Here are summaries of three recent opinion pieces
that impressed me.
1. In the NY Times Charles J. Sykes, a former
Wisconsin talk show host, wrote “If Liberals Hate Him, Then Trump Must be Doing
Something Right.” Despite the misleading title, the piece was saying that the conservative
GOP is gone, leaving in its place a party with nothing to offer except
opposition to those who oppose Trump. He concludes,
In many ways anti-anti-Trumpism mirrors Donald Trump
himself, because at its core there are no fixed values, no respect for
constitutional government or ideas of personal character, only a free-floating
nihilism cloaked in insult, mockery and bombast.
2. On the website Medium is “What liberals get
wrong about the Republican approach to health insurance,” by someone named
Taylor Williamson. He points out that liberals and conservatives do NOT share
the same goals for a health system.
These goals, he notes, “are clearly ideological; they are based on a set of
values and ideals that underpin the right to health.” Liberals view good
health care as a right, so they want better, fairer, more efficient and more
responsive healthcare, plus risk protection, goals embodied, albeit imperfectly, in
Obamacare.
But conservatives
do not believe in a right to health. Rather, they advocate conservative
principles of free markets, less government regulation, and more personal
responsibility. So they want people to pay for their own health care or
insurance. Insurers should be able to charge premiums that reflect the buyer’s risk.
Obamacare, by contrast, subsidizes health insurance. It forbids insurers from
charging older people for the true insurance risk they entail, while requiring
insurers to overcharge younger, healthier people.
Conservatives want
a free market in health insurance, providing maximum choice and flexibility.
They oppose Obamacare’s regulation of insurance terms, and its other mandates
and restrictions as well. Conservatives think “People should know, and
purchase, their needed level of insurance.” Miscalculation is their problem,
not ours.
Citizens should get
the healthcare they can buy, “no more and no less.” The freedom conservatives
seek is access to whatever you want to buy, not for everyone to have access to
good care. Indeed, although liberals point to data showing that healthcare in
the US is, on average, worse than in other developed countries, conservatives
point to data showing that for the richest people it’s the best available
anywhere.
Williamson’s helpful
conclusion:
Republican willingness to trade health equity and financial
protection for reduced regulation, increased flexibility, and high-end quality
stem from an ideology that promotes personal responsibility, free markets, and
reduced government intervention over equity, access, and risk protection.
Pretending that Republicans lawmakers care about the same things that Democrats
do, is a fundamental error.
3. Thomas Friedman’ column in the NY Times of May
16 points out that the problem with Trump is basically a problem of craven
Republicans, and will not be resolved by demonstrations, Saturday Night Live
skits, or other self-indulgent entertainments. Rather, the only solution is to
throw the rascals out, a matter of hard work in organizing, choosing
candidates, and helping them through work and finance. He says that the only
choice is chicken or fish, a phrase I think he should have changed to “fish or
cut bait.” It’s purely a power struggle, a matter of either fighting or
surrendering; there exists no third way.
