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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums“Most Americans Are Simply Ignoring Republicans — and They Should”
Former GOP Senator Bashes Party: Most Americans Are Simply Ignoring Republicans and They Should
September 25, 2013 By Allen Clifton
In a Monday morning op-ed published on TheHill.com, a former Republican senator had some harsh words for his own party based on the current wave of radicalism that seems to be taking over the GOP.
Judd Gregg, whos a former senator from New Hampshire, had a detailed and very critical assessment targeted at his party and how theyve let the fringe radicals take over the mainstream message of the GOP.
Gregg wrote:
But he didnt stop with just that. He went into great detail when attacking the utter stupidity of any politician who thinks the vote to increase our debt ceiling should be used as some kind of political leverage:
You cannot in politics take a hostage you cannot shoot. That is what the debt ceiling is. At some point, the debt ceiling will have to be increased not because it is a good idea but because it is the only idea.
Defaulting on the nations obligations, which is the alternative to not increasing the debt ceiling, is not an option either substantively or politically.
A default would lead to some level of chaos in the debt markets, which would lead to a significant contraction in economic activity, which would lead to job losses, which would lead to higher spending by the federal government and lower tax revenues, which would lead to more debt.
And everything he said is absolutely true. This Republican strategy makes absolutely no sense. How anyone takes these people seriously baffles me every single day. Theres a difference between an ideological difference on issues such as abortion or spending, and taking care of fiscal obligations. When youre operating on some kind of reality that simply does not exist, as people like Senator Ted Cruz and other fringe radicals have been, how am I not supposed to consider you insane?
more...
http://www.forwardprogressives.com/former-gop-senator-bashes-party-most-americans-are-simply-ignoring-republicans-and-they-should/
FSogol
(45,513 posts)PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)But, seriously, the tea-party is very relevant at the state level, where they swing wrecking balls against civil society.
pangaia
(24,324 posts)Republicans are definitely NOT to be ignored, are they.
They must be 'beaten with a stick' until they are no longer able to stand..
wyldwolf
(43,868 posts)PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)More like this.
edit - but an obvious response form someone sporting the avatar that you have going.
wyldwolf
(43,868 posts)Comparing any party to it's former self of years past is highly subjective.
(chose to ignore snipe at my avatar.)
PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)I was very pleased with his speech at the convention last year. I was young when Lewinsky deal came out. It was the first major strike against repubs that I experienced first hand. I fully supported him against their cries for impeachment. I truly like him in many ways. The decade of the 90s was the best overall time period I have lived through.
But, he did continue many of the policies of regunomics. Policies that continue to haunt us and harm the people of this country today. He was Republican lite as many D's are Republican lite today.
wyldwolf
(43,868 posts)... anyone who agrees with Republicans on any issue. Dennis Kucinich, for example, started his political career anti-choice. He only changed it for political expediency when he took the national stage. Howard Dean was a well-know gun rights proponent while a governor. Republican Lite?
FDR sold out civil rights activists to appease southern segregationists and put Japanese-Americans in concentration camps. Republican Lite?
In fact, FDR was viciously attacked by the left in much the same way Clinton and Obama have been.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/08/11/891631/-UPDATED-Liberal-Criticism-of-Franklin-Roosevelt-and-The-New-Deal#
Gay rights, gun control, and especially abortion rights would have been completely off the table to Dems of the 40s/50s/ and even the 60s.
Dems of old? FAR more likely to increase military spending. In fact, Reagan's military zeal came from the Truman-Kennedy era.
In many ways, Dems today - including Clinton - are far more liberal than their counterparts in decades past.
PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)Generic terms seldom are.
Regun Democrat? I do not know.
We could come up with more specific terms to call to task the "non-left" Democratic views.
Free-trade Democrat (Regun Democrat)
Gun-totin' Democrat
Drone-strike Democrat (Kissinger Democrat)
Man on Dog Democrat
Union busting Democrat (works closely with free-trade democrat)
Dark People scare me Democrat
If you have nothing to fear, you have nothing to hide Democrat (NSA Democrat)
MIC Democrat
(Insert your own here)
I don't know, just thoughts. We all have flaws. It would be impossible to find that "perfect Democrat" looking back in time. We can work towards the goal of bettering ourselves though. I do not see moving right as bettering ourselves.
wyldwolf
(43,868 posts)L0oniX
(31,493 posts)Democracyinkind
(4,015 posts)"You cannot in politics take a hostage you cannot shoot. That is what the debt ceiling is. At some point, the debt ceiling will have to be increased not because it is a good idea but because it is the only idea."
Word!
Junkdrawer
(27,993 posts)Time for a major rewrite.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,027 posts)Myrina
(12,296 posts)n/t
MineralMan
(146,324 posts)Frequently, and starting now. This can be a winning strategy in many Congressional districts around the country. It should be a campaign constant.
riqster
(13,986 posts)They hope to blame Dems for not fixing the economy (and of course, it's really the fault of obstructionist Reeps).
Don't laugh, they've done it before. And won.
KG
(28,752 posts)Sunlei
(22,651 posts)We can't even get rid of the worse of them. Once they're elected they are in for life.
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)The Wizard
(12,546 posts)what Republicans have to say unless it's under oath, and even then, no one believes them.