Populist, “pragmatic” conservative Bill O’Reilly warns the GOP that trying to repeal ObamaCare is not what voters want (some of that 2700-page assault on personal liberty is, you see, “good for the folks”) — that instead, what voters want is for the new Congress to focus on the economy. Thus, per O’Reilly, a push to rollback ObamaCare is “a classic trap,” one that the GOP would do well to avoid. Behold:
To which I say, simply, this: fuck you, Bill O’Reilly. And fuck any so-called “conservative” who thinks like you do.
Leaving aside the obvious fact that the fate of the economy is tied inextricably to the mammoth spending required should ObamaCare take hold; and leaving aside the fact ObamaCare is designed to kill private sector jobs, and therefore strain the economy in that way, as well; the idea that the GOP need be cautious and pragmatic in their approach to dealing with potential Democrat “traps” is yet another iteration of the losing-more-slowly refrain we’ve been hearing from the establishment GOP for years.
Even if the GOP can’t fully repeal ObamaCare, the fact is, they need to be seen trying to do so. And as they make the necessary legislative moves, they need to be at the forefront of the messaging, explaining to the American people — most of whom dislike the massive federal takeover of health care — precisely why they are doing what they are doing.
This is about first principles. And it was a newly energized segment of the electorate — legal conservatives, classical liberals, constitutionalists, libertarians, and Reagan Democrats (many of whom fancy themselves “independents” these days) — that, acting as a singular voting bloc, expressed their overwhelming desire to see the government constrained by those very principles set out by the founders and framers.
The Democrats and progressives are moving full-bore ahead with their memetic push to either marginalize the Constitution as a binding document, or declare its “vibrancy” as a living document — one that “means” new things in new contexts, with the document’s meaning dependent upon the whims of those reasonable people currently charged with interpreting it.
This is, as I’ve been at pains to point out over the years, a coup of sorts — a takeover of the country by way of a deconstruction of the rule of law, checks and balances, and representative republicanism through an institutionalization of linguistic incoherence: if the civil and legal contract represented by the Constitution can’t be understood as having an original meaning and intent, it is of necessity a contract whose provisions are ever malleable and determined by the whims of a judges in an increasingly politicized judicial climate.
If the GOP isn’t willing to fight for the first principles that undergird the rule of law as the founding idea of our representative democracy, the country, as it was envisioned and designed, is all but dead.
You can’t pick and choose which constitutional principles to fight for. You either believe in the Constitution or you do not.
And those who do not need to get out of the way — regardless of whatever political base they pander to.
““Obamacare Ends Construction of Doctor-Owned Hospitals
2:50 PM, Jan 3, 2011 • By JEFFREY H. ANDERSON
Politico reports today that “Physician Hospitals of America says that construction had to stop at 45 hospitals nationwide or they would not be able to bill Medicare for treatments.” Stopping construction at doctor-owned hospitals might not seem like the best way to boost the economy or to promote greater access and choice in health care, but that exactly what Obamacare is doing.
Kenneth Artz of the Heartland Institute explains, “Section 6001 of the health care law effectively bans new physician-owned hospitals (POHs) from starting up, and it keeps existing ones from expanding.” Politico adds, “Friday [New Year’s Eve] marked the last day physician-owned hospitals could get Medicare certification covering their new or expanded hospitals, one of the latest provisions of the reform law to go into effect.”
link
he thinks people should be required to pay welfare money back to the failshit federal government if they get more successful after they get the welfares?
Cable news whores don’t understand incentives very well I don’t think.
Cut off the head, gut it and leave it bleeding on the floor. Defund anything you can’t outright repeal.
NO PRISONERS!
I have watched Bill O’Reilly exactly once in my life, for about nine minutes. Watching him ‘interview’ Joe Lieberman on FNS was like watching Donald Duck throw a tantrum at Goofy.
My ignoring him didn’t make him go away I see. Ah well, his misjudgment of his audience may do that for me then, and so much the better, should he bring himself down, menace that he is.
I don’t give a rip if the Senate tables any bill sent to them from the House or if Obama vetos it. Send them a bill to repeal Obamacare regularly; make them resort to parlaimentary procedures they had to use to ram it through originally in the Senate, or make Obama have to veto it regularly. Make them own it. Especially since the public supports it’s repeal by a signifigant majority.
Live up to the campaign promises; vote to repeal Obamacare.
Hell, I say effin’ tie it’s repeal to raising the debt ceiling! Then let’s see who’d be playing irresponsible games of “chicken”.
This repeal bill will not take a significant amount of time to debate and vote on in the House, and it’s important that they do it to show where they stand. It need not take that long for the Senate to vote it down, either, since I expect that is what will happen. It’s symbolic, but symbolism can be very important at times.
The bill is a signal of what the new House expects to be doing. It’s only a beginning, but it’s an important one. There is so much more that needs doing, such as defunding those government agencies like the EPA and FCC that are running rampant, but there is no reason the House cannot attempt it all. Again, they might fail, but they need to draw the line and make a case for rolling back government to something saner. I don’t think they can get it back far enough to really suit me all at once, but we all need to know just where these representatives stand so we know who to vote for and who to vote out next time.
O’Reilly, on the other hand, is NOT a Republican nor a conservative. He is a populist. The only time I ever stop on Fox when he’s on is if Dennis Miller is on his show.
the point is we have to put Team Rs on record especially cowardly whores like Lisa Murkowski and John McCain
Thus, per O’Reilly, a push to rollback ObamaCare is “a classic trap,” one that the GOP would do well to avoid.
O’Reilly and his fellow travelers have it exactly backwards. ObamaCare itself is “a classic trap,” and one that has already proven itself as such, if one believes the recent election results. It is a political bridge too far, and it’s absolutely killing the Democrats.
O’Reilly couldn’t be more wrong here. The GOP/TP bloc should make unwinding this monstrosity a top priority in the coming year. Force the Democrats to defend it every week. For every press release that HHS or Pelosi or whomever puts out that touts its advantages to a particular sub-group, the GOP should be hitting back twice as hard with questions about who pays the cost, and what it does to our society as a whole.
This thing is a millstone around the Democrats’ collective neck, and the GOP would be stupid not to keep hanging more weight on it. The fact that O’Reilly and Co. are blind to this reality is disappointing. It’s a perfect opportunity to roll back the scope and reach of Washington, and it’s a perfect vehicle for promoting more rollbacks in general. I hope that there are some among the new guard who understand this, and have the ability to pursue it. Not holding my breath, though.
Has O’Reilly jumped on the David Frum-Bill Galton “No Labels” bandwagon yet? He’s their huckleberry.
That one caught my attention too.
Cable news whores don’t understand incentives very well I don’t think.
What’s the difference? Our failshit elected leaders don’t understand that extending unemployment results in people sitting on their ass until it runs out rather than take a job.
extending unemployment benefits is how our dirty socialist media shows the cowardly U.S. congress who’s in charge
Nah, he’s gotta be Mavericky, stay Bold and Fresh while he’s Looking Out For The Folks. No Spin, baby!
Bill O’Reilly isn’t a Republican, or a Democrat, or a Tea Partier.
He’s an arrogant, pompous ass who thinks the world revolves around his faux populist ‘looking out for the folks’ BS.
Like reading the Constitution, even though it’s over a hundred years old. Three thumbs up!
Yep. And he has had some success which I applaud (Jessica’s Law) but it has clearly gone to his head. He was a blowhard before, now he’s completely insufferable…and absolutely dominating the competition. Oy.
Bill O’Reilly stands something like 6-foot-thirty but he indulges in the blatant intimidation postures and behaviors normally seen among midget clowns.
I conclude therefore that “he” is actually Janet Reno’s better-looking sister.
Gee, Billy, what % of the economy is health care? And what proportion of our outrageous debt is because of Obamunistcare?
Not surprising. This is the same guy who actually approved of the illegal post-Katrina gun grab in New Orleans, and advocated for the government’s right to disarm people in any state of emergency.
[…] *Fuck you, Bill O’Reilly, by Jeff Goldstein. // Post Published: 04 January 2011 Author: Quantum Conservative Found in section: -QC-, Daily Right […]