The Perfect Idea for the GOP in New Jersey
Paul Mulshine has finally come upon the perfect solution for the New Jersey Republican Party and this paragraph sums it up:
“It’s official. The time has come. It’s time for the New Jersey Republican Party to go out of business and let some other party pretend to provide opposition to the Democrats.”
I was going to condense portions of his op/ed, but this is one that has to be read in its entirety to understand just how stupid the leadership of the Repubic Party is in New Jersey. But just to give you an idea of how another person feels about it, this is a quote from Rick Merkt:
“I’m embarrassed for my party if this the best they can do,” said Assemblyman Rick Merkt of Morris County when I phoned him and read him that proposed amendment. “Truly, I’m embarrassed.”
So, please spend a little time and read this excellent article:
Why the Republican Party in New Jersey should just give up
Kind of makes you wonder if the damn thing is worth saving.
“The problem with political jokes is they get elected”. Henry Cate VII
The other day, USA Today posted an editorial that the GOP needs to be more pragmatic and bipartisan. See: http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/10/debate-on-politics-our-view-pragmatic-2010-candidates-offer-seeds-of-a-gop-revival.html
This is an extremely foolish point of view. It is tantamount to saying that good should meet bad halfway or that if your are having difficulty doing what is right, maybe doing a little wrong would help your case.
Chris Chocola from the Club for Growth offered a response. See: http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/10/opposing-view-gop-offers-clear-alternative.html
In it, he correctly makes the following points:
1) Republicans win when they campaign and govern as conservatives.
2) In light of the democrats refusal to work with the Republicans, the Republicans are doing the only sensible thing by offering the public a clear alternative on each issue.
3) Politics is about the battle of ideas and choices. Democrats did not win the majority in Congress or the White House by compromising. They did not oust the Republicans by helping them pass an agenda they did not agree with. They did not come into power by following advice to be more bipartisan. They did what the Republicans must now do to have any chance of gaining a sustainable majority and advancing their ideas. They fought for what they believed in.
4) Republicans win when they campaign and govern as conservatives. That is what people expect out of them. When Republicans compromised their traditional beliefs and failed to deliver on reform and fiscal responsibility, they lost the trust of the voters.
He finishes by pointing out that “if the American people really wanted Republicans to compromise, be moderate and be bipartisan, John McCain would be president of the United States.”
October 19th, 2009 at 2:17 pmGood comment, Di Marco.
The editorial states:
“We’ve long argued that the nation is best served by two ideologically diverse parties with moderate elements. ”
Yet they endose the moderates who blur the distinctions between the two parties, not the more ideologically pure members of the parties who are the only ones who can bring any “diversity” to the debate. They are not endorsing Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck (I wish there were Republican elected leaders I could cite, but alas, I cannot); rather, they endorse Kirk from Illinois and Castle from Delaware. So much for diversity.
You do not mix food with poison. This is true whether the food is for your stomach or for your mind. The problem with what the Democrats have offered us is that it is poison. The problem with Republican alternatives is that they generally seek only a milder dose of the poison. When confronted with the choice of strong poison or weak poison, the only plausible survival strategy is to “just say no” – just as I argued in a post on CWA 5 days before Obama was inaugurated:
http://www.gopusanj.com/wordpress/?p=4082
The Democrats seek biparitsanship only so that they can have cover in order to blame Republicans for failures. If the Democrats were not offering poison, why would they not welcome the opportunity to pass their agenda without Republican help, and then take all of the credit? The answer is obvious.
The same logic applies to moderates like Chris Christie – who will be made into New Jersey’s Herbert Hoover (or George W. Bush) by Democrats if he is elected.
October 19th, 2009 at 2:39 pmAnyone with just a course Accounting 101 can solve this problem. Just cap the taxes as the article suggests and require the legislature to work within that limited budget. The money pool that the article discusses can be an interim measure to help smooth the transition into fiscal responsibility.
The problem is that the two parties continue to nominate candidates who have no intention of ratifying these common sense measures. So all of the ideals in the world are useless with this bunch of candidates.
I’ve watched this nonsense go from bad in the 1960’s to impossible in this election year.
That is why I say that the only solution is to break the two party monopoly by steering voters to a third party, regardless of ideology. Once the status-quo deadlock is broken, then we will be able to deal with real leaders who we can work with.
As a lifelong (former) Republican, I can now proclaim that the “Old Party” is senile and is ready for burial. It is no longer a good home for a dedicated Bible Believing Constitutional Originalist.
– Gene
“There is a time to live, and a time to die”
October 19th, 2009 at 6:56 pm