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A New Republican Agenda for the Future
The American Spectator ^ | November 27, 2012 | Doug Bandow

Posted on 11/27/2012 3:30:42 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife

...........Although the margin separating Barack Obama and Mitt Romney was small, the GOP could take little comfort. If Republicans can only come close when the Democratic incumbent is presiding over a painful recession and engaged in an orgy of unpopular spending and borrowing,when can Republicans hope to win?

The GOP should rethink what it stands for. Fiscal responsibility certainly,but in practice as well as in theory. That means resisting pork and earmarks, a temptation to which many Republicans yield, and targeting corporate welfare,since business does not need a hand-out.

That also means tying military outlays to security challenges,not an arbitrary share of GDP. Why should Americans spend as much as the rest of the world combined on "defense" when that means subsidizing rich allies,engaging in foolish nation-building, and launching military actions that create more enemies than they kill? There can be no sacred cows if the budget crisis is going to be resolved.

As for the "entitlements" that threaten to swamp the budget,Republicans must point out that recipients have not paid for Social Security and Medicare,which is why the nation's fiscal future is so bleak. On average the latter alone pays out nearly four times as much in benefits as it collects in taxes from recipients. The starting point of reform should be to means-test, that is, kick the rich off the dole. And why should Washington force young workers into Social Security, which will pay them less than they "contribute"?

Republicans should explain that their argument against tax hikes is not hatred of government,but recognition that Washington wastes money prodigiously. There's no justification for letting the Feds seize more resources from working people. As for the "rich" who the Left expects to provide everything,they already pay the most in taxes and there aren't enough of them to fund a generous welfare/warfare/bail-out state..........

(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2016; conservatism; gop; winningthewh
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1 posted on 11/27/2012 3:30:46 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Upon reflection, if Republicans could not win in this dark economy... they cannot win at all. The only way they can win is to become democrats... Keepers of the freebies. I say, stay the conservative course, it will be grim and dark to endure the punishment of socialism. It has taken Europe several generations to discover socialism does not work, why should America be any different? Republicans have lost the culture and the messaging. These people do not want freedom, they want free stuff. They do not want honor, they want to take from anyone they deem as having “too much”. Short of a Reagan resurrection, we are done, for now. Accept what you cannot change and prepare for the worst.


2 posted on 11/27/2012 3:57:44 AM PST by momincombatboots (Back to West by G-d Virginia.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

we been rolled.....

Does anybody here doubt for a New York minute...that had Mitt Romney won the election with hundreds of precincts 100+ voting for him it would NOT be in the MSM 24/7 and in front of a judge somewhere from now until 2016?

the Pubbies are no where to be found...just crickets...

IMHO...they took the campaign donations and ran....to sit down with the rest of DC and raise our taxes...and continue to authorize stupid, corrupt spending....and continue to prosecute the war on Flyover Country by DC.


3 posted on 11/27/2012 4:03:35 AM PST by mo (If you understand, no explanation is needed. If you don't understand, no explanation is possible.)
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To: momincombatboots

The only faint silver lining I find in all this is the thought of Hillary clawing out the eyes of everyone around her over the hot mess she`ll inherit in 2016.

If Bill thinks he was beat down before...


4 posted on 11/27/2012 4:19:49 AM PST by ScottinVA (I've never been more disgusted with American voters.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

But, but, but, Rand Paul just said right after championing no tax increases, that we have to include blacks and latinos.

As if defending and protecting the constitution, the only important part of their job, does not include every citizen.

Dunce.

By the way, I soubt it’s ok to vote if one does not have a viable means of suppport outside of the govt. form whom one gets his support.


5 posted on 11/27/2012 4:21:22 AM PST by stanne
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To: mo
If the "repubic" (honor to Mark Levin) party does not get its **** together by January and show some balls... its death will begin... they know it and all true Conservatives know it. Some of us... enough to keep the republicans from ever winning another national race... will leave. They need us more than we need them. We get the **** end of the stick every time anyway... can't get much worse than 8 years of obama... and the blame is firmly on rove and company. If I am willing to fight and die for my republic... and I swear by all that I am... that I would... then fighting the republican party to save it, is a pledge made in stone.

LLS

6 posted on 11/27/2012 4:22:26 AM PST by LibLieSlayer (WOLVERINES!)
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To: momincombatboots

A New Republican Agenda for the Future?

There’s nothing new about anything the Republican agenda. They play the same old game plan over and over and over and have absolutely no allegiance to their voters. Their main agenda is to be elected to office so they can pander to “fat cats” who will ensure them wealth after office and good times while in office...nothing more.

Republican members of Congress are only there for one or two reasons (or both) and that is to enrich their own personal coffers and to take a “power trip.”

As a life long Republican (up to the past two elections) I am sickened that they have become the “mini-me” for the Democrats and communists.

Now look! They are pandering to the Bush dynasty by jumping in four years ahead of positive defeat by licking the boots of Jeb Bush. On top of that look at them literally caving into the Democrats right now on everything that they want.

It’s like yelling “fire” in a theater and watching all of the devoted (past tense) Republican voters run in panic from the party.

There’s nowhere to go for us conservatives....none at all!


7 posted on 11/27/2012 4:35:21 AM PST by DH (Once the tainted finger of government touches anything the rot begins)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Go to any of your local GOP meetings, and you will see that they are STILL asleep. We are fighting an enemy, who wants to change everything about our country, who stirs things up- and drags people to the polls and controls the schools and media, and a DNC vote making machine- and the GOP says: *crickets*.

We need to forget the food stamp crowd- and start rattling cages of anyone who isn’t a liberal. We need to educate the GOP and wake them up- so they will go and vote.

That is what we need to do.


8 posted on 11/27/2012 4:39:39 AM PST by Truth2012
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To: mo

You are correct in your beliefs.

For the first time ever, I could not bring myself to vote for a Republican nominee for President for I knew that what you speak of would happen as sure as the sun rises in the morning.

Now the sun rises and all of those who were fooled to vote for Romney see the light of the sun shining on all of the lies and broken promises the Republicans now gleefully foist upon those who voted for them.

The fact is that the Democrats are racing toward a brick wall at 105 miles per hour and the Republicans are only racing at a speed of 104. The end result is that both will crash (and it’s already happening) and we will possibly lose all of our rights within the span of the next four years.

My only solace is that I am not a young man any longer and won’t have to suffer long while being forced to live in a communist society.


9 posted on 11/27/2012 4:43:49 AM PST by DH (Once the tainted finger of government touches anything the rot begins)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Tea Party has a better vision of the future, the GOP is just a bunch of old blood money in the east.


10 posted on 11/27/2012 4:44:16 AM PST by Eye of Unk (A Civil Cold War in America is here, its already been declared.)
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To: All; mo; momincombatboots; ScottinVA; stanne; LibLieSlayer; DH; Truth2012; Eye of Unk

It’s an interesting article.

Worth a full read for fresh discussion.


11 posted on 11/27/2012 5:02:53 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

“The gay marriage issue is lost.”

Minorities hate gays. Stupid white kids will stop caring when they grow up.


12 posted on 11/27/2012 5:11:52 AM PST by Impy (Boehner for President - 2013)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

I read it


13 posted on 11/27/2012 5:13:00 AM PST by stanne
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
What Republican Party?

The so-called "party" caves on everything!

A total "wipe-out" is coming in 2014 and they certainly deserve it!

The only problem is that the incumbents who are the reasons for all the problems and they are never voted out of office.

Voting has become a waste of time.

14 posted on 11/27/2012 5:25:14 AM PST by moondoggie
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To: momincombatboots; Cincinatus' Wife
There were two actors in this election which the GOP has to get a handle on if it hopes to ever win another presidential election, i.e. fraud, and abortion, and it's possible that either actor alone might have won for the dems.

Our entire voting system is fubar and needs to be replaced and a fraud-proof system would not be that hard to devise; it would involve biometrics and p2p networking and the idea that ANYBODY could do his own vote tally and that all tallies should match. It also should involve the idea that a person could have total assurance that his vote did not disappear or get counted for the other guy.

Granted abortion was a phony issue in the context of this particular election, it was the only issue the dems pushed and it generated the biggest gender gap in the history of US elections, and the three GOP senate candidates who tried to make any sort of an issue of it all got killed; more thinking is in order somehow or other.

15 posted on 11/27/2012 5:39:13 AM PST by varmintman
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To: varmintman

F key sticking on keyboard this morning, should be “Factors”, not actors...


16 posted on 11/27/2012 5:40:58 AM PST by varmintman
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To: varmintman

The best way ANY republican can ever expect to win another election is to make EVERY state have voter ID. Change the voting system into something remotely FAIR and they might have a chance to go over the top, without it, forget it.


17 posted on 11/27/2012 7:03:49 AM PST by DaveA37
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To: DH

‘My only solace is that I am not a young man any longer and won’t have to suffer long while being forced to live in a communist society.’

But what legacy are you now leaving to your children and grandchildren, by not opposing the re-election of the one who has brought America to its knees?


18 posted on 11/27/2012 7:55:55 AM PST by IWONDR
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To: Progov
Voter ID at the polls by itself doesn't get it. I need control of the situation AFTER I've cast my vote i.e. I need to be able to go back a day or a week later and see that my vote still reads the way it should.

What I' envision would be keeping my vote on MY computer with a fingerprint reader like you see on all govt computers i.e. a record of my contact info and a biometric reading and a national database to check biometrics for me and everybody else, and a p2p network to allow ANYBODY to do his own tally by calling or votes the same way you'd ask or a copy o "you aint nothing but a hound dog" on Kazaa, and all tallies should produce the same number.

19 posted on 11/27/2012 9:25:07 AM PST by varmintman
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Responding to the article - both excerpted portions and those found only the link...

First, I disagree with ignoring the issue of election FRAUD.

That should be job one, not an afterthought and most certainly not ignored.

Second, it’s easy to attack Romney. The one easier thing is to attack Obama and the Dems...

However, ANY of our announced candidates would’ve (and DID in primaries) suffer from various debilitating problems. My own view is that Mitt was better than I thought he would be, and that he gave it all he had as did Paul Ryan. And that they gave America the option of return to “traditional Americanism” vs what O and the Dems offered...remember Condi Rice’s theme in her convention speech...it was all about her life story and traditional American values of hard work, personal achievement, zero class warfare, saying no to dependency, etc.

The campaign stressed opportunity and achievement in the American tradition. And had all kinds of people representing it in their lives, not just “old white guys”.

But it lost. Not by a lot, but in the key swing states it lost out by enough to swing them all to O and run the electoral college table...

And here I mention again the issue of...election FRAUD. Going forward it’s terrible to have “leaders” who ignore it or pooh-pooh it. That’s just plain WRONG.

George W Bush did his best on military and defense policy. Those shots at him by the writer are cheap, in my view. Bush’s presidency began with a terrorist attack that turned airplanes into WMDs on our own soil. His subsequent actions including Iraq grew out from that. Was he perfect? No.

Domestic policy was more problematic for sure. But let’s face it, Democrats have had their way on entitlements and other assorted spending for a long time. They have not been seriously blocked (that is how we got here) - not by Republican presidents nor congresses.

The writer’s prescriptions for ways to present issues going forward is mostly pretty good. But how do you like it that he says, “the gay marriage issue is lost”. For example. For me this is a values issue that mirrors the social selfishness of the “free stuff” people. Even “gays” used to respect the larger society while they were different. NOW, they demand that the larger society conform to them, and that is enormously bad for society.

To say leave it to states is convenient, but just remember the gay agenda was unimagined by our Founders and is in no way what this NATION, as one UNITED under God, was founded on. Our Constitution in no way builds in that agenda unlike the issue of ending slavery was built in.

Mark Levin’s constitutional/founding viewpoint for everything does provide a better roadmap than this writer’s libertarianism.

But overall this article is a good read and a good framework for discussion...

Final word on the blame game, however...the ELECTORATE that voted Obama back in is to blame. More than Romney and more than Obama combined. The only competition in that blame game is, how much of the winning margin was by election FRAUD.

Recall that Rush said, as bad as Obama is, the only thing worse is the kind of people who vote for Obama (and THAT grows from the CULTURE, not from politics)...


20 posted on 11/27/2012 12:02:17 PM PST by txrangerette ("hold to the truth...speak without fear". (Glenn Beck))
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