The New Image of the Grand Old Party

Many of my liberal friends and family are happy to watch the GOP burn its own house to the ground in the wake of the 2012 election. I, for one, am not. The redeeming ideal of this nation is that competition will lead to the best outcome for everyone. Part of the reason our politics are so pathetic is because the Democrats lack serious opposition to their ideas. The GOP relegated itself to the weakest branch of government and claims to have an equal seat at the table with causes that have been strongly repudiated at a national level, like opposition to gay marriage and their economic policies.

The Fed injected cash into our economy in droves from 2008 and on, Europe and the UK slashed their budgets to the bone. This chart basically disproves the theory that austerity is the best choice to stimulate a depressed economy.

Thankfully, it looks like the GOP is beginning to backtrack on their opposition to gay marriage; however, depending on how the Paul Ryan budget wars play out, they might not change their economic policies. This would damage the party even further. What Ryan and his anti-government zealots created is not a budget (because it lacks specificity), but an ideological declaration. This is the core problem with the modern GOP. They spend the vast majority of their time politicking instead of governing. 

The Republican Party must enact real policies that portray government in a positive light or they will join the Whig Party in the dustbin of history. That's where the fire truck comes in.

Insurance exists for all other types of calamities, so why is fire singled out as a communal insurance policy in the United States? Because it is a disaster whose effects can be lessened with urgency. For all the positives of private insurance (yes, there are some, even if they are ripping us off), "immediate delivery within minutes, no questions asked" is not something it does well. Instead, we all pay into a pot that goes to train and equip some awesome people to do some awesome things 24 hours a day, and I'd say this socialistic policy has worked out pretty well up to this point.

A fire truck can be an example of a GOP-supported program that is inspired by an ideological camp distant from theirs, while also communicating their core message of the importance of local politics. This can help to show voters that they value pragmatism over strict ideology (something they have admitted is a necessity in order to gain more young voters, like this one). Hey, it's better than their current message of "blindly follow our interpretation of a President who no one under the age of 51 ever had a chance to vote for." 

The essence of conservatism is local governance. It's not that the federal government is bad or evil, there are just some things it cannot manage from thousands of miles away. Basic services like fire, police, infrastructure management, and schools help people in our towns and cities become more self-sufficient. The image of a fire truck can give the GOP political cover to realign its policies so they cater more to the common man instead of their self-defeating infatuation with tax cuts for the rich as the only cure for all of society's ills. 

 

Politics have moved left, for better or for worse. Government is intended to be a pragmatic tool to help society, not a movement. The GOP needs to embrace a few policies to their "left" in order to stay relevant. Although, considering how far right the GOP has moved in the Obama years, everything seems to be on the "left," including their savior. This is what happens when you become the party of NO!!!!!!!!!!

"A state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country." - Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandies

This quote is where the federal approach to governing should begin for modern conservatives. The goal should be to give states room to create their own policies in certain areas in order to change their citizens lives for the better (like establishing universal health care). The federal government functions somewhat as a venture capitalist in this scenario. If America truly is the "land of the entrepreneur," then our government should use its massive amount of resources to help give people more freedom to develop truly life-altering products.

The Republican Party needs to drop this incredibly simple and romanticized worldview of government as nothing more than an obstruction to individual success. Instead of decrying government as an entity hell bent on your destruction, the GOP needs to create policies aimed at smart, sober investments and stop freaking out over small failures like Solyndra. (no one bats 1.000, and Solyndra represented 2% of the federal government's total investment in clean energy at the time. The lack of accountability and oversight, not the investment itself, was the problem in that situation). 

Investors don't throw their money at every single pitch that comes along, but they do jump at certain opportunities. Saying no to every proposed idea ensures a 0% return on your investment. And that's what government is, an investment funded by every one of us.

However, as the gay marriage debate shows us, ultimate tyranny can be imposed by the federal government, or lifted by the federal government, depending on who's in office. For example, Mississippi's legislature was not going to voluntarily give African Americans equal rights in 1964 and they certainly will not vote for equal rights for gays and lesbians today. Each state should have a certain level of autonomy but we must establish national standards as to how we will treat and care for one another. If not, then we are nothing more than Western Europe.

This type of nuance challenges the very basic (and I mean basic) premise of the modern GOP (government = bad) and forces it into an awkward situation.

If government exists only to encroach upon our lives, then for what purpose does government exist?

  

This is the question that the Republican Party must answer in order to remain relevant on a national scale. For their sake, and the rest of the country, I hope they do (mine included, I'm sick of casting a vote for "not the crazy person" every other election).