Supposedly there is a list of ten principles (somehow related to Reagan) that the RNC is passing around. They claim that anyone is disagrees with three or more principles won't get funded. I think it would be fun to point out which Republicans would fail the test.
So far I've concluded that W., McCain and (ironically) Reagan are not Republicans.
Here are the principles:
(1) We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama's "stimulus" bill;
(2) We support market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run healthcare;
(3) We support market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation;
(4) We support workers' right to secret ballot by opposing card check;
(5) We support legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants;
(6) We support victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges;
(7) We support containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat;
(8) We support retention of the Defense of Marriage Act;
(9) We support protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing and denial of health care and government funding of abortion; and
(10) We support the right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership; and be further
First, W. would fail because (1) he exploded the deficits, (5) he suppored an immigration bill with amnesty and (6) he opposed a troop request for the military in Afghanistan in his final year of the presidency. He also (3) quietly and weakly supported the cap-and-trade bill offered by Lieberman, Warner, et al.
Second, McCain would fail because he (1) supported busting the deficits, (3) supported a cap-and-trade bill, and (5) supported an immigration bill that included amnesty.
Third, Reagan would fail because
(1) he exploded the deficits (and raised taxes) (do I need a cite for that?)
(5) he supported amnesty to illegal immigrants
In his signing statement, Reagan declared that "We have consistently supported a legalization program which is both generous to the alien and fair to the countless thousands of people throughout the world who seek legally to come to America. The legalization provisions in this act will go far to improve the lives of a class of individuals who now must hide in the shadows, without access to many of the benefits of a free and open society. Very soon many of these men and women will be able to step into the sunlight and, ultimately, if they choose, they may become Americans."
(10) he supportedthe Brady Bill and other gun control
It was Governor Ronald Reagan of California who signed the Mulford Act in 1967, "prohibiting the carrying of firearms on one's person or in a vehicle, in any public place or on any public street." The law was aimed at stopping the Black Panthers, but affected all gun owners.
Twenty-four years later, Reagan was still pushing gun control. "I support the Brady Bill," he said in a March 28, 1991 speech, "and I urge the Congress to enact it without further delay."
Anyone else?