Posted on 04/21/2014 8:04:58 AM PDT by don-o
Republicans want government to work like an iPhone while Democrats want to use government to tell you what to do.
Thats the message Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) conveyed Saturday in this weeks Republican address. Republicans want to enable you. We want to be the iPhone party. We believe government ought to be a platform that gives you opportunity and freedom to create a happier, more prosperous, and safer life, Alexander said, drawing a sharp contrast between Republican and Democrat approaches to government.
Just imagine if instead of mandating things for you to do, your government became a platform, just like your iPhone, enabling you to create a happier, safer, more prosperous life, he added.
The Tennessee lawmaker said examples of an iPhone government include one that uses more school vouchers and that block grant Medicaid to states giving them more choice in how to run the program.
He also said that in contrast, Democrats want fixed wages and more lawsuits.
Health care provides the most glaring difference between Republican enablers and Democrat mandators, Alexander said. Too often, Obamacare cancels the policy you wanted to keep and tells you what policy to buy, even if it costs more and even if it restricts your choices of doctors and hospitals.
Republicans believe that freedom and more choices will empower you to find a policy that fits your needs and your budget, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at lamaralexander.com ...
Government as a "platform".
iPhone ,well that’s so last year

So does that make the D’s Samsung?
Yes, Lamar, you’re hip and with it and all that. You said iPhone for all the grandmas and grandpas out there and they’ll think you’re really with it. Even some of the younger ones out there in a work environment that demands interconnectivity and a more seamless integration with their work IT environments could agree with you.
You neglect, however, that the iPhone, comes with a very hefty seamless, multi-capability price - high acquisition cost and high maintenance costs, something net taxpaying Americans know all about regarding the efficacy and value of their government.
Frankly, you’re a too-late appeasing, sniveling dinosaur who is far more concerned about your second-tier power and loyal (but not too vocal) opposition status to your first-tier Democrat masters than you are about actually serving your constituents to whom lie constantly.
Stick you’re GOPe iPhone up your a$$.
Bad idea.
The iPhone is a recorder of what you do.
The Apple Terms of Service is tantamount to your signing a Power of Attorney handing over you and yours to Apple - you are giving up a lot (the same for the multitudes of other ToS documents online!).
The iPhone does *not* respect your privacy.
Apple reserves the right to change the ToS and so-called “agreements” with you, at any time (which sounds a lot like the leftist/liberal-elite re-interpretative efforts re history and our Constitution).
All that implies and will lead to, Sen. Lamar would have you bound to, just so he can sound like he is in touch with the big tent.
“you’re” should be “your”.....I guess that’s what you get when you use an iPhone...it has that pesky text/replace thing that never does what you want. Kinda like a fricking GOPe Politician, huh?

LAMAR!
Mandatory iPhone at that. Use it or else.
But nobody believes that Republicans ARE the iPhone party, because whenever they are in power, government grows much like it does under Democrats.
Until we oust faux conservatives like LAMAR! and replace them with Conservatives, LAMAR!'s "wants" will be irrelevant.
Sorry, Lamar! Government ought not to be in the business of "giving" me anything. Just get off my back, leave me alone, and stop TAKING.

What?! I said it like you told me to. Did I pronounce it wrong?
Whoa. Better keep the Walkman out of Lamar!’s hands, hadn’t we? The Internet is like a series of tubes, you know. Lots and lots of tubes. Filled with porn.
Well said.
Give this idea to Ted Cruz, Paul Ryan, or Rand Paul and they could make it resound.
To take the "There's an app for that" slogan to government policy is not a bad idea. Get your kid the best education? There is an app for that, called a school voucher. Get the best healthcare? There is an app for that, called an HSA. Get a retirement plan you control, and not be beholden to a union controlled pension plan? There is an app for that, called an Roth IRA.
It would be even more powerful if paired with the disaster of current inner city schools, people paying more and losing health care under Obamacare, etc.
Even more, if states with school voucher programs (like Louisiana), actually used smart phone apps to manage the program, the visuals would be even more powerful. Certainly scanning QR codes and using smart phone apps is much easier than filling out forms in triplicate and waiting in DMV length lines.
iCave party
“more school vouchers and ... block grant Medicaid to states”
Alexander enunciates the Republican Big Government position—you get to pick and choose your D.C. Big Government program, rather than the Dims’ one size fits all Big Government.
No, thanks, Alexander. We choose freedom from government instead.
I think it's a good idea for the statists. But, lovers of liberty should have a problem with it. Take school vouchers. Got the Feds all the way out of education. What is the value of sending money to DC that is then doled out to the states with all manner of strings attached?
Eliminate The Dept of Education and return responsibility and power to the states. Rinse and repeat for HHS, HUD, Homeland Security, Interior - for a start.
Egads. Where would we be without the government enablers?
The iPhone does not have the power/authority to arrest and jail you.
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.