I was listening to a bunch of Republican policy wonks on NPR the other day, mostly discussing the upcoming elections and the Republican party's new "Pledge to America." One of them, a policy guy from one of the Washington conservative think tanks said, "No one can read the Pledge to America and still say that the Republican party has no ideas!"So I decided to read it. All I can say is that, "I think I'll scratch my ass now" is also an idea, and it offers just about as much insight into how the GOP plans to balance the budget as their pledge does.
You can read it here, but a better use of your time would be to read Tom Friedman's column from this past Tuesday, which talks about the kind of leadership this county really needs, but will probably never get. (I'm starting to feel about the nation's future they way I feel about pro football; i.e., like a Brown's fan. We haven't won anything since '64 -- so long it's hard to remember what victory feels like.)
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Read this the other day when it came out and am still in awe of the original thinking of the document.
They intend to take spending back to the Bush 2009 budget, except for seniors, vets and the military. That budget, when submitted, was only $450 billion in the red so this will save $100 billion.
We have a gdp of around 14.6 trillion and a budget of some $2.4 trillion and without batting an eye they plan on cutting $100 billion. Magnificent.
I'm in the Tea Party camp...I'm against everything the government does except the things I like. And they better keep the government out of my medicare.
God we are uninformed.
The religion quiz also gives great faith in our citizens. The vast majority could not name Islam as the religion of Indonesia even though Obama living there is one of the reason people believe he is a muslim.
Had the economy recovered beyond pure statistics, midterm elections would not be so hard on the Democrats. Whether you like the details or not, the Democrats actually did accomplish things considered important at the time. The Party of No spent the whole period working on the midterm elections. I am angrier at the Republicans for wasting time and getting paid to do it. The Democrats certainly played as fast and loose as they could, but the GOP wouldn't cooperate on a vote if one peanut was missing.
I may live in Greenwich Village (here considered a moderate but to middle America I am a southpaw) so will someone please explain to me why Nancy Pelosi is the devil incarnate and GW Bush gets a pass.
I can’t think of a reason to read the rehashed pledge that didn’t work the first time.
Thanks Hankster regarding the comments on the party of NO. I don’t care if someone disagrees, but come up with an alternative solution.
Understanding the anger with Tea Party members, however “anger is not a strategy to manage or govern” (Mayor Bloomberg).
The influence of the right wing media is much greater than we think.
George W, who went to Yale and Harvard, is from an as elitist family as the US has. Yet he is viewed as a good ole boy from Texas who is just folks.
Pelosi is the daughter of the former Mayor of Baltimore who grew up in Little Italy and went to all girls Trinity College in DC but she is an elitist.
Somehow the right wing media has convinced us that Pelosi is an elitist and a Bush from as prominent New England family as the Adams' and Kennedy's is just a regular guy.
We believe what we want to believe and the facts seldom matter.
I know it's a fact that only 50% of people are of below average intelligence, but it feels like a much higher percentage sometimes.
Remember that other famous statistic "80% of everything is crap." Or was it 90? You can apply that one if it seems more realistic.
Our fair country carries baggage. We had a communist witch hunt when I was young, to which I was clueless as to its existence. I missed the elephant in the room as I came to social conscience as it petered out. I think Arthur Miller's The Crucible was my awakening of the era.
Here we are returning to history as a farce, with fingers pointed at perceived pariahs. For so many reasons, the popular front of brutal reactionary forces are out in full force to grab the wheel of the ship of state. Itself, ill-gotten from the land's original inhabitants. As Tom Friedman so insightfully mentioned, they might as well be kids sitting on their father's lap, turning the steering wheel. I feel their pain of helplessness, but resent their hubris. Before the crash, 80% of Americans were above average: now only 20% are...
This "Pledge" and others like it are, and always have been, complete bullshit. It's nothing more than the "shiny new thing" they can wave in front of those that watch such things to distract them from what they actually want to do (nothing at all).
And the Democrats are scared to death of these people.
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