The "Colin Powells" killed the Repub. party. RINOs seeing the "bipartsin" one party system protective of their political life are only to happy to compromise. "Going along to get along" is the current slogan of the Repub. party , their loyalties lie with the political class not with the nation.
Re. a national government the only thing held in common by all is defense against external enemies and their internal allies. As a price cannot be put on freedom all have the same intereest and therefore should pay the same percentage of personal income, no pass along corporate tax or VAT- the politician's ploy. A sales tax would soon be defocused into categories and classes, exemptions and deductions, it affords too much latitude and requires too much trust of the government. A flat tax, singular amount, no deductions, no exemptions, no categories - only one number for all to watch, no shell games by politicians. Expenditures limited to 10th amendment authorizations would disallow excesses that bring fiscal ruination.
Re. current bank crisis resembles NEPMEN in the Soviet Union in the early twenties - a sucker trap
Same-old dialectic, Bush I, Dole, Bush II and Mc Cain hardly a reference for "big tent" politics. A say the "right" things campaign to get elected, do the "wrong" things to "get along" when elected, come home to say the "right' things for another campaign. Even random choices would give you better than what we have. Without purging those that have voted for anti-Constitutional bills its "business as usually". Playing by the opposition's play book will simply add to their momentum to complete success. Is it the conservation of conservativism (? - just what is it that you want to conserve that exists?) or is it the putting of "new wine in old bottles"?
It is not a question of building "bridges" to any particular "group", it's about principles not some special group pandering - that's where the Repubs. "big tent" strategy always fails ultimately, more attention is paid to accommodation of sensitivities than principles. It would be hoped than that we have graduated beyond "tribes" to principle.
Since the Repubs won't purge their party of RINO's supporting them by voting for so-called "conservatives" seems just more of the same old-same old that got us to this point. Once voted in they go to Washington and have their spine and brain removed, and the "party-faithful" get the "lessor of two-evils" dialectic again in the next election. The Libertarian party has its problems but they are more solvable than participating in the decades old charade of socialist A or socialist B.
Reduction of government costs lies with adherence to 10th Amendment - each and every bill, program, treaty and regulation as the threshold
AMERICAN
I AM AN AMERICAN, NOT A GLOBALIST
I AM A CAPITALIST, NOT A SOCIALIST
I AM AN INDIVIDUAL, NOT A COLLECTIVIST
I AM AN INDEPENDENT PERSON, NOT A
GOVERNMENT DEPENDENT
I AM AN ADHERENT OF PRINCIPLE, NOT
A RELATIVIST
I AM HOLDER OF VALUES, NOT A PRAGMATIST
I AM AN OBJECTIVIST, NOT AN IRRATIONALIST
I AM A REALIST, NOT A FANCIER
I AM A DOER, NOT A WISHER
I BELIEVE FREEDOM TO BE THE MOST
DEAR OF ALL HUMAN VALUES, WITHOUT
IT ALL ELSE IS FALSE
Choice of the lessor of two evils is the scam -unlearned to this point by Repub. faithful- resulting in the one-party system actually (see Tragedy and Hope). Proscription of any and all elected officials breaking their oath of office (the Constitution) is the only honest way that the fortunes of the country will be changed, does anyone believe that deals with "moderate" Repubs. would bring this about? To take over the Repub. party on a national basis would require a county by county struggle in each state (a majority) to wrest control from the current crop of compromisers. To build a second party would require most of the same efforts and be a much more reliable organization for a longer period of time. Could either be done? The dedication and effort that would be required would be staggering in either case but isn't the choice between these rather than the default to what we are currently? How-to information on either procedure is needed, but a philosophical basis needs to be maintained in order to cast out the socialist interlopers in either case
It is not the Repub. party that needs saving, it has mostly dissolved itself into the Dem party. The Repubs. have become a non-entity in American politics except in certain local situations. Should energy, let alone trust, be put into an organization that has betrayed everyone except the party elite? Another party would really be a second party. Regional meetings, textbook on starting a local party, capturing an existing local party, preventing attacks by incombant officials - maybe a focus in a particular area. Fundamentals for today and tomorrow based on a set of principles, transcendental and purposeful - the Constitution. All things that can be- if there is time, if there is energy. Suggesting the term Constitutional Libertarian to describe adherence to Constitution and its limits on Libertarianism.
An additional comment - rec'd a "questionaire" from the Reub. party asking for opinion (and money) -- too little, too late, the same old crowd just gives us "strawman" types like Dole and McCain .