Thompson/Watts '08!
With a delicate pat on the hand for not getting your contributions up on the internet for a year or two? Phooey.
There's got to be immediate and meaningful penalties for failure to comply, or the whole thing is a joke.
The best part of that interview with Fund is that Thompson clearly gets it when it comes to federalism. The Senate voted 99-1 to impose a federal BAC of .08 when driving and Thompson was the one to vote against it because it's a state issue, not a federal one. Common sense really, but apparently it went over the head of the other 99 senators who were more worried about "voting for drunk driving" than respecting federalism. He also voted against a ton of other bills that were clear abuses of the interstate commerce clause. I could really get behind this guy.
...Giuliani told Wolf Blitzer that he was a "very, very strong supporter of Campaign Finance Reform," adding that he'd been "a very strong supporter of McCain-Feingold for a long, long time now."
"telling Fund that the Kennedy, Reagan, and Bush administrations have proven that lowering taxes creates long-term economic growth,"
Ouch thats going to hurt Liberals, they hate when someone brings up similarities between Kennedy, Reagan and Bush.
I'd appreciate it if he distanced himself from CFR with some reference to 1A, but it isn't a dealkiller for me.
As to his track record against the Clinton machine, hey, let's not lay all of it on Fred's shoulders. Moreover, whatever Clinton got away with, it served to vaccinate us against further Democrat rule; just as Carter's abominable performance led to a Reagan presidency in reaction.
In retrospect, I am relieved that Clinton was not removed from office. We'd be reading about President Gore right now.
"I'm not prepared to go there yet, but I wonder if we shouldn't just take off the limits and have full disclosure with harsh penalties for not reporting everything on the Internet immediately."
Wow, interesting ideal.
Hey, let's call it "free speech" and let's amend the Constitution to protect it. We should have an amendment which says that "Congress shall make no law which prohibits free speech". Then, we'd be good to go!
man, I would think this thread would have sky rocketed with post by now...
All other considerations aside, this should make all opponents of McCain-Feingold proud. Here we have the man who was primarily responsible for moving M-F through to passage into law virtually admitting defeat and very near to moving to a truly constitutional position. In other words, we've won the debate.
It also appears he is going to run, otherwise he would not be bothering to give the interviews and take positions like he is.
Thanks for posting this! The full WSJ Opinion Journal article is a must-read too.
It's loaded with great Fred quotes:
"What if someone harnessed the Internet and other technologies and insisted in talking about real issues in more depth than consultants would advise? What if they took risks with their race in hopes that the risks to our children could be reduced through building a mandate for good policy?"
"I'm consistent. I address Federalist Society meetings."
"Audits have shown we've lost control of the waste and mismanagement in our most important agencies. It's getting so bad it's affecting our national security."
"The CIA has better politicians than it has spies."
"Should we tie ourselves up in bureaucratic knots with the challenges we may have to face?"
"Reagan showed what can be done if you have the will to push for tough choices and the ability to ask the people to accept them."
"Lower marginal tax rates have proven to be a key to prosperity now by Kennedy, Reagan and Bush. It's time millionaires serving in the Senate learned not to overly tax other people trying to get wealthy."
And one that hints that he's leaning toward running: "With my current schedule I might have more time to myself if I gave all this up and did start a campaign."
He won't argue with those who say he showed "naiveté" about how he would be stonewalled in his investigation. He says he's wiser now.
This is very Reagan-like. Reagan would always address his mistakes with a look of anger. He would tilt his head and say to the effect "I've been down that road before and I'm not going there again. Instead we have a new idea....".
FDT seems a natural. With the right campaign management he could garner more than 60% of the vote and if he has the right issues and timing he could approach 70%.
could anyone imagine a Thompson/Cheney ticket?
And just how would Thompson accomplish junking the BCRA. I would never vote for anyone who supported that bill.
Wonderful news - removes the only potential impediment conservatives would have with an FDT run. I see no reason why Thompson cannot consolidate the three major GOP wings behind him (as Allen was going to try to do before he was Macaca-ed by the Wash Post) and move on to thump the 'Beast.
Fred is clearly now my candidate of choice for '08, followed by Hunter-Brownback-Gilmore (in that order).
It's odd how much desire there is in here. He's not even running yet, but everyone sounds like he is.
Holy smokes he just earned my vote...
