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America's Most Powerful Voting Block
Financial Sense University ^ | 12/02/2004 | Reagan Renaissance

Posted on 12/03/2004 6:55:38 AM PST by writer33

Last time we discussed some methods for creating political power. Today we are going to focus on exercising political power. Next week, our three part trilogy will culminate with an article specifically detailing how conservatives can create and exercise enough political power to restore the Constitution as the governing law of the land. In spite of the fact that socialism and its erosion of our property rights have been steadily escalating for more than seventy years, the trilogy details how we can rapidly recover our lost freedoms and end socialism quickly. Assuming the accuracy of the Gokhale-Smetters projections, we can safely accomplish this within the next decade before the oncoming tidal wave of socialism's unfunded liabilities can drown our economy or torpedo the American Dream.

After he understood the lessons of Ronald Reagan's two landslide elections (the majority of Americans are truly conservative and they will go to the polls to vote for trustworthy like-minded candidates), Newt conceived the idea of the Contract with America in hopes that conservatives would pull together and vote as a block. It worked. Whenever athletic teams or businesses are lucky enough or sufficiently skilled to develop the equivalent of an unstoppable play or a winning strategy, they keep running it over and over until it stops working. Not Republicans, so far the Contract with America has proved to be a "run once and throw it away" disposable. Carl Rove's strategy for Bush in 2004 bears only a superficial resemblance in that Bush and the Republicans grasped victory by making a definite appeal to the conservative base of the Republican Party, but there was not an itemized list of carefully defined issues accompanied by a pledge to enact them. Asking the right questions, is the proper starting point to finding the right answers.

Why aren't Republicans rerunning a clearly proven strategy to win every election? In some circles, Republicans are referred to as the "stupid party" and by others as the party of perpetual foot-shooters. Has Newt Gingrich been the only Republican to recognize the truth? Unlikely. Could it be that Republicans are simply too independent to commit to another contract? Possibly, but I suspect the truth actually lies behind the scenes of the Contract with America's staggering success and the carefully crafted failures of its two most important parts. When Republicans took control of Congress in 1995, expectations were high that Republicans would be able to deliver on a number of the Contract's ten items, but almost no one had any expectation that Republicans could deliver on all ten, particularly the Balanced Budget and Term Limits Amendments. It was natural for Republicans to defer the most difficult items to be the last votes to be taken. There were precious few Americans who were not amazed when the first eight parts of the Contract were not only passed, but passed surprisingly easily. Members of Congress were in a state of shock approaching outright panic as the roll call came to Mark Hatfield who was obviously feeling enormous pressure as he prepared to cast his Senate vote that could send the Balanced Budget Amendment to the States for ratification.

Having to balance future budgets would have been distasteful enough for the 1995 Congressional incumbents who were members of the "professional" political class (most members that were not newly elected in the 1995 Republican sweep). But if the Balanced Budget Amendment passed, that would leave the vote on Term Limits as the only remaining item on the Contract with America. "Professional" politicians were confronted with the stark realization that they were about to be faced with having successfully passed the first nine items on the list. Defeating Term Limits after successfully passing every other part of the Contract could only be seen as purely self-serving. It would not only be embarrassing beyond belief, but it would also invite almost certain voter retaliation and defeat in subsequent elections since polls at the time showed that more than 80% of Americans wanted Term Limits to pass. We the people had finally come to terms with Congress. Career Congressmen saw themselves as being forced to commit hara-kiri with regard to their chosen careers. If eighty percent of Americans wanted Term Limits, at least that many Congressmen saw themselves as being within one vote of their own personal Faustian Bargain. The overwhelming success of the Contract brought the Republicans the power they sought, but now it was on the verge of being at the expense of their political souls. Faust would have been envious of the escape contrived by Dole and Hatfield et al.

We the people were turned away from what would have been the greatest victory for freedom in more than a century. The Balanced Budget Amendment went down to defeat one vote short of passing. After the Balanced Budget Amendment failed to pass, it made it easy for "professional" politicians to let Term Limits, the last item of the Contract, die a silent death for "lack of support". "Professional" politicians saved themselves from entering the politician's personal hell (being out of office) by votes that left the people of the United States effectively trapped in socialism. "Professional" politicians in the Republican Party made a clear choice; better that We the people rot in hell than they.

Against that backdrop, it is easy to understand the "run once and throw it away" attitude of Republicans toward the Contract. There were simply too many Republicans who had a too close encounter with a mandate that turned out be more mandate than they really wanted to bargain for. "Professional" politicians in the Republican Party preferred a second Clinton term and were willing to risk becoming a minority party again rather than risk another Contract with America. And they knew that any Second Contract would have to include Term Limits because of its overwhelming public approval.

That brings us full circle. For the immediate future, the Reagan Renaissance becomes a model that consists of a series of Contracts with Congress for every election that will meld the Reagan Wing of the Republican Party into the most reliable and powerful voting block in US history. There is no danger of a counter attack by Democrats, because everything that Democrats stand for or believe is based on socialism, the antithesis of freedom and free market capitalism. There is no danger from "moderate" Republicans because the model includes a carrot, the large block of votes, and a stick, running well-financed newly recruited conservative candidates against recalcitrant incumbent Republicans in the primaries or against incumbent Democrats in regular elections. Our stick superficially resembles Newt's GOPAC. Unlike GOPAC, our funding will come from members of the Reagan Wing and a large private source, not from the GOP or Republican controlled benefactors. And our candidates will be citizen-statesmen chosen by the Reagan Wing based on their support for the Contracts, not politicians chosen for their Republican allegiance. Since the leaders of the Republican Party have not presented us with another Contract with America, We can simply present them with a Contract with Congress. And the Reagan Wing can present it to them on terms that are going to be very difficult for them to refuse.

History tells us that only one third of Americans actively supported the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution. I have seen estimates that at least a third of registered Republicans claim to be conservative. The second American Revolution can be underway before the 2006 election; We can take our freedom back and this time we can do it without firing a shot. We can end socialism in the United States before the boomers become eligible for Medicare and avoid the bankruptcy or hyperinflation that Medicare is certain to produce. If the ball park numbers that I have cited above are even close to being correct, the potential power of the Reagan Wing can be reasonably estimated. With little more than a token appeal to the conservative base, Bush picked up an estimated 4.5 million votes, driving his total vote to almost 60 million. Could a Contract with Congress recruit 20 million voters to the Reagan Wing? You bet it can and with your help, it can be in place before the 2006 election. But the real impact of the Reagan Wing will be made in the 2008 election, the first election where the Reagan Wing can elect a Congress and a President committed to the next Contract with Congress.

Since the series began we have been offering proof that socialism is a flawed economic model that ends in failure every time it's tried. Reagan cautioned us on that memorable night in 1964, "Up to man's age-old dream-the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism." Ash-heap or Renaissance, "we have come to a time for choosing. Every Democracy in history has ended in bankruptcy or hyperinflation when the public learns to vote itself benefits from the public treasury. History's most respected economist, Ludwig von Mises and Ronald Reagan have repeatedly warned us that the United States will not be an exception. The United States has roughly one decade before it drowns under the tidal wave of the unfunded liabilities of Medicare and the other socialistic programs. The Titanic could have saved itself by simply changing course. Never underestimate the genius of Ronald Reagan or the power of the American people in the pursuit of freedom:

"You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness." Ronald Reagan, 1964


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bushvictory; conservativevote; contractwithamerica; newtgingrich; termlimits; votingbloc
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To: Ohioan

"Strengthening the military should not be equated with expanding government."

Agreed. But one needs to take into account the wheeling and dealing that goes on when conservatives seek to increase funding for the military. Often, misguided and opportunistic liberals (and conservatives) see this as their chance to include pork and expansion of welfare state projects into the budget process. That is what happened to Reagan. In order to get funding for the military he had to bite the bullet on increased social spending.


41 posted on 12/03/2004 3:34:20 PM PST by eleni121 (NO more reaching out!)
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To: ImpBill
"Some form of Medicare is always going to be with us and the nouveau conservatives better grasp that fact and work with the traditional conservatives within the boomer generation to come up with real workable alternatives."

I strongly urge you to read the complete series. It is not possible, economically or politically, or by any possible compromise to fund the combined unfunded liabilities of Social Security and Medicare. The Comptroller of the Currency has already confirmed that our economy has never in history grown at a pace that would make this possible. The growth and competition that is occuring in China and Asia will increase in the future. Our nation as a whole is spending 1.5 billion dollars every single day more than we are producing. Look at this chart that compares the growth to total US income to the growth of total US debt:


We have been consuming our capital base for more than fifty years and the pace has now gone parabolic. No matter what you think, believe or wish for, the United States is facing bankruptcy or hyperinflation when the Medicare liabilities of the boomers begin to mature. No one in their right minds can believe that working Americans at that time are going to willingly sacrifice their own and their families' financial security and future to pay for an unconstitutional benefit that the payers had no opportunity to vote for or against. We have already fought one revolution over taxation without representation. Can anyone seriously believe this would not be the source of another? Can this be anyone's dream of leaving a better America to their children?

These are issues that Americans can effectively and fairly deal with now. If we wait until 2012, it will be too late. If we are to deal effectively with it even by 2008, we must start now. The series provides a discussion of the problems we face and it offers a politically doable solution. While it is not a crisis now, it is a crisis that is coming and by the time the political class in Washington is even willing to admit that the problem exists, it will be too late.

One other fact worthy of mention: Our economy of at least the last three years has been running on debt, not productive growth. Our financial markets, stocks and bonds, are over valued. Mean reversion of those values is a certainty. If it occurs quickly by price reductions, our problem is going to magnified, maybe by multiples. And under stress, the red-blue map could cease to be a picture reflecting our electorial distributions, and could become a map of multiple countries. Our nation cannot survive under socialism. Wouldn't it be better to end socialism now, and by choice? Contrary to what you have stated, Medicare is not always going to be with us. It is an insane promise that cannot be paid for. The boomers are not going to get Medicare regardless, and if they do, they won't want it and it will be worse than useless as medical care. Don't take my word for it. Read the series for yourself. After you have read the series, we can address or tackle any objections that you might raise.

42 posted on 12/03/2004 3:41:08 PM PST by Reaganghost (Reagan could see the Renaissance coming, but it will be up to you to make it happen.)
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To: writer33

BTTT


43 posted on 12/03/2004 3:43:11 PM PST by Fiddlstix (This Tagline for sale. (Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: Happy2BMe; writer33
After he understood the lessons of Ronald Reagan's two landslide elections (the majority of Americans are truly conservative and they will go to the polls to vote for trustworthy like-minded candidates)

Yes they are, Americans I believe are overwhelmingly conservative on most issues, give them candidates like RR who is sincere in what he believes in and they will vote for them.

44 posted on 12/03/2004 7:24:53 PM PST by Reaganwuzthebest
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To: Reaganwuzthebest

"Yes they are, Americans I believe are overwhelmingly conservative on most issues, give them candidates like RR who is sincere in what he believes in and they will vote for them."

I agree with you 100%. I think if the whole country, 100%, turned out and voted, it would probably go something like 55% conservative, 45% moderate to liberal. No matter how you look at it, a majority.


45 posted on 12/03/2004 8:25:23 PM PST by writer33 (The U.S. Constitution defines a conservative)
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To: Reaganghost; writer33
Didn't come to the thread, was invited. And certainly didn't come to argue. Been around FR too long to know that does little good.

All I am saying that to cast all "boomers" and socialists feeding at the teat of government is a bad move.

There have been many of us screaming your argument at the top of our lungs for 30 plus years, to no avail.

This particular boomer is not naive enough to think Medicare in it's present from will survive. But changes will be hard fought and not quick in the coming. Pain will be the price and unfortunately my generation will pay most of it. Contrary to popular thought. We will be the ones who have worked our lifetimes with an eye to the future that will be left with little to no health care. Not the one's paying for it. In the ponzi scheme of Social Security and Medicare we are the ones that have funded it fully and know full well that there won't be enough bodies contributing to keep it solvent.

Under the tutelage of Bill Clinton, the Republican controlled Congress made even more mistakes within the last decade.

My wife and I have enjoyed excellent health benefits as the result of employment with a top Fortune 500 company for years. My wife, disabled in an industrial accident was forced by Republican led congress and law signed by Bill Clinton in 1996 to have her private insurance, who there to fore had been her primary insurer with Medicare being the supplemental (an paying virtually nothing), change 180 degrees. I can't remember the exact name of the Omnibus Bill but it forced her to file for Medicare first (taxpayer funded) and the private insurer became the supplement.

Insane ... yes.

And of course it bodes that in 6 years I too will be forced to enjoy Medicare as my primary insurer and the private sector insurance as the supplemental.

Neither Republicans nor Democrats have the cajones to mess with the system and when they do they actually have made it worse.

All I am saying in response to the writer is that it is folly to start laying blame at the feet of the group that has always been the largest voting bloc (the geriatric set) especially when their numbers are about to be tripled.

I'll read the series of articles, but must tell you with statements like the one I lifted in my response which was posted as the result of an invitation to the thread, I can't guarantee that I will be as objective a reader as I might have otherwise been.

Thanks for your efforts. They aren't the first and more than likely won't be the last. But just remember to put your faith in either of the major dominant political parties in this era of the "professional politician" is folly.

The best of them head to DC with bright idealism for a term or two at the most and then fall into the routine of business as usual in their own private and very exclusive little worlds with a few leaving in abject defeat.

So it has been since the beginning of time and usually takes cataclysmic events to event drastic change.

We are currently living through one of those times.

Too old here to get all excited about placing my faith in the deeds and theories of men. Do what I can and leave the rest to God.

Good luck. Sincerely. Just be careful whom you alienate en-bloc.

46 posted on 12/03/2004 9:52:56 PM PST by ImpBill (Twas a very good election for the Republic!)
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To: ImpBill

Mediscare has to be privatized. Period. I agree a hundred percent with you. Not all boomers are bad. They just got the bad rap, because most social programs were developed during their time period. It doesn't mean boomers are bad, just unlucky.


47 posted on 12/03/2004 9:56:04 PM PST by writer33 (The U.S. Constitution defines a conservative)
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To: writer33
Thank you for realizing the fact that we were the ones that got to fully fund the ponzi scheme for the past 4 decades and will now reap the folly of it all. But trust me, at this age I have a deeper understanding into the nature of people and the geriatric generation who as always been the largest demographic group going to the polls, won't go silently into the night. The new warriors fighting this nightmare best keep that in mind.

Don't know how much science fiction you have followed but the first generation of those being sent to "carousel" won't go easily.

48 posted on 12/03/2004 10:09:08 PM PST by ImpBill (Twas a very good election for the Republic!)
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To: writer33
By the way the author is seriously flawed into thinking that he can logically change America's Most Powerful Voting Block", from what has been and still continues to be the most powerful voting block - Americans 50 - 70/80+. A simple study of the demographics of the populace will shred that theory instantly.

Don't get me wrong, I am not endorsing the folly of the SSI/Medicare ponzi scheme and not trying to throw cold water on the effort to affectively change it. But reality is reality and the solution will be much more complex and painful than words on paper or on an Internet Blog site.

49 posted on 12/03/2004 10:17:40 PM PST by ImpBill (Twas a very good election for the Republic!)
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To: gcruse

Pithy and to the point. Well said. /;-)


50 posted on 12/03/2004 10:18:33 PM PST by ImpBill (Twas a very good election for the Republic!)
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To: writer33; Reaganghost; Reaganwuzthebest
".. give them candidates like RR who is sincere in what he believes in and they will vote for them."

__________________________________________________

That deserves a good, solid BTT.

51 posted on 12/03/2004 10:20:18 PM PST by Happy2BMe (It's not quite time to rest - John Kerry is still out there (and so is Hillary))
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To: ImpBill

"Thank you for realizing the fact that we were the ones that got to fully fund the ponzi scheme for the past 4 decades and will now reap the folly of it all."

I've realized it all along. All it takes is a look back to history. Nope. That isn't working. Gotta change this.


52 posted on 12/03/2004 10:44:29 PM PST by writer33 (The U.S. Constitution defines a conservative)
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To: ImpBill

"By the way the author is seriously flawed into thinking that he can logically change America's Most Powerful Voting Block", from what has been and still continues to be the most powerful voting block - Americans 50 - 70/80+. A simple study of the demographics of the populace will shred that theory instantly."

That's definitely the biggest voting block for sure. The secret is getting away from demographics and into conservatism and Americanism. It's about energizing that base, regardless of voting block. We've got to run that candidate that expresses those ideas so effectively, and the votes will follow.

As the son of a boomer, knowing that I will be here in 30 years, when most of the 50-78/80+ demographic is gone, makes me work hard in changing the shift from liberalism to conservatism. In 30 years, I'll be part of that voting block. And in the end, we'll be the difference makers. We'll have to be. Or they'll be talking about our legacy the same way they talk about the boomers, whether it's deserved or not. So change my vote for a better, more Constitutional directed America. I have to live in it longer.


53 posted on 12/03/2004 10:59:37 PM PST by writer33 (The U.S. Constitution defines a conservative)
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To: ImpBill
No offense intended. Your comments are well taken. I think you will be pleasantly surprised regarding the Reagan Renaissance effort. The series does not attack or assign any blame or accountability to the boomers and places it clearly on the same group that you have identified. The series shows how to make the responsible group accountable for its sins and best of all, how to keep this from happening again. Your critical review is welcome and can only strengthen and make this effort better.
54 posted on 12/04/2004 7:04:07 AM PST by Reaganghost (Reagan could see the Renaissance coming, but it will be up to you to make it happen.)
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To: writer33; Reaganghost
I understand your feelings completely. I am currently close to 59 and it was 30 years ago that I and many like me made the decision in our financial planning that SS and Medicare would not be around for us. So I do understand the angst you currently feel.

The plan, whatever it is, is going to have to be tailored to bring the majority of the boomers along. GW's idea of a graduated move towards the ultimate goal of privitization has merit and I am anxious to see what comes down the pike.

God Bless you all and God Bless America!

55 posted on 12/04/2004 7:16:22 AM PST by ImpBill (Twas a very good election for the Republic!)
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To: ImpBill
Voting blocks are put together by having common interests. Freedom is the most prevalent shared interest of All Americans. When government dictates to you what your retirement plan will look like, how it is to be funded, and what benefit you are to get, that is not freedom. When government dictates to the people what kind of health care, how much care you can have, how much you will pay and how much you are going to make your grand children pay for your health care, that is not freedom. When government takes more than half of your total earnings and spends it for the benefit of "professional" politicians who use it to buy their own re-elections, that is not freedom. When government can control the value of your savings through its ability to borrow money or to simply print it, that is not freedom. When government can destroy or alter the value of private property by regulation, law, or fiat dictate of an executive order, that is not freedom. The Reagan Renaissance is precisely about changing all that and correcting the mistakes that made it possible in the first place.

The Most Powerful Voting Block in history will be assembled from Americans who seek freedom and want to leave a better America for their children and grandchildren. Our voting block will be made up of the people who understand what the American Dream actually is and are willing to stand up and do what is necessary to make it happen.

We invite everyone who values freedom and wants to share the American Dream to join this effort. Read the series. Please ping your friends and invite them to join. This is an effort that can succeed and there are precious few other choices that may have any chance at all. If you know of any, I would like to have the opportunity to look at them myself.

56 posted on 12/04/2004 7:28:32 AM PST by Reaganghost (Reagan could see the Renaissance coming, but it will be up to you to make it happen.)
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To: ImpBill

"The plan, whatever it is, is going to have to be tailored to bring the majority of the boomers along. GW's idea of a graduated move towards the ultimate goal of privitization has merit and I am anxious to see what comes down the pike.

God Bless you all and God Bless America!"

Yep. We can't overhaul it overnight, but the plan sounds good. I'm anxious to see how it turns out as well. If we don't we'll end up taxing people into oblivion to pay for it. Not so much for my concern, as I'm not planning on needing Social Security, but for my children and future children.


57 posted on 12/04/2004 12:15:17 PM PST by writer33 (The U.S. Constitution defines a conservative)
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To: writer33

Thanks. Good article!


58 posted on 12/04/2004 12:31:46 PM PST by lilylangtree (Veni, Vidi, Vici)
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To: lilylangtree

You're welcome.


59 posted on 12/04/2004 12:38:06 PM PST by writer33 (The U.S. Constitution defines a conservative)
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