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Looking on the Bright Side:

Taking the concept to new heights.

By: itsonlywords (Diary)  |  November 6th, 2008 at 03:24 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Dick Morris gives a different perspective on losing the White House. Man, can that guy turn a negative into a positive!

If ever there was an election that was not worth winning, it was the contest of 2008. While it was hard-fought on both sides, had McCain won, it might have spelled the end of the Republican Party. As it is, the party is well-situated to come back in 2010 and in 2012, if it learns the lessons of this year.

Simply put, all hell is about to break loose in the markets and the economy. The mortgage crisis will likely be followed by defaults in credit card debt, student loans and car loans. We will probably be set for two years of zero growth, according to economists with whom I talk. And the federal efforts to protect the nation from the worst of the recession will probably lead to huge budget deficits and resulting inflation. We are in for stagflation that could last for years.

Had McCain won, he would be the latter-day Hoover, blamed for the disaster that unfolded on his watch. Now it is Obama’s problem. With the Republicans suffering a wipeout in congressional elections (although not as bad as they feared), the ball is now squarely in the Democratic court. Good luck!

Here’s a link to the full text.

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COMMENTS

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  • mom2oneson

    First if we believe the gov should not have compulsory attendance/schools in the first place why do we want to expand their base into private schools too.

    Secondly there are many things we pay for but do not use. I’m a poor writer but how is it different than any other public assistance program? I don’t see how that is a valid reason. If a child does not attend school the school does not receive money for that child and the taxpayers do not pay for it.
    I don’t see how we all pay for as a conservative reason for everyone to use it. It’s like if we started a campaign for everyone to apply for food stamps and wanted food stamps expanded to higher income levels because they have to pay for them and buy food for their own families and that just is not fair. It just does not seem like a conservative POV. I don’t like the presenting of the idea either that they have no alternative than the public schools without vouchers to make a case for them. There are alternatives outside of the government schools for everyone of all income levels.

    Thanks for your help. I really don’t understand why conservatives support this?

    OT Love your pixie dust quote. :)

    • paulag1955

      Only part of the money used to fund public education is paid on a per child basis. I think but I’m not sure that the federal portion and in some states, the state portion would be paid that way. However, the portion of my local properties taxes (here in Washington) that is earmarked for schools goes to the schools regardless of enrollment. So if I were to choose to send my child to a private school, that portion of my property tax dollars would still go to fund public schools.

      As for vouchers, they could solve a couple of things. First, they would get the children of concerned families out of the government indoctrination centers, oops, I mean public schools. That also has the downside of decreasing the number of conservative minded parents willing to invest time in public schools.

      Second, it increases competition and pressures the public schools to improve their performance. The downside of this is that their performance is “proven” by standardized tests that may or may not actually prove anything at all.

      • mom2oneson

        Even if it’s not funded my the number of kids, how is the since I pay for this with my taxes I shouldn’t have to pay out of pocket in line with consersative thinking? There is so much we pay for with our taxes that we don’t personally benefit from. How is the answer is to try and get our share from it?

        With vouchers it will cost even more money because now the gov will be paying for private school students that aren’t in the system right now. The quality of private schools will also go down too once the gov has their hands in it.

        For getting the children out, if the parents wanted them out they could do so tomorrow. It’s not between two choices of having vouchers or having the kids indoctrinated in public schools I guess that is the biggest thing I don’t understand. Why is it being presented like that? It’s promoting the idea that education is up to the government and parents are helpless.

        If the government funds it, eventually it will turn into an indoctrination center just like the public schools have. The gov will hand out money for private schools without any say so long term? True private schools are still relatively independent and protected under religious freedoms, it seems like vouchers is long term is a good way to to invite the gov to ruin that. Also people who are already independent now with their childrens education will just become dependent again eventually on the gov if they get accept it.

        Why not just encourage people to make a break with the PS system?

      • paulag1955

        I’m just saying how schools are funded. I’m personally neither for nor against vouchers because, as I mentioned above, I think that for every positive, there’s a negative. We opted to waiver into a neighboring school district when we felt the local schools were unacceptable. You would need someone other than me to really explain the benefits of vouchers to you.

  • Justin_Case

    there aren’t going to be very many Republicans who are going to be willing to help Obama govern “from the middle” in the next few years.

  • drmonroe

    I’ll admit I was upset, although not completely surprised, by Obama’s win, but Morris makes a good point. When you think about it who would want to inherit the current mess? We’re heading in for some rough times and unless the Democrats can control their tax and spend urges they’re just going to make it even worse and by 2012, if the Republicans can get back to their roots, look for a Republican landslide.

    Oh and I agree with this part as well:

    “Conservatives cannot count on the Republican Party to fight their battles for them, and certainly cannot count on them to win. The right needs to develop cyber-roots conservative organizations to rival the power of groups like MoveOn.org.”

    See there are things we can learn from the left. That’s one of them. They also know how to play politics, which the Repubs don’t, instead trying to constantly play nice. We need to hit them on EVERYTHING they do, just as they’ve done to us since, well, forever.

  • sergee3

    posted here.

    Don’t be overly excited, though; there are plenty of negatives, too. Still, optimism is always a plus, and I do believe in our future.

  • James_Reynolds

    I posted in another comment that we need to get our party leaders to engage in more education systems after they are done with their terms. We need republican influences at universities and lower level government as mentors to upcoming rising stars.

  • drmonroe

    we need to make it part of the Republican package to push for school vouchers so that middle-class families can send their kids to school to actually learn instead of being indoctrinated with anti-Americanism.

    A favorite quote of mine, from James Madison, “Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.” If we don’t ensure that our youth is educated rather than indoctrinated we will see full-out socialism triumph in America, if it hasn’t already.

  • paulag1955

    But we can’t make that the cornerstone of education policy for the party.

    Vouchers only help families who are informed and interested enough to use them. We need a plan to educate the children of the other families…the ones who either aren’t aware of the liberal indoctrination that goes on in public schools and the watered down curriculum or don’t care.

    We cannot abandon the public school system. We need to begin taking it back from the left by placing conservative-minded people on school boards and getting conservative educators involved in shaping education at the university level. Yes, it’s a long term solution but I think it’s key.

  • mom2oneson

    It is just another entitlement program with the government dictating how things are run.
    If middle class parents want their children in private schools they can put them in private schools. The argument of the middle class need vouches make it seem like the parents have no options but the public school without them.

  • aaronbg

    the fact is that all tax payers pay into the Public education system. If parents decide to opt out and place their children in private institutions they should not have to pay into the public system as well. That is the point of the vouchers.