An Open Letter to the GOP Leadership
Dear Speaker Boehner and Other Assorted Clueless Bozos on Capitol Hill,
You’ve already been pwned, and it’s too late to un-pwn yourself even if such a thing were possible. Which it isn’t. Now it’s time to try something new. Let’s call it: Give them what they want.
I’ll repeat: Give President Obama and the Democrats the tax hikes they demand, and which most polls show the American public accepts.
You’ll let us avoid the fiscal cliff — a phrase I’m going to do my best to avoid using from now on. A better phrase, if less elegant, might be, “the totally artificial fiscal construct engineered by our so-called leaders a while back, just in case they hadn’t already assed up the economy quite enough.” But I digress.
Give them the tax hikes. Look big, look magnanimous, look bipartisan. Be sure at every mention of the tax hikes to talk up the spending cuts and entitlement reforms Obama and the Democrats promised to talk about in a grand bargain down the road. Someday, whenevs, as soon as Obama gets his round tuit in the mail. The important thing is to change the subject.
You’ve been the subject for almost two weeks now, and that’s never a good thing. First of all, the media portray you as idiots and the Democrats portray you as evil. Secondly, then you get out in front of the cameras and do your darnedest to prove them all right. That [REDACTED] has got to stop.
The new subject can be: Why won’t the Democrats agree even just to a serious discussion about the spending reforms we so desperately need? “Have you seen these guys?” The media won’t go along, of course, but at least you’ll have changed the subject.
Later, you can talk about something else: Where are the revenues?
You know and I know (and even Obama knows) that increasing the top marginal tax rate won’t come even close to getting our fiscal house in order. At best, it’s like plugging a broken dam with a damp sponge. At worst, it’s like fighting a forest fire by wandering around in the woods with lighter fluid on your nads.
So next summer, next fall, that’s the new new subject: Where are the revenues?
And there’s a third subject that will fall nicely into place: Where are the jobs?
for what it’s worth, i couldn’t agree more. it’s our only hope. give them exactly what they want – everything – and then just wait and see what happens.
We’ve seen that in certain states, and large cities and the plan isn’t working out. Failures will just be written off as “they STILL didn’t give us all we wanted!”. Politicians will never accept responsibility for failure and will find some new scapegoat: “Tax avoiders” (i.e. people who attempt to minimize their tax), corporate off-shore revenues, evil rich people who doen’t consume enough, etc.
And what makes anyone think they can’t just TAKE whatever they want?
I know if you called me a Clueless Bozo I would be intently examining what you had to say to me with a very open mind.
My Green, you need to decide if you want to be an intelligent Libertarian pundit or the second generation of Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog.
Let us know what you choose.
This will shock you, I suppose, but open letters are almost never written for the benefit or the attention of the addressee.
Nothing shocks me, including the fact that my point flew over your head unnoticed.
No, Paul — I dismissed it. With my comment. Which I’m doubting now you actually read.
You go on two-week suspension for wasting my time this close to a holiday.
My immediate temptation is to agree with this. I also know that a good number of Republicans will cave in. I’m really torn though. The idea of giving Obama everything let alone anything he wants terrifies me especially after he arrested the man who made the You Tube. First, I would not give in without an addendum. If I were house leadership I would walk up to Obama and say: look, we know who you are we know what you’re not. You’re not a better man than Mitt Romney and certainly not a better man than John McCain. You brought Chicago-style politics to the white house and this time you got just over the finish line. So sign this piece of paper and if you do we WON’T try and impeach you over not declaring war on your war on Libya, Benghazi, Solyndra, Fast and Furious, and any number of scandals your administration has committed over the four long years and in exchange you get whatever you want so long as you take blame for it before we have to run for Senate and House again in 2014. No blaming Bush and no blaming us. Otherwise we will find as many good and patriotic Democrats we can (if there are any left by then) and try and impeach you.
Hey! I know! The Democrats want us dead. Let’s all just eat gun barrels and get out of their way forever. Then they can REALLY break everything. Sorry, Steven. I’m going to fight, insult, obstruct, sabotage and in general (redacted)ing mess with their heads, call them the destructive economic halfwits that they are and, in general, be a lousy slave and not comply to the best of my ability. If I had my way, Boehner would tell Obama and Reid to stuff it, telling them that when you morons come up with a plan to pay for all of your idiotic spending AND pass an actual budget, we might consider raising the debt ceiling.
Yes, exactly. Because going back to a tax rate we already once endured for most of a very prosperous decade is the same as mass suicide.
I can hardly tell them apart without my glasses.
No! Give ‘em zip! Do not
make yourselves complicit in evil.. There ain’t no right way to do wrong. The House has control over all spending. Set a budget that eliminates any deficit and run with it. Force the reduction of Government by refusing to finance all the unconstitutional activities in which Government is presently involved. Zip for education, zip for energy,zip for TSA and DHS,zip for the Fed, zip for handouts of all kinds,zip for foreign military aid, zip for our enemies, etc. Cut off the money and starve ‘em to death.Or, sell your descendants into slavery, torture and gulags by doing nothing. Your choice.
I hope you realize there’s not even a majority within the GOP for even the first part of what you propose.
I totally agree, Stephen. Totally agree.
The “fiscal cliff” is a sideshow. When Obamacare starts to bite in 2013 (and my brother, working at a financial company with over 25,000 U.S. employees, already got his letter that they will no longer provide health care starting Jan 1, 2014), it will ruin us all.
But they’ll claim the recession of 2013 is the result of Republicans’ refusal to raise rates.
Jujitsu…use your opponents’ strength against him. Raise the rates.
And, BTW, as for political fallout, what’s the worst that could happen? Republicans refuse to turn out in 2016 and an eminently qualified Republican candidate gets less votes than McCain? Impossible…
Ah the Stupid Party…
How about this as an alternative to surrender: Refuse to increase the debt limit without either 1. An extension of the current tax rates. or 2. A revinue neutral tax reform package that lowers rates and limits deductions?
If the Senate or Obama refuse to play ball, fine. Everybody gets a tax hike and Obama has to figure out how to cut 40% out of the budget. That’ll be popular!
But if this happens, then the Dems and the Press (BIRM) will waste absolutely no time whatsoever in scapegoating the Tea Party. And the Reps’ll go right along with it.
That’ll solve zero problems and give the fucktards in DC exactly what they want–someone else to blame for their failures.
I think I love you.
Heh. Sorry, but I’m married!
It’s nice to be appreciated, though.
Thats sounds like a better solution. Altough the GOP would never do that, because they are part of the dog and pony show.
Rezko Update: Mystery man’s true identity revealed
http://illinoispaytoplay.com/2012/11/18/rezko-update-mystery-mans-true-identity-revealed
Then Obama will just have Bernanke print the money, to be put into circulation electronically, to be loaned out to member banks to enable inflationary spending, as they have already done with multiple trillions, as any audit of the Fed will show. The traitors have already bankrupted us and it is way past firing squad time for them. This is Boehner’s chance to play the man. But he hasn’t got what it takes to do it.
Republicans weren’t elected in 2010 to give the other side what it wants. They weren’t elected in 2012 to give the other side what it wants. They were elected in both cases to stop them and not moving an inch.
Failing to do so will result in a Democrat sweep of the House in two years. If that happens, we’re pretty well far beyond screwed.
The moral high ground isn’t going to matter one hot damn in two years or four. Romney tried that. See what it got us? Lets not double down on stupid.
If we go off the cliff then Obama will propose middle class cuts in stand alone legislation. Fighting tax cuts is a big FAIL, it goes against everything we stand for. So such cuts will pass, and we will be back where we would be if we rolled over, except the president has a bigger win, and we look even stupider. Politics requires skill, like chess . We have to play down most of the national media, so we need to play a lot smarter.
The letters suggestions are excellent. This is also the time to add MORE taxes targeting rich democrats( like Glenn Reynolds Hollywood taxes ). Done subtly and in moderation this would be difficult for the democrats (media included) to vilify.
No, Mr. Pussycat, that is exactly what we must do. Give the looters EVERYTHING they want. In spades. (Is that racist?) The only frakkin’ way that Liberalism is going to die is for them to be the proximate cause of unending misery and pain for the stupid American people. That when the welfare checks bounce, the EBT cards will not work, they cannot find a doctor, they are really, really frakkin’ hungry – puke inducing hungry – then and only then will they realize that they have been sold into slavery.
As for us in fly-over country, become self-sufficient. Move to the country. Learn to can. Learn to grow food. Learn animal husbandry. Learn to shoot. Learn to hunt.
When it all come down to hell on earth being the inner cities then and only then can we revive the Republic.
I agree. Nothing teaches better than unmitigated PAIN.
The welfare checks will never bounce.Read one or more of the Austrian Economists and see why. Until we end the Fed there is no hope. We make ourselves the slaves of the CFR by enabling them to extort us on a gigantic scale. A fiat currency, fractional reserve banking, an uncontrolled money supply, a central bank which is privately owned are, jointly and severally, insane practices. Until they end, there is no hope for us. Lets do it!
Dear Mr. Lion. How does it feel to be so right and still be foolishly wrong? Republicans “weren’t elected in 2012″ in droves. Did you miss that? The children of the country voted for free stuff and more of the same loser’s lack of leadership. THEY WON. To not give them what they want is cruel and obstructionist. Did you also “fix” all the mistakes your kids made while they were growing up? Never giving them a chance to learn from their mistakes? Epic fail. It’s now time for “tough love”. Be a man and give it to them. It’s for their own good.
Bill, Tough Love does not consist in enabling your loved one to destroy himself. But it does require kicking his ass when he does wrong. And explaining “why”. As many times as necessary. If his evildoing is serious enough: molestation, rape, murder, etc., elimination must be the answer.
i say give them everything they want and then make them own it. no half-measures. no compromises. who cares about the moral high ground?
Elite Republicans intent on preserving their personal hides and blooming idiots, but I repeat myself.
Bill, God cares about the moral high ground- when He makes His decisions about our eternal destinations.
What is the difference between a Democrat who taxes us and a Republican who abets them in their sundry confiscations?
None, I’d wager.
It’s a tactical retreat to secure the strategic victory. It’s not enough to block, the Dems need to be utterly smashed, and the only force currently capable of doing it is them.
The point isn’t the next 2-8 years, it’s the next hundred. The only way to secure that is to discredit them utterly.
Vote “Present” on the whole package. You know the media won’t touch that; they know it leads right back to O’s moral cowardice.
That is the perfect final twist.
– be still. Then when the Crash comes, just deny everything over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over…
Perfect answer. And don’t give them a budget, either. Make them pass continuing resolutions with their own votes.
Make preparations to split the blanket with the weak-willed among you who lack courage to take this stand. There will be those.
Exactly, though I would go further and do that on every economic issue, else you are just back the “Obstructionist” argument.
It will fail, and then they will claim that they need more time, which might work because we are talking about A-tards here.
Go public, tell the American people that we think Obama’s economics will continue to be disastrous for the country but that we are willing to put this to the test if they are.
We will allow Obama and the dim’s to control the economy for two years if and only if they agree to observable and fair results.
One that all economic indicators, including unemployment (calculated accurately from payroll and unemployment claims vs. tweakable BS) need to be handled by an outside auditor with open sourced data, and the white house and congress have no say in their reports.
Two that they all sign a pact ensuring the american people that their plans will work, that in two years unemployment will be lower, the deficit will be lower, the GDP will be higher, and that inflation will have fallen, and that all Americans will have be better off than they are today.
Three that if they fail they will not blame internal or external forces and will explain to the American people why their program has failed.
Of course they won’t agree, but I would love to see them argue their way out of that in public … eh pipe dream but think about he possibilities if they fell for it.
“We will allow Obama and the dim’s to control the economy for two years if and only if they agree to observable and fair results.”
And right there is where it fails totally, not going to happen, it simply is not the chicago way.
Unfortunately, the tax rate increase is just a symbolic starting point. Krugman is calling for reinstatement of the tax rates from the 50′s and 60′s (91% top marginal rate). This is going to be a long four years! Not holding out hope the brain-dead republicans will get a clue.
I totally agree. Hoist them on their petard. I’ll end up paying more taxes but it might be worth it.
The battle for maintaining the Bush Tax cuts ended in defeat on November 6. All we can do now is make certain that Obama owns the consequences of his idiotic policy decisions.
Stephen Green is absolutely right, not only give him what he wants, put it on a silver platter and tie a big red bow around it. Shout it from the rooftops so even the MSM can hear it.
Make the fiscal cliff a Pyrrhic victory for Obama and then maybe we can start to turn this thing around.
Oh for God sake. All this “make Obama own it” crap is just galactically stupid. He already owns it. He will still own it in two years, and in four, and in ten. It also will not matter as the media will cover it with the Unexpectedly! mantra they used for the last four years, and a significant portion of the electorate will lap it up.
We fight it all tooth and nail now, or there will be nothing left to fix in a few short years.
You’re working under the premise that we have a GOP leadership capable of fighting this one. I suggest you check your premises.
“He already owns it.”
Does he? According to some recent polls, the majority of Obama voters still blame Bush for our current economic hardship. The only thing that is going to wake these people up is to have years of Democrat control over economic policy before the proverbial crap hits the fan.
It hasn’t worked out that wya in California! The idiots out there actually voted for a state wide sales tax increase! Hah! As if there has EVER bee a “temporary tax increase” you can argue that thedems wern’t in charge during Arnold’s terms, but that is a spurious argument. He tried for a short time to give the bozo voters what he campaigned on and then capitulated. I guess he didn’t realize the bozos were voting for the movie star dude. Now the bozos think the state is headed in the right direction on the economy and taxes. We are all horribly mistaken to argue anything based on fact or reality. The bozos won’t see it and the MSM won’t report it. We are done. Kaput. Finito.
You missed the best part of Prop 30, our new “temporary” sales tax. The FIRST THING that was discussed on NPR was the possibility that LA County will enact *ANOTHER* half-cent sales tax in the Spring, because–wait for it–they don’t have the money to do everything they want to, yet!!!! We’ve already proudly got the highest sales tax in the nation, Amazon is going to start collecting it, and we need MORE MONEY to pay for all the good stuff our government is going to take on.
Brown was asked if anyone was going to move out of the state as a result of the tax increase (like it hasn’t been happening for a decade or more already) and he responded by chuckling and saying that the wealthy taxpayer should just ignore the higher taxes and go back to whatever he was doing. Seriously, who shows that sort of disdain for voters who pay taxes?
Who are you talking to? There IS no GOP congressional leadership capable of fighting their way out of a wet paper bag, let alone struggle with this issue. They are all wimps! They’ve been wimps for years! They are not fighters! They think they are lovers and schemers, but they’re just being used as professional street walkers. They are paying for not standing up to GWB when he went of the reservation in his second term, so have no sympathy for them. They own this.
Erased all that because its useless trying to educate the Rs and school the Ds.
Pick me four small states. Elect me one Libertarian from each to the U.S. Senate. Those four control the government.
I’m done wishing for the next election going to the Rs. They’ve had it all twice in my lifetime and won awards for FUBARing the joint. Nor do I harbor any hope that the Ds will wake up to their campaign of destroying the country. They want a different country. They are waging political war.
The Rs aren’t up to the battle. They’ve proved it to me. They’re the Quakers of politics. Good folks but useless as wet Kleenex in war. All they make is spitballs.
AGAIN: Pick me four small states. Elect me one Libertarian from each to the U.S. Senate. Those four control the government.
Completely disagree. Not on the grounds that in a SANE society you wouldn’t be right (because if we were dealing with sane, intelligent, people then we wouldn’t have just reelected Nobama). But rather on the grounds that no matter WHAT we do, WE are the bad guys.
Let me be very blunt about this. Democrats controlled the senate and the house for the first two years of Obama’s presidency. He had the power to do whatever he wished, and they would have passed it. This last week I got into an argument with someone and Obama’s promise to close Gitmo was brought up. You know their response? “Well, if republicans would get out of his way he probably could close it! They just keep preventing him!” He had TWO FUCKING YEARS with no “republicans in the way” and SOMEHOW it was OUR fault?
You aren’t dealing with sane people when you’re dealing with democrats. You aren’t dealing with intelligent people with them either. You’re dealing with people nearly at the level of cultists who will believe whatever bullshit their party spews at them (and their party will NEVER own up to being the ones at fault for anything), their party can do no wrong, and if something wrong happens its the other parties fault REGARDLESS of what actual facts show. Give them what they want and they’ll STILL blame us when it fails and claim we were obstructing them.
There is no way to win this fight through reasonable means. The best thing we can do is ACTUALLY obstruct the democrats for the next two years, hopefully four years, and force this nation to feel the sting it has so long been afraid of feeling (ie: less handouts, higher taxes) but that it will eventually be forced to face. Lets do it now and get it over with. Fall off the cliff, let everyones taxes go up, let spending cuts go in, fuck it try to get MORE spending cuts passed, and under NO circumstances raise the debt ceiling again.
We have lost this battle, and the war for this nations culture with it. The last thing we can do is a sheer act of desperation that will hopefully collapse this obese-beast of a government we’ve let come into power, so that maybe we can watch it all burn and then rebuild it again later. At this point its either that, or continue the plunge into socialism… either way, republicans will be blamed. So really, which is worse?
I agree 100%. As a last result they will blame it on the massive mess that Bush left him, and the sheeple will accept that as fact. No mater what, the Republicans will be blamed. Try to limit the damage by making the sequestration cuts and no increase to the debt limit. And the Bush tax cuts will end, the obama care taxes will kick in and the Dems will get some of the tax increases they want. And we get some cuts in spending that they all figured they could overturn when that passed that stupid “compromise” with the supercommittee.
Then when it crashes (as it will no matter what we do), you can point out that they got tax increases and spending cuts and the economy still didn’t recover.
I agree with you and reject Stephen Green’s argument of ‘give them what they want’. Because this action is based on a premise that WHEN the economy implodes because of Obama’s insane taxes and Obamacare costs, THEN, the people will recognize that these tactics were wrong.
I don’t believe this assumption is valid. Obama is, nothing but and only, an emotional manipulator. His words have NO connection to reality. His words have only one agenda – to persuade you to be in his control. Therefore, the economy can implode, and Obama will go on prime time and declare that this is ‘all the fault of Bush, of the GOP who didn’t allow..whatever, of a Japanese tsunami, of modern machinery, of anything…and the electorate will believe him.
The GOP must remain true to their principles of fiscal restraint, and a support for small businesses.
When the Obama economy implodes even as it is now, the GOP must remind the people of the true causes.
I completely agree with your assessment. This too-clever-by-half, double-think, oh-so-clever bulls**t that the RINO Party has tried to engage in has led to nothing but disaster. Its why they’ve run mealy-mouthed milquetoast candidates like Dole, McCain, both Bushes, and Romney because they’ve forever been seeking the elusive “moderate” voter (and other unicorns and rainbows) while taking big dumps on their conservative base. This asinine approach has finally resulted in the catastrophic loss of the Constitutional Republic. There is no more politics as usual. We are in a damn war. It hasn’t gotten hot yet, but it sure as hell will. If the RINO Party ever expects to get another vote from the conservatives that are left in this country, then they better fight the Marxocrat bastards every step of the way and make them pay for every bloody inch they hope to get by scratching for it tooth and claw. If they are stupid enough to try any more of the “reach across the aisle” and “go along to get along” crap then we may as well blow the whole damn thing up anyway and go full-bore third party. Just let this Marxocrat communist government seize up and die for the next four years. That gives us time to get the nullification and secession movement underway.
Blackelkspeaks the truth!
Hear! Hear!
I agree. There is no way Repubs are going to escape the ‘obstructionist’ label that’s been hung around their necks by the likes of Reid and the MSM. So… go with it. BE obstructionist. If we’re going to be accused of it, we might as well do it and PROVE to the country that ‘obstructionsim’ was/is NOT the problem… Democrats are.
Not a bad idea. But while we’re at it, might it also be possible to put some actual numbers of the bones of these endlessly sterile arguments over taxes v. spending? For years, both parties have delivered ever expanding benefits to a public that has not been required to pay for them. This has resulted in (a) a whopping national debt as well as (b) the expectation on the part of said public that large government benefits aren’t really that expensive–after all, my tax bill is reasonably low, etc. It would be useful if conservatives, especially those who style themselves as “small government conservatives,” would level with Americans by telling them that (a) if they want to keep their current benefits, they will have to pay X amount of increased taxes to keep the government from yet another deficit; or that (b) if they want to keep their current tax rates, they will have to be prepared to have their benefits reduced by Y amount. In other words, what, specifically, will it cost us to right the financial ship, either in terms of higher taxes or lower benefits? You can’t solve a problem if you can’t first address it in concrete terms. On the other hand, didn’t Bowles-Simpson . . . oh, never mind.
Great point about what seems to me to be a central issue. People have to FEEL the effect of taxes to. Everyone is paying less than they used to and getting more for it. Grover Norquist does NOT have the answer in this one.
At this point I would not only give them what they want. But, I would also give them 110% of the credit. So, stop talking about the Fiscal Cliff, or the expiration of the Bush Tax Cuts. Start calling the thing the “Obama Tax Hikes.” Example,”On 1 Jan 2013 at midnight begins the Obama Tax Hikes.” or on the first week of Feb 2013, when the unemployment numbers are released, you can say, “Despite the Obama Tax Hikes, unemployment now has risen to 8.8%.” or in March of 2013, “Despite the Obama Tax Hikes, the US is now officially in Recession.”
Now, see how simple that was. Even Boehner can understand it.
I wouldn’t bet on that last part.
You are probably correct; I went a bridge too far. But, since we’re pretending, how’s this for a press release from the House Speaker:
“Beginning on 1 Jan 2013 the Obama Tax Hikes will become law. One of the new features of the Obama Tax Hike is the resumption of the Clinton Era AMT. I would like to remind all non-married taxpayers earning $50,000 or more that this new feature is retroactive to 2012. So, do not forget that when you file your taxes to calculate your Obama Alternative Minimum Tax rate.
Kindly Regards
“
Holy Crap. I forgot about the reset on the AMT. Cripes. I’m screwed.
You do know what O’s end game is here, it is a VAT. He is simply teeing it up and Boehner is playing right into his hand.
One question that never gets asked, why is the stimulus spending embedded in the baseline? To me, after 2010, that was the winning play, strip out the stimulus spending but it was never brought up, ask yourself why? Paul Ryan, budget wonk, never brought it up, the public would have backed the idea, why the silence?
When you try to point out that it didn’t work, they are just going to agree with you. Of course it didn’t work. Just like the stimulus didn’t work. It’s not because it’s the wrong way to do it, it’s because we didn’t do enough. The stimulus failed because we didn’t do it big enough. The tax hikes on the rich failed because we didn’t hike the taxes up high enough.
If the GOP gives the dems what they want AND it fails to revive the economy O will still shamelessly blame Republicans. Then, all of those czars in the Bamster’s Department of Lies—formerly called the MSM–will parrot the party line like there is no other truth than the Bamster’s truth. For good measure anyone making a dime above his newest and lowest kulak income level will be just as shamelessly demonized. If the GOP leadership doesn’t know that O and the dem leadership see them as enemies they don’t know squat. Maybe Boehner, Cantor, and the rest will wake up to the danger before it’s too late.
Suggested revenue enhancements:
1. Reinstate Hollywood 20% surtax.
2. 1% Excise tax on assets, including nonprofits.
3. Repeal property tax deduction.
4. Tax excess income from politicians leaving office.
etc.
Let ‘em explain why those are bad for the poor.
Assets taxes are an abomination, and thankfully, the Federal government lacks the authority to impose them. An assets tax means you never really own anything. For the record, I am opposed to ALL property taxes and want them abolished in all forms everywhere. Once you own something, it’s yours, and the government shouldn’t have the power to take it simply because you own it.
If the GOP retains John Boehner as Speaker it has decided on failure. I,for one, will no longer support any GOP member that supports Boehner. Boehner has proven over several years he is unable to lead. A party that continues to follow a loser is a loser party and supporting losers is no way to win.
The GOP had the biggest possible advantage over Obama, their support was needed to raise the Debt Limit, and they converted that into the “fiscal cliff.” Nobody that makes such a deal is worthy of keeping their job. Stop pretending the GOP will be tough this time if you leave the weak sisters in charge.
Don’t blame the libs for failing to understand liberalism always fails and then supporting the usual suspects that keep bringing us losses. WE are supposed to be the reality-based people. Look at reality before it’s too late.
I’ve looked at this election from every angle I could, and taking into account the results of the last several elections, my conclusion is this: the race for President of the US is a high school level popularity contest. Issues do not matter. The state of the country does not matter. Nothing matters but with which candidate the average voter would prefer to spend a night out on the town.
Carter, a scolding Sunday school teacher versus Reagan, your favorite uncle.
Mondale, the old school smarmy apparatchik versus your favorite uncle.
Dukakis, an uptight, emotionless drone versus GHWB – slight edge to GHWB.
Clinton, Elvis reborn, versus… GHWB.
Clinton, ibid, versus angry old man Bob Dole.
Gore, your worst nightmare of a high school principal, versus aw shucks GWB.
Kerry, a self-absorbed fop versus the above.
Obama versus another angry old man. Obama versus a squeaky clean choir boy.
I know some will accuse me of being Master of the Obvious, but that has always been one of my humble gifts. Call it the Cyndi Lauper electorate – they just want to have fun. Republicans need someone fun at the top of the ticket.
“Republicans need someone fun at the top of the ticket.”
I more or less pointed to that sentiment when I suggested on another thread that Romney might have served himself well by showing up on Leno, Letterman & The View. It would seem that much political capital is gleaned from acting like a celeb. Looks as if New Jersey’s governor Christy has gotten that memo; he showed up on SNL.
I disagree with the premise of giving Obama what he wants. If he can’t be made to own it after having 2 years of a super majority in congress he will never be made to in the eyes of the media and his other followers. Seriously, if the republicans had not won a single seat in 2010, if Democrats had gained seats in 2010, the media and other obamabots would still be blaming the Republicans. Obama won in 2012 because a lot of conservatives got discouraged and stayed home. It is them we need to win, we will never convert the liberals. So I ask, which will cause conservatives to stay home in 2014 and 2016, giving Obama everything he wants or doing our best to fight him tooth and nail? Hell, even I probably wouldn’t vote for Republicans in 2014 if they aided and abetted this president’s evil and I would vote for Satan over a Democrat. If the Republicans are going to give Obama what he wants they’re just Democrat-lite. They may as well all just change parties. Hell, that might be the only thing that would confuse the media enough to make the Democratic party own the ensuing disaster, but even then they’d shift the blame to the “kulaks” not paying their “fair share”.
There is no bargaining with the current crop of Democrats any more than Israel can bargain with Hamas, and for the same reasons. They openly vow to exterminate us through any means necessary and will break any promises they make, the media will ignore their every transgression and make them up about us even if we do nothing. Unless you also think Israel should give Hamas everything it wants (as the liberal media says) then don’t encourage giving the Democrats what they want. A fanatical enemy will always take a little, establish a new beachhead, then take a little more until there’s nothing left. They will never be satisfied until we no longer exist, then they will turn and start consuming each other. Western leftists and Islamists are cut from the same vile cloth, there can be no negotiating with either. When a Hamas rocket blows up on the people trying to launch it and kills their children, the media will blame an Israeli air strike. That is the mentality we are up against here. We tried playing nice and it failed. Play dirty.
How about if we tax superpac and campaign donations at 50%.
Lets see that would have been $4 billion this election.
Boehner could make more money if he quit his job and made recordings of his speeches to sell for curing acute insomnia.
The crying despicable sissy.
Your reasoning makes sense Mr. Green, but we are in an age of none-sense. If the Repubs fight it, they are the party of no, as they have been labeled in the past. If they agree, or vote present in the future, they will be the party who knew, let me explain. When it all falls apart the Dems will claim they believed it would work and still believe it will work but there were unforeseen problems, like they did with the sub-prime meltdown, which by the way, netted them more power with the Dodd-Frank bill. They had the country’s welfare at heart and tried really hard, they just need more time and power to fix it. But the Repubs will be screaming “See we told you so.” The Media and the Left will jump on that saying that if the Right knew it would fail and sat back and did nothing, they are lairs, guilty of hypocrisy, moral dishonesty and not to be trusted about anything. If you think that’s not possible, I give you the last election as proof. The failure of four years was spun and hung around the necks of those trying to do the right thing and though they lost by the smallest of margins, a loss is a loss, the degree of which will not be remembered.
The California Democratic party gets everything it wants and its popularity increases even as the state circles the drain. There is no reason to believe the same thing won’t happen on a national level. The Republicans don’t have any cards left to play.
To everyone disagreeing with Green’s plan, well… What choice do we have? If our electoral process has truly failed and we are well and truly screwed, and no amount of political gaming will save us, then isn’t the logical conclusion to draw that open revolt is our only chance?
You want to make that argument? That our situation is so bad the only way to fix things is to launch an insurrection? Is that it?
Well then, by all means, make that argument. Push it. Organize for the second revolution, if you have no better ideas.
Myself, I don’t think we’re that screwed. This is going to be tough, trust me, I know. I’m a 26 year old conservative, of course it’s going to be rough. But we either carry on and prepare for the Obama economy to blow up in their faces.
What, you think it’s not going to happen? Of course it’s going to happen, and it will suck. But we’re not children, we’re not helpless. We can survive, and we must if we’re to pick up the pieces afterwards.
This is a slight variation of the tactic I like to call “Let the opposition win, give them what they want, it will galvanize our cause.” Can’t say I ever heard of it achieving a damned thing other than letting the opposition win and giving them what they want. If the “galvanize” part ever had a chance of working the lame tactic would never gave been so desperately grasped at.
Well in the 1990s the NRA did not let the Clinton gun ban go through unfought, but they did lose, and that galvanized a lot of gunowners to vote Republican in 1994 and the GOP got and kept the House until 2006.
I can condense your fine diatribe down to a single paragraph, Steven:
“Dear Republicans: grow some Balls. Regards, your constituents…”
+1
Obama is going to get his way no matter what the Republicans do and what they should do instead is to keep their distance from the Democrat’s suicidal actions against the country. That way they can legitimately claim to have been in opposition to it and have a different plan to get the country back on its feet. To do this they need to remove Boehner as Speaker, dragging him howling and clawing away from his beloved position beneath Obama’s backside. Take down the other RINOs as well and put up real Republicans.
I’ve told my friends and associates for years that the US has not suffered enough, not even close to what is needed to pound sense into the masses. There needs to be dead bodies in the street when people exit their driveway on the way to the few jobs left.. The stench needs to waft into homes 24/7.. there needs to be crime without cops, fires without firemen, gas at $10/gal and none anyway.. blackouts, water stops running or is polluted, no garbage pickup, breakins by roving gangs of obamma-thugs.. when people have to eat their dog to stay alive, then perhaps the country will wake up.
Give the dems EVERYTHING. Disband the GOP, quite, resign, don’t go into work anymore, you repubics don’t work anyway.. There is ONE party, the MSM party..
I’ve heard that joke before. You keep losing elections and policy issues because your leadership is Teh Stoopid.
Got it. Couldn’t agree more.
So…why do you keep following them around, again?
Why haven’t you replaced them all, again?
Mebbe the problem with incompetent leaders isn’t so much thatthey’re Teh Stoopid, but that we keep following them around. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be leading much.
Wrong. WRONG. And *W*R*O*N*G*: The “Give them what they want” argument works the same with
AMNESTY
HOMOSEXUAL MARRIAGE
ABORTION
among other things.
AT WHAT POINT IN TIME will the GOP act like they belong in Congress?!?
ANSWER: They *won’t*.
I GIVE UP ON REPUBLICANS. The Tea Party sorts will NOT be able to exert sufficient influence over the GOP by 2016 – if the GOP ignored them after 2010, there’s NO REASON to believe they will have a chance after 2012.
WE NEED A NEW PARTY…*NOW*. I for one will never again vote Republican.
F*CK THE GOP.
p.s. Don’t come whining to me with “Oh, you’re only helping the Democrats.”
THE GOP IS DOING THAT JUST FINE BY THEMSELVES. Deat to the GOP.
I’m hoping Mr Green wrote this in tongue-in-cheek, much like the Swift’s suggestion that the wealthy should eat impoverished children. I will say that a small part of me, the stupid, childish, “slam on the brakes when someone is tailgating you” side of me. . . wants to agree with Mr. Green. That short-sighted, spiteful, immature person in all of us probably agrees. We would all be filled with Schadenfreude to see the people who fell for obama’s bull#$@# suffer the consequences of their actions.
Unfortunately, we will all get to suffer right along with them. We’ve already heard from Tim Geithner & Greenspan that we should have NO debt ceiling. The obama administration sought to reopen talks with the UN on arms control HOURS after the election. His administration has sought desperately to pass all the provisions of NDAA including indefinite detention. This is a political party that does NOT have our countries’ best interests at heart. I feel confident they really are actually maneuvering to destroy the US to suit their socialist agenda.
This is not a time to act childish and pout or to pick up our crayons and go home, now, more than ever, the enemy of our American way of life has the upper hand. They have fooled the populace. I WANT to believe that some of the people in their party do not have evil intentions, that they are merely misguided zealots who think their way is better. But that is a fantasy that is getting harder and harder to maintain.
Before we just allow them to blow it all to hell as we stand on the sidelines smugly saying “We told You so!” We had better do everything in our power to reveal the true direction our country is heading. Yes, there is an incredible amount of ignorance out there and yes, the media is complicit in the administration’s scheme to dupe us. No #@$# sherlock! Is this a surprise to anyone? All that means is that it is incumbent on us to do our part to shine the light of truth on all of this. Sunlight is going to be the best disinfectant and our greatest ally.
We cannot let them blow it up and then try to recover from the disaster, because if we do, we may not make it back. I honestly believe that the consequences will be worse than any of us imagine. Food shortages, fuel shortages, energy shortages, foreclosures, bank runs, riots, civil unrest; we could see all the worst parts of the Great depression (banks close, gold seized) and more and there would be no way to stop it.
I understand the desire to secede, but its not going to happen. We are all stuck in the same boat with these clueless morons who are shooting holes in the bow. It is now our job to make sure they see it. All of us. Mr. Green, you have a blog, apparently it has quite a following. Not all of us have that outlet, but we all have voices, e-mails, phones, pen and paper. Stop this talk about giving up and watching it all burn down. Start inspiring your followers to take a stand. When the media says something stupid, there needs to be 20 million people who point it out and ridicule it until they stop. When a hollywood elitist uses their voice to sway opinion, we need 30 million people to make sure their voice is drowned out with logic and reason. And most of all, when a politician does something to further send us off the fiscal cliff, everyone in America needs to know how they are responsible for the further destruction of our country.
Don’t get discouraged. I HAVE been discouraged. I haven’t wanted to talk to the people who voted for the end of America as we know it. I’m changing that attitude now. The cost of doing nothing will be too expensive.
The Minority Report remains the same:
There is no political solution to an economic problem.
The is no time for Federal level change before the economy implodes.
Continuing efforts at reform, working from the grass roots up, will
strengthen local and State _economies_ in those locales and States
which already have administrations which support business by leaving
it alone. The Blue States will have to collapse completely before
their surviving voters will be willing to ‘throw the rascals out’.
Raise ‘em
The parasite class wants higher taxes on the “rich” whatever TF that means.
OK, lets do as Krugman suggests: give ‘em a 91% to marginal rate with no deductibles. The country will be in the crapper that much sooner and the parasite class can be starved that much earlier.
Were going over the cliff. Might as well take as many of the moochers as possible.
Give them what they want is something new? Green, where have you been for the past 100 years? Here’s something really new – show moral outrage against wealth redistribution because it is nothing more than legalized theft.
I can’t imagine (actually, I can — and it isn’t pretty) why you’re expressing so much anger over a tax rate we’ve already had, and which is lower than the norm for the second half of the 20th Century. I say that’s still too high, of course. But Boehner and the GOP have already lost this battle. It’s time to store up some political capital for more important fights.
If you want to talk about legalized theft, at 40% top marginal tax rate is peanuts compared to what Bernanke is doing over at the Fed.
Green, I might buy your idea if you can give me an example of when the republicans caving into the democrats has resulted in good things for the country. I can’t think of one, and there are endless examples of caving in. BTW, I’m a fan of yours, minus this article.
Call me Steve. Or Mr. Green. Or VodkaPundit. “Green” is just dismissive as hell.
As to your point, I think you missed my point. But I’ll say it again: With this GOP crew in DC, there is no good to come for the country.
And they won’t get replaced until the voters have no other choice. Eric Flipping Cantor put Boehner’s name in for another round of playing Speaker. The rot is all the way through.
Rooky (well named) there are no relevant examples because
there has never before in US history been such a situation.
The world is headed for a crash that will make the 1St G.D.
pale in comparison **and the political class knows it**
though they may not consciously admit it, they know the game
is over, and all they can do is postpone their total loss of
power, wealth, status, perhaps life itself, for a few more
years, if that.
The most that the GOP, TEA party, Libertarians et. al. can do
is cause some preliminary economic pain before the blow falls
and use it as leverage to replace some of the current crop of
incompetent criminals with people who will try to enact a few
reforms before and a great deal of reconstruction afterwards.
In short, we are now looking at the last part of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, for real. And our “looter class” are doing precisely what those in the book did- they are looking for one more victim to mug, to steal his wallet.
Considering that many of them would agree with the looter who considered modern society a blight, and dreamed of us all “returning to the soil” while eating tofu like Kip’s Ma, we must consider a quote from another source when trying to gauge their motivations;
I say, if they want to burn down everything that badly, let them. When their Utopia does not arise Phoenix-like from the ashes, they will probably yearn for a few massacres to propitiate their gods. After all, it worked for the Directory.
Of course, the Directory didn’t last too long after the Terror, either.
clear ether
eon
Just a little tidbit:
Those who “just want to watch the world burn” CAN be dissuaded from such pleasures when the torch is applied to their particular flesh.
It is the only logical choice
As much as I would like to see the democrats Have to take responsibility for their actions in ruining whats left of the economy, they never will. No matter whether the republicans cave, vote present, or fight it out tooth and nail the MSM will insure that they (republicans) get the blame for the economic and social ruin. I want my republican congressmen to be MEN, stand for something, and Fight it Out!
I think what you’re really saying is “Go ahead and admit that you folded when you agreed to sequestration”.
At the end of the day, the GOP is fighting over nothing. They’ve already agreed to do whatever Bambi and the thieves want. All the bluster is for show, they want us to believe that they’re valiantly fighting for jobs and the economy when they gave away what was left of the farm earlier this year. The pending fold is the result of the prior folds, there is no other option.
Congrats to the useless GOP. You’re not thieves, you’re just aiding and abetting them. Give yourselves a pay raise and call it a job well done. High fives for everyone! May history give you what you truly deserve.
Oh, and our next Presidential candidate will be… Bob Dole with the slogan “Go on the Dole with Bob Dole”. A sure winner for the losers. Now is the time for Bob Dole!
I didn’t vote my republican congressmen into national office to play political games with the opposition just so they wouldn’t have to take blame for bad times. I voted for them to Do The Right Thing for the country and myself as their constituent. If they want my vote next time around they better fight for fiscal sanity and a serious attempt to downsize the government.
THIS!
I voted to re-elect Scott Garrett to fight this insanity – not so he would cut a crappy deal to raise my taxes and continue borrowing.
The “Fiscal Cliff” doesn’t worry me at all, it’s the debt that worries me. Let taxes go up on everyone in January, I don’t care.
But never, ever agree to raise the debt limit again. Let them live within their means – even if half the government has to be fired.
” Let them live within their means – even if half the government has to be fired”
Better yet, fired UPON
“Hamas” their ass from Maryland and elsewhere with a few thousand “ineffective” missiles a year, just to let them know we’re not digging them so much.
Hey, they condemn Israel for responding, lets hold them to that standard too.
The GOP is trying to play politics when it should be more concerned with marketing. Stop trying to fight the messaging but instead embrace it and define it. The American people can’t focus on more than 30 seconds of why something is good or bad so quit trying to explain it. If they want tax fairness you have to give it to them, just redefine it in terms they can’t argue against.
Start by fighting for the “Warren Buffet Tax”, anyone who’s net worth is over 100 million gets a 10% additional tax applied to any and all income each year. This way he gets to pay his fair share.
Move on to an “Entertainment Tax”. People who play sports and make movies get paid so much more than school teachers and fireman. Have a gradual entertainment tax. Start at an additional 10% for those making over 2 million, increase to 15% for those making over 5 million and go to 30% for anything over 10 million. How could anyone fight that? Why should movie stars not have to pay their fair share?
Finally, create a 5% VAT for any purchases over $100,000 excluding houses less than $750,000. For homes over that amount the tax is put back in place. This will make sure the wealthy aren’t getting to spend that money without paying a fair share.
By framing the message that you’re willing to make the “rich” pay more in taxes you remove the issue as a talking point. We can’t get a definition of what a “fair share” is so start defining what’s rich and how they should be taxed. How could Eva stand up and say it’s not fair? Buffet couldn’t complain and say he should pay more. Could the 99% fight that message? Not even the MSM could come out and stay it wasn’t right.
Stop letting the DEMs frame the message and marketing of the issues. Frame the issues so that their “rich” would have to push back, making them the protractors of the rich and famous.
Excellent points about marketing, and about how to define “rich”.
The “make ‘em pay their fair share” line is a liberal platitude meant to appeal to shallow thinkers, and it works. So the GOP should embrace it and redefine it in a way that the Dems cannot counter.
Define it so as to protect the small business owner, and folks who are struggling to meet their payrolls; instead stick it to the super rich, who largely vote for Democrats. If the Hollywood crowd, the media and the wealthy Ivy League intellectual elite want high taxes, give it to them good and hard. It won’t fix the economy, but it would be entertaining to expose the hypocrites when they start complaining about having to pay their “fair share”.
Either way, we will get our credit rating downgraded… even if we give in on the tax rates…I actually want the market to go into a severe correction mode…the market is overpriced as it is..
I Dunno. You are proposing that the Republicans allow the Dems to follow California’s path. California has been pretty screwed for a long time, yet I don’t see its populace throwing the Dems out.
Primarily due to the fact that the Feds have been there to help bail them out, and/or promise to do so. But if the Federal Government can no longer subsidize the BS going on in leftist utopias like California, Washington, Maryland, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, etc., then those states will crash resoundingly to the ground. With no hope of recovery until sanity returns.
That’s not the whole reason, of course. Another reason is obviously due to the fact that the adults are increasingly leaving California for greener pastures (Texas anyone?). The remaining fools continue to live in the fantasy world of plenty for all and effort for none. That will end badly….
It doesn’t matter any longer. Stop this post-mortem navel-staring.
Battle over.
War over. All the valiant dead did die in vain. Sorry, Abe Lincoln.
RIP, United States: 1776-2012.
Back to the tyrannies, corruptions and cronyism that marked almost all of human history until 1776. The tatood, pierced, incurious, ill-educated Inheritors of The Great Shining Exception of Human Governance decided to discard it all for serfdom, the false promise of easy and unlimited subsidies, disdmal (but free!!) healthcare and the Siren Song of a False Messiah as profoundly dumb and disconnected as they are.
Enjoy the spiral to irrelevance, everyone.
Was it over when Dred Scott was ruled a non-person? Was it over when the Fugitive Slave Act was passed? Was it over when the Whigs stopped resisting slavery? By no means! It may take a second civil war, but this fight is not over by a long shot.
In the days of Muskets and March, perhaps, but not now.
The Leviathan is too big, the rot is all the way down to your Local School Board and Kindergarten Teacher, Police Chief and Swat Team….it can never be fixed.
All the cities and towns are living beyond their means on debt, free federal money “grants” and such never raised or accounted for…. just desired and spent, the painless fiscal magic that Other Peoples Money provides. They will not ever change their ways. They will only grow more arrogant and entitled.
Only isolated rural families without a ”town” surrounding them can still be American, as it was supposed to be.
But they will be poor, and few.
For the rest of us in the cities and suburbs, the end is not near… it has past.
We have “been dead” for much longer than we realize.
I tend to agree as well. Give them EVERYTHING and let them eat it…..
However, I have to say, I work at a Medicaid healthplan in none other then Phil, PA. Expecting a huge increase in business and hiring. HA. Half the office was laid off 4 days after the election. One of the workers, who wears a head piece (a white chick from NJ no less) was in the breakroom screaming about not being able to find a job. She was wearing the biggest Obama tee shirt I’ve ever seen. She was getting rejections and her response? “Congress better start F-ing doing their jobs.” You see, they just won’t see
Just a reminder…..Obama only won by a slight (likely illegal voters) margin with only 50% of the electorate participating. The majority of this country is still center-right and we will prevail if can figure out how to get our people to the polls. Obama barely put together a coalition of the fringe to get 25% of the electorate for the win.
Boehner and the other RINOs just want to play ball with Obama to make their lives easy. They have no cahones. I personally hope for gridlock and stagflation for 4 more years.
Don’t give ‘em what they want; that will be crossing the Rubicon.
I don’t think it matters.
Expect a really disasterous collapse either way.
In that case, will you really look better having gone along?
I see your point, but it still smells like capitulation to me. Stockholm Syndrome.
Perhaps if I drank more, I’d agree more.
Smart , real smart. Capitulate just so you can come back and say “I told you so”
The repubs , nor the conservatives can’t change the subject as long as the Media is in the tank. Stay on principal , it’s all that’s left.
To stand on principle, Boehner must first have one.
Weepy Wimpy.
That should be his official title.
I completely agree with Mr. Green.
However, I don’t believe that “Speaker Boehner and Other Assorted Clueless Bozos on Capitol Hill” are capable of getting that. They want “to negotiate.”
If that is the case, then the only offer they should be making to the Dems must sound like this: “Mr. WHOEVER YOU ARE, we will give you the tax hike that you need so desperately the same day you repeal the Obamacare”.
Here is a very good lecture by Niall Ferguson for both Democrats and Republicans explaining what is wrong with American institutions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrkjD7-knCU
WTF is this?
Snap out of it, people.
You want to throw in the towel and surrender? You want to give these assholes MORE power and influence?
Stop the pity party and think. “I told you so” is not a strategy.
Taking that route will make us all instant dinosaurs. We need sound fiscal ideas and leaders who can effectively articulate them.
More importantly: stop feeling sorry for yourselves.
Green, you need to get your head straight, pronto.
Agreed. People evolved (like other critters) to rely on consequences to identify bad choices.
Let all 535 members in Congress vote on their honor and principles. That will still leave 500+ votes for Obama’s policies.
If most of the American people wanted Obama to confiscate all of Stephen Green’s wealth and property, would Mr. Green tell Congress, “Give them what they want!” (?) If most of the American people wanted Obama to arrest and imprison, and hang Stephen Green, would Mr. Green say, give the people what they want? Maybe because it’s other people’s lives and wealth we are talking about, Mr. Green is fine with Congress caving in. Mr. Green, do you have any skin in the game, so to speak?
The one thing the Republican Party won’t do is oppose the tyrant. Therefore I predict the death of the Republican Party in two years. Why? The base will simply walk away. And then form a genuinely unapologetic conservative party. Call it the Tea Party if you like. The base will not take being gulled one more time by the RINO’s, for whom being inside the beltway players is not everything, it’s the only thing. The RINO’s will of course attempt to frighten the base back under their wing by warning that a new party will guarantee victory for the Dems. Matters not. Anything, ANYTHING is better than supporting an opposition party which refuses to oppose. Once again, Republicans the way of the Whigs by 2014. A new CONSERVATIVE party born for patriots to rally round.
I believe you’ll find the Consitution forbids such things, but that the Income Tax amendment (a big mistake, pushed in part by Progressive Republicans) allows for unlimited income taxes.
Don’t be stupid on purpose, as a wise man once said to me.
Fight, fight, and keep fighting. Never surrender! These are the principals the Republican House should take. If they do give what the Democrats want, they will be kicked out of office in droves at the next election cycle.
Mr. Green, I can’t blame you for trying a judo maneuver. However while doing your thought experiment I imagined California wanting a bailout.
That to me would be a bridge too far. And just as your possessions expand to fill your available garage space, so also would any kind of blank check seek out its crazy-talk level.
But going with status-quo isn’t so hot either. I can’t blame you for trying.
Cheers
But California is simply Too Big To Fail, dont you see?
They will get WHATEVER THEY WANT in exchange for those 55 electoral votes…
Banked nice and early, way out on the Left Coast, before the polls even open in New York.
If the House weren’t GOP, we would have a bailout.
The Republican party is dead to me. It is time for a new party. If those idiots cannot defeat Obummer after the disaster that he created, then they need to go away forever. Any Republican shill should be castigated and humiliated whenever they speak. Morons!! I am waiting for a new conservative party to form. If the Libertarian party wasn’t such a mess, I would vote Libertarian. Maybe the TEA party will become a real party and get some good candidates to vote for. The Republican party SUCKS and needs to fade to black. A shoe should have been able to beat Barry O, but those IDIOTS found a way to lose to the worst president in modern history. They might as well give away the ranch, because at this point they have nothing else to lose. I can’t stand the slow boil anymore, let’s put the pedal to the metal and crash this beeeeeotch!
Just don’t raise the debt ceiling. Did it work the first time? The second? The third? Has it EVER worked? (The answer is “no”.) Not raising the debt ceiling is the only way to cut spending. Then the economy will turn around and the Republicans can take credit (no pun intended) for cutting up Uncle Sam’s credit card and saving the Union.
The problem with Mr. Green’s advice is that it could extend the life of the Total Failure Party (aka, republicans).
I’d prefer to see that party flushed down the toilet as fast as possible, since if they can’t beat Mr. 20%+ unemployment, Mr. Raped Ambassador, and Mr. Downgrade, they can’t beat anybody.
First, I would prefer to have a party that wants to win, and second, if they lose, they should at least put up a fight.
If Boehner is elected Speaker again, it will tell you all you need to know, for those few of you readers who still imagine that the republicans are worth swirling around in the commode with some more.
I say let’s go over the cliff. At least taxes go up for everyone and spending gets whacked a bit. If we are going to spend like socialists we need to tax like socialists. Taxing the rich won’t cut it. Everyone gets taxed just like in Europe. Pretending that we can keep spending and that the rich can pay for it all is truly la la land, the pied piper’s story.
On the other hand, you may be right. Give them what they want. Why take the blame for the train wreck ahead? Have another beer!
The House has unilateral authority to cap taxes — and thus cap appropriations and spending. Use it.
What represents Armageddon today with the current debt? That we should endure 10+ percent interest rates on ten year notes. Do the math. Imagine that we have interest rates at about the same rate as at the beginning of the 1980′s. We will endure similar rates soon enough, after which our recovery might begin, but not before.
My suggestion: Craft a bill to pretend that interest rates are at least 10 percent today. Calculate payments based on this fiction and budget for making payments on the same, but redirect any payment amount in excess of actual interest rates toward retirement of principal balances of outstanding debt.
Don’t let foreigners pick the precise date to demand more interest.
The most important part in this article is the point that the GOP will not cave because they fear that Obamanomics will work. Evil people have no power. The only power they get is from the self sacrifice of the good. This is one of the lessons of Atlas Shrugged. We have thought so far that we could keep fighting the battle to help protect the clueless of America. I think it is time to let the part of the country calling for more government to shoulder the burden of what they want to create.
I think the problem here is that the framers of the country designed a very stable government based on 3 legs. If you look at a table, the most stable one is a 3-legged table. Unfortunately, the Dem’s have control of 3 of the 4 legs on our table, Pres, congres, and the PRESS. When on earth did we start letting the press have so much power over the people’s ability to think? It this just because of human nature to get by with the least amount of work? We have to stop letting them create the narrative. PERIOD. When they spoke of the Bush recession, why is it that hardly ANYONE in our party cried BS??? The recession was not because of Bush, it was because of ACORN leaning on Clinton because of “racism” in lending. Clinton then leaned on the banks and had them loosen the lending standards which led to the “fair housing act” which placed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the role of cleanup when a loan was defaulted. This caused a boom in house buying (no risk when FM and FM cover it), which causes a bubble in housing prices. I know that some of this is difficult for simpler voters to understand but what I am getting at is this: If we relent and let them steam roll over us, who is to say that they won’t call the next depression the Boener depression?
They did the same thing with the dreamers and amnesty. They said that R’s were against immigration and we started stumbling all over ourselves to say “no we aren’t” instead clarifying that we are for LEGAL immigration. I heard some small parts of this espoused but we can’t rely on the MSM to carry our message. We should have been hammering this home at every debate, at every rally, anywhere there was a camera. When the reporters were at a news story, instead of a sign that says “Hi Mom”, we should have been holding a sign that said “Welcome Immigrants. This way to the Immigration office”. Instead we let the MSM and the D’s define who we are and all we do is say “Nuh-uh…”
I guess the sum of this can be put as someone else so eloquently put it…
Grow some f*&^*ng balls.
Agreed…As I’ve stated before it’s not the message it’s the marketing of that message. The R’s are described as against immigration, that it is the marketing from the left. We need to redefine our marketing message and push for immigration reform. Start by pushing a bill to speed up the process of immigrates from war torn area’s that are escaping to a free America. Stop defending our message and start attacking theirs for wanting to push illegal immigrates in front of those who follow the rules.
You’ll at least then have a chance to win them over as voters.
Until we start getting our marketing message to the low info voter we can’t win. They don’t want to listen to a long message but short bullet points. Make the message something the can grasp without a lot of thought process.
Give them what they want and more. One of the principles of judo is to use the other’s momentum against them. So do that. Give the Dems what they want and even more. Raise the rates on top earners, $1 million and over to 75% with NO deductions. That will get the Hollywood crowd and the 7 wealthiest counties that voted for Obama right in their pocket books and I bet it would be quite popular. Then dare Obama to veto it or for the Senate to not pass it. Then get to work letting the public know that that the Republican Party tried to give them what they voted for and the Dems wouldn’t go for it.
and make sure to rescind all tax breaks and subsidies for the “news” media, entertainment media, information media, and sports teams and players. We just can’t afford to subsidize the marxist rich any longer.
Capital Gain taxes for anybody earning over 1 million also have to go to 75%. That’s absolutely critical. Maybe make it ratchet to 100% for incomes over 5M.
And SS payments have to be uncapped as well, and applied to ALL income over 1M, not just earned income. John Kerry should be paying 15.3% ss/medi tax on his municiapal bond income and capital gains as well. Make the piggies squeal.
And throw in an annual wealth tax for all inherited money.
Yes, give them exactly what they want and dare the Fraud to veto the bill.
“I wish I could impose my will on Congress” – Barack Obama
Anyone that advocates allowing Obama to do that by encouraging GOP’ers to bend over is seriously misguided. We are a constitutional Republic not some bunch of bozos sailing around with no rudder on the ship. Asking Boehner to fight is a non starter. Look at what Jindal and Rubio are doing! We have have a future; and it begins by recognizing that there IS NO political solution to the mess we’re in and that the establishment GOP is history. They are simply trying to survive and NOT run the country as they’ve been elected to do. The future is looking good so stop whining.
Even if they do this they will get blamed.
“Oh if they only hadn’t stopped ALL of our glorious plans we would be out of this buy now!”
Do you really want to set yourself apart? If so vote present for EVERY economic thing they do, just hand it over to them because by dragging it out bit by bit the general A-tard will never be able to sort things out.
Ask for two things that unemployment is calculated correctly and that as well as all other economic indicators are audited by and independent non government entity with the data open sourced.
They agree to that and they own the economy for two years, completely. Simply vote “present” and outline the negative effects that this will have every time they pull some other hair brained tax and spend scheme out.
In the mean time go after corruption everywhere, literally, and don’t let on leftist judge onto the bench, point out every abuse of power, ask for government pay cuts across the board, try and pass laws (as many times as it takes) to make both houses live by the same rules as the people.
When the economy tanks you can then ask why it hasn’t worked, and how the members of congress are continuing to get wealthy during such tough times.
Never happen, too many Republicans on the take, and all of the Dim’s on the take, so unless you get a real 3rd party forget it.
Doesn’t matter a jot what you do as the USUREPER’s re-election has just proven the TAKERS now outnumber the MAKERS and they will continue voting for SANTA CLAUS and the Democrats from now on in. Its what MORONS do.
Sooner or later we all grew up and learned that Santa does not exist. In fact we learned that Santa is really our own father and the North Pole is the place where he goes to work every day. That’s where the toys come from; hard work! The current American electorate is about to learn that the riches they enjoyed for a while were the result of generations of hard work and fighting wars all over the planet. What the Liberal teachers did not teach will be taught by experience. Experience is a harsh teacher but -by golly- how you learn!
Only in this case, Santa is all of us, because it’s our money that is being used to pass out these so-called gifts.
Like I’ve told my friends: if we as a country were stupid enough to reelect him, WE GET THE GOVERNMENT WE ASK FOR. Maybe when unemployment hits 30%, and 50% of those with jobs are now working two part-time jobs and STILL can’t get healthcare, we’ll ask for a small-government President. Pain is a great teacher. The blue-leaners just have to hurt hard enough for long enough. The hard part is that the rest of us have to hurt with them. But conservatives have grit in spades and can pull through it. Just get out of debt, don’t feed the college bubble, get technical skills, and learn to garden. It’s a long-term lifestyle issue.
If we give them what they want, they fail, and the country goes bankrupt we will not be able to rebuild it. Just look at history. We will end up with some kind of dictatorship or worse. It will take generations to develop a free and properous society like we once had. Better to try to save it now. Preventative maintenance is always better and cheaper than waiting for a breakdown.
Our message of freedom and individual responsibility is right. We need to be more effective at teaching it to others.
I stopped reading right there.
OPEN LETTER TO STEPHEN GREEN
Your mother called. She said it’s time you grew up. Leave the junior high stuff in junior high school.
“When I became a man, I put away childish things.”
Then you also missed out on the part where I used the word “nads” and the other part where I used the phrase “the suck.”
Lighten up, Francis.
“No, Mister Bond I expect you to die.”
Give Goldfinger what he wants.
And while you are at it give the progressive Jewish vote what they want. No more pressure from the Conservatives for Hamasor other Islamists to back down. This is the foreign policy( lead from behind) 50% of the country voted for so give it to them and we can sit back and watch the show and the whole thing fall apart. Let Hamas use the weapons we sent to Libya to fight the Israeli’s.
Look they will win, one way or another, so be gracious. Also, since the GOP is so anxious to lay all their problems on me and the other Conservatives, I am going to help them by withdrawing what little support I give. No more donations or voluteering even for so called cconservative candidates. Mario Rubio and Bobby Jindal have done me in for support.
You are of course assuming the truth will out. If we completely give them everything they want and it all collapses then we’ll spend the next generation hearing about how the Republicans passed all these bills, and how the right allowed the country to collapse with all the garbage they let through. The Democrats will be completely exonerated of all responsibility and not only that but because the GOP is the party of the Right (nominally at least) then it will be the fault of “right winged policies” that all this came to pass.
Simply look at the history of institutional slavery. The left/Democrat party supported it and the Right/GOP fought it and yet we are still the racist party that loves slavery and wants to go back to it. No matter how false it is that’s the narrative and the conventional wisdom of the majority of the planet.
I know I should suggest a working strategy but to be honest I got nothing. I actually like this plan and idea, I just don’t see it working the way we want.
I guess all of you who are supportive of this suggestion still believe that a majority of the electorate will see the light when it all goes to hell. For you, I would like to point you to CA, which although bankruptted by DEMS continues to give them huge majorities.
Do any of you for a moment believe that had the President gotten everything he wanted, he would have run a different campaign that didn’t include class warfare & demonizing Romney?
I agree with “RaiseThemTaxes” at number 40, regarding giving in on “making the rich pay their fair share”, and re-marketing the concept to apply only to the very wealthy; and by doing so maybe win a battle for once in the public’s eye. (However I don’t expect the GOP to do this because they have become terminally stupid.)
However I also agree with “Rebel Guy” at 39. The Republican representatives weren’t reelected to serve Obama and the Dems in congress; they were reelected to represent their constituents. They should be doing that. If they cannot or will not, they will not deserve reelection in 2014 or 2016.
The mere existence of the GOP in Congress is an affront to today’s Dem base. As long as there is a GOP representative, the Dems will see them as obstructionist. Even if the GOP gives them everything they want, the Dems will never take responsibility for failure. They will use the media to shift blame to the GOP, i.e. for not offering any better solutions, and the low information voters will eat it up.
That’s the new reality: The GOP will always be the scapegoat until they no longer exist*. They may as well go down fighting for their constituents. Otherwise they should just resign or switch to the Dem party.
*Maybe someday someone will write a research paper on exactly how the GOP got themselves in this position. The words “stupid” and “spineless” will probably show up a lot.
Vote “Present” and just get out of the way. Get the marshmallows, and Let It Burn. Make sure the leftist vermin swallow every putrid mouthful of their king-sized “Obama $hit $andwich.” If necessary, force-feed it to them ~ until they puke it out their nostrils.
I have no pity left for the reprobates.
REPEATING MYSELF:
Erased all that because its useless trying to educate the Rs and school the Ds.
Pick me four small states. Elect me one Libertarian from each to the U.S. Senate. Those four control the government.
I’m done wishing for the next election going to the Rs. They’ve had it all twice in my lifetime and won awards for FUBARing the joint. Nor do I harbor any hope that the Ds will wake up to their campaign of destroying the country. They want a different country. They are waging political war.
The Rs aren’t up to the battle. They’ve proved it to me. They’re the Quakers of politics. Good folks but useless as wet Kleenex in war. All they make is spitballs.
AGAIN: Pick me four small states. Elect me one Libertarian from each to the U.S. Senate. Those four control the government.
Ahh, what a wonderful world we live in when one can write an open letter, which I enjoyed, to someone who doesn’t give a rats behind about you or I. Again politicians could care less what we think, we don’t have their pedigreed or the intellectual wherewithal they have. Maybe life for us who work hard, raise our kids, love our wives will become filled with a few more potholes to have to maneuver around but it sure beats having to answer to Him who knows the hearts. I thought hanging these morons would be the answer but why waste the rope may have to use it to hold up our pants.
By its nature, an open letter is a stunt. I’m glad you appreciated this one for exactly what it was — and had to — be.
Let me know when it’s time to start throwing bricks thru windows
*shrugs*
Enjoy the good times….there aren’t going to be many of them in the next 4-8 years.