Two views on the future of the GOP... sort of...
November 19, 2008 by Alexander Silva
The following is a comment left by Scott F on my WTF post that I copied to my home site (sorry Brian), it’s a good comment, here it is…
Scott -
The positions you enumerated in the bulleted list can still sell. But only if you guys make an effort to divorce yourself from the flat-earth wing of the party and return to some pragmatic approaches to governing.
People aren’t going to vote for know-nothings who think global warming is a myth. That ship has sailed, fellas. And I don’t think Americans are buying the idea that market forces are going to fix our health care problems. People actually want the government to do something, and they want it to work. Although it is at odds with your “less government” position, this is one area where you’re either going to make an exception or you’re on the fast train to Whig city.
Rejoin public opinion (and frankly, reality) on a few of these issues and you may find that your message still sells otherwise. (Truth be told, though, I think you’re going to lose on the gay rights thing, too, eventually.)
Myself -
- “flat earth” politics will always have a place in my heart… well, at least the pro-life part of it.
- If by pragmatic you mean “say what you mean and mean what you say”, I’d have to agree. All this wishy wash super hedge double sided fence jumping being done by so called conservatives has slowly strangled the party… (happy place… happy place…)
- but, if by pragmatic you mean “far right is far off”… Hmmm, li’l disagreement there.
- The problem with wanting the government to “do something”, is that eventually the leach becomes bloated, and for some crazy reason or another, the sickness has not left the building. I agree that the gov needs to address some issues, but I don’t see wholesale takeovers doing much good in the long run.
- yah, the gay rights “thing” is seems an unstoppable wave of the next generation of voters, fighting against it is like fighting the wind. Even so, if you don’t fight for what you believe in, do you really believe it? Some things are worth looking foolish for.
- the rep party? Lost cause. Even our “future leaders” are having a hard time stepping on toes that need to be stepped on. As far as I’m concerned, all that the “young leaders” of today can hope to accomplish now is to play the role of berserker, hacking and slashing all who come near in order to clear the way for those not yet on the field… If they care more for their skins than they do the war, the war is already lost…
- should comments be this long?
Scott - Healthcare has gone downhill at a rate directly proportional to how much public funds have been used to facilitate it. Currently 44% of all health care is paid for through public funds. The free market would help, but as with all of our issues at this time we have to learn to produce more than we consume and we need to put ourselves in a position where we can ween ourselves off of the money tree that our policy makers have access to called the Federal Reserve. With the Federal Reserve in existence and with printing presses free flowing, the effectiveness of a free market can’t be tested.
The Free Market can work, but only with constrained financial resources, otherwise the easy way of printing money becomes too enticing for our policy makers to stay away from. This has only been viable because the World’s Oil required dollars to purchase it. As more countries trade oil using the Euro, or their own currency, the dollar weakens and the true inflationary effects of our policies begin to come in to play. This is why we have fought the wars we have, to protect the dollars link to oil.
If we have a money tree, we have to regulate in order to keep people in check, but the regulations necessary are impossible to enforce when financial policy runs wild.
Our excessive consumption without production is the root cause of all that ails our country.
The Republican Parties and Democratic Parties are in this together and have created a fake competition between two parties aligned to maintain the control of oil trade in the world. The issues that the parties differ on (gay marriage, abortion) are inconsequential and help to distract the public from the real reasons of our foreign policy.
droveto, where on earth has the free market produced a high quality, affordable and just health care system? Anywhere?
Health care is one of the major head-in-the-sand issues dragging down the GOP. Your ideological position that the government is always the problem isn’t going to sell on this one. We pay double what other people pay, Millions of us are uninsured or underinsured. It’s killing us economically.
Attempts to fix this dog through deregulation is akin to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
I think we’ll see employer-based private health insurance system completely dismantled in my lifetime. In it’s place will be a solution which covers everyone and costs less–and involves the government more.
I think the pro-life issue is still viable politically. At least it is the way the GOP has played it in recent decades. Woe to you, however, should you ever succeed in repealing Roe. You’ll find yourself paying a long and heavy price for it at the ballot box.