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The Spectacle Blog
The Republican National Committee had its fun, tossing the "S" word at the Democrats. Reports the Washington Times:
The Republican National Committee passed a resolution at a special session Wednesday condemning President Obama and the Democratic majority in Congress for leading the United States toward socialism, a victory for the party's beleaguered chairman who sought the toned-down language in the measure.
RNC Chairman Michael S. Steele adamantly had opposed the initial version of the resolution that had - presumptuously, some Republicans thought - called on the Democrats to rename themselves "the Democratic Socialist Party."
Jim is a bit more forgiving than me about this slightly bizarre exercise. Adopting a formal resolution for the sole purpose of name-calling seems a waste of time. After all, the Democrats are preparing to rule and ruin while the Republican Party looks like little more than a collection of road kill.
There's also the point made by Cato Institute President Ed Crane that President Obama is more statist than socialist. Obama might be the most statist president ever. Still, there is a difference.
But my biggest beef is: who are the RNC members calling socialists? President George W. Bush and the Republican Congress engaged in an orgy of spending and added the biggest expansion of the welfare state in four decades. They centralized more power in Washington. The Bush administration pushed the financial bail-out by threatening doom otherwise. The Bush administration tossed billions at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to bail them out without proposing any limits on their money-losing activities. The Bush administration chose to bail out the auto industry, lemon socialism at its most sour. The Republican Party's presidential nominee, John McCain, came up with one of the dumbest ideas all year--having Uncle Sam buy every bad mortgage in America at face value. He also was a great fan of cap and trade environmental controls, the centerpiece of the Democratic environmental program.
Yes, the Democrats are worse. They are thorough-going, big-spending statists. But the RNC can't very well toss around the word socialist unless its members look in the mirror while doing so.
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BD57| 5.21.09 @ 3:10PM
Careful, Doug - - -
talk like that is going to get the moderates screaming that you're trying to run them out of the party ....
Murphy| 5.21.09 @ 3:15PM
The Republican resolution, after long study, reflection, and debate, to call Democrats "socialists" is probably the most significant meeting of the minds on a political topic since the Constitutional convention -- or maybe since the signing of the Declaration.
It is now abundantly clear to anyone who doubted why we call the Republicans "The Party of Ideas."
Miss California was there, and so was Joe the Plumber. And they decided on a course of name-calling that will forever change the course of American political history.
When America faced peril abroad and economic collapse at home, the Republicans rose to the challenge or encouraged the American people to follow them.
These are the true leaders. These are real Americans.
Thank God for the Republican leadership. The "statists" are trembling in their boots, and victory is much closer today than it was yesterday.
In the great spirit of these events, to Democrats, I say: Nanny, nanny, poo poo. Tag, you're it. And, I know you are, but what am I?
Alle, alle auch sind frei!
Murphy| 5.21.09 @ 3:29PM
Independent Voter asks RNC leadership an important question.
Ind. Vote: Mr Republican Leaders, what does the Republican party today stand for?
Leaders: Democrats are socialists. Which means they're statists. And totalitarians. See, if you're not a conservative, you're a communist. Or, you're a fascist, which means you have fascist beliefs. It also means you're a terrorist, or someone who just likes to pal around with terrorists, which of course means you're racist, like Obama. It could also mean you're a post-modernist too, if you're a Democrat. Which would mean you're Mussolini. If you're a Democrat, it means you favor slavery.
Old Texican| 5.21.09 @ 5:13PM
I am an Independent
I try always to vote for the most (small government) conservative candidate of the two major parties.
Good clean regulation to create a level playing field...you bet!
Throwing crooks in jail.............you BET!
Having our freedom encroached upon from every direction..........never.
I can run my life better than a bureaucrat...or a thousand bureaucrats.
Murphy| 5.21.09 @ 6:37PM
Old Texican --
"Good clean regulation to create a level playing field"?
Careful now, Texican. You're traveling in Democrat-Socialist territory ....
The Republican have been dismantling oversight and regulatory systems for thirty years. And it shows.
How do you think Wall Street managed to boondoggle two trillion dollars from the government?
What this country needs is liberal governance like we had in the fifties, when the wealthiest made about 30 times more than the average working man -- instead of 300 or 3000 times.
Under Eisenhower (who approved), corporations paid 45% of the tax burden; the top tax rates were around 90%. Now, 7% of the tax burden is paid by corporations and the top rates are (correct me if I'm wrong) somewhere around 35%.
Level playing field?
For that, we need a time machine.
By the way, part of a level playing field means everyone gets a fair chance at competing. This means everyone has a shot at a first rate education, and everyone can see a doctor if he gets sick. That's a level playing field, and more or less, it's what the Democrat-Socialists (like me) hope for this country.
Spicy Joker| 5.21.09 @ 8:50PM
George W. Bush destroyed the Republican Party by becoming the biggest socialist in American history next to FDR and LBJ.
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