McCain's Biggest Problem? GOP "Ideas"

[trzlucky]

So they advocated creating health savings accounts, handing out school vouchers, privatizing Social Security, shifting government functions to private contractors, and curtailing regulations on public health, safety, the environment and more. And, of course, they pushed to cut taxes to further weaken the public sector by "starving the beast." President Bush has followed this playbook more closely than any previous president, including Reagan, notwithstanding today's desperate efforts by the right to distance itself from the deeply unpopular chief executive.

I think the author is a little too confident that everything that the GOP is supposed to support is failing and the at the democrats are going to be able to reverse it. I found this paragraph especially telling. He must have missed the memo that the Democratic led Congress just had to hand operations of their dining hall over to a private contracting company because it was losing money hand over fist.

The Democrats are just as stubborn as he is claiming the GOP. With the aid of school vouchers, DC has had a lot of success in turning arounds its school. Yet, the democratic leadership, including Obama, is attempting to take away funding for the program because they fear that other school districts will see that it works, and that doesn't fit the party's ideology.

Health Savings accounts have been a great tool for helping people take contro,l of their own healthcare. Instead of getting rid of them, like the Democrats want to do, we should be trying to make them more available to lower income families (like McCain plans to do).

On the whole, I think the author's message is way off. The problem isn't the policies that the GOP is supposed to be supporting, its the fact that the GOP and many of today's GOP leaders have forgotten what the party is supposed to be about.

[walidm]

Real spending falls in June despite rebates



By Rex Nutting
Last update: 8:30 a.m. EDT Aug. 4, 2008


WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Real consumer spending fell in June for the first time since February as the windfall of cash from Washington was eaten up by the worst inflation in 27 years, the Commerce Department reported Monday. Nominal spending rose 0.6%, but the increase was all due to higher prices, which rose 0.8% during the month, the most in 27 years. Real spending (which is adjusted for inflation) fell 0.2% in June. Real disposable incomes fell 2.6% in June after a 5.2% gain in May. Inflation surged in June. The personal consumption expenditure price index rose 0.8% in June compared with May and is up 4.1% in the past year, the largest year-over-year inflation in 17 years."

30 more years of GOP leadership?...

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by walidm

... 30 more years of GOP leadership?

NO! If we do, we'll be defunct as a nation.

Originally Posted by trzlucky

I think the author is a little too confident that everything that the GOP is supposed to support is failing and the at the democrats are going to be able to reverse it.

True that fixing / improving our lot as a nation will take a huge effort, but we have to try. I'm also reminded of another GOP "idea" that did not pan out, that being "supply side economics" which was pure crap/voodoo from the start. Tax cuts never 'generate' more tax revenue than they give up, and there are government studies to support that. "Treasury Department Study Finds the Bush Tax Cuts Will Pay For Less Than 10 Percent of Their Cost." That's right folks, 90% of the Bush tax cuts do NOT come back in form of higher economic activity and parallel increases in tax collections. For more on this aspect, see: Claim That Tax Cuts “Pay For Themselves” Is Too Good To Be True: Data Show No “Free Lunch” Here, Revised 7/27/06

Originally Posted by walidm

Surely the GOP has done something right? Right? "The belief system and finely crafted policy pitches that enabled the right to dominate the war of ideas for the past 30 years have produced a relentless succession of governing failures, from Iraq to Katrina to the economy to the environment."

One of the WORST slogans ever was "Stay the Course." Look what it did for the Titanic. We now have to change course, or sink.

Originally Posted by happ

We are watching the demise of the GOP & after November they will be an insignificant force in American politics. Many have left [ie Ron Paul & Bob Barr] while many more will vote Democratic for the first time. Too bad the Republicans are such fools & poor sports, but somebody has to be on the bottom, right?

I sure hope so, I'm sick of their hatefulness. When Newt and gang showed up in 1994, they were so crude that the GOP leadership took their freshmen reps up to PA for a 2-day retreat to teach them proper Congressional Civility, that's how crummy they were. In the past two years, over 30 GOP types exercised the option to retire this fall, leaving that many GOP seats in both houses up for grabs. These guys know that a tidal wave of voter anger is about to roll over the GOP and they don't want to be kicked out by the voters so they're retiring/resigning. As far as poor sports and fools, to me that is the far right wingnut fundies domain, just look at the comments coming from the mouths of some of these people.

Originally Posted by NewToCA

Interesting article Mike, thanks. ... Just take a look at Congress, and their approval ratings. I suspect that what many folks support as concepts they would find less attractive as specific legislation. Oddly, when you take a look at the internal workings of the Democratic Party, the DLC is clearly in retreat today. This is part of the reason that the House and Senate have had difficulty getting sufficient concensus on proposed legislation. Finding the appropriate balance in oversight and regulation is exceptionally difficult. Typically, I think we have a national ebb and flow, and right now many have concerns about insufficient oversight. But the devil is in the details.

Lots of truth, it never is very pretty in Congress. The DLC needs to focus on a strong set of campaign planks, then make it happen. I'm not at all fond of WHAT Pelosi and Reid have done/are doing. I was NOT happy when Pelosi proposed ancient crusty old Murtha (of "ABSCAM" infamy) to be Majority Whip, when Steny Hoyer was such a better choice. We need to work the devilish details to provide a minimum of oversight to most industries to prevent abuses (like no-doc liar loan mortgages, or airline fare wars that bankrupt good firms and destroy airline capabilities to serve WE THE PEOPLE).


LML / Shipm8 / Lion_King1000: Thanks for the reps!

Anyone care to post more info on GOP "ideas" that have failed to happen?
s/Mike