(H/T: Hot Air) I like Charles Krauthammer, and he’s a smart guy. And I even see his point about how destroying Obamacare before it gets off of the ground will give the Democrats a talking point/excuse/whine about how the program was never given a chance. So I can see the strength of his argument that letting Obamacare play out would pay dividends.
But…
Charles’ argument fails, on two levels.
- First off, we’ve all been to this particular rodeo before. In 2006 and 2008 one of the more insidious arguments pitched to conservatives was that staying home for those elections would give the Democrats a prime opportunity to show that they were incompetent buffoons who would mess the whole thing up. The good news? It worked: they were incompetent buffoons who messed the whole thing up. The bad news? It worked: they were incompetent buffoons who messed the whole thing up. I’d rather not repeat this with Obamacare, thanks.
- Second off – and more importantly – the American people did not elect a net +63 Republicans to the House and +6 Republicans to the Senate because they liked the candidates’ ties. The American people elected them because there is a sense in the land that it’s time to go out and – regrettably – go club some baby harp seals, for the good of the nation. And that’s what Republicans do. We get the unpleasant clean-up jobs, mostly because the Democrats wouldn’t know what to do with a mop if you gave them one. As the last four years have graphically demonstrated, in fact.
So I’m with Stephen Hayes in the video linked above: let us just slay the Obamacare beast, and let the Democrats complain about how the horrible Republicans [n]ever let them do anything. It will be a refreshing change from them just calling us racists.
Moe Lane (crosspost)