We've heard a lot about what's wrong with the Democratic party, in the media and from those on the right.

Here's something regarding the Republican party. For those of you, on the right, with short attention spans,  and/or diminished reading skills, this statement gets to the essence of the article!

"For those conservatives who were tempted to embrace a “wait-and-see” approach to Trump, what they’ve seen, time and again, is almost unimaginable.

And yet as surprising as this all has been, it’s also the natural outgrowth of 30 years of Republican pandering to the lowest common denominator in American politics. Trump is what happens when a political party abandons ideas, demonizes intellectuals, degrades politics and simply pursues power for the sake of power."

and not all of the quote you pulled out applies, "simply pursues power for the sake of power" also fits Hillary Clinton rather well.  And, in fact, I think it fits nearly everyone who wants to be President.

...bringing us this article, it reminds republican voters that their party once was a party of ideas instead the party of lies & slogans that it is today.

not a particular person. I believe he's correct regarding, not just Republican's, but also Democrats, need to get back to ideas and research to strengthen their parties platforms. As the Roman's learned, in their experiment with populism, the free bread and tickets to the Colosseum, to watch the gladiators fight, or the Christians being devoured by lions, only goes so long and so far!

Consider this piece from the Atlantic on the evolution of the D's with respect to immigration.

In 2005, a left-leaning blogger wrote, “Illegal immigration wreaks havoc economically, socially, and culturally; makes a mockery of the rule of law; and is disgraceful just on basic fairness grounds alone.” In 2006, a liberal columnist wrote that “immigration reduces the wages of domestic workers who compete with immigrants” and that “the fiscal burden of low-wage immigrants is also pretty clear.” His conclusion: “We’ll need to reduce the inflow of low-skill immigrants.” That same year, a Democratic senator wrote, “When I see Mexican flags waved at proimmigration demonstrations, I sometimes feel a flush of patriotic resentment. When I’m forced to use a translator to communicate with the guy fixing my car, I feel a certain frustration.”

The blogger was Glenn Greenwald. The columnist was Paul Krugman. The senator was Barack Obama.

It's neither rocket science nor Nobel Prize level economics to see that more unskilled workers will be a drag on the wages of unskilled workers.  But to fix that, the D's insist we must mandate higher wages because the current minimum wage is not fair!

And yes, I am sure there has been movement by the R's on some issues as well...but it has not cost them elections.

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...for your research & presenting Peter Beinart's essay in the current issue of the Atlantic, everyone would benefit not just liberals but conservatives also from listening to his well researched words. people may not agree with all of the points that he states but I believe his essay presents better balance than all of the partisan writings we see on this subject.

Any opinions on what the author of the article had to say regarding the Republican party?

P.S. The illegal immigration problem is very complicated. And, neither Republicans nor Democrats have contributed to a solution. Building a beautiful wall won't help. Oh, and it's only pandering if a party promises something to a group, and then doesn't deliver on it. You know like all those well paying factory and coal mining jobs that are suppose to be returning, but never will.

P.S.S. "It's neither rocket science nor Nobel Prize level economics to see that more unskilled workers will be a drag on the wages of unskilled workers."

With the variables being only wages, and numbers of unskilled workers. You are correct. However, if you factor in some other variables, like unskilled illegal immigrant works, vs. unskilled legal workers along with factors why employers hire the unskilled illegal immigrant workers; like they will do jobs many legal unskilled will not do, they are harder working, complain less, more conscientious, etc. In other words, you can not talk about the drag on the wages due to number of unskilled workers, if a large portion of them, the legal unskilled, would not be being hired in the first place. That shoots a hole in your equation. If this wasn't true, employers would not be hiring them, and we would not have the degree of problem we have.

But I couldn't disagree more with the author. Bruce Bartlett is a left of center man. That's fine, he has that right to be or change to, anything he wishes, but he is as establishment as establishment gets.

 
I have been pleasantly surprised so far with Trump and my "wait and see" attitude has been rewarded to a large degree. I mean, sure, the road has been bumpy as hell at times, but he has hung in there against a Dem party that still refuses to accept the election results, coupled with an establishment Right that is proud that we lost the presidency with men that don't embarrass them, like McCain and Romney. All the while, the deep state colludes with our far left media to throw every piece of shit against the wall hoping it brings about a President Pence admin.

 
One of my biggest fears, and GaG referred to it often before the election, was that Trump wasn't going to be a "real conservative." I thought he was a liberal in sheep's clothing. He has governed MUCH more to the right than I thought and I couldn't be happier about it.

 
We are still very, very early in his presidency but the things he has managed to accomplish and things to be accomplished legislatively, are VERY exciting.  

 
I have listed them before but deregulation, lowering corporate and personal taxes, placing a real righty on the SCOTUS and possibly a SECOND one in his first year, replacing Obamacare, defeating ISIS, fixing the VA, reigning in an out of control EPA, defunding sanctuary cities and Planned Parenthood, taking on the crazed Leftist media on a day in and day out basis, standing up to Iran/Cuba/North Korea rather than cave to them, school choice, etc etc etc is a conservatives wet dream.

 
Now I don't know how much of the above he will actually accomplish, but it is exciting to think how it could all play out. I think the liberals biggest nightmare isn't that Trump will falter and take the country down the shitter, but that he will succeed and banish the Dem party into the oblivion for a decade or more.

 
People, myself included, have said Trump cant do X, and then he goes and does X. Then it was, well, there is no way he can do Y, and damn if he doesn't make Y happen, and now people are saying well Z will never happen in the future. Seems like every time someone says it is impossible for him to accomplish something, he goes out and makes it happen.

 
Here's the thing, and there is no way to get around it. Trump saved the Republican party. He really did. The R party was going to have a civil war if HRC won. The Mike Gallagher's, Lou Dobb's, Sean Hannity's, Rush Limbaugh's, Laura Ingraham's etc of the world were ready to excoriate the establishment R's for not getting behind Trump for what look liked a certain HRC win. It was going to be a blood bath. Trump's win saved the party from going down that road.

 
The author is a never Trumper and an ex-Republican. He holds many, many liberal views. I get it. He is all butt hurt over the election. Like I said, he is an establishment, don't rock the boat, lets just give in to the libs and their wacky demands so everyone gets along kinda guy and we will let our children and grandchildren deal with the fucking mess we leave behind. Fuck that and fuck him.

 
What has the establishment done for me? For my businesses? For the country? For the debt? For the failing entitlement state? ABSOLUTELY FUCKING NOTHING. Thats what.

 
So yeah, I'll go with Trump for a few rounds and see how we make out. Granted, its a huge risk, but with that risk comes a potential huge reward.

 
If the election went the other way, we would be talking about more regulations, higher taxes, "free" college and more caving to the planet's worst people.

 
Meh...I'll give this Trump fellow a shot for the time being.

Just wow.  Deaf dump and blind and not  willing to see the the true reality of Trump is doing to this country, the revolt and open defections brewing in the GOP is just fantastic.  SMH.

While I agree with several of Bartlett’s long standing fiscal policies, it is quite ironic that as a solid “Never Trumper” he is admonishing today’s Republican party for essentially being too selfish and populist. In his words it is the Republican Party that “demonizes intellectuals, degrades politics and simply pursues power for the sake of power.  

His article, while correct in much of its history, is still fraught with several mistakes and full lies of his own creation. He actually hopes for a massive crash and burn of Trump, one that will cast out the Republicans that he believes have forsaken him (and his ideas) and allow the Democrats to take over while he and his buddies regroup. One can only assume the purpose of his demonization of people, degrading of their politics is solely in pursuit of his eventual regaining of the power he has lost. What irony.

Actually, I think Maureen Dowd had the best opinion piece today. It can be summed up thus:

“Trump’s fatal flaw is that he cannot drag himself away from the mirror. But Democrats cannot bear to look in the mirror and admit what is wrong.”

-- Modified on 6/24/2017 4:30:03 PM

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"With the variables being only wages, and numbers of unskilled workers. You are correct. However, if you factor in some other variables, like unskilled illegal immigrant works, vs. unskilled legal workers along with factors why employers hire the unskilled illegal immigrant workers; like they will do jobs many legal unskilled will not do, they are harder working, complain less, more conscientious, etc. In other words, you can not talk about the drag on the wages due to number of unskilled workers, if a large portion of them, the legal unskilled, would not be being hired in the first place. That shoots a hole in your equation. If this wasn't true, employers would not be hiring them, and we would not have the degree of problem we have."

Any yet we have low wages....who would have thought?  Have you considered if there were not ample workers willing to do the work and not complain, etc at the low wage, then the wage might actually go up and thus attract others?  It is not like the work that is being done can just be left undone.

""For those conservatives who were tempted to embrace a “wait-and-see” approach to Trump, what they’ve seen, time and again, is almost unimaginable."

He has tried to do a lot, and yes has failed in some areas, but I hardly find his performance or actions "unimaginable".

PS I can rede and right but my speling is not to gud

The American voter.

Matt both parties tend to pander to the same people.

Then the dems are going to Blame Russia, for the American people's lack of confidence in American democracy.

All over the world young people rather join terrorist organizations, than participate in western democracy.

Yeah Matt, it comes down to party affiliation.

Once I figured out your little dance.

Unskilled legal workers are distracted by politics and who to vote for, that's why they are lousy workers.  

One big factor every body ignored. Women doing men's jobs.

 
Somebody isn't doing it's "job" by keeping women at home and men employed. Whose job is that Religion?  

What do you suppose we do about that?

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