Liberal dinner

I went to dinner with a liberal friend tonight.  She is a moderate liberal.  I think that most people in the country are moderate.  Even democrats are mostly moderate because:

1. they are socially moderate and want to help people,
2. they are good-hearted and want to help people, even though I believe that our limited government has produced the greatest ingenuity, prosperity and standard of living that the world has ever known, many moderates believe that we should use that un-paralleled wealth to HELP PEOPLE, please see my previous post “Giving People Free Stuff Doesn’t Help Them.”

It is important to point out that I don’t get to have a lot of good conversations with liberals because:

1. they won’t talk to me
2. liberals tend to get frustrated, attack you personally and leave the room
3. liberals have a really good role-model for not: negotiating, talking to or in any way acknowledging their opponents.

In short, this was a real treat.

So, I asked, “Whose fault is it that the government shut down.”

She said, “It is equally the fault of the Republicans and Democrats.  They are all idiots.”

I acknowledged that she is half right, all of the democrats are, in fact, idiots.  I said, “But, Obama won’t talk to, compromise with, sit down with or negotiate in any way with Republicans.  He said so right on national television.  He didn’t even bother to hide it.”

She said, (and this is where it gets good) “The Republicans should not have tied the repeal of Obamacare to the budget negotiations.  They should have done that in a separate bill.”

I scratched my head.  She is better at legal stuff than I am.  “But,” I said, “The Republicans passed 41 separate bills to repeal, replace or defund Obamacare.”

She humanized the government shut down, “People aren’t going to get paychecks because of this. Hard working people aren’t going to get paid.  In elementary school kids are taught to work together.  They should put aside their differences and work together.  People are going to get hurt over this.”

This is an excellent point and I agree.  Hard working federal employees should get paid.  Not every federal employee makes $176,000 a year FOR LIFE like members of congress do.

I really don’t have any other points, “But, Obama won’t even talk to the Republicans.  At all. Period.  How can you work with or negotiate with someone who won’t talk to you?”

“They need to take care of the Obamacare thing another way,” she said.

Hmmmm, I am stumped.  I mention that the latest compromise that the Republicans have made is to only ask to delay the individual mandate.  Obama has delayed Obamacare for all of his: staff, friends, supporters, businesses that he likes. He has even approved tax-payer funded, government subsidies for members of congress who already make $176,000 a year FOR LIFE.

By executive order, Obama has changed this “law of the land” 19 times purely at his own discretion.  Unions don’t want Obamacare anymore, 7 out of 10 Americans don’t want Obamacare anymore.  The exchanges aren’t ready, look at any news outlet.  Why won’t he delay the individual mandate for one year for individuals?

I believe that the government shut down is the fault of Obama and Harry Reid.  But, we agreed to disagree.

My daughter was reading a fascinating little book today called, “The Constitution and You.”  It was a brilliant description of the framing of the federal government and the 3 separate branches of government.  My daughter is 9.  She read what the legislative, executive, and judicial branches are supposed to do and how the power is separated so that one branch can’t get too powerful.

“Hunh,” she said, “We don’t do that anymore.”