NEW YORK STATE REPUBLICAN PARTY: AN OXYMORON?
Charles E.F. Millard has an excellent piece in the NY POST about the NYS Republican party. (free registration req'd) An excerpt:
He goes on to describe one of many ridiculous attacks against Faso, this one over a "comparable-worth bill" that Faso voted against. His point is well taken.
Weld, a "country club" Republican, is very "socially" liberal. I don't know much about Faso, but the negative attacks from the Weld camp have only made him look better to me. Either candidate will probably lose to Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer, but if the Republicans nominate Weld, they aren't anything but "moderate" Democrats.
The truth is that the NY Republicans have been Democrat-"lite" for years. Gov. Pataki came in on a tax-cutting horse, but caved to the liberal special interests before his first term ended. In the last year, he has actually done some conservative things, such as his comission to close down some of, or consolidate NY's excess of hospitals (a problem that has grown critical under his watch). I attribute this to his delusional presidential aspirations, after meeting real Republicans in Iowa, and other parts of the country.
PaTAXi has also witheld his expected endorsement of Weld, though this may have more to do with the Decker College scandal, which is still under investigation by authorities. His endorsement only would cement Weld as "more of the same," to conservatives, at least.
This election cycle, the Republican slate is virtually a joke, from what I've seen so far (I don't even know who's challenging Dem. Rep. McCarthy in my own district). John Faso is the only one I've seen with a record of voting conservative principles in office, though Weld did cut taxes, and state health care costs in Massachusetts, both of which are appealing. My problem with Weld, and the NY Republican candidates in general, is their "knee-jerk" social liberalism. Will any of them stand up and make an argument for any of these basic conservative principles: right to life, or any regulation of abortion; enforcing existing immigration laws; defining "marriage" as between a man and a woman; opposing racial preferences? Not likely.
Let's hope they learn that there is a conservative base in NY, but I'm probably just spittin' into the wind. These positions can get you some big enemies, with alot of power here in NY. I am a former liberal, and am now more "moderate" on all of the above issues. However, what I consider "moderate" is interpreted as woman-oppressing, xenophobic, homophobic racism by most liberals, at least the NY variety.
The point is that the NYS Republican leadership should follow my advice here, if they want to stand for anything. I got fed up with the destruction of society by well-intentioned "liberal policies," and embraced a conservative way of fixing these problems. Most of those solutions have worked, when not screwed up by liberal influence. There lies the real problem. In NYS, the entrenched, "old-boy, special interest" lobbies are almost all liberal. They counter criticism of their taxpayer ripoffs with claims that ending the thievery will hurt the "children/elderly/poor/minorities," when the opposite is true.
It's time some NY Republican spoke "truth to power," to use a favorite liberal phrase.
The Republican Party in this state has a big decision to make: Is it
Republican or is it Democrat?
The party faces this crossroads up and down the ballot, and all across the state - but an anecdote from the battle for the gubernatorial nomination between former Assembly Minority Leader John Faso and one time Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld really brings it home.
He goes on to describe one of many ridiculous attacks against Faso, this one over a "comparable-worth bill" that Faso voted against. His point is well taken.
Weld, a "country club" Republican, is very "socially" liberal. I don't know much about Faso, but the negative attacks from the Weld camp have only made him look better to me. Either candidate will probably lose to Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer, but if the Republicans nominate Weld, they aren't anything but "moderate" Democrats.
The truth is that the NY Republicans have been Democrat-"lite" for years. Gov. Pataki came in on a tax-cutting horse, but caved to the liberal special interests before his first term ended. In the last year, he has actually done some conservative things, such as his comission to close down some of, or consolidate NY's excess of hospitals (a problem that has grown critical under his watch). I attribute this to his delusional presidential aspirations, after meeting real Republicans in Iowa, and other parts of the country.
PaTAXi has also witheld his expected endorsement of Weld, though this may have more to do with the Decker College scandal, which is still under investigation by authorities. His endorsement only would cement Weld as "more of the same," to conservatives, at least.
This election cycle, the Republican slate is virtually a joke, from what I've seen so far (I don't even know who's challenging Dem. Rep. McCarthy in my own district). John Faso is the only one I've seen with a record of voting conservative principles in office, though Weld did cut taxes, and state health care costs in Massachusetts, both of which are appealing. My problem with Weld, and the NY Republican candidates in general, is their "knee-jerk" social liberalism. Will any of them stand up and make an argument for any of these basic conservative principles: right to life, or any regulation of abortion; enforcing existing immigration laws; defining "marriage" as between a man and a woman; opposing racial preferences? Not likely.
Let's hope they learn that there is a conservative base in NY, but I'm probably just spittin' into the wind. These positions can get you some big enemies, with alot of power here in NY. I am a former liberal, and am now more "moderate" on all of the above issues. However, what I consider "moderate" is interpreted as woman-oppressing, xenophobic, homophobic racism by most liberals, at least the NY variety.
The point is that the NYS Republican leadership should follow my advice here, if they want to stand for anything. I got fed up with the destruction of society by well-intentioned "liberal policies," and embraced a conservative way of fixing these problems. Most of those solutions have worked, when not screwed up by liberal influence. There lies the real problem. In NYS, the entrenched, "old-boy, special interest" lobbies are almost all liberal. They counter criticism of their taxpayer ripoffs with claims that ending the thievery will hurt the "children/elderly/poor/minorities," when the opposite is true.
It's time some NY Republican spoke "truth to power," to use a favorite liberal phrase.
Comments
I also reject the attempts to blame this on the political leadership. This is what I meant when I said that the terrorist leadership orders their people to commit these crimes; ours leadership prosecutes these acts.
Charles Manson was a white male. Do you mean that you forbid all white males from having contact with your child? Get a clue, asshole, and comment on the right post next time!