American, Christian, Capitalist: President Obama
This
is a bumper sticker designed to find a floor we can all agree on, encouraging
us to debate the more important questions about the candidate’s comparative positions
on health care or regulation, rather than wasting time on questions calculated
to distract us. At the same time, after
creating this bumper sticker I have discovered that it requires some
explanation.
American: Born in Hawaii, pretty straightforward.
Christian: Life-long practicing Christian, pretty straightforward.
Capitalist: For me this is similarly straightforward, with some explanation
The
centerpiece of his signature legislative achievement is the individual mandate,
which is an idea that was developed by the Heritage Foundation as the market alternative to the single-payer
plan. See my earlier blog on local CEO’s
in two of our regions largest health care providers saying they oppose efforts
to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
One
central idea in his ‘all-of-the-above’ energy policy is cap ‘n trade, which is an
idea initially developed by the Reagan administration as a market approach to air pollution (and successfully applied to acid
rain).
And
when we look at the data on oil production, for instance, we discover that the
strangulation by regulation charge—designed to suggest he is anti-capitalism—holds
no water. Domestic oil production is
higher now than under the previous administration, but the data also makes it clear
that this is not the right question to ask given lag times. However, despite the complexity of the issue
and the data, what is clear is that the president is not halting production or the growth of production.
“A Washington Post article last month cited an expert saying
that Obama’s policies, particularly opening Alaska’s coastal waters to
drilling, should keep production trending in a positive direction.”
And
when we ask actual business leaders like the Business Roundtable, rather than
talk radio or Fox News, about Obama administration regulatory efforts we
discover that behind the sound-bites is a story that sounds more like
traditional American public-privatecollaboration on regulation.
“The Office of
Management and Budget argues that the cost of new regulations in the Obama
administration’s first three years was lower than the previous three years,
under the George W. Bush administration. Agencies issued 886 final rules in the
Obama administration’s first three years, compared with 931 in the final three
Bush years…. Two weeks ago, the Business
Roundtable, an organization of chief executives, issued a statement hailing the
administration’s ‘effort to enact reforms that streamline the regulatory
process, engage regulated parties earlier in the process and take account of
the cumulative impact of regulations.’”
Does
this mean there is no room for debate on the degree to which this president’s
policies strengthen our economy or the degree to which this president’s decisions
on how to balance regulatory and market objectives is in the public’s best
interest…not at all. That is the
conversation we should be having.
The conversation we should not be having is whether
or not this president is an Alien, Muslim, or Socialist. Anyone want a bumper sticker?
Three for three!
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