Cheney: Moderate GOP would be 'mistake'

Cheney: Moderate GOP would be 'mistake'

www.upi.com

WASHINGTON, May 8 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney told an interviewer it would be "a mistake" for the Republican Party to moderate its policies to attract public support.

Speaking with radio talk show host Scott Hennen, Cheney said the GOP goes through cycles when it loses favor but should not respond by moderating because that "basically means we ought to fundamentally change our philosophy."

(visit the link for the full news article)

There ya have it folks...

Former VP DICK Cheney is an Extremist. He believes the core principles of the GOP should be Extremism.

Of course, this is not anything new. Anyone with an ear to hear could have discovered this by his anti-american rhetoric over the last several years.

His statements would have you believe that the GOP has always been hijacked by the extreme Christian Right, but it hasn't. That was something that occurred which DID FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE ITS PHILOSOPHY.

Of course that move has made the GOP lose most of it's real conservative members. At this time only 21% of Americans are members of the GOP.

Keep it up DICK. And you won't have a party at all.

www.upi.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Originally posted by HunkaHunka
Of course, this is not anything new. Anyone with an ear to hear could have discovered this by his anti-american rhetoric over the last several years.

I know you'll get a lot of flack for that statement, but it's true. When your views, comments and actions go against the majority of the population, you are indeed anti-american.

Policies of the Republican Party = New World Order.
Policies of the Democratic Party = New World Order.

And yeah, Cheney is saying : don't fall into the hands of the Ron Paul Revolution AKA small government and anti-New World Order.

He can go screw Bush.

Originally posted by HunkaHunka


His statements would have you believe that the GOP has always been hijacked by the extreme Christian Right, but it hasn't. That was something that occurred which DID FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE ITS PHILOSOPHY.

Yeah, its sad that more people don't understand that. The GOP needs to be about small government, and not about all these "moral" issues. Some of the younger generation (a lot I'd say) seems to dislike the GOP because they seem so intolerant, and that's fair. So its almost like being democrat really isn't a choice, but the lesser of the two evils. But if the GOP cut the crap out, and became about small government and individual rights, that'd pull a lot of people over.

reply to post by ghaleon12


Including me. I was a registered republican until the 2000 election.

Where I come from Republicans don't like anyone telling them how to live, especially bible thumpers.

reply to post by HunkaHunka



Again are you serious? The GOP should go back to its roots of less government spending, less government fiscal responsibility. Cheney and Bush were Republicans in name only.

As long as we have two party system there can be no true change.

Death to All political parties!!!!

I too was a card carrying member of the GOP until I saw the intolerance of the Christian right that hijacked the party and turned it into basically a group of rich old white men and women. I find it ironic that their platform is ultimately the thing that has delegated the Republicans to obsolescence and obscurity. Here where I live the local GOP candidates are ashamed to even put their party affiliation on their campaign posters.

reply to post by HunkaHunka


I must have missed where the Republicans wanted to go "Moderate"... Many like my self see them as over religious Democrats to begin with.. now where will we draw the line? Hell, they might as well merge parties.

How much more "Moderate" can you get??

*sigh* .. here I thought the true Republicans would take power from the "moderates".. guess not.

Originally posted by Rockpuck
reply to post by HunkaHunka

 

I must have missed where the Republicans wanted to go "Moderate"...

Wow... have you not been watching the news?

Since the election the GOP has lost many of it's staunchest supporters.

reply to post by HunkaHunka


lol, sarcasm.. meaning i didn't know they needed an announcement to say they are moderate. since Bush, the republicans have lost a good number of conservatives. my self included, they are far to liberal for my liking. if i wanted big gov, id vote blue not red!

reply to post by Rockpuck


Sorry I had missed your meaning. Point taken!

I just wonder if Obama came in on the heels of a national
feeling that Cheney and the Republican Party did not do
right for America in some way.

You know, sort of like the silent majority of yesteryear was
building up against them for their actions in office and just swept
in Obama in a tidal wave of change enthusiasm.

GOP RIP, the only way.

Truth or not.

Originally posted by poedxsoldiervet
reply to post by HunkaHunka

 

Again are you serious? The GOP should go back to its roots of less government spending, less government fiscal responsibility. Cheney and Bush were Republicans in name only.

As long as we have two party system there can be no true change.

Death to All political parties!!!!

First off, we have a two-party system because no third party can get its act together, or get the funding it needs to be a true contender, or schmooze with enough lobbyists to get their "support", or (for the most part) find decent candidates to run. Personally I'd much rather go Green, but the Green Party doesn't stand a snowball's chance on the national stage and doesn't really try hard enough on local and state levels in most places to really be a threat to the existing order. The Democrats, therefore, are the best contenders for my vote--because even though they don't fit 100% with my viewpoints they actually can get elected, which means I have a better chance of seeing the things I think need to be done to make this a better, stronger, more economically-stable country.

If you want third-party viability you have to get the money out of politics. PERIOD. Publicly-funded elections ONLY, at all levels of government. If everyone in the game has an equal share to spend, they have to work that much harder for votes, and actually back up their promises with results once elected. Remove the money, the lobbying, the "campaign contributions" (BRIBES) and elections will become about the merits and faults of the candidates themselves, rather than who has the best ad coverage in X state.

As far as the "less government spending" thing goes, well, it's been a Republican strategy for 30-some-odd years now that when they take office, they deliberately run up huge deficits and increase the national debt, and they do so specifically to make it harder for Democrats to undo the damage when they inevitably take over again. Don't believe me? Look up David Stockman. These people admit to it. They run up the debt on military spending programs that benefit their wealthy buds in the military-industrial complex while cutting funding for key infrastructure like roads, bridges, etc. and other programs. The result is, these programs fail due to lack of money, and they then hold these failures out to you as examples of why government doesn't work.

In short, it doesn't work because they deliberately broke it.

Even though they admit to this in their writings, and this knowledge can be found by those who really seek it, far too many fall for it. And then they take Congress again, and scream about "balanced budgets". And when a Democratic President takes them up on balancing said budget, they seek to destroy him, and once they've re-taken the Presidency it's back to crazy deficits again.

Think I'm lying? Take a good, hard look at the last four administrations and the Legislatures they worked with.

At any rate, the "less government" argument is failing the Republican party as well, because as the 21st Century really gets going more and more Americans have come to the realization that there's a lot that only Government can truly be trusted with, or even afford.

"Trust the Markets?" Trusting the markets has resulted in a real unemployment rate ("official" figures not taking into account those whose benefits have been used up, or those who are stuck in part-time dead-end positions) somewhere around 12%, maybe 15% or more; 44+ Million Americans with no health care for themselves or their families; a non-existent manufacturing sector; declination in real wages in relation to inflation for the vast majority of Americans; the failure of banks due to the removal of regulations and oversight that would have prevented them from taking the high-risk gambles that have decimated the housing market and destroyed the retirement plans of millions; and thanks to the gutting of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act those banks were allowed to become so large they could essentially hold our economy hostage and require the taxpayer to bail them out lest we suffer the consequences of total economic collapse.

Essentially, while both parties are, to some degree, the servants of corporate masters and the mega-rich, the Republicans are more so (at least publicly). Americans are sick and tired of Corporate America screwing them over, and the fact is that only a strong federal government can restore a balance that favors the vast millions of Workers over the tiny handful of Masters.

Capitalism unrestrained is inherently predatory. Only government can protect the average working American from such predation, and the American people have finally come to that conclusion.

Small government simply does not work anymore. This isn't the 18th or 19th Century. The challenges of the 21st Century are the greatest America, and mankind, has ever known. Most Americans realize now that they cannot face these challenges alone, that they must depend on each other for survival and success. The base Conservative message of the Republican Party just doesn't fit with this reality. It's a mentality of the past, a dinosaur trudging through the desert of its own Apocalypse as it waits for its turn to die.

Good riddance.

I think it's obvious that most of us are tired of both parties and realize that the system is essentially broken. They try to frame the debate in a way that portrays the two parties as being fundamentally different which has left the public with a divide that transcends location, race, and economic status.

Instead of our elected representatives being controlled by their constituency, we have become manipulated by them. This seems to me to be the polar opposite of the vision for society our founding fathers set out to create. Of course they never could have imagined the constant bombardment of media, advertisements, and propaganda that we are subjected to today.

Originally posted by milesp
Instead of our elected representatives being controlled by their constituency, we have become manipulated by them. This seems to me to be the polar opposite of the vision for society our founding fathers set out to create. Of course they never could have imagined the constant bombardment of media, advertisements, and propaganda that we are subjected to today.

Nor could the founding fathers from basically an agrarian society predict the rise of the mega corporations with their lobbyists, campaign contributions, outright bribes of sex, money and jobs after the time in office, etc. to corrupt even the most moral intentions of our elected officials.

Newsflash!!!!

The Republican Party ran one of the most moderate politicians around in John McCain and he lost to an inexperienced Community Organizer.

Note to Republicans: Get rid of the pox of moderates we have corroding this Party. 1st Benedict Arlen, next John McCain. Do it now, while we have hit bottom. Democrats are in power now, and are screwing up big-time. At least when the pendulum swings back our way we won't have these idiot moderates holding us back!

The Republican party preaches small government but all they ever really do is CUT TAXES and do nothing to curtail it. They preach individual liberty but seem to do nothing short of trying to take those rights away.

Patriot act anyone.

Let's bomb Iraq!

BTW...dems are NO different.

BOth parties have been putting a constant assault on our personal liberties for a long time.

CHENEY should be in prison...but then again....many politicians should be.

Bush campaigned on not being a world police...on small government..

AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENED.

ANd look at what his complete incompetence, lies, and extortion have brought us....

Even MORE of the SAME THING by the next administration and party.

I'm sick of almost all of them...there are a few good guys in both parties...but most are incompetent..don't follow the Constitution..and don't give a damn about our personal freedoms.

S/F

[edit on 8-5-2009 by David9176]

Originally posted by RRconservative

Note to Republicans: Get rid of the pox of moderates we have corroding this Party. 1st Benedict Arlen, next John McCain. Do it now, while we have hit bottom. Democrats are in power now, and are screwing up big-time. At least when the pendulum swings back our way we won't have these idiot moderates holding us back!

So the answer is.. radicalism?

Face it, the religious-conservative right is a dying movement. As time goes on, more people are waking up and realizing that religious idealism was a thing of the 50's. The positive aspects of the Republican party (individual liberty, state's rights, fiscal conservatism) are being drowned out by the fear-mongering, war-profiteering and constitution-trampling actions of the recent republican administration.

The only true republican who even ran last year was Ron Paul, and every other GOP candidate who was running tried to say he wasn't a true republican for being a strict constitutionalist and a fiscal conservative. Fox news even hung him out to dry, despite the fact that he was the Republican Party's last true voice.

Moderism was the Republican party's strength. Radicalism has been its downfall.

reply to post by RRconservative


I don't get why people don't understand this simple truth!

The GOP has moved to the center in order to compensate for the Democrats EXTREME move to the left. Talk about extremists, just look at the Democratic party that is currently in power. Why are so many people blind to this fact?

Cheney is 100 per cent correct. If the GOP moves back to it's core values and stops trying to please the left then they would have total control of both houses in 2010 without a doubt.

The U.S has a vast majority of conservative minded people that currently have no one to represent them in our government which is one of the reasons this madness is going on in Washington DC.