The GOP’s Urgent Dilemma
Our Country is under attack Economically, Politically and Socially. This next election may be the last chance we have to turn this wreck around. It's pretty clear that the current Marxist/Socialist Government does not have the solution. In fact they are steering our Country into failure by creating Economic, Political and Social Chaos. Unfortunately, the current GOP primary candidates are slapping each other around and it’s getting nastier at every debate. Their petty attacks on each other are causing the Conservative Movement to lose focus. Cain has brought some focus on taxes with his 999 plan. But this seems like the proverbial cart leading the horse, and it doesn't have much support from the mainstream conservatives. In addition, although he is trying to make this sound simple, recent comments about "opportunity zones" have already introduced 'loopholes'. Romney, has a 59 point program but that's too much for the general public to get its mind around not to mention his record of "Flip Flopping". He'd like us to believe that he is the Business Candidate but Romneycare and Flip Flops leave him with large vulnerability in a debate with Mr. Hope and Change. Newt is probably the most cerebral candidate and should stay around for a while longer to add gravitas to the debate, but again his past is going to prevent him from being the party's nominee. The others are ---- the others. Several years from now we'll be trying to come up with their names in a Trivia contest. Most people will come up with 'the Donald' before John Huntsman or Rick Santorum. They are all good people who would be better than Obama but it's time for them to clear out so the party can focus on selecting the next leader and a more Comprehensive Plan to solve our problems.
The Economy
Of course we are not without proposals for our dilemma. There have been many in the past year.
a) December 2010, The Presidents (own) Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform - http://www.fiscalcommission.gov/sites/fiscalcommission.gov/files/documents/TheMomentofTruth12_1_2010.pdf
b) April 2011, Paul Ryan 2012 Budget Proposal - http://budget.house.gov/UploadedFiles/PathToProsperityFY2012.pdf
c) May 2011, Connie Mack 1% Spending Reduction Plan - http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/connie-mack-unveils-one-percent-solution-cap-federal-spending
d) July 2011 Senator Tom Coburn proposal to cut $9 Trillion in spending over the next decade http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/over-1-trillion-defense-cuts-coburn-deficit-reduction-plan_576982.html ,
e) July 2011, The Gang of Six Proposal - http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/19/news/economy/gang_of_six_budget/index.htm?iid=Lead&hpt=hp_c1%27%20rel=%27nofollow
f) July 2011, House Cut Cap and Balance Plan - http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07/19/house-approves-cut-cap-and-balance-plan/
So I ask myself what would I do if I was the CEO of a Major Conglomerate that was circling the drain.
1. It all starts with a Market Analysis. What does the Market want, what does it need and what is it willing to pay for? In today's Socialistic Nanny State we are constantly being lobbied by special interest groups and politicians to supply services that were never intended by our founding fathers nor provided for in the Constitution. And, there is no real review of the Constitutionality or Fiscal Responsibility of adding these as Government funded services. So, the buck stops (or starts) right here. We need a budget that is Fiscally Responsible based on constitutionally supported services. To this end I point out that the preamble to the Constitution states that this perfect Union should:
- Establish Justice - this meant based on the Constitution, not Judges interpreting it to institute new social agendas.
- Insure Domestic Tranquility - This does not allow the Justice Department to select which laws it will enforce based on their social agenda. The law is the law - do the crime and serve the time.
- Provide for the Common Defense - This meant that we were to defend the USA not the rest of the world. It does not include a Department of Offense that engages in "Nation Building". As our very first President said in his farewell address, "beware of entangling foreign alliances". The rest of the world now sees us as either the world’s police force (aka. mercenaries) OR invading tyrants.
- Promote the general welfare - unlike the first three, the terminology here is "Promote" - not "Ensure" and not "Provide". The founders were men who valued personal responsibility and self-reliance. They knew the difference when they chose these words. Promote to them meant a government who enabled individuals to be successful. The government cannot guarantee success; it can only enable and not constrict the economy of its citizens.
- Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our Posterity - $15 Trillion in Debt plus another $60-$70 in future obligations ( Social Security, Medicare etc.) would have freaked them out and resulted in the abolition of this "Perfect Union".
Thus a Budget based on constitutionally responsible funding is the first step in this arduous process.
2. Step two is to "Cut" all spending that is not constitutional. Start this by repealing Obamacare. Then look at the cuts identified by Senator Tom Coburn
3. Step three is to "Cap" future spending at xxx % of the constitutionally established budget. This percentage should be designed to reduce the outstanding National Debt. One consideration here might be the Connie Mack 1% plan.
4. Step four is to pass a Constitutional Amendment to require the Congress and the Administration to "Balance the Budget"
5. Concurrent with the above we should develop and pass a recommendation that will blow up the current tax system and level the playing field sans loopholes. This doesn't mean that the rich should get a break. In fact if you level the playing field many people in the higher income brackets will not have the deductions (like Buffet) and be force to pay their "Fair Share" of their bracket. So, a person with $1 million in earnings will pay much more than a person with $50,000 in earnings. Leveling does not mean regressive!
Politics
Addressing the Economic inequities should go a long way to eliminating the use of finger pointing by the political parties. However, we all know the origin of the word "poli tics" - many flesh eating insects. And as Alexis de Tocqueville commented on American Politics “There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle.”
As long as we have a multi-party Republican system of government there will be differences of opinion as to the best types of political approaches. It's up to the Citizens to become informed and to elect men and women of Unquestionable Character, AND to hold them accountable (one suggestion here is to limit the term of Senators to 3 years). This may be the hardest job of all.
Social Justice and Morals
It seems like every day we are being bombarded by deteriorating values in our society. This starts with a Government that tries to "Provide" for the common welfare instead of "Promoting" the common welfare. In recent times we only have to go back to the Carter Administration and the passage of The Community Re-investment Act". The first oxymoron here is that the basic concept of this Bill was that “we should provide the means for people who could not afford homes in the first place to purchase their own home." The second oxymoron here was that the use of the prefix "Re" indicating that there was an original investment. This is a classic case of Socialism and the "unintended consequences" of its policies. It was followed by scores of initiatives that had the same basic flaw such as the Johnson "Great Society" program. Even Republicans did not argue against this nor did any Administration enforce existing regulations in order to prevent the greed that followed. In fact politicians (did I mention Barney and Chris) even encouraged this and turned their backs on the growing financial problems. Along with this we had the Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan ignore warnings from Brooksley Born the Chair of the Commodities Futures and Trading Commission because he was so enamored with Ayan Rand and her Libertarian Philosophy. Despite the Warning from Born he felt and stated that "The Market will Take Care of Itself". It should also be mentioned that Larry Summers and Tim Geithner were in this meeting with Born and no one had the common sense to allow her to dig in to the details to prove her point. Transparency was an Orphan in the Fed and the Treasury so Mortgage Brokers continued to approve "Toxic" mortgages and Investment Bankers would bundle them in to Securities that were then purchased by dummies who didn't know what was in them but insured them against future losses. (See the following PBS Video that describes the factual events of this failed Libertarian Philosophy). http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warning/
This all continued until 7 members of the Financial Advisory Systems Board decided that all Corporations and Banks should report the current Market Value of all Assets (Mark to Market) and the House of Cards came down. And all the Kings horses and all the kings’ men are still trying to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. The lesson from all of this is "Transparency" and enforcement of existing regulations - not new regulations or more Government Bailouts and More Government Agencies. We also need the Justice system to do a much better job in enforcing the "intent" of regulations and laws and not allowing "technical" bloviating by attorneys.
At the end of the day this political and moral calamity has served as fodder for the current Administration to BLAME everyone and everything in the Galaxy and to promote Class Warfare. Just this week our President said he supports the Wall Street Demonstrators (leaving out the culpability of Washington). And of course in the past we have seen the great healer blame the Boston Police, the Arizona Legislators and everyone he could in order to kindle (apologies to Amazon) Class Warfare.
The next President will have his or her hands full in turning this limping ship of state around. With States now playing tit for tat to see who can have the first Primary the stakes are high for Conservatives and deadlines have been moved up. We urgently need the GOP to close ranks and trim down the Presidential Candidate pool so they can present a clear and consolidated plan to the voters. I suggest that all but Cain, Romney and Gingrich (the senior and most Cerebral Candidate) to back out of the race and allow these three to finish the process.
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