We Need a New Republican Party

[ndcent]

While I'm not a huge fan, this is a refreshing take from Rand Paul...

Rand Paul: We need ‘a new Republican Party’ — not small changes

In the comments...

"As a former republican, I would redesign the party as follows...

Drop the christian fundies and their agenda entirely
Focus on a real, honest, small, limited government that..
Does not interfere in people's private choices..end the drug war, legalize all sexual behavior between consenting adults, including prostitution. Try to minimize the number of abortions by funding sex education and contraception
Does not waste trillions on unnecessary wars and empire building..we need a defense strategy more like Switzerland
Realizes that in some cases, like infrastructure and basic research, government support is the best way to accomplish the goals"

^if this was the party, I'm voting Republican!

 

[bofa]

Isn't this essentially the US form of Libertarianism?

 

[LandCruiser]

-government exists to protect our freedoms, not limit them and spend our money
-5% flat tax is more than adequate
-if "green" energy is that awesome, it should try and survive on its own in the private sector without billions of dollars of free money given out by the president to his political pals
-if you want to ruin your life, family, and health abusing legal and illegal substances, feel free do to so, just don't expect world class medical care when you stumble into the ER at 2AM with HIV and four broken needles in your arm
-it is not the government's job to educate/indoctrinate children, let the states do as they see fit without federal mandates or funding
-it's not my responsibility to feed and clothe your lazy dumb ass, get a job
-health care is not a right, work to pay for it
-the president's job is to sign bills into law, not dictate policy, start wars, and create his own laws
-politicians get no salary, no housing perks, and will be thrown in jail for a minimum of 15 years for taking bribes (campaign donations)
-no matter what office you're in, you're limited to 8 years or two terms (for Senators)
-family or spouses of politicians are ineligible for ANY public office
-America should withdraw from the UN and NATO
-marry who you want, just don't expect me to care, give you special consideration, or pay you for it

...

That pretty much sums up Libertarianism, and will never be popular in our "it's not your fault" and "big government fixes all problems" society.

 

[ddnww]

While I'm not a huge fan, this is a refreshing take from Rand Paul...

Rand Paul: We need ‘a new Republican Party’ — not small changes

In the comments...

"As a former republican, I would redesign the party as follows...

Drop the christian fundies and their agenda entirely
Focus on a real, honest, small, limited government that..
Does not interfere in people's private choices..end the drug war, legalize all sexual behavior between consenting adults, including prostitution. Try to minimize the number of abortions by funding sex education and contraception
Does not waste trillions on unnecessary wars and empire building..we need a defense strategy more like Switzerland
Realizes that in some cases, like infrastructure and basic research, government support is the best way to accomplish the goals"

^if this was the party, I'm voting Republican!

bwahaha.. .thas some of the funniest stuff i have ever read.

 

[ndcent]

That pretty much sums up Libertarianism, and will never be popular in our "it's not your fault" and "big government fixes all problems" society.

And sadly that "it's not your fault" and "big government fixes all problems" society is rampantly perpetuated by both dominant parties, which flies in the face of the empty attribute of republicans as small government.

 

[BrianSD_42]

-it is not the government's job to educate/indoctrinate children, let the states do as they see fit without federal mandates or funding

For one thing the states are still a government. And two we need educated people . without a federal plan for education we could not have won ww2 and become a super power. The states were simply not doing a good job at it. Every successful country in history and every major industrialized country in the world today has a centrally supported plan for education.

 

[SDr6]

I'll just leave this here.. hopefully make a convert out of at least one of you.

https://www.lp.org/

 

[bofa]

For one thing the states are still a government. And two we need educated people . without a federal plan for education we could not have won ww2 and become a super power. The states were simply not doing a good job at it. Every successful country in history and every major industrialized country in the world today has a centrally supported plan for education.

Support is one thing... legislation and funding are different, imo.

 

[wallytoo]

the republican party has been missing the boat w-r-t national candidates for quite some time.

there are WAY more socially moderate, fiscally conservative folks in this country than there are socially conservative, fiscally conservative folks. if the national party understood this, they'd have better served the voters of this country

stay out of myt pocket, and stay out of my house.

i happen to disagree that we need a new republican party, though. what we need are a few more viable parties that are neither republican nor democrat.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Support is one thing... legislation and funding are different, imo.

They go hand in hand. We can elect people to implement the kind of centralized and funded education system you/we want BUT it must exist and it must be successful for America to continue to be powerful and relevant in the future.

I believe in a central education system just like every other industrialized power in the world.

Of course I also believe in reform and proper governance. Be it a conservative president or liberal.

The point is we need educated citizens to have a working economy and the states, which are still a government and still collect taxes, simply we not doing a good job before the federal government got involved.

Those educated citizens went on to start companies, work in factories and even serve in the military to fight and win World War II.

 

[bofa]

They go hand in hand. We can elect people to implement the kind of centralized and funded education system you/we want BUT it must exist and it must be successful for America to continue to be powerful and relevant in the future.

I believe in a central education system just like every other industrialized power in the world.

Of course I also believe in reform and proper governance. Be it a conservative president or liberal.

The point is we need educated citizens to have a working economy and the states, which are still a government and still collect taxes, simply we not doing a good job before the federal government got involved.

Those educated citizens went on to start companies, work in factories and even serve in the military to fight and win World War II.

The problem with Federal centralization is over-simplification. One size does not fit all. No Child Left Behind is one of the biggest flops in the history of our education system. Standardized testing is another major flaw in our system, but it became a necessary evil when states were required to prove they are meeting Federal guidelines. When education becomes more about numbers on a report than learning, we are headed in the wrong direction - and that has already happened.

 

[Jeff Kleb]

The New Republican Party

In the comments...

"As a former republican, I would redesign the party as follows...

Drop the christian fundies and their agenda entirely
Focus on a real, honest, small, limited government that..
Does not interfere in people's private choices..end the drug war, legalize all sexual behavior between consenting adults, including prostitution. Try to minimize the number of abortions by funding sex education and contraception
Does not waste trillions on unnecessary wars and empire building..we need a defense strategy more like Switzerland
Realizes that in some cases, like infrastructure and basic research, government support is the best way to accomplish the goals"

^if this was the party, I'm voting Republican!

Um, you can pretty much find MOST of the aforementioned positive traits in the Libertarian Party. Welcome aboard!

Libertarian Party | Maximum Freedom, Minimum Government {official site}

 

[Jeff Kleb]

For one thing the states are still a government. And two we need educated people . without a federal plan for education we could not have won ww2 and become a super power. The states were simply not doing a good job at it. Every successful country in history and every major industrialized country in the world today has a centrally supported plan for education.

Yes, the STATES are sovereign governments -- and the federal government derives its power from the STATES......not the other way around as most people wrongly believe.

The federal government has NO business in education - save for service academies, public schools on federal reservations (i.e., military bases, etc.) and specialized law enforcement agencies (FBI, etc.). Education/schools are NOT an enumerated power of the federal government (as per Article I, Section 8 of the US Constitution).

The Dept. of Education doesn't 'teach' anybody anything, has wasted BILLIONS and BILLIONS of taxpayer dollars and should be abolished as soon as possible. Likewise, the Dept. of Energy doesn't generate a single watt of electricity and the Dept. of Agriculture doesn't grow a damn thing other than bureaucracies. Each STATE has its own of these respective agencies, so ones at the federal level are redundant, wasteful and unnecessary.

If we WANT education to be a responsibility or duty of the federal government, then pass a constitutional amendment designating it as such.

P.S. It should be noted that the Dept. of Education was not even a pipe dream during WWII (it came around in the 1970s, I think) and our schools were generally MUCH BETTER then than they are now.

 

[Jeff Kleb]

I strongly suggest a thorough reading of the United States Constitution, which is available on-line and at any library. Pay particular attention to Article I (powers of Congress), Article II (powers of the executive branch/President) and Article III (Judical Branch - the SCOTUS).

After that, read the Bill of Rights (Amendments 1 through 10) and go over Article I, Section 8 one more time. It lists the enumerated powers of Congress. More than half of our legislation today (and thus funding) is outside of constitutional parameters - and that is much of the reason why we are nearly 18 trillion in debt, with more than 80 trillion in future "unfunded" liabilities.

The Democrats keep promoting the socialist welfare state, while the Republicans want to replace it with an authoritarian nanny state. NEITHER should be palatable to any freedom-loving, patriotic citizen.

The Democrats have gone far-left into European-style socialism. They're not coming back and you cannot reason with them. The Republicans - most of them anyway - have fallen prey to the imperialistic neocons on one side and the religious fundamentalists (emphasis on mental) on the other. Some people believe the GOP can be reformed from within, but I definitely do not. They're going to have to go the way of the Whigs -- so we can have an HONEST debate between the leftist, statist Democrats and the pro-freedom, small-government Libertarians. We should not have to settle between Democrat and Democrat Lite (the GOP).

In a nation with 320,000,000 people and a rugged spirit (or what remains of it), we CAN and we MUST do better!

P.S. Think of Libertarians as fiscally conservative AND socially tolerant.


My own attitude is that I won't question who you can marry -- so long as YOU don't bother me about what or where I choose to carry (as in a concealed firearm).

 

[LandCruiser]

Libertarians are never going to get a fair shake because we believe that you don't deserve free shit from the government.

The only reasons I vote Republican is guns and taxes. I don't really accept many of the party's platforms, especially when it comes to social issues like gay marriage and abortion.

I hate the idea that my voting has boiled down to "lesser of two evils" instead of a party I agree with.

BTW, I voted for Ron Paul.

 

[OkieSnuffBox]

While I'm not a huge fan, this is a refreshing take from Rand Paul...

Rand Paul: We need ‘a new Republican Party’ — not small changes

In the comments...

"As a former republican, I would redesign the party as follows...

Drop the christian fundies and their agenda entirely
Focus on a real, honest, small, limited government that..
Does not interfere in people's private choices..end the drug war, legalize all sexual behavior between consenting adults, including prostitution. Try to minimize the number of abortions by funding sex education and contraception
Does not waste trillions on unnecessary wars and empire building..we need a defense strategy more like Switzerland
Realizes that in some cases, like infrastructure and basic research, government support is the best way to accomplish the goals"

^if this was the party, I'm voting Republican!

I'm for it, although I can't completely get behind their ruthless capitalistic views.

I have a big problem with the widening pay gap between the middle-class and the CEO/Executive level management. Even as recently as the 70s, the avg CEO made 30x what his lowest paid employee made, now it's on the order of 300x (CEO pay isn't nearly this skewed in powerhouse manufacturing countries like Japan and Germany).

Middle-class wages have been stagnating since the 80s in relation to inflation, etc. etc. The Libertarian philosophy seems to be OK with this, it's my main sticking point with them.

However I don't need the Jebus of the GOP or the PC crybabies of the Democrats either.

And those of us who pay attention wonder why so many are apathetic.

 

[bofa]

I have a big problem with the widening pay gap between the middle-class and the CEO/Executive level management. Even as recently as the 70s, the avg CEO made 30x what his lowest paid employee made, now it's on the order of 300x (CEO pay isn't nearly this skewed in powerhouse manufacturing countries like Japan and Germany).

How do you propose we fix it? High level exec pay is market-based and they can only command that pay because the company's leadership believes it's a worthwhile expense. CEOs for the most part do not decide their own pay.

Plus, consider that the tax rate on those in these brackets is much higher than that of a $10/hour factory worker, I think you'll be hard pressed to find government willing to intervene.

 

[RunninInGA]

How do you propose we fix it? High level exec pay is market-based and they can only command that pay because the company's leadership believes it's a worthwhile expense. CEOs for the most part do not decide their own pay.

Plus, consider that the tax rate on those in these brackets is much higher than that of a $10/hour factory worker, I think you'll be hard pressed to find government willing to intervene.

That, and also consider that it isn't the $10/hour worker that makes decisions on which candidate or politician's special interest their company donates money to. The recipients of that money aren't gonna tell Mr. CEO that just donated $1 mil that he can't be paid or compensated $x amount.

 

[eddiebx]

I'm for it, although I can't completely get behind their ruthless capitalistic views.

I have a big problem with the widening pay gap between the middle-class and the CEO/Executive level management. Even as recently as the 70s, the avg CEO made 30x what his lowest paid employee made, now it's on the order of 300x (CEO pay isn't nearly this skewed in powerhouse manufacturing countries like Japan and Germany).

Middle-class wages have been stagnating since the 80s in relation to inflation, etc. etc. The Libertarian philosophy seems to be OK with this, it's my main sticking point with them.

However I don't need the Jebus of the GOP or the PC crybabies of the Democrats either.

And those of us who pay attention wonder why so many are apathetic.

Just out of curiosity, if you personally were on the upper end of the pay gap, would you still have a "big problem" with it?

 

[Jeff Kleb]

Originally Posted by OkieSnuffBox:

I'm for it, although I can't completely get behind their ruthless capitalistic views.


The truth is that much of what BOTH parties advocate is anything BUT ruthless capitalism. At best, it is crony capitalism -- where the power of government is corrupted and used to BLOCK competition, protect monopolies or FORCE commerce with 'selected' companies.

Most politicians and their followers always complain that capitalism 'doesn't work' - when it never honestly had the chance in the first place.

We who are libertarians (big or small "L") recognize that FREE markets and FREE people are the best way to have a booming and stable economy free of coercion, statism and cronyism.


:keyboard::hungry: