Sowell: “Train!”

So sue me – my dad was a speech teacher.  So I get frustrated at the complete inability of too many Republicans to not only state any message at all, but state is in a way the resonates with people who don’t live and breathe politics for a living.

And so does Thomas Sowell, who is frustrated by the fact that the GOP leadership seems to think the mission is to convince the Beltway:

When Speaker Boehner today goes around talking about the “CR,” that is just more of the same thinking — or lack of thinking. Policy wonks inside the Beltway know that he is talking about the “continuing resolution” that authorizes the existing level of government spending to continue, pending a new budget agreement.

But, believe it or not, there are lots of citizens and voters outside the Beltway. And what is believed by those people whom too many Republicans are talking past can decide not only the outcome of this crisis but the fate of the nation for generations to come.

You might think that the stakes are high enough for Republicans to put in some serious time trying to clarify their message. 

As the great economist Alfred Marshall once said, facts do not speak for themselves. If we are waiting for the Republicans to do the speaking, the country is in big trouble.

The Dems – at least the party as a whole – get it:

Democrats, by contrast, are all talk. They could sell refrigerators to Eskimos before Republicans could sell them blankets.

What they “get” is the first cousin of the old saying, “repeat a big lie often enough and people will believe it”:  

Indeed, Democrats sold Barack Obama to the American public, which is an even more amazing feat, considering his complete lack of relevant experience and questionable (at best) loyalty to the values and institutions of this country.

The Democrats have obviously given a lot of attention to articulation, including coordinated articulation among their members. Some years ago, Senator Chuck Schumer was recorded, apparently without his knowledge, telling fellow Democrats to keep using the word “extremist” when discussing Republicans.

Even earlier, when George W. Bush first ran for President, the word that suddenly began appearing everywhere was “gravitas” — as in the endlessly repeated charge that Bush lacked “gravitas.” People who had never used that word before suddenly began using it all the time.

Today, the Democrats’ buzzword is “clean” — as in the endlessly repeated statement that Republicans in the House of Representatives should send a “clean” bill to the Senate. Anything less than a blank check is not considered a “clean” bill.

The Constitution gives the House of Representatives the responsibility to originate all spending bills, based on what they think should and should not be funded. But the word “clean” is now apparently supposed to override the Constitution.

In the battle for the low-information voter, who leaves the last buzz phrase in the voter’s ear before polling time is the winner.

And Republicans just don’t do buzz-phrases well.

And in a perfect world, where voters and taxpayers paid attention and had, as P.J. O’Rourke put it, “the infinite good sense to give a s**t”, we wouldn’t have to.

That is why I get so impatient with conservative pundits who talk and write about politics like everyone is a member of the Center of the American Experiment.  Lots of good, smart people with conservative inclinations but “independent” politics aren’t.

38 thoughts on “Sowell: “Train!”

  1. Another reason The West is going to collapse on it’s self.

    We are allocating too many resources with politics and this situation works in the favor of the inevitable collapse.

    Paul Ryan once said that it takes us four sentences to counter anything they say with one. Statist trading of freedom for security is an easier sell than explaining freedom and prosperity.

    We are doomed.

    Ronald Reagan spent one hell of a lot of free time on trying to understand policy and explaining it, for good reason.

  2. For example, take the minimum wage. The minimum wage only does one of two things: 1. reduce someone else’s demand 2. reduce investment (i.e. future prosperity)

    If it sits in a bank account, it get’s leant out for demand or investment unless you have a Wall Street Socialist as president.

    We are doomed.

  3. “But if it sits in the bank, there is no demand, right?”

    No–it goes into T-Bills which is government spending.

    See, it’s hard.

  4. Is it possible that GOP members of Congress are shorting US Treasuries, knowing they will make a lot of money in a default situation?

    The debt-ceiling vote has always been a political charade. The idea of holding a separate vote on borrowing, as if it was a separate decision from spending and taxing, serves only one purpose–allow representatives from the minority party to grandstand as if they were actually doing something about the deficit.

    But what if representatives start to take their rhetorical posturing seriously, or repeat it often and fervently enough that the more gullible or ardent among their supporters won’t let them vote for an eventual debt-ceiling increase once the games are over?

    I mean, seriously, if you were buying a house, would you first sign a contract for the price, then another contract on whether the seller or buyer fixes the roof, and then another contract on whether the seller carries the loan or the buyer gets a loan, and then another contract agreeing on the move out date, etc? No, they are all one unified negotiation.

  5. “Is it possible that GOP members of Congress are shorting US Treasuries, knowing they will make a lot of money in a default situation?”

    This is just bizarre. What currency will they be paid in? Zlotys? Euros?
    Where do you come up with this stuff, Emery? It can’t be the result of a rational thought process.

  6. The one time a Republican hit a home run with a buzz word was when Sarah Palin pointed out Obamacare contains Death Panels. Nearly gave Establishment Republicans heart attacks. Nearly. Too bad. Might have made room at the top for aggressive leadership instead of passive-aggressive.

  7. I agree. How you say something is almost as important as what you’re saying. Importantly, the democrats look far more organized and put together than the republicans. Don’t know if I’m too dumb or smart, but I find the democrat’s buzz words quite off-putting; President Obama in particular sounds like a street corner con man with his repetitive mantras. Still, when all of the party uses them, it at least makes the group sound like it did its homework.

    The republicans seem to be all over the map with little internal consensus, along with weasels like McCain and Graham trying to see who can be the most contrary to the party. I suppose Cruz is also part of this, too. When one of the republicans does try to explain (rather than defend) their position, s/he still sounds like a 14 year old Catholic boy in the confessional trying to address but downplay his impure thoughts.

    I think we’re pretty close, if not there already, to a King Solomon moment where whoever makes a grand gesture to end the Obamacare stand-off “for the good of the country” will be percieved as “the grown-up.” Plus, they will also have cleared themselves (and us) from the inevitable crash that will follow. Or maybe concede with only a truly “clean” bill that would be Obamcare as written, with no concessions whatsoever. Then repeat the conditions incessantly to the media.
    Right now, I think the public will more appreciate the end of the stand-off far more than it would appreciate the end result.

  8. @Joe: Yes, I agree. You don’t know what’s going to happen if you drive off a cliff, but you can presume it’s not going to be good.

    @TheFedSucks: Although Reagan was no genius, his politics were informed by the work of able libertarian philosophers and economists. Similarly, Gingrich, a history professor of able intellect, was no anti-intellectual, able to base his proposals on firm philosophical ground. Somehow, from 1998 to 2008, that party was transformed from the party of ideas to the party of southern populism. I cannot support the Democrats, as I find their ideas so old and tired, basically retread 60s socialism, but I cannot support the Republicans when they have no ideas at all. The Democrats are a party of intellectual conservatives, trying to hold on to the old ideas and policies of a generation ago, while open to new cultural norms. Republicans have become a party of cultural conservatives only, with no openness to new intellectual ideas. I could tolerate the cultural conservatism when there were new political ideas that came with it.

  9. @Emery I agree with all of that. Both sides are nothing but stupid venal short-term thinking whores anymore.

  10. “@PM: My version of humor. Although sometimes I forget who the audience is.”

    Translation “Oh crap…he’s made me look like an ignorant, gaping asshole again.”

    I’m a trained professional; don’t try that at home.

  11. “But what if representatives start to take their rhetorical posturing seriously, or repeat it often and fervently enough that the more gullible or ardent among their supporters won’t let them vote for an eventual debt-ceiling increase once the games are over?”

    Jeeze..the Government would have to prioritize it’s spending to support the interest payments on it’s existing debt…New spending would come to a screeching halt (Oh NOOO!) and it’s ability to borrow more tomorrow would be compromised.

    It could get so bad Obama’s Sturmtruppen would have their accounts at Jerry’s Rent-It-All would be cancelled; no more Barrycades

  12. I have this theory that you can get away with anything by saying “Well, that’s your opinion”.
    Boss: “You’ve been stealing money from the till, Powhatan!”
    Me: “Well, that’s your opinion.”
    Boss: “It’s not an opinion! We have it on video tape!”
    Me: “Well, that’s your opinion.”
    Boss: “You’re fired!”
    Me: “Well, that’s your opinion.”

  13. With regard to “CR’s” – go to a work party with a spouse or partner or friend. If they start talking shop – which they likely will because talking about how the Vikings suck is worn out and since no true Minnesotan is ever content with the weather there is no purpose in discussing the weather – and the acronyms will be flying. Sowell recognizes that what is lost in all this is that a different language is developing. These people are supposed to be our elected representatives (along with their staffs), a wall has been created between them and the people that elected them.
    The fact that the news feels obligated to explain the difference between debt and deficit is bad enough. But when Barry starts saying things like “we have to pay our bills like every family”, I’m wondering what kindergarden class he thinks he is speaking to. The Fed’s in fact don’t have to and don’t pay their bills “like every family”. Like many families, they are taking on debt to pay their bills. In the Federal governments case, they are taking on way more debt to income than any family should or any ongoing business would be allowed to.
    As noted above, our countries elected leaders are stuck in some wierd time warp. They think it is usual to have elevator operators in 2013.

  14. Here, Boehner, let me help:

    “The President says he wants to pay his bills like any family, except he’s that guy who opens a new credit card so he can pay the minimum on all his existing credit cards. That’s no way to run a family, or a government. We’re not giving him a new credit card until he gets his spending under control.”

  15. Mr. Doakes-
    With the help of the media, Obama is taking credit for everything that the media thinks is good and avoiding responsibility for everything the media thinks is bad.
    So Obama saved the economy with an $800 billion stimulus, but congress is responsible for voting for deficits.

  16. “In any dispute the intensity of feeling is inversely proportional to the value of the stakes at issue” (Sayres, Kissinger, others)

    Now that it all matters less, election turn-out is down, only the ideologues care enough to participate, and only the loudest and rudest break through the media background noise to be heard.

    Just because hyperpartisanship is possible without incurring existential dangers, that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. While we gratefully acknowledge that we won’t perish if we don’t stick together, we need to recognize that we still won’t prosper if we can’t find some common ground. People have been giving far too much support to politicians, because they have been led to believe their group of politicians has ideas that are diametrically opposed to the other group of politicians. That is not true at all; we need a little perspective. We need to support efforts like anti-gerrymandering laws because they strengthen the people and weaken the politicians, rather than because they might present some momentary advantage to one party or the other. We need to transfer more power (to tax, to spend, to regulate) to states and localities, where it is harder to be partisan and easier for the people to make their voices heard.

  17. Kumbaya, Emery.

    Mark Steyn famously noted about COEXIST bumper stickers, that if we took the people represented by the crescent out of the equation, the bumper sticker wouldn’t be needed at all.

    Same problem on Capital Hill, which is people irrevocably committed to policies that will result in our national destruction. If resisting them is hyperpartisanship, so be it.

  18. The Republican party claims to be the party of opportunity. But they do so by celebrating those who have already succeeded, rather than giving a hand up to those who might succeed with the right opportunities. A true party of opportunity would seek to give a leg up to all those who demonstrate that they are striving for excellence, while punishing all of the many systems that preserve privilege. I see little of that from the Republicans, but also little from the Democrats.

  19. Emery-
    If you are a small businessman or entrepeneur, the GOP is your friend to a far greater extent than the Democrats.
    If you are the American that works for the small businessman or entrepeneur, you’ve got no friends at all in this world.

  20. So, in order to get congress to raise the debt limit, Obama has to delay the Obamacare mandate for a year and delay the imposition of the medical device tax.
    Senators of both parties will sign off on the medical tax delay. Who the Hell wants an insurance mandate?
    Obama is willing to trash the US and the world economy over his own spite and arrogance. What an asshole.

  21. QUOTE EMERY: The Republican party claims to be the party of opportunity. But they do so by celebrating those who have already succeeded, rather than giving a hand up to those who might succeed with the right opportunities. A true party of opportunity would seek to give a leg up to all those who demonstrate that they are striving for excellence, while punishing all of the many systems that preserve privilege. I see little of that from the Republicans, but also little from the Democrats.

    TOO MUCH CENTRAL GOVERNMENT DOING TOO MUCH FUELED BY FED EASY MONEY DESTROYS BOTTOM UP OPPORTUNITY. Myriad ways. The GOP has never done jack about it. The Democrat party profits off of it.

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-11-27/when-work-punished-tragedy-americas-welfare-state * http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-08-22/if-you-could-make-more-money-going-welfare-instead-working-would-you-do-it

    We are doomed.

  22. Arthur Brooks of AEI says the GOP has never focused intelligently on the poor and the average guy enough. Too wonkish explaining stuff.

  23. How bad is the GOP at delivering a conservative message?
    This bad:
    The media would have you believe that Americans want to make it easier for the government to borrow and spend money.
    The media would have you believe that the GOP has a duty not to oppose Obamacare, but to help make it work.
    Both of these are partisan Democrat positions, as well as the positions of NPR and the news divisions of the major networks.

  24. Not a single citizen of the state of Alaska have signed up for the Obamacare exchange. The Associated Press reports that Alaska senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, has written a letter to Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius about the problems with the health insurance exchanges set up by the federal government:

    “This system that cost more than $400 million, took three years to build, and was billed as a one-stop shop for individuals seeking health insurance is not working as advertised,” Murkowski wrote. “In its first two weeks of operation, I am told that no one was able to enroll in the Alaska Exchange.”

    http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/no-one-alaska-signed-obamacare-exchange_763575.html

    Obama would rather see the nation default on its sovereign debt than delay any part of Obamacare.
    Who, in the United States, other than the president and Dem politicians, would rather see the nation default on its sovereign debt rather than delay the implementation of Obamacare?
    Oh yeah, our unbiased, impartial, non-partisan news media that believes the shutdown is the responsibility of Ted Cruz and John Boehner.

  25. Obama would rather see the nation default on its sovereign debt than delay any part of Obamacare

    Wrong! He already delayed it for HIS constituents.

  26. JPA, that’s because Obama’s constituents aren’t kulaks. The thing about kulaks is that it isn’t an ethnic or even a social class designation. It merely describes anyone who opposes the plans of the absolutist State.

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