tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761684730989137546.post6863645560394939343..comments2024-03-28T07:50:06.102-04:00Comments on Mike Norman Economics: Bruce Bartlett — How Democrats Became Liberal Republicans mike normanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296006882513340747noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761684730989137546.post-89251403109181246372012-12-22T14:20:42.117-05:002012-12-22T14:20:42.117-05:00Much of the whine of Obama too far Right is a resu...Much of the whine of Obama too far Right is a result of Obamacare (no public option or single payer). Now it crops up with the Fiscal Cliff, which was the band aid for the Summer 2011 debt ceiling stupidity. Not much can be done about Obamacare now - it is what it is. However, debt ceiling round 2 offers 'promise.' While it would be horrendous, the silver lining in a politically-induced US bankruptcy would be having those of the whiny Left finally waking up to what has Obama over-the-barrel and looking like a Rightee. Sometimes a nation needs to nearly destroy itself to wake the stupids up.Salsabobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06056713962363584884noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761684730989137546.post-27133608884544445042012-12-21T21:32:06.783-05:002012-12-21T21:32:06.783-05:00I wish Obama would just declare himself a Republic...I wish Obama would just declare himself a Republican. That way, maybe he could then "go to China" and do what actually needs to be done.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10929929857098326319noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761684730989137546.post-28946221511259501962012-12-21T21:18:40.925-05:002012-12-21T21:18:40.925-05:00The disappearance of socialism as a viable politic...<i>The disappearance of socialism as a viable political philosophy deprived liberals of their ideological anchor, causing liberalism itself to drift rightward with the tide.</i><br /><br />I tend to think liberals were always sort of embarrassed by socialism and have long tried to distance themselves from it. The dissolving of the Soviet system simply left the Western elites with no competition from another system. I don't think there was ever a real ideological commitment or even "anchoring" to socialism within the liberal establishment. I think the only reason they tried to do something for the poor in the '60's, for example, was because poverty was an embarrassment to the West that the Communist leaders could point to and exploit in the cold war. It's no accident that the first major domestic post-cold war initiative was "welfare reform." Poverty's not an embarrassment anymore, and we need not ever mention again, they seem to think. The large post war middle class and the rest of the New Deal is next on the agenda and the so-called liberals are leading the charge. I sort of miss the USSR.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10929929857098326319noreply@blogger.com