Earlier Monday, my name ran as a co-author of an article which has made its way around the political blogosphere. It was first made known this morning by columnist Robert Novak who, love him or hate him, still has a knack for being first on many stories. The full editorial Mr. Novak referred to was then posted later in the day at Red County and it is causing a bit of a stir, at least in Republican circles.
In that article I was writing as a member of an influential, 45-year old Orange County political organization. Here I'm writing on my own behalf, merely as a lone righty addressing his friends who are (mostly) on the left here at the Huffington Post.
Really, let's do keep it friendly: we disagree on the basics, of course, but I assume you lefties are well-meaning folks whose silly policies result from letting their hearts overrule their considerable intellects, and I'll just hope you see a guy like me as someone strangely, but honestly, attached to the notion that less government makes economies more efficient and people more free. I mean, the alternative is for me to think you're a bunch of oppressive statists who want to run every part of my life and for you to think I'm carbon-belching S.O.B. who wants to get rich while exploiting as many employees as I can along the way. Where's the fun in that?
And since it's certainly more productive to conduct our discussions in a friendly manner, let' start with something on which we can both agree: we love to see infighting on the other side.
I mean, did I love seeing recent stories about how some of Hillary's biggest donors ("Hillraisers," they're called. Clever marketing apparently added to her campaign's downfall, but I digress) are being wooed by John McCain's campaign? Sure... even as a lukewarm McCain guy, I think that's fantastic!
Likewise, you might think the little article of ours, linked to above, represents the finest in GOP entertainment as we righties tear each other apart ahead of November's presumed debacle.
In fact, it's the first step in our return to the majority.
(Pause for gut-busting laughter from the lefties)
I know, it sounds crazy, but indulge this harmless intruder for a second. I don't hold elected office nor act as the mouthpiece for someone who does, so I don't mind saying what most rank-and-file Republicans know: we blew it big-time on spending (being friends, we'll set the contentious issue of Iraq aside and focus on the budget for now). Unfortunately, Republican leaders in both houses fail to understand this.
For our side, I think this is actually better. If Boehner, McConnell and company really understood this and were working diligently to rediscover their small-government ways instead of defending the GOP's Strategic Pork Reserve, there might be little appetite to remove them on November 5th. As it is, we lowly Republican donors and activists are quite restless, as witnessed by the countless emails already received today by fellow Republicans from literally around the world in support of our idea of cutting them off. Bad sign for the current leadership.
So why would it be better to witness a clean sweep and to bring in entirely new GOP leadership? As Republicans, what do we offer today that's different from what voters booted out in November, 2006? Aside from Denny Hastert, nothing. Oh, except we somehow managed to put Trent Lott back into leadership as Senate Minority Whip! Senate Republicans could only have hired a bigger re-tread if they took over an NBA team and hired Don Nelson as the coach.
A cleaning out of our leadership is necessary because it simply is not credible to ask independents and moderate lefties to vote the same exact people back into the majority. We need to offer a more Gingrich-like set of Republicans; thankfully for our side, they exist in D.C. today, they're growing in numbers and, sensing their burgeoning strength, they're becoming increasingly restless -- not to mention bold in challenging their own leadership.
And here's why we believe we'll get that opportunity to take back the majority a lot sooner than you think. We were fired in 2006 for acting more like you than you do -- for spending like frat boys on spring break with daddy's credit card (your side is more PC than our so you no doubt spend like fratpeople, though I'm not sure how that works), not for acting too much like we were supposed to have.
And I think you, my friends, have a flawed recollection of the 1990's. You remember a soaring economy and credit it all to your teammate, President Clinton, yet you forget the revolt that took place in less than two years of his presidency and fail to credit the policies of the 1994 GOP revolutionaries for any of the good times. I mean, today you guys even claim Welfare reform as part of Clinton's legacy, when he was begging for forgiveness for it at your 1996 convention! An example of that grand entertainment I referred to earlier.
Problem for you guys is, Bill Clinton's early tax hikes and the specter of Hillarycare are peanuts compared to the grand plans Nancy, Harry and Barack have in mind for this economy! I could be wrong, of course, but I just don't think our economy could take it, nor do I think voters would stand for it.
Look, speaking openly and honestly as friends do, I can admit that our current president has been an economic disaster. Aside from tax cuts, he has done virtually nothing else right (keep in mind, revenues have soared in the period since those cuts, it is spending which has been the problem... tax cuts only seem like a problem when you have a president who can't string more than 4 words together in succession to defend them). I can admit that George W. Bush has been the worst fiscal president since LBJ, which would make him the worst Republican economics President since Hoover -- and it's no small task to hopscotch Nixon on that list!
Still, as bad as this economy is, your team in Congress will make it worse -- much worse. The problem with electing Obama is the rubber stamp he'll bring with him for the policies of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. This struggling economy couldn't possibly stand the laundry list of tax hikes they've already proposed, and this economy will still be weak next January, sorry to say.
So, sincerely believing your side will run this economy right off the track -- the fault only of your good intentions -- in short order should you actually gain control both of Congress and the White House, our time to line up Pelosi and Reid's replacements is now -- or at the worst in the immediate aftermath of this November's elections.
Enjoy what looks like our GOP family squabble. If it remains only a precious few Republican donors who threaten their existence, then our current leaders may survive to another Congress and you can throw out everything above (and you thought you were already hating yourself for actually reading to the end of this thing). However, if other donor groups join our call and force out the current leadership by cutting off funds to today's national Republicans, it will be a healthy, therapeutic process which will ready us for the next GOP surge in Congress.
At least that's the way the X's and O's look on paper when Coach Nelson draws them up.
Chip Hanlon is the President of Delta Global Advisors and the founder of GreenFaucet.com.
Follow Chip Hanlon on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ChipHanlon
I mean, the alternative is for me to think you're a bunch of oppressive statists who want to run every part of my life and for you to think I'm carbon-belching S.O.B. who wants to get rich while exploiting as many employees as I can along the way. Where's the fun in that?"
Well, GEE - glad to meet you too. And the little quote above REALLY DOESN'T MAKE ME WANT TO HAVE AN ADULT DISCOURSE with you because from the quote above, you are obviously in Arrested-Youth, AlphaMale mode and it just wouldn't be very productive.
Come back with a little respect for the person across from you and you just might get that very informative and good conversation about how to have bridges and roads to travel on and commerce and such YOU NEED A STRONG CENTRAL GOVERNMENT to pay and maintain it FOR THE COMMUNITY AND NATION AS A WHOLE.
Now, go wipe that smart-assed grin off your face, come back through the door, and we'll have that talk.
~Mom~
Those who have a strong ideological commitment to free markets have a habit of forgetting that, like all human activities, in order to endure and prosper markets need rules, and those rules need enforcement, and enforcement requires government. If there's one thing that we should have learned by now, it's that businessmen cannot be trusted to police themselves. Businessmen are under constant pressure to make money, and then make more money, and sometimes a point is reached at which more money simply cannot be made without bending - or breaking - the rules. In such situations, more often than not, the rules will in fact get broken.
Most of us on the left don't claim that government should *operate* businesses, but we emphatically claim that government must *regulate* businesses. And it seems that those two notorious leftists, Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke, agree.
Chip, you are a tool. How's your compensation?
Dems take note... not only do they plan to get rid of the ones who aren't performing to Republican standards... they already have people prepared and waiting in the wings. If you want to keep the majority that should increase this November... you should be working on doing the same. And it wouldn't hurt to come up w/ some Democratic standards either.
Thanks for the post and welcome to Huffingtonpost. As you say, we have some fundamental disagreements, but how nice it is to have an adult conversation about such things as taxes. However, how can we discuss spending when you immediately put Iraq "off the table"?
Should a projected price tag of three billion dollars not be part of the conversation? No bid contracts given out by the party of free enterprise? Torture enacted by the party of small government? Generally, according to whistle blowers, up to 25% of the Pentagon budget gets unaccounted for each year. How come that Republicans always talk about small government EXCEPT when it comes to war making? What's wrong with you guys (okay, okay, I will calm down).
With universal health care enacted by a Democratic congress and president, we will bring down the costs that truly destroy the middle class. Then we will have to deal with the costly American militarism. Is the Republican party willing to listen to Ron Paul, finally?
The problem with your thesis is that it not clear who "we", when referring to the Republican coalition, are. The military and defense contractor base want large government with a lot of money spent on them. The religious right want to enlist the US in a Christian Crusade {which makes sense if you really believe Christianity is correct and the duty of a Christian is to convert non-Christians to save their souls}. Finally, there are a lot of business managers, business owners, lawyers, etc, who want a tax policy that redistributes wealth upward, and minimal regulation to maximize their freedom, which they confuse with freedom in the abstract.
No one element of this coalition was ever in the majority, nor is it likely to become so in the near future.
This coalition was held together by old fashioned log rolling. The country is starting to come apart, as the combination of high military spending with tax cuts devalues the currency; and the attempt to convert the US into an explicitly Christian country founders on the fact that Christians don't agree among themselves.
From the left, I like our chances, but we're inheriting a hell of a mess. .
And the article seems to have avoided that the fact that the rights 20th century hero Ronny was a bit of as big spender.
Neither of the two big parties represents what I think they should. I don't support either one and I have no intention of voting for a political party. I tried that in 06 when the dems promised oversight and an end to the occupation. After these last 2 years if there aren't more Indies than dems or repubs people need to have their heads examined. As far as this election goes, I can already see that the BIG dem priority is going to be immunity and citizenship for all illegal immigrants and that will finish Social Security.
Thanks, but I'd rather my taxes go to help the homeless then paying for an intrusion on my civil rights and those of my fellow citizens.
foreign oil would result in disaster and that we needed to conserve energy and pay attention to our earths atmosphere. Along came your hero Ronnie Reagan who began the demonization of government and the turning over of our nation to the corporate masters. Getting government off the backs of business, cutting taxes for the rich, spending and charging to our children, really worked out well. Now comes GWB
who has us involved in endless wars, corporate lobbyists write our laws, the constitution is treated like a pesky piece of paper, lied to us about everything he ever talked about, we are in a depression and we owe our soul to the worlds next super power, China and the value of the dollar is plummeting. But we can take heart because all those tax savings we gave to the rich so they could create more jobs is working great.
I read the book and it's premise was laughable. Calling Michael Moore a hypocrite because one of his investments included the purchase of Enron stock and Haliburton stock. First, are you aware of exactly what companies are invested in by your broker on your behalf? And second, there is a theory that as a shareholder you actually have a say in corporate decisions. It's conservatives that will carry the label hypocrite for years to come. Can anyone say conservatives favor deficit spending? I rest my case.