03.23.05
Posted in politics at 3:05 pm by
Short thought today. Many conservative governmental officials are up in arms about the barbarism of Terri Schiavo starving to death. Frankly, I agree. It’s a pretty crappy way to die. (The Schiavo case is one in which I think that what our legal system should decide is not what probably SHOULD happen.)
Tis’ funny that they’ve chosen Terri Schiavo, though. I mean, people starve to death all the time. Why are we in an uproar now? If I were a parent who was being forced to choose between medicine for my children or food for my children, I’d probably be a little bit miffed that Dubya is willing to pull an all-nighter to save Terri Schiavo’s life, but when it comes to masses of the poverty stricken…all they get is budget cuts to social programs.
Now, I understand the ’supply side economics’ (read: trickle down economics) argument. Basically, capitalism–or so the argument goes–will save the day…eventually. Maybe the current administration is right, maybe supply-side economics will work. It just seems a bit slow of a solution for an administration that’s willing to drop everything to save the life of one woman.
Not that Ms. Schiavo’s life is any less important than the lives of any others…but it’s certainly not MORE important, either.
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Posted in politics at 3:05 pm by
Short thought today. Many conservative governmental officials are up in arms about the barbarism of Terri Schiavo starving to death. Frankly, I agree. It’s a pretty crappy way to die. (The Schiavo case is one in which I think that what our legal system should decide is not what probably SHOULD happen.)
Tis’ funny that they’ve chosen Terri Schiavo, though. I mean, people starve to death all the time. Why are we in an uproar now? If I were a parent who was being forced to choose between medicine for my children or food for my children, I’d probably be a little bit miffed that Dubya is willing to pull an all-nighter to save Terri Schiavo’s life, but when it comes to masses of the poverty stricken…all they get is budget cuts to social programs.
Now, I understand the ’supply side economics’ (read: trickle down economics) argument. Basically, capitalism–or so the argument goes–will save the day…eventually. Maybe the current administration is right, maybe supply-side economics will work. It just seems a bit slow of a solution for an administration that’s willing to drop everything to save the life of one woman.
Not that Ms. Schiavo’s life is any less important than the lives of any others…but it’s certainly not MORE important, either.
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mainsheet42 said,
March 23, 2005 at 3:38 pm
Brandon:
Voodoo economics (let’s give the right name) claims that capitalism takes care of the problem in the long-run. But as Keynes noted, in the long-run we’re all dead. A bunch of us will die of starvation…
Finally, we should look at the behavior of the Repugnican mob that controls our government in the proper light. L’affaire Schiavo is not about any important principles. It’s an Emerald City move: “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!”
It’s bread-and-circuses for the radical christian right. They’ve claimed that they elected Dubya last year, and by God-and-Greyhound it’s time for some payback. What can the Repugs give them?
Bankruptcy reform? Nope, not their interest, that’s the credit-card issuers deal.
Drilling in ANWR? Sure, why not — the Rapture is around the corner anyway, but still no big deal.
Social Insecurity Enactment? Nah. In fact, a bunch of them apparently don’t like Dub’s idea…
What’s left? Terri Schiavo, that’s what! They’ll mangle every principle of government they have left, but they’ll toss some red meat to their most ardent supporters.
Audrey
Danny said,
March 23, 2005 at 9:03 pm
Well, there had to be something dire enough to make Bush wake up and do something. I just think it’s a little scary that none of those national security issues got him this excited.
jpe said,
March 23, 2005 at 10:08 pm
I was just writing a post along the same lines. Now I can just do the Instapundit thing.
It is a pretty strange state of affairs, I think. The marxist in me wants to say this is an exemplary case of the logic of late-capitalism depoliticizing the clearly political. I mean, the whole situation is shot through with politics and policy considerations: how do we weight evidence? How do burdens come into play? What should the role of the spouse be in the determination of legal rights? All these incredibly political questions, yet what we’ve seen is a systematic draining of all wider political application. In other words, the Terri-bloggers (I hate that term….) took a political issue and transformed it into a Lifetime Movie-esque personal narrative that turns on good-guys v bad guys.
Joan said,
March 24, 2005 at 2:04 am
Jon Stewart said the other night, “So if you’ve ever wondered just how sick you would have to be before Congress takes any action to improve your health care, now you know.”
Mason said,
March 24, 2005 at 6:31 am
You said,”but when it comes to masses of the poverty stricken…all they get is budget cuts to social programs.” I read or hear this statement or similar all the time but I have been unable to find one that has been actually cut. By that I mean a federal budget that has been allocated less money this year than was authorized last. Would you be so kind as to give me an example. Thanks - Mason
Brandon said,
March 24, 2005 at 7:52 am
Mason,
In education alone there’ve been oodles of program cuts. For example, schools have been cutting music and art programs, teachers, offering fewer bussing opportunities, worse benefits for teachers, etc. If you sense you’ve caught me a bit on my heels by asking this question, you have. I have never known anyone to actually make the, “they’re not actually cutting programs” argument.
Here’s an interesting link:
It actually describes the process by which some federal programs are evaluated–and if evaluated to be poorly managed–cut. The problem is, those managing the program often don’t lose as much as those losing the programs’ benefits.
jpe said,
March 24, 2005 at 8:18 am
Also to Mason: a lot of the money for programs comes from both states and the feds, so just looking at the fed budget won’t tell you much. In the past few years, the fed allocations for particular programs has risen, while states have been really, really tightening their belts. The best example of this is Tenn., which has either trimmed way back or totally shut down its ambitious state health care program.
Dave said,
March 24, 2005 at 9:16 am
Just a quick note. Terri won’t die of starvation. She will die of dehydration first, which is much kinder, relatively speaking. It’s also a very typical way people at end-of-life care die. They refuse, either willfully or due to loss of appeitte, food and water. It’s actually a fairly peaceful way to go. It’s how my grandmother died in hospice care after surviving liver cancer for 4 years.
I can’t even begin to imagine how barbaric it would have been to force hydration and food on her. It would have done nothing but prolong her death.
mainsheet42 said,
March 29, 2005 at 12:12 am
Speaking of healthcare and l’affaire Schiavo:
1. Terri Schiavo has been receiving Medicaid (state/federal insurance for the poor) for a long time.
2. Tom DeLay and the Republican majority passed Bush’s budget. It forces draconian cuts on Medicaid (MediCal in California) programs. The reason Tennessee (and Tennessee won’t be the only state strapped in this budget) is in such dire straits is due to the federal budget cuts.
I can only assemble this information in one way. DeLay et al. don’t care about us as a population, they only care about individuals. They apparently aren’t aware that the things they do to populations (of the undeserving) have consequences for individuals.
This is the belief system at the core of compassionate conservatism. Actually, compassionate conservatism is an oxymoron. GWB is a simple moron.
Audrey, noting that this is what we get when we hire a “C” student to be President of the Newnited States.