NH Hits Bottom as GOP Slides to Far Right

Be careful when you slide down a slippery slope. You may land on some pretty hard rocks when you hit the bottom. And that’s what’s happening in American politics today. For more than a generation, Americans have been sliding toward the conservative right, and now we’re getting our bumps and bruises.

"Oh, come now, Patton! American politics steadily moving to the conservative right? Then why do we have this socialist Obama in the White House? Incidentally, I’m Joe Conservative or Joe Con for short. I hope you don’t mind me barging into your column.”

"Not at all, Joe. Let me explain my point. President Obama isn’t a socialist. In fact, he’s the most centrist Democratic President we’ve had since (and including) Jimmy Carter. The fact that he’s accused of being a socialist by Republicans shows just how far the country has shifted to the right. You don’t believe me? Let me offer some evidence."

According to Rachel Maddow (02/29/12), "In April of 2010, just before he retired from the Supreme Court, Justice John Paul Stevens did an interview in his chambers with a reporter for ‘The New York Times’ named Adam Liptak. And at the age of 90, on the eve of his retirement, Justice Stevens said when he looked back at his career, when he looked back at every one of the Supreme Court justices who joined the court in the previous generation, in the previous 35 years, every single one of them had been more conservative than the justice that he or she replaced -- with only two possible exceptions.”

"Well, maybe that’s true for the Supreme Court,” replied Joe, "But what about the presidency. You can’t prove to me that Obama is a centrist.”

"Oh, can’t I? Maddow presents data collected at the University of Georgia showing that each Democratic president since Jimmy Carter has been less liberal than his Democratic predecessor. And Republican presidents have become progressively more conservative.”

Maddow notes, ". . . over time, from Ike to Nixon and Ford, and then from Reagan to Bush the first and then up to Bush the second . . . Republican presidents are getting more conservative over time. But here`s the thing -- so are Democrats. . . . LBJ was more conservative than John F. Kennedy. Bill Clinton was more conservative than Jimmy Carter. And Barack Obama is more conservative than Bill Clinton.”

"Is the same thing true of Congress?” I added. "The same political scientist at the University of Georgia demonstrates that since 1975, Republicans in Congress have become dramatically more conservative, while Democrats have not shifted appreciably one way or the other. . .  Maddow summarizes the situation.'So, on the Supreme Court, they are storming to the right. The presidency, storming to the right. Congress, storming to the right, too.'”

Joe Con smiled broadly. "Well, that’s great. I guess everybody’s coming to appreciate that conservative government is the best.”

"Hold on a second, Joe. I said that the political spectrum is shifting to the right, not that things are getting better. When this sort of movement occurs, ideas that formerly were considered radical now become mainstream.”

"Look at what is happening here in New Hampshire. Movements like the Tea Party and Free Staters that formerly were considered to be fringe groups have moved to positions of power in the Republican Party. To a large extent, these groups are now controlling the GOP’s legislative agenda. But their ideas aren’t any better than they used to be.”

"Consider the current session of the New Hampshire legislature. What bills have these GOP-dominated bodies tried to pass into law? They attempted to do away with kindergarten. They tried to reduce the dropout age from 18 to 16, even though the 18 year old requirement reduced dropouts by one-third. They attempted to eliminate compulsory school attendance. They attempted to reduce the number of days in the school year.”

"There’s more. They are attempting to use public tax money to support private schools. They lowered the state tax on cigarettes, resulting in a decline in state revenue needed to balance the budget and further jeopardizing the health of the public. They passed a rule saying that guns could be carried on the floor of legislature. They tried to pass legislation requiring a government-issued photo ID to vote. Such a requirement would unfairly decrease voting by minorities, seniors, and students enrolled in private colleges. They are attempting to eliminate the right of collective bargaining.”

"And there’s even more. The Republican-controlled legislature passed a payday loan bill increasing the allowed interest rate from 36 percent to as much as 400 percent. A Republican legislator attempted to bring charges of treason against President Obama. And a group of Republican legislators attempted to have President Obama’s name removed from the New Hampshire Primary ballot.”

"Joe, I hope you get the point. The shift to the conservative end of the political spectrum has promoted the passage of truly dreadful legislation. The remedy? Stop the slide to the right extreme. Move back to the sensible center. Elect Democrats in next November’s General Election.”