But Is Our Republicans Learning?

Economist John Tamny has a piece in Forbes, “The Paradox Of A ‘Giving’ Government”, detailing the new, stepped-up emphasis by business on getting cozy with Washington, and how and why it pays off. In it is a very disturbing example of why we should expect at best weak and highly dispiriting pushback from Republicans when Obama finally gets around to following through on his telegraphed Plan B for the “global warming” agenda, “green jobs”.

“Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., presently a darling among Republicans for his pro-growth policies, has long made known his dislike of the 2009 Obama stimulus plan as a ‘wasteful spending spree.’ Nice rhetoric for sure–and as it turns out not very pure. In October 2009 the congressman wrote a letter to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis in favor of a grant application in his district, which, according to Ryan, would ‘place 1,000 workers in green jobs.'”

That’s pretty stomach-turning, when you consider the source. The government can give us nothing that it has not taken from us. The government cannot give your favored constituencies anything it has not taken away from others. The politics of envy have never been as strong in the United States as in Europe – which fact has given us a chance over the decades, but it appears to be a dwindling chance.

And no one who attended any appreciable part of CPAC this past weekend has any time for the philosophy that these are just the accommodations that one must make to stay here and do good work.

The public increasingly understand the scam that is that new “green jobs” line of argument, and in short green jobs mean pink slips, but not before an awful lot of your money goes to create far more Indian, Chinese and other jobs for every generally temporary gig they set up here.

We also now know there should be tempered optimism about whether Republicans really are ready to lead, that is, whether they are any different than the mess that got tossed out a few short years ago. When your leading thinkers and principled-types can’t resist and/or don’t get the truth about this, they are in trouble. And that’s bad news for the rest of us.

Tea, anyone?