It may not be the worst idea in the world for Republicans to help the Obama Administration in its effort to reform entitlements. Indeed, several good things may come out of such a project:
- We finally implement responsible public policy and get the entitlement reform we need. And Republicans get to influence the entitlement reform effort, which is a bonus–particularly for a party that has lost the White House and is in the minority in Congress.
- To the extent that it is necessary for Republicans to look like they want to cooperate with the White House, working with the Administration on entitlement reform will offer a chance to do so.
- Encouraging the Administration will help set the cat amongst the pigeons by causing the White House to get into a potentially nasty fight with Congressional Democrats, divide the party and allow Republicans to prosper and thrive.
Of course, it is entirely possible that the Obama Administration will use entitlement reform to engage in a bit of strategic triangulation. It will be up to Republicans to ensure that the Administration is not able to make itself look too centrist by fighting Congressional Democrats on entitlement issues. But right now, Democrats are still riding high after the November elections and Republicans are still looking for some momentum. Trouble in Paradise on the other side of the partisan divide may help the GOP get its groove back.
Moe Lane
Steve Maley
Dan McLaughlin
Neil Stevens
Daniel Horowitz
Typical smoke and mirrors
Kyle-MI (Diary) Tuesday, February 24th at 12:06PM EST (link)The NYT article says that personal account are off the table. That only leaves two possibilities for reform: cut benefits and raise taxes. I would support some reduction in the growth of benefits, but it is just too easy for reprehensible groups like AARP to demagogue. That simple leaves raising taxes with the usual Democratic push for Republicans to be ‘bipartisan’. The best we can hope for is that they will only raise taxes half as much as Democrats would like.
For me, my retirement is 20 years down the road. The system will be bust by then. My plans do not account for social security. If it is there when I need it, it will be a nice little extra bonus, but I am not holding my breath. I support anything that slows down the shoveling of money into this black hole.
No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No,
The_Gadfly (Diary) Tuesday, February 24th at 12:17PM EST (link)and I say again No!
This is a sucker play, like Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown. Cooperating with Obama on this issue will simply extend the public’s distaste for Republican hypocrisy. IF it has any positive effect (about a 0.000001% chance), the Dems will claim all the credit, otherwise they use Republicans as the fall guy. Republicans should stake out a Republican position, fight for the Republican position, and let Obama and the Democratic Congress fight it out. Stand on principle darn it (word choice to abide by site policy)!
There is nothing positive about cooperation
kyle8 (Diary) Tuesday, February 24th at 12:44PM EST (link)Stake out your position and try to get most of it,
If you can get most of it then ok, you might sign on for the compromise, but if you don’t get most of what you want, just let the whole sorry system collapse,
Then you might be able to start over from scratch.
“Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty”
Kyle
Hello there, Is that really you, Pejman?
Rod_Patrick (Diary) Tuesday, February 24th at 1:09PM EST (link)I just can’t believe it came from you, Pejman.
Been there, done that…. and what did we achieve……Nothing…. they still labeled the Republicans as scrooges, right?