WASHINGTON — When Republican leaders in Congress agreed to raise taxes on the wealthy last week, it left the increasingly fractured and feuding party unified on perhaps only one point: that it is at a major crossroads.
From Mitt Romney’s loss on Election Day through the recent tax fight that shattered party discipline in the House of Representatives, Republicans have seen the foundations of their political strategy called into question, stirring a newly urgent debate about how to reshape and redefine their party.
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An accurate summation of the state of the GOP these days. However if it falls to the Tea Bags or Newt Gingrich to provide the John the Baptist function in this resurrection saga, they should festoon themselves with lightning rods or bend over, place their heads between their knee's, and in one smooth rocking motion, and kiss it goodbye.
Wow, are you bloggers FOOLED as to the purpose of this article. See my blog above.
The GOP needs to give up this one trick pony show. It needs a vision of the future and it needs to respect what the public has said it wants the country to look like. The GOP has to answer the basic question as to how it gives the American public the programs and the govt. it desires in a conservative fashion. "Conservatism" does not mean I oppose the future. I know I've heard the description of a "conservative", "facing progress he stands and yells stop." Well that's just not true. A conservative should be pragmatic, a realist. He should recognize that the public has decided on, SS, healthcare and the safety net and quit trying to talk them out of it. "Conservatives" need to start saying we respect the public's choices and this is how we make it possible. Until the party does that, until it starts to ask those of us who once made up the moderate wing of the party back it will remain a party in the wilderness. Worse it will become irrelevant.
It used to be that a conservative was one who was cautious with change, particularly of a fiscal nature and believed that government should be as small as possible and a Liberal was one who was a bit less cautious with change if a good result was anticipated and believed that government needed to take care of the little guy.
Reasonable discussions between these two philosophies, rancorous at times but usually not personal, allowed for sensible compromises that moved the country forward. This movement happened .much to the dismay of reactionaries and too fast for many Conservatives; much to the dismay of radicals and too slowly for Progressives. But it happened.
"The party, with all its problems — and I’m not disputing them — has a really large and interesting crop of new faces," [Daniels] said. "Ultimately, parties tend to be defined by their most visible personalities." But the Republican party USED to be defined by its ideas, not by its "new faces" and "most visible personalities". Daniels is confirming the premise of this article.
The GOP appears to be caught between Scylla and Charbdis. The self-inflicted Scylla of an image as being "the rich man's party" and the even more self-inflicted Charybdis of the "family values party" at a time when the less-than-wealthy are struggling and society is more and more accepting of people's private lives being just that.
A real discussion of the "how to's" of economic health based solely on the differing economic philosophies of the parties cannot take place when no tax nuts and fire-breathing "moralists" have a significant voice.
Another day of 2-Faced articles by the Times and printed by the yellow Globe. Today it's the GOP is "Divided". But if the GOP sticks together and opposes an debt ceiling increase, then the Times and the Globe will BASH the GOP for doing that. The purpose of this NY Times article is NOT to help the GOP. It's purpose is the exact opposite. To attack the GOP. In articles and in biased cartoons by Dan Wasserman. In the same paper today we have" : Obama said in his radio and Internet address Saturday that the new law — approved by Congress on New Year’s Day and signed Thursday — raises taxes on the wealthiest Americans while preventing a middle-class tax increase that could have thrown the economy back into recession. As well as Obama will not compromise on deficit reduction and a debt ceiling... And notice carefully. The Globe will NOT print a any articles that suggests that the GOP should oppose Obama aon any topic.
No responsible "conservative" can either fiscally or morally support the US defaulting on its debt. That is all the "debt ceiling" is, a commitment that the US will pay the bills already incurred. To default is not political it is economic suicide and will cause long term damage to the party. Now perhaps you don't care what happens to the party or the country, but some of us do.
Also, we are still waiting for an article from the Times and the Globe as to the REAL reason John Boehner has been holding up the Senate's Sandy relief bill. GOP House members have said on TV that it's at least 50% completely unrelated PORK! If the House GOP sticks together with a single purpose and refuses to pass the Sandy bill unless the completely unrelated $30 Billion of PORK is removed, then the NY Times and the Globe will then BASH the GOP for doing so. WITHOUT telling the readers the reason, of course.
Except they haven't said what the port is. In fact what they are calling pork relates to "insurance' and two riders one submitted by Senate R's.
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The tea party, in love with the idea of stopping government functions and throwing a monkey wrench in to the machinery, is costing everyone much more than they purport to save. Its time for reasonable voters to watch how they cast their ballot.
How about the right wingers who believe in creationism break away from the Republicans and form the Party of God. Then the moderates can have their party back and maybe even acquire some new members.
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Bill Weld was a Republican...and Reagan was a Republican...Lugar and Whitman were Republicans, but they do NOT fit into the current crop of Tea Party Republicans. How can the naysayers below even pretend that they do? The Northeast Republicans are fooling themselves if they believe they will be accepted by their southern and western collegues. Snowe left for the same reason!