Monday, October 18, 2010

The new Republicans

Today's Wall Street Journal takes a look at some of the Republican candidates for Senate:
Senate Republican candidates have converged around a set of conservative positions.

Eighteen have expressed some support for either a single, flat-rate income tax or a national sales tax that would replace an income tax.

Sixteen have expressed a willingness to allow some Social Security taxes to be diverted to private investment accounts. Eleven have expressed interest in turning Medicare into a voucher program that young people can elect to join upon retirement.

Ten have broached eliminating or scaling back the Department of Education.

Four have talked of eliminating or lowering the federal minimum wage.

John Raese, the Republican nominee for Senate in West Virginia, suggested that the minimum wage, which he termed "price controls," contributed to high unemployment among young workers. "The highest amount of unemployment we have is youth, isn't it? Entry-level jobs, where we have, probably, what—minimum wage," Mr. Raese told the Charleston Daily Mail editorial board last week.
While just a start, it's a far cry from the days of Bob Dole. Let's hope for more like this in 2012.

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