Nebraska Junior Senator Ben Sasse recently posted “AN OPEN LETTER TO MAJORITY AMERICA”, bemoaning the fact that neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump offers what the American people—the real American people, the folks down at the WalMart—really want. When ole Ben finally gets tired of patting himself on the back for being the fine, down to earth feller he obviously is, he explains what the “real America” is really looking for in a president, someone who can focus on “3 or 4 big national problems, such as:
A. A national security strategy for the age of cyber and jihad;
B. Honest budgeting/entitlement reform so that we stop stealing from future generations;
C. Empowering states and local governments to improve K-12 education, and letting Washington figure out how to update federal programs to adjust to now needing lifelong learners in an age where folks are obviously not going to work at a single job for a lifetime anymore; and
D. Retiring career politicians by ending all the incumbency protections, special rules, and revolving door opportunities for folks who should be public “servants,” not masters.”
Well, “A” is so broad that any national politician can claim to have answered it already. “C” is trivial, since state and local governments already have that power, and “D” is as banal a bromide as can be brewed. The one that amuses me is “B”, because what Honest Ben is calling for is entitlement “reform”, exactly what Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and Bernie Sanders won millions of votes running against!
Are the folks down at the WalMart really telling Ben “cut my Social Security”? Are they, Ben? Is that what’s happening? Or is that what you’re being told by the fellers on K Street with their stripy shirts and French cuffs and snappy suspenders, bringing you the word from their billionaire bosses up North? Because I kind of think it’s the latter.
Afterwords
At “Redstate”, a site I seldom visit, some dude/chick who goes by the “name” of “strieff” points out to Ben that Republican voters could have voted for entitlement trimmers like Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, and Marco Rubio. But they didn’t vote for those guys. They voted for the crazies, and in fact voted most for the craziest. And what neither Ben nor “strieff” has the nerve to mention is that what the Republican voters really want these days—Trump and Cruz supporters alike—is to load 11 million innocent people on buses (trains would send the wrong message, I guess)—and dump them in the desert. That’s where the Party is really coming from.
