- Reduce taxes
- More military spending
- Privatize everything - especially entitlements
In the past they've been able to sell a lot of the 99% on these things through fear - especially when it comes to their culture war. That's one of the reasons this election was such a big deal. The country is changing and those cultural issues don't work anymore. All of those things - including the Southern Strategy, marriage equality, women's reproductive rights, demonization of immigrants, Islamophobia - were taken off the table.
So now they're left with having to openly defend those 3 basic goals the cultural issues were meant to obfuscate.
The last fear tactic left standing is their attempt to claim that they care about the federal deficit. Even with data like this, too many people still buy that lie.
All of that...every single one of those issues...is going to be on the table as Democrats and Republicans work out a deal on what has been described as the "fiscal cliff." The first thing for Americans to recognize is that it has been the balanced approach of Democrats that has been proven effective in reducing our debt.
Beyond that, the way the Democrats have set up the negotiations means that those three primary issues up top are going to be in competition with one another. The Republicans can go for broke on all of them - and lose everything. Or they can compromise on all of them. Or they can pick one and fight for it at the expense of the other two.
I'd suggest that privatizing the entitlements is off the table at this point. So that leaves the other two - taxes and military spending - to fight it out.
It's crunch time for Republicans. Their agenda is being laid bare and is on the blocks. Grab the popcorn and watch the show brought to you by the superior negotiating of the Democrats.
This is brilliant, Smartypants. Thank you for your ongoing effort to keep it all in perspective and outline the plans on both sides. The President has demonstrated unequivocally that he has the ability to side-step the media noise and go directly to the people to build his case against every aspect of the GOP agenda.
ReplyDeleteI don't like popcorn, but salted peanuts work just as well.
If you are going to spew all over the Right, I would appreciate it if you would at least get your facts straight. You can’t “expose” anything with a bunch of lies!
ReplyDeleteFederal debt: The chart that you used is both factually wrong and out of date. That chart is only through April of 2011, over 18 months ago. It is comparing 8 years under Bush to just 27 months under Obama. Obama is now over 53% increase as of today...after just 3 years and 10 months in office. Secondly, the debt increased by 89% under Bush, not 115% as shown on that chart. Look at the 5th column on the chart at this link: http://www.skymachines.com/US-National-Debt-Per-Capita-Percent-of-GDP-and-by-Presidental-Term.htm. Consider that 9/11 happened just after Bush became president; we went to war; AND he happened to be the “lame duck” as a result of illegal lending under Clinton, so Bush was forced to sign the bail out which, Obama lobbied for as the newly elected, incoming president.
Furthermore, the actual $$ amount of the Federal debt has increased more under Obama than under any other president in history. In fact, it took Obama only 3 years and 10 months to increase the debt by $5.6 trillion. For comparison, the debt increase by $4.8 trillion under Bush...in 8 years. (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57400369-503544/national-debt-has-increased-more-under-obama-than-under-bush/). When Bush took office the debt was $5.7 Trillion. When he left it was $10.6. The debt has now topped $16.2 trillion and is projected to go to $20 million by the end of Obama's second term. There is no disputing the FACT that the Federal debt has increased more under Obama than under any other president in history. Your argument that the debt has not gone up under Obama is completely inaccurate, or as some would call it….a lie!
Smaller federal government: It has been shown time and time again that many of the servicers that the Federal government tries to provide are more efficiently provided by state and local governments, or by private entities. The deeper argument is whether or not the Federal government should even be trying to provide these services in the first place. The Constitution does not describe the government's role that way.
Gay marriage: the Left makes it about "equality" and "tolerance". The Right makes it about "family values". No one is actually trying to stop someone from being gay...the Right is just against calling them a "family" and giving them the rights that come with marriage, as biblically defined.
Abortion: The Left makes it about "old men trying to control women's reproductive rights" and "freedom of choice" and a "fetus". The Right makes it about "killing babies" and the "right to life" for a "developing child". I don't recall ever hearing a Republican speak about limiting a woman’s right to choose to get pregnant or her right to decide to reproduce. It's after that happens where the disagreement starts. The Left either believes that a fetus is not a "living being", or they just don't care. Again, no one is willing to stand up and say that the promiscuous lifestyle that precedes the perceived need for the vast majorities of abortions is sinful.
Both of those issues are merely symptoms of the greatest issue our nation faces, and that is our turning away from believing in and trusting God and choosing a sinful lifestyle. The Left cries for tolerance while simultaneously labeling the Right as intolerant. The Right typically no longer stands up for what we really believe because of people like you who label us as intolerant. When, really, we are just standing firm on the same principles that this country was founded upon.