Markets are positive-sum, culture and the arts are generative, religion is formative, sports are entertaining. Politics are none of these things (except possibly entertaining, though that’s a pathology, not a goal). When we politicize all aspects of our society, we don’t elevate our politics; we drag everything else down to its level.
So, again, I ask, why do people trust politicians? Are our memories so faulty? Case in point: During the last presidential debate, Joe Biden claimed that no one lost insurance due to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. That’s a bold claim to make. That same statement, when made by former President Barack Obama as he pushed for the legislation before its implementation, was once named the “Lie of the Year” by PolitiFact. But Biden still felt it was safe to make such a claim.
Gene Healy writes with mastery about presidential powers. Here’s his conclusion:
All of this is a reminder, if one was needed, that real presidential power reform isn’t going to come from within the executive branch. The sorts of men and women who are willing to do what it takes to become president are unlikely, having won the prize, to turn around and say: “you know what? Now that I’ve finally made it, I’d like a whole lot less power!” At best, they’ll grudgingly accede to restraints imposed from the outside. Will the next Congress force the issue?
A New Yorker profile explained that Cuomo and his aides saw the battle over Covid policy as “between people who believe government can be a force for good and those who think otherwise.” For many liberals [DBx: that is, ‘progressives’] and much of the nation’s media, placing people under house arrest, padlocking schools, and bankrupting business vindicated government as “a force for good.”
The reality became clear months ago that the virus can’t be banished on government orders, especially as citizens suffer and chafe under the pain of lockdowns. Targeted closures that protect the vulnerable are better policy responses until better treatments and a vaccine arrive or some broader immunity is reached. U.S. policy makers should do their best to avoid following Europe into another tragic shutdown.
David Henderson shares a very good video on Covid.
