"It's The Economy, Stupid!": Schumer Figures This Out Only Six Years Too Late
New York Senator Charles Schumer gave a speech the other day saying Democrats made a mistake putting health care "reform" (scare quotes are mine) before the economy. Peter Suderman writes at reason:
At a speech at the National Press Club yesterday morning, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) argued that Democrats were wrong to take on health care reform so soon after the 2008 election."Unfortunately, Democrats blew the opportunity the American people gave them" after electing Barack Obama president and Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, Schumer said, according to Bloomberg News. "We took their mandate and put all our focus on the wrong problem--health care reform." Democrats, he argued, should have focused on jobs and the economy first, and tackled health care reform later. It wasn't a mistake the pass the health law, in other words, but a mistake to put it at the top of the to-do list.
Of course, it's all about what's good for the Democrats at the polls, not what's good for the country.
And he's still all "Big Government Uber Alles" -- smack dab in the face of its failure.
Chuckie Schumer, as usual, is talking out of both sides of his mouth. The problem isn't just one of misplaced priorities; the Democratic Party has for some time now maintained an aggressive indifference towards the economic situation of the average American. (Not saying the Republicans are any better, but the Democrats are the ones running the show in Washington these days.) I'm reading this morning about how the combination of Obamacare and Obama's unconstitutional suspension of immigration laws has created an economic incentive for employers to hire illegals over American citizens. It's clear that the White House sees this not as an injustice, or a demonstration of the impossibility of government "smart management" of the enconomy. It sees it as a PR problem to be solved by whipping journalists into line. The fact that the combination of laws has further enabled their business cronies to pay sub-minimum wages, while putting Americans out of work, is not their concern.
(And I will emphasize once again, lest the point be missed: Right now it's a Democratic Party problem because they are the ones driving the train. But ultimately, it's not a Democrat or a Republican problem. It's a Washington problem.)
Cousin Dave at November 26, 2014 6:32 AM
People can only afford to waste time on superflous social issues when "security and wallet" aren't matters of concern. Economy and security matter. The rest of it? Less so, if at all.
David at November 26, 2014 9:13 AM
Obama was quite clear when he said he would rather we all were poorer and more equal than some getting richer.
Ben at November 26, 2014 9:26 AM
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