"I WAS AFRAID THIS WOULD HAPPEN" was the first message screamed to me in all caps re the Dem victory in NY's 26th Congressional open House seat election this past Tuesday. As we all know by now this district is as conservative Republican as they come - it has been many decades since a Dem was last elected to the House there & the Republican winner last November won with 74% of the vote - the special election was required after he was forced to resign because of embarrassing e-mails & photographs. The election reversal was obviously due to the success of the Dems' attack ads on the Republican candidate's support & meager defense of Paul Ryan's Medicare reform plan & the Republican party's total inability to be prepared to address it either reactively or proactively.
With no change in position or strategy Republicans are sitting dead ducks in November 2012 & beyond until all of the welfare-entitlement programs totally collapse.
"What to do?" was the next most popular response received & one of the most thoughtful senior citizen subscribers to ReturnToExcellence.net offers the following identification of the problem: "Doug - How can we get seniors to realize that by rejecting the proposed reforms to SS & Medicare they will lose it all? I rely on my SS check each month but I understand that if nothing is done, it will not be there in 3, 4 or 5 years. The right reform needs to be done to these programs if that is to be avoided. The message must be depoliticized and made clear to seniors so they can stop falling for the scare tactics that are being used in Congress. The message has to be made in clear language that even the least literate person can understand. I know from personal experience that many of them don't have the ability to grasp all the intricacies of government programs. It is not going to be easy to convince them, but it must be done."
Demagogues showing TV advertisements of grandma being pushed off a cliff from her wheelchair by a figure who looks like Paul Ryan vividly shows what Republicans are facing. Too bad too many of the old guard establishment Republicans will run for the hills also making correction of this problem all the more difficult until we only have such a very few defenders of liberty left that they will be too few to stop the country from going over the cliff.
Please make no mistake about it the Ryan Medicare reform plan is too weak - it largely matches ObamaCare's theoretical Medicare cuts (if they really happen) the next ten years before switching to the 'premium support' feature of the Ryan plan for all new enrollees currently younger than 55. For everyone over 55 there is no difference between the amount of money the House Republicans voted to spend on Medicare under the Ryan plan & the amount that the Dems who supported ObamaCare voted to spend in 2010. Source Thomas Savings & John Goodman. The difference in reaction is purely political.
My own analysis of the problem is that all of the entitlement programs are growing faster than CPI inflation & if we could just reign them in to the CPI rate of growth we would solve our problems - this is all you really need to know.
With re to the response of granny gremlin being thrown off a cliff Peter Douglas offers the best answer - "(Republicans)... better be prepared to make arguments that tug @ emotions & use images that are as stark as grandma plunging off a cliff. Show a grandchild growing up & then being denied life-saving medical care in 2031 because the nation is broke. Show a framed dollar bill hanging on a wall in the year 2025 as a relic from America's past, before the dollar collapsed & international lenders demanded a new currency & a strict austerity plan. Show a roomful of Democratic pols smoking Cuban cigars & joking about how easy it is to dupe grandma with simple scaremongering, & how her children & grandchildren will be working much of their lives for the greater good of the state."
For all of our sakes this had better play out as our two brave senior citizens & Peter Douglas present. The stakes are extremely high for our young Republic (& the world whether they know it or not). If we are successful on this front we have a chance to return to excellence & reinstate our glorious Constitution that has been waiting for our return since the 1930s if even not before.
Republicans know what they are up against, they have to be out in the lead, say it first instead of responding all the time. Take the lead - they have to get out of the ditch.
ReplyDeleteVery well written. I could not do better myself - you have a good command of words. Now my question - what would you do in this situation? Send out your own reply letter to your members telling them you are running for office. Like in horse racing - long shots do win.
ReplyDeleteRe: NY -26 and Republican’s poor response to Democrats Medicare myths
ReplyDeleteDoug – both responses are spot on. Conservatives and capitalists must do a much better job in passionately explaining their positions and immediately rebutting the Left’s myths and lies. I would like to add to this perspective.
Political landscape:
Two core factors have altered the political landscape where now a stunning 59% rely on Federal transfer payments at least in part, for income.
(1) Largely Democrat but also many complacent Republicans expanded the role of Government in social policy and income redistribution
(2) Democrat immigration policy, along with Republican weak resistance, has added many more –some legal, some not, to a reliance on Government.
The Left’s Passion:
The Left for decades, with great persistence, has been pursuing a policy to destroy American capitalism and to increase citizen reliance on Big Government. We now have a Nanny state where 48% pay no taxes and 59% receive some income from the Government. How can conservatives and capitalists ( CC ) operate politically long term in such an environment? They made gains in 2010 but 2012 will be much tougher.
How the Republicans lost the 2008 Presidential election:
Recall that McCain had a slight lead until the first TARP vote. That vote failed. However, before the vote, Nancy Pelosi blamed the economic mess on Bush and Republican economic policies. This was a lie! Root causes included government interference with the housing market, mandating that banks and Freddie/Fannie approve mortgages to those with extremely weak credentials. Community organizers protested on bank CEO home lawns calling them racist if they did not lower standards. HUD secretary Cuomo mandated that at least 50% of Fannie/Freddie business be subprime. Barney Frank resisted numerous requests to rein in highly leveraged Fannie/Freddie. Then Barney Frank stated both were strong and stable in July 2008, freezing many investors; Freddie/Fannie collapsed two months later. Visit my blog for more details - http://economics501.wordpress.com/2010/12/ - ‘Root Cause of 2008-09 Great Recession.
Incredibly, no major Republican countered Pelosi, either a Socialist or an economic dunce but a shrewd politician. Where was Bush to counter with the facts, or McCain, Palin, any major Congress person , even Romney – with his venture capital experience? The Left, for the majority of time, has been more passionate that the Right over the past few decades.
What to do now?
We must immediately rebut all myths espoused by the Left. We must also anticipate their responses and beat them to the punch. We must not just be proactive; we must be preemptive. The Left historically has been more passionate that us. The Left for the most part still controls the media but their grip is loosening thanks to Fox News and internet blogs. Right now we need Paul Ryan to detail on a daily basis if needed, not only aspects of his Medicare plan, but also honest facts about Medicare solvency.
Doug - Here is another prespective, same topic - how we do not sufficiently challenge the Left. After watching John Stossel special last night on Fox News with topic of what Think Tank has the best solution to our budget woes, I was amazed that John missed 3 critical myths the Left continuosly expands on:
ReplyDeleteJohn Stossel - May 28, 2011 - Fox News Special: Best plans to address US budget woes
The Heritage Group ‘won’ a vote from an John’s audience while considering budget plans from a bi partisan think tank, another conservative think tank American Enterprise group, and a liberal think tank. The main point I want to make is that although John did a fairly good job in challenging all think tank policies he did not challenge the following 3 critical ones:
1 – Liberal group’s drive to Repeal the Bush Tax cuts to save $4 trillion in 10 years:
This is totally false. Treasury Dept statistics indicate that tax revenues increased by 30% from 2003 – 2007. Whenever the tax base is decreased long term the US economy responds well and grows enough to generate more treasury revenues than prior to the tax cuts. For more evidence, go to Treasury Dept statistics for the Kennedy, Reagan tax cuts and also Clinton’s 1997 capital gains tax cuts. Why did not Stossel quickly refute the liberal think tank assertion with these facts. The myth that tax cuts depress Treasury revenues is rampant in the liberal media and with Democrats. Some may be ignorant but others may actually know the truth but since it is against their anti capitalist agenda, they lie!
Obama has consistently gotten away with this myth. Obama has left himself wide open many, many times with this myth when he makes the following point: (not a quote but close) – Under the Bush Tax cuts the rich have gotten richer, their income have gone up much more than the middle class. Yes – exactly 100% true – and the extra income added substantially to Treasury coffers! Why no Republican challenges Obama with pure simple facts is incredulous. One other interesting fact: The NY Times reported in 1996 that Treasury revenues were increasing faster than expected and referred to the Bush Tax cuts as a factor. I will try to find this article. Must have been not caught by the NY Times editors / sr. Mgt.
2 - Liberal Think Tank stated that the economy prospered very well in the 90’s without the Bush Tax cuts and thus stated we should go back. Nonsence! There is one very, very significant difference between the 90’s and 2011: US government (federal, local, state) is now 44% of GDP, up from 35%. That is why we cannot go back to Clinton era tax rates and expect positive economic growth. 44% of GDP to public sector crowds out private enterprise, the only true long term jobs producer. Again Stossel blew it.
3 – Bob Beckel – one of the 3 panel moderators stated at least twice when praising the liberal think tank that the free markets caused the 2008 economic debacle. Again go to my blog http://economics501.wordpress.com/2010/12/ for the root cause of the 2008-09 Great Recession. Stossel did not touch this.
Conservatives and Capitalists must do a better job in addressing these myths – before we have a 100% Socialist US.
My comments:
sorry I had a type -- 1996 actually is 2006 corrected below:
ReplyDeleteThe Heritage Group ‘won’ a vote from John’s audience while considering budget plans from a bi partisan think tank, another conservative think tank American Enterprise group, and a liberal think tank. The main point I want to make is that although John did a fairly good job in challenging all think tank policies he did not challenge the following few critical ones:
1 – Liberal group’s drive to Repeal the Bush Tax cuts to save $4 trillion in 10 years:
This is totally false. Treasury Dept statistics indicate that tax revenues increased by 30% from 2003 – 2007. Whenever the tax base is decreased long term the US economy responds well and grows enough to generate more Treasury revenues than prior to the tax cuts. For more evidence, go to Treasury Dept statistics for the Kennedy, Reagan tax cuts and also Clinton’s 1997 capital gains tax cuts. Why did not Stossel quickly refute the liberal think tank assertion with these facts. The myth that tax cuts depress Treasury revenues is rampant in the liberal media and with Democrats. Some may be ignorant but others may actually know the truth but since it is against their anti capitalist agenda, they lie!
Obama has consistently gotten away with this myth. Obama has left himself wide open many, many times with this myth when he makes the following point: (not a quote but close) – Under the Bush Tax cuts the rich have gotten richer, their incomes have gone up much more than the middle class. Yes – exactly 100% true – and the extra income added substantially to Treasury coffers! Why no Republican challenges Obama with pure simple facts is incredulous. One other interesting fact: The NY Times reported in 2006 that Treasury revenues will increasing faster than expected and referred to the Bush Tax cuts as a factor. I will try to find this article. Must have been not caught by the NY Times editors / dr. Mgt.
2 - Liberal Think Tank stated that the economy prospered very well in the 90’s without the Bush Tax cuts and thus stated we should go back. Nonsense! There is one very, very significant difference between the 90’s and 2011: US government (federal, local, state) is now 44% of GDP, up from 35%. That is why we cannot go back to Clinton era tax rates and expect positive economic growth. 44% of GDP to public sector crowds out private enterprise, the only true long term jobs producer. Again Stossel blew it.
3 – Bob Beckel – one of the 3 judges stated at least twice when praising the liberal think tank that the free markets caused the 2008 economic debacle. Again go to my blog http://economics501.wordpress.com/2010/12/ for the root cause of the 2008-09 Great Recession. Stossel did not touch this.
Conservatives and Capitalists must do a better job in addressing these myths – before we have a 100% Socialist US.