Whatever Happened to Moderation?
What happened to Rockefeller republicans? What happened to people who understood economics and believed that the government shouldn’t interfere in your private life? What happened to fiscal conservatism, a belief that both parties espouse and neither follow? Why can I find nowhere a person who says, “You know, Obama is good on this but not on that, and McCain is good on this but not on that and in the balance I like….” The discourse no longer even resembles rationality. “Obama is a muslim terrorist.” “McCain is a war mongering pawn of radical right wing wackos.”
I wish there was a party that believed as I do. Capitalism is good, but the markets are, in some cases, inefficient. Health care and the environment to give examples.
In this world, to allow financial markets the greatest efficiency, you need regulation but only enough to require that information reach the marketplace – disclosure and transparency are the keys. You don’t need pay limits and other foolishness that doesn’t pass the economics 101 smell test. Sarbanes Oxley was overkill. It layered on a bunch of costs with little incremental information getting to the marketplace.
On social issues – the government should be out of it in most cases. As an example why should a gay couple not have the rights and obligations of a straight couple? If the state is going to provide certain rights and obligations to couples, why does it matter if they are gay or straight? On the other hand, just because in its infinite wisdom the government has decided to give tax breaks to churches, doesn’t mean it can dictate what they do. It should not tell any Church that it has to “marry” a gay couple nor should it limit a tax exemption because it refuses to do so.
This polarization makes me scream. It is unnecessary, counterproductive, mean spirited and vitriolic. People wonder why nothing gets done. Probably because the people trying to get things done are being shouted down by both sides who would rather nothing get done than make a compromise. Without compromise, we would not have had this country. We would not have had the kind of freedoms we now enjoy. Without serious, unpleasant, compromises, the United States would not exist. If we continue to refuse compromise, berate it and call it capitulation, we may no longer have the freedom to choose.
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