Budget Cutting

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Okay ... funny cartoon, but then again the subject is far from funny.

Here is the problem.

The GOP ... especially the representative that were elected with the help of the Tea Party want to slash spending to the bone. The Democrats really don't want to cut spending at all. The Democrats will make a big show out of cutting a little spending here and there ... but then want to add "investments" in their little pet projects that cater to their base.

When I watch the news, I get frustrated and angry. I'm sure that I'm not alone in this. On the one hand we have Rand Paul that wants to take a meat cleaver to foreign aid, military spending, domestic spending ... actually all spending. While I agree with him that cuts can be made in all of these areas, if he had his way, we would close ourselves to the world and become "Fortress America", existing by ourselves all happy and content ... till the other 6 billion world inhabitants invaded because we were the haves and they were the have-nots. America can not live in a vacuum. We are the only super-power in the world, and by default ... like it or not, we are the leader of the free world.

On the other hand we have Weiner, Pelosi and Reed etal that are fighting to save every ounce of spending they can. These are people that never met a tax or spending program that they didn't think was essential to the American people. If they want to be Europeans ... they should just move there. I can assure you that Europeans don't think they have it as great as they do. I watch these liberals on TV and all they talk about is how everything would be just fine as long as we tax the rich (the rich being everyone that has a decent job) and end the war. How simplistic is that? These are supposed to be the "great minds" that we elected to run our government?

The White House just keeps punting ... after all, President Obama wants to be re-elected next year and he doesn't want to anger his base (even if it is for the good of the country). Compare that to a man that the President keeps quoting (President Reagan), who I never saw as pandering to the electorate. He simply did what he saw was right for the country and was re-elected in the largest electoral landslide in history. President Reagan had the gift of being able to address the public and explain why he was doing something ... and even if you didn't agree with him, you felt that he had weighed his options and made the best choice for the country ... and you really couldn't fault him for it. That was why he was nick-named the "Great Communicator", and that was why he was a great leader. Leadership is sorely lacking from the current administration. We really need our President to lead the country, but what do we get from him? Vacations, golfing and bracket picking. Everyone remembers FDR's "A day that will live in infamy" speech on the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour on 12/7/41. Those that have heard the archives of the speech that he gave after that one realize that he was the leader that we needed at that time. In his next speech (after Congress declared a state of war), he outlined the sacrifices that were going to have to be made by the American people while the war was going on. He told them about rationing of gas and steel for the war effort. He told them that new cars would not be available because production and resources were going to build ships, tanks and planes. Stockings would not be in short supply because we needed the silk for parachutes. Women would have to go to the factories to work, because we needed the men to fight the war. This was not a Rah Rah type of speech, but it was a speech that got the American people ready for the tough times to come.

We need the President to speak to the American people like FDR did back then. We need a leader. We already know that Obama is no Ronald Reagan ... can he at least be an FDR?

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What Is Wrong With The Republican Party

Now, if you notice, I did not end the title with a question mark. Rather, I am going to tell you what the GOP is doing wrong. This post may get a little long (though it will be a lot shorter than if I were to tell you what is wrong with the Democratic Party).

The Republican Party was established in the early 1850's as a third political party (the Democrats and Whigs were the two-party system at the time). The party was established by anti-slavery activists and people that believed the government should give free land to people willing to settle out west. In it's first presidential election, the GOP (Grand Old Party) managed to get 33% of the vote ... In it's second attempt in 1860, the first Republican was elected President ... his name ... Abraham Lincoln.

So, how did the GOP get from being the party of Lincoln to the party of Bush? Seems almost unbelievable that it went from a party that believed in freedom for all men to a party where the presidential candidates won't even show up to speak at the NAACP annual convention. What were they afraid of? Tom Tancredo was the only Republican to address the convention, and guess what ... he was politely received. He was not tarred and feathered for being a Republican, and he probably scored some points, if not some votes for bothering to show up.

The problems with the GOP begin with the base. The fundamentalist Christian Coalition has hi-jacked the party to the extent that pro-choice candidates like Mitt Romney feel they have to change their stance to get elected. On this point, kudos should be given to Rudy Giuliani for not sacrificing his beliefs for political gain. I understand that to this group, one of the most important things is protecting the life of innocent unborn children, but this, while important, is only one of the things that the President has to deal with.

The NRA is another big pain in the GOP butt. Convincing me that we need machine guns for personal protection and sport hunting is never going to happen. We have the 2nd amendment, and we are going to keep our rights to own handguns and rifles ... but we do not live in Baghdad and don't need military-style assault weapons to protect ourselves (we do after all have some of the finest police officers in the world working in our cities).

Lobbyists ... When special interests give things to our Representatives, even if it does not influence any decisions ... the appearance of impropriety is as damning to the politician as the impropriety itself would be. We as a nation must demand that lobbying in Washington DC (and in State Houses across the nation) be severely limited.

Pollsters ... How often have we seen our politicians change their positions every time a new poll comes out. Republicans have lost the courage of their convictions. Democrats lost this a long time ago ... and for a while it was a Republican strength. Even though many people didn't agree with Ronald Reagan, most could admire him as a man and a leader ... the GOP needs to get this back.

Pork ... For years the Democratic controlled Congress was accused (and rightly so) by the GOP for loading spending bills with Pork-Barrel Projects to benefit their districts. When the Republicans took over Congress ... they proved that they could out pork the Democrats and opened themselves to accusations that these fiscal conservatives (in word) were two-faced when it came to the actual deed. These Republicans need to remember that they are playing with the people's money, and spend wisely and account for every dime ... just as if it were their own money.

Pride ... we all know the old saying, "pride goeth before the fall". Well, the GOP has fallen and the causes are pride and arrogance. No member of the Republican Party displays these traits like our President. This is what led him to stick with a failed plan in Iraq for 2 years and this is what leads the Republican Party to write-off entire segments of the population, leaving them to the Democrats. Having pride in your vision and your ability to lead is fine, it is when that pride interferes with your ability to sell your vision to others, or a feeling that you know better than others that it becomes one of the deadly sins.

Republicans, if you do not get your act together and go back to your roots, another upstart party is going to take your place and you will go the way of the Whigs in 1860.

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