Chastened by their decisive losses in the election, many conservatives and GOP politicians are finally doing some "soul-searching" about the future of the Republican party. We wish them luck.
Don’t show us your soul-searching — show us your changed priorities for the country.
You can’t be the party that seeks the support of 100% of voters, not just the 53% like Mitt Romney, if your policy goal still is to enrich the richest few at the expense of everyone else.
You can’t be the party of hard work if you still want to cut the retirement and health care benefits that regular Americans earn with every paycheck over a lifetime of work.
You can’t be the party of the American Dream if you still want to rig our tax code in favor of the already-wealthy over families striving to get into the middle class.
You can’t be the party of American competitiveness if you still want to cut our investments in education and tilt the playing field in favor of big corporations instead of small businesses and risk-taking entrepreneurs.
You can’t be the party of economic growth if you still want to cut the things that keep our country running and put Americans back to work, like our schools, roads and bridges, and industries of the future.
You can’t be the party of fiscal responsibility if you still want to double down on the failed policies that got us the deficit-exploding Great Recession — and pay for it by taking money out of the pockets of the real job creators, our middle class.
And you can’t be the party that unites the country when your political agenda still depends on attacking Americans not like yourself and dividing people against each other.
WHAT AMERICANS REALLY WANT
Jobs: Poll after poll shows that the American people overwhelmingly rank jobs and unemployment as more important priorities than the budget deficit. For example, nearly 60% of likely voters said the economy and jobs are the most important issue in their vote for president, compared to only 8% for the deficit. (The good news is that putting Americans back to work is the best way to fix the deficit.)
Taxes: Two-thirds of Americans support raising taxes on incomes over $250,000 — that is, the richest 2%. National exit polling from this election also shows 60% think taxes in general should be increased.
Defense Spending: Over 75% of Americans believe we should cut the Pentagon budget, including three-fourths of people in Republican districts.
Social Security: Over 80% of Americans oppose cutting Social Security benefits, even to help reduce the budget deficit.
Medicare: Over 75% of Americans oppose cutting Medicare benefits, even to help reduce the budget deficit.
Medicaid: 60% of Americans oppose the Congressional Republicans’ plan to restructure and cut Medicaid.
Education: 75% of Americans oppose cutting federal funding for education.
Stimulus: 55% of people who’ve heard about the stimulus think it was the right thing to do for the country.
Poverty: Nearly 90% of Americans think helping the working poor should be a top or important priority for our government.
Clean Energy: 80% of voters agree that the U.S. should use more renewable energy sources in the future, and over 60% of Americans say they would be willing to pay more for energy if it meant utility companies have to produce more of it from renewable sources, like solar.
Climate Change: Nearly 60% say they are worried about climate change and think it’s a growing threat to people in the U.S. Almost two-thirds say the U.S. should act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions now.
