Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Could Have, Would Have, Should Have (Fred's having cocktails with Pinchy, it seems)
Weakly Standard ^ | 11/7/06 | Fred Barnes

Posted on 11/07/2006 8:00:45 AM PST by pissant

REPUBLICANS FACE THE PROSPECT of losing a substantial number of Senate and House seats today, but it didn't have to be that way. For sure, the war in Iraq was always going to be a drag on Republicans. And an election in the sixth year of a presidency is often perilous for the president's party, a pattern that's held true in year six of the Bush era.

But Republicans have made matters worse by abandoning the reform agenda that animated their capture of Congress in 1994 and helped George W. Bush win the White House in 2000 and keep it in 2004. With scarcely a fight, Republicans gave up on Social Security reform in 2005, immigration reform in 2006, and never really got started on tax reform. Bush also cast aside the overarching theme for his domestic policy--the Ownership Society--without an explanation.

The consequences have been dire. Republicans have little to boast about in Bush's second term except the strong economy--and it's largely the result of tax cuts enacted three years ago. When Democrats bring up Iraq or corruption, Republicans have no countervailing issues. The president has made a strong case against Democrats on national security and taxes. But voters have been unresponsive and it's easy to understand why. It's Bush himself who causes them to feel safe from lax security and tax hikes. Whatever happens in tomorrow's election, he'll be in the White House for two more years to protect them from Democratic excesses. But what if Republicans had followed the president's

lead last year and tried to overhaul Social Security and enact personal investment accounts? If they'd succeeded, voters would now be perusing the stock tables to decide how to invest their payroll taxes.

(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption
KEYWORDS: limpwrist
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-92 next last
There goes fred, writing the GOP obit before the votes are cast. He and Bill Kristol are less than worthless.
1 posted on 11/07/2006 8:00:49 AM PST by pissant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: pissant

I could have thrown up watching Hume last night. Kristol and Barnes were wimps, already speaking in past tense about the Republican loss.

Funny, they sounded very similar in '04.


2 posted on 11/07/2006 8:03:07 AM PST by rightinthemiddle (Without the Media, the Left and Islamofacists are Nothing.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pissant

I would just like to know the answer to one simple question...

WHO SAYS THE WAR IN IRAQ IS GOING BADLY?

Why has America been duped by this enemy propaganda?

Ok so thats two questions... I already know the answer. Liberals and the MSM.


3 posted on 11/07/2006 8:03:41 AM PST by tomnbeverly ("Harsh criticism is not a plan for victory. Second guessing is not a strategy.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pissant

SHUT UP FRED !!! You are just WRONG on amnesty for illegals ! WRONG - WRONG - WRONG. That's what this is all about.... he wants amnesty and a Democratic house will give him that.


4 posted on 11/07/2006 8:04:17 AM PST by musikman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rightinthemiddle

Kristol, I expect to be a dour little prick, because that's what he is. But Fred is usually not so stupid.


5 posted on 11/07/2006 8:04:23 AM PST by pissant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: rightinthemiddle

Kristol trying to get his old job at ABC back?


6 posted on 11/07/2006 8:04:35 AM PST by Doctor Raoul (Difference between the CIA and the Free Clinic is that the Free Clinic knows how to stop a leak.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: rightinthemiddle
I could have thrown up watching Hume last night. Kristol and Barnes were wimps, already speaking in past tense about the Republican loss.

Yeah it was pretty grim. I thought Kristol was going to cry.

7 posted on 11/07/2006 8:04:37 AM PST by rhombus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: pissant

You know, I used to think highly of Bill Kristol.

I think that the problem is that Neocons have no bedrock belief system, so they are subject to emotional responses to events and to every vagary of the changing times. Not that they are suddenly agreeing with Pinch, but they are not immune to feeling the shock of attacks coming from the left.

It's very hard to remain steady without some sort of religious underpinning of your moral values. Not impossible, but hard. The Stoics managed it, but they were unusual, and at least semi-religious.


8 posted on 11/07/2006 8:05:27 AM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: tomnbeverly

There are a fair number of spineless, historically inept fools in the GOP, that buy into the NY TImes version of events. Fred is one, apparently.


9 posted on 11/07/2006 8:05:30 AM PST by pissant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: pissant
I sometimes wonder whose side these boys are on. Kristol's election predictions are nothing more than liberal pipe dreams. I mean it's just simply laughable. It's knuckleheads like these who don't even bother to listen to voices outside of the beltway. They've been stuck inside the beltway for so long, that they can't hear any voices from the outside.
10 posted on 11/07/2006 8:05:39 AM PST by dbehsman (NRA Life Member, and loving every minute of it!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pissant
Ahh yes, the prebituary.

Barnes is a tool.

11 posted on 11/07/2006 8:05:55 AM PST by Petronski (Why won't Diebold talk about RYMB.DLL?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: musikman

He needs a stern backhand.


12 posted on 11/07/2006 8:05:58 AM PST by pissant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: rightinthemiddle

I saw that last night, it was disturbing and irritating.


13 posted on 11/07/2006 8:06:14 AM PST by alarm rider (Casting a large net for new, shiny tag lines...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: rhombus

Yeah it was pretty grim. I thought Kristol was going to cry.

_______

Really? I thought he looked rather "smug," like he was right and that's the way it is.

There's no way they should have been that pessimistic. Hume set them up with the latest poll trends; they dismissed it.


14 posted on 11/07/2006 8:06:31 AM PST by rightinthemiddle (Without the Media, the Left and Islamofacists are Nothing.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: pissant
On the positive side, the Human Events predicted we will keep the House, losing 12 seats.

I think we are going to do better then that.

15 posted on 11/07/2006 8:06:39 AM PST by fortheDeclaration (Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? (Gal.4:16))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rightinthemiddle

Even Brit Hume has been SOOOO disappointing in the past few months. Things are most certainly changing over at Fox and I don't like it.

I used to go home, flip on fox. No more, now I get a live stream to Hugh Hewitt from 6 - 9 pm. Screw the tv. There's nothing worth watching anymore.


16 posted on 11/07/2006 8:06:44 AM PST by musikman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: musikman

I agree...SHUT UP FRED! I've been upset with him for weeks now. I suggest he get off his ass there in Washington and take a CAR TRIP across this beautiful country and see how the rest of us live. I used to always watch the Beltway Boys, but I never, ever will again. He has totally turned me OFF!


17 posted on 11/07/2006 8:07:13 AM PST by grannylinedancer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Cicero

I think they spend way to much time talking to the idiots in other news organizations. Fred couldn't find Topeka on a google map.


18 posted on 11/07/2006 8:07:31 AM PST by pissant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: musikman
he wants amnesty and a Democratic house will give him that.

Rubbish.

19 posted on 11/07/2006 8:07:35 AM PST by Howlin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: pissant

As ENTERTAINERS they are probably seeking the excitement and popularity of their former glory years during Clinton administration.


20 posted on 11/07/2006 8:07:49 AM PST by tertiary01 ("Socialize the costs and privatize the profits-"-The New American business model.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-92 next last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson