Critics say GOP moderates should dump the Hard Wrong–but how?…to one degree or another, it expresses the reactionary hopes & sentiments of about a third of our people–chastened but not yet persuaded to join the 21st C.

Respondent suggests a volte-face in pursuit of Populism

–public financing of short campaigns
–proportional rep [votes shared pro-rata among top 2-3 candidates]
–permanent registration based on uniform digital voter IDs
–compulsory appearance at polls [balloting optional, as per Australia]
–encrypted machine voting, w/paper receipts
–obliteration of Gerry & The Manders [commissions define district boundaries]
–restored Media Fairness Doctrine [broadcast & cable]
–abrogation of filibuster
–proportional weighting of Electoral College ballots
–Constitutional upgrades of excutive power [e.g., line-item veto]
–reimposition of 91% post-war marginal income tax rates [two decades of unequaled prosperity, jobs & investment] & stiff inheritance levies
–gun licensing &/or confiscation
–union, consumer, enviro majoritites on corporate boards
–max inhibition of cowboy bankers [Glass-Stiegal ++]
–gratis education [all levels]
–max advance in due process, protection of whistle-blowers, women’s/kids’ rights
–repair of public utilities
–carbon tax to deter thermageddon & slow ecollapse
–doubling investment in basic science
–absolute abjurance of torture & hegemonic war
–permanent UN Militia w/rotating general staff

[Add to taste any measures amplifying the powers of the people, as opposed to the Ayn-myrmidon, supply-side, trickle-down, Reaganite, Shrub-jingoist Plutocrats who would crush them].

did you read the “GOP is furious that obama is acting like how won the election article ? it’s hilarious !

The tea party doesn’t care about the long term effects of going off the fiscal cliff. Stock market tanks affecting millions of people’s IRA’s and 401k’s just as it did when the US credit rating was down graded because they wouldn’t agree to tax hikes and a balanced budget. Businesses are afraid to expand and hire because of uncertainty. Global economy suffers. They want to cut entitlements like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid which was paid for through payroll deductions over the working life of the worker and Medicare has a premium deducted every month even before you receive your benefit. Yet they aren’t willing to cut corporate welfare such as subsidies to oil companies and defense contractors like Lockheed Martin and Boeing who always have cost over runs that taxpayers end up paying, or no bid contracts awarded as a favor to big donors. Close tax loopholes that allow companies like GE to avoid paying any income tax, tax companies that move companies overseas and close the loopholes that allow people to avoid paying taxes by using tax havens like the Caymans.

Yes, we need to cut wasteful spending, but it must be done in such a way to grow the economy by creating more better paying jobs for the middle class who in turn will buy more, creating a demand for more goods and services in the United States.