"This is the great political failure of progressivism: They always go too far. They always try to rub your face in it." Peggy Noonan
- As I mentioned in my posting yesterday, this VA scandal crossed a threshold that even many liberals find offensive. I also believe the "low information" voters understand this scandal is beyond the pale. As Noonan also wrote, "They {the government} make citizens see Washington as an alien and hostile power." I would add to that an "incompetent" power. And power in the hands of incompetent ideologues like progressives is also dangerous and can---at times---turn deadly for Americans. We've seen that played out now in the VA and two years ago in Benghazi. It's also not inconceivable to believe we'll see it play out with Obamacare, if it has not already.
- The frightening aspect of progressive ideology is that the incompetence trickles down from the power structure. We've witnessed how these ideologues rely on intolerance, bigotry and deceit whether it's in our healthcare system or in our educational or in the overall culture itself. It also seeps into the management of foreign policy.
- In NYC, one of the first actions taken by the new progressive mayor, de Blasio, was to wage a war on charter schools. By so doing, he was waging a war on poor children since they make up a large portion of the charter school population. It was so conspicuous that Michelle Malkin found it necessary to point out that "Ideologues will sacrifice anything to their ideology---including children." Just as disturbing, instead of focusing on the importance of personal responsibility and family stability, the progressive educational elitist will have us believe that only pouring more money into a problem will solve it. NYC spends $20B on education and over a 100 schools have zero children passing state exams. In fact, only 11% of black students in NYC are even prepared for a job or going on to college. But what they won't tell you or want you to know is that 45% of the children in NYC are born out of wedlock. In some parts of the city, the total hits 90%. NY Post.
- Not long ago, I wrote a piece essentially proclaiming that poverty won the War on Poverty. Not only do we now have record levels of Americans living in poverty, but since the War on Poverty began we've poured over $20T into it. As with education, this was yet another example of trickle down incompetence. The government created programs that made people totally dependent on it. In fact, in 1992, George H.W. Bush said, "Welfare was never meant to be a lifestyle...It was never meant to be passed from one generation to the next like a legacy." But that's exactly what happened and we see its victims today.
- Progressive ideologues are basically good at nothing and bad at everything. Even our urban landscapes, dominated by progressive ideologues for decades, are some of the poorest and most dangerous cities in America today. That's been their legacy. They always reset to failure. In many respects, they opt for failure. By doing so, it enhances dependence upon them and that raises the value of their political power. It becomes a never-ending vicious contingent cycle.
- Lawrence W. Reed, president of the Foundation of Economic Education pointed this out well when he said, "Have you noticed how statists are constantly 'reforming' their own handiwork? Education reform, health care reform, tax reform. The very fact that they are always busy reforming is an implicit admission that they didn't get it right the first 50 times."
- So when we read and hear about incidents like those at some of our VA medical centers, it should surprise no one. It's just one aspect of trickle down incompetence. But unfortunately for the nation, it's the only thing progressive ideologues are good at doing.
