" oh hey dude, its the establishment"

Okay say the title in a Tommy Chong type of voice for a bit of humor effect.

Imagine you and your best friend, always together. Picture yourself at three, thirteen, thirty three etc. Imagine there is always that picture of you two together, arms around each other and smiling. You have probably seen many photos with that scene. Now imagine no matter what, you can't say no to your best friend, even at times when it would be in your friend's best interest and in the best interest of all your friends.

Of course you are the Republican party, big business is your best friend, and everyone else is the rest of the country. I don't think it is a stretch to see this picture. This is just one of the problems facing the now labeled "Establishment" part of the Republican party.

Name a vision the Republican Party has had, seriously think about it for a moment and think of a true vision they have had at any time over the years. They have some issues they favor, they will tell you they are the conservative party, they support certain causes, but a vision. I don't know. The closest I came to one was trickle down economics. This is described as if you give tax breaks to big business, the benefits would get invested and then everyone would benefit from the success that big business was suppose to have. The old adage a rising tide lifts all boats. Trickle down got its start in the 80's and the economy did improve. Realistically though it was more from a Democrat philosophy. The Republicans spent our way into a recovery with large amounts of defense spending. The economy improved not because of the actual legislation and work from a vision, but because the Republicans started a debt balloon by spending heavily on defense. Those industries did well and then everyone else. So it may seem trickle down worked, but realistically at best the jury is still out on that one and I am being generous. Another problem facing the Establishment; what can they really hang their hat on to show they can govern well?

The Republicans say they want to expand the conservative base. They honestly realize they need to find more votes. They don't realize this is going to take work. The Republicans seem to be under the impression that saying they are the conservative party all conservatives should follow suit. And there is an untapped audience. Most of this country is still at least moderately conservative, including successful immigrants and minorities. And because these groups have worked hard to be successful they are a natural audience to the Republican message. The Republicans don't want to meet them, not just halfway, but not at all. There is some kind of blind hope of the Republicans they should get these votes without walking in their shoes. And I am not talking about issue voting like immigration reform to obtain these votes, but real canvassing the neighborhood work. Go out and meet them in their world.

New and established immigrants that are successful come from backgrounds that support the same values the Republicans tout. Values like; strong family, work ethic, many have Christian backgrounds, and could be encouraged to support legislation supporting lower taxes, smaller federal government and less reliance on government to be successful. This is a dream audience for Republicans, but are ignored. African Americans that are successful in professional endeavors or with their own business are another ripe audience. And this group is really feeling put off by the Republicans, many have the same values already listed, yet again ignored. Now I will make a distinction. There are many successful African Americans that have benefited from being active politically in the Democrat party and will always carry this loyalty. The African American vote will lean heavily towards the democrats for years. There is no doubt. Yet there are some African Americans who would listen if effort was made. And as with immigrants real effort. This is another area where the "establishment" is watching the tide leave the bay, the boats are sinking, and they don't know why.

This is the area I have the most concern. There is a need for a balanced government and a conservative agenda. We cannot sustain spending our way out of trouble by the federal government. At times some spending by the government works to help the economy jump start a bit, but we cannot rely on it. We need practical and realistic budgets most of the time. And without a debt burden that not only slows down a current recovery, but holds future generations hostage to what we are doing now. This is where we stand now. And the Republican establishment is alienating the people, described above about a third of the country, that we need to help us elect true conservatives to put together a balanced budget, plans to reduce the debt, reigning in of federal programs that aren't working or too cumbersome to be effective anymore. And this brings us back to the first picture.

Republicans for all their conservative talk, really aren't conservative. Their reliance on the status quo and calling themselves conservative have been a large misnomer in American politics. Many people will complain that conservative policies don't work. The policies would if put in place properly and by true conservatives ( and this isn't the tea party, but that is another post). The establishment Republicans have been giving lip service to an ideal, but in all reality they put their best friend first and hope that this friend carries the day for them. And when your best friend is self centered and only has one person to worry about, well you don't get the most compatible person for helping or working with others.

And now the deal is going down for the Establishment. Can they rise to the occasion or will they be split apart by their ideological brethren? The Establishment has its work cut out. And don't be too energized by Christie's win. I know the Business Insider has been running articles on Christie being the model for success going forward, but he has a few things going for him the rest of the party doesn't have. First, he is popular in New Jersey, second Sandy hurt New Jersey and he responded and wasn't shy about asking for help from an administration that wanted to look good right at that moment, the Establishment doesn't do well with natural disasters, and once he got elected he did do one thing politically right and that has been magnanimous with working with democrats at times.

The Establishment needs a vision, one that they can espouse and then carry it out. This is more than saying a few phrases, like: "read my lips no new taxes" or successful people lift themselves up by their own bootstraps. It needs to show why people should listen to them. Put a realistic and workable budget together that people can understand, yet doesn't ignore there are problems in our country. It is great to say we cut the budget by cutting. It doesn't work, if it doesn't offer alternative solutions to problems. Conservatives don't want the federal government trying solve all the problems because we know that is an unrealistic expectation. We must be prepared though to offer alternatives. Ignoring problems only cost more in the long run. Again you cannot saddle debts on a future generation, whether by borrowing money now or by handing off a much larger problem to solve. The Establishment just doesn't seem to see why no one wants to listen to them. And quite frankly because they haven't said anything new in decades. Their time and unfortunately conservatism in general is at a tipping point. Can they come through, do we need a new party, or is this country doomed to a spiraling out of control federal government born not because the Democrats have better ideas, but because the Republicans just don't have any?

Too bad their best friend and wall street are too consumed by their own largess and greed to help. And no its not about the money, PACs, or getting rid of the lobbyists, (that wouldn't hurt though), its about reinvesting in our country.


And this has been post number two in my pre primary midterm election discussion about where we stand politically in the eyes of an independent conservative. I saw a quote today though that scares me about writing these posts." The men the American public admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest the most violently are those who try to tell them the truth." H. L. Mencken

I am probably in much trouble here. ( not that I have some special ownership of truth) some people perceive truth different than others

Have a great evening