I always remember a quote from David Eddings when it comes to nuance versus simplicity:
Belgarath: “She complicates this whole business, and I don’t like complications. I like nice, simple situations and nice, easy solutions.”
“Good and Evil?” Durnik suggested.
“That’s a difficult one, Durnik. I prefer ‘them and us.’
That came to mind when I read an editorial by the New York Times about Rep. Stutzman (IN-03) and his government shut down quote:
“We’re not going to be disrespected,” Mr. Stutzman said on Wednesday. “We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is.”
The New York Times opines that Stutzman’s statement reveals that this “crusade, which is ostensibly about dismantling health care reform but is really about humiliating President Obama and the Democrats, about winning something — anything — just to show a group of angry constituents that they are waging a fight against a hated political nemesis.” (The Wabash must be carrying some kind of foot-in-mouth virus; Rep. Rokita also stepped in it over the past couple of days, earning him a mention on The Daily Show).
Mixing politics with policy is nothing new. It’s the bread and butter of the system. Democrats definitely do that too. But it looks like Republicans have over played their hand on this one; and Rep. Stutzman’s statement suggests that the mix is awfully light on the policy.
There must be some really interesting data on the characteristics of Stutzman’s and Rodika’s constituency, e.g., what they think, why they think it, what makes them tick, so to speak. If these politicians are playing to their voters, I wonder if those voters have any hope of coming around some day and understanding the consequences for the sort of message their are sending, via their representatives, and just how destructive they are for the republic. Unless I’m terribly wrong, Stutzman and Rodika are not stupid men, but what they stand for and what they are doing says a lot about them and their constituency. People do get the kind of governance they deserve, but sometimes I wonder if they understand what that really means.
You are so right. Yesterday, Rokita said that of those communicating with his office, about 70% supported what he has said and is doing.
Low information voters? Well, low something that begins with the letter ‘i’, anyway. In Montgomery Co. (where I live), the traditional Republican party was taken over by the county organizer of the Tea Party, who has proceeded to lecture us, with the assistance of the newspaper of record, about the Republican platform, and why it must be rigidly obeyed.
A guy I work with (who is certainly NOT stupid) has fixated on one, and only one, aspect of the ACA: Low income people who can’t afford it will be forced to purchase insurance under this law, or pay a fine. If they can’t afford insurance, they can’t afford the fine.
I suspect most Indiana residents feel this way. They fail to respect the big picture and concentrate on selfish reasoning. These scare tactics are what have been pushed by the Tea Party, and Indiana is a Tea Party state.
ACA doesn’t kick in until a certain income level does it? If insurance would be more than 8% of your income, there is no penalty for not having it.
Yes, they don’t “get” that fact, either.
That’s correct. What the ACA attempts to accomplish on this front is to minimize the amount of people who do not have health insurance and, in turn, drive up the insurance rates for everyone who does (because we have to cover them). I’ve never heard this talking point though…so at least there’s some new lies about the law being put out there instead of the old stale ones.
The dirty little secret of health insurance has always been that the healthy pay for the sick. In the past, insurance companies looking to make a profit have limited the payments to those who are unexpectedly sick. The new wrinkle is actually paying for health care to those who are known to be sick.
If you’re content to just let poor people die, you can run a pretty efficient health care market. If you determine not to do that, then the healthy and wealthy are going to have to pay for that decision. There is not getting around that.
It’s no dirty little secret — it’s the basis for the whole insurance industry, whether it’s health, home, auto or Mary Hart insuring her legs with Lloyd’s of London. It’s ridiculous to think that have MORE people paying into an insurance pool will drive everyone’s rates up. In fact, there have been various surveys showing that those are are insured are paying around $1,000 per year more to make up for hospitals and doctors eating the cost of treating the uninsured (and unable to pay).
The 1,000 cost-shifting fee is in the ballpark. It may b e closer to 1200/year. But it is substantial, wasteful and inefficient.
Yeah, I know it’s not a dirty little secret. But, from the indignation one hears about how cherry picked demographics like the 27 year old single male will have to pay more, one might conclude that this is a revelation.
http://www.nationofchange.org/understand-shutdown-you-have-grasp-mindset-gop-base-1381067157
The above article looks at detailed polling of Republican factions, the fundamentalists, the Tea Party, and the “moderates.”
The two main factions, fundies and Tea Party, operate in the depths of loss and perceived loss. Loss of the idyllic small town, loss of white hegemony, and the loss of electoral power to a perceived democratic party that wishes to build votes through immigration and “government dependancy.” The fundies live and lose with their theology. The teabillies “get it” at some level, that white hegemony is over as America moves into a multiculture (which it sort of always was.) Neither can embrace change, neither can stop it.
They have a narrative built on myth and paranoia, but lacking a target, they internalize hatred for Obama and the ACA. That is why they will risk so much for the shutdown and the debt ceiling collapse.
Republicans are left to a Hobson’s choice. A face-saving grand bargain which will give them very little but provide some satisfaction to the base, or an implosion. They broke it, they bought it, and they will pay dearly.
Ted Cruz and company will fall into oblivion just as the misguided house leaders that impeached Clinton.
Carlito,
Very nice article, as was the original study it summarized. It helps address my question at the beginning of this topic. Thanks.
I just wish they had given us some estimates about numbers. How many folks carry those opinions?
Oops. Misspelled Rokita. Sorry.
I have it! They must have been mentored by Earl Butz.
I remember that at least Earl told good jokes. At least a few good jokes.
The best quote from the NYT is the following:
“Mr. Stutzman later released a statement saying he had misrepresented the Republican position, which is a reliable indication that he had accidentally told the truth. ”
Ouch. BTW, Stutzman is my congressman. I have great disrespect for him but will not tell him for fear he will stop my paychecks.
It’s funny how, when the narcissism of some people gets really jacked up, they believe that they can say anything and get by with it. That’s when they are likely to unintentionally speak the truth and when the smart folks at the NYT listen well.
Stutzman–not the sharpest tack in the bag–is just a demagogue who has manipulated the people in his district to get elected, and now he’s believing his own press. That’s when it can get fun.