The best Republican strategy for the 2012 Presidential election can be summed up in a single sentence. While the pundits and others will devote hours of air time to the topic and write dozens of pages of editorials, the best strategy is the following:
Put forth a candidate who will defeat Barack Obama.
The Republican Party, if it wants to take back the White House, cannot put forth a candidate who only will appeal to the Republican or Tea Party base. They must nominate a moderate Republican, who is open to negotiation with Democrats in order to move the United States forward. This does not mean a candidate who is willing to tax more, spend more, and continue the mistakes of the Obama administration, but rather a candidate who can appeal to the American people, win a general election, and win electoral votes in swing states such as Florida, Ohio, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin.
Showing posts with label Decision 2012. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Decision 2012. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Is Obama A "Food Stamp President?"
Newt Gingrich was recently accused of being a racist for calling President Barack H. Obama a "food stamp President." Unfortunately, for President Obama and the left, Gingrich is not only correct, but also not racist. Gingrich has rejected the allegations that he is racist, as he should. Food stamps are a government entitlement that Americans receive based on their income. Race does not play a role in obtaining food stamps.
President Obama has failed to wholeheartedly support economic policy that would create jobs and get people off of food stamps. Instead of discussing how entitlements can be reformed or phased out, the left attacks fiscal conservatives by using scare tactics, telling the elderly that if they vote Republican they'll lose their Medicare and telling those in poverty that they'll lose their food stamps and subsidized housing. Rather than enable people to have jobs and make choices in a free market, the left would prefer for government to hand out entitlements. Entitlement spending is putting the country on the path to bankruptcy. The President's solution, it appears, comes from the story of Robin Hood, where he would like to take from the "rich" middle class and redistribute income to the "poor."
Americans will be happier, and feel a stronger sense of accomplishment when they are able to find jobs and buy things with their own money instead of using government entitlements. The success of entitlement programs for the poor should be measured, as Ronald Reagan suggested, by how many people leave the programs. With a stronger economy, fewer Americans will need food stamps. Instead of being a "food stamp President," President Obama needs to be a "jobs President", who puts Americans into jobs instead of entitlement programs.
President Obama has failed to wholeheartedly support economic policy that would create jobs and get people off of food stamps. Instead of discussing how entitlements can be reformed or phased out, the left attacks fiscal conservatives by using scare tactics, telling the elderly that if they vote Republican they'll lose their Medicare and telling those in poverty that they'll lose their food stamps and subsidized housing. Rather than enable people to have jobs and make choices in a free market, the left would prefer for government to hand out entitlements. Entitlement spending is putting the country on the path to bankruptcy. The President's solution, it appears, comes from the story of Robin Hood, where he would like to take from the "rich" middle class and redistribute income to the "poor."
Americans will be happier, and feel a stronger sense of accomplishment when they are able to find jobs and buy things with their own money instead of using government entitlements. The success of entitlement programs for the poor should be measured, as Ronald Reagan suggested, by how many people leave the programs. With a stronger economy, fewer Americans will need food stamps. Instead of being a "food stamp President," President Obama needs to be a "jobs President", who puts Americans into jobs instead of entitlement programs.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Romney A Viable GOP Candidate
Many conservatives believe that former Governor Mitt Romney (R-Massachusetts) is not a viable Republican candidate for the 2012 Presidential Election. They cite Romneycare, a 2006 set of healthcare reform programs signed into law by Romney in Massachusetts which forced many residents to buy insurance, forced college students to drop out of school, and actually lead to increased healthcare costs in the state.
Despite the mistake of Romneycare, Mitt Romney is still a viable candidate for the Republican nomination. Romney recently came out well ahead of other potential Republican candidates in a New Hampshire poll. Regarded as a more moderate Republican, Romney has potential to secure independent votes and even the votes of Democrats. Additionally, he is able to present a stronger family values image than other candidates, such as Newt Gingrich and Donald Trump, who have had multiple divorces and even affairs. When it comes to healthcare, Romney has advocated keeping the federal government out, using free markets to keep costs down, and giving people more choice in healthcare. Romney has learned from his mistakes, and in a speech today and an op-ed in the USA Today, Romney outlined how he would handle Obamacare if elected President in 2012:
Despite the mistake of Romneycare, Mitt Romney is still a viable candidate for the Republican nomination. Romney recently came out well ahead of other potential Republican candidates in a New Hampshire poll. Regarded as a more moderate Republican, Romney has potential to secure independent votes and even the votes of Democrats. Additionally, he is able to present a stronger family values image than other candidates, such as Newt Gingrich and Donald Trump, who have had multiple divorces and even affairs. When it comes to healthcare, Romney has advocated keeping the federal government out, using free markets to keep costs down, and giving people more choice in healthcare. Romney has learned from his mistakes, and in a speech today and an op-ed in the USA Today, Romney outlined how he would handle Obamacare if elected President in 2012:
If I am elected president, I will issue on my first day in office an executive order paving the way for waivers from ObamaCare for all 50 states. Subsequently, I will call on Congress to fully repeal ObamaCare.While repealing all of Obamacare may not be necessary, as some portions of the bill such as the new young adult coverage provisions and the disallowance of "pre-existing condition" denials are good for the American people, one path to proper healthcare reform in the United States would be be to fully repeal Obamacare and start over from scratch ensuring that new reform doesn't include the higher taxes, unconstitutional individual mandates, and increased costs that Obamacare had.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Taxing Their Imports: Could It Bring China In Line?
Potential Presidential Candidate Donald J. Trump has suggested that a huge problem for the United States is that China has taken away jobs and manufacturing, while gaining an economic advantage over the United States through abusive practices such as currency manipulation. China is a nation that has engaged in oppressive conduct, including censorship, socialism, and restrictions on academic freedom. Before Trump, many have brought up concerns with China taking jobs away from America and sucking money out of the economy.
Trump's solution, which he voiced in an interview this week, is to slap a 25% tax on all Chinese imports if China were to not get in line. But would this work?
The answer, likely not. China would likely be able to maintain cheaper prices than American manufacturers even with a 25% price hike caused by an import tax. In China, a factory can operate without worrying about adhering to strict occupational safety standards, environmental regulations, or even paying a decent wage to employees. For the price of one minimum wage American worker, a dozen or more can be had in China. Further, the country's movement to embrace more free-market capitalism has led to new entrepreneurship and investment in China while the United States makes the mistake of moving backwards towards the socialist concepts that failed in the Soviet Union. Further, the Chinese would likely figure out methods of tax evasion. A Chinese company might send products to a company in Canada, and then the Canadian company would take advantage of free trade agreements to bring the product to the United States.
What can the United States do? Part of the answer, but not the complete answer lies in spreading freedom and democracy, education and immigration reform, and the American consumer.
If the people of China were to stop working for such low wages and demand pay in line with what American or European workers get, Chinese companies would no longer have a labor cost advantage over American companies. The United States should make effort to help the people of China advance, thereby weakening their own country's economy.
Many young Chinese come to the United States to get an education -- and then they go back to China and help grow its economy. The United States should adopt a policy of giving students who graduate with at least a Bachelor's Degree the option of remaining in the United States and instead of working for a Chinese company, working for an American company and helping grow the American economy. Enable these students to work for a few years and then obtain citizenship and become supporters of American freedom and democracy for life. Additionally, the higher education industry in the United States needs to stop giving scholarships and admissions to Chinese students while turning away American students. By educating the Chinese, the United States loses competitive advantage.
Finally, the American consumer must stop buying from China. The reason the Chinese make money is because they put their products in American stores and Americans go out and buy them. Instead of buying Chinese-made products, American consumers should buy American-made products. If a Chinese company can't sell its product, they won't be able to hurt American business and kill jobs in America.
What is the complete answer to China? The Report knows the complete answer is very complex. It's a solution that will require much thought, the support of the American people, strong leadership, and an understanding of the large number of players, conditions, and variables. One thing that is NOT the solution to the China problem is to maintain the status quo. If the status quo is maintained, then the United States will find itself no longer the world's strongest economic power and the situation shown in this video could become reality.
We invite our readers to comment on what they think the solution is to the China problem by posting a comment on this post. Remember, The Report has comments enabled on all of its posts. We do not censor comments, unless they are blatantly spam, pornography, or attempts to "flame" others, in which case we may remove them.
Trump's solution, which he voiced in an interview this week, is to slap a 25% tax on all Chinese imports if China were to not get in line. But would this work?
The answer, likely not. China would likely be able to maintain cheaper prices than American manufacturers even with a 25% price hike caused by an import tax. In China, a factory can operate without worrying about adhering to strict occupational safety standards, environmental regulations, or even paying a decent wage to employees. For the price of one minimum wage American worker, a dozen or more can be had in China. Further, the country's movement to embrace more free-market capitalism has led to new entrepreneurship and investment in China while the United States makes the mistake of moving backwards towards the socialist concepts that failed in the Soviet Union. Further, the Chinese would likely figure out methods of tax evasion. A Chinese company might send products to a company in Canada, and then the Canadian company would take advantage of free trade agreements to bring the product to the United States.
What can the United States do? Part of the answer, but not the complete answer lies in spreading freedom and democracy, education and immigration reform, and the American consumer.
If the people of China were to stop working for such low wages and demand pay in line with what American or European workers get, Chinese companies would no longer have a labor cost advantage over American companies. The United States should make effort to help the people of China advance, thereby weakening their own country's economy.
Many young Chinese come to the United States to get an education -- and then they go back to China and help grow its economy. The United States should adopt a policy of giving students who graduate with at least a Bachelor's Degree the option of remaining in the United States and instead of working for a Chinese company, working for an American company and helping grow the American economy. Enable these students to work for a few years and then obtain citizenship and become supporters of American freedom and democracy for life. Additionally, the higher education industry in the United States needs to stop giving scholarships and admissions to Chinese students while turning away American students. By educating the Chinese, the United States loses competitive advantage.
Finally, the American consumer must stop buying from China. The reason the Chinese make money is because they put their products in American stores and Americans go out and buy them. Instead of buying Chinese-made products, American consumers should buy American-made products. If a Chinese company can't sell its product, they won't be able to hurt American business and kill jobs in America.
What is the complete answer to China? The Report knows the complete answer is very complex. It's a solution that will require much thought, the support of the American people, strong leadership, and an understanding of the large number of players, conditions, and variables. One thing that is NOT the solution to the China problem is to maintain the status quo. If the status quo is maintained, then the United States will find itself no longer the world's strongest economic power and the situation shown in this video could become reality.
We invite our readers to comment on what they think the solution is to the China problem by posting a comment on this post. Remember, The Report has comments enabled on all of its posts. We do not censor comments, unless they are blatantly spam, pornography, or attempts to "flame" others, in which case we may remove them.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Are We Overtaxed?
The question often comes up: Are the American people overtaxed? Well the answer, according to the American people themselves, is yes. In a new poll by Rasmussen Reports, 64 percent of Americans believe that the people are overtaxed. The poll reiterates 2010 findings that a majority of the American people feel that they are overtaxed.
The Report has written many times before about taxes. We've written about how fewer than one in five Americans want taxes to go up. We've also written about how President Obama has talked about using supply-side economic theory to actually generate more revenue for the government with lower taxes.
Unfortunately, it seems that all the talk has yet to amount to any actual tax reform or tax cuts. Could President Obama be holding off on pushing tax cuts until just before November 2012 with the hopes of gaining back the independent voters and the Obama Republicans? Many independents and even some Republicans voted for President Obama enabling his 2008 victory of Sen. John McCain. However, the President's support with independents and Republicans has fallen. Many who voted for him now regret that decision, and without their support he cannot win in 2012.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Birth Certificates
While the burden of proof lies on the accuser, President Obama would be wise to release his full birth certificate. With many Americans questioning his place of birth or concerned the President has not made his full birth certificate public, it might be a smart move for the President to release it. This week, one of President Obama's possible challengers, Donald J. Trump, released his own birth certificate. By putting forth the document himself, Trump will preempt any controversy over his birth. Going into 2012, President could lose votes if people vote for his opponent on the grounds that they think he is an illegitimate President.*
*The author of this post does not believe President Obama is an illegitimate President. Like Speaker John Boehner of the House of Representatives, the author recognizes that the State of Hawaii has said that President Obama was born there and considers that statement good enough, especially given that the "birthers" have no produced any hard evidence to the contrary. However, many Americans have expressed concerns that President Obama is illegitimate, and their concerns could have an impact on the outcome of the 2012 election.
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