Obama’s Aunt is an Illegal

Damn? Damn. Damn! I guess in my heart, I knew we were going to lose this week.
Do you want to hear it again?
Damn!
Ok. Where to start? We’re going to have to fight the Democrats again…so how.
I think by actually developing a coherent message on domestic issues. Despite all that promises of lowering taxes may actually do, to the average voter, my guess is that it sounded like a panacea cure – the better move would have been to have promised to reform the tax code and in doing so to have removed income taxation from the bottom 40-50% of the tax pool. That would have done a great deal for the poorer and have enabled more people to invest or start their own businesses.
Healthcare remains an issue that the Republicans MUST tackle. When times are good, people don’t worry about healthcare – when times look bad, they worry and without reassurance, they will be scared and make bad decisions – like voting for you-know-who.
The Republicans should not go for an NHS style system (no matter how much I would like it – not going to happen). Instead a model I proposed on a comment on Shire Network News site and my own is as follows:

If the Republicans are bold, they can come up with a small government version of the NHS for the USA. I would propose something like this: the federal government provides a basic healthcare voucher which consumers can use to shop around for the best healthcare deal. In return for the abolition of corporation tax on healthcare providers, the government and the healthcare providers agree on a basic regulatory framework of consumer rights, a set of standardised insurance plans into which consumers must buy and an agreed limiting of drug prices based on a compromise between market and R&D costs and affordability for consumers. This would act in the same manner, I believe, as the regulatory framework the British government uses for energy, telephony etc in Britain where the companies then compete on price and service within a framework that guarentees a competative market.
The USA, not matter what the liberal left shriek, is not as poor anywere as Britain was in 1945. For the Republican party, I think this would create a great deal of affection towards them from the working class Democrat voters and combined with a real reforming assault on Medicare, Medicaid, the pensions system, public education and the tax system, would give them a mantle of “real” reformers – the party of “competence”, rather than the Democrats who would be the party of “conscience” but “incompetence”. If you want your country to be run well – vote Republican. If you want your country to cater to special interest and minority groups in the name of “fairness”, vote Democrat but don’t be shocked at the waste and corruption.

Anyway food for thought.

Hey, Richard!

- JOS