Mr.Priebus:
The late folk singer Mimi Farina founded Bread and Roses, an organization dedicated to bringing live entertainment to those residing in hospitals, nursing homes, prisons, residential treatment facilities and hospices.
When Farina passed away in 2001, Pete Seeger paid tribute to her and her legacy saying “Bread and Roses fills an important need. It gives people hope in hard times.” If Republicans want to broaden their appeal, they need to provide ‘hope in hard times.’
You need the government to protect you from employers, mortgage lenders, health care providers, law enforcement and gun owners as well as prejudice, discrimination, pollution, inflation, prices, market fluctuations and offensive speech.
Their low opinion of America and Americans is a campaign strategy. They sell grievance (America is corrupt and the citizens are helpless children) and they present themselves as the cure. The message is not hope; it is resignation. The best possible outcome some tolerable level of misery.
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So, what is the Republican message? Yes, it’s a rhetorical question; but were we to have one, let me suggest the following. America is not a perfect place, but it is a good one. The game is not fixed, but life is still unfair. Republican government will know its place. It will be humble and limited as the founders intended. Republicans will trust citizens to run their own lives. We will not tell citizens whether to buy health insurance or enroll in graduate school. Republican government will neither mandate charity nor impede it. We will return control of your life back to its’ rightful owner.
What do Republicans believe and why? Republicans believe in private wealth. It is not a problem to be solved. Rather, it is an ambition to be cultivated. Private wealth is a net benefit to society, whether in your hands or those of Mitt Romney, Bill Gates or even George Soros
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We support voter ID. It is a reasonable means of guaranteeing the integrity of legally cast votes. To do so, we inconvenience legal voters a bit. The ID requirement is no more burdensome than what is required to negotiate a check and it protects your vote from being nullified by someone who has forfeited or never possessed voting privileges.
Republicans endorse a practical resolution to the illegal immigration problem. We do not support reforms that give illegal immigrants preference over those actively engaged in the legal immigration process. The legal applicant awaits temporary legal status to gain residency. The illegal resident uses unlawful entry as leverage to gain legal status. Any accommodation made to illegal aliens is a kindness bestowed by other Americans. We support that kindness, but will not penalize those who are following the current law to achieve that end.
The minimum wage was never intended to provide life-sustaining income. Low wages provide an avenue into the workforce for those with marginal skills, minimal education or experience and problematic backgrounds. We do not support an increase in the minimum wage because it will close the door even tighter on entry-level workers. A worker who is not employable at $7.25 per hour does not have his prospects enhanced by raising the wage to $9.00 an hour.
The role of government is to maximize opportunities for those seeking to enter the job market. 98 percent of all full-time workers make more than the minimum wage. Once the door to the job market is open, the problem usually takes care of itself. The door is propped open at $7.25. It is locked tight at $9.00 an hour.
Every American is endangered by those who obtain guns illegally. Very few are threatened by those who acquire guns legally. Republicans will support reasonable gun restrictions at the state level, while recognizing that the proper emphasis should be on law breakers not on the law-abiding majority.
Republicans understand that natural rights are not a dispensation of government (Ronald Reagan 1964). If entrusted with power, Republicans promise to meet our constitutional obligations and respect your constitutional rights. We will manage the government with a fiscal sanity that has long been lacking. The Republican Party acknowledges our past failings in that regard. We promise to do better.
Despite the pessimistic nature of their message, Democrats close well. The outlook may be dismal, but they portray themselves as the only way out. Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp were optimistic about America, had confidence in Americans and offered hope in hard times. It is really that simple.. You don't need an electoral autopsy. Win the hope argument and the elections will take care of themselves.
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