I may not be a conservative Republican, but I do respect and admire the opinions of thoughtful, balanced writers, no matter what their political stance. David Frum’s recent CNN column is a very well written and persuasive commentary on the damage the Republican party has done to itself in the healthcare battle, as well as some well reasoned suggestions as to where to go from here.
I agree with Mr. Frum on most of his points. Healthcare is an accomplished fact, and the Republican leadership needs to accept that and move on. Attempts to derail the legislation after it is signed into law may well have far-reaching negative consequences for the country as well as for the Republican party. As Frum says, a more productive and probably more favorably received (by the voters) strategy would be to pass laws to fix those portions of the new legislation that are the most troublesome from a Republican point of view. Blindly attacking the entire legislation is a strategy that is very high risk and which has already failed (probably at great cost to the Republican Party), and continuing to do so may well have additional major side effects.
I find it disingenious, for instance, that former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is denouncing the new legislation as unconstitutional due to it’s requiring all citizens of the US to sign up for healthcare or face fines. He seems to have forgotten that he was governor when the system upon which the new Federal Law was based became law here in Massachusetts, legislation that he championed as a bipartisan victory, and for which he lauded the Late Senator Ed Kennedy’s assistance in making it possible. Does he think Democrats will forget this in the upcoming election cycle? Romney’s claim will be great ammunition for any Democrat running against a Republican who makes the constitutionality of the new law an issue.
I also wonder, in this rash of Republican State Attorney Generals filing lawsuits to get the law declared unconstitutional even before it has been signed by Obama, if anyone has considered the consequences of such a legal victory (should it ever happen)?
If the U.S. Supreme Court were to decide that Federal Government programs forcing citizens to get insurance are unconstitutional, then does this impact Social Security, which is another Federal Insurance program that all citizens are required to sign-up for?
If not, then it will be because the new legislation forces citizens to sign up for private insurance, not a government program. This will leave Republicans with the option of either taking responsibility for ditching healthcare reform entirely – not likely to win them many friends when millions of formerly uninsured Americans instantly lose their newly acquired protections; or else they will need to create a government sponsored insurance plan in its place – the very thing they spent lots of time and effort demonizing the current legislation for!
Finally, there is the issue of “battle fatigue”. You can’t keep on whipping up the rank and file of your party into a frenzy on every major issue, especially if you keep on coming back to them with nothing to show for it. Eventually they’ll get burned out and turn their back on you, or else they’ll go and look for someone else who is actually able to get things done. As Frum says, the “All or Nothing” approach the Republican leadership is currently using is a negative, short term, high risk approach. It is not a long term, strategic plan for positive change. It can be effective, but is a weapon that gets “blunt” very quickly.
Frum’s column is one I think Liberals and Conservatives, Democrats and Republicans should read. He raises issues and questions about the new legislation that all of our representatives in Washington should seriously consider, and not just dismiss out of hand, or sweep aside in favor of a broad attack upon the entire package.
Liberals take note: there is intelligence on the other side of the fence!
Copyright (c) 2010, Allen Vander Meulen III, all rights reserved. I’m happy to share my writings with you, as long as you are not seeking (or getting) financial benefit for doing so, and as long as proper credit for my authorship is given (via a credit that mentions my name or provides a link back to this site).
The Here and the Hereafter 