Left Limit, Right Limit: An Approach to Understanding Political Issues Part IIIb

In Weekly Ezine #18, I quoted from Weekly Ezine #15, “In Part III next week, I’m going to show you what the two parties say about one another based on their fund raising material. Then, in Part IV, I’ll use this material to propose some left limits for the Democrats and some right limits for the Republicans.”

I then did a Part IIIa for Democratic fundraising and said I would come back with input from Republicans. Here I am now with some Republican input for a Part IIIb.

Here is where I am with my Republican research so far. First of all, Republicans send out one heck of lot more mail than Democrats do. Consequently, there is a lot more to look through. Given my self-imposed deadline, I’m going to give you what I have so far and then come back with the rest. Two things should be of interest to you with what I have left. First, as John McCain has gained the Republican nomination, there is as much mail from him as there is the Republican Party. So, I will be looking at that mail in depth. I think it will be interesting to contrast in Part IIIc what Republicans have been saying before McCain’s nomination with what they say after his nomination.

Second, one of the fund raising letters is from Karl Rove. Having skimmed that letter, I think it worthwhile to present a separate analysis in a Part IIId. Then I’ll do Part IV.

Some other thoughts. I encourage you to do this analysis for yourself first hand for a very minimal investment. Just send both parties a small contribution you can afford. You’ll be surprised by the volume you get. In fact, I wondered in doing this if I was getting the “less than $100 contributor” letter and if there were another letter going out to the “greater than a gazillion” contributor. If there is, at least I’m consistent, because I sent the same amount of money to each party. Also, remember that the individual contribution limit is $2,300 dollars per candidate, per election.

I noted before Democrats write about their disgust for what Republicans have done while in power. Republicans write of their fears of what Democrats will do if they return to power. Here, without comment, (for the moment) are those fears.

 Tax Cuts will be repealed
 Welfare Reform will be overturned
 Government Spending will go through the roof
 Efforts to tighten border security and enforce laws against illegal immigration will be scrapped.
 The US will cut and run in Iraq, gutting military and intelligence services.
 The Federal Courts will be stacked with judges who will legislate from the bench, treating the Constitution like a doormat.
 Massive tax increases will be passed.
 Increase the size and intrusion of government, especially in health care.
 Undo progress in improving our schools.

Democrats are repeatedly characterized with terminology such as this: Big Labor Union Bosses, Radical Environmentalists, gun grabbers, trial lawyers, Hollywood elite, and liberal special interest groups and radical liberal protest groups.

Here is a sample of the goals Republicans say contributions are needed in order to meet.

 Get the facts about Democrats’ defeatist agenda past the liberal media filter.
 Stop Clinton and Obama from pushing our country to the left with their failed tax and spend, government control and dependency, liberal class warfare agenda.
 Overcome Democratic smear and fear tactics by the Democrat attack machine maliciously slandering our candidates while the liberal mainstream media misleads voters . . . with their anti-Republican message.

By the way, I noted in the letters Republicans touted the following achievements because of them and their policies.

 Interest rates and unemployment were near all time lows, inflation is in check, and more families than ever own homes.
 Enacted pro-growth tax cuts and cut wasteful spending.
 Created 8.3 Million jobs since 2003.

Overall, Republicans state, “We represent the values of most Americans.” One letter notes Republicans believe in strong national defense and limited government. Republicans, continues the letter, “trust the people, rather than government, to make the decisions about what’s best for you and your family.”
 
I noted before that a technique both parties use in their fund raising is providing a “survey” to seek members’ opinions. Often, the questions in these surveys are phrased in a, “When was it you stopped beating your wife?” way. Here is a Republican example of that type of question. “Do you agree that we must stop illegal immigration?”
 
Just as I did with Democrats, what I have tried to do here is provide a summary of what I found with minimal commentary. That’s hard, because I have a lot of commentary I could make, both pro and con. In the interest of trying to keep this fairly brief, I will invite you readers to comment yourselves.

Larry On TV July 16

Just a quick reminder for those of you in Omaha that I will be on Channel 109 as a guest of Sam Hunter’s Real Spit cable TV talk show, Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 9:00 p.m. I’m excited to be on. Sam and I have talked about letting me be able to do some of my charts and drawings on the air. I like being on radio, but the lack of a visual element is restrictive. A picture is worth a thousand words. Hope you can watch.