Republicans and Democrats - Two Peas in a Pod

Politicians in Washington are all the same. Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, it makes very little difference. In fact, the only thing that you can count on is that they will disagree publicly about pretty much everything. It’s just plain old politics. These groups are two peas in a pod. They are the same people with different core values, but they are the same. They are vultures. They suck the life out of the American people for personal security. They are the last people on earth that should be trusted. The Story of Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, is a perfect example of this.

Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts was played by the right-wing as a big win for conservatives. Brown’s name was even thrown out as a 2012 GOP presidential candidate. He ran as the anti-Obama, and won his seat on a conservative platform of less government. Unfortunately it was all for show, because whatever happens from here on out, it is clear Scott Brown is no conservative.

Two days ago, Senator Brown voted for a small jobs bill, that was scaled back from $85 billion to about $15 billion. It is not a large amount of money in the scheme of government spending. But I personally believe that this is just a sign of things to come. Not just for Brown either, but for Republican Party in general.

The chamber's newest Republican bucked his party and sided with Democrats on a $15 billion jobs package. Brown said the bill was not perfect but would help put people back to work.

"I hope my vote today is a strong step toward restoring bipartisanship in Washington," he said in a statement.

This statement says allot about Scott Brown to me. First, it says that Brown either does not understand, or does not believe in the conservative approach to free market economics. No free-market economist would ever support government spending as a way to create jobs, especially in a recession with massive public debt. Conservatives would see this approach as a way to prolong the recession. Conservatives would understand that creating short-term jobs through government spending does nothing to grow our economy. Most importantly, Conservatives wouldn’t give a rats ass about being bipartisan when doing so means growing government and increasing spending. A conservative would be able to explain why government growth is anti-growth, and would intelligently sway public opinion to the free-market perspective. The Republican Party does not do this. They are incapable of intelligently persuading people, and they are quick to jump ship to support whatever the latest public polls say.

The bill itself includes a tax credit for businesses that hire unemployed workers, subsidies for state and local construction bonds and $19.5 billion to shore up a highway-construction fund. How are these supposed to put people back to work? Sure, they may put some seasonal construction workers back to work, but like everything else in economics, there are many unseen costs. We may need the highway money, but that should already be available. The only reason its not, is because they wasted it already on their own little pet projects and stimulus proposals. It’s like when schools threaten to cut math and science when facing short budgets, instead of cutting gender sensitivity training. As someone who currently has a job and is looking for a new one, I’m pretty pissed off. I am now at an unfair advantage to the people who have been sitting on their asses collecting unemployment. The government has offered to pay company’s not to hire people like me. That’s fricking messed up. More incentives for bad behavior, and people wonder why our country is in the toilet.

If Scott Brown were any kind of Conservative, he would understand that this $15 billion is now going to be wasted in government. He would know that this money would be used much more efficiently in the private sector. He would know that increasing government spending, by any amount, is the absolute last thing we need. All this bill does is dump more obligations on the taxpayers when the country is already bankrupt.

Putting this bill in perspective, the $15 billion is not all that big a deal. The government wastes much more money on a regular basis. But, what it says to me about Republicans is very disturbing. In 2002, Bush was President with a Republican Majority in the house and Senate. Republicans had the opportunity to scale back government on a massive scale. What did they do? They created a swath of liberal human service programs that have been outrageously expensive and produced negative results. No child Left Behind, Medicaid part D, stimulus packages and more. This (combined with the housing mess of Carter and Clinton) is the reason this recession began in the first place. Basically, when republicans are in power they act like Democrats. When Democrats are in power, they act like Communists. Can we expect the same in the future?

This is what is so frustrating about politicians. They are all sell-outs. They get cushy high-profile jobs, and do whatever they can to hold onto them. Scott Brown may not have even liked this bill, but he is from Liberal Massachusetts and cares more about being re-elected then about sticking to principle. He probably looked at this bill and saw a chance to break party lines on a less than monumental  issue. Now he can campaign as a bi-partisan, someone working for solutions! Like every other politician, he is now just a part of the Washington machine. Just like every other republican will be once they are back in the majority. They don't get it. They won't fix anything.

I truly believe that it is time to ditch the republican brand. Not just because of Scott Brown, but because of what he is signaling for our future. This guy had every reason to be a hardcore conservative. He won a local campaign with national support. He walked in with a mandate to thwart the progressive agenda of President Obama. If, after all that he is still unable to hold the conservative line, then I don't see the rest of the republican party doing any better. Will he vote against scaling back union contracts, even if it costs jobs? Will he end the ridiculous spending on green jobs, even if it means an increase in short term unemployment? Will he vote to reform social security, even if he loses the senior vote? Will he lose an election if it means a victory for our country’s future? No, he will cave to the media and the polls. He's already caved, and so will the Republican Party. They live in an alternate reality, where they are the only solution to any problem. It is time for a conservative party to emerge. It is time to let the Republicans go the way of the Whigs. They will not be the answer America is looking for in 2010 or 2012. The question is, do we except the lesser of two evils, or push for something authentic? My gut tells me that come 2010, your going to see the lesser of 2 evils. The Republicans will take over Washington, and they will fix nothing.

Like I previously said, the bill itself is not all that big a deal. But in a way, that makes it even worse. The Republicans couldn’t even hold the line on something trivial. How are we supposed to trust them to do the hard things in the future? We can’t, and they won’t. I’m jumping off this sinking ship because it’s the exactly the same as the progressives. It’s just a different presentation. Just cheaper paint covering the same old shit. I now believe that, without a legitimate conservative third-party, this country is doomed to the progressive destruction we are now witness to.   Republicans/ Democrats  --------  TomAto/Tomato