It seems that "The Economy" is historically a tough campaign issue for Republicans to hack. And that is not surprising given, well, Republicans themselves. Or at least the stereotype of Republicans most of us have entertained for about the last 30 years.
When Usedcarsalesman thinks of Republicans, he too thinks of the stereotype of citizens who are seemingly looking for less government, less taxation, and for the strong businesses to drive out the weak in the marketplace.
With this in mind, Usedcarsalesman is not surprised if a Republican Presidential candidate is conflicted when voters suddenly demand that "The Economy" receives attention.
Said Republican candidate probably entertains this concept as follows:
"I know what some of you guys (voters) really want when you start talking about "The Economy." You want the Government to literally make-a-market where none existed before...Throw a bunch of tax dollars at New Energy, Transportation, Health Care Reform and see what sticks, right?
Come on, I'm not going to sign off on that! To start, that's taking half the work out of the business of making money in the first place!
The business person is supposed to take the risks, find the market, start small and produce a profitable product! He doesn't wait for Government to throw a lot of money around and literally force open a whole new field of industry that a few urban "wonks" theorize might simultaneously serve the nation's interests and somehow meet the demands of the electorate.
Doing that is just a good way to end up with a lot of collateral damage -- a bunch of mostly junk public-issues floating around. Witness the 6 year stretch of Dot-com stocks issued in the 1990's!"
Usedcarsalesman says the aforementioned is certainly one way to see things.
But Usedcarsalesman finds it quite odd that Republicans -- "Politicos" seemingly so enamored with business-people who find and serve new markets -- seem to overlook the gigantic public (really "market") interest in Health Care reform, Energy Independence, Environmental Protection and Fuel Efficient Alternative Transport.
What is the barrier Republicans have to catering to this market? Is the case for the business(es) that might meet the demands of this market -- or sub-segments of it -- so complex or so inherently "submarined" in a sea of red-ink? Are the related- regulations so dense that they sabotage viable, fledgling enterprises? Are existing business interests too dug-in?
Or is it an overriding problem: Adherence to a political philosophy that inherently hamstrings the Federal Government -- the pre-eminent big-dollar "investor" around.
Usedcarsalesman speculates it is the latter. After all, probably only the Feds have the money, power and public-pull needed to kick-start new, somewhat risky, yet broadly supported industries such as reformed Health Care Services, Energy Independence, Environmental Protection and Alternative Transportation in the United States.
And only the Feds might conceivably absorb the risk involved with the aforementioned, thereby enabling the production of new goods and services that might attract trillions of dollars in new business revenue from abroad.
Sure Republicans may insist on tieing the Federal Government's hands until the end of time. But that's arguably just a great way to break no new ground isn't it?
Until Republicans come to terms with that, Usedcarsalesman believes they will continue to come up short vs. "The Economy."
