Republican economic policy has been in a weird place for a long time. They seem to disavow George W. Bush, while basing their core message on naysaying and disagreeing with Obama. I can help but think that Republicans don't actually have much of a philosophy at this point. Rather, their position is to sabotage the economy and use a far right economic platform as a bargaining chip in budget fights. That's more of a tactic rather than a philosophy.
So, what is the mainstream Republican philosophy on the major economic issues? Taxes? Spending? Is there any continued life to the Ron Paul economic philosophy of being anti-Federal reserve and cuckoo crazy?
Thoughts?
Republicans disavow W and HW because they were both appeasers. HW was an appeaser by his nature. W was an appeaser because the appeasement parts of his platform were about the only initiatives that made it through the pork-loving Republican Congress.
The Republican economic platform is nuanced and difficult for people without formal education to understand. For instance, Republicans loathe the system of graduated tax rates. It creates sociological, socioeconomic, and economic inequalities that erode the social-fabric of the US and the notion of American unity. People are divided according to their life-choices or circumstances and encouraged/discouraged according to the arbitrary revenue needs of the treasury. Worse still, graduated rates are not the only way to have a progressive tax system. Naturally, Repubs push flatter income tax brackets, many want a flat marginal rate within a progressive tax system.
Republicans also want decentralized decision-making, which is something Bush actually achieved. Repubs and Dems both tax around 20% GDP. The difference is that Democrats put the money in the hands of bureaucracies that provide services and cut checks. Republicans create systems of refundable credits, deductions, and rate cuts to redistribute tax collections with the IRS. Since the IRS redistributes/refunds wealth in the Republican system, official data sources record lower overall revenues.
Republicans want to fund military, roads, education and other productivity initiatives. Dems are generally lovers of the healthcare handout (relatively productive), public pension, food stamps, and welfare checks.
In the arena of economics, Republicans vs. Democrats is like Mohammed Ali vs. Woody Allen. The optics are not good for Republicans because it looks like competent shrewd operators are just mocking the incompetence of the "little guy". Furthermore, the economic arguments on the Republican side are so nuanced that the electorate can't really understand. Republicans become fatalistic, which leads to unbecoming self-destructive behavior.
