Comments on: Lesson for the GOP: Find Your Inner Policy Wonk http://www.frumforum.com/lesson-for-the-gop-find-your-inner-policy-wonk Building a conservatism that can win again Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:00:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: John Guardiano http://www.frumforum.com/lesson-for-the-gop-find-your-inner-policy-wonk/comment-page-1#comment-71055 John Guardiano Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:44:36 +0000 http://www.frumforum.com/?p=15303#comment-71055 Socrates, Thanks for the kind words, but I rather like your criticisms even more! Your comment about my piece, "Obama to Troops: Do More with Less," was especially entertaining. In fact, when I get my blog and professional-biographical sites up and running, I think I may highlight your comment in a "criticisms" section :) Indeed, if memory serves, you congratulated me on an "excellent attack piece," which, you said, was "provocative, unthoughtful, non-factual, [and] ideologically driven." My piece, you said, "doesn't provide any new ideas," but "keep[s] the base going. Keep up the good Obama-bashing work," you wrote. Touche! I obviously don't agree with your comment, but I really did enjoy it and the pithy and entertaining way in which you wrote it. I enjoy the back and forth, obviously; so fire away! Regards, John Socrates,
Thanks for the kind words, but I rather like your criticisms even more! Your comment about my piece, “Obama to Troops: Do More with Less,” was especially entertaining. In fact, when I get my blog and professional-biographical sites up and running, I think I may highlight your comment in a “criticisms” section :)

Indeed, if memory serves, you congratulated me on an “excellent attack piece,” which, you said, was “provocative, unthoughtful, non-factual, [and] ideologically driven.” My piece, you said, “doesn’t provide any new ideas,” but “keep[s] the base going. Keep up the good Obama-bashing work,” you wrote.

Touche! I obviously don’t agree with your comment, but I really did enjoy it and the pithy and entertaining way in which you wrote it. I enjoy the back and forth, obviously; so fire away!

Regards,
John

]]> By: MOborn http://www.frumforum.com/lesson-for-the-gop-find-your-inner-policy-wonk/comment-page-1#comment-71019 MOborn Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:38:29 +0000 http://www.frumforum.com/?p=15303#comment-71019 I very much appreciate the gender-neutral pronouns in the third-to-last paragraph. Good on you. I very much appreciate the gender-neutral pronouns in the third-to-last paragraph. Good on you.

]]> By: sinz54 http://www.frumforum.com/lesson-for-the-gop-find-your-inner-policy-wonk/comment-page-1#comment-71011 sinz54 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:16:40 +0000 http://www.frumforum.com/?p=15303#comment-71011 reason60: What evidence is there that TeaPartiers support "endless war, everywhere and always"??? None of their protests had ANYTHING to do with foreign policy. BTW, I used to work in the defense industry. Nearly all the big contracts I was familiar with were intensely competitive, some even involving unsolicited bids from dark horse contractors. I worked on the proposals for some. The F-22, the F-35, were both the product of intensive competition from multiple contractors. There are a lot of problems with military procurement. But you can't blame it all on sole-source procurement, because hundreds of billions of dollars of procurement involved competitive bids. reason60:

What evidence is there that TeaPartiers support “endless war, everywhere and always”??? None of their protests had ANYTHING to do with foreign policy.

BTW, I used to work in the defense industry. Nearly all the big contracts I was familiar with were intensely competitive, some even involving unsolicited bids from dark horse contractors. I worked on the proposals for some. The F-22, the F-35, were both the product of intensive competition from multiple contractors.

There are a lot of problems with military procurement. But you can’t blame it all on sole-source procurement, because hundreds of billions of dollars of procurement involved competitive bids.

]]> By: LFC http://www.frumforum.com/lesson-for-the-gop-find-your-inner-policy-wonk/comment-page-1#comment-71004 LFC Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:50:06 +0000 http://www.frumforum.com/?p=15303#comment-71004 Socrates, how about the "Pragmatist Party"? Socrates, how about the “Pragmatist Party”?

]]> By: Socrates http://www.frumforum.com/lesson-for-the-gop-find-your-inner-policy-wonk/comment-page-1#comment-70965 Socrates Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:39:10 +0000 http://www.frumforum.com/?p=15303#comment-70965 John, Good point. I agree with you that both governor races were won on local issues, specifically, the economy. People want to elect those who can solve problems and make their life better. Perhaps instead of "conservative" or "progressive," the best candidates should be "solutionist" in the sense that he or she has a solution to offer. People can turn on the democrats as fast as they turned on the republicans. the label does not fool anyone. John,

Good point. I agree with you that both governor races were won on local issues, specifically, the economy. People want to elect those who can solve problems and make their life better. Perhaps instead of “conservative” or “progressive,” the best candidates should be “solutionist” in the sense that he or she has a solution to offer.

People can turn on the democrats as fast as they turned on the republicans. the label does not fool anyone.

]]> By: Reason60 http://www.frumforum.com/lesson-for-the-gop-find-your-inner-policy-wonk/comment-page-1#comment-70962 Reason60 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:26:14 +0000 http://www.frumforum.com/?p=15303#comment-70962 A very good point, which shoould mostly be heeded by the Tea Party wing; As it stands, they have almost nothing in the way of real ideas or policy. What they have is a raw unfocused anger, and a platform cobbled together of wildly contradictory positions which could never pass the first blush of governance. Examples: 1. They claim to desire "limited government"; yet support the Cheney/Addington/Yoo theory of the Unitary Executive, which gives the Executive Branch nearly unlimited power; 2. They claim to support "fiscal conservatism"; yet they support nearly endless war, everywhere and always, which demands massive government spending. They are unwilling to put forward any realistic ideas as to how to either raise revenue or cut spending to end the deficits. 3. They claim to favor "Free Market Capitalism"; yet support (or turn a blind eye to) the competition-free, "no bid" practices of military contractors, land giveaways to mining interests, and the near stranglehold of Goldman Sachs on the Treasury. Until these contradictions can be resolved, the Tea Party wing of the GOP will be nothing more than bumper sticker slogans and noisy street theater. A very good point, which shoould mostly be heeded by the Tea Party wing; As it stands, they have almost nothing in the way of real ideas or policy. What they have is a raw unfocused anger, and a platform cobbled together of wildly contradictory positions which could never pass the first blush of governance.
Examples:
1. They claim to desire “limited government”; yet support the Cheney/Addington/Yoo theory of the Unitary Executive, which gives the Executive Branch nearly unlimited power;
2. They claim to support “fiscal conservatism”; yet they support nearly endless war, everywhere and always, which demands massive government spending. They are unwilling to put forward any realistic ideas as to how to either raise revenue or cut spending to end the deficits.
3. They claim to favor “Free Market Capitalism”; yet support (or turn a blind eye to) the competition-free, “no bid” practices of military contractors, land giveaways to mining interests, and the near stranglehold of Goldman Sachs on the Treasury.

Until these contradictions can be resolved, the Tea Party wing of the GOP will be nothing more than bumper sticker slogans and noisy street theater.

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