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ObamaCare will not be repealed or defunded. Deal with it. - The Week
On March 21, 2010, my former boss and mentor, David Frum, wrote a story that ran on FrumForum.com under the headline "Waterloo." It harshly criticized conservatives for their uncompromising opposition to the bill officially titled the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, However, surveying the legislative landscape, David observed that the GOP never had enough votes to defeat the health-care bill. While conservatives could not prevent the bill from becoming law entirely, David argued that they could have engaged with Democrats and possibly watered down many of the bill's most unconservative provisions. Instead, though, the GOP refused to participate at all because the worse the bill the unchecked Democratic Congress passed, the better Republicans would do in the 2010 midterm elections.
Realistically, what that means is that repeal is not an option, since even if the GOP did somehow manage to secure a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate in 2014 (which even the most optimistic prognosticators will tell you is not going to happen), the GOP still could not affect repeal (since the president would veto). And yet, despite this harsh reality, serious members of the GOP are still promising voters that they will repeal the law. Indeed, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz are threatening to shut down the government if the president does not defund the law.
Late last week, Charles Krauthammer finally put his foot down in the face of Cruz and Lee's continued efforts to shape GOP policy proposals as if they lived in a perfect conservative world that simply does not exist. Krauthammer did not mince words, describing the Cruz/Lee ultimatum as "nuts." While he acknowledged that he would support defunding ObamaCare if he thought it would work, he also said it's obvious that it won't work, and that he does not fancy "suicide." Indeed, while Lee and Cruz will undoubtedly claim those who don't support their cause are less than full conservatives, Krauthammer correctly observed that one's position on their proposal has little to do with principle and everything to do with "sanity."
Over the past three years, the GOP base has become so enamored with the idea of ideological purity that they have been willing to throw the realities of real world politics overboard to chase it. But real defenders of conservatism must learn to embrace the painful compromises of day-to-day governance. Otherwise, we will become a party that stands by and debates itself while living under completely unchecked legislation shaped wholly by our ideological opponents.
On March 21, 2010, my former boss and mentor, David Frum, wrote a story that ran on FrumForum.com under the headline "Waterloo." It harshly criticized conservatives for their uncompromising opposition to the bill officially titled the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, However, surveying the legislative landscape, David observed that the GOP never had enough votes to defeat the health-care bill. While conservatives could not prevent the bill from becoming law entirely, David argued that they could have engaged with Democrats and possibly watered down many of the bill's most unconservative provisions. Instead, though, the GOP refused to participate at all because the worse the bill the unchecked Democratic Congress passed, the better Republicans would do in the 2010 midterm elections.
Realistically, what that means is that repeal is not an option, since even if the GOP did somehow manage to secure a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate in 2014 (which even the most optimistic prognosticators will tell you is not going to happen), the GOP still could not affect repeal (since the president would veto). And yet, despite this harsh reality, serious members of the GOP are still promising voters that they will repeal the law. Indeed, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz are threatening to shut down the government if the president does not defund the law.
Late last week, Charles Krauthammer finally put his foot down in the face of Cruz and Lee's continued efforts to shape GOP policy proposals as if they lived in a perfect conservative world that simply does not exist. Krauthammer did not mince words, describing the Cruz/Lee ultimatum as "nuts." While he acknowledged that he would support defunding ObamaCare if he thought it would work, he also said it's obvious that it won't work, and that he does not fancy "suicide." Indeed, while Lee and Cruz will undoubtedly claim those who don't support their cause are less than full conservatives, Krauthammer correctly observed that one's position on their proposal has little to do with principle and everything to do with "sanity."
Over the past three years, the GOP base has become so enamored with the idea of ideological purity that they have been willing to throw the realities of real world politics overboard to chase it. But real defenders of conservatism must learn to embrace the painful compromises of day-to-day governance. Otherwise, we will become a party that stands by and debates itself while living under completely unchecked legislation shaped wholly by our ideological opponents.
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