Reform Conservatism Is Dead On Arrival At The Republican Bible

The editorial page of the Wall Street Journal is the Bible of Republican orthodoxy.  Simple put, the WSJ clings to the view that the Reagan/Kemp economic policies that have defined the Republican Party since Reagan should not be changed.  In other words, the Party should continue its strategy of cutting taxes for the donor class and claim that it is a pro-growth strategy that will benefit everyone.

Reform conservatives, like David Brooks and the author of this op-ed at the NYT, argue that the time has come to adapt conservative orthodoxy to changing times.  They have learned something from the success of Donald Trump with a large segment of the GOP base.  Many of them do not support the economic status quo.  The authors of the GOP Bible believe otherwise. They can accept a Trump presidency.  Trump does not have any fixed ideals and Ryan will be able to win him over to the orthodox view.  The writers of the holy scriptures at the WSJ are very critical of reform conservatives who believe that the Party should be more inclusive and adapt its policies to a new economic reality.  The orthodoxy has worked for over thirty years.  The conservative reformers should be ignored.

CNN Town Hall Hosted By Anderson Cooper Provided Tough Test For Trump and Cruz

Anderson Cooper did a great job hosting the CNN Town Hall.  He did what most in the media fail to do.  He asked tough questions and he did not let Trump or Cruz evade the questions.  When forced to answer the questions both of the candidates showed that they were unable to go beyond the sound bites that they rely upon.  There is no substance to anything that they have proposed about important issues that any president will face.

Tom Friedman Describes The Hopeless Problem That We Face Against ISIS

Tom Friedman supported the US invasion of Iraq.  He now understands the chaos that it unleashed in Iraq and how that led to ISIS.  He also appreciates the complexity of the problems that we face in our efforts to eradicate and contain ISIS. The religious war between the Saudi's and Iran is at the heart of our struggles in the Mid-East.  Friedman now appreciates the problems faced by Obama and any president who succeeds him.  Unfortunately, many of our politicians tell the public that they have an easy solution for the complex problem that Friedman now understands.  Their focus in on winning elections which they understand.  We should expect more from our politicians but that is not likely to happen.

Attorney Generals Accuse EXXON Of Misleading Public About Climate Change

Attorney Generals in several states are requesting internal data from EXXON about its research on climate change.  They believe that EXXON scientists produced data on the risks from climate change which the corporation failed to disclose.  Even worse, EXXON has funded organizations which have minimized risks from climate change.  Some liken this to the tobacco companies which failed to disclose information that they had about the causal relationship between smoking and cancer. 

Republican Governors Forced To Choose Between Religous Right And Business

Republican governors in several states have been put in a bind.  State legislators have passed bills which are favored by the religious right.  Business leaders oppose those bills and they have threatened to take their business, especially major sporting events, to other locations.  This article describes the difficult choices that Governors wished they did not have to make.

Does The US Electoral System Provide A Good Model For Other Nations?

The US primary campaign, starring Donald Trump, has provided good entertainment for the rest of the world.  Most Americans would argue that the US electoral system is the best in the world and that the Donald Trump show is atypical.  That is true; this is not a typical election.  On the other hand, political scientists have developed methods to rank electoral systems in terms of their democratic effectiveness.  The US ranks at the bottom in comparison with most of the developed world.  It compares more closely to Mexico than it does to most of the countries in Europe.  We are familiar with many of the more obvious problems with our system.  The problems with our electoral system are more numerous than we might imagine.  We do not provide a good example to the rest of the world.

Another Leading Conservative Struggles With Trump's Success

Michael Gerson is a regular opinion columnist for the Washington Post; he was also a speech writer for George W Bush.  In this op-ed he worries that the voice of conservatism on talk radio may have increased Donald Trump's chances to win the Republican nomination.  Rush Limbaugh states that Ted Cruz is the better conservative candidate but that Donald Trump is the best anti-establishment candidate.  Gerson equates an attack on the GOP establishment as an attack on conservatism and the Republican Party which is based upon conservative ideals.  Perhaps his real concern should be that a large segment of the GOP base is not really conservative.  Their connection to the GOP is not based upon the economic ideology that is central to the Republican Party's concept of conservatism.  They are social conservatives who oppose the liberal social values of the Democratic Party. Most of them do not subscribe to many of the conservative values described by Gerson.  The dilemma for the Republican Party is that they can't survive without their votes, but their attraction to Trump repudiates conservative principles that are dear to Gerson.