Impossibly simplistic, such jargon is only a basis for disagreement. Reality is far more nuanced. When I claimed, for instance, be be a moderate, I was implored by a late conservative friend that “a moderate is just a gutless liberal.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Really?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Try this on for size: we should make policy decisions as though running a business. Pretty sure most of my “conservative” friends would applaud the idea; my “liberal” friends, not so much. Until I point out that in health care, for instance, we have a procurement problem. What business manager or procurement officer in right mind would pay twice or more <\/em>what the rest of the world pays for anything<\/em>? For similar, or in some cases worse <\/em>outcomes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n We need to change the way we procure. As any thoughtful manager would.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s a gray-ish world out there. Not black versus white. So don’t lump me a conservative for saying we should use more common business sense. In advocating health-care overhaul, self-described conservatives would brand me otherwise. But don’t lump me liberal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sooner people realize the damage done by lumping, the sooner Congress or our State Legislature can get back to examining policy on merits and faults.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Impossibly simplistic, such jargon is only a basis for disagreement. Reality is far more nuanced. When I claimed, for instance, be be a moderate, I was implored by a late conservative friend that “a moderate is just a gutless liberal.” … Continue reading