Conservative negligence in key areas has helped the Left

Submitted by Dave (United States), Nov 27, 2019 at 11:18

In order to win an election, the concerns of the voters must be taken seriously and addressed, even if the solutions provided are less than perfect.

For example, a key factor in Trump's win was his emphasis on border control, while Hillary Clinton foolishly ridiculed those concerns as racist and xenophobic. People were also upset that the ROI on our Iraq and Afghanistan missions was way too low, so Trump ruthlessly hammered on Bush in the debates on that question.

On the other hand, Republicans have failed to deal effectively with other major issues, such as the problem of medical bankruptcy and gun violence.

Ruinous medical costs have been a major problem for decades, yet Republican inaction has allowed the Democrats to introduce so many regulations and subsidies that private competition has diminished and medical costs have skyrocketed, making bankruptcy even more likely for the inadequately insured. One possible remedy would be to convert the over ten percent income tax deduction (or other percentage) for medical costs into a reimbursement. This would allow the private sector to deal with routine claims and nobody would need to go bust on the big stuff. With fewer subsidies and intervention, the private sector would be much more competitive, lowering medical costs. Yet, it's probably too late to reverse any entitlements and the Left will probably dig us ever deeper into the hole.

On the gun front, hardly a week goes by without news of a mass shooting, and, despite current regulations, guns show up constantly in violent crimes. Statistics show that the US has by far the highest rate of gun-related violence, apparently in proportion to the enormous number of guns out there. Yet, conservatives bleat on about the Second Amendment as though the Constitution was a suicide pact. Conservatives will never go as far as liberals on that question, but they need to establish much more credibility.

I agree that the Left is very toxic, but it would help if the Right was less stupid.

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