Tag: Wall Street Journal

life

“Whole Foods” Republican

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photo credit: ilovemypit

Nearly three years ago I publicly wondered where I fit politically. Since then I have solidly concluded that the Republican party is the best fit for me, but now I have found a term for my general political view – I’m a Whole Foods Republican who Michael Petrilli describes as:

independent-minded voters who embrace a progressive lifestyle but not progressive politics. These highly-educated individuals appreciate diversity and would never tell racist or homophobic jokes; they like living in walkable urban environments; they believe in environmental stewardship, community service and a spirit of inclusion. And yes, many shop at Whole Foods . . .

What makes these voters potential Republicans is that, lifestyle choices aside, they view big government with great suspicion. There’s no law that someone who enjoys organic food, rides his bike to work, or wants a diverse school for his kids must also believe that the federal government should take over the health-care system or waste money on thousands of social programs with no evidence of effectiveness. Nor do highly educated people have to agree that a strong national defense is harmful to the cause of peace and international cooperation.

Tags Elevated, parties, Republican, Wall Street Journal

General

A Bit Late But Welcome to 1984

Post author By David
Post date December 29, 2009
9 Comments on A Bit Late But Welcome to 1984

I wanted to gag this morning when I heard the suggestion on the Wall Street Journal This Morning that those who needed health care had the option to go on the internet to purchase it. Since when was Viagra, or even Advil, considered health care?

Of course I understand what they meant – those who need health insurance can go on the internet and find more and better options than they might otherwise encounter and we have been repeatedly exposed to the notion that “health insurance is health care.” Admittedly that’s not quite “War is Peace” or “Freedom is Slavery” but January 1 is approaching and by the time it arrives we might just find that we have another 26 years until 2010.

Tags 1984, media, misinformation, Wall Street Journal

General

Of Big Tents and Purity

It’s a busy holiday time so I’ll spend more time quoting and less time expounding. Back in May, Jim DeMint expressed the very opinion I still hold about How Republicans Can Build a Big-Tent Party by holding to one key principle:

There is a question Republicans do need to ask: What is it that binds our party together?

. . . Moderate Republicans are right to remind conservatives that they cannot build a center-right coalition without the center part. And conservatives are right to remind moderates that Republicans only succeed when we rally around clear principles.

The real mistake is that Republicans became more concerned with staying in D.C. than reforming it.

Despite notable successes at both ends of Pennsylvania Ave., it seems to me that Republicans in Congress and in the Bush administration forgot a simple truth. To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, if you aim for principled reform, you win elections in the bargain; if you just aim for elections, you get neither.

No Child Left Behind didn’t win us “soccer moms,” but it did cost us our credibility on locally controlled education. Medicare prescription drugs didn’t win us a “permanent majority,” but it cost us our credibility on entitlement reform. Every year, another Republican quality was tainted: managerial competence, fiscal discipline and personal ethics.

To win back the trust of the American people, we must be a “big tent” party. But big tents need strong poles, and the strongest pole of our party — the organizing principle and the crucial alternative to the Democrats — must be freedom.

(emphasis mine)

We’ve been discussing the ideas of purity, conservatism, inclusiveness, and intra-party division a lot in the last few months. I believe, along with many of you, that holding to principle and being inclusive are not mutually exclusive goals. There must be strong poles to hold the tent up, or to put it another way, there must be something in the tent that makes people want to enter. I agree with Senator DeMint that freedom would be a very enticing offering – but we have to find a way to articulate the vision of freedom and not allow the message to by framed in negative terms by those who disagree with our vision.

Tags ideals, Jim DeMint, parties, reactions, Republican, Wall Street Journal

culture National

The Dangers of a Crisis Mentality

Post author By David
Post date October 30, 2009
16 Comments on The Dangers of a Crisis Mentality

photo credit: paparutzi

Soon after the election last year in the Wall Street Journal, Gerald Seib wrote about the opportunity presented by the financial crisis for Barack Obama. Perhaps he was simply reacting to Rahm Emanuel’s statement that, “you never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” Seib summed up that perspective on crisis by saying that:

The thing about a crisis is that it creates a sense of urgency. Actions that once appeared optional suddenly seem essential.

That really captures the essence of a crisis mentality. Unfortunately it only looks at the silver lining while ignoring the cloud in front of it. The assumption is that we all can see the dangers of the crisis cloud. Unfortunately the only part of the crisis cloud that most people see is the front side – the possibility with any crisis that we will fail. The problem is that right in front of the silver lining he spoke of there is the hidden backside of the crisis cloud which we conveniently forget.

Because of the sense of urgency that tends to accompany a crisis we not only begin to view once optional courses of action as essential, in many cases we go beyond that and begin to view once forbidden courses of action as excusable.

Tags change congress, Elevated, government, health care, issues, liberty, Obama, unconstitutional, Wall Street Journal

National

Nobody Wants the Status Quo

Post author By David
Post date August 17, 2009
8 Comments on Nobody Wants the Status Quo

photo credit: planspark

Proponents of the current health care proposals charge that those who oppose these proposals only want the status quo. No honest Democrats have stepped forward to admit the truth that opponents of these measures have been offering alternatives and decrying the status quo. The leader among dishonest Democrats today is none other than President Obama (whom I have tried to refrain from specifically criticizing) who not only will not admit the truth about opponents of his preferred reform package but who goes further by holding “town hall meetings” where no opportunity for discussion is even considered (as do many of his followers) – these are not chances to discuss and enlarge public understanding of the issue, they are opportunities to indoctrinate the masses one town hall at a time.

Nothing I have said excuses the behavior of some protesters at many town hall meetings who are equally disinterested in any actual discussion, but any real leader would have to rise above such rabble and be willing to engage and explain rather than pontificate and cajole.

Among those speaking against the current reform proposals there is a common belief that has never been addressed by backers of the proposals – that the current prescription will actually be worse than the status quo (which they agree is not an acceptable situation). Not only are they speaking against the dangerous potential of the current direction but here are a few of the ideas that are not being offered to considered by our current leaders.

Tags civic participation, connections, discourse, Elevated, health care, Jim DeMint, Obama, Ron Paul, Wall Street Journal

General

Facts From Honduras

One month after Manuel Zalaya was sent into exile we are hearing very little news on the situation. The crisis in Honduras is still not resolved however and now Roberto Micheletti, the interim President, is expressing his views in the Wall Streett Journal. The views that he shares sound like he is very much on the same page as Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, whose position I covered a couple of weeks ago.

I’m not sure if the story withered from lack of interest or if the facts being cited by the current leadership of Honduras make it hard to continue pushing the version of events that the media seemed to prefer.

Tags Honduras, international, media, Wall Street Journal

National

I Call Theme

A link posted on KVNU’s For The People blog leading to this this WSJ article fired off my pattern recognition neurons. From the article:

Whatever the cause, it is a dangerous beginning. Mr. Obama can currently afford to do some accommodating. But if he gets a reputation for getting rolled by the unruly mob, his agenda is kaput.

The article looks amazingly similar to coverage discussed in Breaking the News related to Clinton’s presidency as he took office. Here Obama has not even been inaugurated and the news is already telling us that his presidency is off to a bad start. Come to think of it, they said the same thing about Bush because of the “cloud over his election.”

Tags media, Wall Street Journal

General

Real Capitalists

My reaction to Obi wan’s claim that "pro-capitalist conservatives have pushed for governmental intervention into our capital markets" was that nobody who supported the bailout has any claim to being a capitalist. I find that my position is much more clearly stated by Judy Shelton in the Wall Street Journal:

Honest capitalism requires the following:

Free-market clarity – Consumers must be able to properly judge the inherent value of goods brought to the marketplace if markets are to function properly;

Monetary integrity – Monetary-policy decisions that "stimulate" the economy by issuing too many claims to real production, or "constrict" the economy by reducing the amount of available purchasing power or capital investment, utterly confound the notion of stable money.

Financial validity – What turns the reputable practice of granting credits to deserving borrowers into a high-stakes casino game where the biggest stacks of chips are held by speculators working for the world’s largest banks and investment houses? . . . Exotic financial derivatives that gamble on the anomalies of the global economy — currency movements, interest-rate disparities, governance incongruities — mock the very concept of "investment" to generate future higher returns from production.

Regulatory responsibility – Rule of law is a core requirement for civil society; without it, anarchy reigns. Government regulation does not create wealth, but it is a necessary condition to provide the stable and predictable environment that permits buyers and sellers to carry out economic and financial transactions with confidence.

Entrepreneurial opportunity – Much of the resentment felt by citizens toward the massive investment companies who peddled bad government paper, and the craven politicians who promoted the practice, stems from the perception that capitalism is rigged toward the most powerful. When the owner of a small retail outlet or medium-sized service firm gets into financial trouble — who steps in to help? . . . Equal access to credit is sacrificed to the overwhelming appetite of big business — especially when government skews the terms in favor of its friends.

(emphasis added)

This is what I was trying to say in Financial Foundations Exposed and which makes me reject the notion that capitalists pushed for intervention in our markets. I admit that many of those pushing for that intervention claim to be capitalists, but some of them make the claim as a lie and others make the claim in ignorance. No real capitalist could back the bailout because real capitalists recognize that there is value to be had in failure.

Tags connections, economics, government, money, reactions, Wall Street Journal