David Koch's 1980 Vice-Presidential Platform. The genesis of modern conservatism...Posted By James Brown |
Originally Posted by David CotterellNot all, admittedly.
Tell me that these policies, selected from the larger Koch laundry list I first posted, are not goals, short term or long, of the Republican Party of today (and the CPC in Canada). Tell me that there aren't active political struggles by the R/CPC ongoing that have the end game of doing just these things, word for word.
— “We urge the repeal of federal campaign finance laws, and the immediate abolition of the despotic Federal Election Commission. See: Citizens United. They actively want big money to be able to control the electoral results. Citizens United has nothing to do with repeal of campaign finance laws or abolition of the FEC. On the contrary, this was a tweak of the regulations to let organizations like trade unions and corporations make donations. No big deal. The left did not like it and they have mischaracterized the opinion from the beginning. The Rs have never tried to repeal all campaign finance laws.
— “We favor the abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs.
— “We oppose any compulsory insurance or tax-supported plan to provide health services, including those which finance abortion services. The Conservative movement has been trying to do these exact two things for decades. They HATE government medical programs. Hogwash. No sane R politician has ever suggested abolishing Medicare and Medicaid. This is simply a fever dream on your part.
--"repeal of the fraudulent, virtually bankrupt, and increasingly oppressive Social Security system. Pending that repeal, participation in Social Security should be made voluntary. The battle against "Entitlement" is a cornerstone of modern conservative fiscal policy. Good grief! Find me one politician who has ever asked for SS to be repealed! SS is not an entitlement program either. You have no idea what you are talking about. SS is part of the American fabric and will be until the end of the Union.
“We support repeal of all laws which impede the ability of any person to find employment, such as minimum wage laws. Right to work policies which are just union-busting initiatives and the strong fight against raising the minimum wage are everyday challenges to labour which R's try to enact on an ongoing basis. Yes, the Rs oppose pro-union policies and other laws that limit full employment. Look around though, repeal the federal minimum wage? Not gonna happen, ever. Bust unions? Not a lot of that going on either. Ask your teacher friends in the US.
“We advocate the complete separation of education and State. Government schools lead to the indoctrination of children and interfere with the free choice of individuals. Government ownership, operation, regulation, and subsidy of schools and colleges should be ended." Defunding public schools and Universities, setting up Charter Schools, the fight against the teaching of CRT in Universities. Happening every day. Oh My God! You can not mean this Our public schools and Universities have never been the subject of defunding!!! You realize we have a huge student loan problem in the US right? Where do you think all that money went? You are obviously afraid of Charter schools. Here in Colorado the charters get 80 cents for every dollar spent per pupil in the regular public schools. And they provide much better education in my opinion. Your union buddies coddling hapless inept teachers here in the states are causing the public school system's problems, not the republicans or charter schools. Federal, state, and local governments provide $764.7 billion or $15,120 per pupil to fund K-12 public education. Does Canada do as well? Probably yes, but arguing over proper budget levels is a far cry from the specious and laughable argument that R's favor "defunding public schools and Universities."
“We support the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency.” Or, at the very least, gutting the rules and/or EPA funding to allow corporate destruction of the environment to continue with zero consequences to the bottom line of the producers of pollution. And the environment is in what kind of shape now, compared to 1980? This is ignorance on stilts. The EPA wields enormous power over industry. Virtually all Rs support the EPA and environmental oversight in general. Look at our laws! Did you know that Republicans enacted the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts? People like you take push-back against arguably over-zealous enforcement as a call to abolish the agency!! This is absurd
“We support an end to all subsidies for child-bearing built into our present laws, including all welfare plans and the provision of tax-supported services for children.
— “We oppose all government welfare, relief projects, and ‘aid to the poor’ programs. All these government programs are privacy-invading, paternalistic, demeaning, and inefficient. The proper source of help for such persons is the voluntary efforts of private groups and individuals. These two fall under the R fight against what they call, erroneously, 'Socialism'.. Get Bootstrappy all you poors! It's your fault! Pay your own way!! Cite one real example of a policy that was implemented to "end all subsidies"
Just because these things have not been fully enacted yet doesn't mean they aren't the goals, wishes, or dreams of conservative politicians. Some have been partially accomplished, some not so much but ALL of the above are being worked on in conservative policy backrooms and on the floors of state and federal governing houses in your country, in mine and around the world.
Look Dave, there is tension on these issues, as there should be. The R's say they want less regulation and less spending. The R's fail mightily on the less spending front of course. The D's want more or better regulations. Ok, I think that tension is productive and the parties are objectively not that far apart on any of these issues. Pick any issue! No R politician wants to abolish the EPA or public education etc.!!!! Your argument is one enormous logical fallacy. Since you know the R's want to (or say they want to) spend less on various programs than the D's do, you jump to the foolish conclusion that the R's want to eliminate the federal government and all it's components. There is tension between the parties, and that is a good thing. No one in authority actually wants to eliminate the Federal government. Compare the boogey-man list you originally posted to actual governance under R administrations since 1980 or before. What do you see? Jim
Dave
