CPAC is emblematic of why conservatives lost the health care debate
Laura Rigas, a spokeswoman for the American Conservative Union (which runs CPAC), confirmed to me that although “health care and the associated budget-busting costs at the federal and state level will be addressed in a number of panels,” there would be no panel dedicated exclusively to the health care issue. …
It’s precisely this attitude — by no means exclusive to CPAC — that has crippled the advancement of conservative health care solutions for decades.
The biggest conservative policy victories, such as the advancement of supply-side economics in the 1980s and welfare reform in the 1990s, came when conservative intellectuals and activists rallied around ideas at times when liberals didn’t have compelling answers to important problems. But conservative activists often disregard health care as a liberal issue — unlike taxes and guns — and only become engaged when liberals attempt to advance big government solutions. …
Though it’s a struggle to come up with silver linings from the passage of the health care law, it seemed that, at least for a while, conservatives were becoming more engaged on the health care issue. But in hindsight, the interest in health care policy on the Right is looking more like a fad built around opposition to Obamacare.
Blowback
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We didn’t lose the debate. Obamacare was unpopular when it was being crafted. It remains unpopular after its passage. And just wait til it’s fully implemented.
What we lost were the 2006 and 2008 elections which paved the way for the Dems have the numbers to ram it through on a party-line vote. And then we lost the 2012 election which was our last shot to repeal the law.
What we need is to start winning national elections. And while there are debates that we’re losing that are contributing to the difficulties we’re having in winning back the White House and Senate, I’d argue that health care is not one of them.
Doughboy on February 28, 2013 at 9:20 AM
Exactly….
We didn’t lose this debate….Obama had to bribe members of his own party to pass this bill with filibuster proof majorities.
It is still unpopular and becoming more so as the Obama cultist start seeing their costs going through the ceiling while their options disappear.
Pretty much all the claims and promises made by Obama concerning Obamacare have turned out to be 100% false:
ObamaCare’s Broken Promises
Every one of the main claims made for the law is turning out to be false.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323374504578217720567917856.html
….The White House lying and a lap dog press covering for him is not “conservatives losing the debate”…….it’s political cronyism at it’s worst.
Baxter Greene on February 28, 2013 at 9:26 AM
What goes this clown expect CPAC to do about Obamacare. Talk about it? To what end? It’s the law now, somebody made sure of that.
fogw on February 28, 2013 at 9:26 AM
Conservative health care solutions…
One, remove the requirement for a Doctorate Degree for most care! Stitches do not require 12 years of medical training to do. Perhaps for a cosmetic surgeon, it is a good requirement, for stitching up your run of the mill cuts and bruises on most people, not so much.
Two, quit subsidizing health care through the government. This includes but is not limited to, no tax breaks for company provided insurance in excess of the cost of a catastrophic plan, medicaid and medicare. If you think it is expensive now, wait until it is free. Personal Responsibility!
Three, stop subsidizing schools. This is what drives the cost of the education of doctors (everyone actually) through the roof.
Four, make only out of pocket direct payments for medical care tax deductible. Reduce the amount of insurance used, reduce the paper work, and make people price shop for the best deal using their own cash. Save the insurance for catastrophic coverage.
Five, loser pays tort reform.
astonerii on February 28, 2013 at 9:28 AM
Conservatives (the GOP) see consensus.
Democrats seek laws.
jake-the-goose on February 28, 2013 at 9:35 AM
Isn’t that all CPAC does about anything, is talk? Log Cabin Republicans — OUT. GOProud — OUT. Mitt Romney — IN. Who speaks at CPAC is now a bigger freakin deal than what they say when they’re there.
CPAC = the Academy Awards of conservatism
gryphon202 on February 28, 2013 at 9:37 AM
Yeah the “big demon HMOs” started out as a Cali GOP “solution” to healthcare.
Uh idiot here’s the solutuion…get the federal government out of the price control business on medical care and let the market get back to offering market solutions for different price points.
God I hate you pundits.
harlekwin15 on February 28, 2013 at 9:38 AM
Nicely summarized.
Doomberg on February 28, 2013 at 9:38 AM
We have Obamacare, because an establishment republican hack provide the 60th vote to break the filibuster.
Kjeil on February 28, 2013 at 9:39 AM
Well roberts saw to it that is was a ‘tax’ and bhocare was constitutional!
L
letget on February 28, 2013 at 9:44 AM
Teddy The Swimmer was a big (in more ways than one) early proponent of HMOs, but I don’t believe he ever belonged to one.
The ugly truth is that the only way to control health care costs is to weaken government involvement in health care. The closer you come to getting government out of health care altogether, the closer you will come to solving the problems that all the wonks and bureaucrats claim to be trying to solve. Who on The Hill is proposing that? Name me ONE Republican who has said, in so many words, “government involvement is the problem.”
gryphon202 on February 28, 2013 at 9:46 AM
All great ideas that would really help drive down the cost of healthcare. Here is a great article about how healthcare was finance before government became untwined with the healthcare industry. However, do you expect for the corporatist GOP to take on the AMA and destroy their healthcare monopoly? People need to wake up and see that the GOP is part of the problem.
antifederalist on February 28, 2013 at 9:48 AM
Progressives lost the debate in public opinion and they lost the Commerce Clause debate in the Supreme Court, but they go their stinking law anyway. They need to pay for that.
forest on February 28, 2013 at 9:50 AM
The GOP is part of every problem now.
gryphon202 on February 28, 2013 at 9:51 AM
yeah…opposition to gigantic, unsustainable entitlement programs is just a fad, not a serious policy position.
BobMbx on February 28, 2013 at 9:59 AM
More accurate.
Myron Falwell on February 28, 2013 at 9:59 AM
Sure, conservatives lost the healthcare debate, and that is why Pelosi/Obama/Dems had to resort to lying and bribing.
And very possibly blackmailing, (no I didn’t forget the traitor Roberts).
/’traitor’ is not strong enough a word
Sir Napsalot on February 28, 2013 at 10:04 AM
Only laws for the little people, and laws which they are exempt from all.
Sir Napsalot on February 28, 2013 at 10:06 AM
I actually think Klein’s point is a bit different. I think he knows that Robertobamacare was and is unpopular. I think his point is that conservatives can’t just pop up at crisis points; they have to keep the pressure on. If we are to believe the conservative pundits, the bill is in crisis and libs know it. They’ll be coming back to try to fix it (Hewitt’s view that that’s one of the big reasons they are puching on 2014). And Klein’s point — I think — is not to wait until then; keep pressing conservative ideas/solutions.Since Dems are in permanent campaign mode, conservatives/Republicans need to do something to respond.
And there were two major Senate votes on Robertobmacare. The first was 60-39-1. No Republican voted for it. Bunning didn’t vote. That was part of what was so devasting about Franken winning. But they needed a second vote because the House version differed. After Brown got elected (“I will be the 41st vote against Obamacare”), they couldn’t pass the needed amendments to square the two versions. Hence, Reconciliation…which required only 51. But no Republican Senator voted for it.
EastofEden on February 28, 2013 at 10:25 AM
Since Newt was ousted, this is the truth. He was the last smaller government party member in leadership. Bush unfortunately presided and helped inflate the housing bubble that he then used the popping of which to transfer wealth from the people to wall street. He also decreased the freedom of the citizens with the war on a tactic instead of the real enemy Islam. With the final insult to injury being that he destroyed the conservative movement and made way for Obama to be president, Pelosi to be Speaker of the House and Reid to be Senate Majority Leader.
astonerii on February 28, 2013 at 10:32 AM
Got it one. Obamacare was brought to you by Olympia Snow and John Roberts–putative conservatives/republicans.
ElectricPhase on February 28, 2013 at 11:03 AM
That’s pretty much exactly what it does. It’s a place for the politically ambitious to showcase themselves. It long ago ceased to meaningful.
Doomberg on February 28, 2013 at 11:14 AM
I think conservatives actually won the health care debate if you consider how vastly unpopular Obamacare was before it was rammed through and how vastly unpopular it remains to this day.
steebo77 on February 28, 2013 at 11:31 AM
I don’t want a war on Islam (over 1 billion people) but I can’t find anything to disagree with the other things you said.
antifederalist on February 28, 2013 at 11:38 AM
One of the big hurdles for conservatism is that it actually doesn’t have a go-fix-it solution for every problem. The main reason for that is that a go-fix-it solution is almost always an over-bearing government solution. The other reason is because we don’t see every single person’s problems as a problem for the community as a whole: you have a problem? You go take care of it.
Progressivism says there is a solution for every problem, if you’re smart enough and have enough resources. Since not everyone is smart enough or has enough resources, we’ll simply use our smarts (those in government) and use government to steal everyone else’s resources, and solve that problem for you. Any rational adult with a decent grasp of the human factor could see that ain’t gonna work.
But, proving a negative is never a good position in which to be. That’s where conservatism is stuck. Until such time as we restore (probably on a smaller scale than the current nation) a society that does grasp that human factor (e.g., understand the work ethic) rather more than it doesn’t, we are just totally out of luck on “selling” conservatism.
Hence, LIB
GWB on February 28, 2013 at 12:11 PM