What is Republican economic policy?

[Person Man]

So, what is the mainstream Republican philosophy on the major economic issues?

Well, I'd assume the Republican Party's platform would be a fair representation of whatever semblance of equilibrium can be discerned betwixt the organization's conflicted, competing factions. It has been awhile since I last read it but these kinds of documents are usually long-winded and flowery even by my rambling standards. It might be worthwhile for you to consult, however, if you are curious?

To break Republican economic policies down to their foundations though I will try filtering their perspective through a Haidtian lens.

- Violence is unacceptable and some folk deserve some help but most of us can usually care for ourselves.
- Rules must apply equally to all, fraud is unacceptable, and each person deserves to keep what they earn.
- Government is a source of oppression to beware; the onus should be on statists to justify intervention.
- We fit into hierarchies of superior and inferior statuses; privileges and deprivations can both be justified.
- Outsiders are suspicious and possibly malign, so it is crucial to encourage loyalty and in-group solidarity.
- Some ideas and institutions are so sacred that their opponents are surely enemies of the public interest.

Republicans also tend to believe the United States is an exceptional country, its Constitution inspired in no modest part by the will of God, and human beings (including those elected to office) are sinners who cannot be trusted to unwaveringly do what is right for the people as a whole. They are not altogether opposed to making changes to the status quo but tend to be uneasy about it - feeling that the old ways of doing things are adequate and tinkering with them could lead to harmful consequences.

Thus we find Republicans willing to accept some forms of welfare but also going on about moral hazard and the prospect of rotten apples gaming the system. We find them devoted to capitalism yet willing to make exceptions for patriotic causes, national security, and well-established pieces of the public sector. They are fine with many regulations yet also willing to let people make stupid choices, subjugate each other to some extent, and be abused by corrupt figures in the private sector as a tradeoff for guarding themselves from the greater threat of government overreach. Policy considerations are affected by a sincerely-held faith in a "national myth," or glorified and somewhat distorted interpretation of how the United States developed, which gives them an unshakeable commitment to private property rights, free enterprise, and the principle of self-reliance. Their economic views cannot be understood out of context.

Are some party officers and representatives corrupt in their motives? Of course. But to grasp the logic of generally decent, sensible people who stick to conservative policy planks you need to look at the world through their eyes. Without considering how they substantively differ from mainstream Democrats in looking at moral dilemmas and the human condition it becomes all too easy to misinterpret their intent. There are plenty of biases to go around, really. None of us are exceptions to those kinds of influences!

Right now?  Oppose whatever Obama is for.  That seems to sum up what it's become.

In part, yeah, though this probably has more to do with how lots of Republicans reject the legitimacy and respectability of the President's authority. They get so distracted by a perception of Pres. Obama being a foreign and traitorous usurper that they are thinking about economics in a less than strictly rational way, reacting to him with a blend of emotion and reason. It has become so spectacular of a sideshow that the priority in Congress seems to be reinforcing the us / them symbolism of the situation and defeating their common enemy. For better or worse, this is a reflection of Republican desires for a more "American" leader to follow. There is no specific ideology in political economy that motivates their voting behaviour right now.

You make the Republican Party sound like a strange mix of Confucianism, Divine Right and the Hindu Caste System.

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.

The way you wrap the mechanics of Government and Business in moralistic layers sounds like neoliberal economist are simply trying to provide the Mathematics, Psychology and Physics needed to discern God's will.

It seems like Scientology tries to take the Republican History, Platform and Philosophy and replace ancient astronauts with God. Could make a good Stargate episode. Idea for fanfiction- a Republican Goa'uld. 

[Person Man]

Much of this thread is seems to concentrate on the question as a national issue. Another basic principle of GOP policy has been to let the states deal with policy questions when they can, and in terms of business and labor policy, there has been a historical tendency to let the states act on their own.

So to discern GOP economic policy one has to go to the 50 separate state parties and see what is driving their economic policy. My sense is that there are some general similarities, but also real differences depending on the state's economic assets. It's like asking what is the economic policy of the European conservative parties (perhaps like EPP), where there are commonalities but also differences between member countries MPs.

There is, of course, Federalism but the Republican Party still has to have a national platform and when they are in power, they don't necessarily advance the cause of Federalism. It definitely feels like Republicans support state's rights right now because they are doing well down ballot and not so hot at the top.

[Person Man]

It can seem like that, sure. Most authoritarian elements of the U.S. population are in the Republican Party

I understand what you're saying, but the people who expect government cheese every time they extend their hand are as authoritarian as the conservative Republicans who want to see SWAT teams night-sticking crowds of libertine hippsters. Liberals also birthed the hybrid-cars-only movement, carbon-caps, strict school lunch menus, punitive taxation, etc.

Conservative Republicans are usually okay with the police/military state. Liberals are usually fine with the PC nanny-state complex. They are both authoritarian arrangements, but one wears sheep's clothing.

I'm pretty sure the first ones don't exist; as for the second, are you confusing hippies with hipsters?

It must be a thing between him and BRTD. Anyways, don't Republicans have similar hand out programs including using the tax system to force fossil fuel dependence and rebuilding the welfare system through the IRS to subsidize wages?

I am honestly beginning to believe any economic idea, if pushed hard enough and without any regards of the consequences, will eventually work. It really just seems to be an issue out of 1)what happens in the interim and 2) what secular religion you are a part of.

[Person Man]

All for the few, and suffer with a smile for everyone else. A pure plutocracy except for a few concessions to the Religious Right (an abortion ban and perhaps a ban on contraception).

Corporate Personhood and Personhood?