Posted on 12/04/2012 1:21:14 PM PST by IbJensen
Republicans had better learn from history -- and from Ronald Reagan's mistake.
President Obama and his fellow big-spenders in Congress are promising if they get higher tax rates today they'll make even higher spending cuts tomorrow.
It's an old sucker's game. Republicans -- and the rest of the country -- should know it by now, because for three decades we've all been suckers.
If history is our guide, and Republicans in Congress don't grow a spine, by this time next year we'll have higher taxes, higher spending, more debt and a bigger government.
Twice before, Republicans have been fooled into playing the Democrats' con game.
It happened to my father early in his first term when he sought to close a growing federal deficit caused by the deep economic recession. He believed Democrats in Congress would keep their pledge to make $3 in future spending cuts for every $1 in immediate tax increases.
In 1982 he signed a compromise tax bill with the horrible name of TEFRA -- the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act. And, when those promised spending cuts never materialized in Congress, TEFRA became one of the biggest regrets of my father's presidency.
My father was duped by the duplicity of Democrats. And so was George H.W. Bush less than a decade later, when he foolishly allowed himself to be taken for the same ride.
In 1990's budget wrangling, which was aimed at reducing the federal budget deficit by $500 billion over five years, Bush 41 was seduced by the Democrats' promise of making $2 in spending cuts for every $1 in tax hikes.
The first Bush fell for it completely, reneging on his "Read my lips, no new taxes" pledge, opening the door for "tax-cutter" Ross Perot and losing in 1992 to Bill Clinton.
Even before he was de-elected, Bush 41 regretted the "bargain" he had made with Democrats. In March of 1992, the sucker in chief said, "I thought this one compromise -- and it was a compromise -- would result in no more tax increases.
"I thought it would result in total control of domestic discretionary spending. And now we see Congress talking about raising taxes again. So, I'm disappointed, and given all of that, yes, (it was) a mistake."
Fast-forward to "Nightmare on Obama Street, Part II." We have trillion-dollar federal deficits as far as our children's eyes can see. We have an economy that's looking at four more years of low growth and higher taxes.
And now some Republicans in Congress -- who apparently don't have a piece of conservative cartilage left in their bodies -- are getting ready to be duped again.
What's that old saying? "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." Well, Republicans look like they are about to be fooled for the third time, which is so stupid there's no adage to describe it.
While my father was bargaining with Democrats in 1982 over spending and tax cuts, he spoke over the heads of Congress to the American people.
"In a few days the Congress will stand at the fork of two roads," he said. "One road is all too familiar to us. It leads ultimately to higher taxes. It merely brings us full circle back to the source of our economic problems, where the government decides that it knows better than you what should be done with your earnings and, in fact, how you should conduct your life. The other road promises to renew the American spirit. It's a road of hope and opportunity. It places the direction of your life back in your hands where it belongs."
America is at that same fork in the road today. Twice in 30 years Republicans have let Democrat promises lead them and the country down a one-way road to bigger and bigger government.
Double shame on us. And if the GOP allows itself to be suckered again, it won't be just another disaster for conservatism, it'll be a tragedy for the whole country.
Impeachment is obviously not going to be acted upon. Voting is almost an exercise in futility due to a system in need of repair and a voting pool saturated with uneducated people clueless as to what they are actually doing. The Conservative Party has gotten so watered down, it practically mirrors the Democratic Party. So, what final act of desperation remains in order to save our Nation?
I’m seeing no other way other than flat-out revolt and that is going to require an enmasse undertaking. Do the people have the vision that they want the leaders to have?
The stupid party now is just the rite wing of the democrat party.
The problem is, Conservatives WON’T form their own Party. They are goaded, and scared, into staying the course because if they “throw their vote away” then the Dims will win and run the Country ..... hmmm. Like now?
I’m sick to death of Conservatives chasing the boogeyman. Grow a pair and let’s start something else.
For as long as Conservatives remain idle spectators to US media and entertainment, the chances for improvement are slim.
Comcast owns NBC, MSNBC. Disney owns ABC, ESPN. Two fantastic corporations, but also responsible for the Leftwing screed promoted by their employees.
Conservatives cannot afford to walk away. And neither can the Country afford it.
The Conservatives in the House should mobilize to vote for new leadership despite the fact they will be putting their clout at risk!!!
>> Grow a pair and let’s start something else.
Nonsense. The Tea Party and Conservative candidates elected to office in 2010 need to remember why they were elected.
Boehner is playing for the middle. He should be voted out of his leadership position. Boehner and his ilk have contempt for the new Congress members because they refuse to “get in line”.
Tired of this third party fantasy — a solution for the delusional that takes focus off our current political investments.
Good post.
Liberals control mainstream media AND the education system from preschool to grad school.
That’s the real key to their success.
We’ve now got two or two and a half generations who have been deeply indoctrinated by the education system and the popular media. They are replacing the (largely Republican) voters who are dying off at 2.5 million a year.
Not really. We are much further down a socialist/totalitarian cul-de-sac that leads to plunder/death. RR could articulate the evils of foreign enemies but could not name or defund the collectives constructed by domestic enemies. The republic has been stolen and sacked by socialists inside America. Their most radical totalitarian agents domestic and foreign are hell-bent on delivering the coup-de-grace.
This 1.6 trillion fiscal cliff is a mini-molehill compared to the rest of the debt that this country is carrying.
If the govt fails to get this done, then people and govts around the world that hold US govt paper will have certified proof that their bonds and t-bills will NEVER be repaid.
Not only will they not buy anymore, they'll dump what they got with both hands as fast as they can.
Godspeed and God Bless
http://www.franklincase.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11&Itemid=9
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