DeMint: States can lead conservative comeback
Since the 2012 election, some conservatives have blamed their losses on their message while others pointed fingers at the messengers. Truth is, both camps have a point.
That’s why Jim DeMint aims to tackle both problems from his new perch at the Heritage Foundation, which he is joining as president after eight years as a U.S. senator from South Carolina.
“I’m convinced if we have the right ideas, the right messengers, the right message, we can win,” DeMint told me Tuesday before greeting Heritage members at the Westin Buckhead.
Part of the challenge is stylistic: “We can’t just talk like a bunch of engineers” about things like budget deficits, he argued.
“We’ve got to help people see how our policies actually can make their lives better. … And the way we can do it is actually put the camera on people whose lives have been changed.”
DeMint pointed specifically to the different approaches GOP-led Pennsylvania and Democrat-controlled New York have taken to their natural-gas deposits which have been made more accessible by hydraulic-fracturing, or “fracking,” technology.
“It’s almost like a line between North and South Korea,” DeMint said. “On one side, in New York, they’re not developing the energy. And on the Pennsylvania side, we can talk to families whose lives are better” because of the jobs that have come thanks to fracking.
There will be more opportunities for making such comparisons thanks to the one area where conservatives actually made inroads last November.
“We’ve got more conservative governors and legislatures, [and] they’re doing bold things now with the states on school choice, with tax reform. … We’ve just got to showcase those ideas and show how they’re working.”
Even without a turnover of power in Washington, DeMint said there are ways for conservative state leaders to prod the feds in the right direction.
He pointed to the 26 states that sued to overturn Obamacare. While they didn’t get the entire law declared unconstitutional, they did persuade the Supreme Court to rule Congress was overly coercive in threatening to reduce the states’ existing Medicaid funding if they didn’t expand the program.
But despite their legal victory, some conservative governors have been reluctant to decline the expansion — and the federal funds that come with it, albeit at a cost of billions of dollars for the states.
“Some governors realize this is a dead-end street,” he said. “At some point, you’ve got to say, ‘Keep your money, we’re going to make it ourselves.’ That’s where we have to really work on block-grant ideas, so that states can get back the money they send up there, whether it be for transportation or education or Medicaid.
“We’re going to try to build a coalition of states that will push back against the federal government on these things. I think we’re close to having half the states who would come together to just say no.”
Banding together will become even more crucial very soon, he warned.
“What you’re going to see over the next few years, is these states that are failing, with terrible tax policy, regulatory policy, energy policy, they’re going to be in Washington needing a bailout,” he said.
“That’s why I think this coalition of states, what I might call a Coalition of Responsible States, is so important, to give each other support and push back against the federal government.”
– By Kyle Wingfield
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577 comments Add your comment
md
February 19th, 2013
1:09 pm
“for example if gas sells for Y and you have 100,000 gallons it is pretty reasonable to assume that the value of your holdings is 100,000Y. It is just not that hard.”
And the operative word is “assume”…..which has no bearing in the real world.
It’s no different than a 401k, a cars value, etc……market “value” is a paper number, the asset is only “worth” what it actually sells for.
And if the poo hits the fan and there are no buyers, it doesn’t matter what one thinks something is worth, it’s worth 0 until it sells………….
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
February 19th, 2013
1:10 pm
Bruno, it’s really sad.
You point out a problem with their guy, or one of their policies, and their first comeback is “Well, (fill in the Republican) did it!”
When you point out that it doesn’t matter what someone did in the past (as in the two wrongs don’t make a right argument), they deflect to another completely different argument, rewriting history as they go along.
All the while, cherry-picking quotes and statistics that make their case without telling the whole story, because telling the whole story is something they’re incapable of doing.
Largely because they’re incapable of learning complex concepts like the whole story.
md
February 19th, 2013
1:12 pm
“Indeed thankfully President Obama was able to clean up enough of Duhbya’s mess before it came to that.”
And one has to make another assumption on that one…..to assume we are out of the woods. The global economy is not in great shape, the EU is either in or on the verge of recession, the US just contracted, and China is slowing down………
Assume……we both know what it means…….
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
February 19th, 2013
1:14 pm
“Hummmm….seems like those OPEC dudes do ok”
JDW TRIPLES down on his stupidity today.
Those “OPEC dudes” are primarily part of a monarchy – not a Constitutional Republic. They set the rules our government cannot set. They enter into contracts our government cannot enter into. They operate businesses our government cannot operate.
Dense, JDW? You’re the very definition of the word.
Thulsa Doom
February 19th, 2013
1:14 pm
“When you have assets of 8-10 times your debt and a guaranteed income stream in perpetuity…it is really not a crisis.”
JDW,
I will agree with you that the current debt is not really an immediate crisis that is going to have us financially collapsing anytime soon. The current issue I have with the size and growth of the debt is that the bigger it gets the more of an economic drag it becomes on the economy. We could grow our way out of the problem and reduce the debt and or size of it through growth. But as we continuously add to the debt the drag and impediment to economic growth becomes heavier on the economy. That in my view is the bigger problem with the debt. And looking around the world at debt ridden nations its pretty clear that massive debt drags down overall economic performance.
In regards to the value of our mineral assets does the govt get to keep the full value of those assets that you mention?
Also to me the main reasons for reducing the deficit/debt are the economic drag it puts on us and also the moral question. Is it really moral for us to pile this kind of massive debt on future generations?
Thulsa Doom
February 19th, 2013
1:17 pm
“Indeed thankfully President Obama was able to clean up enough of Duhbya’s mess before it came to that.”
Specifically what has Obama cleaned up?
JDW
February 19th, 2013
1:20 pm
@md….”And if the poo hits the fan and there are no buyers,”
See thats kind of the point…you are walking around looking for the “poo to hit the fan” when there is no reason whatsoever for that to occur…other than self fulfilling prophecy from the “Right”
indigo
February 19th, 2013
1:20 pm
Bruno
If I go to a Phd in Physics for an authoritative answer, why would you object to that?
JDW
February 19th, 2013
1:22 pm
@Tiberius…”They set the rules our government cannot set. ”
Yep right the first time…you really are that dense.
Thulsa Doom
February 19th, 2013
1:22 pm
Indigo,
If you don’t understand that scientists are not above human biases, egotism, and politicking then you understand nothing about human nature.
indigo
February 19th, 2013
1:23 pm
MarkV – 1:04
I think Bruno must be a Christian Fundamentalist who believes that answers to anything and everything can only be found in Bible scripture.
indigo
February 19th, 2013
1:24 pm
Aesop – 12:43
Another non sequitur.
indigo
February 19th, 2013
1:25 pm
Doom – 1:22
So, does that mean that anything and everything scientists say should be disregarded?
JDW
February 19th, 2013
1:31 pm
@Thusla, I agree the biggest issue is the drag. If the government no longer needs the debt the money that goes to T-Bills will need to find a home that drives more growth. I think that was one of the key factors in the growth of the 90’s. At this point interest expenses are in the $200 billion a year range so expenses are not a big deal.
More important than all of that is the pervasive air of negativism spawned by the current crop of Republicans. It serves as a damper on everything and everybody. If they would just shut up and go to work there are an untold number of solutions that would work. Unfortunately they are hung up on a single one i.e. cut spending, cut taxes and hope to grow real fast that really doesn’t work.
As for the morality of it…a minor issue…growth and normal inflation will continue to shrink the size of the problem and eventually we will get some sort of solution in place. As I have said many times before, paying off the debt is as simple as a 5% VAT over a defined time period and I really think it would have almost no negatives if implemented in a high growth time.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
February 19th, 2013
1:31 pm
JDW once again can’t back up his statements, and reverts to insults.
This is the extent of liberal “debate”.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
February 19th, 2013
1:33 pm
“So, does that mean that anything and everything scientists say should be disregarded?”
No, but maybe a scientist who has a degree in something you’re arguing about, rather than quantum mechanics, might be a better source for making your argument.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 19th, 2013
1:33 pm
Thulsa – The libs faith in what scientists have to say is only surpassed by their faith in the government taking sweet loving care of them.
What was it PT Barnum said?
md
February 19th, 2013
1:34 pm
“See thats kind of the point…you are walking around looking for the “poo to hit the fan” when there is no reason whatsoever for that to occur…other than self fulfilling prophecy from the “Right””
No reason? Unemployment just went up? The EU is in crisis with some having unemployment of 20%. Debt is still very high amaong the masses. e are printing money non-stop, etc, etc…….
I’m not too sure what you are looking at, but reality says this whole thing can go in either direction…..and if it heads down there isn’t much that can be done to stop it. In case you haven’t been paying attention, we’ve been using just about every trick in the book to turn it around, the trick book is just about empty and will not stop a freefall.
md
February 19th, 2013
1:38 pm
“As I have said many times before, paying off the debt is as simple as a 5% VAT over a defined time period and I really think it would have almost no negatives if implemented in a high growth time.”
And the operative word in that sentence is the word “if”.
And funny how it is suddenly the gop that is scaring the masses, must have missed the granny over the cliff stuff along with the world exploding at the climate change summit……and too many other examples to list off the top of my head.
As for the growth, we have to get there first and to think that is a given is fooling oneself…….
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
February 19th, 2013
1:39 pm
“If they would just shut up and go to work there are an untold number of solutions that would work.”
None of which would pass the Democrat-controlled Senate.
JDW
February 19th, 2013
2:11 pm
@Tibeirus…”This is the extent of liberal “debate”.”
Anytime you want to debate rather than pontificate, dictate, impose by “moral authority” or any other of your more common devices let me know…frankly I think you are incapable.
indigo
February 19th, 2013
2:13 pm
Tiberius – 1:33
What are you talking about?
Thulsa Doom
February 19th, 2013
2:36 pm
“So, does that mean that anything and everything scientists say should be disregarded?”
Indigo,
Hopefully you are not implying that I actually mean that anything and everything scientists say should be disregarded. That would be just about as dumb as actually believing that anything and everything scientists say should be disregarded.
My opinion of all science is that their work should be validated through peer review by a number of other scientists. And I think more importantly that any scientist speaking out on a subject that we should look into why they are speaking on that subect. Do they have work or research that depends on funding for research on that subject? Do they have a vested interest in a particular point of view that relates to their funding or research on said subect? Scientists often have to get funding for their work and that automatically can and may build a bias into their work.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
February 19th, 2013
2:55 pm
“Anytime you want to debate rather than pontificate, dictate, impose by “moral authority” or any other of your more common devices let me know”
I am ready, willing and more than able each and every day of the week, JDW. The problem is finding anyone other than a liberal ideologue myrmidon with which to have one.
Or a lamp post.
Both of which you resemble when you come on here.
Thulsa Doom
February 19th, 2013
2:56 pm
“At this point interest expenses are in the $200 billion a year range so expenses are not a big deal.”
I find that cavalier statement that interest expenses “are not a big deal” a little disconcerting. At what amount does interest expense become “a big deal”. 300 billion? 500 billion? A trillion?
“More important than all of that is the pervasive air of negativism spawned by the current crop of Republicans. It serves as a damper on everything and everybody. If they would just shut up and go to work there are an untold number of solutions that would work.”
You have a point there about Republican negativity. However there is also a good deal of negativity by the Dems. When their response to a debate on Medicare is to air commercials showing Ryan pushing granny over a cliff its hard to take them seriously. And additionally I think we need to look realistically at the anti-business attitudes, comments, and actions of Mr. Obama himself. And lastly I believe the uncertainty and the unknown and full impact of ACA on business has a lot of business money sitting on the sidelines. If we understand anything about business we understand that they don’t like uncertainty.
“Unfortunately they are hung up on a single one i.e. cut spending, cut taxes and hope to grow real fast that really doesn’t work.”
What’s wrong with that? The empirical evidence shows that the nations with govt taking up the least amount of GNP tend to have the most robust economies- the Pacific rim nations are a good example. And in the first century or so of this nation’s prolific economic growth we grew into a world economic and military power without a permanent income tax and at a time when the federal govt consumed only about 5% of GNP. We grew into a world power precisely because of the lack of an imposing and burdensome federal govt instead of because of a federal govt.
“As for the morality of it…a minor issue…growth and normal inflation will continue to shrink the size of the problem and eventually we will get some sort of solution in place.”
I wouldn’t call morality a minor issue. It is the bedrock of a civilization and the normal commerce of society depends on us being a moral nation.
“As I have said many times before, paying off the debt is as simple as a 5% VAT over a defined time period and I really think it would have almost no negatives if implemented in a high growth time.”
Or instead of putting even more of a burden on our businesses and families we could just scale down on all the unnecessary and duplicative spending by an overly massive federal bureaucracy. Why the hell is it that the liberal solution to everything is either another dang tax or a gubment program? Geez.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
February 19th, 2013
2:58 pm
Indigo, you keep holding up this PhD in quantum mechanics as someone who should be listened to regarding global warming.
Specifically, what are his credentials in any field other than quantum mechanics that would make us believe he should be listened to? Other than the fact that he might be a smart guy, why is his opinion on global warming any more valid than anyone else’s?
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 19th, 2013
9:33 pm
More Democrat filth (oops, redundant):
———-
Democrat poll worker Richardson is currently facing charges of voter fraud but maintains her innocence. “I can’t understand these charges against me of voter fraud,” she told Cincinnati’s Channel 9 News. “Have they never heard of . . . overlooking mailing in a ballot or registering to vote at a precinct after you’ve forgotten that you’ve mailed in a ballot or you’ve been told that the ballot may be too late?”