The Biggest Loser: Moderation
With the collapse of John Boehner's Plan B proposal to raise taxes on millionaires, but shield the middle and lower class from the tax hikes of the Fiscal Cliff, Democrats are almost certainly celebrating their victory. [link]
But is it really the Democrats who won here? By voting against Boehner's proposal, they just helped the Tea Party utterly destroy the most moderate, principle-compromising reach-across-the-aisle since George H. W. Bush hiked taxes in 1990. John Boehner is utterly horrified. [link] But libertarians have reason to celebrate- they just took control of the Republican Party and stopped it from abandoning the last of its principles by trying to hit the moving target the Democrats call "compromise." Now the Democrat-controlled Senate and Obama must pass the Republicans' "Plan A" of no tax hikes on anyone, or deliberately send this country over the Fiscal Cliff.
Through the last two congressional elections, fiscally moderate Republicans have lost heavily. However, the Republican Liberty Caucus actually gained seats in both elections. [link] After this week's major loss for Boehner and his moderate wing, you can expect this trend to be amplified in the 2014 elections. Thanks to the Democrats' bargaining in bad-faith, the libertarians are successfully taking over the Republican Party, and transforming it in our image. If you thought Boehner's Republican Party was stubborn, wait until you see what happens when the Ron Paul Republicans take over.
So thanks, all you supporters of Democrats, for encouraging your party to refuse to work with the moderate Republicans. You've successfully radicalized the GOP. With the defeat of the Romneys and the Boehners of the party, you've given us libertarians exactly the opening we need to seize control. Over the next few years, you're going to be hearing a lot more talk about liberty, and those who believe in liberty don't compromise on it. Is that what you were hoping for?
But is it really the Democrats who won here? By voting against Boehner's proposal, they just helped the Tea Party utterly destroy the most moderate, principle-compromising reach-across-the-aisle since George H. W. Bush hiked taxes in 1990. John Boehner is utterly horrified. [link] But libertarians have reason to celebrate- they just took control of the Republican Party and stopped it from abandoning the last of its principles by trying to hit the moving target the Democrats call "compromise." Now the Democrat-controlled Senate and Obama must pass the Republicans' "Plan A" of no tax hikes on anyone, or deliberately send this country over the Fiscal Cliff.
Through the last two congressional elections, fiscally moderate Republicans have lost heavily. However, the Republican Liberty Caucus actually gained seats in both elections. [link] After this week's major loss for Boehner and his moderate wing, you can expect this trend to be amplified in the 2014 elections. Thanks to the Democrats' bargaining in bad-faith, the libertarians are successfully taking over the Republican Party, and transforming it in our image. If you thought Boehner's Republican Party was stubborn, wait until you see what happens when the Ron Paul Republicans take over.
So thanks, all you supporters of Democrats, for encouraging your party to refuse to work with the moderate Republicans. You've successfully radicalized the GOP. With the defeat of the Romneys and the Boehners of the party, you've given us libertarians exactly the opening we need to seize control. Over the next few years, you're going to be hearing a lot more talk about liberty, and those who believe in liberty don't compromise on it. Is that what you were hoping for?
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dude what are you even talking about
I'm saying the Democrats think they're beating the Republicans and destroying the political careers of all the right-wingers, but it's really only the moderates that are suffering in this environment. The Tea Party and the libertarian Republicans are getting stronger and more numerous in Congress.
Lefties believe that the Republican Party is done- that in 2016, the party will be a pushover, and in 2020, the party will be nonexistent. What they don't realize is that they're culling only the weaker members. When the Democrats refuse to compromise, they are unintentionally shaping the Republican Party up as exactly the thing they fear most- an extreme, uncompromising party that fields minority candidates and ignores social issues while promising greater economic freedom for everyone. The Republican Party is being reinvented in a way that will make it a powerful force in 2016.
Lefties believe that the Republican Party is done- that in 2016, the party will be a pushover, and in 2020, the party will be nonexistent. What they don't realize is that they're culling only the weaker members. When the Democrats refuse to compromise, they are unintentionally shaping the Republican Party up as exactly the thing they fear most- an extreme, uncompromising party that fields minority candidates and ignores social issues while promising greater economic freedom for everyone. The Republican Party is being reinvented in a way that will make it a powerful force in 2016.
By "lefties", you mean me. I said they were done nationally, not on a state-by-state basis.
"For some time, signs have indicated the Republican Party is shifting away from majority public opinion on key issues. They include taxes and spending."
Republican consultant and writer Craig Shirley told The Washington Post: "The national GOP is now simply a collection of warring tribal factions."
The collapse of Boehner's tax effort "weakens the entire Republican Party," said Rep. Steve LaTourette, R-Ohio, who is retiring after 18 years.
"It's the continuing dumbing down of the Republican Party," he said, "and we are going to be seen more and more as a bunch of extremists that can't even get a majority of our own people to support policies that we're putting forward. If you're not a governing majority, you're not going to be a majority very long."
-CHARLES BABINGTON
Yeah, there's your libertarians
More right to the right, nation be damned.
Nation be damned, indeed. That's the choice the voters made when they reelected Obama.
Nope.
The voters said they wanted tax reform and the reds are holding that back. 2014 is going to be a terrible year to be red if this continues.
The voters said they wanted tax reform and the reds are holding that back. 2014 is going to be a terrible year to be red if this continues.
Tax hikes are not tax reform. Romney offered tax reform. A revenue-neutral plan that would have increased economic growth.
Romney offered anyything depending on what the person asking wanted. Zero integrity.
And then all the Cookie Crisp will be yours!
i thought this would be about that show where fat people lose weight....i am now dissapointed.
This thread smells so much of sour grapes it makes my eyes water.
And by the way, you're really fooling yourself if you think the public will always believe the media spin absolving the Democrats of all of their crimes. No party in American history has ever gotten away with that forever.
Not residing in America, most 'media spin' passes me by.
Right, you're in the country with the left-wing spin of Reuters and the BBC.
The Beeb doesn't really give two hoots about the perceived crimes of either party - we have our own political shenanigans to worry about. I have actually noticed the BBC move to the right in the last couple of years, in line with its sponsors. 
You don't understand- NO LIBERTARIAN wanted Boehner's Plan B. The thought of Republicans bowing to Obama's pressure and actively passing a bill that they knew would hike taxes was cringe-worthy. The worst nightmare in this situation is to have Obama actually get what he wants, and be able to say "the Republicans voted for it."
If the Republicans had strong, liberty-minded leadership right now, that leadership would be passing bills that actually solve our nation's fiscal problems, and daring Obama to veto. Boehner is too pragmatic a leader to take that stance. He blinks in games of chicken. Obama knows that, and is willing to take advantage of that.
This incident may very well cost Boehner his speakership, and you can bet Paul Ryan and other more libertarian Republicans will be vying for his seat in January. And when they take the helm of the party and rally them against Obama, that's when this game will get interesting.
If the Republicans had strong, liberty-minded leadership right now, that leadership would be passing bills that actually solve our nation's fiscal problems, and daring Obama to veto. Boehner is too pragmatic a leader to take that stance. He blinks in games of chicken. Obama knows that, and is willing to take advantage of that.
This incident may very well cost Boehner his speakership, and you can bet Paul Ryan and other more libertarian Republicans will be vying for his seat in January. And when they take the helm of the party and rally them against Obama, that's when this game will get interesting.
Paul Ryan? That guy's so lightweight he can only use a see-saw on his own.
You don't see the irony of saying "worst nightmare in this situation is to have Obama actually get what he wants...", which is a return to the Clinton era tax levels, all the while decrying the lack of "moderation", the TITLE OF YOUR DAMNED THREAD!?
Of course you don't, you're an idiot. You can't claim you're the sensible person when you scream that 3% tax increases are "cringe-worthy."
Of course you don't, you're an idiot. You can't claim you're the sensible person when you scream that 3% tax increases are "cringe-worthy."
Try rereading my post. I'm not decrying the lack of moderation. I'm celebrating the fact that it cuts both ways. I'm happy that the GOP moderates who are willing to negotiate with the Democrats over the terms of the surrender of their liberty are being defeated.
You're happy that the moderates are losing. That is decrying moderation.
Exactly. I'm not decrying the lack of moderation. I like the lack of moderation that the GOP is now sticking to. When they go to the extremes and put people like Coolidge or Reagan in charge, both they and the country benefit.
Think of it this way. The GOP has elected a lot of presidents over the last century, but the vast majority of them have been unabashed moderates. Harding, Coolidge, and Reagan are the most libertarian Republican presidents of the last century, and everyone else has been soft on their principles of liberty. On the other hand, the Democrats have only elected two moderates (Kennedy and Clinton) over the last century, and every other has been a raving socialist extremist. But despite their fewer years in control of the White House, the Democrats have been winning the policy war in the long-term.
In politics, extremism works. It's time for the Republicans to stop apologizing for their belief in liberty and start painting the Democrats as the anti-Liberty totalitarians they really are. That's how the Republicans can win the 2016 presidential election.
...That, and nominating a minority candidate. Because seriously, this stupid fucking country cannot see past the color of a person's skin, and right now it's very unpopular to be white.
Think of it this way. The GOP has elected a lot of presidents over the last century, but the vast majority of them have been unabashed moderates. Harding, Coolidge, and Reagan are the most libertarian Republican presidents of the last century, and everyone else has been soft on their principles of liberty. On the other hand, the Democrats have only elected two moderates (Kennedy and Clinton) over the last century, and every other has been a raving socialist extremist. But despite their fewer years in control of the White House, the Democrats have been winning the policy war in the long-term.
In politics, extremism works. It's time for the Republicans to stop apologizing for their belief in liberty and start painting the Democrats as the anti-Liberty totalitarians they really are. That's how the Republicans can win the 2016 presidential election.
...That, and nominating a minority candidate. Because seriously, this stupid fucking country cannot see past the color of a person's skin, and right now it's very unpopular to be white.
Obama doesn't have to veto bills that die in the Senate.
Since when are Tea Party Republicans the same as Libertarians?