A Record of Failure

A thumbnail sketch of the Republican Party - as it is cartoonishly portrayed - would be that of a stingy banker who wants low taxes.  The Republican doesn't want to fund a welfare state because he is mean.  The Republican is greedy, which is why he wants low taxes.  The Republican is a warmonger because he wants to invade other countries and steal their stuff.  This is a caricature that fails to plumb the depths of these policies but that is a discussion for another time.  Let us assume that this is indeed what the Republican voter wants.  Is he getting it?

Are taxes going down as a result of massive victories for Republicans in both the House and the Senate?  No.  They are going up as Obamacare is implemented.  Is the welfare state shrinking to satisfy the sadistic nature of these heartless voters?  No.  The welfare state has seen massive and continuing growth, from food stamps to healthcare to housing.  We are importing people so as to put them on welfare.  Is the military getting bigger and invading poor third world countries?  No, it is shrinking and being mostly withdrawn.  In short, Republican voters have not seen any of the heartless and mean-spirited policies that they support enacted.

All those experienced, establishment Republicans who promised the moon before the elections have delivered squat.  Why are they surprised that an outsider like Trump is getting traction?  They have no one but themselves to blame.  Even if Trump does eventually fumble - which is looking less and less likely - the next most popular candidate is Ted Cruz.  The party hates Cruz.  George Will has accused Cruz of not being a team player.  He meant that as a criticism but it translates as a compliment outside DC.  The senator who wants to throw away the playbook that has resulted in loss after loss after loss is the problem?

 

The Republican Party has done such a wonderful job on the national level that a Republican governor has suggested an Article V convention of the states to propose amendments to the Constitution.  The last time the states got together in such a fashion, they dumped the Articles of Confederation and wrote the Constitution.  This is fraught with peril.  Such extreme measures are suggested because the government is running amok.  The debt has exceeded GDP for the first time since World War II, courts have imposed cultural changes that the people had voted down, the president is enforcing laws that Congress declined to pass and not enforcing laws that the Congress did pass, immigrants are flooding into the country and then using the welfare services at a higher rate than the native population (we are bringing in indigents who will only cost, not benefit), and the Republican shrug.

 

The party needs to be refocused by new leadership or replaced in much the same way that it replaced the Whigs.