And that party is the Republican Party:
Because one of our parties has gone bonkers. Oh, sure, the Democrats aren’t altar boys. Fine. But
High Broderism is blessedly dying as more and more establishment types come to see that it’s basically the GOP that’s throwing the wrench in the works.There is little sign, of course, that this behavior is abating. True, we got a cliff deal, but the Washington GOP as a whole is still extremely right wing, and one leading reason why is that Republican House members and senators live in fear of facing primary challenges from their right. Barney Frank put it imperishably in an interview with New York magazine last spring, in a couplet that everyone who cares about Washington dysfunction should bear in mind: “[People] say, ‘Are you saying they’re all Michele Bachmann?’ And my answer is no, they’re not all Michele Bachmann. Half of them are Michele Bachmann. The other half are afraid of losing a primary to Michele Bachmann.”
The rest of the article lays out a plan for moderate Republicans to reclaim a role in their own party.
Democrats and progressives need to come to grips with the fact that the Republican party has been taken over by people whose policy agenda is nuts.
166.2.73.233#1 by Richard Warnick on January 10, 2013 - 10:03 am
I wasn’t even a moderate Republican, I was conservative and a McCain supporter (in 2000, before he reversed his position on every single issue). But the performance of the GOP during the Bush administration made me vow never to vote for another Republican as long as I live. Very few stood up against Bush/Cheney and the neocons.
67.172.251.22#2 by Shane on January 10, 2013 - 10:30 am
Richard, the issue is that the (philosophical) conservative position has many good things to it. (Aside good examples: http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_how_common_threats_can_make_common_political_ground.html) But that position has entirely been abandoned to make way for a win at all costs, do anything to destroy the other side, unholy alliance between southern racists, the military industrial complex, and literalist christians.
The party is an embarrassment.
Also, as much as I respect the idea in the linked article, we have a moderate conservative party. They are called democrats. Todays elected democrat is more likely to be to the right of Saint Ronny than the left, and for that the broken party calls them “socialists!”
…but I would like to see moderate republicans again. I say give it a try.
174.52.65.169#3 by brewski on January 10, 2013 - 12:42 pm
I was a liberal and a Democrat. But the performance of the Democrats over the last 20 years with the corruption, the cronyism, the destruction they have done to the economy and to democracy itself made me vow that I will never vote for another Democrat as long as I live. Very few are standing up against Obama/Axelrod and the Chicago gang.
67.172.251.22#4 by Shane on January 10, 2013 - 12:49 pm
OMG that was hilarious brewski! Thanks for that laugh…
166.2.73.233#5 by Richard Warnick on January 10, 2013 - 1:25 pm
Here we go again. Democrats and poor people crashed the economy, using their awesome powers. Bush, the GOP and Wall Street were innocent bystanders, despite having total control of the government and the financial sector.
174.52.65.169#6 by brewski on January 10, 2013 - 1:42 pm
Who said poor people? The Democrats are so intertwined with the filthy rich it is disgusting. Bob Rubin and Goldman Sachs/Citigroup, Joe Biden and the entire credit card industry, Nancy Pelosi and the San Fran venture capital elite, Obama and the Bildergergs, Al Gore and Apple, Inc. It is the corruption and cronyism of the Democrats and the rich. I never said poor. You did.
174.52.65.169#7 by brewski on January 10, 2013 - 1:43 pm
I forgot Barney Frank/James Johnson et al. and the GSEs.
166.2.73.233#8 by Richard Warnick on January 10, 2013 - 2:02 pm
No, if we go back to earlier discussions I think we can find you accused poor people of signing up for mortgages they couldn’t afford, as if they were perpetrators instead of the victims of fraud.
Who are the “Bildergergs”?
174.52.65.169#9 by brewski on January 11, 2013 - 8:50 am
Yes, lots of people did sign up for mortgages they knew they couldn’t afford. That is why they were called “Liar Loans”. This is not some right wing spin. This is fact.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-hallman/no-more-liar-loans-or-oth_b_2447990.html
174.52.65.169#10 by brewski on January 11, 2013 - 9:00 am
You don’t know about Bilderberg?
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Category:Bilderberg_Group
166.2.73.233#11 by Richard Warnick on January 11, 2013 - 9:03 am
Thanks for admitting you blame poor people for crashing the economy.
I know Bilderberg (not “the Bildergergs”) is a perennial favorite of conspiracy theorists.
67.171.213.29#12 by cav on January 11, 2013 - 9:36 am
99% of the .01% would just as soon you know nothing of this.
Look. Over there! (Insert suitable diversionary media event here).
174.52.65.169#13 by brewski on January 11, 2013 - 11:45 am
Tell me then, what do you call it when any person knowingly and intentionally lies on a mortgage application? Please tell me what that is called. You think they are the victims?
166.2.73.233#14 by Richard Warnick on January 11, 2013 - 12:08 pm
There may be some cases of people who were actually stupid enough to knowingly sign up for a mortgage they can’t afford. I suggest that the vast majority were the victims of predatory lenders.
174.52.65.169#15 by brewski on January 11, 2013 - 1:08 pm
You are totally unfamiliar with what happened over the last 20 years. Of course they lied.
166.2.73.233#16 by Richard Warnick on January 11, 2013 - 1:31 pm
Here is what happened:
1. Too much income inequality due to tax cuts for the rich
2. Shortage of high-return investment opportunities in the real economy
3. Growth in demand for derivatives
4. Oh-so-clever idea to package mortgages into investments
5. Growth in demand for mortgages to package
6. Predatory lenders created shaky mortgages by lying to consumers about the terms
7. Crap mortgages sold on Wall Street as good as gold
8. Eventual collapse of bubble, and we know the rest
Americans lost $4 trillion in home equity, and the economy has not yet recovered. It may take another decade to get back to full employment.
67.171.213.29#17 by cav on January 11, 2013 - 1:50 pm
Banks have had nothing to do with it!
Special Report: The latest foreclosure horror: the zombie title
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/10/us-usa-foreclosures-zombies-idUSBRE9090G920130110
Financial institutions have realized that following through on sales of decaying houses in markets swamped with foreclosures may not yield anything close to what is owed on them.
By walking away, banks can at least reap the insurance, tax and accounting benefits from documenting the loss — without having to take on any of the costs and responsibilities of ownership, according to a 2010 Federal Reserve paper. A walk-away also enables them to “sell the unpaid debt to debt collectors, sometimes noting to the court that the loan has been charged off,” according to a Case Western Reserve University study released in 2011.
174.52.65.169#18 by brewski on January 11, 2013 - 1:52 pm
Note to Bob S.
#16 is opinion of one and not supported by the facts.
67.172.251.22#19 by Shane on January 12, 2013 - 9:04 am
Note to Bob, 16 is actually a good summery of the opinion of Paul Krugman, and if you visit a couple of economics schools it appears that roughly 65% or so of economist agree with him, and large part of those who disagree simply think he is over simplifying a bit.
The only point Richard leaves out is that massive deregulation (by both parties, though the repubs did a bit more of it) of financial institutions is the primary cause of those eight issues he listed.
But then Paul is just a noble prize winning economist from the ivy league who predicted the current problems and is one of the most sited economists in the world. Brewski is a dishonest anonymous coward, so yeah, rank your sources.
Once you have ranked them, I recommend “end this depression now” and maybe “age of diminished expectations” as well. Sadly, all of his books feature facts and even some critical thinking, so I am afraid they are not easy reads for many of the new age of conservativism.
Hope that helps.