What has the GOP done for you lately?

I know that the GOP has opposed pretty much anything Obama has proposed, and maybe that is enough.

But I'm wondering if there are any examples of the GOP actually trying to pass national legislation that would address any problems in the last four years or so.

In other words, are they literally just "the Party of No"?

[Starchaser et al.]"Both parties are exactly the same and yadda-yadda-yadda."[/]

There, now that that's gotten out of the way...

They've annoyed me.

Wow. I was thinking of starting a thread similar to this. In the late 90's, with Clinton in the White House and Dems running the senate, Gingrich & co. were able to pass welfare reform in exchange for concessions in other areas which resulted in a government that actually worked.

Instead of just hugging their knees and throwing a bitch-fit about another 4 years of Obama, why not get together and actually decide what it is they want and work at that? I really don't know if Boehner and the bunch of clowns are smart enough to actually pull it off if their recent attempts at solving this "fiscal cliff" issue is any indication.

Well yes, they've offered stuff. One might argue that it's stuff they knew was DOA, but there have been bills and/or proposals. of course.

for instance, the Ryan budget proposal has been a notorious topic of discussion in the political arena - that wouldn't be the case if no such budget had been offered, right?

That said, since i mostly don't give a fuck anymore, I'm not about to do the leg work of producing a list.

Well, off the top of my head, Paul Ryan proposed a plan to balance the budget.
George W. Bush proposed a plan to privatize Social Security.
And truth be told, the GOP is (at least in theory) based on the principle of small government, so the idea of "How has the GOP created more laws to give you more handouts" is kind of a complete contradiction. I want legislators to roll back laws, not create more of them.

Well, that's one thing they've done for us, at least: not slathered on more laws, and tried their best to stop Obama from doing so. A couple things they could do for us: get rid of the RINOs like Boner, and take a hard shift away from letting the bible thumpers define them.

[Clyde] Donkey faithful...yadda..donkey...yadda bleh[/]

There, that's that skipped over too...

What did he do to make it a reality?

"Lately" being the key word. (I'm putting aside that the plan itself would have resulted in dire consequences, as I understand it, given the recession.)

It seems like there have not been initiatives by the GOP to actually do anything in the last four years on the national level.

The idea isn't about giving "handouts."

It's about actually proposing something and following through, whether that is cutting back on services, rolling back laws or agencies that are unnecessary or poorly managed, or any number of things.

IIRC the GOP had SEVEN different Healthcare plans going when Obamacare was being worked out.

To me that shows a complete lack of desire to participate in the process of governing AT ALL. If you are series about wanting some of your policies included, you have to unite as a caucus around one plan and negotiate hard to get your ideas on the table. Considering how splintered the Dems were, this would not have been hard. Not hard, but would have required the GOP to actually DO something. Instead they sat back and did nothing but attack the Dem's plan.

Well, taxes are going to go up one way or the other. Whether its the top wage earners or everyone, they are going up. Anyone serious about handling the deficit has to have already accepted the fact that we aren't going to grow our way out if the hole we dug by cutting taxes and a decade of fighting 2 wars.

If the Republican Party can't put together a rational agenda that can actually stand a chance of passing in the Senate and withstand threat of a veto, then I don't understand why they put those idiots back in office.

I give up. Have fun with your puppet show guys. Enjoy the Emperor's New Clothes.

Anyway, to the main topic....

Lately? Try ever.

I struggle to think of anything they've done that hasn't brought yet another fresh new flavor of misery to this cursed mudball.

Wait, Lincoln freed the slaves, and Teddy Roosevelt busted the trusts, and created the national parks.

Those were good.

Republicans aren't that anymore.

If the emperor is naked, shouldn't the loyal opposition offer up a fine new suit of clothes? That goes to the heart of Raoul's question. What did the GOP do for the country? They complained about imperial fashion, and not much else.

Eisenhower did up the Interstates, Nixon PBS...

Tell me why without falling into circular reasoning.

Raoul's got a point. The last four years, they've bitched about what Obama brought to the table, but offered no solutions. The healthcare things being the biggest example--their only official word is "Obamacare iz the suxxorz, lol," with no real solutions to bring health care reform.

How about gop can outlaw business practices that Romney's company engages in. I'm certain a certain republican like TR would of done it.

Wrong, as proven by the case in point, which in no way, shape, or form amounts to an actual budget proposal. Budget proposals have actual numbers and a lot of specifics. Ryan's "proposals" are based on the underpants gnome theory of budgeting. He has no plan, no specifics even vaguely related to his alleged numbers, and the alleged numbers are facially ridiculous even beyond the lack of specifics.

Ryan's "proposals" don't even amount to outlines of proposals. They're merely talking points unrelated to actual budgets or governing.

The GOP shortened my early voting hours and gave me a ballot that resembled the closing documents for a bank loan. Great job (Florida) GOP!

Well, we eventually are going to have to face the deficit head-on.

The probability of slashing spending to the point where we are not increasing the deficit is near zero. And even if we did, we still would have to deal with the debt that we have already accumulated.

The only way to do that is to raise additional revenue.

The most likely way to do that would be through taxes.

Keeping only those taxes that currently exist and keeping them at the current rates is unlikely to increase revenue on the scale that is needed.

Now it could be that some unforeseen development, such as the creation of replicators, makes it so that with the existing tax structure/levels there could be enough growth such that taxes won't have to change. It could be that a radical development, such as global disaster, eliminates the need to address our deficit or to pay taxes.

But it doesn't seem like if things stay largely the status quo that the U.S. can continue with its current tax structure.

That's in the abstract.

In the more concrete, the Bush tax cuts are set to expire. There's negotiations on which of them to preserve. The Republicans have started to walk away from the extreme anti-new-tax position that Grover Norquist had them sign. It seems doubtful that the Bush tax cuts will be preserved in their present form. Thus: tax increase for some.

Lately the GOP has provided excellent comedic value.

No, that's not an Onion headline . . .

I love how even Bush didn't intend for those cuts to be permanent, but now the rich cocksuckers are like "Noooo!!! Forever!! Forever!! Auugghh!! ".

Talk about fuckin' entitlement.

yeah, lets do away with companies that go and and try and turn around companies that are circling the drain. I am sure that would help everyone.

I love how the liberals were all against the Bush tax cut but now if we don't have them is a "fiscal cliff". Bush was evil but even Obama admits losing his tax cuts would be bad for the nation. You have to love the double speak.

In what quantum dimension?

Or they could start sellin' off shit. There's a Chinese version of Craigslist, right?