6 minute read
A CHALLENGE TO THE GOP
A warning
A Challenge to the GOP
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By Chris Grahn Howard
As conservatives, we have seen a significant change in our politics at every level, from the national down to school boards. Seeing the tide turn back in our favor is exciting and promising. There is still much work to be done, some undone, and a Country to put back on the right path. Most polls show us making significant gains in November. Potentially taking back the House and Senate, continuing increases in State Houses is also exciting. I, like many, pray this will come to pass. However, the curse comes with the blessing.
Should the above come to pass, the people will expect results, change, and that Republicans will lead, or at least try. It will be challenging and heartbreaking at times. If we can continue the success into 2024, those we elect must move the cause forward. Failure will ensure the Dems will take things back. To be honest, this is my greatest fear. We must provide momentum that the 2024 Presidential race moves in our direction. Failure is not an option. Be sure that the Dems are working day and night behind the scenes to keep what they have won. Efforts in redistricting, election laws, and attacking republicans are in full swing.
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One of the items that hurt GOP candidates in 2020 was the lack of a healthcare plan. While it is not high on the traditional GOP list, it is on the minds of many Americans who are in the middle. Believe it or not, people held out hope that President Trump would have a plan that helped people and didn’t break the bank. Failure to present such a plan hurt Trump in the election. Failure to provide a plan by 2024 will again hurt the 2024 efforts.
We all must find the path between appearing or even being racist and protecting our borders. Protecting our borders have so many impacts on our lives. The increases in drug-related crime, the fentanyl crisis, increases in gang crimes, the high costs of the humanitarian crisis, human sex trafficking, and the potential for terrorists to enter unimpeded. These are all legitimate concerns and justifications for closing the border. The GOP needs to continue to push back against the incompetence of the Biden administration in this critical area. To be clear, it is not all incompetence; some of these policies are intentional. Dems believe that they are increasing their voting block.
Ukraine, need I say more. Biden’s policies look almost like cowardice. To be fair, though, Trump pointed out the vast corruption in Ukraine and Russia. Allowing Putin to move through another country unimpeded is unconscionable. No matter their opinion of Trump, Putin would not have done this while he was President. The GOP must consistently push on these related issues.
Crime in our cities is at an all-time high while, at the same time, attacks on police are driving police force numbers through the floor. Ironically, while Dems cry about the proliferation of gun crimes and demand more gun control. Dems administrations at all levels have an abysmal record of prosecuting those gun crimes. It is almost as if they want the crime. Rather than passing new, albeit useless, gun control measures, the GOP must push for more prosecutions and stiffer penalties for gun crime offenses. Any crime is a matter of the heart, economics, and community. These are the factors that the GOP leadership must work to remedy.
The economy, which has many moving parts, must be a priority. Submit better budgets. Push for data-based, efficient, and practical standards for programs. Submit a balanced budget, even though it will not pass, in the current makeup of the
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House. Just to show the American people what it could look like. The spending is out of control, and the pressure that spending is putting on inflation negates any gains from the “free money ” handed out. People at all levels would be better off with a balanced budget in the long term.
The Republican party must return to the core competencies it started with. In 1854 the GOP was formed mainly to free a group of people. While slavery has ended, the shackles remain in some cases. Not to mention that the largesse and complications of our Government are creating new groups of people who need freedom. Through over-regulation, excess taxation, and encroachment on liberties, the current entanglements of this Government deny many people their happiness, as defined in the Constitution. Your happiness is your American Dream. When we use the Government to ‘fix ” problems, we ask the Government to decide our happiness and regulate the American dream. Where is the Constitutional Liberty in that? If Government is the chosen answer, that will preclude any other option from being presented. Nothing can compete with the Government. Every time the Government is supplying the product or service, which denies an individual/s from providing that service, and that always denies happiness. True freedom is economic freedom, plain and simple. I am not suggesting that no regulation or laws should be in place by our Government or that some sort of capitalistic anarchy is a viable economic construct.
Remember, your effort’s fruit is your money, produce, product, and labor. You should be able to enjoy it as much as possible. Stuff does not equal happiness. Instead, the pride in your work and the various joys that can bring us happiness are what you have a right to pursue. Think of it this way – the economy affects everyone; some have more, some have less, and some have none. Like pie at the dinner table, the freedom one enjoys can depend on the amount of pie one has. The plan then becomes one of sharing or redistributing pie. In the liberal view, there is always a finite amount of pie. In a world with a limited amount of pie, there is only one way for people to have more pie….redistribute and regulate pie. Sadly, Liberals never see the ability to grow and produce more of anything. There is always a finite amount of pie, money, and means of production. Conservatives want you to have this pie as well. They want to make more; more
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varieties, more flavors, more! Conservatives believe that more pie can always be made and improved.
To be realistic, I am wholly appreciative that any bill containing any of the above would be vetoed if passed. It will be unlikely that the Red Wave will be large enough to have a majority that can override such a veto. OK. Do it anyway, show the people we mean business…the people’s business. The business of expanding freedoms, including economic freedoms. Even when Biden vetoes these bills and even when you can not override these vetos, the people will see the dedication to fixing the issues at hand and that Biden is the obstructionist. Following this course of action will set the stage for the need for a GOP President in 2024
