Today's Republican party seems to have one motivation - win. It doesn't matter who they have to scare, what misinformation they have to spread, or what formerly held ideas they have to abandon to make this happen. They just want to win seats and then stack the deck so that they can win more seats in the future.
This is a massive shift away from the Republican party of latter days. Consider some of the ideas that are being challenged by today's Republican legislators.
Today - Wisconsin Governor Republican Scott Walker with the help of the Republican controlled congress has taken on unions and eliminated their collective bargaining rights.
In the Past - Ronald Reagan was the President of the Screen Actors Guild and had this to say about unions:
“Collective bargaining in the years since has played a major role in America’s economic miracle. Unions represent some of the freest institutions in this land. There are few finer examples of participatory democracy to be found anywhere. Too often, discussion about the labor movement concentrates on disputes, corruption, and strikes. But while these things are headlines, there are thousands of good agreements reached and put into practice every year without a hitch.”
Today - Republicans say the rich are taxed too much and that increasing taxes will hurt job creation.
In the Past - John McCain made the following statements long before he twice voted against the Bush tax cuts:
“I don’t think the governor’s tax cut is too big — it’s just misplaced. Sixty percent of the benefits from his tax cuts go to the wealthiest 10% of Americans — and that’s not the kind of tax relief that Americans need. … Gov. Bush wants to spend the entire surplus on tax cuts. I don’t believe the wealthiest 10% of Americans should get 60% of the tax breaks. I think the lowest 10% should get the breaks. …
“I’m not giving tax cuts for the rich.”
Today - Republican legislators insist that tax cuts will lead to the new jobs and economic growth that the US so desperately needs right now.
In the Past - William Gale of the Brookings institute and former economic advisor to George H. W. Bush stated:
Last June, President George W. Bush signed the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA). This policy brief provides an assessment of the tax cut. Our findings suggest that EGTRRA will reduce the size of the future economy, raise interest rates, make taxes more regressive, increase tax complexity, and prove fiscally unsustainable. These conclusions question the wisdom and affordability of the tax cut and suggest that Congress reconsider the legislation, especially in light of the economic downturn and terrorist attacks that have occurred since last summer.
And He says there's no evidence tax cuts do much to affect economic growth.
Today - Republican legislators have turned against the very fiscal policies that they supported in the past.
In the Past - As David Frum, former economic speechwriter for George W. Bush explains:
It used to be that the dividing line was clear.
Liberals favored active government measures: government spending to fight recessions, tax increases to curtail inflation.
Conservatives by contrast preferred monetary instruments: raise interest rights to stop inflation, loosen money during recessions. ....
Instead, many conservatives have changed their minds. They have turned against quantitative easing. They call for tighter money -- not to battle inflation (there isn't any) but they think the value of the dollar is best measured against the price of some selection of commodities, especially gold, silver and oil. ....
Yet there are only two policy levers, fiscal and monetary, and if you refuse to pull either, you are condemned to do nothing except wait for the economy to improve on its own.
That's left some of us a little isolated. More importantly, it has left conservatives with little useful to say about the greatest economic challenges of our time.
Today - The individual mandate is unconstitutional and proof of the socialist agenda from the left.
In the Past - The individual mandate was the brain child of the conservative Heritage foundation (as evidenced in their quote below) and supported by many Republican legislators including Newt Gingrich.
"[N]either the federal government nor any state requires all households to protect themselves from the potentially catastrophic costs of a serious accident or illness. Under the Heritage plan, there would be such a requirement..."
Today - Some Republican Legislators say social security is a Ponzi scheme that should be eliminated.
In the Past - Long time conservative columnist Charles Krauthhammer recently said:
"Of course it's a Ponzi scheme. So what? It's also the most vital, humane and fixable of all social programs."
Today - Republicans say tax cuts pay for themselves.
In the Past - Bruce Bartlett who worked for both Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush said:
"The truth is that the Reagan tax cut never came close to paying for itself, but neither was it expected to lose as much revenue as it did. And while it was highly stimulative, that is only because the economic and financial circumstances of the time made it so. Reenacting some version of the Reagan tax cut under today’s economic conditions would not bring about similar results."
The reality is that today's Republicans are more easily recognized for what they are against than what the stand for and they plan to use obstruction policies at the detriment of the American public and then ride the simpleton mentality of "anybody but" voting back to power.
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