# Will The Republicans ever figure out why they lost? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 26, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224 "2012-12-26T21:33:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 73
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/1441 "2013-07-16T13:31:53Z")
> [@](#): > > His son is more likely to move into the White House. You guys are killing me! God this is more than flesh and blood can bear! I’m laughing so hard I can’t breathe! The only way Rand Paul lives in the White House would be if he takes up a trade and becomes the head cook or gardener or something, but I don’t think the help lives in the big house anymore. > [@](#): > > I do agree though that the GOP’s future is in libertarianism. Not the pure form advocated by Ron Paul and the Libertarian Party, but a moderate libertarianism. Again, too much! Moderate libertarianism! What a riot! The Republican philosophy and libertarianism agree on one point: “I got mine, fuck you.” Fortunately, the electorate has more compassion than do the Pubbies. ---
**Author:** ![rEVOLutionary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revolutionary/32/7311_2.png) [@rEVOLutionary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rEVOLutionary)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/1442 "2013-07-16T13:39:12Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I’m glad I wasn’t drinking my pop when I read this, I’d be cleaning my monitor for a week. Why is that? Most people who seem to be against Ron Paul either don’t know what his views are, have inaccurate facts about him, or both. For example, two common arguments against him are that he’s racist and that he wants to shut down foreign military bases. First off, he didn’t write the racist newsletters. It has been said many times, and many people in his camp have confirmed it. He wants to repeal the Voting Right Act because we don’t need it, the Constitution CLEARLY gave every person the right to vote before the act was put into place. Also, some of his biggest supporters are black people, including the head of the Austin NAACP branch. As for the foreign military bases, people think it would make it more susceptible to terrorist attacks. First off, it’s not just about safety, it would save us BILLIONS, no, TRILLIONS. Secondly, it would PREVENT future terrorist attacks. Killing cave-dwelling guerilla soldiers out in the sand deserts doesn’t help protect us here at home. Border defense would protect from attacks on American soil. Also, people hate us and want to kill us because we fund terrorism in their countries, not because we’re “free”. I would elaborate, but this animated speech by Ron Paul explains it best: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/XKfuS6gfxPY/maxresdefault.jpg "Armed Chinese Troops in Texas!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKfuS6gfxPY) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/1443 "2013-07-16T13:43:33Z")
> [@rEVOLutionary](#): > > He wants to repeal the Voting Right Act because we don’t need it, the Constitution CLEARLY gave every person the right to vote before the act was put into place. And how is that working out? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/1444 "2013-07-16T13:47:31Z")
> [@rEVOLutionary](#): > > Why is that? Most people who seem to be against Ron Paul either don’t know what his views are, have inaccurate facts about him, or both. > > For example, two common arguments against him are that he’s racist and that he wants to shut down foreign military bases. > > First off, he didn’t write the racist newsletters. It has been said many times, and many people in his camp have confirmed it. He wants to repeal the Voting Right Act because we don’t need it, the Constitution CLEARLY gave every person the right to vote before the act was put into place. Also, some of his biggest supporters are black people, including the head of the Austin NAACP branch. > > As for the foreign military bases, people think it would make it more susceptible to terrorist attacks. First off, it’s not just about safety, it would save us BILLIONS, no, TRILLIONS. Secondly, it would PREVENT future terrorist attacks. Killing cave-dwelling guerilla soldiers out in the sand deserts doesn’t help protect us here at home. Border defense would protect from attacks on American soil. Also, people hate us and want to kill us because we fund terrorism in their countries, not because we’re “free”. I would elaborate, but this animated speech by Ron Paul explains it best: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKfuS6gfxPY](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKfuS6gfxPY) Sorry, but he is indeed a racist. You put out newsletters in your name, you own the content. You tell us you would have opposed the Civil Rights Act and have no problem with restaurants refusing service to blacks, you’re a racist. You tell us the Voting Rights Act wasn’t needed, you’re a racist. As to his other views, his obsession with “auditing” the Fed and putting the US on the gold standard is a prescription for Depression. Think about it- name a single nation on the gold standard. There’s a reason for not using it. Yes, I agree with him on cutting down our overseas bases. The blind squirrel gets the occasional nut. ---
**Author:** ![rEVOLutionary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revolutionary/32/7311_2.png) [@rEVOLutionary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rEVOLutionary)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/1445 "2013-07-16T13:58:32Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Sorry, but he is indeed a racist. You put out newsletters in your name, you own the content. You tell us you would have opposed the Civil Rights Act and have no problem with restaurants refusing service to blacks, you’re a racist. You tell us the Voting Rights Act wasn’t needed, you’re a racist. He didn’t write the newsletters, so that argument is invalid. Someone put out articles and wrongly attached his name to them. That doesn’t make the content his. And no one has ever said that it wasn’t needed. It was. But it isn’t now, because those protections are already in the Constitution (they always were, but people couldn’t accept that before). And when did anyone say that it was okay to not serve blacks? From these few sentences alone, I can tell that you clearly know NOTHING about Ron Paul or what he stands for. He was probably the least-racist candidate in 2012. > [@](#): > > As to his other views, his obsession with “auditing” the Fed and putting the US on the gold standard is a prescription for Depression. How so? Look at the value of the U.S. Dollar before 1913. Look at it after 1913. Please tell me exactly why the Gold Standard wouldn’t work. I want specifics. Do you understand inflation? Do you understand the danger of endless printing of money that is not backed by anything of value? The U.S. Dollar is literally now just paper. It only has value because people accept that it does. The same could not be said for sound currency. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/1446 "2013-07-16T13:59:47Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > The Republicans only lose when they screw up. All things being equal, they win. Even accepting that statement at face value, when was the last time they d_idn’t_ screw up? What, if not the facts, makes you believe that screwing up is not a basic part of the Republican identity? Or are you ever going to seriously consider the possibility that the default conclusion is that Republicanism itself, not their endless stream of screwup candidates, is what has been losing consistently for them? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/1447 "2013-07-16T14:02:46Z")
> [@rEVOLutionary](#): > > Why is that? Most people who seem to be against Ron Paul either don’t know what his views are, have inaccurate facts about him, or both. > > For example, two common arguments against him are that he’s racist and that he wants to shut down foreign military bases. Actually, the most common argument against him is that scurrillous canard associating him with libertarianism and shithouse-rat-craziness like “End The Fed!” and stuff. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/1448 "2013-07-16T14:03:49Z")
> [@rEVOLutionary](#): > > I think they lost because they isolated Ron Paul and never gave him a chance. If he was given equal coverage, and people actually listened to him, I think he would be the POTUS right now, and our country would be A LOT better. Ron Paul will be POTUS some time after Ralph Nader’s third term. ---
**Author:** ![rEVOLutionary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revolutionary/32/7311_2.png) [@rEVOLutionary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rEVOLutionary)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/1449 "2013-07-16T14:13:23Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Actually, the most common argument against him is that scurrillous canard associating him with libertarianism and shithouse-rat-craziness like “End The Fed!” and stuff. Could you please elaborate on why, specifically, ending the Fed is “shithouse-rat-craziness”? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/1450 "2013-07-16T14:13:30Z")
> [@rEVOLutionary](#): > > He wants to repeal the Voting Right Act because we don’t need it, the Constitution CLEARLY gave every person the right to vote before the act was put into place. But, it doesn’t. Trust a lawyer on this one. ---
**Author:** ![rEVOLutionary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revolutionary/32/7311_2.png) [@rEVOLutionary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rEVOLutionary)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/1451 "2013-07-16T14:15:45Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > But, it doesn’t. Trust a lawyer on this one. Yes, actually it does. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/1452 "2013-07-16T14:21:25Z")
> [@rEVOLutionary](#): > > Could you please elaborate on why, specifically, ending the Fed is “shithouse-rat-craziness”? Well, apart from the whole notion reeking a **powahful** odor of **goldbuggery** heah, [there’s all this](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve#What.27s_wrong_with_the_anti-Fed_crankery.3F). > [@](#): > > **What’s wrong with the anti-Fed crankery?** > > While one can find many legitimate criticisms of the Fed (incompetence, cronyism, etc.), much of the opposition to the Fed comes from a basic misunderstanding of how it operates or a conspiratorial view. > > **Conspiracy theories** > > The Fed has been a frequent subject of conspiracy theories alleging the Fed deliberately creates inflation, recessions, and even the Great Depression, through manipulation of the money supply.[10] Father Coughlin, the John Birch Society, Liberty Lobby, Eustace Mullins, Pat Robertson, Alex Jones, Texe Marrs and several others have frequently expressed such conspiracy theories. Many of the popular claims made today are recycled from G. Edward Griffin’s The Creature from Jekyll Island.[11][12] In some (but not all) cases these conspiracy theories have an anti-Semitic component, alleging “Jews” secretly or openly control the Fed. These theories are furthermore sometimes tied in to other conspiracy theories about the Trilateral Commission or the New World Order, or manipulation of the U.S. economy by the Rockefeller and Rothschild banking families.[13] > > It seems like many of Ron Paul’s followers have come up with a new completely insane theory in 2011 about the Federal Reserve, borrowing some points from Lyndon LaRouche. Apparently the Federal Reserve is now a foreign banking institution controlled by the British, and Britain is now firmly in control of (who else?) the Rothschild family. Through their control of the Federal Reserve, they are making the national debt increase (apparently the Federal Reserve controls fiscal policy) to the point where they can take their former colony back (apparently being heavily indebted means England wins you). The only person who can save the US is now Ron Paul,[14] who is above the influence.[15] > > **Ownership** > > Critics of the Fed make a big deal out of the fact that the Federal Reserve is a private corporation partially governed by the same banks it is supposed to regulate rather than a federal government agency. So what? This is similar to the status of Amtrak, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the United States Postal Service, all examples of other major clusterfucks. Of course, being a major clusterfuck is not synonymous with being a conspiracy controlling the world — indeed, they are almost complete opposites. > > There is also the misconception that the Fed is completely independent or private. This is false as it is a quasi-public entity. The Fed, like most central banks in the world, is considered “independent,” which is basically a term of art meaning that its day-to-day operations are not overseen by the federal government. However, its chairman and board of governors are appointed by the president, it is subject to Congressional oversight,[16] and its mission of maintaining price levels and full employment is determined by Congress.[17] It is also subject to certain types of audits by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and any profits the Fed earns go straight to the Treasury Department. > > The extent to which banks “control” the Federal Reserve is that they technically “own” it, but not in the way that shareholders own Microsoft. Since the Federal Reserve was created by Congressional charter, they are not organized like a normal corporation. Shareholder banks have no voting power, and all decisions are made by aforementioned government-appointed policy wonks. Shareholder banks elect 6 out of the 9 members of each regional Federal Reserve Bank’s directors, but these regional directors have no power over monetary policy; that power lies solely in the hands of the central Board of Governors. In fact, compared to the Postal Service, the Fed seems like a marvel of reasonable bureaucratic design. > > **Trouble with accounting identities** > > At the simplest level of anti-Fed crankery is the idea that the Fed “owns” the government. This is due to a misconception of how the Fed operates. Monetary cranks claim that the Fed lends money to the government at interest, thereby stealing “the people’s” money and selling us into debt slavery or some similar nefarious scheme to take over the US government. The way this works, however, is not quite the same as your regular commercial bank. The interest on debt held by the Fed actually goes to two places: One, the Fed pays itself out of this interest to cover its own operating costs, and two, the rest of the interest is rebated to the treasury. So, no, the Fed does not own the government or sell us into debt slavery.[18] > > **Pseudolaw** > > This usually ties into the above point. The basic idea is the the Constitution gives Congress the power to coin money, so the Fed is unconstitutional because it is not the Congress. This is a pseudolegal argument because the Congress may delegate its powers. This is similar to pseudolegal arguments made by gold bugs.[19] > > **Congressional involvement** > > Sometimes a big deal is made of the fact the law bringing the Fed into existence was passed December 23, 1913, implying that most of the Congress was away for Christmas. Here again the reality is quite different–the House passed the law 298-60 with 76 not voting but with 34 announced pairs, while the Senate passed it 43-25 with 27 not voting but with 12 announced pairs[20] > > For those not aware an announced pair is where a Member of the House or Senate who will be absent arranges with another Member who who will be present and is on the opposite side of the issue to form a “pair” with the absent Member, thus allowing the absent Member to have recorded how he would have voted had he been present.[21] This means that at best only 42 more House members and 12 more Senate members could have said no to the creation of the Fed–way too few to have changed anything. > > **Austrian school and free banking proponents** > > Much of the opposition to the Fed in non-conspiratorial circles (though there is some overlap) comes from the Austrian school, who are free banking proponents and generally draw on Ludwig von Mises’ arguments against central banking. Ron Paul is particularly known for his multi-decadal anti-Fed crusade in Congress. In short, they claim that the Fed creates the business cycle[22] through the expansion of the money supply which leads to “malinvestment” due to easy money. > > **Ignoring Lessons from the US Free Banking Era (1837 to 1864)** > > The biggest flaw with the free banking proponents is they either are ignorant or ignore the many problems seen in the Free Banking Era of the US. > > The first problem was that during this era banks issued bank notes based on the gold and silver in their vaults effectively printing money. Since these bank notes could only be redeemed at face value at the bank that issued them the result was the actual value of the note decreasing the further from the bank it got. Then there was the issue if the bank failed these bank notes became worthless. This made any form of long distance commerce difficult if not impossible. > > The second problem was since the laws were set up by the individual states there was no consistency with regard to reserve requirements, interest rates for loans and deposits, capital ratios, or anything else. Worse enforcement of what laws there were was highly variable within a state. This resulted in some states what was later called wildcat banking where the bank notes were not backed by precious metal at all but by mortgages or bonds.[23] In other words the exact same problems as are claimed regarding the Fed but with even less oversight. > > **Ignoring the _original_ Great Depression (1873–79 or 96)** > > Before the Crash of 1929, the term “Great Depression” referred to the period of 1873–96 which was marked by deflation (largely because the US shifted from a bimetallic standard to a de facto gold standard in 1873) and the rapid industrialization of the country. The term Gilded Age is also applied to this period and sometimes in a pejorative manner – a shiny golden cover hiding a rotting or rotted core. The deflation that marked this period is why some wanted to return to a bimetallic standard as, hammered home in William Jennings Bryan’s famous Cross of Gold speech in 1896. Even the shorter range of 1873–79 stated by the NBER is longer than the 1930’s Great Depression by 22 months. This era is now called “the Long Depression”; the lesson it gives us is that switching over from a bimetallic standard to a gold standard (which the Coinage Act of 1873 effectively did) triggers off deflation for extended periods of time. > > **After the establishment of the Fed** > > The US only saw three major banking crises after the establishment of the Fed (Great Depression, S&L crisis, 2008 financial crisis) and only two since the creation of federal deposit insurance compared to one about every decade prior to that.[24] The business cycle had also seen shorter and smaller contractions. > > Essentially, what this demonstrates is that certain libertarians[25] and Austrian schoolers like Ron Paul seem to love the idea of going back to the 19th century and having us all stuff gold bricks under our mattresses every time it looks like there’s going to be a run on the bank. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/1453 "2013-07-16T14:23:13Z")
There is no positively stated right to vote in the Constitution. There is a clause that guarantees all citizens of all states the right to a republican form of government, but “republic” is not synonymous with “democracy”. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/1454 "2013-07-16T14:23:40Z")
> [@rEVOLutionary](#): > > Yes, actually it does. 'Fraid not. That’s why [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=695622). ---
**Author:** ![rEVOLutionary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revolutionary/32/7311_2.png) [@rEVOLutionary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rEVOLutionary)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/1455 "2013-07-16T14:38:48Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Well, apart from the whole notion reeking a **powahful** odor of **goldbuggery** heah, [there’s all this](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve#What.27s_wrong_with_the_anti-Fed_crankery.3F). Okay, this is a lot to cover, and I’ll probably address every single point later on, but right off the bat, I can say this: It is definitely not unrealistic to believe that inflation is caused intentionally. Look at the Libor scandal and the manipulation of interest rates. Corruption is in human nature. No, I don’t believe in any of that Illuminati or NWO bullshit, but it is definitely in the realm of possibility that the Fed has certain agendas they want to push. Even if it is not intentional, it still causes inflation. The Fed constantly prints out billions and billions of dollars, which devalues the currency. If we had sound currency, that could not happen, for obvious reasons. ---
**Author:** ![rEVOLutionary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revolutionary/32/7311_2.png) [@rEVOLutionary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rEVOLutionary)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/1456 "2013-07-16T14:43:56Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > There is no positively stated right to vote in the Constitution. There is a clause that guarantees all citizens of all states the right to a republican form of government, but “republic” is not synonymous with “democracy”. Okay, let me re-phrase: everyone has the right to representation in our republic. I know we’re not a democracy. I don’t want a democracy. Democracy is extremely dangerous and would NEVER work for extended periods of time. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/1457 "2013-07-16T14:53:22Z")
> [@rEVOLutionary](#): > > Okay, let me re-phrase: everyone has the right to representation in our republic. Well, that is no argument for scrapping the Voting Rights Act, is it? > [@rEVOLutionary](#): > > I know we’re not a democracy. I don’t want a democracy. Democracy is extremely dangerous and would NEVER work for extended periods of time. Yes, we are. The United States is a democratic republic. As opposed to say, an aristocratic republic, like the Venetian Republic or the ancient Roman, with the nobility monopolizing the voting power by design. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/1458 "2013-07-16T14:54:32Z")
> [@rEVOLutionary](#): > > It is definitely not unrealistic to believe that inflation is caused intentionally. Look at the Libor scandal and the manipulation of interest rates. Corruption is in human nature. No, I don’t believe in any of that Illuminati or NWO bullshit, but it is definitely in the realm of possibility that the Fed has certain agendas they want to push. 1. And how does inflation serve the Fed’s interests? 2. Have you not noticed that inflation **is not a problem we have** lately? If we had some, **that** would be a sign of economic recovery. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/1459 "2013-07-16T14:59:10Z")
Not necessarily, but I agree with your general point. It is possible to have inflation and still be doing poorly economically, happens all the time if monetary policy is mishandled. Which I don’t think Bernanke is likely to do. If anything, the Fed has been too tight. ---
**Author:** ![rEVOLutionary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revolutionary/32/7311_2.png) [@rEVOLutionary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rEVOLutionary)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224/1460 "2013-07-16T15:08:00Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Well, that is no argument for scrapping the Voting Rights Act, is it? > > Yes, we are. The United States is a democratic republic. As opposed to say, an aristocratic republic, like the Venetian Republic or the ancient Roman, with the nobility monopolizing the voting power by design. A democratic republic is a republic, NOT a democracy. We’re more like a guided democracy. We give the citizens the illusion that we’re a democracy, but, really, our elections are rigged. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > 1. Have you not noticed that inflation **is not a problem we have** lately? If we had some, **that** would be a sign of economic recovery. I…I don’t even…know what to say? I hope you’re joking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224.md?page=72) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-republicans-ever-figure-out-why-they-lost/645224.md?page=74)