But given GWB is gone in 2009, how do we turn this around? I say we talk about how deficit is killing economy. When they reply with Bush, say , “Why are you continuing his policies. Tell them the endless borrowing cant continue. Look attack on all positions, call them hypocrites on some positions, call them socialists on others,call them defenders of rich, like democrats did to hapless Bush for 8 years,
Most people vote economics; we can see that even in this election, when the DNC was going to make it all about Iraq and the economy handed them the election issue they wanted.
Towards that end, here’s what the GOP must do:
1. Quit carrying water for Wall Street. Wall Street donates (in the majority) to the Democrats, and it makes few friends with the electorate to be carrying Wall Street’s agenda of stupid deregulation (eg, allowing i-banks to lever up 40:1) or defending their excesses. This doesn’t mean that the GOP should use the DNC playbook of bashing Wall Street every other day, just quit taking Wall St’s side in the battle. The DNC can bash them... and we can say nothing.
This will also wake up Wall St, who have been assuming the GOP will pack their agenda for little to nothing.
2. Quit believing the idiotic economic analysis of the Bush years. Stop trumpeting the headline numbers of GDP, CPI and employment reports and dig down into the internals and see what is really going on.
Bush should have been able to do this — after all, he’s supposed to have a MBA, right?
BTW — I think Bush was asleep in most of his MBA classes. If he had been awake, he would have see the current crisis coming last year.
There should be an “economics bootcamp” for GOP Congressional representatives and senators, so they know their buttocks from their elbows about matters economic. Sometimes, when I see GOP delegations on financial channels, I cringe because their “analysis” of economic signals is so easily debunked. We have to get rid of this pop-psych approach to economic policy.
While the GOP is out of the White House, it should become a goal that every GOP member become fluent in financial lingo, economic stats and at least basic analysis that won’t make people laugh. By doing this, the public will eventually see the GOP and DNC talking heads side-by-side on various shout shows and come to realize that the GOP has a clue, and the DNC has... Nancy Pelosi or Barbara Boxer.
3. Next time the GOP is in the executive branch, get a competent SecTreas. The three during the Bush administration have been hopeless disasters, with Paulson being the worst. Apropos of (1) above, do NOT select SecTreas from Wall Street. The reign of the House of Goldman must stop.
4. Election results show that the very wealthy (people with net worth of $25 million or more) break STRONGLY Democratic and are among some of the most liberal. So rather than be seen as “defenders of the rich” — the GOP should craft tax policy to give the ultra-rich exactly what they want: higher taxes. The GOP should go after the ultra-wealthy with a fury, because these people are also funding the DNC. Again, as in (1) above, quit carrying their agenda for them. If they’re not only not going to vote for the GOP, but advocate higher taxes and then give huge amounts of money to those who claim to want higher taxes, then give them exactly what they’re asking for: higher taxes. Make the taxes confiscatory - 90%+. When the ultra-rich complain, play back sound clips of such people as Buffett moaning about how his admin assistant pays more in taxes than he does.
The DNC will obviously protest (1) and (4) especially. Now call them defenders of Wall Street and the rich. Hang it around their necks and make them own up to the facts - that the Wall Street bankers and ultra-rich are Democrats, not Republicans.