The GOP is Now the Party of LBJ . . .and McGovern, Waxman, and Gore

National Review Online ^ | May 12, 2006 | Deroy Murdock

[JCEccles]

No problem. Just let the Democrats take over again. They won't eliminate entitlements. Heaven forbid. They'll fix things by tripling your taxes.

What a plan.

[ekwd]

Does anyone remember Reagan’s “Big Tent”? The man who seems to be conservatives’ “Once and Future King” built a coalition of groups who were conservative on some issues and not-so-conservative or liberal/crypto-socialist on others. He was able to give us a military buildup (for which I will be thankful till the end of my days), tax cuts, and energy deregulation not much else (corrections welcome). He was willing to accept huge deficits and increased spending (including a lot of pork barrel spending) as the price for getting what he wanted.
Take a second look at the graph on antipoverty spending. Between about 1990-92 and 2002 the antipoverty spending percentage grew from about 9% to about 16%. For most of that period Bill Clinton was President and Republicans controlled the House. The spending has actually leveled off under GWB. The other graph on spending-national income tracks with the recession that actually began in 2000 and the war on terror.
.

[edpc]

Wish they would spend that much energy trying to get the RINOs to go right instead.

So do I. I believe they'll get the message before the fall, but the RINOs (especially career ones) are largely a reflection of their constituents.

Go Constitution Party for a change.

No way. You third party advocates slay me. It's easy to drop out and play the dressed in black from head to toe, disenfranchised, "I'm too cool for the estabishment", Trenchcoat Mafia type. Why not do the work you wish for above instead of being marginalized with the fringe like La Rouche, The Green Pary, The Reform Party, Libertarians, etc....

You need to realize the populous views third parties the same way they view "multilevel marketing company" salespeople. Sure, they make money and seem legit; but most people feel deep down inside it's a monumental scam and want nothing to do with it. Enjoy your next "seminar" and keep buying those tapes.

[chris1]

"The GOP has failed to take on the Dems over ANWR and realistically reduce foreign oil dependency. They should squarely take the blame for gas prices, because merely announcing that drilling will begin would push down the price per barrel on the international markets."

I have said that many times. We have the "Americans Can't Do" party charge. Pathetic.

[mtntop3]

What B... S... The author is suffering from intelligence deficit disorder or just plain amnesia.

[mtntop3]

Those advocating third parties are advocates for making themselves political eunuchs.

[Mike Darancette]

When the Democrats get in they will lower taxes, appoint conservative judges, find Osama, win in Iraq and keep America safe.

[George W. Bush]

These Bushbots want me to hold my nose and pull the lever for these liberal Republicans. Wish they would spend that much energy trying to get the RINOs to go right instead. Go Constitution Party for a change.

Fine if the GOP offers you a GOP-funded Lincoln Chafee. But if they offer you a fairly conservative candidate who is less than 100% conservative, you have to weigh that too.

For voters like me, I have a Club For Growth candidate in an open seat for Congress and I have a deep-pockets GOP candidate up against a faux-conservative Democrat incumbent. So despite the fact that the Stupid Party has done so little to deserve my loyalty, I really have no right to abandon my own GOP candidates in this state just to make a pointlessly principled conservative vote.

But your mileage will vary. My choices are luckier than many have.

[neverdem]

Those advocating third parties are advocates for making themselves political eunuchs.

I didn't draw that conclusion.

"How tragic that Ronald Reagan’s GOP has become the political equivalent of 1,000 cases of non-alcoholic beer: Pricey and pointless."

I read a lament for the party of limited government to return to its philosophical roots. The GOP will never be able to pander more than the dems. It shoots itself in the foot when it tries pandering. That is Rove's main error with his vote buying strategy. Too many in the base are taken for granted. IMHO, that's why so many talk about voting third party or staying home on Election Day.

[Richard Kimball]

I think you also have the fact that as the country turned away from the Maoist leanings of the Rats, many of the Rats switched parties. They didn't change their positions, but cloaked them in conservatism. They've formed a coalition with the Rockefeller Republicans. The Rockefeller Republicans were never for smaller government, and in fact, like government largess, as it's easier to get a huge contract with a governmental agency than private enterprise, and big business likes byzantine regulations that stifle small startups.

When you're a small business, you like the chaos of the market. When you're a big business, you like a cartel that ensures stability.

[traviskicks]

Some more charts for your viewing pleasure...





Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.

[ducdriver]

Complain all you like, but one thing's certain: Taxes will never be high enough for the commie Democrats until they reach 100%.

While I don't agree with most of the spending spree, you do have to factor in costs of 911 and the ensuing events.

[gregwest]

I think one of the things that took money out of people's pockets was changing the child tax credit. When Bush's plan went into affect, the IRS also changed the ages for the children that could be claimed for that credit, dropping it from 18 to 17. In one year I lost out on claiming two kids for that and it cut my refund in half. I'm sure a lot of families were surprised by that, amidst the talk of tax refunds, etc.

The whole tax system is a shell game, they lower the rates or cut in one place and then use that to pay for credits to someone who drives an hybrid-electric car or has a windmill farm in their back yard. I'm all for ditching the payroll taxes and going to a fair consumption tax system...but that's another topic altogether.

[Texas Federalist]

bump for later

[M203M4]

How much effort is going into guiding the primaries to remedy this? Purge the bums that push this stuff at the primary level. It won't happen at the next level, and, if it did, you end up worse off with a D. This battle can only be won at the primary level.

[Liberty Valance]

[Ol' Sparky]

But, haven't you been listening to Sean Hannity? We've got vote the Republicans anyway, no matter how much they have betrayed conservatives and embraced socialism, because we'll end up with Nancy Pelosi as Speaker and Harry Reid as Senate majority leader. It's far better, don't ya know, for conservatives to vote for Republicans advancing socialism rather than allowing the Democrats to do it.

[George W. Bush]

We've got vote the Republicans anyway, no matter how much they have betrayed conservatives and embraced socialism, because we'll end up with Nancy Pelosi as Speaker and Harry Reid as Senate majority leader.

I'm more frightened of living the rest of my life in a country filled with hostile illegals. See how Europe is faring with its unassimilated illegals. The first generation works out okay but then look out!

Besides, an amnesty is nothing but handing every election to the Dims for the rest of my life. They will beat us like a rug since Bush has twice demonstrated that he and other GOP candidates have no chance of appealing to them, no more than they can appeal to blacks or Jews.

When they're not being the Stupid Party, they're being the Lemming Party.

[sinkspur]

Anytime we have a Texan in the White House, we get into wars, inflation goes thru the roof, and we always get screwed in the end!

You're nuts.

Inflation was low under Bush41, and it is low under Bush 43.

Inflation was actually higher under Ronald Reagan, the Californian, than under either Bush, though Reagan did bring it down.

You don't like the WOT? Perhaps you're really a Democrat, then.