I’ve been a member of the Stupid Party for most of my adult life. And when I say the Stupid Party, I mean the Republican Party. Has the Republican National Committee learned anything from the recent election disasters? If anything, the wrong lessons.
I’m talking about today’s Washington Post op-ed by RNC chairman Michael Steele that actually pits the GOP as the pandering “Party of the Entitlement Status Quo” (H/T Jon Henke).
The tide has turned against Obama Care’s government health care takeover, and what do we get? The Democrat-light “seniors’ health care bill of rights,” rather than a serious proposal that injects more freedom and portability into the debate.
I agree with Bruce McQuain: by pushing the themes of the Steele op-ed as the primary debate message, the Republican Party is acting “dumber than a box of rocks”. If the national GOP continues to pursue this kind of short-sighted campaign strategery, they will miss the opportunity of a generation — one Steven Nielson ably explained in a post yesterday.
A much better (though not perfect) alternative that has received less publicity is a proposal introduced today by Representative Tom Price of the Republican Study Committee: The Empowering Patients First Act (PDF). I also previously have pointed to promising plans put forward by Republicans Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan.
So here’s hoping that the “seniors’ health care bill of rights” was just a trial balloon, one that needs to be shot down yesterday. National Republican leaders could at least treat principles of liberty as something better than an afterthought. But pandering to old people is no more appealing when Republicans do it than when Democrats do it.
Ben,
Could you hear you’re commenting on national issues. One fan in MN appreciates it.
Kraig