Will the GOP Ever Get It Right Again?...
by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny
Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee is talking about what the rEpublican party needs to do to win presidential elections as it moves forward to 2016 and beyond.
I listened to the gentleman on the upcoming video twice and I can safely say I'm not sure exactly what he said that was of any real substance. It seems his prescription for future success is essentially changing the way rEpublicans do business to yield more of the same results.
I have yet to hear anything about rethinking their position on DOMA or their position on the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry. The party seems paralyzed by the influence of the NRA when it comes to reasonable unified firearm legislation that would aid in reducing the incidence of mass deaths at the hands of a lunatic. I have yet to see the party make an attempt to get the socons in their ranks, those that would deny the right of a women to a safe and legal abortion, to clear the cobwebs from their heads so they can think clearly.
Further the party is silent on the growing income disparity in America as the middle class slowly, yet surely continues to shrink. As corporations move jobs to offshore locations to gain lower costs and competitive advantage in the global marketplace the rEpublican (and sometimes dEmocratic) party seem oblivious to the effect on jobs here at home. Doesn't it appear that what we are seeing with respect to jobs and unemployment will be the new normal unless we start thinking as innovators and outside the box?
Perhaps Mr. Priebus ought to consider, along with the rest of the party leadership, addressing the above issues. In majority Americans are not in step with rEpublican positions on these issues. Yes by all means open the tent, and get in step with the American public on these issues (there are more like these). Then explain in a rational and honest way why real conservative fiscal values (like those held by Barry Goldwater) are ultimately how we can best solve the fiscal and budgetary crises we face. If the party fails to do this it will indeed become irrelevant.
Oh, and another thing, it's time the rEpublicans stop spending so damn much on foolish issues while preaching fiscal restraint. Now here's Reince.
Via: Memeorandum
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny
Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee is talking about what the rEpublican party needs to do to win presidential elections as it moves forward to 2016 and beyond.
I listened to the gentleman on the upcoming video twice and I can safely say I'm not sure exactly what he said that was of any real substance. It seems his prescription for future success is essentially changing the way rEpublicans do business to yield more of the same results.
I have yet to hear anything about rethinking their position on DOMA or their position on the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry. The party seems paralyzed by the influence of the NRA when it comes to reasonable unified firearm legislation that would aid in reducing the incidence of mass deaths at the hands of a lunatic. I have yet to see the party make an attempt to get the socons in their ranks, those that would deny the right of a women to a safe and legal abortion, to clear the cobwebs from their heads so they can think clearly.
Further the party is silent on the growing income disparity in America as the middle class slowly, yet surely continues to shrink. As corporations move jobs to offshore locations to gain lower costs and competitive advantage in the global marketplace the rEpublican (and sometimes dEmocratic) party seem oblivious to the effect on jobs here at home. Doesn't it appear that what we are seeing with respect to jobs and unemployment will be the new normal unless we start thinking as innovators and outside the box?
Perhaps Mr. Priebus ought to consider, along with the rest of the party leadership, addressing the above issues. In majority Americans are not in step with rEpublican positions on these issues. Yes by all means open the tent, and get in step with the American public on these issues (there are more like these). Then explain in a rational and honest way why real conservative fiscal values (like those held by Barry Goldwater) are ultimately how we can best solve the fiscal and budgetary crises we face. If the party fails to do this it will indeed become irrelevant.
Oh, and another thing, it's time the rEpublicans stop spending so damn much on foolish issues while preaching fiscal restraint. Now here's Reince.
Via: Memeorandum
The GOP will eventually change. The demographics of the nation will force it. In the not so distant future, Texas, for example, will be a Blue State for presidential elections, clinging to it's gerrymandered majority in the state until finally it let's go. Texas is not alone in this. Most of the South will become GOP on the state and local level, and most of the GOP representatives in the House will come from there, relegating them to a regional minority on the federal level. Those regional representatives will be less and less effective for their constituencies, while Republicans in other parts of the country will be forced to break caucus with them in order to win elections and actually be effective. Meanwhile, federal courts will quash crazy, but regionally popular, laws, and decisions from the crooked, elected, incest-offspring judges of the party in the South
ReplyDeletePersonally, I take it as a hopeful sign for the future.
JMJ
If the GOP changes in the direction I indicated in this post it will be a welcome change, and a breath of fresh air. However, if they simply become more "blue" and do not make the case for a true fiscal conservatism and an honest straight forward fiscal discipline then they will be no better than the current democratic party.
DeleteIn which case Costa Rica or perhaps the Dominican Republic will look pretty damn good by comparison. At least the cigars will be more affordable.
The Democrats have always been better with the purse strings, and have always spent our money in a wiser way than Republicans anyway, so I have no idea what you're talking about.
ReplyDeleteJMJ
Always is like never. If you take the time to analyze just a bit.
DeleteLes, let's be honest here. Look at spending and government growth during modern periods of Republican majorities, then look at times when the Dems had control. What I'm saying is a fact. You can deny all you like, but in real life, it's a fact.
DeleteAnd look at the map of Red and Blue America. Look at where most of the taxes come from, where more people are making more of the money. Republicans, for quite a while now, have shown themselves inept at governance and just plain crooked in governing philosophy. Where they govern, people earn less, have poorer schools and healthcare, and higher rates of common social ills. This has been more and more the case for some years now.
Today's Conservative movement, where it actually plays a roll in government, rarely turns out well for most people.
JMJ
Yeah, always as in like never. Jersey, your "The Democrats have always been better with the purse strings" only works if you ignore the following:
Delete1) Democrats in the House*
2) Democrats in the Senate
3) Barack Obama, Democrat, who is in all objective measures worse with the "purse strings" than all other presidents.
4) The most recent candidate before Obama, John Kerry, who had campaigned in 2004 to have a much worse debt problem than Bush did at the time.
What does that leave? Not much. Bill Clinton perhaps, who ran up debt less than others, but he was still grossly irresponsible, running 8 solid years of deficits and increasing the total debt by $1.6 trillion.
Les, let's be honest here. Look at spending and government growth during modern periods of Republican majorities, then look at times when the Dems had control. What I'm saying is a fact. You can deny all you like, but in real life, it's a fact.
DeleteAnd look at the map of Red and Blue America. Look at where most of the taxes come from, where more people are making more of the money. Republicans, for quite a while now, have shown themselves inept at governance and just plain crooked in governing philosophy. Where they govern, people earn less, have poorer schools and healthcare, and higher rates of common social ills. This has been more and more the case for some years now.
Today's Conservative movement, where it actually plays a roll in government, rarely turns out well for most people.
JMJ
Okay, lets be honest. Brutally honest shall we?
BOTH modern major parties are screwing the pooch. One cam argue either side of the issues all day and all night, which is in reality what has been going on for quite some time. The result is what we have today. As the pooch screwing continue and will for the foreseeable future IMNHO.
The difference between you and me jersey is I have no illusions whereas your seems to have your knight in white satin mounted on his trustee steed ready to slay the dragon. Which of course is liberty and freedom. I on the other hand recognize the other ass wipes in Congress are merely screwing the pooch from a different angle. So bend over, grab your ankles, crack a grimace and enjoy that which you are going to vet either way. The oligarchs have us right where they want us and have no intention of allow their influence and power slip away.
As to maps jersey, pick your mascots color and let it ride you until the end. Keep a smiling and a hoping that one day the Unicorn mystically appears. In the meantime reality plods on with most of the country oblivious to the fact the parties are bhaving a lot of fun with the pooch.
jersey, we gave up control of the government that works for us a VERY long time ago in IMNHO. The pooch has been wearing a saddle every since.
Cheerio old chap, enjoy your day...
I have no idea what you're talking about. No one is arguing any of that. I'm just saying the GOP would be wise to move a little to the Left. It seems the country has.
DeleteJMJ
dmarks, it's hard to debate with someone who was apparently born in January of 2008.
DeleteJMJ
I believe you know.perfectly well what I'm talking about. You either 1) Simply do not wish to acknowledge agreement with the points in the post or 2) you didn't read and umderstand what was written. Not unusual for a total partisan.
DeleteCheerio old chap...
Jersey said: "dmarks, it's hard to debate with someone who was apparently born in January of 2008."
DeleteActually, I was looking back to around the Carter era when I made my statement. Recent history. Anyway, instead of lame insults, why not address the facts?
To use an insult, you come across like an idiot to use the "born in 2008" claim when I referred to Presidents and candidates prior to this time, quite explicitly. Again, I give you a do-over. Do better this time.
I will take Jersey's bait, on 2008. He said
Delete" Look at spending and government growth during modern periods of Republican majorities, then look at times when the Dems had control."
Go back to 2006, when the Dems got a majority in Congress. That was when the wheels came off. Waste spending and growth took off.
Or we can go back before 2008, way before, as I did earlier and you ignored it. When the Dems had control of it all under Clinton, that was when the waste spending was worse. Check it. It only got a lot better after the change in Congress in 1994, and the Democrats lost power.
Jersey also said "Republicans, for quite a while now, have shown themselves inept at governance and just plain crooked in governing philosophy. Where they govern, people earn less"
DeleteThis also needs some fact checking. Consider the "Michigan Miracle" of the 2000's. The state government had a major role in forcing so many jobs out of the state, or even country. It was the only state to lose population in the 2010 census. At the heart of it is Detroit.... The governor during this time? A very liberal Democrat. Detroit was run by famously "inept" and provably "crooked" mayors such as Kwame Kilpatrick during this time.... also a Democrat.
Jersey said: " I'm just saying the GOP would be wise to move a little to the Left."
DeleteSpoken like a true partisan.
dmarks, every single thing I said is true. You can point to some GOP success stories here and there - and especially the North - but as this conversation goes, those Republicans are not viable right now on the GOP national level. Look at Christie. He's the most popular Republican in the country, but the current GOP power base hates him.
DeleteOh, and again, you're selective spin on recent history is getting annoying. I don't have the space and time here to recall the big stories of what happened and why regarding the Mortgage Meltdown, the Stupid War, and the Great Recession. And neither do you. You're recollections do it no justice at best.
The GOP had better wake up and change the way it approaches some of the big common issues of the day, or it WILL be left behind. People are sick to death of the whiny, paranoid, martyr-y, bitching and moaning from the social right. 20 years from now, if the GOP keeps it up with that stupid FOX News-y wing of the party, they will be a permanent minority in a large but sparsely populated chunk of old Dixie. And that's it.
As well, today's kids aren't quite as stupid as we like to think. They can see a scam. And they seem to be getting something that's been a long time coming - the Reagan era has come to an inglorious end. It's time for something new.
JMJ
Jersey said: "Oh, and again, you're selective spin on recent history is getting annoying."
DeleteI engaged in no spin, and wasn't selective at all. And my "recent" history I was referring to goes back decades prior to the 2008 cutoff you claimed I was using.
"dmarks, every single thing I said is true."
You got a bunch of things wrong, actually.
" I don't have the space and time here to recall the big stories"
Yes, convenient and self-serving, you don't have time for relevant facts.
" You're recollections do it no justice at best."
As a matter of fact, they do. I am sticking to the facts, and what actually happened.
dmarks, random facts do make make a coherent argument. Overall, people who live in Red States have poorer public schools and healthcare, take more money from the federal government than they pay in, and have higher social ill rates. This is a fact.
DeleteAs for the economic problems of recent history, only a moron would think they could summarize these as you did.
JMJ
Your "overall" is a very sloppy and poor generalization. The red state North Dakota does better than them all. The red states Louisiana and Alabama do badly and drag it down. The red states are found scattered high and low among rankings when you look at social ills.
DeleteYou are also making a big error of assuming causality. That's a fallacy. It is at least as likely that red states like Mississippi vote Republican in an effort to solve their problems (and doing so has made their situations better) as it is that the "redness" causes these problems.
As for your "moron" insult, I stuck to cold hard budget facts. You won't tell me what I got wrong in summarizing how the Democrats have been less fiscally responsible for decades now. So we are left with cold hard US Treasury figures-based facts from me, and the unintelligent "worthy of a troll" moron grunt from you. You can do better, Jersey, but apparently not this time, where you painted yourself into a corner by making claims entirely at odds with fiscal history and grunting when crushed by the weight of the facts.
I think that Rand Paul (who clearly got off to a shaky start on Maddow's program) has a fair amount of appeal for young voters. a) He's strong on civil liberties and b) he doesn't treat the Pentagon as a sacred cow. Maybe he can be one of the Republicans' new leaders.
ReplyDeleteIt is a distinct possibility. Lets hope several of the old guard get put out to pasture soon. Although Rand clearly is not of the same high caliber as his father.
DeleteAgain?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI also think that the Republicans need to more look to the states and some of the solid Governors that they have/had; Jindal, Daniels, Huntsman, Christie, Kasich, etc.. I mean, they're certainly a lot more attractive than those Washington low-lifes.
ReplyDeleteWill: And Gov. Rick Snyder in Michigan. He used his leadership to quickly solve a budget crisis that the Democrats and other Republicans could not solve for years. And he recently took a courageous stand to defend workers' rights, which, though popular, has earned him nasty threats from union bosses.
ReplyDeleteHe's a pragmatist and problem solver, not an ideologue.
The GOP never had it right in the first place. The proof is in the disastrous results of the policies they put in place years ago and still push those same policies today and for America's future.
ReplyDeleteSpoken like a partisan True Believer, Anon. My opinion is that the Dems policies are even more disastrous for America's future, and unlike with your opinion, the facts tend to go my way on this.
DeleteHere is one of many examples of where the GOP got it right and the Democrats got it wrong.
ReplyDeleteObamscare forced vet bills to rise
The <a href = "http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml>specific provisions of Obamacare</A> which force medical supply makers to sharply raise prices for goods/etc related to human AND animal care are strongly supported by the Democrats. The Republicans have tried very hard to get rid of these provisions.
This is one of the stark examples where the Democrats are pursuing a completely wrong and destructive policy that harms healthcare and family budgets and the Republicans have pursued a sane policy. The Dems policy here is as close to evil as a policy can get, and it is hard to put a good spin on a policy designed to do a combination of force medical equipment makers to outsource jobs, to raise prices, and to reduce the quality of their products.
I expect crickets on this one, such as when I pointed out just part of the massive pile of accepted evidence of Saddam's WMD when Anon lied and claimed there were none.