Posted on 09/07/2013 4:28:56 AM PDT by Kaslin
The Republican Party has been branded as the "Party of No" in the last few years. That's not surprising since the GOP has been out of power and has been defined more by what we've wanted to stop Barack Obama from doing than from what we want to do.
The American people deserve more than that. It's important for them to know not just what we're against, but what we'll do if we get into power. Far too few conservatives are talking about that; so it seems like the right time to start that discussion.
That being said, there are a few things to keep in mind. Barack Obama will still be President in 2014 and while we can try to force his hand on a few issues, having him in the White House will constrain what we can do quite a bit.
That’s why the intention here is not to come up with an all-encompassing conservative wish list; it's to present a popular right-of-center legislative agenda that will convince the American people to help us take back the Senate.
Then if we prove ourselves, in 2016 we'll have the opportunity to take the White House as well and we'll have the ability to move much more aggressively to fix the problems that are bedeviling our nation. Until that time, if the Republican Party could actually accomplish everything on this list, it would be a tremendous step forward for the nation.
1) Defunding of Obamacare: Obamacare is a disaster for the country and no budget that funds it will be passed through the Congress under any circumstances. If voters give the Republican Party control of the House and Senate while we are explicitly making this pledge as a party, that could fairly be considered a mandate from the American people to hold out as long as it takes to get the job done.
2) A Promise Congress And The Bureaucracy Will Live Under Obamacare Until It’s Defunded: If the rest of the country has to live under Obamacare, everyone in the government should, too. Regardless of what happens with the battle to defund Obamacare, Republicans should pledge that all members of Congress and employees of the government in Washington, D.C. will have to live under Obamacare just as long as everyone else does.
3) Reagancare: The Conservative Obamacare Alternative: The Republican Party has offered up many feasible alternatives to Obamacare, but the House and Senate Republicans should unite to select a single plan that will allow providers to sell insurance across state lines, limit malpractice lawsuits to cut costs, provide high risk pools for individuals that genuinely can't afford coverage, and move health care tax credits from businesses to individuals so that you won't lose your health care if you lose your job.
4) A Pledge To Read Every Bill: Every bill will be limited to 100 pages or less and the entire bill will be posted online for a week before it's voted on so that the public has time to comment and all the members have time to read it.
5) The Job Creation Act Of 2014: Defunding Obamacare would certainly help increase job creation, but Barack Obama has done so much damage to the economy that more than that is needed to get the job done. The Republican Party should also pledge to reduce the corporate tax rate, repeal Sarbanes Oxley, do away with the National Labor Relations Board, increase funding for unemployed worker retraining, and allow businesses to write off all of their new equipment after one year to encourage them to buy the latest technology.
6) A Two Year Spending Freeze: The Republican Party would pledge to freeze all spending, including government salaries, for two years except spending on defense, Veteran Affairs, and entitlement programs.
7) Cut Your Gas Bill Act of 2014: Americans are paying too much at the pump and one of the best ways to put more money in their pockets would be to increase the supply of oil in order to help cut the cost of the gas. Towards that end, Republicans should pledge to drill ANWR, build the Keystone Pipeline, and encourage the offshore drilling that Barack Obama has tamped down on.
8) The Claw Back The NSA Act: Simply put, the NSA should not be able to collect or retain any email or phone data on an American citizen without getting approval from a judge to target that particular citizen. The 4th Amendment protects us from unreasonable search and seizures and if giving the government access to every phone call and email a law abiding citizen has made for years doesn't qualify, then nothing does.
9) Audit of the Federal Reserve: It's time for the Federal Reserve to be more open, transparent, and accountable. The best way to make sure that happens is to audit the Federal Reserve.
10) No More Bailouts: Republicans should pledge not to bail out any corporations, cities, or states. As part of that pledge, Republicans should attempt to repeal Dodd-Frank which has funding for future bank bailouts built into the bill.
Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States and having knowledge of the commission of any treason against them, conceals and does not, as soon as may be, disclose and make known the same to the President or to some judge of the United States, or to the governor or to some judge or justice of a particular State, is guilty of misprision of treason and shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than seven years, or both.
How about does this make since, now?
Your inability to recognize what is happening, or to arbitrarily dismiss an alternate opinion, out of hand.
Your 10 agenda items are absolutely useless until the the system is corrected.
And the whole voter fraud thing really worked out well for us all, didn't it.
Clearer now?
Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States and having knowledge of the commission of any treason against them, conceals and does not, as soon as may be, disclose and make known the same to the President or to some judge of the United States, or to the governor or to some judge or justice of a particular State, is guilty of misprision of treason and shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than seven years, or both.
How about does this make since, now?
Your inability to recognize what is happening, or to arbitrarily dismiss an alternate opinion, out of hand.
Your 10 agenda items are absolutely useless until the the system is corrected.
And the whole voter fraud thing really worked out well for us all, didn't it.
Clearer now?
Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States and having knowledge of the commission of any treason against them, conceals and does not, as soon as may be, disclose and make known the same to the President or to some judge of the United States, or to the governor or to some judge or justice of a particular State, is guilty of misprision of treason and shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than seven years, or both.
How about does this make since, now?
Your inability to recognize what is happening, or to arbitrarily dismiss an alternate opinion, out of hand.
Your 10 agenda items are absolutely useless until the the system is corrected.
And the whole voter fraud thing really worked out well for us all, didn't it.
Clearer now?
Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States and having knowledge of the commission of any treason against them, conceals and does not, as soon as may be, disclose and make known the same to the President or to some judge of the United States, or to the governor or to some judge or justice of a particular State, is guilty of misprision of treason and shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than seven years, or both.
How about does this make since, now?
Your inability to recognize what is happening, or to arbitrarily dismiss an alternate opinion, out of hand.
Your 10 agenda items are absolutely useless until the the system is corrected.
And the whole voter fraud thing really worked out well for us all, didn't it.
Clearer now?
Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States and having knowledge of the commission of any treason against them, conceals and does not, as soon as may be, disclose and make known the same to the President or to some judge of the United States, or to the governor or to some judge or justice of a particular State, is guilty of misprision of treason and shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than seven years, or both.
How about does this make since, now?
Your inability to recognize what is happening, or to arbitrarily dismiss an alternate opinion, out of hand.
Your 10 agenda items are absolutely useless until the the system is corrected.
And the whole voter fraud thing really worked out well for us all, didn't it.
Clearer now?
Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States and having knowledge of the commission of any treason against them, conceals and does not, as soon as may be, disclose and make known the same to the President or to some judge of the United States, or to the governor or to some judge or justice of a particular State, is guilty of misprision of treason and shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than seven years, or both.
How about does this make since, now?
Your inability to recognize what is happening, or to arbitrarily dismiss an alternate opinion, out of hand.
Your 10 agenda items are absolutely useless until the the system is corrected.
And the whole voter fraud thing really worked out well for us all, didn't it.
Clearer now?
I ilke the list, BUT!
1. Disarm the IRS.
2. Disarm the Dept. of Educ.
3. Defund the NSA, we have the CIA, that’s enough.
4. Get rid of stinking Boehner and Kantor as leaders.
5. Flat tax of 10-%.
6. NO foreign money for nobody.
7. Disarm FEMA.
Bookmarked for later, good article.
Save for later.
Oddly enough, Obamacare is so complex and difficult to replace, that it will take months to punch through. So in the meantime, there is something much more to the point for the Republicans to do in 2016, assuming a Republican congress and president.
1) Reduce the power of the office of the president by removing its unconstitutional power grabs for over a hundred years. Republican candidates need to be nailed on this one before nomination. They must have a strong enough ego to want *less* power in office, which is very hard.
This includes *outlawing* Presidential Signing Statements, Presidential Proclamations that take state lands, the prohibition of Czars and recess appointments, that executive privilege is codified with very clear lines, and that Executive Orders must be vetted by the D.C. Circuit for constitutionality, and historical EO’s that are unconstitutional, rescinded.
2) Next up, restoration of the Posse Comitatus Act and the War Powers Act, along with a “Restoration of the 4th Amendment” Act.
3) A Return of States Lands Act.
4) The big one. The great list of federal agencies for elimination and reduction. Emphasis on those agencies that exist without constitutional authorization.
5) Conversion of federal largess from direct payments to individuals, to block payments to the individual states.
This last one really sets the stage for the repeal of Obamacare and its replacement with a capitalistic system, while minimizing harm to the public.
Defense spending must be frozen as well. There are tons of layers and contract BS going on in the largest portion of our government.
Freeze it, but allow the DOD to determine where any cuts will come. Do not do this sequestration crap.
The issue is not always pork.
The issue with the size of these bills has to do with the severe entanglement of the bureaucracy. Many of these bills include paragraphs that simply say things like:
In section 12 (a) (i) of the Federal code, strike the following word:
“May be”.
In section 12 (a) (i) of the Federal code, insert the words:
“May be at the discretion of the governing authority as defined in section 1 (b)(i) of the 1990 Federal Act, “
This crap is unreadable to the average guy. And when the people say they have not read the bill, it is because there is no sense in reading the bill. Because unless you have a complete, unabridged, and hyper linked copy of the Federal Code and its changes, there is no way an above average lawyer is going to understand it.
I am not defending those who have no idea of the content of bills. I am just saying that with the integration and cross referencing of the entire code, the unintended consequences lie in the accuracy of the person typing it.
Crystal.
but it is what it is.
All good but impossible.
That agenda will require something not available to us, Republicans that are willing to fight to win.
Not impossible, there just has to be a will
One thing for sure they all deserve our thanks and graditute
The list reeks of coming from political wonks. Sad. Mainstream America isn’t going to relate to that list.
IF...if you really want to improve the economy meaningfully over the long-term, then you must clear out or otherwise deal with economic fundamentals such as over-regulation, over-taxation, and tort.
IF...if you want to jumpstart the economy in the short-term, then the government has some bullets that can be fired such as repeating the successful Oklahoma Land Rush of old with federal and state lands.
Offer free land in exchange for farming, ranching, mining, timber, and drilling obligations.
IF...if you want to reduce the dangers of economic catastrophe, then you must break up the Too Big To Fail Banks.
A short, powerful, accurate list is better than a long laundry list, too. Just sayin...
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