Standing for Something??

In response to my April 19th post on my blog, Garry writes the following:

Dems might be able to take advantage of WH problems you cite (although I don't know by what measure you contend that Iraq is "going poorly"), if they had any serious alternatives of their own - which they do not. On Iraq, it's cut & run, on wages it's raise taxes, on gas prices it's...well, what, exactly? Nuke China and India? Exploding demand in those countries is the primary driver of oil price increases (emphasis added).

This statement piqued my interest a little, and I was forced to ask the following questions--What have Republicans done with their majority rule? What do they stand for?

So, that's the question here. What have Republicans done with their power in government. As I see it, they have increased the size of government, driven us into an extreme deficit, borrowed tons of money from China and Saudi Arabia, led us into a war that resembles Vietnam, and completely lost the support of the American people. If that's the case, what do Republicans stand for? What is their plan that is so much better than the Democrats? Why do they deserve my vote instead of the liberal candidates who are promising change? What have they done in the last year or two that is so good?

I think both parties are in shambles, but it's the Republicans that will suffer for it since they are the majority.

Cheers,
Jeff

GARRY'S RESPONSE: First off, TGIF. It's been a long week! But to business - Jeff, as always, has many questions. As always, let's take them one at a time:

What have Republicans done with their power in government

It's been a mixed bag since Repubs took the WH, the Senate, and the Congress - there have been successes such as the tax cuts - which led to decreased unemployment, increased GDP, higher business profits, and increased disposable income - and such as the Patriot Act, which has allowed law enforcement and the intelligence community to better cooperate so as to locate and arrest terrorists and terror supporters. The President had two excellent SCOTUS nominees and one terrible one, but .667 isn't a bad batting average. His appeals court appointments have been pretty solid as well. The passage of CAFTA-DR was a notable accomplishment by the WH and Congress, and the Repubs have been surprisingly steadfast in supporting the painful (but necessary) BRAC decisions. The administration showed it is willing to be firm in its dealings with the feckless and corrupt United Nations. It's been reassuring that Congress and the WH have been moving full steam on pandemic flu preparedness (although they were a bit later arriving to the party that I would have preferred). And I was heartened by the President's renewed commitment to space exploration.

On the other hand, we have the unsustainable Medicare drug entitlement; Congressional dithering on immigration and Social Security; the egregious McCain-Feingold campaign finance "reform"; the worthless Anti-Spam Law; ongoing incompetence by the Dept. of Homeland Stupidity, and absolute criminal negligence on border security. And the WH displays a certain tone-deafness when it comes to dealing with bipartisan demagoguery.

The jury is still out on other Repub initiatives - last year's Energy Policy Act may be beneficial in the long term, just too soon to tell; Sarbanes-Oxley provides some good corporate accountability and transparency reforms but compliance may be far too costly for our economy, and environmental cleanup under the 2002 Brownfields Act is proceeding well but could probably be better resourced.

What is their plan that is so much better than the Democrats?

You tell me - what of the above would the Democrats do "better"?

Why do they deserve my vote instead of the liberal candidates who are promising change?

Who one votes for is up to the individual. For me, I'm a single issue voter - with very few exceptions (e.g., Joe Lieberman), liberals have demonstrated they are utterly unserious about confronting threats to our national security. I don't see this changing since the far left continues to influence the Dem party with their dementia.

What have they done in the last year or two that is so good?

They've continued to prevent more 9/11s from happening on our shores, and continue to be resolute in confronting the radical Islamic movement abroad (whereas many libs refuse even to acknowledge that such a movement exists). That's good enough for me...