Electoral Bait And Switch then Wing-Nut Welfare

[Star]

Surprising and Disturbing Lessons from Eric Cantor's Shocking Defeat

By Janet Allon

<snip>

"Movement conservatism" has dominated American politics since Reagan's election, and Krugman defines it as, "an interlocking set of institutions and alliances that won elections by stoking cultural and racial anxiety but used these victories mainly to push an elitist economic agenda, meanwhile providing a support network for political and ideological loyalists."

In other words, Republicans have been performing a kind of "electoral bait and switch" and the base has finally gotten wise to it. The jig is up.
Here's an example Krugman gives of the ole bait and switch:

George W. Bush won re-election by posing as a champion of national security and traditional values — as I like to say, he ran as America’s defender against gay married terrorists — then turned immediately to his real priority: privatizing Social Security. It was the perfect illustration of the strategy famously described in Thomas Frank’s book “What’s the Matter With Kansas?” in which Republicans would mobilize voters with social issues, but invariably turn postelection to serving the interests of corporations and the 1 percent.
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<snip>


And the specific issue that loomed largest, immigration, also happens to be one on which the divergence between the base and the party elite is wide. It’s not just that the elite believes that it must find a way to reach Hispanics, whom the base loathes. There’s also an inherent conflict between the base’s nativism and the corporate desire for abundant, cheap labor. ~ Paul Krugman

.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

Bush was right about Social Security. The Democratic Party wants to steal it all from my generation and my son's.

 

[blastoff]

Krugman, the crazy lefty idiot who said the VA is an example of well run government healthcare that Barry's wet dream should follow.

Bush's SS plans called for giving folks the option to stay in the system or opt for the new alternative that was far more attractive for people with brains and not yet approaching their retirement years.

 

[Mustang]

Surprising and Disturbing Lessons from Eric Cantor's Shocking Defeat

By Janet Allon

<snip>

"Movement conservatism" has dominated American politics since Reagan's election, and Krugman defines it as, "an interlocking set of institutions and alliances that won elections by stoking cultural and racial anxiety but used these victories mainly to push an elitist economic agenda, meanwhile providing a support network for political and ideological loyalists."

In other words, Republicans have been performing a kind of "electoral bait and switch" and the base has finally gotten wise to it. The jig is up.
Here's an example Krugman gives of the ole bait and switch:

George W. Bush won re-election by posing as a champion of national security and traditional values — as I like to say, he ran as America’s defender against gay married terrorists — then turned immediately to his real priority: privatizing Social Security. It was the perfect illustration of the strategy famously described in Thomas Frank’s book “What’s the Matter With Kansas?” in which Republicans would mobilize voters with social issues, but invariably turn postelection to serving the interests of corporations and the 1 percent.
​

<snip>


And the specific issue that loomed largest, immigration, also happens to be one on which the divergence between the base and the party elite is wide. It’s not just that the elite believes that it must find a way to reach Hispanics, whom the base loathes. There’s also an inherent conflict between the base’s nativism and the corporate desire for abundant, cheap labor. ~ Paul Krugman

.

I read Frank's book, "What's the Matter with Kansas?" which just so happens to have the subtitle of: "How Conservatives Won the Heart of America."

I've also read two other books by Frank. One was "The Wrecking Crew." The latest was "Pity the Billionaire."

But WMK is his best book by far. Along with recent history, Frank also outlines Kansas long history as a state of hotbed radicalism going back even before the Depression years. The book is made even better based on the fact that Frank grew up in Kansas, and he knows the state very well from first hand experience. I highly recommend it for anyone whether you're liberal, or conservative, or apolitical.