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GOP in Default Mode
The American Thinker ^ | August 23, 2010 | J.R. Dunn

Posted on 08/23/2010 3:21:25 AM PDT by Scanian

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To: Boucheau

The period of 1994 through 2006 proves you wrong. There was sustained growth, low tax burden, etc, etc. Despite too much spending towards the end of that term, much was defense spending post 9/11. The deficit was curving back downward before the Dems took over. Saying we are worse off with the Dems in charge of the congress is simply a fool’s argument.


21 posted on 08/23/2010 5:13:28 AM PDT by ilgipper
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To: rockinqsranch
Did you read beyond that first paragraph in the article?

Dude.

I don't read past the headline.

Y'see.

22 posted on 08/23/2010 5:19:36 AM PDT by Lazamataz ("We beat the Soviet Union, then we became them." Lazamataz, 2005)
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To: ilgipper
We are screwed. We didn't get to this sorry state as a country in just the year and a half Obama has been in office. We have been traveling this path for at least five decades, of which in two of the past three decades, a Republican held the White House. It's been a progression move to this point. A Bipartisan one. Screw both parties. This house of cards is gonna fall under either of the ruling parties. Tell me why I should think differently.
23 posted on 08/23/2010 5:23:40 AM PDT by KDD (When the government boot is on your neck, it matters not whether it is the right boot or the left.)
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To: Boucheau
‘I vote freedom first, prosperity second, and, well, party is WAY down the list, FRiend.’

I do not really care WHY you are part of the Democrat campaign apparatus.

24 posted on 08/23/2010 5:30:37 AM PDT by Lucius Cornelius Sulla ('“Our own government has become our enemy' - Sheriff Paul Babeu)
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To: tflabo
Are you listening GOP? Probably not...

Of course the GOP isn't listening!!! We've all been (or at least most of us have been) castigating the dems for "not listening" to the American punlic.

Well, "behind the scenes" so to speak....and due mostly to failed leadership, complete lack of useful ideas, and an "old white man" mentality....the RINOs haven't been listening either.

Except to say that those rinos now in power are pretty sure their seats are safe from this coming Nov's bloodbath, and so are now piping up about how wonderful they are, how tough it's been for them, and that we should all run right out and vote for them.

This, so they can return to power - then do the same things the dems have been doing - for the next two years (e.g. :Scott Walker, MA). That is "rino-ing" to the best of their ability.

One wonders if we should not re-name the two parties??

Perhaps the "demlicans" and the "repubocrats"? Since they are a mix of liberal ideas from far far left to slightly left of reason, why don't we name them as we see them?

Where oh where oh where are the true conservative leaders running for office?????

25 posted on 08/23/2010 5:32:58 AM PDT by Logic n' Reason ("Don't piss down my back and tell me it's rainin'")
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To: Lucius Cornelius Sulla

Good one.

I should say: I do not really care WHY your are part of the GOP/RNC campaign apparatus.

But I won’t.


26 posted on 08/23/2010 5:40:05 AM PDT by Boucheau
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To: Boucheau

‘WHY your are part of the GOP/RNC campaign apparatus.’

Proud to support a pro-life, anti-amnesty, pro-defense, tax-cutting party which supports cutting government regulation and opposes an Islamic takeover of the West. So what is your reason for assisting Obama again?


27 posted on 08/23/2010 5:51:02 AM PDT by Lucius Cornelius Sulla ('“Our own government has become our enemy' - Sheriff Paul Babeu)
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To: Lucius Cornelius Sulla

Let’s see how the GOP stacks up vs. the positions you claim it holds:

Pro-life: In words, yes, in actions, no.

Anti-Amnesty: Yea, uh, who was it that gave the first amnesty to the illegals? Was it that Reagan guy? And who was just running on the GOP ticket this last time? That McCain dude? Didn’t that McCain dude author legislation offering more amnesty?

Pro-defense: Pro defense spending isn’t the same as ‘pro-defense.’ If the GOP were truly ‘pro-defense’ they would start working on the Mexican border for real, and they’d cease allowing students from Muslim countries into our country on student visas - especially for engineering and science degrees.

Tax-cutting: That much is true.

Cutting government regulations: In my lifetime, I have never seen government regulations cut. Never. During the Bush administration, the number of regulations I endured as a farmer continued to go up, it never went down. Want to talk about regulation? Then let’s talk about regulation. Who brought the EPA into existence? A Republican. Who brought the Department of Homeland Security into existence? A Republican. Who brought us the wonder of the TSA? A Republican. I no longer fly where I’m going because of the policies of A Republican.

Don’t talk to me about cutting regulations.

“Opposes an Islamic takeover of the West:” Uh, provide some evidence please. Where has any elected Republican actually done anything other than flap their gums on this issue? When have they done something concrete, like expose Islam for what it is? Who coined the bucket of treacle, “Islam is a religion of peace?” Oh, that would be a Republican.


28 posted on 08/23/2010 6:31:11 AM PDT by NVDave
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To: Scanian
One only need examine the vitriol and expressions of frustration within the posted responses to this article to understand just what harm the Republican leadership has done to their party's "brand" in recent years.

What it means to be a Republican these days is as unclear as it was in the days before Ronald Reagan emerged in the wake of Gerald Ford's electoral loss in 1976 to rally conservatives behind a positive, coherent vision of America as a natural and exceptional leader of the free world.

As others (most notably, author Angelo Codevilla) have discerned, there is a cultural divide in the GOP today just as there is within the Democrat Party - but with a vital difference. Both parties' leaders are largely "ruling class" elitists fully at home in Washington, DC and in other urban metropolises, but rarely in the vast exurban and rural lands that comprise most of "country class" America.

For its part, the Republican leadership feels compelled to distance itself from its core supporters - conservative activists, Tea Party enthusiasts, evangelical Christians, and 2nd Amendment supporters among them - precisely because the GOP leaders share none of these enthusiasms. Rather, they wish to act as political middle managers, not leaders; caretakers, not owners. The "rabble" in the countryside just distract from their mission, which is not to roll back government but to preside over it with more care, fiscal probity and discretion than Democrats would. Not to put too fine a point on it, but how did that work out during W.'s last term?

The Democrat leaders are of course, also elitists, though of a more radical disposition, seeking as they do the advancement of Progressive social experimentation in all areas of life without recognizing any significant restraint on the government's ability to do "pretty much whatever it wants" (in the words of one Fortney "Pete" Stark).

But here is the critical difference - Democrat leaders love their base voters - unionized government workers, blacks, urban single women, trial lawyers, and government dependents at large - not because they are also elitists (although some are) but because they are valued clients of the Democrat Party who donate their time, loyalty, and money to the party in exchange for billions of dollars in Federal largess.

The GOP, in contrast, will never attract the fealty or enthusiasm of its core voters until Republican leaders decide to give their voters what they want - which is largely to be left the hell alone. Shrink government. Slash the spending that is sucking the life blood out of our economy. Reform a tax code that ruthlessly penalizes productivity and investment. Eliminate bureaucracy and burdensome regulatory rules that no one truly understands. Get the Federal government out of our way so that America can become America again.

As a practical matter, the GOP must abandon the "status-quo, don't make waves, don't rock the boat, go-along-to-get-along, politics-is-the-art-of-the-possible, compromise is always better than conflict" mode in which they find themselves. Which is why they're presently hunkered down and waiting for the Tea Parties to carry them to victory in the fall (without open support from the party brass), after which time... they'll... er... what, exactly? Quietly accede to Obama's 1st term victories by refusing to fight for a repeal of the health care law or an extension of Bush's tax cuts? You betcha. That's the plan. But at least now they'll get the nicer Capitol offices and the really good tables at lunch.

29 posted on 08/23/2010 7:00:52 AM PDT by andy58-in-nh (America does not need to be organized: it needs to be liberated.)
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To: NVDave

Since your list of RINOs includes Ronald Reagan there is no point in discussing things with you. However, I am talking about the current GOP leadership, including Sarah Palin, Sharon Angle, Rand Paul, Bob McDonnell, Bobby Jindal, Nikki Haley, Jim DeMint, etc. Why folks like you give assistance to Obama, Reid and Pelosi and call yourself conservatives is hard to grasp.


30 posted on 08/23/2010 7:05:07 AM PDT by Lucius Cornelius Sulla ('“Our own government has become our enemy' - Sheriff Paul Babeu)
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To: andy58-in-nh
Exactly !
The real “divide” is “Imperial DC” vs “the provinces”.
The Rats almost done to every member benefits either directly from government (i.e., employee of federal, state or local) or indirectly from government through the enforcement of some contract, rules/laws or regulations.
The GOP not so much much BUT GOP politicians do as a function of how long they directly serve in government. I include long serving (too long!) GOP state legislators in this statement also! Far too many state house GOP’er stay in too long and become indistinguishable from their Rat counterparts.
Voters share responsibility in this by allowing it to happen!
This is why I favor term limits a decade in office is plenty for a politician! Time for the politician to go back home and experience his/her’s governing wisdom.

Two terms in the US Senate (12 years!)
Six terms in the US House (12 years!)
Then go home, sit out 1 Senate term & 2 House terms before the “professional politician” can return.
Similar restrictions need to be imposed and the state, county & city level!

31 posted on 08/23/2010 7:18:07 AM PDT by Reily
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To: Reily

Unfortunately Congressional term limits appears to require a constitutional amendment. This would probably require an Amendment proposed by the states or even a second Constitutional Convention. In any case, it will not be done quickly enough to save the country from the immediate crisis.


32 posted on 08/23/2010 7:31:28 AM PDT by Lucius Cornelius Sulla ('“Our own government has become our enemy' - Sheriff Paul Babeu)
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To: KDD

“We are screwed. We didn’t get to this sorry state as a country in just the year and a half Obama has been in office. We have been traveling this path for at least five decades, of which in two of the past three decades, a Republican held the White House. It’s been a progression move to this point. A Bipartisan one. Screw both parties. This house of cards is gonna fall under either of the ruling parties. Tell me why I should think differently.”

Thankfully, those who share your views sit behind keyboards and rant with a hand full of like minded know it alls. It is a big country and fortunately the overwhelming majority of them are sensible.


33 posted on 08/23/2010 9:13:14 AM PDT by billhilly
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To: billhilly
Sensible?

LOL...more like...


34 posted on 08/23/2010 10:57:17 AM PDT by KDD (When the government boot is on your neck, it matters not whether it is the right boot or the left.)
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To: Lucius Cornelius Sulla

Did I call Reagan a RINO? No. Have I ever? No.

Was he? Clearly not.

You’re putting words in my mouth, and you might want to stop that. I have only limited patience for people like you.

You can’t seem to handle the facts:

Fact: Reagan brought forward the first amnesty, thereby giving us the root of our problems today.

Fact: Reagan was a Republican.

Fact: Reagan was a conservative Republican.

Fact: Some Republicans and Republican candidates today point to that amnesty when supporting a new “path to citizenship” for illegals.


35 posted on 08/23/2010 12:46:57 PM PDT by NVDave
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To: NVDave

Having been active first as a conservative then as a conservative Republican for 50 years I can say that the Republican party’s leadership has NEVER been more conservative than it is right now, and since the oldest Republicans tend to be the most liberal, and because of the influx of tea party types, the GOP is rapidly becoming more conservative.


36 posted on 08/23/2010 12:58:12 PM PDT by Lucius Cornelius Sulla ('“Our own government has become our enemy' - Sheriff Paul Babeu)
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To: andy58-in-nh

Thank you for posting that. I could not have written that more eloquently or more succinctly than you did. I would like to highlight one passage of your posting that rings like a bell put over my head and hit with a sledgehammer:

“The GOP, in contrast, will never attract the fealty or enthusiasm of its core voters until Republican leaders decide to give their voters what they want - which is largely to be left the hell alone. “

You just hit the X ring, Andy. That’s is a beautiful and clear summation of the salient issue at hand.

This is also part of why I believe the GOP is destined to fail and fail big. NO politician goes to DC to “do nothing.” They all claim they have big dreams and aspirations for what they want to do in office. None of these morons go to DC to a) do nothing and b) undo that which never needed to be done before. Every last one of these buttinskis thinks that their meddling in my life is for my own good.

And this is why I’m fed up with the GOP. They promise to reduce government, but they never do. These idiots and hair-lipped morons NEVER, EVER reduce the bureaucracy I am forced to deal with every day. Want to impress me? Show me that just ONE form that I have to fill out in the course of a year has gone away, that I will never, ever need to deal with that piece of paper again. Want to really impress me? Eliminate a half dozen forms I fill out over the course of a year.

They can’t even stir themselves to find something concrete and eliminate ONE form, one piece of stupid mail from the government that takes my time.

For example: I’m looking at opening a gun smithing business. Want to impress me? Eliminate all ITAR requirements that gunsmiths who don’t sell guns to the military or who never export anything.

At this point, I have to little confidence in the GOP’s ability to actually eliminate any paperwork that I’d settle for even less: I’d settle for the GOP to force a concrete resolution as to who needs to pay the ITAR fees every year, and for a clear-cut policy letter on what constitutes “manufacturing” of a firearm. I’d also like a clear-cut statement of the Internal Revenue Code in such a way that anyone can understand it completely and easily upon one reading.

Want to impress me? Make compliance with the Agricultural Census optional for farmers. I hated with a passion receiving these idiotic letters every month/quarter/year with a bold “$300 fine for non-compliance” on the outside of the envelope. Who the *&(*& is the government to tell me, a private company engaged in lawful commerce to report to them how much I was producing, of what, and for how much I sold it ... under penalty of a fine? It always made me madder than heck.

The GOP has accomplished none of these types of things, much less promising or delivering on being “left alone.”


37 posted on 08/23/2010 1:05:48 PM PDT by NVDave
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To: Lucius Cornelius Sulla

“So what is your reason for assisting Obama again?”

Is there an echo in here?


38 posted on 08/23/2010 2:55:20 PM PDT by Boucheau
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