Since the GOP has been wrong about everything for the last thirty years, one has to ask why rank and file Republicans keep voting for them? Before answering lets just remember some of our history.
I remember Ronald Reagan saying that he was going to cut taxes, increase military spending and balance the budget. Now some might say that two out of three isn't bad, but quadrupling the national debt tarnishes the record substantially. (It is ironic that all that deficit spending on military hardware was an excellent economic stimulus leading to robust growth, unfortunately the borrowed money was not invested in things that would lead to long term growth like infra-structure, instead we have a fleet of B-1 bombers aging in hangers and the like.)
I also remember Newt Gingrich proclaiming that if Bill Clinton raised taxes on the rich, all the way up to 39% (gasp!) that it would bring on the second Great Depression. Not a single Republican voted for the legislation. We went on to have 22 million jobs created and a balanced budget after eight years.
I'm sure we all remember the GOP led by Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld telling us, warning us, scaring us, terrorizing us with the horror of WMD. They led us into an unprevoked war which we will be paying for for years because for the first time in American history we did not tax ourselves to pay for a war. Instead we cut rich peoples' taxes twice.
The list of GOP failures is too numerous to go on about so let's get on with answering the opening question, why do rank and file Republicans keep believing the GOP? Well, one can only conclude that they just are very smart.
I remember Ronald Reagan saying that he was going to cut taxes, increase military spending and balance the budget. Now some might say that two out of three isn't bad, but quadrupling the national debt tarnishes the record substantially. (It is ironic that all that deficit spending on military hardware was an excellent economic stimulus leading to robust growth, unfortunately the borrowed money was not invested in things that would lead to long term growth like infra-structure, instead we have a fleet of B-1 bombers aging in hangers and the like.)
I also remember Newt Gingrich proclaiming that if Bill Clinton raised taxes on the rich, all the way up to 39% (gasp!) that it would bring on the second Great Depression. Not a single Republican voted for the legislation. We went on to have 22 million jobs created and a balanced budget after eight years.
I'm sure we all remember the GOP led by Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld telling us, warning us, scaring us, terrorizing us with the horror of WMD. They led us into an unprevoked war which we will be paying for for years because for the first time in American history we did not tax ourselves to pay for a war. Instead we cut rich peoples' taxes twice.
The list of GOP failures is too numerous to go on about so let's get on with answering the opening question, why do rank and file Republicans keep believing the GOP? Well, one can only conclude that they just are very smart.