Sunday 12/9 Musings

I think we are going over the fiscal cliff because many in the Government want to reform the overall tax code and you cannot accomplish that in the time we have left before we go over the cliff.  And if we go over the cliff, you are then changing tax rates from higher levels so it is easier to accomplish.  One stalking horse from the GOP Senate is a design to broaden the tax base.  The only thing left is a VAT or national sales tax, which while it is regressive, is probably a good thing from an incentive stand point as a nation we do need to raise our savings rate.  Thank you Tom Coburn (R) of Oklahoma for revealing that.

Both the Economist and Thomas Friedman highlight the idiocy of Israel's new settlement plans on the West Bank and the Economist most pointedly says Israel should either get going on a 2 State negotiation or realize that if they do not, Jews will be a minority in an Arab country and the implications of how Jews would remain in control are horrifying.  I fear Israel is reaching a point of no return of going over their own version of a morality cliff and that saddens me deeply.  More deeply than continuing to live with a need for a strong military and an iron fist on terrorism which I completely support.

Ross Douthat identified what it would take for the GOP to open my mind on voting for them.

"The conservatism of 2011 and 2012 had a lot to say about the long-term liabilities of the American Government but far too little to say about the most immediate anxieties of American citizens, from rising health care costs to stagnating wages to the socioeconomic malaise spreading across the country's working class.  Neither the Reagan legacy nor the current conservative catechism holds the solutions to these problems:  they require Republicans to apply their principles more creatively, and think about policy anew."

And before quoting Maureen Dowd on what the GOP Presidential process produced in a candidate and doomed whomever to lose, I must say to organizations like Move-On and AARP who are against all entitlement reforms, GET REALISTIC.  The country cannot afford what is promised and must find ways to stabilize entitlements. Yes, we need to control health care costs, so help develop policies that will do that without creating death panels.  They exist in small pockets around the country and need to expanded through advocacy.

What the GOP Primary Process forgot about the country and what must change if I am to vote for the GOP again.  Progress is made in the middle by being respectful of all views on all issues.  Adhere to principles but respect that the either side's principles are deserving of respect.  That is the nation we have and what we must work with.

"Who would have ever thought blacks would get and support the first black president?  Who would have ever thought women would shy away from the party of transvaginal probes?  Who would ever have thought gays would work against a party that treated them as immoral and subhuman?  Who would have ever thought young people would desert a party that ignored science and hectored them on social issues?  Who would have ever thought  Latinos would scorn a party  that  expected them to finish up their chores and self-deport?"