We’re haunted by a reactionary Republican party; it’s “reactionary” in a specific sense, too, unwilling to posit any ideas other than to resist the Democratic majority. No push to privatize Social Security or the public schools, not even a ‘balance the budget’ neurosis to push. All we got were Tea-bagging flash in the pans. I didn’t buy Reagan, either, but it’s hard to take Palin seriously.
So it’s impossible to see any mainstream political idea as unambiguously good news. Even if you are one of the 30 plus million slated to be helped with health care, the news is mixed. You have to wait, for one thing (hoping that you don’t get ill or die) and who knows what bureaucratic maze awaits anyone attempting to take advantage of the new laws. It’s three steps forward, and then two steps back.
Still, the idea that we might be able to take 87 billion away from banker-middle-men-confidence artists is very good news indeed. That’s just what Mr. Duncan, the current Secretary of Education, plans to do over the course of the next year or more. Apparently, even a lot of Wall Street Journal types see this as a good idea (“Banks Don’t Belong in the Student Loan Business“). That may be the best news of all.
