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For the life of me, I still don’t understand why Republican congressmen had that big fight over Obamacare and the budget resolution. I mean, why start a fight when you know that you’re going to throw in the towel before the fight is over? After the Republicans started the fight, I tweeted my prediction: that the Republicans would end up throwing in the towel. Why? Because Republicans always throw in the towel. They’ll huff and puff about the importance of principle but it usually only lasts a short while before they throw in the towel and succumb to the forces of statism. Of course, President Obama also knew that the Republicans would throw in the towel, which is why he called their bluff and refused to negotiate.
But there is something much more fundamental going on here. One might call it the reform syndrome, which has long afflicted the conservative movement. Having long ago thrown in the towel on the principles of economic liberty, conservatives have relegated themselves to criticizing liberal reform plans from the Left and coming up with their own conservative reform plans for socialist and interventionist programs.
What’s wrong with that?
Well, for one thing, it’s important to recognize that no matter what reform plan is adopted, conservative or liberal, it’s always going to lead to a new crisis and, therefore, new calls for reform.
Why is that?