Now that 2010 is finally here, the Republicans would do well to remember the age old adage that there is no such thing as a free lunch. The public rejection of a liberal agenda proposed by an unpopular President is not a guarantee that Republicans will sweep the mid-term elections. As unpopular as Barack Obama is, his poll numbers are still double that of Congress and the anger that meant victory for Chris Christie, Bob McDonnell and Scott Brown was not just meant as a message to Washington, but was also the leading edge of an anti-incumbent wave.
Neither Party has secured the faith of the American people and most view Congressional Democrats and Republicans as two pictures of the same dog. Both have a history of corrupt cronyism; both are guilty of broken promises; both have shown an unwillingness to reduce the size of government and neither has taken any steps towards reducing the levels of deficit spending let alone any real attempt to reduce the National Debt. Democrats have recently argued that Bill Clinton substantially reduced the deficit under his administration at the current spending deficits are only needed because of the damage that George Bush inflicted on the economy.
While it is true that the deficit was drastically reduced while Bill Clinton was President, the notions that his policies had anything to do with that reduction are strictly nonsense. Bill Clinton enjoyed a spill-over affect from Alan Greenspan’s reduction of interest rates. The lower interest rates reduced the interest we paid on the National Debt and that represented a roughly $200 billion dollar savings for the Federal government.
Washington has a far worse deficit than money. There is a deficit of trust and an overwhelming number of people have no faith in Congress at all. The recent accounts of back room deals and the selling of votes for the healthcare bill have severely hurt Democrats so they will have a difficult time in the fight to regain that trust. Some realize that there may be no way around the prevalent anti-incumbent sentiment and have already decided that the best opportunity to retain Democratic control is in not running. This will allow a new face to challenge the Republican candidates instead of an incumbent damaged by his association with a radioactive Congress.
Democrat strategists are deathly afraid of the new wave of conservatism sweeping the country and are doing their level best to see that if Republicans must win, that the candidates at least have a moderate philosophy. They have begun their assault on Conservatives, painting them as neo-Nazis and something to be feared. The attempt is to create fear among independent voters and to force the hand of local Republican Parties to moderate their choice of candidates. Since the healthcare debate began, they have been accusing the Republicans of obstruction and partisan politics that has stood in the way of critical legislation. Of course that is ridiculous. Before the election of Scott Brown this January, the Democrats enjoyed a filibuster proof Congress and could have passed any piece of legislation without a single Republican vote. It was the divisions among Congressional Democrats that have stalled the healthcare bill and that is because no matter what the President or Rahm Emmanuel want, it is a bad bill and some Democrats are just not biting.
Republicans can not simply run for election on the notion that they are not Democrats. They must bring about a renewal of the Party and clearly state the ideals and promises that set them apart from Democrats. They must develop a positive message of how they would deal with America’s most critical challenges. People are disillusioned and disheartened and there is no belief that the Government can be restored and that the debt that has made us slaves to China and other nations can be brought under control. Congress must be willing to reign in the super-agencies within the Federal government. The notion that agency chiefs and special advisors have regulatory powers outside of the control of the elected officials in Congress has upset the balance of power in Washington and has given the White House unconstitutional control over the nation. This is witnessed in the EPA’s threat to implement carbon restrictions by fiat if the Congress does not pass the President’s energy bill (cap and trade).
Special advisors were created to allow a fast response and specialist analysis in times of crisis. They should never have been allowed to become permanent positions and most should have been eliminated after the immediate crisis was over or in the case of a long term problem, should have been used to shape long term policy within the responsible agency and then eliminated. A “special” advisor isn’t all that special if they never go away. The President has the power to fill cabinet positions with Congressional oversight but many of these special advisors have been given real power without being required to answer to Congress. Legislation should be written that would require all special advisors to pass the same confirmation process as cabinet level appointees, or to have special advisors appointed by Congress at the President’s request for special assistance.
Social Security should be privatized and placed under the control of a congressionally appointed fiduciary. The Federal government raided those funds to support Johnson’s “great society” back in 1968 and has been liberally using the SS funds collected from working Americans ever since.
The current healthcare bill should be scrapped and the Federal government should eliminate the restrictions that have prevented insurers from competing across state lines and allow the same tax credits for small business owners that provide health benefits that the larger business and unions enjoy. Legislation to protect doctors against frivolous law suits is a must and the requirement to prevent insurers from dropping clients once they become ill is an easy remedy that does not require 2000 pages to address. Similarly, measures that allow portability of insurance while changing jobs and a common sense approach to pre-existent conditions should be sought. Pre-existent conditions will be the tricky one to get right. The only reasons insurers exclude pre-existing conditions for a set period of time is to prevent people that never had insurance in the past from jumping into a policy after they become sick. Take your pick…health, auto, homeowner, boat, travel…no insurance companies cover pre-existing conditions for all the obvious reasons.
Energy should be declared a vital strategic interest of the United States and the development of domestic resources should be exempt from regulation by the EPA. Additonally, energy development should not be subject to nuisance law suits by environmental extremists because it is a strategic concern. On the subject of strategic interests, it is foolish that our defence industry relies heavily on foreign made components. Any component used in the manufacture of military equipment should be required to be a domestic product.
The Republicans must embrace their conservative roots and commit to restoring the limits on Federal power written into the Constitution. The enumerated powers deny the Federal government the power to interfere in education, health and a myriad of other issues that are supposed to be under the authority of the individual States. If the Federal government has no Constitutional authority in these matters, then the corresponding agencies should be disbanded, returning those powers back to the States where they belong.
They must reduce taxes and make the reductions permanent to spawn true growth in the economy. They must eliminate the estate tax which has had a devastating effect on the family succession of ownership of small businesses. They must address the sacred cows of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid which is the real crisis. The unfunded liabilities of these programs have exceeded $100 trillion dollars, overshadowing the National Debt by a factor of ten to one.
Most importantly, they must resist the rhetoric on the left that restoring Conservative values to the Republican Part will drive moderates and independents out of the so-called “big tent”. Big tents are for circuses and the Progressive Republicans like Lindsey Graham and John McCain have done more to damage the focus of the Party than anything the Democrats have done. These men may be strong on defense but they are every bit as fiscally irresponsible as Barack Obama is. If they were really serious about reform they would also begin the battle to bring about a Constitutional amendment that will finally impose term limits on Congress. The biggest reason that Congress is so disconnected from Main Street America is that many of them haven’t seen Main Street in thirty, forty and even fifty years.
Paul
Neither Party has secured the faith of the American people and most view Congressional Democrats and Republicans as two pictures of the same dog. Both have a history of corrupt cronyism; both are guilty of broken promises; both have shown an unwillingness to reduce the size of government and neither has taken any steps towards reducing the levels of deficit spending let alone any real attempt to reduce the National Debt. Democrats have recently argued that Bill Clinton substantially reduced the deficit under his administration at the current spending deficits are only needed because of the damage that George Bush inflicted on the economy.
While it is true that the deficit was drastically reduced while Bill Clinton was President, the notions that his policies had anything to do with that reduction are strictly nonsense. Bill Clinton enjoyed a spill-over affect from Alan Greenspan’s reduction of interest rates. The lower interest rates reduced the interest we paid on the National Debt and that represented a roughly $200 billion dollar savings for the Federal government.
Washington has a far worse deficit than money. There is a deficit of trust and an overwhelming number of people have no faith in Congress at all. The recent accounts of back room deals and the selling of votes for the healthcare bill have severely hurt Democrats so they will have a difficult time in the fight to regain that trust. Some realize that there may be no way around the prevalent anti-incumbent sentiment and have already decided that the best opportunity to retain Democratic control is in not running. This will allow a new face to challenge the Republican candidates instead of an incumbent damaged by his association with a radioactive Congress.
Democrat strategists are deathly afraid of the new wave of conservatism sweeping the country and are doing their level best to see that if Republicans must win, that the candidates at least have a moderate philosophy. They have begun their assault on Conservatives, painting them as neo-Nazis and something to be feared. The attempt is to create fear among independent voters and to force the hand of local Republican Parties to moderate their choice of candidates. Since the healthcare debate began, they have been accusing the Republicans of obstruction and partisan politics that has stood in the way of critical legislation. Of course that is ridiculous. Before the election of Scott Brown this January, the Democrats enjoyed a filibuster proof Congress and could have passed any piece of legislation without a single Republican vote. It was the divisions among Congressional Democrats that have stalled the healthcare bill and that is because no matter what the President or Rahm Emmanuel want, it is a bad bill and some Democrats are just not biting.
Republicans can not simply run for election on the notion that they are not Democrats. They must bring about a renewal of the Party and clearly state the ideals and promises that set them apart from Democrats. They must develop a positive message of how they would deal with America’s most critical challenges. People are disillusioned and disheartened and there is no belief that the Government can be restored and that the debt that has made us slaves to China and other nations can be brought under control. Congress must be willing to reign in the super-agencies within the Federal government. The notion that agency chiefs and special advisors have regulatory powers outside of the control of the elected officials in Congress has upset the balance of power in Washington and has given the White House unconstitutional control over the nation. This is witnessed in the EPA’s threat to implement carbon restrictions by fiat if the Congress does not pass the President’s energy bill (cap and trade).
Special advisors were created to allow a fast response and specialist analysis in times of crisis. They should never have been allowed to become permanent positions and most should have been eliminated after the immediate crisis was over or in the case of a long term problem, should have been used to shape long term policy within the responsible agency and then eliminated. A “special” advisor isn’t all that special if they never go away. The President has the power to fill cabinet positions with Congressional oversight but many of these special advisors have been given real power without being required to answer to Congress. Legislation should be written that would require all special advisors to pass the same confirmation process as cabinet level appointees, or to have special advisors appointed by Congress at the President’s request for special assistance.
Social Security should be privatized and placed under the control of a congressionally appointed fiduciary. The Federal government raided those funds to support Johnson’s “great society” back in 1968 and has been liberally using the SS funds collected from working Americans ever since.
The current healthcare bill should be scrapped and the Federal government should eliminate the restrictions that have prevented insurers from competing across state lines and allow the same tax credits for small business owners that provide health benefits that the larger business and unions enjoy. Legislation to protect doctors against frivolous law suits is a must and the requirement to prevent insurers from dropping clients once they become ill is an easy remedy that does not require 2000 pages to address. Similarly, measures that allow portability of insurance while changing jobs and a common sense approach to pre-existent conditions should be sought. Pre-existent conditions will be the tricky one to get right. The only reasons insurers exclude pre-existing conditions for a set period of time is to prevent people that never had insurance in the past from jumping into a policy after they become sick. Take your pick…health, auto, homeowner, boat, travel…no insurance companies cover pre-existing conditions for all the obvious reasons.
Energy should be declared a vital strategic interest of the United States and the development of domestic resources should be exempt from regulation by the EPA. Additonally, energy development should not be subject to nuisance law suits by environmental extremists because it is a strategic concern. On the subject of strategic interests, it is foolish that our defence industry relies heavily on foreign made components. Any component used in the manufacture of military equipment should be required to be a domestic product.
The Republicans must embrace their conservative roots and commit to restoring the limits on Federal power written into the Constitution. The enumerated powers deny the Federal government the power to interfere in education, health and a myriad of other issues that are supposed to be under the authority of the individual States. If the Federal government has no Constitutional authority in these matters, then the corresponding agencies should be disbanded, returning those powers back to the States where they belong.
They must reduce taxes and make the reductions permanent to spawn true growth in the economy. They must eliminate the estate tax which has had a devastating effect on the family succession of ownership of small businesses. They must address the sacred cows of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid which is the real crisis. The unfunded liabilities of these programs have exceeded $100 trillion dollars, overshadowing the National Debt by a factor of ten to one.
Most importantly, they must resist the rhetoric on the left that restoring Conservative values to the Republican Part will drive moderates and independents out of the so-called “big tent”. Big tents are for circuses and the Progressive Republicans like Lindsey Graham and John McCain have done more to damage the focus of the Party than anything the Democrats have done. These men may be strong on defense but they are every bit as fiscally irresponsible as Barack Obama is. If they were really serious about reform they would also begin the battle to bring about a Constitutional amendment that will finally impose term limits on Congress. The biggest reason that Congress is so disconnected from Main Street America is that many of them haven’t seen Main Street in thirty, forty and even fifty years.
Paul
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