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The top marginal tax rate under H.W. Bush and W. Bush was the lowest it has been since Herbert Hoover. Including the beloved Reagan (who, by the way, had a higher top marginal tax rate than Bill Clinton).
This is the Party of No, who says so irresponsibly, who does so in spite of anyone's interest, who is not the same Republican Party as 21 years ago. The only reason the modern right wing even associates itself with that realm of Republicanism is because it is the only association with which they have to charity or benevolence.
I would disagree with some of the main points of the cited article, but in general Beinart makes some excellent points. The current Republican party in most of the country has decided to appeal to the sorehead vote; it's not identical to the blatantly racist appeals they made starting with Nixon, but it's related.
One major dispute I have with the piece is that the first true anti-government national campaign that I can recall wasn't Bush, or even Reagan, but Jimmy Carter. He was running in a different time, but his attacks on the effectiveness of government and his trumpeting of "zero based budgeting" fed right into the anti-government rhetoric that has become the central tenet of Republicanism.
This is why any claim that the Republicans are the grownups in this situation is laughable. The greatest harm Reagan did to the country is to convince people that they could have everything they want without having to pay for it, and that's what the Republicans have run on ever since. The world is not as simple as conservatives and Republicans wish (or pretend) it is, and it is only a mature adult who will look at the world as it is, recognize his/her obligations, and take the steps to meet those obligations. This is the opposite of what the Republicans have done.
One day some sorry no good democrats got together with a pollster and a focus group and did some testing of ideas that they could use to defeat republicans.
"party of no" turned out to be one of the very best catch phrases they came up with.
It is a lie. There is no truth in it. It is dishonest at its best and that dishonesty well represents the democrat party....
but it is a great turn of a phrase.
and now you know where the "party of no" came from. A democrat's lying piehole.
The party of "NO" and the party of "me, myself and I". Ever read or hear a discussion on an issue that didn't involve "me, myself and I" rather than "us or them" for the most part?
This is why any claim that the Republicans are the grownups in this situation is laughable. The greatest harm Reagan did to the country is to convince people that they could have everything they want without having to pay for it, and that's what the Republicans have run on ever since. The world is not as simple as conservatives and Republicans wish (or pretend) it is, and it is only a mature adult who will look at the world as it is, recognize his/her obligations, and take the steps to meet those obligations. This is the opposite of what the Republicans have done.
The cult of Beck should NEVER, EVER be referred to as Republicans, much less conservatives.
They are anything but.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kovert
Great info, jojajn.
One thing though, the,....., persons you are calling (and which they have deluded themselves and the public) Republicans and conservatives are nothing of the sort.
The founding principles of the Republican party was to encourage small (not fortune 500 big) business, entrepreneurship for Americans even the most stigmatized.
One of our greatest Presidents in history was a Progressive, a Republican, a Roosevelt.
The pre-1994 GOP (http://www.gop.com/index.php/learn/accomplishment/ - broken link) had an impressive record on legislating: public investment in infrastructure; diplomacy; and social equity.
What has happened is that a lunatic fringe group, led by disc jockeys, has hijacked the good name and reputation of Republicans and conservatism.
I mean c'mon what is conservative about recklessly calling for war with Iran when our military is already stretched near its limits with no apparent end in sight, not to mention those that scream the loudest for it WILL NOT put THEIR OWN BLOOD ON THE LINE.
Call them for what they are.
The party of no, the party of no clue, the lunatic fringe cult of beck.
But they must assuredly DO NOT DESERVE to be called Republicans or conservatives.
Apparently the above author and I agree that Obama is closer to being an old school GOPer. And we're not the only ones.
"Obama's legislation comes from an alternative idea, begun under the Eisenhower administration and developed under Nixon, of a market for health care based on private insurers and employers. Eisenhower locked in the tax break for employee health benefits; Nixon pushed prepaid, competing health plans, and urged a requirement that employers cover their employees. Obama applies Nixon's idea and takes it a step further by requiring all Americans to carry health insurance, and giving subsidies to those who need it.
So don't believe anyone who says Obama's health care legislation marks a swing of the pendulum back toward the Great Society and the New Deal. Obama's health bill is a very conservative piece of legislation, building on a Republican rather than a New Deal foundation."
Now that's not necessarily a bad thing but given today's context of multi-national oligarchies whose power rivals that of nations, can the American people be satisfied with being mandated to buy a product that has been defective for a long time, to an industry that profits from people's pain?
"Republicans now say they hate the mandate that requires everyone to buy insurance. But an individual mandate was hailed as a form of “personal responsibility” by no less a conservative Republican than Mitt Romney. He was proud of the mandate, and also proud of the insurance exchange idea, known in Massachusetts as “The Health Connector” (the idea itself came from the conservative Heritage Foundation)."
Obama and the rest of the Clintonite New Democrats are in the tradition of the old school (pre-1994) Republicans.
"Yes, Nixon would have loved Obama's Republican health care bill."
So basically, the political,landscape is like this.
The Dems are dominated by the New Democrats (thank you Billie Boy ) who are the rebranded blue version of the Eisenhower GOPers;
The lunatic fringe cult of Beck that dominate the GOP are firmly in the tradition of the Dixiecrats;
And the Progressive Dems like Denny are the proud bearers of the legacy of Roosevelt and the New Deal. One can only hope Grayson can lead a modern day Renaissance of New Dealing Progressives.
I know you're enamored with the label 'Party of No'. Be aware, though, that adults often must say 'No' to children who have no thought for their own well-being and that of others. Right now the Republicans are the adults. The Dems are the children given to tantrums when they cannot get their way. I think the American public gets it.
The American public got it right last year when they said an a loud and emphatic "No" to McCain and his ludicrous running mate. Whose well being did the Republicans have in mind when they never gave a thought to helping the average American obtain affordable health coverage? Maybe it was the health insurance lobbyists that they had in mind because it certainly was not their constituency. Republicans are adults? Adult what? As of late they are showing their true colors as cold blooded reptiles.
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) who are the rebranded blue version of the Eisenhower GOPers;
