Mike Lee on Conservatism and Civil Society

Mike Lee provides a useful reminder that conservatism values the rich tapestry of voluntary associations and private organizations that grow organically in a free society over a long period of time.  (As conservatives, we certainly care about the poor; we believe that it is better for care to be provided in the context of those institutions, rather than mechanically transacted by the government.)  To the extent that the government imposes a stunted, flat vision for society—in which there is increasingly only the state and individuals, and nothing else—it destroys that complex ecosystem, which will not easily be rebuilt.

On Innovation and Inequality

At National Review Online, Kevin Williamson explains that with health care as with other goods, it’s natural for the rich to be able to afford the best, cutting-edge technologies.  In a prosperous free market economy, those new technologies often come down in price and become commonplace over time, but they would never have existed if there weren’t very wealthy people to make it worth it to develop them in the first place.

Memes against Obamacare

NRO brings us a round-up of some of the Obamacare-related memes that have been circulating.  Some of my favorites:

 

Obama Campaign Promised Obamacare Would Reduce Annual Health-care Spending by $2,500 per Average Family; Obama Administration Now Admits Obamacare Will Increase Health-care Spending by $7,450 per Average Family over Eight Years

“To be clear, that’s spending on top of the normal health-care inflation that would have happened if Obamacare had not been passed.”  (“So much for ‘bending down the cost curve’ . . . .”)

Avik Roy explains at National Review Online: “Obamacare Bends the Cost Curve—Upward”

He’s discussing this post on a Forbes blog: “Obamacare Will Increase Health Spending By $7,450 For A Typical Family of Four”, by Chris Conover, who has the details.

Anti-discrimination Bill, The Marriage and Religious Freedom Act, Introduced in House

Congressman Raúl Labrador and more than 60 cosponsors (61 Republicans, 2 Democrats) have just introduced the Marriage and Religious Freedom Act in the House.  One thing we can all agree on, perhaps, is that the federal government shouldn’t discriminate against individuals or groups on the basis of their beliefs.

Read about it on the congressman’s Web site: “Labrador Leads Bipartisan Coalition in Introducing Marriage and Religious Freedom Act”

‘The Politicized Life’

Via Jim Geraghty, Sonny Bunch at the Washington Free Beacon reflects on culture and politics.

Look, here are the facts of life, my conservative friends: We don’t do the politicized life particularly well. . . .

The left, however, does the politicized life exceptionally well. They mount campaigns to pressure corporations to get what they want. They organize boycotts. They direct their complaints to gatekeepers who share their views and can influence policy. They blacklist artists with whom they disagree and pressure corporations to do the same. . . .

Steyn on American Credibility

Mark Steyn, as usual, is must-read material.  His last two columns have been about the Obama administration’s flailing around and getting played by Putin on Syria.

“An Accidental War: Perfunctory and ineffectual war-making in Syria is worse than nothing.” (or at Orange County Register)

In the unimprovable formulation of an unnamed official speaking to The Los Angeles Times, the White House is carefully calibrating a military action “just muscular enough not to get mocked.”

Cranley Bests Qualls by Almost 20 Points in Cincinnati Mayoral Primary

Everyone knew that former councilman John Cranley and current councilman and vice mayor Roxanne Qualls would be the two candidates to make it past yesterday’s primary, but we didn’t know Cranley would come out with such a big lead: he beat Qualls 56%-37%, or about 3 to 2.

The Banality of Tyranny

An example of the kind of unconstitutional commandeering garbage that would have been unthinkable before the 17th Amendment destroyed vertical checks and balances:

Each state is required by federal law to have a Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) program.

When the federal government can tell the state governments what programs they are “required” to have, it’s not really a federal government any more.

Yea and Nay’s Half-hearted Cousins?

“She can get the ‘yeah’ or ‘neah’ from Chuck and Tim.”

NSA Tries to Shut Down Criticism of Government?

Via Mark Steyn, this is pretty interesting (and so unconstitutional):  Someone creates a shirt making fun of the NSA, and puts it up for sale on Zazzle; it quickly gets yanked.  Salon has the story: “The parody shirt the NSA doesn’t want you to wear”

Two days after the world learned the National Security Agency logs practically every American phone call, the agency had started cracking down on entrepreneurs who made fun of it.

Liberal Bullying Works: Christian-owned Cake Shop Closes

The Blaze reports that Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, have closed their cake shop.  In January, they declined to make a wedding cake for a Lesbian couple; liberals responded with an avalanche of hate mail and, more sinister, a campaign of harassment not only against the cake shop itself but also against vendors and others who normally did business with them.  (Their lawyer describes it as economic terrorism.)  This liberal bullying succeeded.

Candlelight Vigil Remembers Victims of Union Violence

The Washington Free Beacon reports in “Labor Watchdogs Protest Union Violence Ahead of Labor Day: National Right to Work Foundation hosts candlelight vigil outside AFL-CIO HQ”:

Labor watchdogs held a candlelight vigil outside AFL-CIO headquarters to commemorate victims of union intimidation and violence on Friday afternoon.

. . .

There have been more than 50,000 documented cases of union violence over the past 40 years, according to Mix. The cases range from worksite vandalism to verbal and written threats to incidents of assault and murder.