Posted on 04/17/2015 3:03:04 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
Middleburg, Va. Republicans have few built-in advantages in politics. But they do have one that’s already a factor in the 2016 presidential campaign. That advantage is ideas, especially ones affecting middle-income Americans.
GOP presidential candidates were among the first to notice. Florida senator Marco Rubio, who announced for president last week, met several times with a group of conservative intellectuals last year. Now his agenda, notably on taxes, echoes their ideas. So does his new book, American Dreams: Restoring Economic Opportunity for Everyone.
When Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, came to Washington in February, he made a point of huddling with five policy experts associated with the Conservative Reform Network. One of them, CRN policy director April Ponnuru, wound up being hired. She will soon join the Bush campaign as an adviser.
CRN, which brings together reform-minded Republicans and think tank scholars, is a leader in the conservative idea business. It has spurred a fresh flow of proposals, policies, talking points, and new ways of thinking, mostly based on a concept called “applied conservatism.”
It’s a new term and likely to catch on. It means the application of conservative principles to current problems in American society and the crafting of practical solutions that have a fair chance of being enacted.
This is easy in theory but difficult in politics. The most effective ideas respond to circumstances, rather than simply rebut liberal policies, according to Yuval Levin of the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) and a CRN leader. And while applied conservatism doesn’t require reducing the size of government, the ideas it generates aim to minimize the role of government and expand the power of individuals and the public. Limiting government, sad to say, rarely occurs in Washington.
Democrats have nothing to match this GOP idea machine.
(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...
I’m confused, leftists on the message boards tell me that the rethuglicans have zero idea’s and at least the left tries....
rubio’s tax reform plan wants to increase the marginal rate on individuals making 75k from 25% to 35%
thats a good idea ??
applied “conservatism” ? not even close.
rubio also SUPPORTS Corker’s dangerous Obama nuclear weapons treaty with Iran
president ? dont think so
Then how is it conservative?
That has to be one of the stupidest political theories I've ever read. Just how do you square millions upon millions of government "workers" bent on enslaving us with "minimizing the role of government and expanding the power of the individual"? What a bunch of childish pablum.
No! FUMR!!
Amen !
The only reform conservatism needs is a Ted Cruz missile hitting at center mass to eliminate liberal slugs like Jeb and his "policy experts".
it wouldnt really be surprising if the real reason that rubio is in the race is to be a ‘stalking horse’ for his mentor and good buddy jeb.
his mission is to split votes and take conservative support away from Ted Cruz.
That’s exactly his role, same with Graham, Huckabee, Perry, etc.
The RNC wants a flooded field to dilute conservative votes, it’s part of their playbook for nominating a Democrat in an R jersey.
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