Fiscal Cliff Thoughts

With the fiscal cliff approaching and no sign of a deal it is time for Republicans to come up with a new strategy. They want to bring in new revenue by getting rid of deductions, but leaving rates the same, and cut spending. Obama wants to bring in new revenue by raising rates to the pre-Bush Tax Cut levels, plus add a lot more revenue, which would mean either higher rates than the pre-Bush Tax Cut levels, removing some deductions, or both. But instead of cutting spending Obama wants to raise spending with a new stimulus, even though previous ones failed to generate growth to the economy. Not only if the President willing to meet the Republicans half-way, he is giving them less than nothing. But with the media openly shilling for the Democrats and Republicans in disarray public opinion is on the Democrats' side, it doesn't help that the public does not know how unwilling to compromise the President is.
So, it is time for a new strategy.
In fairness, Obama won the election, albeit narrowly, so Republicans should give up the tax cuts. Let the rates for the top 2% expire and come up with a couple deductions that would only affect top income earners and get rid of them. Announce it in the press and make sure the message gets out. If conservative complain tell them "We don't like it but compromise has to start somewhere," and add, "If more of you had come out and voted we wouldn't be in this situation."
I don't like letting the tax cuts expire, I think we need further tax cuts, but elections have consequences.
However, Republicans did hold the House by more than a slim margin. So after Republicans give in on taxes, tell the President it is time to cut spending. Ask the President for his proposal for spending cuts and make it know immediate cuts are required, because we all know from experience the promise of future cuts will not be honored.
I know we can't balance the budget in one year, but more than token cuts will have to be part of the deal. Hundreds of billions of cuts must be made in the first year. The President won the election but he did not win the House so he will have to give in some as well.
Republicans must make it known they are willing to compromise, and further, make it known to the voters that as of yet, President Obama isn't.
And if they want to get their tax cuts back, they will have to win an election.

Republicans, Conservatives, and 3rd Parties

The fact that the Republicans had everything for 4 years and expanded government is disheartening, almost to the point of wanting to leaving the party. However, seeing what the Democrats have done when they have complete power made me realize that the Republicans at their worst are still better than the Democrats at their best. The Democrats are getting more unpopular by the week and will face crushing defeats in upcoming elections. The only thing that can stop this and give the left even more power is a divided conservative movement.

The right thing to do is not ditch the party and ensure conservatism's demise, but to change the Republican party. Third party conservatives should get inside the party and work to change the it themselves, and we need to invite Libertarians in as well. Although I don't agree with them on everything, most of them have a passion for shrinking government that Republicans could use.

Conservatives should also consider infiltrating the Democratic party as well, the Democratic Party has drifted so far left that moonbats are in charge of both houses of congress and the Presidency. We should run conservatives in Democratic primaries where a Conservative has a decent chance of winning. However, we should only support Conservative Democrats who can say no to their leadership.

In short, Conservatives should think beyond the Republican party, but Conservative 3rd parties will only hurt the Conservative movement.

New Liberal Taking Point: We Need Public Competition

A new talking point the left is using for things like health insurance and the like is, what's the problems with a little public competition. This is an attempt to annex conservative arguments about competition and free-enterprise.

What they purposely avoid telling you is that when the private sector has the government as competition it is never a fair fight. The government has a bottomless pit of money that they can use to drive competition out of the market. All they have to do is lower their prices to a point where competitors can't maintain a profit if they match their prices and services. These lower prices would be explained as making their service affordable to lower income Americans, and while it would help the poor afford the service, it would also kill free enterprise by giving an unfair advantage to the so-called public competition.

Once the competition has been effectively eliminated, like in the private sector, either prices would go up and/or services would be cut. This is why the government needs to stay out of the private sector.

Answering a Liberal Strawman: Should Republicans move to the right or be more inclusive?

Should Republicans move to the right or be more inclusive?
This question is a strawman posed by liberals who are insinuating that being
conservative is somehow the antithesis of being inclusive, but it does raise
interesting issues.

Should Republicans move to the right? Absolutely, Republicans have betrayed
economic conservatism since the late 90s and simply embraced a milder form of liberalism on economic issues than the Democrats. This is one of the reasons they are in the minority right now. Republicans need to stand firm on smaller government and lower taxes.

They also need to stand firm on the war on terror, the 2nd amendment and
securing the border. The people are with Republicans on these issues.

Now, should Republicans be inclusive? Republicans already are inclusive. The
media and entertainment industries have basically been peddling the left's
propaganda of the 'bigoted conservative' to push people into the Democratic
party because they know they can't win by selling a socialist agenda.
Conservatives are not anti-Hispanic, they are just opposed to illegal
immigration. They are not even anti-gay, it is just that most are opposed to
same-sex marriage, a position that the majority of Americans hold.
If you were to ask a gay conservative, who do you get more hostility from,
straight conservatives when they learn you are gay or gay liberals when they
learn you're conservative, the answer is almost always from gay liberals when
they learn you're conservative. It is the left that is intolerant.

Maybe we should ask the Democrats, if they want to continue to move to the left
or be more inclusive. They sure can't tolerate any dissent, judging by their
reactions to the tea parties, and the fact that many of them want to stifle free
speech under the guise of the 'Fairness Doctrine.'

Standing for smaller government and lower taxes is not being exclusionary. We let the left push us in their direction for their benefit and it has to stop. This does not mean we become as rigidly ideological and narrow-minded as they are, but it does mean acting on our principles. Smaller government, lower taxes, more freedom. These are principles to proclaim proudly, sure we should allow a diversity of viewpoints into the party, but not to the point to where the party stands for nothing but itself and itself alone. Be bold. Be conservative. And don't apologize for it.

Obama wins, Dems Expand Majorities in House and Senate: Total Liberal Control

On November 4 Barrack Obama won the Presidency with what looks like 52% of the vote, Democrats have picked at least 21 seats in the House defeating several incumbents, while only 4 Democratic incumbents were defeated, and one of them was involved in multiple sex scandals. The result in the Senate was just as bleak for the Republicans, they lost 6 seats so far with 3 more to close to call. If all those seats are called for the Democrats they will have 60 seats in the Senate, giving them a super-majority that can kill filibusters.

Long term realignment trends look bad as well, Obama won both Virginia and Colorado which have been trending Democrat for a while and seem to be slightly Democratic now. These 2 states alone push the electoral map below the needed 270 for the Republicans, to win the Presidency again Republicans will have to either win back these states, or turn other blue states red. In congress with the defeat of moderate Connecticut congressman Chris Shays Republicans in the House have been shut of New England Entirely.

On January 20 of next year the Presidency, House of Representatives, and the Senate will all be controlled by partisan, left-wing ideologues who will steer this country far to the left of what the public wants. Conservatives need to lay the ground work for a comeback today to retake congress in 2010, and the White House in 2012. Conservatives need to find a way to control the conversation of political dialogue, as the Democrats did this year, and get even blue states to take a second look at Conservatism.

Conservatives have the public on their side on many issues: taxes, drilling, nuclear power, a secret ballot for union members, and controlling spending to name a few. Republicans can't be pale imitations of the Democrats, but they also cannot be hard-core ideologues who shut out differing points of view. A balance must be struck and it must be struck soon. New strategy is badly needed, and we must be ready for 2010 today.

Reconciling Conservatism with Atheism

Most conservative atheists, especially ones who are Republicans, have been asked how they can support conservatives when so many of them are a part of the religious right. Because the religious right, in general, is so hostile to the separation of church and state this is a legitimate question.

The issue of separation has varying degrees of importance to conservative atheists, but usually has enough significance to most of us that this question can give us pause. It is an issue that is important to me, and I do oppose the religious right on this issue. However, it is only one of several important issues,
and is outweighed to me, and to most conservative atheists, by these other issues.

Taxes, and the general philosophy of government is just as important as church/state issues, it affects our lives, one could argue, more than almost every issue out there. The left, which the Democratic party is run by, is determined to increase the size and scope of government, and the extent to how much of our lives it will intrude. They believe an activist government is the best solution to most problems in society.

To pay for this more activist government they raise taxes as much as they see fit, and have grown into an attitude of tax the rich, and big business too, to the point where it stifles free enterprise and costs America jobs. How do they fix the problem of lost jobs? You guessed it, with even more government and higher taxes to pay for it.

I am not someone who thinks that government has no role to play in our lives, there are a few things it can and should do. Defense, education, infrastructure, a minimal safety net to help those who can't help themselves, and minimal regulation to ensure public safety. Beyond that the government, in general, should stay out of the way and let the private sector do what it does best, create wealth and jobs.

Defense is a vital issue that demands our attention as well. The left has let itself be taken over by radicals who, to varying degrees, want to blame America instead of fighting the terrorists who are determined to destroy us. Any issues I may have with the religious right is swamped by this one issue alone.

The Democratic party is under strong influence by radical anti-war groups like Moveon.org who not only want to keep America from fighting the terrorists, but want massive cuts in military spending (gutting our armed forces), and putting that money in social programs that increase the left's grip on the lives of the American people. They even want to get rid of, or at least hinder greatly, surveillance programs that could prevent attacks. This spurs not from a wish to see America attacked, but from a fundamental misjudgment of the enemy, and a distrust of the US government, which they consider oppressive and controlled by big business, which in their minds starts wars to make money.

Lastly the left is hostile to the 2nd amendment. The left claims the 2nd amendment doesn't really say what is say it does. The 2nd amendment reads: "A
well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
There is no other rational way to read this other than the obvious, that the people's right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. When the supreme court overruled the Washington DC ban and guns there were even a few calls from the left to get rid of the 2nd amendment. This is a fundamentally alien way of thinking to me, and I cannot be a part of any movement that pushes it.

There are many other issues that I could address, but these are the most important ones. Conservative atheists won't agree on every issue, I've seen them disagree with each other on abortion, gay marriage and other issues. However, the core issues I addressed are ones that most conservative atheists, and indeed most conservatives period, agree on.