If we had a real opposition party

Republicans have only a few leaders who can articulate the principles that should inspire all Republicans to oppose Obama and progressivism. As Obama tours the country campaigning against Republicans and for his tax hikes to "fix" our fiscal problems, Republicans are missing an opportunity to start defining the party post-election. If Obama gets his tax hikes they ought to pay for two weeks of government spending, so why do all the pundits believe that Obama is winning the battle? Because Republicans aren't fighting back, aren't standing on principles and aren't making a case for limited government and a free market -- they are letting progressives win by default.

This is a great opportunity for Republicans to promote the elimination of corporate welfare. I disagree that government needs more revenues for more spending projects, but we could use the money saved from eliminating corporate welfare to pay down the debt, then we could lower tax rates making US companies more competitive in the global market.

Republicans should market themselves as the party that wants to eliminate corporate welfare and level the field for start-ups and existing small businesses, and Obamacare ought to serve as an example of how Democrats are supporting corporate welfare -- insurance companies will make out like bandits under Obamacare.

Republicans can also become the party of non-intervention/pro free trade whereby we lay down the weapons and start doing the business of America which is business. We've made our point to terrorists, and we can maintain the best defense systems in the world, but maintaining troops in the mideast is insanity. Interfering in Syria or Egypt or Libya or any mideast country is insanity. The money saved can be used to lower business taxes and eliminate capital gains taxes.

We have enough energy sources in the US to leave the mideast and never return unless it's as a peaceful trader of goods and services, or cultural exchange or other peaceful purposes. Unless we are attacked, we should have no more military involvement in the mideast. Between energy production and food production, if both are turned over to a free market, America can once again become a shining example of a nation of doers, achievers, creators, peaceful traders, innovators, producers. It's all there waiting -- but the political realm has to take a backseat to the economic realm. There has to be an opposition party strong enough to limit government power and stop the rigged game of cronyism and rent-seeking -- this includes out-of-control defense contractors who through the help of corrupt politicans are stealing from the American people, draining the private sector to build weapons we don't need -- we have enough weapons. It's time to end government/corporate enmeshment and make the rent-seekers compete if they want to play.

2016 already?

The talk in pundit-town is that Jeb Bush and Chris Christie are the leading GOP contenders for 2016. The Republican Party is split between the Rand Paul faction and the Jeb Bush faction. Bush represents the Centrist narrative that voters rejected Tea Party/limited government Republicans in 2012. I don't know about the Tea Party -- it seems half of them were social conservatives, and social conservativism is the only faction which seems to be marginalized. Neocons are still influential, so I don't how Bush will talk about the Afghanistan War or interventionism in foreign affairs in general.

Rand Paul is the only bright light in the GOP these days, but it's far too early to talk about 2016. America's financial situation is so serious that immediate concerns are finally more important than the next election. Rand Paul is talking about what I've been pusing from my little internet cubby-hole for a long time, that all the talk about raising revenues should be focused on whether government needs anymore money -- it doesn't. More money doesn't need to be transferred from the private sector to the public sector. Spending should be cut and and the private sector should be allowed to grow the economy. Republicans should fight for the elimination of corporate subsidies and loopholes, but not to raise revenues for government. Tax rates should be lowered. Capital tax should be eliminated. You can see how far I believe government is from fundamental solutions.

The political class is talking about the 2016 election and how to get Republicans to reject the no-tax pledge and raise revenues. This is so counterintuitive to economic growth and fundamental solutions it's scary. Our government is trying its best to collapse the nation -- maybe this is what it will take for the phoenix to rise.

On corporate welfare

There's been a lot of talk lately about the options of raising tax rates or eliminating subsidies and tax loopholes that benefit the rich in order to raise revenues. I don't buy the premise that government needs more money, but if government is going to raise revenues, I'd rather it be through elimination of corporate welfare -- all of it. The reason for eliminating corporate welfare, though, should be so that taxpayers aren't forced to support corporations who should compete fairly in the market place rather than use government to shield them from competition.

Both parties have to resist the rewarding practice of patriotism peddling, using fear of some vague, perpetual foreign enemy to justify the hundreds of billions over-spent in the defense industry. We need a modern army with superior weapons, and we have that many times over what we need. No one is watching defense spending, and every politician with influence is afraid of being seen as a weak dove in a time when they think the public admires tough hawks. This issue can be addressed reasonably without the advocate for defense  cuts coming across as a naive peacenik -- just show the numbers and facts -- do a complete audit on defense spending and present a full report on the findings. The public can be convinced that corporate welfare in the defense industry is out of control and must be stopped. 

Self-reliance and economic growth will destroy the Democratic Party

One reason why I fight so hard against the Democratic Party is that they will continue to hurt the middle class and poor if they stay in power, and they're setting up a society of dependents to ensure they stay in power. The Democratic Party itself is dependent on dependency.

Republicans have done nothing to bring about innovative alternatives to the welfare state, or to remove government regulations which prevent innovative solutions,  and this has allowed Democrats to gain the upper ground when it comes to assistance for those on hard times or those who can't help themselves. It's not enough to say that economic growth and healthy employment will give people enough opportunity to avoid welfare dependency, if both Democrats and Republicans are both complicit in an expanding welfare state, with Republicans complicit through apathy. The programs of the welfare state constitute a major political issue and social problem that must be debated and resolved. Until there's an admission that the welfare state is devolving into complete incompetence and  corruption, there can be no creative efforts to allow private sector solutions, like comprehensive insurance plans which can create a safety net for most Americans, leaving only solutions for the most needy as a problem. 

The Democratic Party has practically been given a free hand in designing the welfare state with Republicans acting as accountants watching over the cost, denying Democrats the most expensive requests, or least trying to deny them. Republicans have attempted to limit the growth, but they haven't addressed the issue of the welfare state itself and the harm it's doing. Democrats are in the process of building a permanent majority through government dependence as happened in Greece once enough dependents kept the government that would protect the welfare state and expand it as much as possible.

With Obamacare coming on line, if Democrats win in 2012, the welfare state will grow by leaps and bounds and could push us over the financial cliff into collapse of the system (which would be okay if it didn't have to hurt so many people in the process). There must be innovative alternatives to government welfare programs. The break-up of black families has decimated black communities in inner cities, leaving children to fend for themselves and fall prey to gang leaders as father figures. The welfare mentality that has infected our entire society, all the way up to dependents in corporate boardrooms  is sapping the vitality of America, and it's taking so much capital from the private sector, in many different ways, that the economy is frozen at home because no investors, owners or entrepreneurs know what's coming next to pay for this Leviathan or what legislation will be passed to maintain this Leviathan. Washington Dc is a monster eating the private sector, and dependents are suckered into a spiral of economic  destruction that hurts the poor most of all, then the middle class. The rich will almost always find a way to escape government power-mongers, unless it's the type of businesses who feed off government favors to survive, but they will certainly fail in a competitive global environment.

Once we turn this around and allow economic freedom to get us out of this bog of government dependency, the Democratic Party will collapse, but if Republicans can't do any better proactively limiting government and allowing creative solutions in the private sector, then they will fall too and new parties will arise with better visions of the future. 

How will we eliminate corporate welfare?

Either party could make this a top priority today, but they won't, because they're scared corporate donations will dry up. When government co-opted Big Business in a partnership to develope comprehensive State power and "stability" and the ability to manage the economy, it started the corrupting process of attracting and rewarding the absolute worst corporate players. Even those who were not rent-seekers had to play the game to survive in the market, so they hired expensive lobbyists to make their own valuable government connections. The State has protected favored Big Corporations from competition and it's time to stop this completely. Before anyone on the Right even suggests cuts to the welfare state, they must first pledge to eliminate corporate welfare, farming included. Before the Left begins cutting defense spending, they must first promise to end all corporate welfare. Otherwise we have two parties who fight to give our money and protection to corporations who should be competing fairly in the market sans government help. Let's create a free market and allow small and medium size businesses the chance to compete without the State fighting against them.