But for four years under President Bush, we had not only a Republican president but also a Republican Congress.Gee, a libertarian organization knocking both Republicans and Democrats. And they do that, why, possibly?
And what happened? Nothing. Republicans left health care reform to wait until the Democrats regained power, and now the Democrats have.
All that a simple majority allows is for the Party with the simple majority to set the agenda. It has nothing to do with getting anything passed. The Democrats successfully blocked victory of anything conservative by using the Filibuster rules, which require a super-majority of 60 seats.
When the Republicans did compromise to get a Bill passed, without leaving it to the Democrats to tackle, we ended up with the Prescription Drug program, a cash cow if there ever was one. That prevented a greater disaster, by leaving it in the hands of Democrats to craft a similar-subject and worse Bill, but it was still horrible. That's the political reality, but I wouldn't expect anyone from Reason to allow reality to enter into the mix.
There are/were liberal Republicans in the mix, just as there are conservative Democrats in the majority the Democrats have now, which is what is stopping the reform the liberal Democrats are trying to push through. The Democrats have a super-majority, but they can't get HR3200 passed because they don't have a liberal super-majority in Congress today, anymore than there was a conservative super-majority during Bush's first term.
You'd think that a group of people who proclaim to be about how unique individuals are would avoid fallacious arguments like this, but in politics, everything is relative, such as in this case, when the leaving out of facts that invalidates your argument. (Hey, Reason, "reason" requires relying on facts, not ignoring them.)
The argument should be that we don't need any reform of the health care industry. The fact that people are crying out for reform is an example of the public being duped by propaganda. The Congress has no authority to "reform" the health care industry... but never allow a political crisis to go to waste, and in this case, use it as an opportunity to assert that libertarians should be in charge, rather than Republicans or Democrats.
H/t Instapundit.
Cross posted at From the Maenianum Secundum (comments are open there).
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