an anatomy of key memes, phrases and obsessions in Wall Street Journal editorials and other precincts of the GOP blogosphere, Feb. 15-25, 2013
an anatomy of key memes, phrases and obsessions in Wall Street Journal editorials and other precincts of the GOP blogosphere, Feb. 15-25, 2013
| bloated | any federal social assistance/safety net program. See also, “the culture of dependency”. |
| bosses and henchmen | anyone in the Labor movement. |
| creating winners and losers | The inevitable result of any federal regulation or subsidies, always artificially “created” rather than evolving “naturally”. Bad when it comes to government policy interfering with the free market. Unequal outcomes are OK, however, when no “redistributionist” agenda binds the “invisible hand” of the free market. The opposite of “the efficiency agenda” |
| culture of dependency | any federal social assistance/safety net program. Part of an even wider “systemic dysfunction”. People are always “trapped” in this culture of dependency. aka, the public sphere. |
| energy policy | “forced economic contraction” |
| flippers | Republican governors who have accepted ObamaCare Medicaid subsidies, “flipping” from their previous staunch anti-ObamaCare stance. |
| Greece | shorthand for the inevitable outcome of “the Obama Project”. Aka, “the nanny state” |
| Medicaid | “a fraud-ridden, debt-fueled entitlement of questionable effectiveness”. No hint that it in any way serves as a social safety net. |
| the Obama project | (see also, “Greece”) The Journal’s Daniel Henninger’s label for all Obama administration policies and initiatives. Part of the meme of Obama’s “grandiose” and “delusional” expectations |
| red-tape strangulation | any government regulation. Aka, “the brute force of government” |
| sequester | “a pro-growth” measure for the private sector as both spending and taxes decline and more money is available to the free market. The only way to “open the doors to a stronger economy”. |
Politiscripts, by Richard Roth 