What's A Party To Do?

That's the question that the GOP is facing on the Ryan Medicare plan. As Jonah Goldberg put it here, the GOP needs to convince the public that they have the right plan, or face extinction as a party.

That may seem to be somewhat extreme, but I think its fairly accurate. The GOP owns the Ryan Medicare plan and the Democrats are determined (in light of the Hochul victory in NY-26) to try to ride the "Medi-scare" horse back into power. Goldberg analogizes the Medicare debate to Ceaser's crossing of the Rubicon. His view, "the die is cast" and the GOP, like Caesar, must win or die. Here is a portion of his post:

"The simple fact is that the Democrats have their battle plan. It’s going to be Medi-scare every day in every way for the next 17 months. They are on autopilot. They are committed. Their die is cast. They have crossed their Rubicon. They have no desire to defend Obamacare, high gas prices, high unemployment, and a third Middle East war. They want — no, need — to be on offense because they have so much they cannot defend.

The question now is, “What are Republicans going to do about it?” Are they going to play the role of Pompey, the dissolute leader who didn’t want to fight? Or will they don Cesarean robes and join the battle head-on because they know they have nowhere to retreat? That is the political choice for the GOP: Win or die."

I hope that GOP leadership has the stomach for this fight. Frankly, I'm halfway to believing that this is the battle that will determine the fate of the Republic. Once again, I know I sound extreme, but lets face it, Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, entitlement after entitlement, all broke. The report of the trustees was a real eye-opener (or, in a rational society, it would be). We don't have any more time to waste. This is a can that cannot be "kicked down the road". (For an interesting synopsis of the issue, check out this piece by Veronique de Rugy).

The GOP, in fact, the country, has crossed the Rubicon. There is no turning back. This is a battle which must be fought and must be won.