Comments on: Republicans Shift Strategy Back To Ideas?

By: ende

ende — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:29:45 +0000

Jim S –

You can make the same exact argument about people who have faith in government solutions, faith in restricting enterprise, etc. How do you make your argument and not see this?

By: J. Harden

J. Harden — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:09:02 +0000

You should not wade too far into the “comprehesion” or “stupid” name-calling waters there Jim. But in the spirit of bipartinsanship that has gripped the country since Obama’s ascension to power — I hope that you and Obama are right! Perhaps the razor that we are using to slit our own wrists is Occam’s and we have discovered the infallable and blunt truth to overcoming all economic downturns we find ourselves, to wit: We borrow/create/tax to spend by the federal government. The easiest answer is usually the correct one. I for one am preparing for the salad day pay-off of this policy.

My love affair is not with corporations per se. It is with free enterprise, entrepreneurialism, creative destruction, competition, innovation & hard work.

I know very much the limits of my comprehension Jim. You’re friends is D.C. do not unfortunately — and they fervently believe that they have greater comprehension in all fields than the private sector, even though they are significantly removed from the real-time, ground-level business for which they want to control.

Jim S. — so as to remain morally superior I will not claim that you are perfect example of a big government lemming that really doesn’t have the foggiest clue about how wealth is created and believes that all financially successful people achieved said wealth by exploiting the proletariat. In short, I won’t call you a communist.

By: Jim S

Jim S — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:11:22 +0000

Harden is a perfect example of what’s wrong with the typical Republican true believer. Government evil, government bad, government incompetent. Corporation good, corporation wise, corporation brilliant. Tax cuts good. That’s pretty much the limits of their comprehension not necessarily because they’re stupid but because this is the faith they’ve chosen to live by.

By: Snarkless J. Harden

Snarkless J. Harden — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:14:54 +0000

You guys are funny. Whenever I hear about “new” ideas coming from government I’m reminded of a chef looking down at three ingredients saying, “We have to find a new recipe!!” Gosh, if we take these two, flip-it-around, re-name it, cook-it a little shorter — it will look different & smell different. It doesn’t matter what how you arrange it, name it, or cook it. There is no getting-rid of the shit-tasting inefficiencies and waste of government. So you can tell me that we are getting caviar all day long — ultimately the elements will break down to the same old shit-sandwich we are use to from the federal government.

The “new idea” concept of government is not only “tired”, but deceitful fodder for big government liberals. I haven’t seen a new idea come out of the Obama administration — all I’ve seen is an orgy of spending wrapped in a pretty little bow of Obama rhetoric.

The Republicans do not have to worry. We know what is going to happen and it will. The porkapolooza is a gift to Republicans that will keep on giving for decades to come.

By: gerryf

gerryf — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:11:52 +0000

Well, I think the point of the unnamed strategist was their was a GOP plan–it just wasn’t promoted. During the whole brouhaha, I tried to cut through the noise and see if there was a plan, but from all I could see it was simply a variation of the Democratic one–in other words, it was a matter of degrees of emphasis rather than substantial difference.

For example, there was talk of a $500 billion plan at one point that had additional infrastructure spending, but less of the spending the GOP didn’t consider stimulus (there was also another Democratic Party plan like this), as well as some plan to allow home owners to refinance their home mortgages at a low interest rate. Then there was some caveat requiring spending reductions.

How these last two would be done was never clear.

The problem is/was that the GOP leadership is so entrenched in its “Democrats bad, GOP=America” spin (an idea carried forward by Jindal in the GOP response), that the entire Republican party was marginalized in the debate.

This is why the GOP leadership as it stands needs to be destroyed even if it means single party rule for a while. The GOP leadership is bankrupt of ideas and integrity; nothing will bring about change faster than its total defeat so a new group can step forward.

As I’ve said many times–I am not anti-Republican, I am opposed to people who have taken control of the party since Reagan.

By: Jim S

Jim S — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 02:41:06 +0000

As I recall the only idea the Republicans had was to overwhelm every other program with tax cuts. Not one new idea in sight.