Some of the issues the GOP needs to focus on include public corruption. It may be a lonely life to weed out public corruption, as Theodore Roosevelt lamented when he was New York City Police Commissioner as the politicians and media deserted him, but we cannot just look the other way.
Elections refresh and cleanse our political system. They ratify or overturn the policies of public officials. In the same stroke, they flush out of office those who stray too much from the will of the people.
Among those candidates and parties that don't fare well, elections force introspection and reform.
While Republicans enjoyed some notable successes in Arizona in 2008, we were not nationally what we would term the "prevailing party." And so it's appropriate for the GOP to check and update its inventory of ideas and policies while the losses of last year still sting.
Illegal immigration rightly will continue to be a dominant issue in Arizona politics for years to come. Crime and illegal immigration finally are down in Maricopa County – a great success for our community that seemed impossible only a short time ago. Much remains to be done on this front, which means I'll still draw plenty of protests and cross words and do my part to provide fodder for the newspaper industry.
Yet Arizonans will insist that Republicans be about more than one issue. They are right to do so. I believe Republicans must articulate a new and cogent list of priorities for the people of our state and nation. The issues below take account of our times and are predicated on strong and forthright leadership.
FROM CRIME TO CEO PAY
Put public safety first. Violent drug cartels have made the U.S.-Mexican border one of the most dangerous population zones on Earth. While moving beyond a narrow focus on immigration and addressing a full agenda of public issues, Republicans must remain a party well known for its seriousness in protecting our homes and our borders from criminal offenders.
Pursue free but fair markets. The recent economic crisis, painful though it is, offers an opportunity for reform and accountability. Government officials must enforce our laws to protect citizens from fraud and predatory lending. Republicans should heed public complaints about the ridiculous bonuses given certain CEOs and not dismiss them as Democratic rhetoric.
It's legitimate to ask whether corporate boards of directors have become so insulated from regular shareholder oversight that executive compensation has become a "good ol' boys" racket.
As the government props up banks and indentures future generations of Americans with colossal federal deficit spending, we should insist at a minimum that henceforth, banks and lending institutions possess enough capital to properly underwrite their loans. In turn, banks shouldn't be pressured into lending to questionable applicants out of either runaway short-term greed or fear of drawing civil-rights lawsuits.
A VISION FOR EDUCATION
Our public schools, for all their problems, are a great national institution that must be strengthened and preserved. I am the product of them, as are my wife and children. Still, parents who desire a different way of raising their children – one with a different pedagogical or spiritual focus – shouldn't be corralled into them.
To enact choice in education while nurturing our public schools requires that we find a way to recognize and reward fully the many great teachers in our public schools. By the same measure, the small number of teachers who fill too much of their class time with movies and casual "bull sessions" should be identified and held to higher standards. Establishing an external process for spot-checking or auditing classroom performance is one possible fix.
Schools must be a safe haven for children. Teachers and school employees who exploit their positions to have sexual relations with school children must be dealt with harshly.
Our public universities should be robust and properly endowed. In return, they also should be centers of unfettered inquiry and tolerance, not redoubts of political correctness in which certain viewpoints are penalized in classroom discussions or faculty hiring decisions.
PROTECTING OUR ENVIRONMENT
The Valley should not accept as inevitable the air pollution levels that blanket our beautiful mountain ranges and desert environs. Confronting the special interests responsible for this blight will take guts and tenacity, not unlike what's been required for the fight against illegal immigration. But as we've seen, progress can be had for the price of serious political leadership.
So, too, can we protect endangered species under federal and state law so that we might ensure a healthy bio-diversity and the survival of plant and animal life for future generations. This can be achieved while upholding private property rights, so long as we are willing to compensate properly for the environment we deserve.
TRUE EQUALITY
President Barack Obama was one of my classmates at Harvard Law School (my career has been a political odyssey commencing with sharing a seminar with him to serving proudly today alongside America's toughest sheriff). I join all decent Americans in taking pride in the election of our first African-American president.
Republicans likewise have tapped Michael Steele as the first black chairman of the Republican National Committee. These advances underscore the need to end government policies that require or countenance preferences based on race or other immutable characteristics.
My family is an example of what the future holds. My wife is Mexican-American, my four children of Hispanic descent. Should my children be able to take advantage of racial preferences in applying for jobs, contracts or college admissions? I think not. Ultimately they will have to make this choice for themselves. But the fact that this question is being asked is a sign of just how much civil-rights victories and demographic changes have eroded the rationale for existing affirmative-action policies.
As Arizona and America become increasingly diverse – as our nation looks more and more like my family, something I personally look forward to-such policies will become less defensible. Republicans should be at the forefront of urging a sunset to these well-intentioned but increasingly outmoded practices. We are now a nation strong enough to trust in individual merit.
NO TOLERANCE FOR PUBLIC CORRUPTION
Human nature being what it is, politicians of all parties and persuasions are going to violate laws and be corrupted by power. As it has turned out, it's been my unsought duty to investigate and prosecute more members of my own political party than of others. When Republicans are duly charged with crimes, their fellow Republicans must resist the temptation to circle the wagons around their friends and professional colleagues. We must make it clear that while no party is unblemished by corruption, the GOP shall be known as the party that won't tolerate, facilitate or apologize for it once it comes to light.
In his book "Theodore Roosevelt on Leadership," James Strock (a Valley resident) notes that at one point while he was a New York City police commissioner, Roosevelt lamented there was not a single politician or newspaper in the city that supported him. His complaint is of lasting value. We profit by reminding ourselves that leadership is often a lonely endeavor, the fruits of which take years to reap; and in the meantime integrity and principle must be their own reward. Republicans should remember this as they fashion an agenda that, while consulting public sentiment, cannot aspire to universal favor and still remain meaningful. Such disagreements, after all, are why we have political parties.
And yet these big issues transcend parties. We must hope that in time, they call forth leaders willing to do the same.
Andrew Thomas was re-elected in 2008 as Maricopa County attorney. This article was originally published in the East Valley Tribune.
First things first, FDR was never New York City Police Commissioner. That was Teddy Roosevelt. FDR couldn’t have been more different than him.
As for the content of your article, let me see, since when did attacking CEO pay become consistent with a respect for private property and success? Or how ’bout escalating the war on drugs, because that’s working out so well for us already. No truer a conservative than William F. Buckley, Jr. supported drug legalization based on a respect for individual rights and an intellectually honest examination of the equities involved and conservative principles.
Mr. Thomas doesn’t name a single issue that the Democrats haven’t already outflanked he Republicans on (government corruption or the environment, for example). He has no new ideas based on modern day application of personal responsibility and individual freedom, just the tired list of issues that come from the talking points memo of some droning PR consultant.
This is exactly why I’m a “recovering Republican”.
RE; Beyond Illegal Immigration: An Agenda for the GOP
Mr. Thomas has posed several topics he feels should be addressed by the GOP in order to recover their collective relevance in future elections. After reading the list and his reasons for selecting these specific issues, one has to wonder if he is seriously attempting to assist the GOP. It is more likely that he’s trying to ensure they remain the minority party for the foreseeable future.
Drug crime, CEO pay, education, the environment, diversity, and public corruption. All of these subjects are democrat issues. His suggestion is to draw difference around the edges of these issues as opposed to a fundamental reformulation of them. Such a process will tend to have the people say “There’s not really a dime’s worth of difference between the parties; so I’ll just continue to vote for the party that sends me a check!”
On the other hand; if republicans truly desire to separate themselves from the pack, then a true reformation of the manner in which politicians do business is in order.
The Fair Tax – Institute a tax based solely on consumption, and simultaneously repeal the sixteenth amendment. A 23% tax on all purchases, excluding food & medicine, will reward those who save. It will also equally impact all Americans, those living in the economy and those living at its edges.
This also decreases the federal budget, as the IRS is no longer required. While we’re eliminating useless departments; let’s also terminate the lives of the Dept. of Education, the Dept. of Energy, and the EPA. None of these departments serve a constitutional role in federal government.
Repeal the seventeenth amendment. This disastrous amendment allowed for the popular election of Senators, and removed the last vestiges of any state’s representation at the federal level. Senators used to be appointed to the Senate by the state legislatures, and could be recalled by those legislatures if they failed to conduct themselves in the manner those state representatives directed them to.
While we’re at it; we need strict term limits on the amounts of time a person may serve in the federal government as a Congressman or Senator. The positions of Congressman and/or Senator were NEVER meant to be ‘career’ positions. These seats were to be filled by local citizens who represented their constituents for a period of two (a congressman) or six (a senator) years. After that, they would return to their private life and another would serve in his place. We need strict term limits on representatives and senators.
The opportunities for graft, corruption, and hubris that come from decades inside the beltway are all part and parcel of making political representation a career sport as opposed to a limited opportunity to serve one’s neighbors.
In my mind, the most certain way to get all the lobbying money out of politics is to ensure that those same lobbyists have to pay out all that cash to influence legislation repeatedly. If you only have to pay Barney Frank $140,000 to influence his vote on the House Committee on Financial Services forever, it may seem like a good deal. If you have to pay that $140,000 every other year and maybe twice a year because you don’t know which person is going to be the chairman; pretty soon you get tired of throwing good money after bad. The point here is; it is more difficult to bribe officials that do not spend decades in office.
Eliminate all government departments that are not specifically tied to constitutional powers specifically granted to the federal government. Functioning under the direction that the constitution specifically enumerates the powers granted to the federal government, and eliminating all federal budgetary expenditures not specifically outlined in the constitution would immediately return the federal budget back to the amounts seen 25 years ago.
Taken as a whole; one might say that taking all these positions would make republicans so unpopular as to ensure their eternal minority. I beg to differ. Taking such positions now puts republicans ahead of the curve: Once the extent of the democrats’ reach into the private lives of Americans under the Obama administration is revealed; these positions will ensure the resurgence of the republicans for generations to come.
Milbrat, good comments addressing the issues that would actually make a difference while leaving out the demagogue issues proposed by Mr. Thomas.
Unfortunately the Fair Tax will never see the light of day due to the fact that the individual tax payer (consumer) would actually be able to see what the tax rate is. In a similar vein the recision of the 17th ammendment is unlikely because it leads back to the foundation of the constitutional compact in protecting state’s rights…and what right thinking liberal would want state’s rights to be protected.
Glennd1, you may need to put your reading glasses on to note the difference in Teddy (the good Roosevelt) who was NYC police commissioner and correctly cited by Mr. Thomas versus your comment which changes Mr. Thomas’ commentary to read FDR (the bad Roosevelt).
Milbrat:
I believe it was R.A. Heinlein who once likened any entrenched bureaucracy as a blind, dumb organism that will fight to the death to prevent it’s own demise – usually when it has become obsolete.
Interesting, isn’t it, that so many biological references can be directly related to our uncontrollable government? Co-opting all blood flow and nutrients (taxes) to it’s own purposes; the distinction between benign (maintaining itself at a static level) and aggressively mestasticizing (uncontrollable growth, spreading everywhere); ultimately leeching all life from the host until it kills it (and here we are, today).
MM, you have hit on a good analogy for the Federal Monarchy…terminal cancer. Now if we can get more people thinking about the analogy and actual events maybe we can do some chemotherapy to get rid of some of the bad cells (most elected officials).