a hint of his true colors: “One of the great virtues of the Democratic plan is that it would finally put an end to this unacceptable case of American exceptionalism.” Now, what does that mean? To me, it illustrates Krugman’s preoccupation with European socialism and his embarrassment with our refusal to embrace the European mode and instead, cling to our silly notions that we Americans know there’s a better way.

And you know what? We do!