Previewing the next fight

NY Times economics columnist Paul Krugman looks at how Republicans intend to fight climate change legislation. Essentially, they'll lie like there just ain't no tomorrow. The cost of combating climate change by 2050 is projected to barely make a discernible dent in economic growth, but the right wing is going to be attempting to convince the American people that fighting climate change will bankrupt the country.

Is there cause for concern? Ehh, to some extent yes, but note the impact of right-wingers yelling and screaming at town halls all summer.

"Nationally," the memo reads, "voters oppose a mandate to purchase private insurance by 64% to 34% but support a mandate with a choice of private or public insurance by 60% to 37%." (Emphasis added)

also,

"Most Americans trust Mr. Obama more than Republicans to make the right decisions on the issue; 76 percent said Republicans had not even laid out a clear health care plan."

As, of course, Republicans have not "laid out [any sort of a] clear health care plan," it does make one wonder about the people who say Republicans have done so. But anyway, Republicans not only failed to move the needle their way, it went the other way! It went towards the Democrats.

The verdict is in

The younger Bush's two terms, economically characterized by two massive tax cuts in 2001 and 2003, were a complete, absolute and unmitigated failure. Every single important category of economic well-being saw a decline. When Bill Clinton left office in 2000, the median income was $52,500. When Bush left in 2009, that had fallen to $50,303.

"What is phenomenal about the years under Bush is that through the entire business cycle from 2000 through 2007, even before this recession...working families were worse off at the end of the recovery, in the best of times during that period, than they were in 2000 before he took office."

More people were in poverty, more children were in poverty, many, many fewer people had health care insurance coverage at the end of Bush's term than at the end of Clinton's. What's truly amazing about this record is that Republicans are under the impression that voters should reward them for such utter, absolute failure.

A rather important point

If doctors were forced by a public health care plan to accept Medicare rates, they'd be very unhappy, of course. But there's really not a whole lot they could do about it. They're unlikely to find work being doctors to the rich as the rich are already well-served and they're not likely to find a job that pays anywhere near what they make as doctors, whether getting Medicare-level pay or not.

So they'd most likely grumble, but that's about all they could do.