An Agenda From Talk Radio... Arg

I’ve spoken about our need to get an agenda. In fact, I’ve written a book outlining one. Well, I’m starting to see more people waking up to the fact we need one. Unfortunately, a lot of these people still don’t get it. The point to an agenda is to create a list of promises that will attract the voters, but the agendas I’m seeing don’t do that. Indeed, a few days ago, someone sent me a link to an agenda created by a self-described “genuine conservative.” This agenda could actually be called the “Talk Radio Agenda” because what this guy did was, under the guise of independent thinking, repeat the various things talk radio has told him. It’s a disaster.

Here are his ten points in order:

1. Defund Obamacare. He starts by demanding we defund Obamacare, which is fine for the red-meat crowd, but didn’t sway the public to vote for Romney. So more is needed. Fortunately, he actually does suggest a plan to replace it with in point three, so let’s examine that here too:

3. Reagancare. Barf. Naming a disaster after Reagan is an insult, and this is a disaster. This “plan” begins with the usual “let insurers compete across state lines” line which the public has already rejected several times but which talk radio repeats like dogma. Then he goes full retard.

First, he says we should limit malpractice lawsuits “to cost,” which shows he doesn’t understand how the legal system works. Not only is this the practical equivalent of banning malpractice suits, but you are smoking crack if you think the public will support a plan where a mother of five goes in for a $100 dental procedure, dies, and gets awarded $100. Bullsh*t.

Then comes this: “Provide high risk pools for individuals that genuinely can’t afford coverage.” Well, duh! Why don’t we do that now? Oh yeah... cost. The reason Obama is trying to run Obamacare through private insurers is because the cost of the uninsurables is impossible for the government to bear. Right now around 5% of the public absorbs 49% of all healthcare costs. That means to set up the pools he wants to cover this 5% of the population, the federal government will need to cough up roughly $1.5 trillion a year. Paying for that would increase the federal budget by roughly 40%. This is what happens when people bloviate without knowing the facts.

So his plan is to enrich insurers, put taxpayers on the hook for $1.5 trillion a year, and make sure that people who are injured by doctors are screwed. Yeah, average voters will jump right on that.

2. “Make Congress and the Bureaucracy Live Under Obamacare.” Notice three things here besides the fact that, in any worthwhile agenda, a point this closely related to the first would be wrapped into the first. Point one: this is a stupid promise. If people hate Obamacare, then promise to end it... don’t promise to apply it to Washington. Conversely, if people don’t hate Obamacare enough to support repeal, then what in the world makes you think this will be anymore meaningful to them? This reeks of pettiness.

Point two: this is what’s called “inside baseball.” This is like promising to change the way new bills are distributed around the Senate... no one gives a sh*t! Tinkering with government procedure is a game for wonks, not something the public cares about. Point three: I’m not in a mood to debunk this, but Washington IS living under Obamacare, and promising to make them do what they are already doing as some sort of revenge will only lead to disappointment.

4. Pledge To Read Every Bill. Oh goodie, an unenforceable pledge to tinker with the inner workings of Congress! I can see middle class families breathing easier already.

5. The Job Creation Act FINALLY! After three wasted and one insane point, we come to something the public cares about: creating jobs. Let’s see what our friend suggests... “defund Obamacare.”

Excuse me. //Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

I’m back. So to create jobs, we’re going to defund Obamacare. Great, I’m sure the public will be all over that. Let’s see what else this guy comes up with. Oh, we need to repeal Sarbanes Oxley... something that is meaningless to average people and which doesn’t affect jobs. Indeed, except for the fact that this guy keeps hearing this screamed at him by talk radio, I’ll bet he doesn’t even know what the supposed problem is with Sarbanes Oxley.

Next, he wants to “do away with the National Labor Relations Board.” I wonder if he understands that eliminating the NLRB would just send these issues to federal courts instead, which would stretch labor disputes out for years, put companies under court control, and create different labor rules throughout the country? I’m thinking, no.

Then he suggests increased funding for unemployed worker retraining. Yeah, throw more money at a program that isn’t working without a hint of reform... how liberal. He also wants to allow businesses to “write off all of their new equipment after one year” to encourage them to buy more. That’s the closest he comes to a workable idea, but that just moves future purchases forward one year, it doesn’t actually increase economic activity – it’s recapture that matters. Moreover, equipment competes with labor, so this will probably reduce employment.

This is a boogeyman economic agenda. This guy simply lists the things talk radio told him “are killing jobs in Amer'Ka!” and he wants them gone. None of this would work, and none of it would appeal to average voters.

6. A Two Year Spending Freeze! He will freeze ALL spending, “including government salaries” for the next two years, “except spending on defense, Veteran Affairs, and entitlement programs.” //ROFLMAO!! This BIG spending freeze will apply to only 13% of the budget because of his exception and will probably only slow growth by half a percentage point. Nice. Oh, and as with his other points, this offers nothing to make the lives of average voters better, i.e. Joe Sixpack doesn’t care.

7. “Cut Your Gas Bill Act.” Drill in ANWR, build the Keystone Pipeline and encourage offshore drilling. Ok, so this is finally something that might appeal to average people. But does the public actually think this will benefit them? Nobody trusts the oil companies; they are constantly talking about collusion. Do you think a promise to help oil companies will be meaningful to the public? Will the promise of a few cents reduction at the pump in ten years sway voters? It didn’t work for Romney or McCain/Palin.

8. “Claw Back the NSA Act”. Sigh. Agreed. We finally stumbled on something useful, something the public will like. Kumbaya. Of course, this is a minor concern only for the public and you’ll have to fight conservative hawks to make this happen, but at least it’s something.

9. Audit the Fed! LOL! Not only is this just more tinkering with procedures, but this is all premised on false conspiracy theories. You don’t elevate paranoia to policy.

10. No More Bailouts! Repeal Dodd-Frank. Yeah. Average people are just screaming for that. Oh wait, they don’t even know what Dodd-Frank is, nor would repealing Dodd-Frank prevent bailouts.

And that’s it. Notice that most of this is obsession, some is conspiracy theory, and the rest is talking points. The writer of this agenda doesn’t understand how government works, how law works, what the budget looks like, how jobs are created, or even why he doesn’t like some of the boogeymen he hates. Notice also that none of this will appeal to average people outside of the talk radio set (where this stuff is taken on faith as a panacea).

So I ask, is this really what conservatism has become? Purging the Earth of Obama, tinkering with government procedure, giving breaks to crony-socialist companies and “common sense” ideas that ignore little things like a $1.5 trillion price tag? You know, when Buckley and Reagan defined conservatism, conservatism actually stood for things. It stood for the American dream. Conservatives pushed for more and better jobs through deregulation to make it easier to start businesses and hire people, tax cuts to let people keep more of what they earned, free trade to help sell American goods overseas. It stood for helping people buy homes. It stood for helping people send their kids to college and improving education through the introduction of competition. Conservatives pushed to help people save for retirement, invest their money, and pass on their wealth to their kids. There’s none of that in this agenda... or on talk radio.

We can do better.