Playing politics

News from the world of politics!  There was a special election last night in New York and in a heavily Republican district, the Democrat won.  This is probably much overblown and having one more Democrat in the House of Representatives is only a small step in the right direction, but nonetheless there are some telling signs about how things are developing and the flaws in the Republican position.

First, this special election which should have been a shoo-in for the Republicans was won by the Democrat.  While there are probably a multitude of factors at play, it is worth remembering the Scott Brown's victory in a Massachusetts special election was the catalyst for unfortunate Republican gains last November. Just like in that election, the defining issue in this one seemed to be Medicare except this time the tables were turned.  Seniors were wrong to fear Obamacare death panels because there is no such thing.  They are right to fear Paul-Ryan-no-care as it will strip them of insurance and force them to pay more.  Of course, this doesn't mean that the country will take a turn in the right direction during the next election cycle, but it's a good start.  It does remain to be seen whether Democrats can get serious about the budget, but since Republicans clearly aren't serious about it either, it's a good sign that Americans would rather have their tax dollars spent on Medicare than on tax cuts for millionaires.

There are other bad signs for Republicans.  Yesterday, the venerable Mitt Romney, Democrat in disguise, tried to take credit for the auto bailouts that saved the industry and thousands of American jobs. There's not much to say about Romney's claim except, "sure thing Mitt, whatever you say." But there is more to this story as well.  For starters, we must give credit where credit is due.  Move aside, Mitt.  Thank you George W. Bush for TARP.  By bailing out the banks - a step that was an unfortunate necessity - you probably saved the world economy. While this may go against pure conservative ideology about the economy, there is very little good to be said about pure conservative ideology when it comes to the economy.  So thank you.  Furthermore, thank you to President Obama who saved the American auto industry along with thousands of American jobs.  It's worth pointing out that both bailouts ultimately cost next to nothing after the loans were repaid, in fact just yesterday, Chrysler repaid their $5.1 billion loan.

But the fact that Romney is trying to take credit for the auto bailout - a truly ridiculous assertion; Romney wrote a 2008 opinion piece entitled "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt" - undermines Republican economic policy even more.  There is no denying that pure liberal economic theory is just as silly and flawed as pure conservative theory, but there is a time to act sensible rather than to demagogue.  This would be that time.  The bailouts begun by Bush were necessary and good.  The bailouts - despite being initiated by Bush - were labeled as just one more aspect of Democratic big government and wasteful spending by Republicans.  Typical, Republicans run away from their good idea. But now that it is clear that both the bank and auto bailouts were both effective and relatively inexpensive Republicans want back on board.  Enter Romney "architect of the auto bailouts."

Politics - the art of getting elected - is unfortunately just as important in our system as policy - the art of making the nation better.  Generally it seems as though Republicans are better at politics but despite that, as indicated by Romney's claims and last night's election, they aren't very good at policy.  This does create a conundrum for our country: we end up electing Tea Party folk who - despite their intentions - would run America into the ground if we let them. Fortunately, Americans seem to realize that despite the scary lies and the endless spew that most Republican ideas are bad.  And that is a good thing for our country.