Beware of the politician who says everything is fine.
Earlier this week, Democrat Kathy Hochul won a special Congressional election in a GOP district of upstate New York. Some on the left are heralding it as a sign of a big Democratic resurgence in 2012. And because Hochul slammed Paul Ryan's budget plan as an attack on Medicare, party leaders like Harry Reid say it shows a mandate for rejecting any major reforms in big entitlements. It's funny that Reid didn't see his party's complete wipeout in 2010 as a mandate to repeal Obamacare and balance the budget, but one off-year election in New York is a mandate to reject Medicare reform. Indeed, yesterday, the Senate rejected Ryan's budget plan without ever proposing any plan of their own. For his part, Ryan accused Democrats of shamelessly distorting and demagogueing his plan. He calls it "Medi-scare." So what's the real story?
First, it wouldn't be wise to draw a lot of conclusions from one race that was so weird, it sometimes seemed like a rerun of "Twin Peaks." Republicans were hurt because the incumbent resigned after he was caught posting shirtless photos of himself on the Internet. Outside groups poured in tons of money that distorted the race; their ads included a cartoon Ryan throwing a senior citizen over a cliff. Plus the conservative vote was heavily split by a self-described "Tea Party" candidate who previously ran as a Democrat. The only conclusion to be drawn from all that is that politics has replaced the circus as America's favorite form of clown-based entertainment.
When political consultants start trying to amp up fears of Medicare reform, just remember: whether you like Ryan's plan or think there's a better way, something has to be done to keep programs like Medicare solvent. Even Bill Clinton said that Democrats shouldn't use this election as an excuse to do nothing about Medicare. Anyone who tries to get your vote by telling you that everything's fine, and the people who are trying to fix the problems just want to kill seniors, is NOT looking out for YOUR interests. He's looking out for his own.
Obama Working Under The Radar
Gun control activist Sarah Brady was on Capitol Hill last month. She said that President Obama dropped in on the meeting and told her he's working on instituting more gun control, but he has to do it "under the radar." Maybe Mrs. Brady didn't realize this, but judging from the swift reaction, giving that quote to the media officially put it on the radar.
Sincerely,
Mike Huckabee
Paid for by MikeHuckabee.com
No comments:
Post a Comment