The first time I saw Chris Christie on television, shortly after
he became governor of New Jersey, my immediate reaction was, “My
Gosh! A Talking Republican!” It was almost like seeing a talking
giraffe or a talking salamander.
Technically speaking, Republicans do talk, but talking is
definitely not their strong suit. Nor do they seem to have put a
lot of thought into what they say or how they say it. The net
result is that articulate Democrats can get away with the biggest
lies, without any serious rebuttal from most Republicans.
I have not heard any Republican official or candidate even try
to answer a standard claim of the Democrats, that “deregulation” is
the reason the housing market went haywire and brought down the
economy. Therefore, according to the Democrats, Republicans who
want to restore a free market are just trying to “go back to the
same policies that got us into this mess in the first place.”
That sounds very persuasive, if you don’t know the facts — and
it sounds like pure hogwash if you do.
But facts don’t speak for themselves. And if we wait for the
Republicans to speak, the whole country can be in big trouble.
The “deregulation” gambit is not new. It was tried out years
ago, in California, when some of the most heavy-handed regulation
of the electrical utility companies forced them to charge less for
electricity than they had to pay to buy it. After this led to their
financial collapse, and then to power failures and blackouts that
outraged the public, the Democrats’ response was that this was all
due to — you guessed it — “deregulation.”
It is the same story today on the national level. Federal
agencies with powers of economic life and death over banks and
other lenders forced these lenders to lower their lending
standards. The words of the regulators themselves are a matter of
public record, and they sound like something out of “Alice in
Wonderland.” They ought to be quoted, to give the lie to claims
that “deregulation” is the reason for the housing boom and
bust.
Some people think that nonsense is too silly to answer. But not
answering it can just allow nonsense to prevail — to the detriment
of the whole country.
Much as I admire the approach of Congressman Paul Ryan, I
cringed during one of his speeches when he said — in just one
sentence — that none of his reforms would deny benefits to people
already getting Social Security. When the truth is just a passing
blip on the screen and the lies go on at great length, guess which
one is likely to prevail politically.
Vulnerable people, depending on that monthly Social Security
check, need to hear that you understand that they paid into Social
Security for years when they were working, and that it would be
unconscionable to now cheat them out of what they paid for.
Policy wonks already know that nobody in his right mind has
proposed any such thing. But, if you depend on the votes of policy
wonks to win elections, be prepared to lose in a landslide.
One of the biggest of the election year lies is that Republicans
want to sacrifice the poor in order to have “tax cuts for the
rich.” That would be grossly immoral — if it were true.
Unscrambling the confusion in that argument can involve work. But
if people on welfare can be expected to work, surely people running
for high office can put in a little work too — including the work
of explaining in plain words what is totally false about the “tax
cuts for the rich” argument.
I know it can be done because I have done it. You can see my
essay on the subject on my website (www.tsowell.com) under the title “Tax
Cuts.”
But so long as Republicans don’t seem to feel any urgency about
refuting the Democrats’ claim that they just want to help the rich
at the expense of the poor, they are courting defeat on election
day. Why lose to a lie because you didn’t bother to explain the
truth?
Some of the time that was spent at the Republican convention
trying to “humanize” Mitt Romney could have been better spent
debunking the Democrats’ talking points. After all, we are not
going to be voting for a Buddy-in-Chief in the White House, but for
someone with some clear ideas about what this country needs — and
who is willing to share those ideas with us in plain English.
COPYRIGHT 2012 CREATORS.COM
