You wouldn’t know it to read the histrionic protests of low-information voters, but Republicans have largely abandoned Social Conservatism in accordance with the advice given to them by the mainstream media and their well-paid political consultants. Republicans have paid lip-service to Right-to-Life, but done very little, at the national level, to advance a Pro-Life Agenda. (The Democrats, in contrast, have been aggressively advancing pro-abortion legislation, including a new effort to nullify all state-level abortion restrictions.)  And despite a series of scandals, Planned Parenthood still receives a generous taxpayer subsidy. The battle to save traditional marriage is lost.

And despite the national  GOP’s abandonment of Social Conservatism, the promised windfall of moderate voters who supposedly were just itching to vote Republican so long as they backed off on abortion, Teh Gheys, and the “Oogah-Boogah” Christianity stuff   has not materialized.  The social conservative wedge of the Republican base is demoralized, and perhaps that’s why so many stayed home in 2012.

But without social values, what does the Republican Party have to offer? It’s hard to answer ‘Fiscal Responsibility’ when the GOP leadership wrote President Obama a blank check to raise the debt ceiling and undid all of the domestic spending cuts in the sequester.  There is no real pushback on Obama’s Big Gigantic Government  Agenda. The House could defund Obama’s job-killing EPA regulations, but they don’t. They could defund his project to force an Affirmative Action housing plan on American neighborhoods, but they don’t. On Amnesty and Illegal Immigration, they largely embrace the same “Amnesty First/Security Later” Big Lie that Obama and the Democrats do.

Since abandoning Social Conservatism (in deed if not in word), the Republican Party has lost a key part of its identity.  One writer thinks the GOP should re-invent itself along populist, anti-corporatist lines. Given that Republicans are joined at the hip with Big Business interests represented by the US Chamber of Commerce, such a reinvention seems unlikely.

Having abandoned Pro-Family, Social Conservative values, the Republican Party has no clear theme, no clear vision of what it is or what it stands for. The Republicans have a slogan, “Growth and Opportunity” that’s as vapid and meaningless as “Hope and Change,” since they have no real policies or plan to advance even that vague agenda.

It will never happen in this debased Idiocracy of a country, but a man can always dream of a better world. [HT: Director Blue]

(more…)

They’re still claiming that any opposition to leftism could only be motivated by racism. Here, Rep. Steve Israel (D) says it back-hand style:

Candy: Do you think your Republican colleagues are racist?

Israel: Not all of them, no. Of course not. But to a significant extent, the Republican base does have elements that are animated by racism.

They’re still demanding that their failures be subsidized and bailed out. Here, a “green” solar company sues the government for only having dished it $250 million of taxpayer money, instead of millions more.

They’re still using highly questionable statistics to demagogue the issue of equal pay for men and women.

They’re still fighting their ‘war’ on Fox News, and failing – sometimes with hilarious results. The video shows Greta van Susteren cornering an aggressive Democrat into admitting that he lied about his resume.

They’re still racially divisive with amazing double standards. Here, a Democrat belittles her African-American GOP colleague for being only “half” black. Which, remember, happens to be what President Obama is.

They still have amazing double standards on the issues of Islam, free speech and women’s rights. Last week, leftists hit a triple (the wrong positions on all three) when Brandeis snubbed Ayaan Hirsi Ali after considering her for an honorary degree.

They’re still screeching “McCarthyism!” to deflect attention from their misconduct, as Rep. Elijah Cummings (D) did last week, when questions arose over his own staff’s collusion with the dangerously out-of-control IRS.

UPDATE: At least there’s hope for Wisconsin:

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has had a good run lately. He signed a major tax relief package into law, his controversial budget reforms have put the state back in the black…A new poll from Wisconsin Public Radio suggests that voters are appreciative of the governor’s accomplishments. Walker leads Democrat Mary Burke by 16 points in the survey (56/40), with Walker’s approval rating soaring to just shy of 60 percent — an all-time high in the series. (President Obama’s job approval is underwater at 48/50 in the poll). Walker’s lead is fueled by a 19-point advantage among independents…

The “Do Nothing” strategy seems to be bearing fruit.

Republican David Jolly narrowly defeated Democrat Alex Sink on Tuesday in a Tampa-area House race largely seen as a critical test for ObamaCare.

The Democrat, Alex Sink, a former candidate for governor, was heavily favored in the Democrat-leaning 13th CD. The Democrat Party sank millions into her campaign, some of which went to hire complete nitwits to steal David Jolly campaign signs and then brag about it on Twitter. The Democrats also ran a phony libertarian in hopes of siphoning off GOP votes; a strategy that worked very well for them in Virginia. Unless they “find” a few thousand ballots in the trunk of a car (the Franken maneuver), the Democrats will not pick up this seat this time.

So, while this election will not affect that status quo in any way, at least we are spared the obnoxious spectacle of Democrat gloating.

As Jeff has noted, President Obama has no interest in addressing the country’s fiscal problems. (Lefties: “He cut the deficit in half, you wingnuts!” Reality: “$600 Billion deficits are nothing to brag about, even if they used to be $1.2 Trillion.”) But the truth of the matter is the Republicans don’t have a plan to deal with the debt either; and those who have proposed even modest reforms, like Ted Cruz or Rand Paul, are derided as dangerous, radical “whackobirds.”

The Repblicans also aren’t proposing any reforms to deal with IRS abuses. They also don’t have a compelling plan for economic growth; aside from some vague notion of cutting taxes. On Amnesty, they’re as bad as the Democrats. As far as the administration’s abuse of executive power, corruption, and lies go the Republicans whine, but do nothing.  And they won’t even talk about regulatory reform or entitlement reform.

The entire GOP strategy for 2014 is to count on Obamacare remaining unpopular; but in reality, they don’t plan to repeal it anyway.

The question is, can they run on nothing and still win? Do voters hate Obamacare so much that they’ll vote for Republicans who are presenting no alternative vision to the status quo? The Party Leadership is so confident in the “Do-Nothing” strategy that they are actively attacking the party’s conservative base voters.

Amy Otto at Pocketful of Liberty explains some of the less obvious disadvantages to being a Republican (apart from the obvious disadvantage of having 99% of media and academia engaged in Total War against you 24/7/365).

For one thing, Republicans and people inclined to vote for them do not live consumed with politics their leftist rivals are, and less forgiving of… personnel issues.

Registered Republicans often rate character, principle and values above politics. … This often makes a Republican less attuned to doing what needs to be done to win because they’re too busy managing their own lives  to worry about politics.

Republicans kicked Mark Foley to the curb for sending creepy text messages to interns. Democrats re-elected Gerry Studds 9 times after he molested an undererage intern. Sometimes, having standards is a big political disadvantage.

For another, the RNC is always asking for money, but never giving you anything in return.

Just so we have this straight: You want my money so some person in Congress can draw a salary at a minimum of $179,000 /yr for life (also my money) and in return they might fight for a smaller increase in the amount of spending (again, my money).

Sounds like a smart investment! Here’s a check!

The Democrats have a slick value proposition, “Vote for us and we’ll take money away from other people and spend it on you,” that is easy to understand and, for a significant portion of the electorate, impossible to resist. The Republican alternative value proposition is, “We’ll do the same thing, just not as much,” it doesn’t really inspire anybody. Then, the GOP Establishment calls you a “purist nutjob” for actually expecting them to fight for the principles they ran on.

There’s four or five other things in there: The Republican belief in fair play that’s a huge electoral disadvantage when Democrat machines are turning out 120% of registered voters and finding hundreds of votes for Al Franken in the trunk of a car. The way Republicans get blamed for Democrat failures. (e.g. Even though Obamacare was passed without a single Republican vote, it’s still Republicans’ fault it doesn’t work). It’s worth a read.

Christy Waters at the Conservative Report Online makes a compelling case that Karl Rove is doing more to advance the progressive agenda than the entire evening line-up at MSDNC.

• Under George W. Bush, undertook a massive expansion of the regulatory and welfare state in the name of “Compassionate Conservatism.”
• Used Republican Party resources to support Arlen Specter, Lincoln Chaffee, and Charlie Crist against more conservative primary challengers; all three of those gents left the party, two becoming Democrats.
• Advised Republicans to support another unpopular foreign war (Syria).
• Supports an Amnesty plan that will drive down the wages of American workers and flood elections with 10-20 million new Democrat voters.
• Is actively seeking to drive a third to a half of the Republican base (Tea Party conservatives) out of the party.

If Karl Rove and the Republican Establishment have their way, the party will be diminished to what it was in the pre-Reagan Era: a permanent minority of ineffectual moderates content with whatever crumbs the Democrats toss them.

They are perfectly fine with this, as long as the crumbs are big enough.

Granted, this is only a burning question to the “Whackobird” wing of the electorate that really cares about controlling unsustainable Government spending and getting the Government out of where it has no business being.

Jeffrey Lord at the American Spectator makes the case that the Anti-Tea Party, Establishment wing of the GOP (e.g. John McCain, Lindsey Graham, John Boehner, Karl Rove, Chris Christie) are just pale blue Marxists who don’t really care about all that freedom, liberty, and free enterprise stuff.

The Republican Party can control every last seat in Congress after 2014 and the White House in 2016 — and it will not make a lick of difference. Because just as occurred when Rove was a man with clout in the White House and John Boehner was on an earlier ladder of the GOP House leadership passing No Child Left Behind with Teddy Kennedy — the Washington GOP Establishment will do everything they can to fight efforts to limit the size and growth of the federal government.

You have to read the whole thing to get to his conclusion, but he makes a compelling argument: What’s the point in electing Republicans if all we can get is a slightly watered-down Democrat Agenda? Did Republicans reduce Government *at all* when Bush was President and they held both Houses of Congress? Did even one Department’s budget get cut?

It feels as though the USA, with our monstrous debt and out-of-control Government is the Titanic, and a few alert passengers and crewmen have spotted the iceberg ahead. But the Captain and his officers insist that changing course is “too radical,” and “too extreme.” The Democrat officers are oblivious to the iceberg and want to pour more coal into the boilers. The Republicans officers are aware that some of the crew are concerned about the iceberg, but are only willing to negotiate with the Democrat officers for a 2% reduction in the amount of additional coal shoveled into the because that’s “realistic.”

This is why I have a “Let.It.Burn” bumper-sticker in the rear window of my car.

So, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner (and Paul Ryan) have declared War on the Tea Party because they say that people concerned about Big Government represent a crazy, ‘whackobird’ fringe and supporting fiscal restraint and limited Government will lead to electoral oblivion because Big Government is, like, uber-popular (the New York Times says so and Rachel Maddow agrees) and what Americans really want is $63Billion in new spending, a replacement for Obamacare that still puts the Government in charge of health care, more NSA surveillance, and Amnesty.

According to Gallup, however, the ‘Whackobird’ fringe is now 72% of the population. i.e. 72% of Americans say Big Government is the biggest threat the USA faces.

That’s a big fringe.

And yet John Boehner, after his victory in blowing up the Sequester, has now turned his sights on Amnesty. Because that’s what Big Business wants. By the way, Big Business, who the Republicans are jumping into bed with, was ranked as the Biggest Threat by 21% of Americans. The GOP establishment is going against 93% of the public.

The Stupid Party, indeed.

After months of deranged demonization from the left, a Rasmussen poll finds Ted Cruz to be, after the Pope and SCOAMF McChoomwagon, the third most powerful political figure on the planet.

No wonder John McCain and John Boehner-McCain hate him so much. (Me, I’m just trying to figure out why supporting the Constitution and fiscal responsibility makes you a Right Wing Nut Job.)

On a related note, angry New York DIABLO Peter King has launched a Political Action Committee explicit aimed at destroying Ted Cruz and other fiscally responsible, Constitutionalist Republicans.

And Mitch McConnell is telling lobbyists they better back moderate, establishment Republicans if they want to keep that sweet, sweet Federal pork coming.

Paul Ryan proudly announced the Congressional Republicans’ latest surrender yesterday; they’ve reached a budget compromise with Senate Democrats that raises taxes and eliminates most of the sequester cuts. But he says its OK to eliminate the cuts they agreed to two years ago because ten years from now they will make even bigger cuts… pinky swear.

So, basically, the Republican Party has abandoned all but the pretense of fiscal responsibility. But don’t worry, they’ll make up for it by passing Amnesty next year.

Update: The New Republic — which, for those of you in Rio Linda is a magazine/website popular among old white liberals — is calling the budget deal a big fat massive win for the Dark Side.

You get kind of tired of hearing Establishment Republicans whine that those of us who support the Tea Party over the Establishment are putting purity before pragmatism. Not at all. We just don’t trust the Establishment GOP because, time and time again, they’ve shown that they define pragmatism as stabbing the base in the back and helping the Democrat Left advance its agenda.

Marco Rubio won his senate seat promising to oppose Amnesty, and by his admission, a “path to citizenship” for illegal immigrants was Amnesty. Once in office, Rubio quickly betrayed his voters and signed onto the Gang of 8 Immigration Bill, that contained not only a path to citizenship, but gives the President almost unlimited authority to waive any of the bill’s requirements. (As if Obama would never do anything like that.) Pat Toomey also betrayed conservative who supported him by signing onto gun control. It’s Republican Standard Operating Procedure: Get Elected as a Conservative, Betray the Base, then lie about it . Meanwhile, someone like Ted Cruz actually does what he promised to do … fight Obamacare tooth and nail … and gets Cruzified.

You can follow the old, “someone who agrees with me 70% of the time is my 70% friend, not my 30% enemy” chestnut… and broadly that is valid. Sometimes you have to accept half a loaf. But not every compromise is worth making. There have to be some deal-breakers attached to that:

• Amnesty – The importation of millions of unskilled foreign workers at a time when millions of Americans can’t find work is a crime against the working class.
• Gun Control – The Second Amendment is Sacrosanct. And we know even the most benign-sounding gun control law is just part of the “just the tip” incrementalism the left uses to lead to eventual gun confiscation. They have admitted it. Repeatedly. And openly.
• Fiscal Responsibility – Wasting money is a thing up with which we should not put. And especially no sucker deals where Democrats promise cuts later for tax increases now and the cuts never, ever happen.

You could probably add abortion-on-demand to that list as well. But the key point is, there is something very important that the Establishment GOP political insiders and their highly paid consultants (not to mention the left) don’t get and that is this:

Conservative voters don’t care about party affiliation, and we don’t care about personalities; we don’t base our votes on whom we would prefer to have a beer with or who has the nicest crease in their pants. (We further think people who vote on those criteria are idiots.) We vote based on principles, and we expect those whom we vote for to uphold those principles once elected. And when they don’t uphold them, we get pretty pissed off about that.

Update: Remember John McCain’s Gang of 14, that classic case of bipartisan compromise, where 7 Democrats and 7 Republicans ganged up to save the filibuster, prevent the nuclear option, and s-can most of Bush 43′s judicial appointment? Today, the Democrats showed their gratitude.

I think the argument could be made, re: the recent confrontation over the debt ceiling and Obamacare. Via Ed Morrissey, Sen. Cruz hints at it in his ABC News interview:

“I will say that the reason this deal, the lousy deal was reached last night, is because, unfortunately, Senate Republicans made the choice not to support House Republicans,” Cruz told ABC News. “I wish Senate Republicans had united, I tried to do everything I could to urge Senate Republicans to come together and stand with House Republicans.”

First, let’s note that eighteen GOP Senators did stand with House Republicans, leaving 27 who didn’t.

But what about the 27? Some seem clueless about the larger issues, as for example, Sen. McCain who said “The real losers [in the shutdown] were the American people,” when the reverse is true: Americans lost when government re-opened under terms of greater debt, and with Obamacare intact.

As Morrissey didn’t support the recent confrontation, he goes on to argue that “The only way to dismantle ObamaCare is to win [future] elections.” I disagree.

Since raising the debt ceiling brings America closer to its coming default, and since Obamacare is bad law that harms our economy: then patriotic lawmakers should use any legal, constitutional means available to obstruct or delay them, with whatever votes they can muster today. Yes, rock the boat!

But 60% of Senate Republicans, it seems, would rather undercut the boat rockers – or even attack them. If their problem isn’t a form of Stockholm Syndrome, then I suspect it’s the GOP’s real civil war, K Street vs. the Tea Party.

K Street, or the GOP’s Washington / Big Government wing, has won a round and now presses the advantage by trashing the boat-rockers in the media. But I say, kudos to Sen. Cruz for at least having tried to do the right thing.

As former Sen. Jim DeMint has just said, of Obamacare:

The reason [we fight] is simple: to protect the American people from the harmful effects of this law…

More and more people have had their work hours cut, their jobs eliminated and their coverage taken away..

We know that premiums are going up due to ObamaCare—Americans are getting notices in their mailboxes every day…

[Americans] shouldn’t have to wait three more years for Congress to give them relief from this law, especially when the president has so frequently given waivers to his friends. Full legislative repeal may not be possible while President Obama remains in office, but delaying implementation by withholding funds from a law that is proven to be unfair, unworkable and unaffordable is a reasonable and necessary fight.

Raising the debt ceiling is equally bad law. Would that more of the GOP had seen clearly on that as well as Obamacare, and stood up to obstruct both.

Interesting piece from Timothy P. Carney / Washington Examiner, Tea party loosens K Street’s stranglehold on the GOP.

…the Tea Party smashed K Street’s monopoly on Republican fundraising. The Club for Growth was founded in the late 1990s, and early last decade, it began targeting liberal Republicans in primaries…
In 2009, Sen. Jim DeMint founded the Senate Conservatives Fund…

While GOP leaders backed candidates like Charlie Crist (Fla.) and Trey Grayson (Ky.) in 2010 primaries, the SCF backed Marco Rubio and Rand Paul. K Street and the National Republican Senatorial Committee worked hand-in-hand — but for a change, there was a countervailing force.

Which led to Rubio’s and Paul’s victories:

The Club for Growth was Paul’s biggest source of funds, giving him $105,000…[SCF] kicked in $36,685. These two groups, together with FreedomWorks, also spent big on independent expenditures for Paul.

Ted Cruz also came to Washington by defeating K Street. The Club for Growth spent more than $2.5 million helping Cruz in the Texas GOP primary, while the SCF spent about $800,000. K Street was backing Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst — he got $500,000 from business PACs (33 times Cruz’s take), and GOP lobbyists hosted a fundraiser for him at the Capitol Hill townhouse of Democratic superlobbyist Tony Podesta.

As Cruz put it, “Everyone who makes their living from continuing the government-spending gravy train is supporting Dewhurst.”

[...]

“I don’t think there’s a way for Wall Street to punish the 25 to 50 hardcore House Republicans,” one Wall Street lobbyist told Politico in the first couple days of the shutdown. Referring to an anti-establishment libertarian freshman congressman, the lobbyist said, “I don’t think Justin Amash cares if Bank of America gives to him or not.”

A Republican who doesn’t care about Bank of America checks wasn’t possible before the Tea Party.

“Follow the money.”

All this may tie in with President Obama’s demand that the GOP reject the Tea Party. He said (8:46 in Beck’s clip):

I’m not going to [negotiate] until the more extreme parts of the Republican Party stop forcing John Boehner to issue threats about our economy.

First, remember that Obama is the one issuing threats about our economy. But his comments reflect that the Tea Party, because they want to actually halt the growth of government spending and change the Washington spending game, are an existential threat to Obama’s “Big Government” brand of politics.

And so, Obama wants the GOP to expel them and go back to Washington’s business-as-usual. They’re all in it together. The Democrats are 100% Big Government; the GOP are less so, but nonetheless have an establishment (K Street) which is fairly Big Government and 100% dedicated to playing the Washington game.

Our freedom is at stake. Ted Cruz and the GOP so-called “bomb throwers” protect it.

Hat tip, DrewM at Ace for airing Carney’s article.

Democrats and their allies in the legacy media keep telling us that the GOP is in dire straits.  And I’ll grant that my party has work to do.  But, I do wonder if the president’s party is not in straits even more dire than that of is political rival, its problems papered over by the strong support Barack Obama enjoys in some segments of society (especially in the various newsrooms that dot America’s coasts).

If the Democrats have such an appeal with the American people — and are so confident in their message, why must they regularly resort to dishonest demagoguery, misrepresenting Republican stands on issues and regularly calling their partisan rivals “extreme.” Bear in mind that Barack Obama did not win reelection running on his record but by demonizing Mitt Romney, airing over a quarter-billion dollars of attacks ads — before the party conventions.

Saw two examples of this yesterday on Facebook:

Ms. Gillibrand is trying to advance her own cause by misrepresenting her partisan rivals — and stirring up fears among African-Americans.

Look  likes Ms. Gillibrand’s dishonest, mean-spirited rhetoric has earned her an interesting admirer: (more…)

Earlier this morning, caught a good piece from Byron York on why winning the Hispanic vote would not be enough to secure a GOP presidential victory.  Here’s the crucial paragraph:

But here is the real solution. Romney lost because he did not appeal to the millions of Americans who have seen their standard of living decline over the past decades. They’re nervous about the future. When Romney did not address their concerns, they either voted for Obama or didn’t vote at all. If the next Republican candidate can address their concerns effectively, he will win. And, amazingly enough, he’ll win a lot more Hispanic votes in the process. A lot from other groups, too.

Read the whole thing.  Did recall reading something about a year ago on Mitt Romney’s failure to appeal to working class votes disaffected from the incumbent administration.  York is right; the next Republican candidate needs to effectively address their concerns.

Part of the answer, ironically enough (given the premise of York’s piece), lies in a piece Jill Lawrence published last week in the National Journal, a piece on Republicans’ challenges with Hispanic voters.  Lawrence cited a focus group whose participants . . .

liked what they heard about Medicaid, immigration, economics, and education in clips from speeches by some prominent party figures. But the people they listened to—New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush—are unusual in how they talk about these issues and seemed like anomalies to the focus-group participants. (more…)

In a piece on the immigration bill, Stanley Kurtz offers a nutshell version of the real problem facing Republicans today:

Republicans have been in a funk ever since Obama’s re-election. I’m the first to agree that there’s a deeper problem, but it’s got more to do with under-thirties and what education and the culture are doing to them than with anything a path to citizenship will fix.

When I listen to my non-Republican twentysomething friends talking about the GOP, I hear an image of a party drawn from Democratic talking points and college professors’ prejudices. Few are aware of the ideals of liberty and civil society that have stood as the guideposts for the conservative and libertarian thinkers who have defined the basic philosophy of the Republican Party since Reagan.

Many, as Arthur Brooks sagely observed last month in the Wall Street Journal believe Republicans are indifferent to the poor.  Republicans need to change that faulty perception.  They have to show the “under-thirties”, as Kurtz described this demographic suffering the most under Obama’s policies, that conservatives are aware of — and sympathetic to — their plight and will, if elected, put into place policies which will make it easier for them to find jobs commensurate with their talents and their training, allowing them to prosper as did young people in the Reagan Era.

FROM THE COMMENTS:  Cactus Bill gets it:

There has been a bastardization of the language for some now. When compassion is defined by how much government can provide instead of what you can provide for yourself the notion of pursuing your own happiness is turned on it’s head. Real compassion is allowing an environment where a business of any type can actually HIRE someone. A real job is more compassionate and rewarding to the soul than all the government provided resources have ever been able to give. (more…)

In Ace’s “Headlines” sidebar, I just noticed this post at FreedomWorks: 15 Year Old Wisconsin Conservative Meets Bullying From Teachers.

Worth a skim. To be clear: By “bullying”, he does not mean physical assault, but rather a series of moral-emotional assaults from teachers who single him out for questioning (sometimes invasive) and ridicule. From Mr. Backer’s conclusion:

If teachers want bullying to end with homosexuals, other races or religious beliefs, they should want it to end with every type of bullying possible, including political views.

I haven’t done any research that would let me vouch for Mr. Backer’s story, but if it’s true, it’s chilling. Or, to say something more positive: that kid has guts!

From the Shark Tank:

This past weekend, Congressman Trey Radel was the latest to joined the growing choir of Republican supporters for inclusion of gays into the Republican fold. Radel stated that he did not care what sexual orientation a person was, as long as they stood by conservative values and principles…

Although I do not confuse outreach to gays with support for gay marriage (and neither should you), this news is interesting for coming on the heels of shifts in public Republican support for gay marriage, such as Senator Portman’s. Also, Radel’s outreach fits well with the founding principles of GOProud.

(Note to Gay Left commentors: This post is Jeff talking, not Bruce or Dan. I’m a current Independent and former Democrat; never been a Republican, though I have some Republican friends. The tired remarks about gay Republicans that some of you may now want to utter will not hurt me; only make me roll my eyes. )

Faster, please.

House Republicans unveiled an ambitious cost-cutting plan Tuesday that would balance the budget in 10 years without raising taxes, while repealing ObamaCare and overhauling entitlements — a document Democrats are sure to reject but could be used as a negotiating tool in talks with President Obama.

Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., chairman of the House Budget Committee, is sticking by controversial proposals, including one to give future Medicare retirees the option of using government payments for private health care plans.

Taxes are the vehicle that the Federal Government uses to strip power and freedom from its citizens. That immense power is sapping the private sector right now.

Here is the full text of the Ryan Budget Plan.  Read it for yourself.  No filters.

-Bruce (@GayPatriot)