Topic: OPINION EDITORIAL: "Looking Ahead to 2012, 2013, and 2014"

[jpatrickham]

11:56 AM (1 hour ago)
 
By Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson

October 31, 2011

“The big political question for election year 2012 is: How much change would Republicans want? Would they downsize government as much as Obama upsized it? Will Republicans nominate a safe, moderate candidate (think: Ford, Bush, and Dole)—a technocratic tinkerer who accepts the entrenched paradigm of Big Government, and seeks to manage Leviathan better than Democrats would? Or will they opt for an unabashed conservative, a major reformer with a radical vision for smaller government? That question wasn’t even conceivable a year ago, but the tectonic plates in the American political landscape may be starting to shift. Whiffs of radical reform are in the air.”
 
In “Looking Ahead to 2012, 2013, and 2014” (740 words), faculty member, economist, and fellow for economic and social policy with The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College—Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson—asks, “If a sizable Republican majority were elected in 2012, would they ‘roll the dice’ and risk political suicide by instituting major reforms? I imagine there is some serious soul-searching going on now…. These next few years will be fascinating.”

  
http://www.visionandvalues.org/2011/10/looking-ahead-to-2012-2013-and-2014/

[Libertas]

11:56 AM (1 hour ago)
 
By Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson

October 31, 2011

“The big political question for election year 2012 is: How much change would Republicans want? Would they downsize government as much as Obama upsized it? Will Republicans nominate a safe, moderate candidate (think: Ford, Bush, and Dole)—a technocratic tinkerer who accepts the entrenched paradigm of Big Government, and seeks to manage Leviathan better than Democrats would? Or will they opt for an unabashed conservative, a major reformer with a radical vision for smaller government? That question wasn’t even conceivable a year ago, but the tectonic plates in the American political landscape may be starting to shift. Whiffs of radical reform are in the air.”
 
In “Looking Ahead to 2012, 2013, and 2014” (740 words), faculty member, economist, and fellow for economic and social policy with The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College—Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson—asks, “If a sizable Republican majority were elected in 2012, would they ‘roll the dice’ and risk political suicide by instituting major reforms? I imagine there is some serious soul-searching going on now…. These next few years will be fascinating.”

  
http://www.visionandvalues.org/2011/10/looking-ahead-to-2012-2013-and-2014/

When it is framed thusly - "risk political suicide" you know you're screwed!

I say do the right thing, anthing else is a disservice to the nation and to any heirs you plan on leaving it to.

[Glock32]

Exactly. Anything else is putting the interests of the party first, and that's exactly what the current GOP Establishment is all about. Think about how many of our problems basically boil down to people being too worried about losing reelection. Aside from the timidity and nutless wonders that mindset generates, it also ends up producing self-fulfilling prophecies. To my mind, the duplicitous nature of politicians is inherently unmanly. One should espouse what they believe is right, argue for it passionately and forcefully, and if the voters disagree then so be it.

Oh well.  This is stuff that might have made a difference 80 years ago. Today? Nahhhh

[Libertas]

Multiple generations who know nothing but the path of least resistance gets you to a point in time where the words courage and principle have lost all meaning...