It seems to us that “conservative” Speaker Paul Ryan either accepts the premise that the government should actively manage most of what goes on in the country or he is pathetically ambivalent or weak. The policy equivalent of fat with government, drunk on Beltway thinking, and stupid as to what is good for a republic. Fundamentally “stupid” does not mean incapable not clever or not surreptitious.
Just look at Ryan’s (and McConnell’s) capitulation or their gamesmanship in support of managed healthcare and matters undergirding Obamacare. It seems to us Ryan believes government is by no means limited to being a referee, a protector of the Bill of Rights, a sustainor of freedoms with limited powers. Holding to the classic views of our founders requires intelligence at core — an understanding of their sharp reading of history, savvy fear of bureaucracies, smart humility. Speaker Ryan is more than welcome to prove this Christopher Jacobs article at The Federalist wrong.
Check Out Paul Ryan’s Secret, Illegal Plan To Bail Out Obamacare (excerpt)
House leaders have concocted a plan that would use a budget gimmick that arguably violates the law to bail out Obamacare and provide taxpayer funding to plans that cover abortion.
A fiscal Ponzi scheme that would give health insurers their two major desires—cost-sharing reductions and reinsurance—in one big bailout. If it passes once for a two- or three-year period, you can bet your life this scheme would turn into an Obamacare perpetual bailout machine, with insurers coming back time and time again for more crony capitalist cash. . . . .
Dropping Principles and Promises to Win An Election
After reading all this, some may wonder why Republican congressional leaders have taken the time to concoct such a scheme. In part because Congress (wrongly) repealed only the individual mandate as part of the tax reform bill, members worry about big premium spikes as a result of their actions, which will hit right around the time of the midterm elections this fall. Just as Senate staff talked openly last summer about how they structured their “stability funds” to yield premium reductions in November 2018, House leaders now want to “stabilize” the insurance markets this fall.
Or, to put it more cynically, they value preserving power more than they do their principles. Make no mistake, this plot would violate just about every principle conservatives hold dear. It makes no attempt to repeal Obamacare. Instead, it strengthens and entrenches it. It relies on budgetary smoke-and-mirrors to raise federal spending—a gimmick so laughable that it would destroy any credible claim Ryan could make toward fiscal responsibility and honest budgeting. It would also increase taxpayer funding of plans that cover abortion, because Democrats will never agree to this scheme if it includes robust pro-life protections in law, as doing so would effectively prohibit exchange plans from covering abortion.
