Rahm it Through? No Thanks!

During the Health Care Summit last Thursday, the Drudge Report ran a headline indicating that starting today, Monday, there will be a hard push by progressives and others on the Left to pass health care “reform” through reconciliation. Tired of the democratic process, it seems the Left simply wants to “Rahm” it into law.

The whole concept reminds me of these wise words from F.A. Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom, ironically found in the chapter “How the Worst get on Top”:

"We must here return for a moment to the position which precedes the suppression of democratic institutions and the creation of a totalitarian regime. In this stage it is the general demand for quick and determined government action that is the dominating element in the situation, dissatisfaction with the slow and cumbersome course of democratic procedure which makes action for action’s sake the goal. It is then the man or the party who seems strong and resolute enough ‘to get things done’ who exercises the greatest appeal. ‘Strong’ in this sense means not merely a numerical majority—It is the ineffectiveness of parliamentary majorities with which people are dissatisfied. What they will seek is somebody with such solid support as to inspire confidence that he can carry out whatever he wants. It is here that the new type of party, organized on military lines, comes in."

Hayek’s warning should be evident to those following progressives’ calls to pass sweeping health care legislation by a simple majority in the Senate through the reconciliation process. We should also not forget that some Republicans have used and threatened similar action, though on different issues, in the past.  And therein lies the danger to which Hayek refers.

It’s not that the democratic institutions are failing in the United States. The problem is that over the last two hundred years Americans have forgotten why the Founders put in place a very limited government with numerous checks and balances. As more and more power has been ceded and even happily given over to the federal government, the fights over what government should or should not do with such power have intensified. And, naturally, our politicians have come to rely on special interest groups for support on how to exploit those powers.

The old system of checks and balances was put in place to try to stop expanding government or, at the very least, make it tedious. The majority interest groups now often look upon those checks as annoying obstacles to be overcome, hindrances to the democratic process to be ignored, or barriers to be “Rahmed.”

In a way, the modern majorities are correct: Checks and balances are a hindrance to the democratic process. That’s the point. Our government is designed to function as a Republic, not as a democracy. The will of the minority (the Senate) and the will of the majority (the House of Representatives) must be able to agree on legislation. That legislation then must be agreed upon by the Executive Branch (the President). And then that legislation must be able to pass any legal challenges in the courts and potentially even the Supreme Court. It cannot be stressed enough that that is the democratic process in the United States and that it was put in place to protect the smallest minority (YOU) from any special interest that can whip up the emotions of the majority to pass bad laws like the proposed health care legislation.

Our country is at a fork in the road. Either we turn toward freedom and prosperity by restoring some of the checks on government and taking power back from it, or we can stagger toward soft despotism as power whipsaws between the two parties who continue to grow government’s reach at a staggering pace. It’s our choice.

If you haven’t read The Road to Serfdom, The Fatal Conceit, The Constitution of Liberty, or other works by the great, liberty-loving political philosopher, F.A. Hayek, you should. His writings are very digestible and truly enlightening. Kill your TV (at least for an hour or so a night) and pick up one of Hayek’s good books. Your future depends upon it.