Tag: Republicans

Categories
Politics & government

[1418] Of Governor Bobby Jindal

When I read the NYT today, I said, wow:

NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 21 — The first words from Bobby Jindal to his supporters after he won the Louisiana governor’s race on Saturday night were not about his victory, but L.S.U.’s triumph over Auburn the same day.

The message could not have been clearer: I’m one of you, a normal, red-blooded football-loving Louisiana guy. It is a theme that seems to have informed the youthful Republican congressman’s every step, from his decision at age 4 to jettison his given name of Piyush for that of a character in the television series “The Brady Bunch” to the attentive faith-infused courting of conservatives that led to his victory on Saturday with 54 percent of the vote.

Mr. Jindal’s efforts only highlight, though, what is glaringly obvious to anyone who sees and hears the slight 36-year-old son of immigrants from India. He is a highly unusual politician, having become the nation’s first Indian-American governor in a Southern state where race is inseparable from politics. [In a Southern State, Immigrants’ Son Takes Over. Adam Nossiter. NYT. October 22 2007]

And a Republican no less.

Categories
Politics & government

[1412] Of what the Republicans think of November 2008

“You’ve got more vacancies now than a hotel in hurricane season,” said Paul C. Light, a professor of public service at New York University and one of the nation’s best-known specialists on the federal bureaucracy. “In my 25 years of studying these issues, I’ve never seen a vacancy rate like this.”Michael J. Gerhardt, a law professor at the University of North Carolina who studies the federal appointment process, said that he believed the large number of vacancies reflected a widespread fear by Republicans that the next president, whoever it is, will be a Democrat, and that there is no job security at the top ranks of the executive branch.

“Republicans don’t have as much incentive to give up lucrative jobs in the private sector right now,” Professor Gerhardt said. [White House Is Leaning on Interim Appointments. NYT. October 15 2007]

Categories
Economics Liberty

[1369] Of Greenspan criticizes Republicans

Through the New York Times, a beautiful quotable quote:

They swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither. They deserved to lose… [The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World. Alan Greenspan]

The article starts like this:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 — Alan Greenspan, who was chairman of the Federal Reserve for nearly two decades, in a long-awaited memoir, is harshly critical of President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and the Republican-controlled Congress, as abandoning their party’s principles on spending and deficits. [Fed’s Ex-Chief Attacks Bush on Fiscal Role. New York Times. September 15 2007]

The statement by Mr. Greenspan must remind everybody of another quotable quote of old that has been allegedly made by Benjamin Frankin:

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.

Categories
Politics & government

[1334] Of Ron Paul said…

When asked how he would confront his opponents’ charges, Paul’s answers are as straight and flat as a Texas highway. “The media would love it if you got real, real personal. But I just have trouble drifting from the issue itself. … I’m challenging them to think about policy. Nobody, liberals or conservatives, Republicans or Democrats wants to challenge overall Middle East policy. It is sacred. There’s oil. There’s the neocon idea of spreading democracy. There’s Israel. You just shouldn’t dare challenge our eternal presence in the Middle East. So they attack the messenger in a personal way.” [Lone Star. Michael Brendan Dougherty. The American Conservative. June 18 2007]

Categories
Politics & government

[1298] Of the crazy libertarian

Okay…:

RON PAUL, a libertarian Republican congressman from Texas, likes to say what he thinks. And among the things he thinks is that the census is a violation of privacy. He has opted out of the congressional pension programme. He claims never to have voted for a tax increase, or for an unbalanced budget, or for a congressional pay rise and never to have gone on a congressional junket. He wants to return to the gold standard. Most notably, he strongly opposes the Iraq war and has from the beginning. [Paul the apostate. The Economist. July 19 2007]

While I am currently backing Ron Paul, I do realize that a lot of the policies he supports are a tad too radical, even for libertarians, especially me. Still, with the Democrats leaning farther left, I think a radical is what we need to balance the see-saw.