Health insurance: A tale of two states

Check out this article in Fortune contrasting the health insurance markets in New York and Arizona. Shawn Tully explains that ObamaCare is going to have the same burdensome regulations that have driven premiums in New York sky-high:

http://money.cnn.com/2010/04/09/news/economy/healthcare_insurance_affordable.fortune/index.htm

What does NY-23 mean for the GOP?

All the buzz in political circles today is about something called “NY-23″. That’s the abbreviation for the 23rd Congressional District of New York State. The reason for the hubbub is that the official GOP candidate in the race, Dede Scozzafava, has dropped out after conservatives surged to support third-party Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman – who doesn’t even live in the district. Hoffman is now likely to beat the Democrat candidate and win the seat, but some on both sides of the aisle are suggesting that this heralds the radicalization of the GOP and the end of moderates in the party.

As usual, the case is being overstated. First of all, Scozzafava had been handpicked by the local GOP county chairs and voters probably resented the echo of 19th century backroom politics. Second, Scozzafava wasn’t just a moderate Republican who could appeal to Democrats and independents. She was in the mold of Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, and Lincoln Chafee – far to the left of most Republicans in her district on both social *and* economic issues. In other words, in the GOP, you can be soft on abortion, or you can be soft on government spending, but you can’t be soft on both. Otherwise, why on earth are you a Republican at all?

If Hoffman’s coup really signalled the end of moderate influence in the GOP, that would be cause for concern. But as usual, the media and the political talking heads are reading too much into one event simply because it’s the only game in town. It was a far bigger coup in 1964 when Barry Goldwater captured the Republican nomination for President, and we were told that the moderate wing of the GOP was finished then too.  And certainly a conservative movement did spring from that, culminating in Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich. But let’s not forget that Gerald Ford defeated Reagan for the nomination in 1976, and George Bush Sr. fended off a right-wing challenge from Pat Robertson in 1988. Bob Dole in 1996 and John McCain in 2008 were not the most conservative candidates either. So spare me the funeral dirges for the moderate wing of the GOP just yet.

On the subject of Senate seats…

Now comes word that Caroline Kennedy, only surviving child of JFK, wants to be appointed to Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat.

Isn’t that the ultimate in dynastic entitlement? Kennedy doesn’t just believe that she’s entitled to be *elected* to the Senate in New York because of her family – she doesn’t even want to have to go through an election, she wants to be *appointed* into the seat so she can run as an incumbent!

The delicious irony here is that if Caroline hadn’t piped up, the top candidate for this seat would have been New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo – ironic because Cuomo is married to Caroline’s first cousin, Kerry Kennedy. Cuomo is also a scion of a famous Democrat family, but unlike Caroline, Cuomo has a long record of government experience in city, state, and federal positions – he was Clinton’s HUD Secretary during his second term.

About all that can be said for Caroline is that at least she is a long-term resident of New York state, unlike her predecessor Hillary. Perhaps the best argument that she should be disqualified is that, in reaching out to Democratic leaders for support, she included race-baiting demagogue Al Sharpton among her courtesy calls.  Sharpton’s comment on Caroline’s qualifications for the job was amusing:

“What [Republican Congressman] Peter King said about Caroline Kennedy is what they said about Hillary Clinton. That’s the one she’d be replacing, right?”

In other words, New York already made a joke of the seat when they gave it to Hillary, so how is this any worse? (Let’s not even talk about the disgrace sitting in New York’s other Senate seat, Mr. My-Ego-Is-More-Important-Than-The Economy.)

I was always taught that the Democratic party stood for the little guy against the rich and powerful. So why does the Democratic party today keep catering to the rich and powerful Clintons and Kennedys? Bill Clinton even had the nerve to joke that his daughter Chelsea should be considered for the Senate seat, proving that far from being disturbed by the allegations of nepotism regarding his family, he wears them as a badge of honor. While I would gladly grovel at her feet for the opportunity to get into her pants, Chelsea is less qualified for public office than I am, except that she knows more Secret Service guys by name than I do.

Ach, I canna’ rant nae more.