What Kos really is (in his own words)
Kos is a Libertarian Democrat. This should not really come as any surprise to anyone. He started out as a Republican (Ok, he was young, I forgive) but then trended towards the Democrats in the Army. Now, he is a business owner and I think this is partially what drives his “new progressivism”. How might that affect Kos’ true feelings about universal healthcare, especially a plan that comes with a mandate to cover every employee? He states in his diary,
Of course, this also means that government isn’t always the solution to the nation’s problems. There are times when business-government partnerships can be extremely effective (such as job retraining efforts for displaced workers). There are times when government really should butt out (like a great deal of small-business regulation). Our first proposed solution to a problem facing our nation shouldn’t be more regulation, more government programs, more bureaucracy.
Kos and I may be seeing things completely differently. If the social safety net is strengthened and all Americans are covered by universal healthcare, the cost of that healthcare should become more affordable. And with the extra security that comes from being covered, people may be more willing to take risks with new business opportunities. There could be a real boom in innovation and entrepreneurship.
He says he understands the need for the social safety net but he is supporting the person most likely to compromise with Republicans in undermining it. With Obama, there is no mandate. People can choose to opt out until they start getting ill and the rest of us will be forced to subsidize them. His social security rhetoric sounds suspiciously freindly to Republicans. With Barack Obama, you may very well be seeing the rise of Libertarian Democrats and the new kind of progressive politics that Kos is referring to. These are the people who are socially laissez-faire, hate the corporations that employ many of us and want the government to stay out of their small businesses. The ideas of Libertarian Democrats will work very well for people who have the liberty to opt out, which leaves the rest of us right where we started from. What kind of Change! is that?
PS. Note that Kos makes a big deal about winning the western states and places like Virginia. And where has Obama been winning? Hmmmm….
PPS: From Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft, we have a chain that leads to KagroX at DKos wringing his hands over the fact tha Obama, his saviour and messiah, might be somehow in cahoots with the dreaded DLC. Horrors! (yeah, I never liked you either, KargoX)
Filed under: Barack Obama, Blogosphere, Presidential Election 2008 | Tagged: Kos, libertarian Democrats, Markos Moulitsas
[...] Teri O’Brien wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptHis social security rhetoric sounds suspiciously freindly to Republicans. With Barack Obama, you may very well be seeing the rise of Libertarian Democrats and the new kind of progressive politics that Kos is referring to. … Read the rest of this great post here Posted by [...]
The term “libertarian Democrat” is an oxymoron.
Markos has a unique background in that he saw first hand what the erosion of civil rights, *human* rights, can do to a country. I think that is what makes him a Democrat. But, yeah, otherwise, I think his leanings are more libertarian and his committment to the social safety net is more of an intellectual construct to him rather than a practical reality that he has any great enthusiasm for. I think he knows that the economy of scale would work in his favor but the businessman side of him objects to being forced to do it by the government. It’s just that we can’t rely on people to be altruistic because some people won’t. In some cases, it is all or nothing because the program won’t work any other way. A Democrat is willing to risk that for the good of all Americans; a libertarian isn’t.