From Kausfiles:
I still haven't heard a convincing argument against the Sudden Victory strategy (in which the House passes the Senate health care bill, fixes it later). ... President Clinton endorsed (and signed) the 1996 welfare reform while pledging to correct its excesses (notably its harsh treatment of legal immigrants). .... in fact Clinton was largely successful in going back and fixing the problems he identified, if I remember. ...
Rejoinder:
1. Basically, that bill was wildly popular. The health bill no longer is.
2. The welfare bill needed minor tweaks. This needs big ones.
3. The welfare bill was relatively simple, thus easy to fix. The health bill is very complex. It can't be fixed.
4. Clinton and old-line Dems were competent. Obama, Reid, Pelosi, Coakley (that’s right, diss Catholics, truck owners and Red Sox fans in Massachusetts!) are incompetent.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Behind closed doors
From Kausfiles:
Real legislative deals are always most efficiently cut behind closed doors, where the principals can be candid and concession-minded without fear of embarrassment, and where they can't grandstand. ... That's life. It's not like we don't know what the issues are, or that we won't find out how they've been resolved ....If the Dems let C-SPAN cover the negotiations they'd just have to find another room nearby in which to hold the real negotiations first. ...
Objections:
1. But traditional deliberations are not ENTIRELY behind closed doors. There are public hearings. Mostly they are window dressing, conceded. But in this case? There aren't even conference hearings. Those might be very informative this time. They'd likely add fuel to this debate.
If everything is really done behind closed doors, as cynics say, OK. Let's sell the Capitol then, and have everything behind closed doors. Rent some smoke-filled rooms. No tobacco smoke -- horrors! -- but gently waft some incense in.
2. Previous closed door meetings were at least between the majority and minority. This is just the majority, and even then only a small clique.
3. This isn't about bridges in Alabama and North Dakota. This is about my health care. I want to hear it.
4. So what if it's previously been done in a smoked filled rooms? As the old saying goes, the people have watched this sausage being made so far, and they're about to puke.
5. And O only won because he promised to do something new. OK, do something new.
6. If they can't keep this one promise, why should we believe anything else?
Real legislative deals are always most efficiently cut behind closed doors, where the principals can be candid and concession-minded without fear of embarrassment, and where they can't grandstand. ... That's life. It's not like we don't know what the issues are, or that we won't find out how they've been resolved ....If the Dems let C-SPAN cover the negotiations they'd just have to find another room nearby in which to hold the real negotiations first. ...
Objections:
1. But traditional deliberations are not ENTIRELY behind closed doors. There are public hearings. Mostly they are window dressing, conceded. But in this case? There aren't even conference hearings. Those might be very informative this time. They'd likely add fuel to this debate.
If everything is really done behind closed doors, as cynics say, OK. Let's sell the Capitol then, and have everything behind closed doors. Rent some smoke-filled rooms. No tobacco smoke -- horrors! -- but gently waft some incense in.
2. Previous closed door meetings were at least between the majority and minority. This is just the majority, and even then only a small clique.
3. This isn't about bridges in Alabama and North Dakota. This is about my health care. I want to hear it.
4. So what if it's previously been done in a smoked filled rooms? As the old saying goes, the people have watched this sausage being made so far, and they're about to puke.
5. And O only won because he promised to do something new. OK, do something new.
6. If they can't keep this one promise, why should we believe anything else?
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