The Inevitable Pledge to America

(Photo Credit: toothpastefordinner.com)

  Well, I did say a couple of days ago, that the GOP was still floundering around with no real agenda, and needed something voters could hold them to come election time. Today, two days after that post, we have the GOP's 'Pledge To America'. I'm personally thrilled by the fact that the GOP is finally doing something to be competitive. Will this be the necessary tool Republican candidates needed for the election? Maybe, maybe not. I'm still pretty undecided (I'll have a definitive answer in the morning), and the effect this will have can really go in any direction. But let me just point out some things the GOP dropped the ball on.

• First: The language on the economy seems fairly acceptable (this is coming from a Friedman and Keynes fan), except that the Bailouts weren't as big a failure as they make it seem. Sure, the oversight into Executive Bonuses was a flop (something I think was completely unacceptable on part of Congress), but as Fareed Zarkaria of Newsweek points out, the Bailouts worked. As painful as it was to see billions of dollars head to companies that ran themselves into the ground, it was absolutely necessary to avoid a situation that would have been 10x as worse as what we experienced a year and a half ago. Just because the Bailouts didn't spell out a booming recovery, doesn't mean you can consider it a failure.
• Also, Pre-Stimulus and Pre-Bailout spending levels wont be enough to drastically "Cut Government Spending." While you go on to list ways to further cut spending, I suggest you look towards the out of control and ballooning Intelligence Community and the equally ballooning Pentagon. Both of which are becoming increasingly inefficient in regards to the amount of money being thrown at them. Defense if vital, but not when it runs wild like this.

• Second, and continuing on with Defense spending, you focus quite A LOT on Iran in regards to National Security.  Sanctions, like some other high profile ones, do not work. Let me repeat, they do NOT, and have NOT worked. Iran has sufficiently found away around the sanctions, and has even positioned itself to benefit from them. Continuing on with them is useless. There is much more power and effectiveness in stripping Iran's pseudo-legitimacy in the region through efforts such as the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Talks. (That is a whole other discussion that I'll save for later) 

• Thirdly, is retaining 'traditional marriage' a part of your platform seriously something that is even remotely palatable? While social issues will take a backseat to the economy, your misguided and bigoted perspective is something that will not appeal to the country. As the court system in this country continues to disband laws that limit the freedoms of gays, don't you think it might be time to reevaluate that stance? This country has been at the forefront of personal liberty and pursuit, limiting those freedoms to a portion of society flies in complete contrast to everything you say about adhering to the Constitution's fundamentals on liberty and freedom. BS? I see and smell a whole lot!

  GOP, you're coalescing... Somewhat. But you still have some very misconstrued views about what should be done these days. Should you regain the majority, I want you to put your money where your mouth is and implement those economic policies on Day One. I'm holding you to it.