The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Would You Hire The Head Alcoholic From Your Local AA Chapter To Manage The Adult Beverage Store?

Posted on | February 12, 2010 | 10 Comments

by Smitty

Rick Moran gives a great apology for Representative Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) plan, as reviewed in Forbes by Bruce Bartlett to do something, anything, about the federal debt. Working off the dead horse by the end of the next 70 years is indeed noble.

Moran is optimistic:

Ryan’s plan shows it won’t be easy, that it won’t come by only cutting spending, and that not only our lawmakers, but voters as well must become responsible citizens of the republic in order to bite down – hard – and do what is necessary to save us from our own profligacy. A nation that defeated fascism, communism, and can rise above its own sordid past and elect a black man president can do anything it sets its mind to.

Moran could conceivably see himself hiring a confessed alcoholic to manage the adult beverage store, I infer, and apologize. The title’s an analogy, and therefore a different question.

Bartlett was more saturnine about the whole notion:

The Ryan plan is, of course, politically ludicrous. It would be impossible to get Congress to even implement one of its major provisions, let alone all of them simultaneously. And I say this as someone who in principle supports many of the ideas in his plan. For example, I believe we must raise the retirement age, and it’s hard to see how we can meaningfully reform the health system to reduce cost inflation as long as health insurance is free of taxation. But I don’t delude myself that it is possible to implement such changes absent a major transformation in political attitudes or conditions that do not now exist.

That is why I think it is far more realistic to assume that nothing remotely like the Ryan plan has a snowball’s chance in you-know-where. More than likely, we will continue on our present course with minor nibbles around the edges of programs like Social Security and Medicare. The only major benefit cut I can envision at all is a rise in the age to qualify for benefits, but that is only because it would have to be phased in so slowly that no one anywhere near retirement would be affected.

The reason for the impossibility is that the alcoholic has no business being before booze. Recidivism is inevitable. No amount of pleasant thinking, focus groups, or occasional ballot-box pressure is going to amount to anything: power bill be abused. Contingencies will occur. Tawdry snake-oil salesmen will get elected.

This is not a personal attack against Paul Ryan for suggesting the plan, or Rick Moran for offering admiration: I’m with Rick on this one. It’s great that Ryan could even name the tumor gnawing the heart out of our country, the debt. Ryan’s courage blows away that of 534 other elected officials in the 111th Congress.

The essential problem we have is the concentration of power in DC. And Ryan’s plan, while addressing courageously a tremendous symptom, does nothing to address it.

If the alcohol-based metaphor is a distractor for some, consider one older still:

The story is about a scorpion asking a frog to carry him across a river. The frog is afraid of being stung, but the scorpion reassures him that if it stung the frog, the frog would sink and the scorpion would drown as well. The frog then agrees; nevertheless, in mid-river, the scorpion stings him, dooming the two of them. When asked why, the scorpion explains, “I’m a scorpion; it’s my nature.”

Integrity, like resistance, adds inversely in parallel. Congress, as a whole, is just a little more scorpion-like than the biggest cretin of the bunch. It will never change. That’s why, if you haven’t told me what we’re doing to move in the direction of The Federalism Amendment, you haven’t told me much.

Update: regret previous FedAmdend link failure. I blame Konrad Adenauer, though the real culprit more likely resembled me.

Update II: Oh, and then Alan Clomes mistakes sanity for hypocrisy. Who knew that a liberal pluckin’ that chicken so stridently for so long could become so feathered up? It could nearly be amusing in its weirdness, if the stakes were Not So Flipping HIGH!!!

Category: Rick Moran

Comments

10 Responses to “Would You Hire The Head Alcoholic From Your Local AA Chapter To Manage The Adult Beverage Store?”

  1. Chuck Cross
    February 13th, 2010 @ 2:15 am

    I’m glad Rep. Ryan is at least putting it out there. Creating plans and focusing other congress critters is always a worthy goal, but in the end, voting-record is what counts (in my book). I know of but one congressman of late that consistently takes the hard votes, no matter how unpopular with his party. It’s probably why he’s so thin (I won’t mention his name here less his comment-hordes show up).

    P.S. The Federalism Amendment link at the time I am typing this doesn’t work.

  2. Chuck Cross
    February 12th, 2010 @ 9:15 pm

    I’m glad Rep. Ryan is at least putting it out there. Creating plans and focusing other congress critters is always a worthy goal, but in the end, voting-record is what counts (in my book). I know of but one congressman of late that consistently takes the hard votes, no matter how unpopular with his party. It’s probably why he’s so thin (I won’t mention his name here less his comment-hordes show up).

    P.S. The Federalism Amendment link at the time I am typing this doesn’t work.

  3. smitty
    February 13th, 2010 @ 2:21 am

    @Chuck,
    Fixed.

  4. smitty
    February 12th, 2010 @ 9:21 pm

    @Chuck,
    Fixed.

  5. Doc Merlin
    February 13th, 2010 @ 2:50 am

    “Working off the dead by the next 70 years is indeed noble.”
    typo!
    s/dead/debt/

  6. Doc Merlin
    February 12th, 2010 @ 9:50 pm

    “Working off the dead by the next 70 years is indeed noble.”
    typo!
    s/dead/debt/

  7. Roxeanne de Luca
    February 13th, 2010 @ 6:37 am

    Given that conservatives are often derided as the “Party of No” (even when “No” can be the best economic thing, such as after the economic collapse), anything reasonable that is proposed that helps fiscal conservatism is a good thing, IMHO.

    I do think that these things have a better shot of making in through the House; with elections every two years, a focused and active citizenry could (hypothetically) demand change and vote out anyone who doesn’t go along with it. The Senate, with its procedural rules (i.e. the filibuster) and six-year terms, would be tougher.

  8. Roxeanne de Luca
    February 13th, 2010 @ 1:37 am

    Given that conservatives are often derided as the “Party of No” (even when “No” can be the best economic thing, such as after the economic collapse), anything reasonable that is proposed that helps fiscal conservatism is a good thing, IMHO.

    I do think that these things have a better shot of making in through the House; with elections every two years, a focused and active citizenry could (hypothetically) demand change and vote out anyone who doesn’t go along with it. The Senate, with its procedural rules (i.e. the filibuster) and six-year terms, would be tougher.

  9. mike farmer
    February 13th, 2010 @ 6:15 pm

    As an aside – AA doesn’t have any “heads” of their groups, only people who serve in rotating positions with no actual authority.

    Plus, a recovered alcoholic who is practicing the principles of the program would be able to manage a package shop with no problem. Recovered alcoholics lose the desire to drink and aren’t tempted by te mere presence.

    Just for clarification. Carry on.

  10. mike farmer
    February 13th, 2010 @ 1:15 pm

    As an aside – AA doesn’t have any “heads” of their groups, only people who serve in rotating positions with no actual authority.

    Plus, a recovered alcoholic who is practicing the principles of the program would be able to manage a package shop with no problem. Recovered alcoholics lose the desire to drink and aren’t tempted by te mere presence.

    Just for clarification. Carry on.