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Libertarian Republican II

Posted by Tim Blessing on Sunday, March 09, 2008 5:16:40 PM
What is Libertarian Republicanism?
 
The best source of information is something called The Libertarian Reader, which is a compilation of a whole slew of writings.
 
The second source is the Magazine Reason, which is put out by the Reason Foundation.
 
The Libertarian Party put's out a newspaper once every two months.
 
I think Google could provide a lot of unused sources (websites).
 
Wikipedia would provide a lot of background information on the Libertarian Republican.
 
Who personify's a Libertarian Republican?  That might be NASCAR Fans, Middle Class Families, and upper class people.
 
That broad middle of the population that goes to Applebee's.
 
Right now, I think National Review, The Weekly Standard, The New Republic, The Atlantic Monthly, and The Nation Journals serve as sources of variation on the Libertarian Republican Philosophy.
 
Talk Radio has 50 Million Listeners a week, but they tend to be ideological conservatives.
 
When Eisenhower came into the White House in 1953, he had strong principles that were far too the right of the general public.
 
He saw it as his job to make Eisenhower Republicanism palatable to the voters and purge the demon of the depression from the public's mind.
 
He did not succeed on all counts, but he brought the Republican Party back from extinction.
 
Nixon coopted the Liberal Program on domestic affairs and made foreign policy a Republican Issue.
 
Reagan made Conservatism fashionable again, but he did not change the basic design of the Welfare State.
 
Bush and his Republicans expanded the government to the point of silliness.
 
There are books on Eisenhower that lay out his approach.  At this point, we are in need of an Eisenhower to make Libertarian Republicans a palatable alternative to Liberal Democrats and Conservative Republicans.
 
One last point, the key talk radio figure in Libertarian Republican Circles is Neil Boortz out of Atlanta.  He's not as big as Rush Limbaugh, but he's been around since the 1969.
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Education, Work, and Germany

Posted by Tim Blessing on Saturday, March 08, 2008 7:58:30 PM
I have more education than most people, but then I have had the opportunity to get more advanced education.
 
A Human Resource Specialist I deal with occassionally told me that a Master Degree is good for 6 years after graduation.
 
If that's the case for a Master what does that say for BS/BA and Associate Degrees.
 
I have been out of graduate school for six years, have a variety of practical experience, and self-improvement skills.  Does that mean employers won't hire someone like me?  Unfortunately, employers look to hire younger people.
 
If you can hire two young people for the price of one older person and get twice the work then they are going to do it.
 
In today's work culture, it seem's its necessary to constantly upgrade your skills and yes get a higher degree or parallel degree.
 
Employers have no loyalty to the workers and workers have no loyalty to employers.
 
You can expect to have a lot of different careers in your working years.
 
This instability causes a lot of stress problems that cannot be corrected in the short run.
 
If I was politician looking for a model dealing with our problems across the board domestically I would at West Germany before 1990.
 
The Germans know how to balance their economic needs with their social welfare needs prior to unification.
 
Yes, they have had problems since then, but they know how to get the most out of their workers without sacraficing quality, profits, and without massive stress problems or so I think.
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Media and Culture: What is fun?

Posted by Tim Blessing on Saturday, March 08, 2008 7:42:15 PM
I have satellite television, hi-speed internet, listen to rock music, and read books.
 
Satellite television is a lot of channels to watch, but I relegate myself to Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, SCI-FI, the award shows, and one soap opera in the afternoon.  I watch the Financial Networks on occasion.
 
My point is simple there are so many channels to choose from where do go for what you like.
 
Even with the TV Guide its impossible to find something new or on one of niche channels.
 
Hi-Speed Internet is expensive, but a necessity to get full use of the internet.
 
Rock Music is fun to listen to in the car, but has anyone noticed if you listen to hard rock it lead's you to be a more aggressive driver.
 
Books provide their own way of entertainment for someone like me, but a minister once told me once you read one book by the author then you get the gist of his/her's entire view point.
 
Some authors can move on to new subjects, but some stick to one topic.
 
Let's see write one book that is a 1000 pages long so the reader can get everything you have to offer.
 
Philosophy, Science Fiction, Biographies, Business, Self-Improvement, and History are the subjects I restrict myself to reading.
 
Its good to have a diversity of experiences so you can deal with the complications of life.
 
Now, I think I will go and get that PHD I have been thinking about for 3 years.
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Republican Priorities for the Election

Posted by Tim Blessing on Saturday, March 08, 2008 7:20:27 PM
The coming election will be fought on the economy and the Iraq War.
 
That seem's to be the mainstream voters issues.  McCain is stronger on the War and weaker on the economy.
 
Republicans are stronger on International Relations under most circumstances.
 
Domestic issues is a hodgepodge of issues that are hard for Republicans to sell solutions to voters.
 
Abortion is an important issue although I am sure of its campaign potential I am sure of its governing potential.
 
Tax Relief is the main issue that Republicans can campaign on and govern on.
 
Healthcare is more of a Democrat Issue with voters, but Republicans are expected to exercise a definite veto.
 
Social Security is political kryptonite to Republicans like Kryptonite is to Superman.  It kill's Republican Politicians without failure.
 
Immigration need's to be addressed, but how do you keep Latinos from not voting for the Republicans.
 
Budget and Government: Republicans should push for a balanced budget although again I am not sure how to set the terms of debate.
 
Education is regarded more of a Democrat issue by voters so if I was a Republican Officeholder I would stick to certain talking points.
 
Judges are a simple issue for US Senators in that they need to say I will vote for conservate judicial candidates and vote against liberal judge candidates.
 
Safety and Security issues are an ongoing process of change because Homeland Security is still a new issue.
 
Energy and Environment should be a top priority since oil and gas prices continue to skyrocket and affect multiple areas of the economy.
 
Science and Technology is a key area with me since that is where most of the inventions, innovations, renovations, and consolidations will take place.
 
Taxes, Energy/Environment, Science/Technology, Immigration, Balancing the Budget, and International Relations should receive priority on the campaign trail at least as far as I can see.
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Libertarian Republican

Posted by Tim Blessing on Friday, March 07, 2008 7:50:17 PM
I took the test on the Libertarian Party Website to determine what my ultimate political philosophy is in life.
 
Their test analysis of my belief system is Libertarian.
 
Yet, I have mainly participated in Republican events and voted Republican.
 
The Republican Party has an organized wing called the Religious Right, which I do not agree with in terms of social control.
 
The Republican Party has another wing of economic conservatives whose sole reason for existence is tax cuts, which I agree with on most counts although I would hope that economics would encompass much more.  The Republicans, however, have forgotten their more broad minded appeal of capitalism to the general public.
 
The National Security Conservatives believe in a strong national defense, but have gotten bogged down in nation-building.
 
They have lost control of the national security issue to the NeoCons who are a group of people I despise for their failure in Iraq.
 
libertarian Republicans belief in the principles of Liberty as based on the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights.
 
That means they do not believe in social regulation, economic regulation, and international regulation.
 
Simply, I as a libertarian Republican believe in a minimalist government, except when faced with an emergency, but once the emergency is over I want to return the government back to its appropriate size and role.
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Human Resources: Candidate Recruitment

Posted by Tim Blessing on Friday, March 07, 2008 7:37:14 PM
I have studied politics since the day Nixon resigned.
 
I have a Human Resources background in academia.
 
I have never been a recruiter, but we sure could use such people in politics.
 
I think Obama is not greatest candidate for president as well as H. Clinton.
 
I think McCain is an above average individual and right now the best qualified of the 3 remaining candidates.
 
I think that candidate recruitment for all levels of government should be a more thorough process than we currently have.
 
For example, if McCain is the next President he is going to need people with administrative management experience.
 
He has command of the issues, but he need's a governor or former governor to serve as Chief Operating Officer.
 
If he want's to have foresight on the future of the country he should pick a younger Governor for VP.  Such an individual would have a long career ahead of them in terms of influencing the national debate.
 
Nixon did this later in life even though he was damaged goods.
 
Eisenhower did this through the 40s to the late 60s/
 
Reagan had influence just because he was a celebrity.
 
I know by watching TV, which Politicians are professionals and the ones who are blowhards.
 
Unfortunately, it seem's that the blowhards get all of the air time on radio, television, and the internet.
 
I guess my point is that the 2 major parties are failing to recruit top notch candidates for office.
 
Where do you recruit good people to run for office?
 
Universities, the Military, Corporate Managers, and networking through the Churches.
 
On that last point, I think you can find good people who come to church, but not among the fanatics of any religion.
 
Why should politics be the haven of lawyers alone?
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The Demons are in the Details

Posted by Tim Blessing on Friday, March 07, 2008 7:20:19 PM
Clinton and Obama are shall we say engaged in reducing each other in size.
 
To put it in simple terms by engaging in details of everything they are belittling each other to point of making McCain the new President.
 
All McCain has to do at this point is straighten out his relations with conservatives, raise money, and not kick over any beehives, while leaving Obama and Clinton to destroy each other.
 
Details matter in the arcane regions of politics, but not at the Presidential Candidate level.
 
Unfortunately, the Clintons have determined that Obama's weak point is details.
 
Unfortunately, Obama has learned too late that the Clintons will pick another candidate apart almost seamlessly.
 
If Pennsylvania is the finish line and the debate is on details rather than themes then Clinton win's and Obama lose's.
 
The Clintons are amoral in their worldview, which mean's they do not know the difference between right and wrong and alway's do wrong.
 
Obama was a unique candidate for President and brought a lot of new people into the process, but a message of change and hope will be picked apart by the opposition through a grinding process.
 
Finally, the Clintons play mean and dirty, but they do know how to win even it isn't pretty.
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Democrats in Florida and Michigan

Posted by Tim Blessing on Thursday, March 06, 2008 7:48:10 PM
I think the Democrat National Committee should give Michigan and Florida half of their normally assigned delegates.
 
To hold another primary is a waste of money.
 
To deny them representation at the convention because of a disagreement on scheduling will cause no end of embarassment.
 
To let them get off scot free would cause the process to go into chaos in four years again.
 
The best bet is arbitration or mediation so that while no one is happy no one goes away mad.
 
Again, I think half of the normally assigned delegates to those two states would be an equitable solution.
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Hugo Chavez

Posted by Tim Blessing on Thursday, March 06, 2008 7:28:39 PM
Colombia is not the key to the crisis in Latin America.
 
Nor is Eucodor, Nicaragua, or Cuba it is Venezuela.
 
The first step is to stop the immediate crisis from blowing out of proportion by lining up the rest of Latin America against these four dictators.
 
The second step is to move the US Navy into a blockade formation off Venezuela.
 
The third step is to shut off the oil flow out of Venezuela to his friends in the rest of Latin America.
 
The fourth step is to stop all trade with Venezuela.
 
The idea is to increase the pressure on Hugo Chavez to point that he capitulate's in the face of outside pressure and internal dissent.
 
An invasion work's to the advantage of the socialists.
 
If you cut off food, spare parts, cars, and other imports to Venezuela you leave Hugo little room to manuever.
 
If his national debt is high and his oil money from the United States is cut off then he goes out of business for a lack of money.
 
Latin American Countries can get oil from Mexico or indirectly from Russia.
 
Finally, Hugo's oil money is financing all of his activities and we in the United States buy 60% of his oil.
 
Cut off his oil exports to the United States and Europe and he is out of business without a war.
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Polls and Political Effectiveness

Posted by Tim Blessing on Thursday, March 06, 2008 7:19:18 PM
In a book on Richard Nixon and written by Fox News Analyst Monica Crowley Nixon commented on Polls.
 
It is better to have a solid 60% approval than a soft 80% approval or a hard core 40% approval.  I believe this what Nixon said.
 
Where Bush I is concerned: Crowley remarked his popularity has no ceiling whereas Nixon commented he has no floor.
 
This was a year after Desert Storm and sure enough Bush I's poll ratings went through the floor and lost the election.
 
Nixon alway's appealed to the silent majority.
 
Reagan alway's maintained 60% approval ratings as did Eisenhower.
 
Kennedy had good approval ratings, but his effectiveness was somewhat alway's in doubt.
 
Iraq has crippled Bush II politically and his poll ratings reflect this frustration.
 
You cannot look to polls for all of your solutions, but you can't ignore them entirely.
 
Bush took a consensus forged in the fire pits of Afghanistan and shattered it in the fire pits of Iraq.
 
What do the polls reflect on Iraq?  That the cost/effectiveness of the operation are way out of balance and McCain ignore's this reality at his own peril.
 
War and Peace should not be decided by polls, but then you should make up your mind to win in short order so that 2/3s of the American People are against you on this issue.
 
Iraq need's to be resolved satisfactorily because the American People get frustrated easily in this age of instant communication.
 
As such an issue, the Republican Party's political health suffer's the longer Iraq fester's and the polls continue to reflect this point.
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McCain and the 3rd Bush Term

Posted by Tim Blessing on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 7:49:45 PM
Is McCain going to continue the Bush approach in domestic and international matters.
 
I think he is his own man, but the voters are not in the mood for a Bush 3rd Term.
 
For example, Jeb Bush would make an excellent Vice President, but the Bush name has been somewhat tarnished by the antics of the current President Bush.
 
That mean's probably that the voters would associate such a VP choice with the idea of continuity in the current policies of the Bush Administration.
 
McCain maybe tempted, but it would not be good politics.  George W. Bush's approval rating is at 30% in most polls, which does not give McCain a lot of wiggle room.
 
In Marketing, when your product is similar to a competitor on all levels then it behoove's you to differentiate your product from a competitor.
 
McCain need's to cut all of his direct links to George W. Bush and strike out on his own much like George H. W. Bush did with Reagan in 1988.
 
McCain might be good at fighting wars in the Middle East, but the American Public is looking for relief from the war and peace issue.
 
If I am reading the public right McCain would need to wind down the Iraq War, while continuing the wider war on islamofascism in a quieter way.
 
In domestic policy, McCain would need a more comprehensive program than George W. Bush had in his time, while not deviating too far from Republican Orthodoxy.
 
McCain probably is a unifier candidate and president, but he has a long road ahead of him if he want's to reach his goal.
 
In essence, can McCain be a problem solver in an era of public exhaustion with drama in peace and war.
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Each Election has different patterns

Posted by Tim Blessing on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 7:27:00 PM
I am a Political Scientist by trade, but I do have a little of the historian in me.
 
When comparing current situations to past events its good to compare and contrast because no two events are exactly alike.
 
Right now, the Democrats are split down the middle on Hillary and Obama like the Republicans of 1976 were on Reagan and Ford.
 
The difference at that time was we had lost the Vietnam War and had been through the Watergate episode and Ford was President.
 
On the Republican side, we have McCain who has good credentials though not great credentials and lead's a weak and divided party like Carter did in 1976.
 
The difference is the fact that most people know who McCain is and they didn't know who Carter would turn out to be.
 
The Democrats of this era are faced with a historic event in that their two main candidates are an African American and a female.
 
Their voters are becoming polarized because of this phenomenom.
 
This maybe a case where nobody win's and the Republicans benefit.
 
25% of Hillary's voters say they will vote for McCain if Hillary doesn't get the nomination.  While 10% of Obama's voters will go to McCain if Obama doesn't get the nomination.
 
In 1976, Republican Voters prefered Reagan, but Ford won out of dutiful loyalty.  Reagan went on to win 4 years later against Carter.
 
Hillary, however, has one shot at this job like the elder Bush did in 1988.  Meaning, there is no bedrock loyalty to Hillary that she can count on in future elections with her voters.
 
Obama has the makings of a Reagan or Roosevelt 2, but the damage being done to him in the Primary Process maybe irrepairable.
 
Yes, the campaign at this moment resemble's 1976, but the 2 parties have different cultures, histories, traditions, and voter bases.
 
The question for Obama is can he maintain his political health through this campaign and beyond if he doesn't win.
 
Do Hillary and/or Obama have to have it now or can they wait, until the next time?
 
 
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Computer Models of Presidential Elections

Posted by Tim Blessing on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 7:09:29 PM
I am not up to date on current computer games like Presidential Election Games, but I do know they take real world issues and put them into computer games.
 
Usually, its based on prior presidential elections with prior candidates and issues.
 
The one game I played on this subject was called President Elect, which was put out in the mid 1980s and was fairly accurate in its results.
 
I saw a President Elect Game on sale on the internet in 2004, but I don't know if it is current.
 
Their usually set up with variables that mimic a real Presidential Election.
 
Like I said, I have seen one in 2004, but I am not sure who produced it or how accurate it was.
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Bush's Place in History

Posted by Tim Blessing on Tuesday, March 04, 2008 7:41:38 PM
Every recent President has done one good thing and one dumb thing in the historical sense.
 
Bush is no different, but I think he will be regarded like his Great Uncle President Franklin Pierce.  Another man who had a penchant for total inflexibility on anything he took a stand on.
 
Bush's total inflexibility come's to the fore on taxes and the war in Iraq.
 
The first issue has exhausted itself as an issue of relevance to the voters.
 
The second issue has become an albatross for the Republican Party.
 
If Bush cannot have figured out how to win in Iraq after 5 years then there is something wrong with him as a leader.
 
Perserverance is a handy skill to have, but too much of it lead's to false certainty and arrogance.
 
Bush has failed because he did not think through the consequences of his actions in Iraq and as a result this will most likely be the defining issue of his Presidency and it will overshadow everything else that he did or did not do as President.
 
Yes, Bush will stand out in history, but as a psychological study and not as a leadership model to emulate.
 
Finally, Bush's personality is a lot like his great uncle and ironically he will be just as irrelevant as Franklin Pierce.
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1968

Posted by Tim Blessing on Tuesday, March 04, 2008 7:23:13 PM
In 1968, a President ended his career as a politician because he had failed to win a war, end a war, and stop riots domestically.
 
That President's Vice President failed to win the Presidency in that election by a few hundred thousand votes.
 
McCain face's a similar situation now, except he is of the incumbent party and his President fail's to recognize the errors of his ways.
 
Obama or Hillary is a strong candidate with each having a lot of glaring weaknesses.
 
Boxing come's to mind.  The constant left jab with occasional right hook.
 
If I was McCain, I would pick a Southern Governor to solidfy the Republican Hold on the South.
 
If I was McCain, I would put together an economic plan that appeal's to the broad middle of voters (Alexander Hamilton's Program).
 
If I was McCain, on Social Issues I would nominate Conservative Judges to bring in the social right even though I myself do not agree with them at all.
 
If I was McCain, I would get Bush to start appointing my people (McCain's) to administration positions to start the policymaking process.
 
If I was McCain, I would resign from the Senate so I could devote myself full time to making my case to the voters and contributors.
 
If I was McCain, I would start using the internet to raise money for campaigning.
 
Obama and Hillary are peace candidates that, while it sound's good on paper it is not a useful issue in practice.  National Security is about War and Peace and I have never read of a generation that has gone without a war.
 
Hillary seem's honorable to me, but I guess its the people around her that are unethhical.  Maybe, Bill is the problem.
 
Finally, Obama can be summed up this way: Trust, but Verify.
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