Sunday, July 26, 2009

Armstrongs on DeMint Handouts

The July 20, 2009 Grand Junction Free Press published the following OpEd on Linn and Ari Armstrong, "DeMint's health handouts violate liberty".

They analyze what's both good and bad about one of the leading Republican alternatives to the Democratic ObamaCare plan. One key point:
...So long as Republicans play the handout game, they will correctly be seen as "me-tooing" the Democrats, and they will continue to lose, step by step, inch by inch, to those who would subject the entire economy to political controls.

DeMint's handouts also distract attention away from the fundamental problem: health insurance is too expensive because of political controls. You solve that problem by repealing the controls, not by hiding them behind another welfare scheme.
The Republicans need to offer a clear principled alternative to the Democrats, and they need to support ideas that resonate with basic American values of individualism, responsibility, justice, and self-reliance. Otherwise they'll keep losing elections -- and deservedly so.