Ten Reasons Why Even American Liberals Should Root for the GOP

Ten Reasons Why Even American Liberals Should Root for the GOP
By Larry Elder
7/14/2011

1) Incredibly weak recovery: President Barack Obama's tax/spend/regulation policy -- "stimulus"; continuation of TARP; bank, insurance company and auto industry bailouts; "quantitative easing" (aka the printing of money); cash for clunkers; minimum wage hikes; new regulatory rules on businesses; tripling of the deficit; addition of $4 trillion to the debt -- failed miserably to produce jobs and grow the economy at the historical rate expected after a deep recession.

2) ObamaCare: President Barack Obama promised it would "bend the cost curve" and that "if you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan." The chief Medicare actuary said neither of those claims is true. Two-thirds of doctors believe that ObamaCare will lower the quality of health care.

3) Bogus Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission: Comprised of six Democrats and four Republicans, the commission issued a majority report (with the Republicans dissenting) that blamed Wall Street greed. "Reckless Endangerment," a new book on the financial crisis co-authored by a New York Times columnist/business and financial editor, blames the central role played by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as government policy that pressured banks into relaxing lending standards so that the "underrepresented" could buy homes they could not afford.

One of the FCIC's commissioners and its chief investigator both work for a major law firm that is suing a number of Wall Street players. The two stand to benefit financially from the commission's Wall-Street-is-the-bad-guy conclusion. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who recommended a commissioner in question, now claims he was unaware of his tie to the law firm. The commission chairman, Democrat Phil Angelides -- who received $225,000 in campaign donations from the same law firm -- works for an offshore hedge fund that shorted mortgage-backed securities just before the crisis.

4) Texas justice vs. "Viva Mexico": The Obama administration unsuccessfully filed a court action to stop Texas' planned execution of a Mexican illegal alien found guilty of brutally raping, torturing and murdering a 16-year-old girl. The U.S. Justice Department argued that as an illegal alien the accused should have been advised that he had a right to go to the Mexican consultant to obtain an attorney. Since the accused didn't reveal he was an illegal alien when arrested, the Obama administration sued Texas for not asking the accused about his status. Texas executed the rapist/murderer, who right before the lethal injection, reportedly shouted, "Viva Mexico." Meanwhile, the administration obtained an injunction against Arizona to prevent law enforcement, during a lawful stop, from inquiring about legal status.

5) Libya: Against the advice of the top lawyer in the Pentagon and the State Department, Obama ignored the War Powers Resolution and authorized a military mission in Libya without congressional approval.

6) Left-wing judicial appointments: An Obama re-election could mean one or more additional liberal Supreme Court justices, ensuring that the "living, breathing document" view of the Constitution will apply to critical issues like gay marriage, the Second Amendment and the legality of ObamaCare.

7) Boeing vs. the National Labor Relations Board: In a recent press conference, Obama falsely called this a matter of Boeing "relocating" and "shutting down a plant or laying off workers because labor and management can't come to a sensible agreement." No, Boeing constructed a new facility in South Carolina with no related job losses at Boeing's home state of Washington. In fact, Boeing has been adding jobs in Washington. Here's the question: Can Boeing, subject to four costly strikes since 1989 in the non-right-to-work state of Washington, build a facility where it wishes?

8) The Obama-Loving Media Protective League: Consider two issues that would have generated huge and continuing headlines were a Republican in the White House. Obama promised to diminish the influence of lobbyists, so members of his administration hold meetings off White House premises where they do not show up on White House logs. After promising "the most transparent administration in history," the secrets-obsessed Obama administration has issued more subpoenas of reporters' phone records and other information than did the Bush administration in eight years.

9) Democrats' race cards: DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz calls the GOP anti-woman and anti-gay, and says it wants to "drag us all the way back to Jim Crow laws." Democrats -- from former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter to Sen. Reid -- routinely attack Republicans by whipping out the race card.

10) Anti-voucher for urban schools: The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program gave vouchers so that parents could choose the school for their children. The Department of Education hired an outside evaluator, who called it a success -- it improved reading scores and, most importantly, increased graduation rates from 70 percent to 82 percent. Despite the popularity of vouchers among Hispanic and black urban parents, Obama and the Democrats oppose them, and the D.C. program was canned.

Any questions?
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