Plan B Forum

• There is a way for the republican party to rebuild itself, but it will take work at both the top and the bottom.
  
  Philosophically, the party has gone down the wrong tunnel. There's no cheese down here, only starving rats.
  
  The party was hijacked years ago by the Birch Society. It got into bed with the racists and the evangelical-imposters. It sold itself to the robber-barons and the NRA. The result was a bluster-fuck of contradictory positions that perverted the very promises they campaigned on.
  
  But, as others have pointed out, a large part of the blame falls on the shoulders of Goldwater, Buckley, and Milton Friedman -- all of whom bear responsibility for redefining conservatism as a selfish, self-entitled, betrayal of the essential commitment to the American dream.
  
  Now, no one has asked me how to fix the Republican party, but I would suggest going back to the principles of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Dwight David Eisenhower: a government of the people, by the people, and for the people -- and accountable to the people.
  
  Philosophically, conservatism should be about conserving the best of the past as well as conserving the best possibilities of the future. Conservatism should recognize that the nation is evolving and that we need to create a vision of the future that recognizes that evolution. In that regard, conservatives and liberals are on the same side -- liberals want to move fast, conservatives want to move carefully.
  
  Next, conservatives have to abandon the idea that the purpose of a corporation is solely to make money for the shareholders. That is the definition of a parasitic organism. The purpose of a corporation is to provide a service to the customers and the community. The better the corporation is at providing service, the better its relations will be with the customers and the community, and the more stable and enduring it will be for the long run. Short term profit is self-defeating. Enron proved that.
  
  Finally, conservatives need to recognize that economic growth begins with investment in research and development. Research into space created thousands of new industries and millions of new jobs. Research into energy is creating new industries and new jobs. Research into just about any scientific endeavor will produce so much economic growth that it will return 50 cents on the dollar in tax revenue, so it's a bargain.
  
  But the economic growth has to be fairly distributed. When the working class has money, they spend it on goods and services. This creates a demand for goods and services -- and that creates more jobs. The money stays liquid for a long time before finally rising upward as profit.
  
  Tax reform? This is the one that conservatives are going to have to bite the bullet on. You want economic growth? Corporations and the wealthy will have to pay their fair share. (Reinstate the estate tax, for one -- to prevent wealth from accruing at an unholy rate.)
  
  Those who benefit the most from a healthy economy are obligated to support that economy in return. Otherwise, they're parasites.
  
  So, the party of personal responsibility is going to have to redefine itself philosophically.
  
  What has happened is that as the party has moved to the right, the democrats have claimed the center. And as the demographics continue to shift, it looks like the republicans are going to start losing a lot more than they will win.
  
  The only way for the republican party to recover -- at least, how I see it -- is for the party to reclaim the center. And that means taking back the issues and the principles and the programs that the democrats have claimed. They have to force the democrats back to the left.
  
  But they can't do it by getting more and more conservative -- because right now the party has become so extreme, they're in danger of falling off the edge of the flat earth.
  
  Is it possible for any of this to happen? I'd say there are only two chances. Fat and slim. Why? Because to change the course of a political institution, you have to create a conversation that others will align onto. Right now, that's impossible. Anyone in the party urging moderation gets purged, very quickly.
  
  And with the party staggering around with no real leaders -- with the party leadership fractured like a broken funhouse mirror -- with no compelling voices -- with no possibility of recovery from the looming disaster -- and with very little possibility of introspection -- the party is going to be at war with itself for a long time. And right now, based on the evidence, the party seems to be in a trap where it will continue to be victimized by the loudest voices in the room. And in particular, by whoever can suck the most oxygen out of the room.
  
  For the party to change, it needs a leader who can be compelling and charismatic, but at the same time can create a conversation of thoughtful insight and advocacy for programs that actually address the needs of the nation, someone who can gently lead the members of the party away from the edge of the chasm and back to a more rational approach to national politics.
  
  I will add this last thought -- it will not happen until the party can remove the hands of the Koch brothers from the steering wheel. It will not happen while Fox News continues to function as a propaganda outlet. And it will not happen while "conservative" voices dominate the airwaves, drowning out the pragmatic discussions of the issues that the nation has to face. It cannot happen while the unholy alliance of religion and politics continues to dominate the party's grass roots game.
  
  So it will not happen. Not in the foreseeable future. Not until the current generation dies out -- and then perhaps not even then, because if they're training their own replacements ....
  
  So, while recovery is possible, it remains improbable.
  
  IMHO.

Right Turn | Opinion
Why Pence is worst of all
By Jennifer Rubin October 10

Republican vice-presidential nominee Mike Pence described Donald Trump as a “genuine article,” “a do-er” and a man who “tells it like it is,” during a campaign event in Rossford, Ohio, on Friday. (The Washington Post)

We have seen the Republican grown-ups who should know better — House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, especially — lose their intellectual and moral center, confusing party loyalty with honor. Pols such as Ryan and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) knew enough to express horror at Donald Trump’s boasts about sexual assault — or pretend to be horrified. But they remain in Trump’s camp. A wanna be sexual predator is fit for the presidency. That’s what they are saying. They are not mentally unhinged narcissists, they are simply men of weak character and exceptional hypocrisy.

But next to Trump, there is no more reprehensible creature in all this than Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. He’d like us to think he is a devout Christian. He nevertheless lies over and over again when Trump’s words are read back to him. Today he defends Trump’s slimy attacks on Bill Clinton, the nadir of presidential politics. He insists Martha Raddatz mischaracterized his Syria remarks which Trump rebuked. That’s a lie, too.

Here is what she said:

He said provocations by Russia need to be met with American strength and that if Russia continues to be involved in airstrikes along with the Syrian government forces of Assad, the United States of America should be prepared to use military force to strike the military targets of the Assad regime.

Here is what Pence said:

But about Aleppo and about Syria, I truly do believe that what America ought to do right now is immediately establish safe zones, so that families and vulnerable families with children can move out of those areas, work with our Arab partners, real time, right now, to make that happen.

And secondly, I just have to tell you that the provocations by Russia need to be met with American strength. And if Russia chooses to be involved and continue, I should say, to be involved in this barbaric attack on civilians in Aleppo, the United States of America should be prepared to use military force to strike military targets of the Assad regime to prevent them from this humanitarian crisis that is taking place in Aleppo.

It’s not clear how she could have been any more accurate, Again, Pence is flat-out lying.

Pence responded, as did Ryan and others, with horror when Trump’s “Access Hollywood” video was revealed. He pointedly would not reaffirm his support for Trump over the weekend. He would not go to a rally on his behalf. But, believing Trump was not as awful as he might have been, Pence is back singing his praises today. He thinks Trump’s threat to put Hillary Clinton in jail was a debate highlight. This is a man of deep cynicism and defective character.

Pence should run as the GOP nominee in 2020. But center-right conservatives shouldn’t be in the GOP by then. They must and, we think, will walk away.

The GOP glorifies ignorance and dishonesty, touting Pence as a hero of some sort. He is not an unhinged ignoramus like Trump. No, Pence knows better and surely knows what he is doing. He had the power to walk away, putting a stake through Trump’s campaign and saving the GOP’s soul. He didn’t. He and the GOP deserve one another; center-right voters and the country deserve a new party.

Econoline wrote: Now, no one has asked me how to fix the Republican party,

• How to rebuild conservatism.
  
  I think it's possible.
  
  But first you simply have to abandon/ignore all of the pathology that has infected conservatism since WWII.
  
  Let's try this.
  
  The new conservatism will be based on a pragmatic reading of the evidence of history. We will look to the successes of the past for guidance to the future.
  
  The new conservative philosophy will have to be, "Build it from the bottom up." You don't start at the top and build down. First you create a foundation, a solid foundation that can support a solid structure.
  
  The history of America is a history of men and women with a vision of what's possible -- applying the hard work and determination to make it real.
  
  It's about labor. The nation is built on labor.
  
  The focused labor of millions built the ships and planes and resources that won WWII. The focused labor of hundreds of thousands built the Interstate Highway System. The focused labor of hundreds of thousands built the International Space Station. And each time labor rolled up its sleeves and went to work, the economy boomed.
  
  When labor thrives, the nation thrives. When the working class has money to spend, they spend it on goods and services -- this creates a demand for more goods and services and more jobs to produce those goods and services. The economy thrives.
  
  So, building it from the bottom -- the new conservatism has to invest in the economy where the results will be most immediate. This is pragmatism at work. This is the conservatism that Dwight David Eisenhower embodied.
  
  Eisenhower balanced four budgets out of eight, despite the Korean war. (Which he also ended.) Eisenhower left the nation's economy in better shape than he found it. Eisenhower started the space program, JFK expanded it. Eisenhower recognized that a healthy minimum wage, social security, and other programs that protected the middle class were essential to the health of the national economy.
  
  And because of that, the middle class thrived -- and voted republican. A healthy middle class is a conservative middle class.
  
  So the new conservatism has to be about restoring the strength of the middle class -- this not only helps the nation thrive, it restores the political strength of the republican party.
  
  That's where I would start.
  
  More on this later. Maybe.

rubato wrote:And that their entire legislative agenda is "if Obama is for it we're against it".

yrs,
rubato