Declan McCullagh: Shed No Tears For GOP

CNET Columnist Says Free-Spending Republicans Got Exactly What They Deserved

(CBS)  This column, Other People's Money, is written by CNET's Declan McCullagh. It will appear each Wednesday on CBSNews.com.

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The Republicans deserved to lose.

This election's stunning results are testament to Barack Obama's oratory, background, and skills as a politician. They also amount to a repudiation of today's Republican Party.

The rejection is richly deserved. Over the last eight years, Republican politicians increased the national debt by roughly 2.5 times, ran up what may be a multi-trillion dollar tab in an unnecessary war in Iraq, and spent hundreds of billions on a Wall Street bailout that seems to be doing little good.

Then there was the debacle called Gitmo, a general disdain for basic principles of federalism, the warrantless wiretapping program and hostility to the rule of law, the ascent of so-called neoconservatives, and dizzying fiscal recklessness and government growth. In this decade alone, over 700,000 new pages of proposed or final federal regulations have appeared.

President Bush can claim some successes, including his 2001 tax cuts, his sincere support for immigration reform, and his enthusiasm for free trade (with some protectionist lapses). He was on the right track with private accounts for Social Security and health savings too.

But those stands can't make up for the rest of his party's policies, such as its enthusiasm for a war that has yielded infamous torture memos and caused the deaths of thousands of American troops and at least 88,000 Iraqi civilians.

If a Democrat had proposed many of the above ideas, Republicans would have yowled. Instead, they adopted them as part of the GOP platform.

No wonder we're not hearing about President-Elect John McCain today.

Perhaps this was an impossible election for any Republican to win. But it was McCain's position during the September debate over the bailout bill that seemed to doom his campaign.

In mid-September, both McCain and Obama enjoyed roughly even odds of winning. Then, after the Arizona senator signed onto the bailout, he slipped so far down he could never climb back. Republican pollster Frank Luntz says McCain could have been a "hero to tens of millions of hard-working middle-class voters who resent seeing their tax dollars handed over to fund the retirement packages of the Billionaire Boys Club."

From the Republicans' perspective, perhaps the best that can be said about their losses on Tuesday is that the GOP has been given a second chance to figure out what its principles are.

In a 1975 magazine interview, Ronald Reagan said: "I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism... The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is."

Unfortunately, that describes concepts that today's Republicans have either discarded or forgotten. Neither the act of creating the U.S. Department of Homeland Security nor the choice to push for the No Child Left Behind law, to take just two examples, would jibe with Reagan's ideas of "less government interference" and "less centralized authority."

Neglect of those principles has created a dangerous situation in the U.S. Congress, where Democrats have just gained five Senate seats and are close to becoming a political monopoly.

Neither party is especially prudent on fiscal matters, of course. But the ability of either to exercise monopoly power in Washington, or something close to it, should worry anyone concerned about limits on government and worried about new taxes and harmful restrictions on free trade.

Divided government has its benefits. One calculation says the best times for the U.S. stock market -- a 20.2 percent stock market return and a 4 percent GDP increase -- happened under a Democratic president and a Republican Congress. Then there's the remarkable stock market boom after the 1994 mid-term election.

If the GOP can do some honest soul-searching and kick its big government addiction, it might get somewhere in the 2010 elections. Otherwise, we may have just witnessed the dawn of a long-lasting Democratic majority.

Too many Republicans have gotten away with talking up free markets, limited government, and the power of the individual, while quietly doing the opposite once elected. This year, at least, voters seemed to have figured that out.

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Declan McCullagh is the chief political correspondent for CNET. He previously was Wired's Washington bureau chief and a reporter for Time.com and Time magazine in Washington, D.C. He has taught journalism, public policy, and First Amendment law. He is an occasional programmer, avid analog and digital photographer, and lives in the San Francisco Bay area. His e-mail address is [e-mail]

[caldwellptr]

Right... she''''s a milf. Nothing more.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Posted by NailinPalin at 01:19 PM : Nov 05, 2008

What does MILF stand for?

[taxguydave]

mt_guy wrote: "Today if Soc Sec participants would have been allowed to set up Stock Market Mutual Fund accounts with their Soc. Sec. funds, they''''''''d be wiped out"

daclanm wrote:
Who says that people can''''t invest in bonds in their retirement accounts? (Hint: some of us do already in our IRAs and 401(k)s.)

Gee, have you checked out bond and bond fund prices lately? Value declines in the 20-25% range year to date are about the norm.

[samthetvcat]

Posted by declanm at 08:07 PM : Nov 06, 2008

Okay you know what, anybody else find this a little like that Friends episode where Ross got Joey a job at the museum and then it totally got awkward at lunch because the scientists and the guides don''t mix?

Hi writer guy, welcome to the comments section I guess - what do you think about the criticism of media bias and the media''s role in society?

[ug_boy]

Declan McCullagh is simply an opinionated columnist. That''s his job and he does it well. Just because his columns belong in the Start and National Enquirer instead something with more objective journalism does not mean we should criticize him personally.

This column is simply the opinion of a young dork with adequate-at-best writing skills. Readers, we are better than his ignorance.

[coronalu]

Oh, just in case you want to put blame where blame belongs and I think the world of former President Clinton, but we cannot walk around thinking like this because Mr Clinton refused to sanction an Iraqi air strike because he was too busy watching golf - and missed an opportunity to kill Osama bin Laden because he was "unavailable" for two hours. This is a fact that haunts him til this day, let us not forget what this "little" mishap has cost the world. Please keep this in mind and let''s remember, people that live in glass houses should never throw rocks.

[declanm-2009]

mt_guy wrote: "Today if Soc Sec participants would have been allowed to set up Stock Market Mutual Fund accounts with their Soc. Sec. funds, they''''d be wiped out"

Who says that people can''t invest in bonds in their retirement accounts? (Hint: some of us do already in our IRAs and 401(k)s.)

[ausus-2009]

The Democratic Party has a choice of two paths. It can stick to the middle of the road and be the dominant party or it can choose to follow other leftist parties of the world and surrender much of America''s sovereignty to the United Nations (by signing every protocol in sight), raise taxes, increase regulations on business and people''s everyday lives, nationalize medicine and extend a bloated bureaucracy.

If it follows the latter path, we might be writing its obituaries in four years.

[blackyowe]

What a bunch of sore losers and unimaginative wasps they are. UGH. Did you see the wrinkled,preppy crowd at the rally where McCain conceded? I wanted to run away from them and I am even white! -Pasty bunch of freaks who live in the 50s is what they are.

[clestes-2009]

The old repuke party is dead and about to be torn assunder. The repuke party is going to split into at least 2 factions.

Those that think the elections of 2006 and 2008 are a bump on the road to an enduring conservative American where ignorants like Palin, who apparently knows ZERO about the world outside her door, can''t even name the 3 countries in NAFTA, are in control.

Then there are the new repukes who want a different vision for their party. ONe that embraces the America of today with its diverse people.

2006 and 2008 are not bumps in the road to permanent conservative rule. They are what American really is. A country that is center left and moving more left. A country that is becoming more diverse every year.

Until the repuke realize this and adapt to it, they are destined to be out of power. And that could be a long, long time.

Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin are not the new faces that can lead the new movement. They are out of step, out of touch and out of power.

Those 2 subparties are exclusive of each other.

[mt_guy]

Oh, brother! He writes, "He was on the right track with private accounts for Social Security and health savings too."

WHAT? Today if Soc Sec participants would have been allowed to set up Stock Market Mutual Fund accounts with their Soc. Sec. funds, they''d be wiped out. Yet the author touts this as one of Bush''s good ideas?!!! Sir, where have you been these past three months as our economy and the Stock Market have imploded?

It''s apparent that you intend to see the current failed policies of the GOP, at least the economic ones, as something to be continued. Well, to me, that way lies insanity. Sorry, Charlie, ain''t buyin'' it.

[godseyesore-2009]

GOP=Grumpy Old Partisans, Gang Of Parochials, Garbage Orally Presented, Gap Of Perception, Gaping Oral Patois, Gargantuan Orangutan Poop, Gatherers Of Paucity, Greedy Oafish Pawns, ad infinitum...

[jntlw-2009]

It is the end for the neocons - they are the cancer and now they killed their victim (our nation) so they die too!

[hologram5]

Republicans: Gain some bearing, come see us when you are worthy...

[superdem]

Already the Republicans are doubling down on conservatism, spouting hate, and planning how to ambush and obstruct the Obama administration. They don''t care about America, they can''t bear to see Obama succeed. This is why so many Republicans had to be kicked out, and why the remaining stinkers will have to be rooted out in the next election cycle. The best thing the Democrats can do is show the nation the way back to fiscal sanity and international responsibility, putting America back up where it belongs. The Republicans had their chance, and look where we are. The world will see in very clear terms whose policies are better.

[williamfold]

"He was on the right track with private accounts for Social Security"

yeah, there''s a good idea.

i have a different idea. for those who''ve drank the "free market" cool-aid, they shouldn''t be allowed jobs in the Financial and Banking industries. instead, just give them all a Monopoly set and send them off on a deserted island to play their games where they can''t hurt anybody.

[formrusmcsgt]

While all the failures above listed ase true fact, I think many turned away from the Repubs for their absolute arrogance.

Fighting accountability while doing the public''s business is not a sign of humility and servitude by any means.

The Repubs flat forgot who''s boss.

They were just painfully reminded.

[smurfcrusher]

"Basically, I agree with the sentiments that this writer has expressed. The only caveat, however, is that Ms. Pelosi and company have done absolutely NOTHING for the past 2+ years."
Posted by brianp55

Perhaps you could ask Mr. Bush to stop vetoing quality legislation.

[smurfcrusher]

Bush is the anti-Midas. His touch turns gold into scat.

I NEVER trusted him and my instincts were right 100%. He''s an idiot and a yet-to-be-tried war criminal. A disgrace to America, and a good solid Republican.

[samthetvcat]

---"The rejection is richly deserved. Over the last eight years, Republican politicians increased the national debt by roughly 2.5 times, ran up what may be a multi-trillion dollar tab in an unnecessary war in Iraq, and spent hundreds of billions on a Wall Street bailout that seems to be doing little good"---

Bush was like incompetent. I guess government is always sort of inefficient, but Bush was like actively out there and everything he''s touched has turned to mud.

I think for the GOP to be able to make a comeback, they may not just need for Dems to overreach (highly likely since power corrupts), but may also have to prove themselves competent by pointing to an actual record of achievement.

Like in 2012 (or even 2010) the candidates might not just be able to tout fiscal conservatism, they''ll have to be able to point to how they''ve walked the talk (?)

But if they can do that and Dems have overpromised and undelivered, it''s conceivable that candidates could actually use the ''change'' mantra against the Dems . . . like I guess how much the GOP will have to change will depend on how much the Dems can actually achieve relative to their promises maybe (?)

[ausus-2009]

stopkidding,

If you bothered to understand what you read, you would note that I said World Wars I and II began under Democrats, not that they started it.

Woodrow Wilson entered World War I after running on the platform "he kept us out of war". Instead of following an independent line, the US then entered the war because the European powers wanted him to do so.

While I don''t put a lot of credence into the book "Betrayal at Pearl Harbor", it does raise the possibility that Roosevelt allowed it to happen rather than deflect it by diplomatic means because he was so anxious to get into World War II.

Remember that through the first half of the 20th century the Republican Party was dominated by isolationists.