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To the Republican establishment:

I’m going out on a limb here and ‘presume’ to speak for conservatives and tea party activists, “We’re done with you. We’re done with the Republican Party. For too long the republicans have used conservatives and others who would ally with them in the cause of limiting the scope of government for the benefit of the party and party elites. NO MORE. That’s right, conservatives, tea party activists, and others who will ally in the fight will be using the Republican Party to achieve what the Republican establishment could not or would not do, fight to limit the government to its constitutional boundaries. For THAT goal, we’ll risk much, which is something the Republican establishment has been unwilling to do, and we will prevail. HAVE NO DOUBT, we will. Any politician who doesn’t carry out the will of the electorate will find themselves out of office post haste.

I see agitation and hear strum and drang from the Republican establishment over Angle, O’Donnell, and others as being the cause of “lost seats”. GET OVER YOURSELVES! You elitist types are culpable for the losses, and you guys are no better than the leftist “elites”. Back in 2008, we were told that the era of conservatives was over, that Ronald Reagan is dead and we should “get over it”. We hit the mat, 2008 was a terrible blow, and Tuesday was us at the far side of a nine count having stood up and throw a right hook to the jaw of conventional wisdom. Guess what “country club” boys, THE PEOPLE spoke Tuesday and you can follow or get the heck out of the way, because you demonstrated no ability to lead.

So, you Republicans who were never conservative, you’re next, your seats are in our sights. So while you bemoan the loss of some “soft” seats which may have indeed cost the Republican Party control of the Senate, just remember you guys didn’t get behind the campaigns that lost at anywhere near the level you guys could have, right? Right, so shut up. Take Charlie Crist, Lisa Murkowski, and Mike Castle, they are perfect exemplars of the Republican establishment and what is wrong with the Republican Party, and WE THE PEOPLE are going to fix it.

NEVER Surrender, NEVER submit!

Now and beyond!
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Okay, we get it. Uncle!

But I wouldn't rest on my laurels long if I included myself as part of the anti-establishment boot that did the kicking last Tuesday, because after the "shellacking" comes the real work.

So what's the plan?

How, specifically, will this new conservative movement "fight to limit government to its constitutional boundaries?"

You want to repeal the healthcare bill? Fine (though I doubt it will happen). Now what, specifically, are you going to replace it with? How will you broaden health coverage to the millions now without it? How will you make it affordable? What steps will you take to ensure a person with a so-called pre-existing condition can get medical care for cancer or heart disease? What will you do to make the insurance companies stop putting profits before human lives?

What's the plan, specifically, to create jobs? The conservatives and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce seem to think sending all our jobs overseas is a great idea. (Wonder if they'd still feel that way if their jobs were outsourced.) They say we can't compete globally without allowing our jobs to keep leaving this country. Okay, so what steps will the new conservatives put into place to replace the jobs we've lost?

The only person I've heard with any real, good solutions is Donald Trump; he's very honest about what's going on and specific about what he'd do. (I'd vote for him for president if he were to run, btw.)

Obama hasn't done a good job. He just wasn't ready to be president and, like Bush, insulated himself in a bubble of like-minded people, which put him out of touch with mainstream America. I don't think he's a socialist, though, and I don't think he wants bad things for this country, like some of you believe. I don't even think Bush was all bad; he just believed what he believed and there was no changing his mind.

And I agree that the "country club" boys demonstrated no ability to lead either. Obama was elected, in large part, due to the conservatives' failings. The Republicans had their chance, did nothing, and the people spoke with their votes when Obama was elected.

Fast forward two years later and Obama's policies did nothing for the conservatives and didn't do enough for the liberals, so last Tuesday's tidal wave was no surprise.

But if this new conservative movement does nothing, guess what's going to happen in two years? The pendulum will (predictably) swing back again.

So, again, now comes the hard part. What, specifically, are the new conservatives going to do about the issues Americans are facing?
I dont believe it. Our own r. Shelby got 60+% of the vote, raised over $4million, spent less than $1million, and he is the acknowledged King of Pork.

quote:
What do you get when you cross so-called “deficit hawk” Senator Richard Shelby and a $2.6 million North Alabama pork project? You get an empty tourist tram that traveled for 4 weekends – on a specially-built private road – between the US Space & Rocket Center and the Huntsville Botanical Gardens. The tram’s “trial run” consisted of 3 trips/day for a total of 8 days – that’s $325,000 per trip. We can’t break the cost out by passenger because nobody from LIA ever saw anyone ride.

This project required construction of a private, landscaped, mile-long road between the space museum and the gardens. Shelby earmarked federal transportation tax dollars to build a road the public isn’t allowed to drive on, ostensibly to avoid “tourist congestion” on a public road that isn’t congested on weekend days (when most tourists visit either attraction.)
quote:
You want to repeal the healthcare bill? Fine (though I doubt it will happen). Now what, specifically, are you going to replace it with? How will you broaden health coverage to the millions now without it? How will you make it affordable? What steps will you take to ensure a person with a so-called pre-existing condition can get medical care for cancer or heart disease? What will you do to make the insurance companies stop putting profits before human lives?

What's the plan, specifically, to create jobs? The conservatives and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce seem to think sending all our jobs overseas is a great idea. (Wonder if they'd still feel that way if their jobs were outsourced.) They say we can't compete globally without allowing our jobs to keep leaving this country. Okay, so what steps will the new conservatives put into place to replace the jobs we've lost?


Buttercup,

I can't comment on what marksw was saying. It was just a series of platitudes from which I could decipher no concrete points.

As to your questions, and the appriopriate solutions, I don't anticipate this Congress, or any Congress, will successfully solve the problems. Specifically, healthcare and job creation will not be solved with more legislation. They could only be solved if government took the most minimal of oversight and let those markets work based on consumer demands. The problem is that politicians don't want to do that, and most people don't have enough confidence if free enterprise to elect politicians who would enact policies that support market-based solutions. People lack confidence in free enterprise because virtually everyone alive has grown up in a world where the right has praised free enterprise and capitalism, but enacted corporatist policies, so people are naturally skeptical of true free markets. The left is no better on this issue, but is a little more upfront about their desire to interfere in the economy. What we're left with is two parties, neither of which possess the will or ability to fix our problems.
quote:
Originally posted by dolemitejb:
The problem is that politicians don't want to do that, and most people don't have enough confidence if free enterprise to elect politicians who would enact policies that support market-based solutions. People lack confidence in free enterprise because virtually everyone alive has grown up in a world where the right has praised free enterprise and capitalism, but enacted corporatist policies, so people are naturally skeptical of true free markets.


What you say is true, especially about the politicians...I'm not so sure about the "skeptical" part. I think it's a lack of knowledge of what the "free market" is...

Republicans interfere in the economy and call it capitalism...Democrats denounce "the free markets" and propose their own interference.

We really have no example of "free markets" in modern day America.

Maybe that's what you meant...anyway I agree.
quote:
Originally posted by dolemitejb:
quote:
You want to repeal the healthcare bill? Fine (though I doubt it will happen). Now what, specifically, are you going to replace it with? How will you broaden health coverage to the millions now without it? How will you make it affordable? What steps will you take to ensure a person with a so-called pre-existing condition can get medical care for cancer or heart disease? What will you do to make the insurance companies stop putting profits before human lives?

What's the plan, specifically, to create jobs? The conservatives and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce seem to think sending all our jobs overseas is a great idea. (Wonder if they'd still feel that way if their jobs were outsourced.) They say we can't compete globally without allowing our jobs to keep leaving this country. Okay, so what steps will the new conservatives put into place to replace the jobs we've lost?


Buttercup,

I can't comment on what marksw was saying. It was just a series of platitudes from which I could decipher no concrete points.

As to your questions, and the appriopriate solutions, I don't anticipate this Congress, or any Congress, will successfully solve the problems. Specifically, healthcare and job creation will not be solved with more legislation. They could only be solved if government took the most minimal of oversight and let those markets work based on consumer demands. The problem is that politicians don't want to do that, and most people don't have enough confidence if free enterprise to elect politicians who would enact policies that support market-based solutions. People lack confidence in free enterprise because virtually everyone alive has grown up in a world where the right has praised free enterprise and capitalism, but enacted corporatist policies, so people are naturally skeptical of true free markets. The left is no better on this issue, but is a little more upfront about their desire to interfere in the economy. What we're left with is two parties, neither of which possess the will or ability to fix our problems.


Excellent posts, dolemitejb and Renegade, and refreshingly honest ones.

Maybe you're right, dolemitejb. The problem is people like me are skeptical of 100% market-based solutions because we've seen so much manipulation of the free market over the years.

I can only speak for myself when I say I don't want the government making decisions about my life, but I don't want corporations influencing decisions that concern me either.

I've worked for a couple of Fortune 500 companies - one in HR and one at corporate headquarters - and got close enough to see how they mistreat employees in the name of profits. So I think that's how I've become so cynical where corporate America is concerned.

But I'm willing to give anyone or any idea a chance at this point. So if someone comes along and shows me how free markets are suppose to work, I'm for it.

I compare trusting the free market to sending my son to camp (for a few days earlier this week). I knew on the surface it was a good idea because he's 11 and, as an only child, I knew he needed the autonomy. But I was scared because I knew they were planning to go canoeing at some point, and hiking at night. I had so many questions: Would he fall out of the canoe, into the cold water? Would the kids get lost in the woods at night? I finally had to just pack his bag, say goodbye, and trust that he'd be okay. He came back unharmed, had the time of his life, but was very tired. I should learn to trust more often, I suppose. Smiler
quote:
I'm not so sure about the "skeptical" part. I think it's a lack of knowledge of what the "free market" is...


I may have used the wrong word. What I mean is that the average person, through no real fault of their own, has a distorted view of free markets. Their standard examples of free market failures are almost always government failures. I.E. "We can't trust Wall Street in a free market. Look at what they just did." In reality, what they just did was took massive gambles with private wealth, knowing the government safety net was always there. If you remove the government from the equation, it would have played out differently.

quote:
The problem is people like me are skeptical of 100% market-based solutions because we've seen so much manipulation of the free market over the years.


It is extremely hard to point to market failures where government intervention didn't play a major role. Banking and health care are two areas that receive much scrutiny these days. Neither are manipulated by the market, but by the government. I admit, true free markets can sound scary because they are so removed from where we are now, but I have no reason to believe they wouldn't work.
Ask Greenspan. He felt confident that no regulatory intervention was needed in the CDO markets as the bankers would not risk the well-being of their companies just for profits.

quote:
...a humbled Mr. Greenspan admitted that he had put too much faith in the self-correcting power of free markets and had failed to anticipate the self-destructive power of wanton mortgage lending.

“Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholders’ equity, myself included, are in a state of shocked disbelief,” he told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
quote:
Originally posted by dolemitejb:

Buttercup,

I can't comment on what marksw was saying. It was just a series of platitudes from which I could decipher no concrete points.


I was simply making a statement that if you boil it down is this: "Listen up Republicans, we're mad as hell and NOT going to take it anymore. You will govern as expected or lose your position. We will consent to be governed, NOT ruled by Republicans OR Democrats."

I was offering no solutions, or policy suggestions, I was venting.
Buttercup,

quote:
because after the "shellacking" comes the real work.


Very true. There will be no resting on the laurels.

quote:
You want to repeal the healthcare bill? Fine (though I doubt it will happen). Now what, specifically, are you going to replace it with? How will you broaden health coverage to the millions now without it? How will you make it affordable? What steps will you take to ensure a person with a so-called pre-existing condition can get medical care for cancer or heart disease? What will you do to make the insurance companies stop putting profits before human lives?


It can't be repealed as long as Obama is in office but it won't do much harm without any operating money. The best way to offer insurance to more people is to put them to work. Government does NOT create jobs. The Republicans had some answers to your questions but they were never considered. Insurance and tort reform will be the first steps along with allowing insurance competition across state lines.

quote:
What's the plan, specifically, to create jobs? The conservatives and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce seem to think sending all our jobs overseas is a great idea.


The plan is to get government meddling out of the way so business can create the real jobs. The goal of any business is to make money. To make more money you will need to create more jobs.

quote:
Obama hasn't done a good job. He just wasn't ready to be president


That's what happens when you elect a guy with no executive experience just because he sounds good and you didn't like the last guy.

quote:
Obama was elected, in large part, due to the conservatives' failings. The Republicans had their chance, did nothing, and the people spoke with their votes when Obama was elected.


I almost agree with you except it wasn't the conservatives it was the liberal republicans. Some of those got the boot too.

quote:
But if this new conservative movement does nothing, guess what's going to happen in two years? The pendulum will (predictably) swing back again.


You are absolutely correct.

quote:
So, again, now comes the hard part. What, specifically, are the new conservatives going to do about the issues Americans are facing?


It's really not that hard. STOP the spending, stop the effects of the healthcare bill, stop the taxes, stop the cap and trade talk. See a trend here? Stop the government meddling and let capitalism do it's job.

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