Thanks, But No Thanks

Gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey are being closely watched for what the results might tell us about the mood of the public, and as an early referendum on the Obama Administration. We'll reserve comment until after the elections, but if the outcome is negative for the Democrats consider the following scenario: Democratic candidates next year eschewing Obama's offer to come to their state and campaign on their behalf. (The President wants to come to town? Thanks, but no thanks!) This happened to Clinton and Bush, we recall, but in both instances only after incumbent fatigue had set in well into their second terms. Will Obama be a liability for his party barely one year into his term?

Pop Goes the Culture

Years ago, RedStateVT's Connecticut neighbors would talk about how they would see David Letterman out jogging on the back roads or skating on the local ponds. Occasionally, one would reach out with a friendly comment or question for the uber-hip Dave. And in return they would get a sarcastic riposte from the cultural icon. What people do in private often tells you a lot.

It's been a rough stretch for Dave. First, he is forced to apologize for his uncharitable remarks about Sarah Palin's daughter, then he is revealed to be pulling a Clinton and having sex with his employees. And so how does he respond? He starts again on the Palin jokes. Well Palin will have the last laugh as reports indicate soaring pre-orders for her book. Meanwhile, the Left is falling all over themselves talking about her ghostwriter. Do they honestly think that Bill Clinton sat down and pecked out his now forgotten autobiography?

Snowe Job

From CNN.com:

Snowe issued a statement Monday, saying she was "deeply disappointed" with Reid's decision on the public option. She argued that a decision in favor of a trigger "could have been the road toward achieving a broader bipartisan consensus in the Senate." "It's unfortunate the Senate majority leader decided to take a different path, because he did say it was a pretty good doggone idea with respect to the trigger in September, so I don't what has happened to change his mind," she said later. "It's regrettable, because I certainly have worked in good faith all of these months on a bipartisan basis and, as you know, have been standing alone at this point as a Republican to do so because I believe in good public policy," Snowe added.

RedStateVT hopes Senator Snowe has now learned that bipartisanship is a one way street.....

BETWEEN BARACK AND A HARD PLACE

President Obama must be feeling the squeeze. On the one side are his usual detractors: Republicans, Conservatives, Free Marketers, the opinion guys at Fox, etc. On the other side are a far more dangerous group: The Ultra Left. There are increasing signs (a protest rally here, a brief news item on CNN there) that the Left is ready to step up their criticism of Obama. The laundry list of grievances ranges from the merely misguided to the truly nut job (he hasn't surrendered in Iraq and Afghanistan and brought the troops home, he hasn't prosecuted the insurance industry, he hasn't thrown Dick Cheney in jail, etc.) There is no wrath like the wrath of the Left toward one of their own. RedStateVT recalls political commentator Juan Williams - a Democrat, but an entirely reasonable guy - making this point several months back.

So how did Obama get into this bind? He has said something to the effect that everyone sees him and his presidency through their own prism. That's a bit self-aggrandizing for us. We look at it this way. Obama is in reality an Ultra Left guy. He surrounds himself with Reverend (God damn America!) Wright, Bill (the Weathermen didn't do enough) Ayers, Van (Bush blew up the Towers) Jones, Kevin (Practice safe sex with minors) Jennings, Anita (Long live Mao!) Dunn, etc. Yet he cannot let Middle America know just how radical he really is. And so he variously claims not to know or not to have heard or not to have seen and instead he talks about there being no Red States or Blue States. On policy issues, he is finding that he cannot do what the Ultra Left wants him to do and - in reality - what he wants to do. He can't simply mandate that all Dems back him on government run health care. He can't pull all the troops out of Afghanistan (let alone add 40,000 more!) and risk the consequences. And so he dithers, and studies, and holds more meetings and plays for time trying to figure out how to enact a radical agenda in a country that increasingly appears to want nothing to do with it. Mid-term elections may restore some balance to the political equation, but Obama will soon face a much bigger threat from his radical base. If they turn on him there will be nowhere to hide.

Fox in the White House

RedStateVT has watched in bewilderment as the Obama administration has picked a public fight with Fox News. On the surface, it is so counter-intuitive a strategy that it has us wondering just what the motivation can be. The Obama-ites have to know that they cannot silence Fox News, nor can they turn the network into the fawning MSNBC.

So by attacking Fox is the hope that they will at least get the network to tone it down?

Alternatively, do they hope to besmirch Fox’s reputation and, therefore, undermine its effectiveness?

Or, are they so arrogant and self-righteous that they are simply engaging in the Chicago-style politics that we often hear about?

We are hard-pressed to guess at the motivation, but we are pretty certain that it is not working. Fox is not backing down and the actions of the White House are now even turning off members of their own party:

A White House effort to undermine conservative critics is generating a backlash on Capitol Hill — and not just from Republicans. “It’s a mistake,” said Rep. Jason Altmire, a moderate Democrat from western Pennsylvania. “I think it’s beneath the White House to get into a tit for tat with news organizations.” (from POLITICO.com 10/23/2009)

RedStateVT Responds to Loyal Readers

Loyal Reader tedbob asks how insurers can be kept honest in the absence of a public option.

RedStateVT believes that free market competition is the single best way to ensure “honesty” in the delivery of insurance services (or just about any product, for that matter). If Insurer X can deliver a product more cost-effectively than Insurer Y, the consumer will flock to X. Y will be forced to become more efficient or risk failure. Problems inevitably result, however, when the government steps in and attempts to over-regulate an industry or limit competition which happens in the case of health insurance. For all the myriad of reasons that the mortgage funding market blew-up, it is undeniable that Barney Frank’s exhortation to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to “roll the dice” (i.e. increase lending to risky borrowers) was prima facie. Frank is condemned to the seventh circle of RedStateVT hell for his actions, and for his refusal to own up to them.

RedStateVT worked in the insurance industry for 21 years and so is arguably qualified to share some insights. The first is that there are no evil geniuses working at insurance companies figuring out how to screw the public in order to earn otherworldly profits. If this was the case, people would flock to work in the industry and the market would buy up its stock. Neither of these things happens and the truth is that, by and large, the companies are looking to serve their customers in an honest way. Unfortunately, the nature of the insurance contract lends itself to abuse and insurers must protect the honest customers from the potentially dishonest. We are truly sorry if Joe Public discovers that he has terminal cancer and that he has no life insurance to protect his soon-to-be impoverished family. But that does not give Joe the right to now buy a life insurance policy and fail to disclose his condition. Joe should have passed up the big screen TV and the bass boat and bought an insurance policy years ago.

Loyal Reader Cro-magnon argues for a “big tent” Republican Party in response to RedStateVT’s call for cutting Olympia Snowe loose. The big tent theory harkens back to deceased Republican strategist Lee Atwater, who RedStateVT generally admired. RedStateVT agrees that the party should be big enough to embrace Conservatives, mainstream Republicans and most Libertarians. It is not big enough, however, to shelter Democrats masquerading as Republicans such as Specter did for years. And as for Snowe? We’ll respect Cro-magnon’s view for now, but keep a close watch on how she responds going forward to the balance of the Obama agenda.

Loyal Readers may suggest a topic by sending an e-mail to RedStateVT@gmail.com.

Thanks for your thoughts. We’ll dissect more comments and feedback in future posts.

Life Imitates RedStateVT

We caught Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty in a brief interview on television last night and found him impressive. RedStateVT will keep a closer eye on the Governor as speculation grows that he may eventually run for the presidency. Pawlenty made a similar point to that found in our 9/30 post entitled Health Scare.....namely, the absurdity of Obama's claim that a public option is ultimately required to keep private insurers honest. Pawlenty (and RedStateVT) note that this same argument can be made to justify a government version of any private industry! Is this Obama's version of free market capitalism?

In our 10/13 post entitled Memo to Olympia Snowe we noted the absurdity of calling bipartisan the recent vote on the health care bill. Saturday Night Live spoofed this last week equating it to saying "hola" to your housekeeper and claiming that you are bilingual.