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Can the Republicans be Saved?
by Sean Gangol
RGangol@sbcglobal.net

Special to The Libertarian Enterprise

Ever since the Republicans have lost the presidency and both halls of congress, some members believe that the party needs to revise some of its strategies. Some of these revisions include the party's stance on issues, such as abortion and gay rights. They believe that their party's original stance on these issues have alienated some of the moderate members of the party. By easing up on these issues they believe that it is the best way to keep the moderates from leaving the party. If these changes are implemented then it would certainly be a good start for the Republican Party. Still, the party has a long way to go in restoring the confidence of the people.

The next thing that the Republicans need to do is to become the party that they promised to be before 9-11. They need to do away with their neoconservative ideology that prompted conservatives to spend more money and expand government power, which is the exact opposite of what we were promised. This means no more war mongering. No more foreign entanglements. No more Patriot Act. No more Monte Cristo style prisons. No more waterboarding or any other form of torture.

While they are at it, they should put an end to the sham that they call the War on Drugs. After three decades, nothing has been accomplished by the war; accept for increasing the wealth of drug cartels, turning inner cities into war zones, eroding our civil liberties with no-knock raids and overfilling our prisons with nonviolent drug offenders. Republicans also need to put an end to the raids on medical marijuana dispensaries.

The party also needs to stay away from big government conservatives like John McCain. If they really want to be taken serious as a small government party, then they need to go in the same direction that was proposed by Ron Paul. He is one of the few conservatives or politicians for that matter who seem to understand basic economics or the true intention of the Constitution. Yes, that little document that is supposed to keep the government in check. They may want to go back to obeying the highest law of the land.

Another concept that the party needs to shed is the idea that any company is too big to fail. Failure is part of life. If a company cannot make sound decisions, then failure is inevitable. That's what happens in free markets. Some prosper and others fail. Before you guys start to point fingers at the Obama administration, remember that the bailouts began during the reign of George W. Bush. Don't get me wrong, Obama has certainly been making things worse, but the corporate handouts started in King George's administration.

The party also needs to get somebody out there that will finally put caps on government spending. It's amazing how Republicans will criticize the other party for overspending, but they never do anything to limit spending when they are in power. They still praise Ronald Reagan for his tax cuts, even though he did nothing to curve government spending, which put the nation in debt. I think everybody knows by now that George W. Bush wasn't a champion of thriftiness either. I am all for tax cuts, but it has to work hand and hand with limits on government spending.

The last step will be the most difficult. Promising these changes will be easy. Keeping them will be challenging. There will come a time when they are tempted to go back on their promises, which will likely be due to the pressure of other party members. They need to remember that they cannot afford to break their promises. If they decided not to keep their promises, then they will have to face the wrath of angry voters during the next election. It has happened before and it could always happen again.

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