Politics The Elephant in the room...The GOP today

The in-fighting among House Republicans has just reached a new high and Boehner will need all the political skills he has to keep the extremists from running the party off the rails.

 

More on the increasing polarization of American politics:

The 'Politics of Self-Expression' Increasingly Divides Americans

 

Considering they replaced the one Jewish Republican they had with a guy who called himself "David Duke without the baggage." probably not.

 

I'm staunchly pro-duck... and I vote.

 

in all seriousness, I thought I would add my own perspective to some of the sentiments given at the start of this thread.

I grew up in a republican leaning household myself, and tended to vote that way in my first elections. I've tended to vote democratic more recently, and the republicans seem to be making it ever harder to look back. The republicans I grew up around were moderate in their views and tended to focus political leanings on issues of governance and fiscal policy, and more "live and let live" when it came to social and religious issues. That particular perspective seems to have been crowded out by all the other noise coming from that side of the aisle these days.

As I've followed the arc of the republican party in recent years with some horror, I've somehow come to a relatively optimistic viewpoint on the whole thing when viewed in the long term. Many see the ultra-conservative views coming to dominate the party as a disturbing new trend. I wonder if it isn't a sign that an older fearful, xenophoibic, homophopbic, whateverelseaphobic strain of american thinking has read the writing on the walls, is backed into a corner, and is coming out swinging with everything it has in a last desperate gambit to find relevance in a changing american body politic.

I think it's noteworthy that the rise of the tea party started on the heals of Obama's first election in 2008. You can say what you want about his performance since that moment. But one must concede that the moment of his election was a transformative moment in american politics. And it broadly reflected the realities of a change in the social demographic toward liberal thinking, broader social and racial acceptance, as well as a rejection of many of the notions about free-market capitalism that were held a generation before. The tea party spirit has always been lurking below the surface. I wonder if it isn't best that it comes to the forefront in the full light of day to call itself what it is, and be judged accordingly.

Ideologies always assert themselves the strongest when they are in an existential fight. Institutional racism made the most noise on the eve of its demise in the 1960's. The soviet communist regime staged a military coup in the 1990's as a last opportunity to assert its influence, rather than quietly being stripped away by the tide of history. Three weeks later the USSR was no more. I wonder if we might be seeing the same forces in play here.

Just my two cents for whatever inflation-adjusted amount it may be worth.

 

One only need look at the bills passed by the House in the first two weeks; bills they know had no chance of final passage and being signed into law, but served as political theater for the extremist base.

* bill to end deferered deportation of "dreamers"
* a fall back highly restrictive abortion bill after they had to pull the first bill as a result of pushback from women and moderate men (the few left) in their caucus.
* a bill written by Wall Street to gut banking reform regulation
* a likely tax reform bill that is warmed over Ryan plan from the last election that benefits top taxpayers at the expense of working class.

Boehner knows these will come back to bite the Republicans in the ass, but he had no choice w/o facing a potential coup from within the caucus.
--- merged: Jan 23, 2015 at 11:36 PM ---
And the added excitement of Sarah Palin sticking her toes in the water and testing the response?

 

And the added excitement of Sarah Palin sticking her toes in the water and testing the response?[/quote]

please let this be true.

-jon stewart

 

Jello or cage match?

 

It's frequently claimed that eligible voters who don't vote are (1) alienated by the two-party system, and (2) have policy preferences similar to whoever is writing about their alleged alienation. But surveys find that the political opinions of non-voters are very similar to the political opinions of those who do cast ballots.

It's also not true that half of the adult population chooses to never vote. A great many vote sporadically, voting in one presidential election but not another. People who are transient or new arrivals in a community -- almost everyone spends time in this category! -- have an extremely low voter turnout because the process is easier for the settled. Most states don't allow convicted felons to vote, which excludes millions of potential voters. And the U.S. has something like 25 million noncitizens, a number which is rarely taken into account when calculating the percentage of adults who vote.

Recent years have seen a decline in participation among lower-income voters, and a corresponding rise in the proportion of votes that are cast by more affluent voters. If voting were made compulsory in the US, the way it is in Australia, that would help Democrats to some extent, but not dramatically.

That's because well-organized and well-funded conservative groups have pushed the Overton window far to the right.

The radical leftists I knew when I was in my 20s are probably best described as center-left today.

By European or Canadian standards, there are very few left-wing Americans. Remember that labor unions in the U.S. have been marginalized -- only about 11% of the workforce are union members any more (down from 33% in my lifetime). Very few working-class people are even exposed to left-wing advocacy any more.

We used to have a bunch of very active socialist parties, holding conventions, running candidates at all levels, printing and selling newspapers, posting flyers, etc. For example, the Socialist Labor Party had candidates on the ballot in every Michigan statewide election for decades. The Socialist Workers Party's newspaper, The Militant, was on sale at most urban newsstands.

All that activity is gone now. There are a few new left-wing parties, but much weaker than the old ones. Court rulings have made ballot access easier, but the new parties (e.g. the Socialist Equality Party) have not been capable of consistently getting on the ballot.

Again, the Overton window. This is the victory of the right wing.

How many Americans would identify as left-wing by international standards? I think 5% would be a very generous estimate. I'd say it's less than half that much.

 

Another toe dipper......The Donald

The circus is coming to town again.

 

Trump 'could' win, but he needs a new political adviser.

1. Don't attack the opposition very much, it doesn't help him.
2. Small business, jobs, rebuilding. Repeat over and over
2a. Big business support and easing of certain restrictions if the free market can handle it
3. Work ethic and don't give up, how he helped rebuild NYC and would like to do the same nationwide. In big cities and small ones.
4. Fiscal policy, tax policy, trade deals
5. Better lives mean good health and environment, rational regulations. Prop up Tesla and green companies as what happens in an economy with money. At least be an alternative to the no-EPA wingnuts.
6. Foreign policy of trade instead of war (both areas he would need help in, but possible to have other people help with this)
7. No discrimination, money is color blind. You can either do the job or not.
8. Plenty of celebrities like him and will campaign on a positive platform for him
9. Help poor and middle class through education, donations, and opportunities.
10. Balanced budget amendment
11. I don't think he cares too much about guns, abortion, or God so he might just have to play along to get the base. Same with the 'working man' in the fields, in trucks, or the factories, he's not one of them. But it doesn't mean that he can't say that he is for fair pay.
12. He should also apologize to some of his critics to prove he is the 'bigger man' and is willing to take criticism, but will also defuse the situation.

It is too early to be talking 2016 anyways... We need a whole new thread, but I'm not sure when I should make it.

 

Trump rebuilt NYC?

 

"Real estate mogul Donald Trump says the 2012 presidential race would have turned out differently if he had been on the ballot."

...in much the same way that your birthday cake would have turned out differently had you taken a dump in the mixing bowl.