Republican Party?

It is no secret that even the Republican electorate thinks that it has a weak field of Candidates. At this writing Newt Gingrich is the front runner with Mitt Romney running a distant second. Many, however, think that Romney will ultimately be the nominee. But Romney's buzz is that he is the unenthusiastic choice for the Republican Party. Why? Because he is uninteresting, has no real new ideas and perhaps most importantly is not really a conservative. He has flipped flopped on everything from health care to abortion both of which at one time he was for but is now against.

But is this really anything new for the Republican Party? Within the last few years the Republicans don't really know who they are. From the early 2000's they gave back money to the American people which was needed to fund a war. Make that two wars, one of which was unprovoked. They initiated a prescription drug program that was unfunded. All this was put on the American people's credit card in the form of massive debt. Now they claim to be the party of fiscal responsibility

The Executive Branch all the way up to the Chief of Staff for the Vice President exposed a covert CIA operative after her husband, Joe Wilson, was asked by the administration to investigate yellow cake uranium shipments to Iraq. In simply telling the truth he said that no such shipments existed and his wife was was exposed as a covert operative.

Do theses examples sound like liberals spending wildly without any accountability? Sound like America hating anti-democratic unpatriotic liberals? No, these were the actions of "neo-con" conservatives. Republicans. These were the actions of the Bush administration.

You can throw in a financial meltdown due to lax oversight. Finally, for good measure you can also include the demise of the US auto industry with two of three remaining US car companies filing for bankruptcy. The picture was pretty bleak just three years ago. Anti business Democrats? No, Republicans.

If Barack Obama had an (R) next to his name he would be considered the new coming by Republicans. He has ended the war in Iraq much to the consternation of many Republicans. Just ask Dick Cheney the instigator of the mess in Iraq who says we should have a permanent presence there. On Obama's watch our troops captured Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind behind 911 who alluded the US Government for nearly 10 years and during all of the Bush administration. He passed a sweeping health care initiative that every president, Republican and Democrat, back to Richard Nixon called for but was unable to pass. He turned around the financial system from a near catastrophe without losing any US taxpayer money. He lent and has be repaid for loans to the US automotive industry which is now making a comeback. While unemployment still remains high, it too is also beginning to show signs of improvement. He has done this all while trying to keep taxes at their lowest rate to GDP in history only proposing, but not getting passed, a tax increase for the wealthiest American. What is he called? A socialist and the worst US President in history. He has done all this without assistance from the Republicans whose main goal is to get the President out of office.

Yes there is a deficit and yes, it is serious. But he did not create the problems we are in today and he did nothing any differently than any other president would have done in a similar situation to get us out of where we are today.

So what are the Republican ideas for making the US a stronger and better nation as we steam full speed to the 2012 election? They are against raising any taxes, especially on the wealthy. The rich are job creators. Only there is no real proof that they have created any new jobs. Tax rates in this country for all Americans are lower than they have been at any time in the modern era, yet for some reason unemployment remains stubbornly high. Just ask any Republican. They think that taxes are still too high and that if you lower them even further, unemployment will fall. But there was a small chink in the armor this past week when a bill to extend the tax breaks to all working Americans was opposed by...Republicans. Yes Republicans.

So who are the Republicans? Hard to tell. They are the party of family values. But then why has Newt Gingrich been married three times? Why was he married to his first wife while dating his second wife? Why did discuss divorce proceedings with his second wife while she was in the hospital recovering from Cancer? Why was he cheating on his wife while he publicly called for the impeachment of Bill Clinton for adultery? I actually heard the audacity of a conservative pundit ask why Democrats were held to a lower standard when it came to personal indiscretions? It is because Democrats are not preaching an holier than thou standard for themselves like Republicans. Call it the hypocrite factor.

So who are the Republicans? Well the are the party of the free market. But then why has Michelle Bachman's family received so much in farm subsidy revenue from the US Government over the past several years. Why has Bachman been such an ardent supporter of farm subsidies in a free market economy? Good question. But she has. She even wrote a note praising the Obama administration for their decision to continue these subsidies? You won't hear that from her in a campaign speech even in the State of Iowa. Does she ask for one thing and get another? You be the judge. But it would appear that some Republicans want it both ways.

So who are the Republicans? Ask Mitt Romney. He created a health care program in Massachusetts that most people really like. It has been considered a success. But now he is running away from that accomplishment and says that the states should do what is right for them much the way the South did what was right for them during the time of segregation. Romney was also pro choice when it came to being the Governor in Massachusetts. But now that he is running for president he is against a woman's right to seek an abortion. I think that there is only one thing worse than changing your stance on an issue: not having an opinion at all. That is obviously Romney's real stance; whatever it takes to be elected.

So choose carefully this election season, especially if you are a Republican. It would seem that nothing has really changed in the past six years. The Republicans are for less taxes as long as the working class pays more. They are for containing Iran through force, a neo-con position extracted from Mitt Romney by Paul Wolfowitz during the most recent Republican debate. How would we pay for that? Wolfowitz in case you are unaware of his name was the national security official that lobbied for and brought us the Iraq War. They are anti-gay wanting to turn back the clock nearly 15 years with gay Americans going back into the closet to serve in the military.

The one thing I have not heard from the Republican slate of candidates is what they would do differently to continue to have the country recover from what has been the worst downturn since the great depression. If you have any idea of what their stance is on fixing the economy I would like to know. There is one candidate who is no longer in the race that had a plan 9-9-9 but no one really took that seriously. Another candidate thinks that privatizing and deregulating everything is the answer to prosperity. One candidate says that we should relax child labor laws, fire school janitors and let the kids clean things up. Yet another candidate takes a more moderate stance on issues and is drowned out by everyone else. He has just 1% of the vote on a good day.

In the old days if you did not like something that someone was doing, you would propose an alternative idea. An idea that was reasonable and actually helped people. These ideas had to be plausible, have credibility and show merit. Nowadays the crazier the idea, the more airplay it gets. It is no longer about ideas, but about getting elected. Getting elected allows you to serve almost exclusively those who paid to put you there. What do we call the people who are proposing these crazy ideas? Republicans.