Amazing that Future Drone thinks you are a right winger. Shows how far left he is. Anyway, setting aside your attack on certain parts of the GOP, your assessment of the GOP is not entirely correct, though I agree that they are doomed. I won't trade ideas with you as to why, but one thing I'll say about the GOP, they have not become the dictatorship that the democrats party has become, especially in the Senate.
The tea party isnât just losing; itâs losing badly
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Amazing that Future Drone thinks you are a right winger. Shows how far left he is. Anyway, setting aside your attack on certain parts of the GOP, your assessment of the GOP is not entirely correct, though I agree that they are doomed. I won't trade ideas with you as to why, but one thing I'll say about the GOP, they have not become the dictatorship that the democrats party has become, especially in the Senate.
As you've noticed, I avoided an opinion on the relative virtues of either party. (I'm fiercely independent myself, and have zero interest in becoming directly involved in party politics. I'm an observer as one might observe orangutans in a zoo.) I have simply noted that from my vantage point the Republicans seem to be championing policies that will, in the long run, grow the size of their opposition and shrink their number of supporters. This doesn't seem to be a formula for lasting political success. (I do agree with your comment Re "Future Drone". His perception illustrates how warped our own views become when we completely lose our objectivity and ability to see other points of view.)
I know your type. You are just another pretentious cynic who is so busy trying to sound above it all and special that you don't allow allow yourself to see any popular truth. You are more interested in appearing objective than actually being objective. Your knee-jerk rejection of knowledge that may appear partisan results in your simply sounding foolish. Your ridiculous, verbose, meandering, insubstantial and ultimately wrong GW arguments are just one example with this last being another.
However, you are correct that jem's comment about eliminating the IRS is humorous.
LOL! Riiight. You and Bigarrow - two centralist thinkers on the board.
Because you like the IRS and the complex tax code? Or you just don't think a serious positive change is likely?
Hate to break it to you, but there is no Tea Party. It was quickly absorbed by the republican establishment. There is no libertarian party either. There is no party other than republican and democrat. All others are either destroyed by the establishment, or absorbed by them.
Perhaps change is in the wind regarding some of the policies you may be thinking of... Just a few quotes from a recent article:
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/US-Young-Republicans-Social/2014/05/25/id/573272/
"...The group illustrates a growing generational divide in the GOP as younger Republicans increasingly break rank from the establishment on social issues. In Alabama, a college Republican group leader was nearly kicked out of the party for supporting gay marriage. The successful push to legalize gay marriage in Minnesota was backed by several prominent younger Republicans. And in Colorado, the spokesman for a group that pushed to legalize marijuana was a Republican activist. Perhaps only in opposing abortion are most young Republicans nationally as conservative socially as older members...
...Whether the split on social issues forces the GOP to change its platform or risk alienating younger voters probably won't be answered until after the 2016 presidential election, said Matthew Corrigan, a University of North Florida political science professor. He said one thing to watch is support for Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, the son of former Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who is mixing a libertarian message with a more moderate outreach to Republicans.
"It's unsettled," Corrigan said. "If the nominee of the Republican Party signals less of an emphasis on social issues than in years past, that leaves an opening for these young Republicans who may have more libertarian leanings, but there's a lot of seniors within the party that I don't think are ready to give up on those positions...
...Beyond being a generational issue, young Republicans say their positions stem from the party's belief that government shouldn't intrude on people's lives. Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign got most of its following from younger Republicans attracted by his libertarian message that allowed for gay marriage and the legalization of marijuana.
"When it comes to issues like gay marriage or marijuana legalization, younger Republicans often find themselves asking, 'Why is government involved in this at all?'" said Alex Holzbach, a Tallahassee-based Republican political consultant who served as president of the Florida State University College Republicans before graduating this year. "It's really just a realization that the party's current status quo against some of these issues is in direct conflict with our belief in smaller, less intrusive government."
This article illustrates that there are great differences in the GOP at work. I don't see such debate in the democrat party. They are only moving further to the left, and doing so in lockstep. Those in the GOP that have demonstrated a desire to follow to the left will be voted out, and when that happens, the GOP has a shot at regaining constituents, especially demonstrated by the views of these younger Republicans.
Going along with certain left wing policies will, however, validate your belief that current policies will grow the democrat party is quite correct. Do a search regarding Reagan granting amnesty. Only 30% of those voted GOP.
The latter! I'm neutral toward the IRS itself of course. Who couldn't be? Anyone who blames the IRS for tax complexity, absurdity, and failure to efficiently administer the tax code, or even for abuses, doesn't understand that the IRS is a creature of Congress. Congress makes tax law, not the IRS. The IRS is charged with administering the law and trying to understand it. In this virtually impossible process, they have generated 72,000 pages of tax code. The upper level employees serve at the pleasure of Congress and the Executive branch. It surely is one of the worst jobs conceivable.
Any blame for our ridiculous tax code rests squarely with Congress. The IRS is a demon of Congresses own design; yet Congress knows that the average person hates and blames the IRS for stealing their hard earned money. So they make a big show of going after the IRS functionaries. And god help them -- the functionaries that is, not Congress! They've been given an impossible charge, and an inadequate budget and personnel. If their budget was truly adequate, it would bankrupt us. What a god damn mess!
I was chuckling when I read Jem's remark because of its naivety. Tax code is one of the chief means by which Congress can reward their campaign contributors. What are the chances Congress will do away with the IRS? And what would they replace it with? Besides, it is an extremely useful whipping boy whenever Congress wants to grandstand just before an election by appearing as though they are on our side!
Furthermore, no one in politics who proposes to do away with the IRS can be taken seriously unless they propose a practical replacement at the same time.
These young Republicans, in this part of their discussion, just essentially described the initial reason the Tea Party began. They are against government involvement regarding personal decisions. The Tea Party began under Bush, because of Bush's big gov leanings, so I find it ironic, or even laughable, that they were accused of being racist extremists (of course, some of those types gravitated toward them just like extreme left wingers gravitate to the dems). It's pretty obvious why the big gov GOP types hate them along w the big gov lefties. Why do you think the IRS scandal was allowed to go so long?
Some of the best tea party types have already been elected, so I'm not surprised at GOP establishment resurgence + they are outspending tea party types 10 to 1 or more. In some places, tea party types crushed establishment types in their primary. See Neb.
Any one who thinks the tea party was a result of Obama being elected should study Mark Levin. As indicated, they were a direct result of Bush and establishment GOP policies. It was the ACA that strengthened the tea party types which was enough to bring the GOP back into power in 2010. It was the IRS targeting that weakened the tea party types which many believe helped O win term two in 2012. It was Mark Levin's Landmark Legal Foundation that originally discovered the IRS targeting after targets came to him for help.
Anything people are hearing in the MSM saying otherwise is un-informed. I will agree that some tea party types should have kept their mouths shut because their remarks hurt a lot of good candidates, but we know how effective the media is at broad brushing entire groups, especially when their enemies are not only the opposition party, but the party they helped return to power.