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Wall Street Journal:
'Remember the $400 hammer? How 'bout that $600 toilet seat?" asks a Conservatives for Patients' Rights TV commercial criticizing President Barack Obama's health-care plan. "Seems when Congress gets involved, things just cost more."
National Journal Magazine - The GOP's 'Electile Dysfunction'
King: Ohio the proving ground for GOP's back-to-future bid - CNN.com
Young Republicans Offer Advice for GOP's Future | Newsweek ...
Palin the GOP's future? Don't bet on it - Garry South - Politico.com
Cheney not fretting about GOP's future - John F. Harris and Mike ...
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I'm a huge fan of Mr. Frank's critiques, but find him sometimes infuriatingly soft on the Democrats. Who enables Republicans every step of the way? Democrats now have a filibuster-proof Senate. They could radically reform this corrupt and broken government, and do it with no opposition. So why the hell don't they? The best cure for the conservative myth that government can't work for the people is to make it do so, then ridicule the conservatives who try to make the claim it doesn't. Give us well-designed health care that works properly and efficiently, and just watch the sinking poll numbers of the politicians who try to muck it up.
last time I checked the U.S. Armed Forces were run by the federal government. why is it that rethuglicans get to claim our army is the best in the world, yet try to reason that anything run by something so horrid as "government" will be a beauracratic nightmare?
his infering that dems controlling the house & white house will lead to $400 hammers & $600 toilet seats is laughable for someone who just sat in congress as gwB spent his way into the defecit spending hall of fame! he rubber-stamped every single item georgie boy wanted for hallibuton, blachwater, kbr, etc.
now he's worried about liberals spending $400 on hammers?
good luck in 2012, repubs. you still dont get it.
Dysfunction? You mean the kind that one of the Republicans former Presidential candidates used to do advertising about? Explains a lot about the party.
http://www.ceasespin.org/ceasespin_blog/ceasespin_blogger_files/fox_news_gets_okay_to_misinform_public.html
When Fox News - (Republican party) go to court so they can actually "LIE" to their constituents and Viewers (AND THEY WON THE COURT CASE). That indeed says a lot about the republican party.
You have to have a $640 toilet seat when you are as full of s*** as the Republicans.
THOMAS FRANK HAS A BASIC THESIS THAT IS MOST IMPORTANT:
REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS BEEN VEHICLE FOR REACTIONARYCONSERVATIVES THAT IS BIGGEST THREAT TO U.S. AND EVEN THE WORLD.
The major problems in the world and the US can be put in focus if we look at the outlook promoted by reactionary conservatives, they stand for everything that is wrong. None of the law reforms being promoted by the Democratic Party are as important as making sure that the Republican Party never returns to power.
Two major problems in making this clear are, first, the news media which sees liberal-conservative conflicts as something to be reported on with a level of indifference and almost wanting to see both equally successful. (Promotes fatalism and acceptance that anti-progressive policies be considered normal.)
The other major problem in getting the public to understand how the Republican Party promotes such deadly policies is that national politics, namely Congress, is so basically corrupt and dysfunctional. There are many basically decent elected officials, administrators, staff and even lobbyists, but the system is special interest driven through private financing of elections and this is basically beyond any quick fix.
Attempts at reform in health, environmental, banking will meet resistance even with Democratic Party super majorities and the basic corrupting influence of lobbying contributions to reelection campaigns will be seen as problem. It will have to be addressed by Democrats if they hope to ever keep corrupting influence of reactionary conservatives from power again.
I agree that there was a time when repubs could simply fool folks with talk of "big government", but no longer. When we think of government screw ups, we think of the republicans. That is why people are leaving the party in droves.
Ok, if government doesn't work, what are all these countries on the planet all about? Apparently (according to conservative doctrine), none of them should even exist because they are so incompetent and bad. Illogical on the face of it.
The fact is, governments DO work! The real question is, how well do they work? That, then, brings us to the KIND of government that works better than others. How should it be structured, and what services should it bring to its people for the betterment of all?
The last 30 years have proven beyond all reasonable argument that conservatism as defined by noecons (privatization, deregulation, trickle-down economics) simply doesn't work. I'm sick and tired of hearing about bad government. In a representative federal republic (which is what we have in the US, not an actual democracy, BTW), the people deserve the government they get. Elect the right people according to principles you think are best to govern, and you get the government you want.
Until and unless we relearn this lesson, we will get what we deserve in this country. Nothing more, and nothing less.
Dems and rethugs both can mess up the government system royally. But none are better then the rethugs. The true genius of the rethugs comes in keeping their constituents in line and ignor.ant. They tell them about that mean old 'liberal media' and any organization that those nasty old 'liberals' might work with. Rupert Murdock started Fox news and bought up lots print media and radio stations - just for their constituents to feed them lies 24/7. I mean money talks!
http://www.ceasespin.org/ceasespin_blog/ceasespin_blogger_files/fox_news_gets_okay_to_misinform_public.html
Of course Gov't doesn't work, when Republicans do it!
When Carter had the government it worked, it spent, and it crashed the economy. When Clinton had it, he tried too much too fast, lost the mid-terms, and tri-angulated himself into dismantling welfare,balancing the budget, became a tool of the corporo lobby gang, and played himself into cigar game obsolescence....
They are all political class pluto/oligarchs....
Lets see Nixon 5 years, Ford 3 years, Vietnam War, oil embargo etc. etc. In truth I like Carter better out of office than in,started but his 4 year term didn't tank anything, the high inflation of 70's started under Nixon, he even put price controls on gasoline, how socialist of him.
did u make up that bs all by ur self dem balance the budget 5 times no republcan in my life time ever balance the budget ask cheney quote ragen proved deficits dont matter , for the last past 8 yrs we didn't hear a whimper about balance budget from republicans, republicans build corporate welfare and wreck the economy into a recession
This is scary. I hadn't even thought of that. I was thinking the Republicans were imploding. Maybe the implosion is shrinking them just enough.
The thing that compounds the problem is that the Democrats are easily painted as the "do-nothing" party. Which is more or less their own fault, they try to spread themselves over conservative and liberal terrority and end up being neither.
I have read Mr. Franks books, they helped me understand the conservative mind and agenda. I hope this country can reverse the damage caused by 30 years of Reaganomics. Otherwise the wealthy readers of WSJ might find out the hard way the built up anger and frustration felt by hard working class Americans.
I've only read "What's The Matter With Kansas." I thought it was brilliant.
Can you recommend some of his other books?
"The Wrecking Crew"-How Conservatives Govern, is very good.
I find it amazing that one Republican after the other get on cable and declare that government is to big and inefficient., when they had the Presidency and both Houses of Congress made it bigger and less effective.
The point which is generally ignored is that big government is, per se, bad no matter who is in charge. Conservatives, once in office, forget this, and Democrats have never learned it.
Activist, "do-something" government is always easier to sell to citizen-voters than is the true conservative pitch of self-reliance. It has been the downfall of many governments of many countries over many centuries.
both parties pander to corporations and the wealthy - americans want and need what the governments of other countries provide (reasonably successfully and efficiently) - but some liars will do whatever it takes to keep the bottom 90% of the population on it's knees. The serfs do not get healthcare...
"you think you're so clever and classless and free, but you're still fu ck ing peasants as far as I can see" - John Lennon, Working Class Hero
I do not think anyone has an interest in keeping poor people poor! If there were more wealthy people, then there would be more customers for goods and services! What is YOUR thinking about this?
Name these countries, if you please.
Problem is that the GOP is not into self reliance - they built a system of corporate welfare and so many tax loopholes for the rich that they end up paying less than poor people.
Exactly, they fear true competition and cheat to get were they are.
Surely government is not perfect! As I've noted, Republicans tend to become coopted into de facto big government Democrats once inside the beltway.
But Democrats are worse--they pander to big business and to the poor! The poor are never helped, you should note, just pandered to!
I second the request that you name these countries. I'm not sure I really understand what you're saying...are you saying that "do-something" governments are more popular? I'd say history entirely disagrees with you.
Somalia has almost no government and few laws which apparently aren't enforced that much anyway - taxes are low, and people seem to be able to do what they like - and are self reliant by necessity. Piracy a fine example of unregulated entrepeneurial capitalism seems to be a leading industry. From the proliferation of AK-47's it would appear that second amendment rights are respected as well. Sounds like a conservative dream state - I'm amazed that so few move there.
You are all gloating so much you miss the point: Big government, no matter which party is running it, does not do anything well! And always heed Gammon's Law: The more money thrown at a bureaucracy, the worse the end result.
Thus the harm of the stimulus bill down the road...
What? Your babbling!
We still have to pay for Reagan's insane spending spree.
No, not nearly as much as Obama's insane spending spree! He's spent or planned to spend more than every preceding president before him. You haven't complained about that? Strange....
When you talk of smaller government what are you talking about?
At the moment we have many well funded and ineffective agencies. Many of these were brought to their knees by Bush followers with ties to the very industries they were to regulate. We have laws that are supposed to protect the people and the environment but we allow big business to pollute the environment and endanger the welfare of the people so they can make more money.
We can think of SEC, Mining and the FDA for starters. Let us take for instance the meatpacking industry. There used to be multiple FDA inspectors at a plant and now there might be one per shift. And it is known to this inspector that they are only supposed to watch but not really interfere with the production because that will affect profits.
I am all for smaller yet more effective government but the idea that Big Business will do right by the public is a load of BullShite.
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First Posted: 07- 1-09 12:14 AM | Updated: 07- 1-09 12:19 AM