THE PRAIRIE EDITOR: The Delusion of a (Democratic) Fury
My title for this op ed comes from the polytonal operatic masterpiece
by Harry Partch, one of America’s great, influential (and now neglected)
composers. But I don’t think Harry Reid’s version is any kind of masterpiece.
In fact, Mr. Reid’s work seems to be absolutely tone deaf.
How is it possible that we are on the verge of enacting an impossible health
care bill which masquerades as “reform?” The poll numbers are overwhelming.
American voters have figured out that this legislation will make our already
perilous economic situation much worse. The fiscal numbers don’t add up.
Harry the politician doesn’t even want the public to know what’s in the
legislation until it becomes law. Most importantly, the “Obamacare” proposal
does not change the way the national now does its medical business; it only
expands the financial cost, under the rubric of expanding care to those who
are not now formally insured. The result inevitably will be the fiscal collapse
of the Obamacare system, and great damage to an economy now trying to
recover from recession and burst investment bubbles.
My answer to the question I just raised is that some liberal Democrats,
including most of the party’s leadership in the House and Senate, are in the
last throes of their anti-George W. Bush fury, their hatred of his foreign
policy (which each day now seems more and more correct), and of his
domestic tax policy. (To be fair, President Bush’s tax policy was not
coordinated with a correct spending policy, and the continued use of bailouts
was based on a policy that he and his Treasury secretary originated.) The
delusion of these Democrats did not, however, begin with their fury at
George W. Bush, but with abstract notions derived from the New Deal
“revolution” inaugurated by Franklin Roosevelt that became later a full-
fledged welfare state. As Newt Gingrich acutely has observed, and I
paraphrase, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid live in a time capsule dated
1975.
President Obama’s complicity in all of this comes not only from his
politically inexperienced and academic background, but also from the
desire of his political entourage to have a major “accomplishment” to
dangle in front of the electorate in 2010 and 2012. (That Obamacare
is something they think will impress voters may be the biggest
self-delusion of all.)
Harry the composer transformed the timeless ambiguity of life, the
“delusion” every human being lives with, and the fury of human
ambition to understand and improve daily lives into a great work of
art. Harry the politician has put together an artless, unambiguous
and hopeless program. That is the delusion of the Democratic fury.
A bit more a rant than I’m used to reading here, frankly. There’s plenty to criticize about the health care “reform” package, but to chalk it all up to anti-Bush sentiment is not what I consider thoughtful commentary.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: "The Boss" is a superb editor known for careful reading and editing,
but he has not apparently read this short piece carefully enough. If he had, he would
not contend the op ed "chalk(s) it (criticism) all up to anti-Bush sentiment." This op ed
cites the bias of the legislation's authors toward now outdated premises and social
ideology from the 1970's and before as the major roots for the "delusion" (although
the anti-Bush sentiments do account for much of the "fury."]
Americans are a practical people. They’re not as reflexively soft headed as some on the left nor as reflexively ideological as some on the right. They’ll like the removal of pre existing conditions and the idea that 30 million more will be covered. The big question in my mind is whether future Congresses use it as a platform to spend more or not. But that’s been a question since the first days of the Republic.