What Republican politicians say on the campaign trail isn’t necessarily what they need to say to voters. What follows is one blogger’s take on what GOP politicians should be saying but probably won’t.
On Illegal Immigration: Illegal immigrants are immigration cheaters, unless they immigrated while minors and were compelled by adults to do so. Immigration cheating should be punished, but deportation doesn’t have to be a part of the punishment in every case. A foolproof way of preventing immigration cheating may not exist, but the federal government still should do everything practical to reduce and to discourage immigration cheating and be humane while doing it.
On Abortion: The only way that a woman can have a beating Human heart within her womb is if there is a tiny living Human within her womb, which is the case when a woman is more than three weeks pregnant. That fact needs to be acknowledged regardless of what one believes about abortion.
On Planned Parenthood: The federal government should find ways to help women without using Planned Parenthood as a middle-person. People opposed to abortion shouldn’t feel as if their tax dollars are supplementing an organization that provides abortions.
On Iran: The government of Iran can’t be trusted to remain peaceful as long as it has the elimination of Israel as one of its goals.
On the Foreign Aid: It is foolish for the federal government to be giving away borrowed money to other nations. The USA isn’t the world’s piggy bank. When another nation has an immediate humanitarian crisis, the USA ought to contribute something to the relief effort, but not to the point of having to borrow money in order to do so. A bleeding heart will stop beating if it bleeds the body dry.
On Wealth Inequality: The federal government should do all it can to provide equal opportunity for all Americans and to keep the playing field level. However, equal opportunity doesn’t guarantee equal results, and a level playing field doesn’t guarantee that everyone will make the same scores. Wealth inequality has always existed and will always exist as long as the Earth is turning. Wealth inequality doesn’t necessarily mean that the system is broken. A perfect system would still produce unequal economic outcomes become people are unequal in talents, skills, and ambitions.
On Unemployment: There was a time in history when unemployed people were mobile enough to relocate to wherever available jobs were. Now, people tend to be immobile, which reduces their ability to be employed. Also, there was a time when technology advanced at a slow enough pace for job skills to keep up with it. Now, technology has advanced at such a fast pace that there is a growing gap between the job skills possessed and the job skills needed. Jobs are the possessions of employers, and when government regulations make jobs costly for employers, the employers respond by reducing or eliminating jobs and/or by increasing consumer costs.
On Education: Colleges do no favors by encouraging people to pursue worthless degrees, and colleges that do so are in it purely for financial gain. Colleges should offer degree plans only because there is a demand for what those degree plans will provide, not because college administrators and professors want to be in the education business. Not everyone needs a college degree in order to earn a decent income, and people are happier when they aren’t saddled with college debt.
On the Military: The mission of the U.S. military is to protect the USA, its citizens and its allies from enemies abroad. The mission of the U.S. military is not to create and to sustain civilian jobs. The military world isn’t the same as the civilian world, and the military can’t perform its mission properly if it always has to succumb to political correctness. In the battlefield, doing what is necessary to survive and to succeed takes priority over doing what is popular or what is politically correct.
On Terrorism: Terrorists don’t play by any previously-established rules of war, and they certainly don’t abide by any political correctness. Indeed, political correctness doesn’t win wars, and the USA is in a war against terrorism. The USA didn’t start the war, but the USA has to finish it.
On Foreign Trade: The purpose of foreign trade is to acquire what cannot be acquired within the USA and to provide other nations with USA’s surplus goods. Foreign trade helps to keep consumer costs down by making the marketplace more competitive. If American consumers are getting what they want out of foreign trade, then they win.
On Oil Production, Prices and Exportation: What domestic oil producers want isn’t the same thing that American consumers want. The producers want oil prices to be high enough to make oil production profitable for them. Oil-producing states want to profit from increased oil production, also. However, the consumers want oil prices to be low enough so that their budgets aren’t consumed by high energy costs. Despite the optimism of domestic oil producers, crude oil is a finite resource. Domestic oil producers want to export crude oil for financial gain, but Americans who are alive one hundred years from now will regret that ever happening. Yes, some jobs gains will take place if crude oil is exported, but those jobs are destined to vanish once crude oil becomes scarce, which will eventually happen.
On the Keystone Pipeline: With domestic oil production on the rise, it would be reasonable to ask if it is currently necessary to import more oil from Canada. The fact that something can be done right now doesn’t necessarily mean that it should be done right now. What is the point of wanting to import oil while wanting to export it at the same time?
On Crime and Law Enforcement: Laws can be enforced without law officers being trigger happy, and a perception of racial profiling by law officers isn’t helping anyone. At the same time, citizens make crime worse by refusing to cooperate with police investigations and by refusing to testify against criminals. Sheltering criminals by remaining silent or by refusing to help law officers catch criminals is a sure way to harm one’s community.
On Race Relations: Race relations aren’t helped by punishing people for the racial sins of their ancestors. One can’t build members of one race up by tearing members of another race down. Also, “race” is a social construct, and its definition has varied over time. Two parties can be racially the same while being ethnically different. Two parties can be racially different while being ethnically the same. Race doesn’t determine one’s behavior, one’s potential or one’s future.
On Same-Sex Marriage: Same-Sex marriage is legally permissible under the U.S. Constitution. The fact that something is legally permissible doesn’t mean that one has to approve of it.
On Foreign Strife: The USA isn’t the world’s police force and shouldn’t become it. Plenty of foreign strife is centuries in the making and is the product of cultures unlike the American culture. What works in the USA might not always work in other nations.
On Domestic Strife: Some domestic problems can only be solved by changing hearts, and changing hearts is beyond the ability of the U.S. government.
On the Republican Party: No matter what the issue is, Republicans need to maintain a sense of decency. Acting like an angry mob wielding torches and pitchforks may be emotionally pleasing, but doing so doesn’t provide long-term solutions for problems. Displaying a holier-than-thou attitude will definitely cause people to tune-out when Republicans try to express their beliefs. Insinuating that political foes of the GOP are the enemies of America will no doubt drive people away from the GOP.
Finally, whether we are Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Green Party members, conservatives, liberals or moderates, we are all together in this thing called life in America. Only truly sadistic people would intentionally promote ideas that would harm America as a whole. The various political parties may argue about the best way to improve life in America, but they are all on board with the goals set forth by the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution, which are “to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”
——————————————————————————————————————-
Featured Image (sans GOP) from Shutterstock.
The “Wanted” posters say the following about David: “Wanted: A refugee from planet Melmac masquerading as a human. Loves cats. If seen, contact the Alien Task Force.”