We pause now for a moment of silence. The GOP is dead. Although they still cling to elected positions, most everything that they stand for has been eviscerated. Indulge me while I review the death certificate.
Smaller Government. The GOP presided over the largest increase in federal power, size, and budget since the founding of the Republic. The legacy of the last eight years will be that the government has grown so large that it is seen as the savior of our failing economy.
Lower Taxes. Although the GOP has been successful in lowering taxes for the rich, what did it get us? Not only did trickle down economics not work (the middle and working classes have lost earning power), but the rich are now poorer than ever, after their investments, 401ks, and IRAs were been decimated with the crashing of the markets and the recession.
Defense. The GOP leaves USA with a military stretched to the breaking point with two foreign wars. While one was fought successfully and on the cheap (Afghanistan), the other was fought for the wrong purpose and at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars. Even though we have at long last managed to kill most everyone with a rifle who is not allied with the ruling party, what purpose has been served? We have been left with a worn out military capability and R&D has been directed into military efforts that will probably not be helpful when dealing with the higher-level conflicts likely to appear in the future (Korea, Iran, etc.)
Free Enterprise. The twin cornerstones of free enterprise are the raising of capital for investing in new and ongoing ventures and the provision of short and long-term credit. The first cornerstone was blasted into pieces on September 15th with the crumbling of the investment banking sector led by Lehman Bros. The other cornerstone, commercial lending, is currently failing and within six months will be effectively nationalized. There will be no “capital” left in Capitalism.
Balanced Budget. The Bush Presidency and his cohorts in the GOP have seen the largest runup in governmental debt in the history of the world. Foreign intrigues, unregulated bailouts, no-bid contracts, wasteful spending, and poorly timed and executed tax cuts will enslave our children and our children’s children with the burden of debt for a half-century.
Freedom and Democracy. Torture centers and prisons placed beyond the reach of civil and criminal courts have permanently sullied our call for freedom, liberty and democracy. Our call to other nations to put down the instruments of death and oppression are laughed at. Our leaders are at best hypocrites and at worst war criminals. It will take decades for the United States to achieve a respected standing on the world stage. Fear has replaced respect.
Do I rejoice? No. I do not rejoice. The United States is a weaker place after the Bush Presidency. We would be better off if we had well managed and carefully regulated investment banks and commercial lenders. We would be better off with a taxing structure that was fair. We would be better off militarily if our resources had not been squandered in Iraq and if we had killed Osama Bin Laden instead of Saddam Hussain. We would be better off if we had not increased our debt load. We would be better off if we had not followed in the footsteps of the Gestapo, the KGB and the Stasi by embracing torture as an accepted means of interrogation.