Tea Party Movement's Magical Thinking

Tea Party Movement's Magical Thinking - Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune

“Among other "awesome news" about Paul Ryan, as my son would call it, we have learned that Mitt Romney's running mate was voted prom king and "biggest brown noser" by his high school classmates. Obviously, he was destined for success in politics.”  The translation for the willfully ignorant and democrats: Ryan was a hard worker, smart, and got good grades. The envious could accept that he earned his position, so he must be brown noising. (I hope that is not a reference to race Mr. Page, of course if it was, that would be good, right?)

“In other words, Ryan brings to the Romney campaign the tea party's style of magical thinking, a blissfully simplistic, ideologically driven world view that seems to think candidates can win votes by promising to reduce popular government services.”

“Put simply, Ryan's plan, proposed in a partnership with Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, would provide a federal subsidy or "premium support" to people now aged 55 and younger to purchase private insurance instead of Medicare as we now know it, if they so choose. If they want a higher-priced plan, they must make up the difference. But if they find a lower cost plan, they can defray the excess to other medical costs. Such a deal. The purpose, Ryan says, is to encourage people to shop around and provide an incentive for overall health care costs to go down. But what if health care costs rise faster than the size of the subsidy or "voucher," as critics call it, which Ryan would peg to the cost of living? In fact, health care costs have been rising much faster then the cost of living and Ryan's plan is vague about how it would slow that rise.”

This is the crux of the problem, democrats believe people are stupid.  In any other are of life, when people “can’t afford it”, they do without. But when people do without, the providers lose business.  The providers, to regain business, figure out how to reduce their costs so they can reduce their price. The providers that do this, grow, the providers that don’t shrink.  Te average cost of the service quits raising, or at least not as fast.  The key is doing without, or earning more.  That is the “Hidden Hand” which is the majic

The democrat solution is “Death panels”.  Health costs too high? Throw granny under the train. Protect the government form pushers at all costs, including throwing you under the train. In Great Britain this is happening today. Treatments are delayed, and people die.

“More immediate, from a political point of view, Ryan takes a third-rail issue, especially with seniors, and puts it in center stage. Even though his Medicare plan would not affect anyone now over age 55, a similar feature did not save President George W. Bush's much less radical Social Security proposal a few years ago. The more Bush talked about it, the more Americans hated it. It died without getting anywhere near the floor of Congress.   Sure, services have to be paid for, but nobody enjoys doing that. As the late Sen. Russell B. Long, a Louisiana Democrat, used to wax poetically, "Don't tax you/ Don't tax me/ Tax that fellow/ Behind that tree."”  I am not sure what Mr. Page is saying here.  It seems he is everyone can be bought so Ryan is an innocent. Maybe everyone can’t be bought, and maybe “that fellow Behind that tree” just moved to Singapore.