April 9, 2014--Republicans Are "For Nothing"

When Frank Rich is booked to appear on the Rachel Maddow Show I try to tune in. I like the way he sees through the hypocrisy that passes for political discourse and though he is an unashamed progressive is not above giving Democrats corrective grief when he sees them pandering or posturing. Which is often.

The other night he joined Rachel to mark what they claimed was the end of the Obamacare debate. With up to 10 million newly signed up to be covered through health insurance exchanges or enrolled in Medicare, plus millions more young people covered by their parents' policies, they proclaimed there will be less political advantage to Republicans to keep bringing it up.

It's a done deal, they said, and as the benefits really begin to phase in and even people who were reluctant to be forced to buy insurance or be subsidized to do so see how good a heath care delivery system it is, they will become as fervent in their support of it as people were who hated the idea of Medicare ("socialized medicine") but now will defend it to the death. Or minimally, to the ballot box.

As evidence of this, Rich and Maddow cited the latest version of the Ryan budget which calls for the full repeal of the Affordable Care Act. They mocked him for being both politically tone deaf (again, it's a done deal) and for not having an alternative to propose. They showed clips of him making the rounds of the Sunday talk shows fumbling when asked what he was proposing as a substitute to the tens of millions who would be denied coverage or would see their coverage severely restricted since he and his colleagues also want to turn Medicare into a version of a voucher system.

Ryan said, "We're working on alternative proposals." He didn't mention that his budget is the third or fourth in an annual series of Ryan budgets, each not much different than the others, and that coming up with a viable alternative proposal should not have be taking this long to develop.

This shows, Frank Rich said, that Ryan and his fellow Republicans are against everything, that they are, as he put it, "for nothing."

For a moment this did not feel to me like much of an exaggeration. Republicans are clearly not for Obamacare; they are clearly not for Medicare or Medicaid as it currently exists; they are not for food stamps; they are not for environmental protection; they are not for financial systems regulation; they are not for taxes; they are not for . . .

Listening to Rich and Maddow make this list, it sounded as if the GOP is indeed for nothing. (Though they are for increasing defense spending.)

But on further thought this seemed simplistic. Even unfair. Disagree with them as you will, most Republicans are in fact for something. Actually, many things.

Being against Obamacare and Medicare and especially Medicaid is being for less government participation in healthcare.

Being against raising the minimum wage is being for letting the market determine workers' wages.

Being against extending long-term unemployment insurance is being for a Darwinian economy.

Being against regulations is being for allowing markets to self-correct.

Being against taxes is being for trickle-down economics.

You get the point. They achieve their goals but doing as little as possible. Being for something by seemingly being for nothing.

In sum, Republicans are not for nothing. Quite the opposite.