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The Optimistic GOP Story Everyone Is Missing
Townhall.com ^ | October 25, 2014 | Larry Kudlow

Posted on 10/25/2014 9:03:01 AM PDT by Kaslin

The vast majority of political journalists -- and I include some of my conservative colleagues -- are missing a very big story.

The Republicans are going to recapture the Senate, picking up more seats than most any forecaster expects. And the House GOP is going to add to its majority. But then comes the big story: The beginning of a new conservative revolution.

The idea that nothing much will change if the GOP captures the whole Congress is just plain wrong. The politics and policies in Washington are about to change in a major way.

Obama may still be president. But he is going to be immediately confronted with a flood of new bills that will change the debate on tax reform, energy, health care, education, international trade and regulations.

Obama will no longer be able to hide behind Harry Reid, who has stopped all voting on these matters. And Mitch McConnell, as Senate majority leader, will be able to move forward the reform ideas of his caucus and House policy leaders like Paul Ryan, Jeb Hensarling, Kevin Brady and many others.

Obama's head will spin with all the new paperwork on his desk. He may even have to cut back on his golf game.

Of course, because of his left-wing ideology, Obama may veto everything. But if he does, he's setting up a new Republican agenda for the 2016 presidential race. Either Hillary Clinton completely jumps the Obama ship, or she's pulled way left by the Democratic party's Bill de Blasio/Elizabeth Warren/Sandinista wing. Either way she's in trouble.

And maybe some Senate Democrats vote to override Obama's vetoes, with some even converting to Republicanism. An Angus King or a Joe Manchin may cross the aisle after the likely midterm GOP landslide.

Unfortunately, the current GOP never put together a clear national-policy election agenda. Not even a downsized Contract with America. But I suggest two Big Think thoughts for the first 100 days of the new Congress.

First is optimism: We know what the problems are, we know what the solutions should be, and we can make these changes quickly. Second is a re-energized evangelism by the Republican party for pro-growth, market-oriented, consumer-driven, pro-family policies.

"We all see this coming," House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan told me in a recent interview. "Energy and tax reform are going to be at the top of the list." And House Financial Services chairman Jeb Hensarling told me, "It's time to put up or shut up for tax reform. Fairer, flatter, simpler, so the American people will at last know what the GOP would do for economic growth to rescue the country from the worst recovery since World War II."

Hensarling also emphasized the need to expand the energy revolution and to stop the massive overregulation that has stunted growth. "The regulatory red-tape burden, which violates the Founding Fathers' Federalist paper 47 by diminishing the rule of law and increasing bureaucratic power in the executive branch at the expense of the constitutionally mandated legislative branch, has got to be stopped."

Let me weigh in on the first two bills that the GOP should put on Obama's desk.

The Republicans should start with energy by legislating a Keystone Pipeline Authorization Act (this is how the Alaska pipeline was approved in 1979), and include energy reforms that would open federal lands to development and drilling and remove all restrictions to energy exports.

More energy supply means lower energy prices and more overall economic growth. Everybody benefits. Who loses? Our enemy Vladimir Putin and his client state Iran. And if Obama kowtows again to the left-wing enviros, so be it. It's a 2016 GOP agenda item.

Second would be a business tax-reform plan that would slash the corporate tax rate to 20 percent, stop the double taxation of foreign profits and allow small business S-corps (including unborn start-ups, which are America's real job creators) to take advantage of the new lower corporate tax rate. This tax cut should also be scored with a reality-based economic-feedback model.

But the key here is that the GOP regains its footing as the party of optimism and growth. A new Republican Congress should message that they're tired of obsessing about Obama's mistakes. Everybody knows about those. The trick now is to focus on solutions. On change. On saying, "We can do this. We can fix this."

Harking back to Ronald Reagan, Republicans should also remind everyone that a nation that's strong at home is one that becomes strong abroad. Not only can we put people back to work in the U.S., with real take-home pay, but a new recovery will gather new respect from our allies, and new fear from our enemies.

This is the potentially huge story that so many in the media are missing.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: 2014midterms; kudlow
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To: Kaslin

The gutless, spineless, unprincipled Republicans will do nothing at all to return government to a reasonable size, lessen the tax burden, nor control the borders. Nothing but talk.


61 posted on 10/25/2014 11:01:41 AM PDT by spodefly (This is my tag line. There are many like it, but this one is mine.)
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To: txhurl

I bet that plunged my vote into a black hole somewhere :)
= = = = = = = = = = = =

Looks/sounds like a hanging chad to me....<: <:

Like the R that voted for himself and when it came ‘check time’ it showed he had voted for the D.
Tried it a couple of times and did the same, so
it was deemed the machine needed calibration...

Calibration? Every machine in the joint needs to be checked or tossed ALONG with the people responsible for its upkeep and those who are supposed to be ‘guarding’ the machines.

Story may or may NOT be true (Probably did happen) but it does pay to be alert.....and really check what is on the screen prior you saying YES.....


62 posted on 10/25/2014 11:03:25 AM PDT by xrmusn ((6/98) Brilliant..If I work I get to pay taxes to the Govt. If one doesn't work, the Govt pays them)
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To: Kaslin

I like Kudlow, but he more often comes across naive than optimistic, as is the case here.


63 posted on 10/25/2014 11:05:25 AM PDT by aquila48
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To: xrmusn

I actually don’t know how ballots with write-ins will be processed... in retrospect I should have just left it blank, instead of being an angry jilted-primary-grudger.


64 posted on 10/25/2014 11:13:56 AM PDT by txhurl (2014: Stunned Voters do Stunning Things!)
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To: oldbrowser

And his “had it all” included 5-6 Senators which frequently voted with the Dems, or threatened to if provisions weren’t weakened. So by all means don’t give them a solid majority, right? Sit at home and whine about all manner of improvement because they aren’t the end goal.

The Dems, at least, seem to think the Tea Party voices are heard and dragging things rightward.

Even stopping Reid from shelving bills is a worthy gain.


65 posted on 10/25/2014 12:00:15 PM PDT by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: Yogafist

The Democrats can still block them, can’t they?


And if they do, they still have to block them. With the Contract for America, there were 20 some bills that the Democrats had shelved in a similar manner to the way they’re doing it now, and when finally presented for vote, after a couple of filibusters Democrat majorities voted for most of them. This includes one bill that the Democrats filibustered for three days, and then voted unanimously for.

It makes a difference.


66 posted on 10/25/2014 12:04:45 PM PDT by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: Yogafist

Oh, also… There are some 75 bills that passed the House unanimously that Reid shelved so that Obama wouldn’t have to weigh in on them. I suspect a few of those might have a chance to pass the Senate. /s


67 posted on 10/25/2014 12:07:25 PM PDT by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: RIghtwardHo

The time to address that is in the primaries. At this point it’s whining at best. Being spiteful isn’t going to get you where you want to go.


68 posted on 10/25/2014 12:13:22 PM PDT by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: The Sons of Liberty

Boner and McConnell have to go.


69 posted on 10/25/2014 12:33:22 PM PDT by jospehm20
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To: RIghtwardHo

You have a problem with O’Keefe exposing democrat shenanigans through “gotcha” means:
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/3218214/posts?page=3#3
Yet have NO PROBLEM AT ALL with Democrats doing gotcha questions:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2808901/posts?page=10#10

And you lied about WMD in Iraq:
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3219071/posts?page=2#2

When challenged, your assertions refuted, you RAN AWAY.


70 posted on 10/25/2014 12:54:48 PM PDT by Darksheare (People who support liberal "Republicans" summarily support every action by same.)
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To: Kaslin; fieldmarshaldj; AuH2ORepublican; Impy; GOPsterinMA; randita; Sun; LdSentinal; ...

I so, so, so hope this is true.


71 posted on 10/25/2014 12:57:27 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued (The War on Drugs is Big Government statism)
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To: INVAR
The OP wasn’t optimism, it was cognitive dissonance with a fatal dose of Normalcy Bias thrown in.

Bingo!

72 posted on 10/25/2014 12:58:58 PM PDT by zzeeman ("We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality.")
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To: lepton
The time to address that is in the primaries.

Like Cochran in MS???? When our supposed "leader" vows to 'crush' Conservatives wherever we are found, threatens to punch us in the nose for daring to challenge him and asserts we will never be able to get a candidate on the ballot ever again?

Primaries are as corrupted as the rest of the entire system they have rigged for themselves. Wake up and smell what time it is. Voting for a liberal Statist because they have an 'R' after their name is not going to save us.

At this point it’s whining at best. Being spiteful isn’t going to get you where you want to go.

That scare tactic and threat thrown at the base for the last 25 years is moot and no longer going to motivate any principled Conservative to practice insanity by pulling a lever for the Ruling Class stooge.

Getting where we want to go is no longer an option from within the system the Ruling Class Statists and MarxoFascists have corrupted for themselves.

Getting to where we want to go is going to have to come from OUTSIDE the existing system and structure that has been perverted. We no longer have any recourse or representation in Washington aside from three persecuted and demonized warriors that their own party leadership has vowed to destroy and render irrelevant.

Being spiteful against traitors to our cause is perfectly warranted. Especially against those who declared war on us.

73 posted on 10/25/2014 1:08:02 PM PDT by INVAR ("Fart for liberty, fart for freedom and fart proudly!" - Benjamin Franklin)
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To: Kaslin

Not buying it, Larry—Sorry.


74 posted on 10/25/2014 1:22:50 PM PDT by Arm_Bears (Rope. Tree. Politician. Some assembly required.)
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To: INVAR

Like Cochran in MS????


That’s the one possible exception.

Primaries are as corrupted as the rest of the entire system they have rigged for themselves. Wake up and smell what time it is. Voting for a liberal Statist because they have an ‘R’ after their name is not going to save us.


Hey, if it’s rigged, then quit arguing about it. That’s just daft. You’ve lost anyway.

That scare tactic and threat thrown at the base


Yup. Be dismissive about having even a modicum of sense.


75 posted on 10/25/2014 1:43:23 PM PDT by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: Signalman

I hope ... AND PRAY ... that he is right.


76 posted on 10/25/2014 2:05:49 PM PDT by generally (Don't be stupid. We have politicians for that.)
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To: lepton
Hey, if it’s rigged, then quit arguing about it. That’s just daft. You’ve lost anyway.

Voting for a liberal and an oligarch because they have an 'R' after their name and lying to yourself that you've 'won' is the grandest form of daft I've yet seen and heard of.

However, we have nearly 30 years of that kind of insanity posing as reason in the GOP and preached by their party loyalists. Maybe you might have noticed, but I am no longer a slave on their plantation.

Yup. Be dismissive about having even a modicum of sense.

If 'sense' in your lexicon is voting for a liberal Statist who declares war on you and your beliefs simply because of the letter next to their name, then I assert you have no sense, you are practicing insanity.

If the GOP takes it all, not a thing will change. ObamaCare will remain, Amnesty will be passed with wide "bipartisan" support and further erosions of liberty under the guise of fairness, safety and security will continue and not a damn thing done to violate the Constitution will be held to account.

But please, if you desire to live in your fantasy that voting for Republican Statists ensures that Conservatives will "win" - don't let reality get in your way.

After all, since we are told Ebola is hard to catch, and quarantining it will only make it spread, if goes-to-figure that voting for more Ruling Class Republicans will restore the Constitution and give Conservatives a 'win'. Makes perfect sense in this upside-down world.

77 posted on 10/25/2014 2:07:02 PM PDT by INVAR ("Fart for liberty, fart for freedom and fart proudly!" - Benjamin Franklin)
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To: txhurl

Good assessment!


78 posted on 10/25/2014 2:33:26 PM PDT by DakotaGator (Weep for the lost Republic! And keep your powder dry!!)
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To: Kaslin

See skeptical cat.

A conservative revolution from the rinos and party that stands for nothing but amnesty. Come on, somebody is smoking wacky backy.


79 posted on 10/25/2014 2:34:52 PM PDT by Sequoyah101 (Obola brought to you by demorats. Hope you like your Change and live to tell it.)
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To: Blackirish

Disgusting, isn’t it. I am so tired of these losers


80 posted on 10/25/2014 3:01:52 PM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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