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
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
February 18th, 2013
5:52 pm
When is Barry going to do something about gas prices? This was a daily question just a few short years ago, now we never hear anyone ask it.
When is Barry going to bring to justice those killers from Benghazi or has he forgotten all about that little kerfuffle, what with his laser like focus on jobs? He is not going to rest until every American has a good job. Working so hard has to be a strain!
Politico
February 18th, 2013
5:53 pm
No, not bo
Bo would be bo and luke duke
Hahahahaha
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 18th, 2013
5:54 pm
Research by Art Laffer and other economists has demonstrated that over time states that have no income tax perform better than states with high income taxes. New Jersey, for instance, traditionally outperformed the national economy. Then it not only enacted a state income tax but also subsequently raised it to nosebleed levels. Today New Jersey’s economy is a shadow of its former self and lags the nation. The same thing has happened in Connecticut.
All of the liberal hellholes have high tax rates and high debt burdens to go along with them. Meanwhile, all of the Republican led states have low tax rates and balanced budgets. Just simply the facts. And doesn’t it figure that dummycrats are unable to put two and two together? What does that equal, cheesy? Fifteen?
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
February 18th, 2013
5:56 pm
Politico is so impressed with himself, and we look on with amazement and confusion.
md
February 18th, 2013
5:56 pm
“Studies have shown in states that have already raised the minimum wage that it has had NO impact on employment levels”
And for every study one has there is another out there disputing it. This was washington State:
“The consensus from a lot of studies I’ve surveyed — including my own — says that a 10 percent increase in the minimum reduces employment of those very low-skilled groups by about 1 to 2 percent,” he says.
It is still basic math….labor is an expense, if the rise in expenses can’t be offset by higher prices or cuts in other expenses then the last resort is cutting labor.
If you have or ever have had a business one would know how the game is played.
income – expenses = profit. No profit = business going bye bye.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 18th, 2013
5:57 pm
Art Laffer on CNBC August 2006:
-”The United States economy has never been in better shape!”
-”Monetary policy is spectacular!”
-”This economy…is working beautifully!”
Too funny!
Thulsa Doom
February 18th, 2013
5:59 pm
“Studies have shown in states that have already raised the minimum wage that it has had NO impact on employment levels”
Then perhaps you can cite these case studies. Because what you’re saying goes against what is a generally accepted principle of labor economics- that minimum wage laws correspondengly raise unemployment and especially unemployment levels amongst minorities and teenagers in this country. And the empirical evidence is not in dispute.
You might find very small affluent areas where there is a negligible effect when raising the minimum wage and on a very short term basis but on a macro level and over time the empirical evidence is pretty solid that these laws raise unemployment. Its not in dispute and if you had any real knowledge or learning in the field of labor economics you would know that this is common knowledge.
And while you’re at it you might want to look at labor laws in Europe. There is a reason why countries like France have around 25% unemployment levels amongst the youth.
MarkV
February 18th, 2013
6:00 pm
Dusty @ 5:02 pm
“You don’t spend money when you don’t have any. If you are in debt, you don’t have any money to spend. “
Dear Dusty,
Thank you for your answer. Good luck with your Cornish hens- one of my favorites.
Now to your answer. You have formulated it the way that suggests “us,” or “you” and “me,” in other words, ordinary people, so I will deal with it that way.
Most people have some debt, whether it is credit card debt, car debt, mortgage debt, equity debt, etc. If what you wrote were true (“If you are in debt, you don’t have any money to spend“), none of those people could live, because they could not spend – buy food, pay rent, etc. How do you explain that?
I will look forward to your answer when you can get away from your hens.
md
February 18th, 2013
6:00 pm
“Suck that AA teet and I promise my work ethic, education, skill and know how will always beat out your tired rhetoric of the right..
I wish you no ill will but if you did as well as you tout via your political rants, you might be something.”
You on drugs or something?
I’m quite content with my choices in life, the good ones and the bad ones. It’s easy to do once one learns to raise one’s hand and admit to them……..vs blaming others for ones position in life.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
February 18th, 2013
6:00 pm
All of the liberal hellholes have high tax rates and high debt burdens to go along with them. Meanwhile, all of the Republican led states have low tax rates and balanced budgets
We have been over this ground before.
The blue Democratic states basically support the extremely poor uneducated southern states.
Why the South wouldn’t even have electricity if the Feds didn’t step in and do it for them.
The South and most red states are a drag on the US economy and a joke.
Red states – Extremely low education levels. Poverty. High teen pregnancy rates. Lower levels of healthcare. Republican
Blue States- Robust economies- Higher education levels. Less poverty – Higher levels of healthcare. Democrat
This stuff is pretty simple.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 18th, 2013
6:03 pm
Art Laffer on CNBC August 2006:
-”The United States economy has never been in better shape!”
He was absolutely right.
kamwhack likes little hellhole, high unemployment economies, apparently.
md
February 18th, 2013
6:04 pm
Oh, and blaming is also a choice……
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
February 18th, 2013
6:04 pm
Then perhaps you can cite these case studies.
They are out there.
“This is one of the most studied topics in economics, and the evidence is clear: Modest minimum-wage increases don’t have much impact on employment,” Schmitt said. “An increase to $9 per hour would be hugely important for the workers getting it, but the idea that this would lead to less employment is just not supported by the evidence.”
http://www.nooga.com/160091/report-modest-increases-in-minimum-wage-have-little-impact-on-employment/
You aren’t going to believe any of them anyway so what is the point.
Hillbilly D
February 18th, 2013
6:04 pm
Although nearly 90 percent of urban dwellers had electricity by the 1930s, only ten percent of rural dwellers did. Private utility companies, who supplied electric power to most of the nation’s consumers, argued that it was too expensive to string electric lines to isolated rural farmsteads. Anyway, they said, most farmers, were too poor to be able to afford electricity.
Hillbilly D
February 18th, 2013
6:05 pm
http://newdeal.feri.org/tva/tva10.htm
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 18th, 2013
6:06 pm
The blue Democratic states basically support the extremely poor uneducated southern states.
The top five are blue states and the red states in the top ten all of military installations. Thanks for trying.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
February 18th, 2013
6:06 pm
http://escholarship.org/uc/item/86w5m90m
Let me know when you are finished reading Thulsa
Michael H. Smith
February 18th, 2013
6:06 pm
When is Barry going to do something about gas prices?
I continue to ask and ask it louder of Barry, meanwhile at the same time I ask of my own political side, why haven’t we done something about not only gas prices but why don’t we commit to finding profitable alternatives to compete against fossil fuels.
After all, we conservatives say we believe that competition is the best regulator and regulations of capitalist markets.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
February 18th, 2013
6:07 pm
Cheesy/Finn
I posted several articles the other day on the negative impact of raising the minimum wage. Not going to repeat myself, you saw them I’m sure, but you just go on with your half truths, if that makes you feel good. The key is raising minimum wage adversely affects youth unemployment, which is at a ridiculous alarming level under Obamanism, already.
Thulsa Doom
February 18th, 2013
6:07 pm
“Art Laffer on CNBC August 2006:
-”The United States economy has never been in better shape!”
-”Monetary policy is spectacular!”
-”This economy…is working beautifully!”
Too funny!”
Well there are facts and there are facts. The economy was in fact doing well in 2006. It was doing very well according to the various economic data. A quick review of economic history shows that the recession didn’t hit till 2007. Typical libs- never let the facts get in the way of an argument.
Economy Gained Strength In 2006
Growth Dispels Recession Fears
By Nell Henderson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 1, 2007; Page A01
The U.S. economy turned in a surprisingly strong performance last year, new data show, growing 3.4 percent despite higher interest rates, high oil prices and the sharpest housing downturn in 15 years.
The report from the Commerce Department, showing that economic growth picked up in 2006 from the 3.2 percent growth of 2005, dispelled any lingering doubts about the momentum of the economy going into this year. Many economists predict growth will slow this year, but gone are the recession worries of last summer.
A team of workers spreads concrete for the basement floor of a new home in Erie, Colorado Monday, September 18, 2006. Builders probably started work last month on the fewest new houses in three years as higher mortgage rates discouraged home buyers, economists said ahead of a U.S. government report today. (Kevin Moloney/Bloomberg News.)
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“Nothing, other than an external shock, will derail the economy this year,” said Eugenio J. Alem?n, senior economist at Wells Fargo. “The economy’s in good shape.”
Unemployment and inflation fell last year while wages and salaries rose at their quickest pace in five years, according to a series of recent government reports. The reports suggest that troubles in housing and manufacturing, though painful for many people, have not caused the widespread economic damage that many experts had feared.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
February 18th, 2013
6:07 pm
The top five are blue states and the red states in the top ten all of military installations. Thanks for trying.
Exactly. Red states get way more money back from the feds than they send in.
They are the moochers.
Your welcome.
MarkV
February 18th, 2013
6:08 pm
The debate I see here about minimum wage deals, in my view, with a wrong question, whether the minimum wage “should be raised.” The only true question is whether there should be a minimum wage at all. Those opposing the raising of the minimum wage should be honest and make their argument against any minimum wage law.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
February 18th, 2013
6:09 pm
The key is raising minimum wage adversely affects youth unemployment, which is at a ridiculous alarming level under Obamanism, already.
No it doesn’t.
http://escholarship.org/uc/item/86w5m90m
The stuff in that link is waaaaay over your head so …..
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 18th, 2013
6:10 pm
The “evidence” from cheesy’s “research -”
The debate may be moot, though, because research shows that minimum wage is no longer connected to employment levels.
According to a 2012 study—if minimum wage kept up with increases in worker productivity—it should be $21.72 an hour, The Huffington Post reported.
Doesn’t even deal with employment levels, just more mindless babbling.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 18th, 2013
6:10 pm
And the Titanic was having splendid maiden voyage. Right up until that iceberg ruined everything, but hey, on the whole it was a success.
Politico
February 18th, 2013
6:12 pm
Md
Keep sucking that AA nipple. It works for you so I’m not mad
But I do call it as it is and as a left leaner I do well in this society without your weak minded one way perspective and narrative
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
February 18th, 2013
6:12 pm
MHS
Plentiful clean burning natural gas is the answer to many of our problems, but Barry is not going to develop it as it is a fossil fuel, the oil industry is not going to develop it because it competes, so I agree someone needs to step up and develop a nationwide system for refueling. Boone Pickens seems to be all talk and no action on putting something together. If the refueling system was readily available in all parts of the country, some car manufacturer would easily convert some models to run on it. The natural gas industry is probably dominate by the oil companies so I’m not sure who is going to develop this resource.
Thulsa Doom
February 18th, 2013
6:14 pm
“The key is raising minimum wage adversely affects youth unemployment, which is at a ridiculous alarming level under Obamanism, already.”
It not only affects youth employment but affects black employment in particular. But then cheesy grits isn’t one to let mere facts get in the way of commonly known empirical evidence.
“As far back as the Roosevelt administration during the Great Depression of the 1930s, liberal Democrats imposed policies that had counterproductive effects on blacks. None cost blacks more jobs than minimum-wage laws.
In countries around the world, minimum-wage laws have a track record of increasing unemployment, especially among the young, the less skilled, and minorities. They have done the same in America.
One of the first acts of the Roosevelt administration was to pass the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, which included establishing minimum wages nationwide. It has been estimated that blacks lost 500,000 jobs as a result.
After that act was declared unconstitutional, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 set minimum wages. In the tobacco industry alone, 2,000 black workers were replaced by machines, just as blacks had been replaced by machines in the textile industry after the previous minimum-wage law.
Fortunately, the high inflation of the 1940s raised the wages of even unskilled labor above the level prescribed by the minimum-wage law. The net result was that this law became virtually meaningless, until the minimum-wage rate was raised in 1950.
During the late 1940s, when the minimum-wage law had essentially been repealed by inflation, 16- and 17-year-old blacks in 1948 had an unemployment rate of 9.4 percent, slightly lower than that of whites the same ages and a fraction of what it would be in even the boom years after the minimum-wage rate kept getting increased by liberal Democrats.”
And on top of that 1948 was a recession year. I’ll have to look it up but I also think that historically going back even further than the 1930s and 1940s that black youth employment levels were roughly the same and in some years even better than white youth unemployment levels before minimum wage levels were enacted. And that was at a time when racism was far more rampant and even legal in the south.
Michael H. Smith
February 18th, 2013
6:15 pm
Again, competition answers the question on wages: Nothing raises wages to the maximum like a labor shortage.
Give me a labor shortage any day of the week over a government imposed minimum wage.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 18th, 2013
6:15 pm
clinton left Bush with a recession too, only difference is that Bush didn’t sit around whining about clinton and then dragging it out his entire term in office.
Longest recession eva – obozo’s.
Thulsa Doom
February 18th, 2013
6:17 pm
Facts are facts.2006 was a good year in terms of economic growth. Next time get your facts together before spewing blatant, complete nonsense all over the blog.
Politico
February 18th, 2013
6:19 pm
Md
You are as “radical” and “extreme” as anything you call out…
You know no middle ground…. At least in how you express yourself on these blogs
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 18th, 2013
6:20 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87XQKCXfFjQ
getalife
February 18th, 2013
6:22 pm
President Clinton wanted investors to go to green energy.
w chose the housing scam and uttered these famous words,
“This sucker could go down” and it did.
Thulsa Doom
February 18th, 2013
6:22 pm
Cheesy grits,
Perhaps you should try reading your own link before treating it as gospel sir. In your link the last sentence in the very 1st paragraphs says that national studies have shown mixed results often with negative consequences. Your own link contradicts your assertions sir.
getalife
February 18th, 2013
6:23 pm
So cry to w about high gas prices.
He could have chosen green energy .
President Carter was dead right about oil.
Michael H. Smith
February 18th, 2013
6:25 pm
President Carter was dead right about oil
So was Nixon.
getalife
February 18th, 2013
6:27 pm
nixon was a nasty con that started the war on weed.
How much did his war cost?
Don’t know because they are still wasting billions on it.
Cut it.
Thulsa Doom
February 18th, 2013
6:32 pm
Cheesy grits,
And on top of the last sentence of the very first paragraph stating a far greater propensity for negative results on a national level please scan down to the first paragraph/sentence underneath the chart. That statement says specifically that minorities in particular are negatively affected by minimum wage laws. But then since you obviously didn’t read your own link you musta missed that also.
You got anything else? Cause I could on all night long banging you up with your own link.
Michael H. Smith
February 18th, 2013
6:32 pm
Nixon started the war on drugs or just started calling it a war?
This country had war on drugs began long before Nixon was born.
getalife
February 18th, 2013
6:34 pm
Yeah, we lost that war too.
Thulsa Doom
February 18th, 2013
6:34 pm
Time to go get some dinner. Looks like 2 libs are now more educated on economic matters so at least something was accomplished on the blog today.
getalife
February 18th, 2013
6:35 pm
This no scandal President gives us many slow news days.
corporate media has nothing to talk about.
God bless President Obama.
Michael H. Smith
February 18th, 2013
6:38 pm
Oh and Jimmy who went the wrong way with his idea of implementing “green energy”.
Geothermal heating and cooling puts the GREEN in green energy. Solar water heaters via roof top panels and connecting pipes of the ’70s, fools-gold.
Politico
February 18th, 2013
6:40 pm
Thulsa
You are more Richard than fact
But you know that already
Politico
February 18th, 2013
6:40 pm
Thulsa
You are more Richard than fact
But you know that alreadyd
Michael H. Smith
February 18th, 2013
6:41 pm
Yeah, we lost that war too.
We may have but government has made a bundle of money off drugs, legal and illegal and government just keeps on winning and winning.
md
February 18th, 2013
6:42 pm
“Keep sucking that AA nipple. It works for you so I’m not mad”
Can’t debate with you if I have no idea what you are even talking about.
As for me, I base most of my posts on one simple truth…..that we choose everything we do.
Now, if you can show me where that is incorrect, I’ll gladly listen…….
getalife
February 18th, 2013
6:42 pm
The claim that you cons are more intelligent than the majority of the American people is dead wrong.
Stop pretending and face the real world.
Politico
February 18th, 2013
6:43 pm
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