Posted on 12/20/2011 7:17:50 AM PST by Texas Eagle
....have your candidate focus on that are not part of the current dialogue?
Republicans have a boatload of issues they could be making hay of that, I think, would virtually guarantee them a victory in the Presidential race as well as across the board in Congressional, state and local races.
The question is, which issues are those and how should they answer the incessant gotcha questions they face from President Clouseau's operatives in the media.
I'll start.
Answer every "how would you fund this" question with "money from Obama's stash."
I think this would resonate soundly with the electorate. Especially when they could direct people to Peter Schweitzer's new book, "Throw Them All Out".
Health Care: Congress shall live under the same health care mandates as the rest of the country or the country shall have access to the same health care as Congress.
This would include allowing people to buy policies from out-of-state providers; allowing people to pay for routine procedure out-of-pocket; allowing people to buy policies they can take with them when they change jobs; allowing people to form their own co-ops; allowing people to deduct health insurance premiums from their income taxes, etc.
I'm sure there are other ideas for this issue.
Light bulbs: Decriminalize the incandescent light bulb.
Toilets: Decriminalize the 3.5 gallon flush toilet.
Thanks for the reminder.
Border, Language, Culture: Streamline the Naturalization process. Allow states to enforce Immigration laws. Make English the official language.
Thanks for the input.
I don't think you're embracing the spirit of this thread.
I know you have ideas. Run 'em up the flag pole. Let's see if people salute them.
Suggested Answer From Republican Candidate: "I am not going to telegraph my punches. My overriding concern will be to promote the general welfare of the people of The United States Of America.
Oil Exploration And Production: Allow drilling in ANWR. Repeal Moratorium on drilling in The Gulf Of Mexico.
It's the 600 lb. gorilla in the room that no one wants to talk about.
Every time that someone brings it up, the Democrats start demagogueing them. It's time to demagogue back. Make hard-hitting and factual statements about what is going to happen if we do nothing, and put the Democrats on the defensive, i.e. IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT!!??
We have a stark choice: we get control of entitlements or go the way of Greece in a decade or less. Every day we put it off, it gets worse, and harder to fix.
My candidate would begin every debate and every interview with the following two sentences:
‘The Government is taxing you too much, is spending tax money unwisely, and is ignoring the demands of the people. I promise that out of control spending, taxes as a means of punishing success, and the arrogance that those in power know what it means to live in our economy will come to a sudden and complete end.’
“Entitlement reform.
It’s the 600 lb. gorilla in the room that no one wants to talk about.
Every time that someone brings it up, the Democrats start demagogueing them. It’s time to demagogue back. Make hard-hitting and factual statements about what is going to happen if we do nothing, and put the Democrats on the defensive, i.e. IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT!!??
We have a stark choice: we get control of entitlements or go the way of Greece in a decade or less. Every day we put it off, it gets worse, and harder to fix.”
Excellent post and idea — but this will NEVER happen in American politics.
Even “conservatives” aren’t going to go there, even after it becomes obvious that a collapse may be nearing. (Aside: you see exactly the same approach going on today with the European debt crisis, one “fix” after another, none of which do anything to address the real problems)
The only way entitlements are ever going to be fixed in America — or anywhere else in the “western” nations, for that matter — is for the systems to simply collapse from their own weight and debts.
Only AFTER the collapse has occurred, and the true nature of the _consequences_ of such collapse become apparent (including social upheaval), will ANYone take substantive actions to repair the system.
Remember what Ayn Rand said:
“We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of reality”
Washington politicians of all persuasions will purposefully “evade reality” regarding entitlements until it’s too late, and THEN try to pin the “consequences” on the OTHER party...
That’s the “reality” of entitlements in America....
Wish I could be more optimistic about this, but I’m a cold-hearted realist.
I have said from the beginning that the overarching issue has to be MASSIVE tax reform, not tinkering around the edges.
Any candidate who is not constantly bringing the discussion back to the need for MASSIVE tax reform is not providing a serious solution to our nation’s problems and the threat to our freedoms.
Say what you will about Herman Cain, at least he got the discussion going with his 999 plan. This led to sustained debate about HOW — not IF — we could scrap the present tax code and replace it with a simple, broad-based tax (minimizing the number of people who had no stake in the system except for having their hand out).
Now? Nothing. Typical of a Gingrich frontrunner status, the debate has been about a thousand things and about nothing at all. Three decent ideas advanced, four that require hours and hours of re-explanation to clear up — or attempt to clear up — the misconceptions and spin resulting from muddling the focus with nuanced scattershot comments that are not appropriate for the media venue in which they were uttered.
It’s very sad that we’ve lost the mojo we were gaining for an incredible fight over real — i.e, FREEDOM-SAVING — tax reform.
Now we might as well be back in the Clinton years, where he talked about SCHOOL UNIFORMS in a STATE OF THE UNION address.
Gag.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.