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Not Your Father's Republican Party (Is the GOP still the conservative party?)
Claremont Institute ^ | November 14, 2005 | Adam Wolfson

Posted on 11/21/2005 7:20:45 PM PST by Frank T

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There are some problems with this article, such as saying that evangelicals are essentially moral populists who supported the Johnson and Carter presidencies, then subsequently backed the GOP, but on the other hand, the party is back to it's Lincolnian crusading roots. There are some contradictory points, but on the whole, the author raises imporant issues.

If the addition of a moral agenda to the party is needed for electoral success, then conversely, there needs to be checks to ensure that policy doesn't stray too far from its politically conservative consensus. Bush 43 has let this slide to an extreme extent, and we are left to see if there is enough backlash in the party to turn it around, and take the fight to the primaries.

1 posted on 11/21/2005 7:20:48 PM PST by Frank T
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To: Frank T

Nope, the Republicans are more liberal than the Democrats!


2 posted on 11/21/2005 7:21:48 PM PST by xrp (Conservative votes are to Republicans what 90% of black votes are to Democrats (taken for granted))
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To: Frank T

Bookmarking. Do we need to ping South Park Conservatives?


3 posted on 11/21/2005 7:23:01 PM PST by BunnySlippers
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To: Frank T

The dems are socialists and the repubs are dems


4 posted on 11/21/2005 7:24:47 PM PST by skaterboy (Miss my kitty)
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To: xrp
while your post is stupid your tag line 100%.

republicans where great until they got their money grubby little hands on the money.

all we are left with is either tax and spend or borrow and spend.
5 posted on 11/21/2005 7:28:01 PM PST by postaldave (i've given up on being mad in exchange for bitter sarcasm.)
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To: JTN

*


6 posted on 11/21/2005 7:28:50 PM PST by JTN ("We must win the War on Drugs by 2003." - Dennis Hastert, Feb. 25 1999)
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To: skaterboy
would that make libertarians the new republicans?
7 posted on 11/21/2005 7:28:58 PM PST by postaldave (i've given up on being mad in exchange for bitter sarcasm.)
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To: Frank T

The republicans under George W. Bush remind me of the the John F. Kennedy and the democrats of 40+ years ago.


8 posted on 11/21/2005 7:29:03 PM PST by NapkinUser ("Our troops have become the enemy." -Representative John P. Murtha, modern day Benedict Arnold.)
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To: Frank T
Many people in the local and state GOP are RINOs who can only run as republicans. The constituents are mostly republicans and dems don't stand a chance. In the long run, we get a GOP filled with liberal republicans. They are destroying the party from the inside out.
9 posted on 11/21/2005 7:29:25 PM PST by satchmodog9 ( Seventy million spent on the lefts Christmas present and all they got was a Scooter)
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To: Frank T

Nope, not my father's GOP. His gave us Nixon and Ford and opposed the nomination of Ronald Reagan. Mine is the Party of Reagan, GWB, Cheney, Rummy, Condi, and Bolton.


10 posted on 11/21/2005 7:29:46 PM PST by pissant
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To: frank
But where the man and the dollar come in conflict, to use Lincoln's terms, today's Republican Party can increasingly be relied upon to side with the former.

Hogwash.

11 posted on 11/21/2005 7:30:54 PM PST by harrowup (Born perfect and humble about it.)
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To: Frank T

Issues change, parties change. A lot of the issues of old have lost traction. New ones have emerged. Class warfare rhetoric is muted. Cultural battles are amplified. Plus the GOP absorbed Southern whites, while losing a considerable portion of its Yankee base, which became more concerned about the environment, and evangelical influence in the party. The GOP has two wings that are in considerable tension with each other.


12 posted on 11/21/2005 7:31:10 PM PST by Torie
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To: NapkinUser

To paraphrase GK Chesterton "Liberals push for the new generation's errors. Conservatives defend the previous generation's errors.


13 posted on 11/21/2005 7:32:21 PM PST by NeoCaveman (THIRTEENTH!!!!)
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To: Frank T

If we get stuck with Gulliani as the pres. candidate in '08, the answer is definitely yes.


14 posted on 11/21/2005 7:33:11 PM PST by Brett66 (Where government advances – and it advances relentlessly – freedom is imperiled -Janice Rogers Brown)
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To: Brett66

Errr... no! I mean.


15 posted on 11/21/2005 7:33:45 PM PST by Brett66 (Where government advances – and it advances relentlessly – freedom is imperiled -Janice Rogers Brown)
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To: pissant

"Mine is the Party of Reagan, GWB, Cheney, Rummy, Condi, and Bolton."

Please remove pro-abortion Condi off that list.


16 posted on 11/21/2005 7:36:29 PM PST by NapkinUser ("Our troops have become the enemy." -Representative John P. Murtha, modern day Benedict Arnold.)
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To: NapkinUser

Never knew she was pro abortion. I've seen it insinuated, but I've never seen an actual quote.


17 posted on 11/21/2005 7:38:27 PM PST by pissant
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To: Torie

That's an excellent analysis. The Republican Party has had two wings in conflict for well over 100 years with one wing gaining control and then the other. It's actually how political parties are supposed to work; unlike the Democrat Party that has evolved into just degrees of extremism.


18 posted on 11/21/2005 7:46:15 PM PST by Russ
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To: Frank T

Presidency of George W. Bush -- the first 48 months

 


President Bush signing a federal ban on Partial Birth Abortion

Banned Partial Birth Abortion

Reversed Clinton's move to strike Reagan's anti-abortion Mexico Policy

Stopped foreign aid that would be used to fund abortions.

Supported and upheld the ban on abortions at military hospitals

Signed E.O. reversing Clinton's policy of not requiring parental consent for abortions under the Medical Privacy Act

Killed the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty

Killed U.S. involvement in the International Criminal Court

Killed Clinton's CO2 rules that were choking off all of the electricity surplus to California

Killed Clinton's "ergonomic" rules that OSHA was about to implement; rules that would have shut down some home business in America


First Missile is Installed For NMD on July 23, 2004

Killed the U.S. - CCCP ABM Treaty that was preventing the U.S. from deploying our ABM defenses


Built ten ABM silos in Alaska and California so that America has a defense against North Korean nukes

Killed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty so that the U.S. can once again test our nuclear weapons

The Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act (less romantically known as H.R. 5382) ultimately allows average Americans to hitch a ride on a civilian space craft at their own risk. The federal ban on such citizen travel was repealed by HR 5382 in 2004. The President signed that bill into law two days before Christmas.

President Bush pledged to Israel on 4/14/2004 that it could keep parts of the West Bank, giving international legitimacy to Jewish settlements there

Denied Palestinian refugees any right of return to what is now Israel, saying they should be resettled in a future Palestinian state instead

Part of coalition (Russia, Israel, EU, Palestine, USA) for Israeli/Palestinian "Roadmap to Peace"

Pushed through THREE raises for our military

Increased Defense Dept funding which had deteriorated during the previous 8 years

President Bush's Grand Strategy (click here)

President Bush's Environmental Record - 2004 (click here)

Signed TWO bills into law that arm our pilots with handguns in the cockpit

Currently pushing for full immunity from lawsuits for our national gun manufacturers

Ordered Attorney-General Ashcroft to formally notify the Supreme Court that the OFFICIAL U.S. government position on the 2nd Amendment is that it supports INDIVIDUAL rights to own firearms, NOT a leftist-imagined *collective* right


Told the United Nations we weren't interested in their plans for gun control (i.e. the International Ban on Small Arms Trafficking Treaty)

Signed the 2004 Omnibus Budget 1/26/2004 that now MANDATES that gun buyers' background check information be fully and permanently destroyed within 24 hours of the completion of the check, no matter what.

Repealed Gun Controls Against Active, Retired, and Off-Duty Law Enforcement Personnel Carrying Weapons Into Local and State Prohibited Zones (7/28/2004)

Enacted powerful tort reform legislation that moves many class action lawsuits from state to federal courts. Requires federal courts to hear cases where the amount of the dispute is more than $5 million, and when the defendant and any of the plaintiffs live in different states.


Disarmed Libya of its Chemical, Nuclear, and biological WMD's without bribes or bloodshed

Won an agreement that U.S. Navy sailors may now freely board thousands of commercial ships in international waters to search for weapons of mass destruction under a landmark pact between the United States and Liberia, the world's No. 2 shipping registry (signed Feb 11, 2004), and Panama 5/10/2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/11/international/americas/11ship.html).

Approves The First U.S. Counter-Intel Plan

Successfully executed 2 wars and rebuilt 2 nations: Afghanistan and Iraq. 50+ million people who had lived under tyrannical regimes now live in freedom...epitomized by their own free and democratic elections.

Provided Billions in aid, machines, and manpower to tsunami victims.

 

Executed a WAR ON TERROR by getting world-wide cooperation to track funds/terrorists (has cut off much of the terrorist's funding and captured or killed many key leaders of the al Qaeda network)

Bush Administration diplomacy led to the 5/25/2004 peace accord that ended a massive 20-year civil war between Sudan's Islamic north and Christian south after two million deaths Click Here

  Delivered vital emergency aid to millions of survivors on multiple continents (e.g. Africa, SE Asia) of a devastating Tsunami caused by a 9.1 earthquake near Sumatra.

Brought back our EP-3 intel plane and crew from China without any bribes or bloodshed

Started withdrawing our troops from Bosnia and has announced withdrawal of our troops from Germany and the Korean DMZ.

Signed the LARGEST nuclear arms reduction in world history with Russia

Initiated comprehensive review of our military, which was completed just prior to 9/11/01, accurately reported that ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE was critical.
Created NATO's Rapid Response Force

Changed the tone in the White House, restoring HONOR and DIGNITY to the Presidency

Reorganized bureaucracy...after 9/11, condensed 20+ overlapping agencies and their intelligence sectors into one agency: the Department of Homeland Security.

Initiated discussion on privatizing Social Security and individual investment accounts.

Improving govt. efficiency with .8 million jobs put up for bid...weakening unions and cutting undeserved pay raises. Wants merit based promotions/raises only.

Orchestrated Republican control of the White House, the House AND the Senate.

Killed the liberal ABA's role in vetting federal judges for Congress.

GWB signed an executive order enforcing the Supreme Court's Beck decision (re: union dues being used for political campaigns against individual's wishes)

Turned around an inherited economy that was in recession.

Passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to account as a result of corporate scandals.

Signed 2 income tax cuts ---- 1 of which was the largest Dollar-value tax cut in world history

Reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains

In process of eliminating IRS marriage penalty.

Increased small business incentives to expand and to hire new people

Eliminated the Estate Tax (AKA "Death Tax") that was taking small farms and businesses from families


Signed into law the No Child Left Behind legislation delivering the most dramatic education reforms in a generation (challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations)

Reorganized the INS in an attempt to safeguard the borders and ports of America and to eliminate bureaucratic redundancies and lack of accountability.

Signed trade promotion authority

Committed US funds to purchase medicine for millions of men and women and children now suffering with AIDS in Africa

Passed Medicare Reform (authorized $39.5 Billion per year for preventive medicine such as drugs and doctor visits as well as included a ten year Privatization option)

Urging federal liability reform to eliminate frivolous lawsuits

Supports class action reform bill which limits lawyer fees so that more settlement money goes to victims


Submitted comprehensive Energy Plan--awaits Congressional action (works to develop cleaner technology, produce more natural gas here at home, make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy, improve national grid, etc.)

Endorses and promotes The Responsibility Era ("In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take responsibility for the decisions they make in life. My hope is to change the culture from one that has said, if it feels good, do it; if you've got a problem, blame somebody else -- to one in which every single American understands that he or she are responsible for the decisions that you make; you're responsible for loving your children with all your heart and all your soul; you're responsible for being involved with the quality of the education of your children; you're responsible for making sure the community in which you live is safe; you're responsible for loving your neighbor, just like you would like to be loved yourself. " -----this quote was too good to leave out)

Started the USA Freedom Corps

Initiated review of all federal agencies with a goal to eliminate federal jobs (completed September 2003) in an effort to reduce the size of federal gov while increasing private sector jobs.

Challenged the United Nations to live up to their responsibilities and not become The League of Nations ( in other words, completely irrelevant)

Nominated strong, conservative judges to the judiciary.


President Bush opened up an additional part of Alaska for domestic oil drilling. In 2004, the National Petroleum Reserve, an area west of the existing Prudhoe Bay field, was approved for new energy exploration and production.

Increased U.S. Oil Drilling Permits 70% Above Clinton-era

Changed parts of the Forestry Management Act to allow necessary clean-up of the national forests in order to reduce fire danger.

As part of the national forests clean-up, the President restricted judicial challenges (based on the Endangered Species Act and other challenges) and removed the need for an EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) before removing fuels/logging to reduce fire danger.
New Forest Rules Gives States Power Over Federal Forests Inside Their Borders
Significantly eased field-testing controls of genetically engineered crops.

President Bush signed the workplace verification bill to prevent hiring of illegal Aliens
S. 1685, the Basic Pilot Extension Act of 2003, was signed by President Bush on December 3, 2003.
It extends for five years the workplace employment eligibility authorization pilot programs created in 1996. It expands the pilot programs from the original five states to all 50 states.


U.S. Forces In Baghdad


2nd Term Supplimental (incomplete)


Broke the Chinese Yuan to Dollar currency peg

CAFTA - President Bush signing CAFTA

Bolton to the UN

Has CONSTRUCTION in process on the second group of eight ABM silos in Alaska and California so that America has a land-based defense (in addition to our sea-based SM-3 and AEGIS systems) of 18 ABM's against North Korean nukes (note: China itself currently only has 24 -out of several hundred- nuclear ICBM's capable of reaching the U.S.)

Energy Bill (new tax cuts...after 5 years of opposition)

Immunity For Gun Manufacturers From Crime-Related Lawsuits

5% unemployment
3.4% annual (after inflation, 5.5% actual) reported GDP Growth

Syrian Troops forced to withdraw from Lebanon

Russians Troops Peacefully Withdraw From Georgia

Brought North Korea to the Negotiating Table and won their agreement to dismantle their Nuclear Weapons Program

Chief Justice John Roberts

Dramatically improved U.S.-India relations via a breakthrough nuclear agreement

Signed Bankruptcy Reform Into Law

Waived Make-Work Enviro Studies For New Oil Drilling

Full Immunity From Frivolous Lawsuits For Our Domestic Gun Industry
Click Here

Fed Chairman Bernanke

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1518385/posts
Iraqi's Thank America (Wow, this is moving!)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1518877/posts
Iraqi Kurds thank the United States for liberation in New T.V ads (From MoveAmericaForward)

19 posted on 11/21/2005 7:48:32 PM PST by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: pissant

I was thinking the same thing -- Republican Party of the 80's forward is much more conservative then in the past.


20 posted on 11/21/2005 7:55:40 PM PST by PhiKapMom (AOII MOM -- Istook for OK Governor in 2006!)
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