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« Back to Opinion & Analysis
Penalties for Violating an Agreement
Steven F. Hotze, M.D.
February 14, 2008
A contract is an agreement based upon a promise in exchange for some consideration. In politics the elected official is expected to fulfill his promises in exchange for the consideration, the votes, he received.
Historically, the Republican Party had been the party of the north where the nation's industries and businesses were located. The Democrat Party was the party of the South, of the rural countryside and the common man. The southern Democrats were populist conservatives who distrusted big government and supported state's rights.
Reagan was the leader who changed the political landscape. His optimistic message of economic liberty and free enterprise for individuals and small businesses, combined with traditional moral values and a military doctrine of peace through strength, resonated in the hearts of the vast majority of Americans. Reagan's message coupled with the national Democrat party's lurch to the left, adopting socialist economic policies and radical social values, resulted in the American people giving Reagan two overwhelming election mandates in 1980 and 1984.
Reagan's first attempt for the presidency in 1976 fell short when he lost the Republican nomination by a thread to then President Ford. The Republican establishment and corporate interests lined up against Reagan at that time, as they did in his successful race against George Bush 41 in 1980. Reagan was a populist conservative with whom the common man on the street identified. He cultivated in them hope for the future and a renewed pride in their country, so needed after Vietnam.
The realignment of the parties which Reagan initiated continued as a host of new Republican officeholders rode to victory at both the state and national levels calling themselves "Reagan Republicans." By 1994 the Reagan Revolution was complete with both the houses of the national Congress being captured by the Republicans. In Harris County, Republicans won all countywide offices and have held them ever since.
Traditional populist conservatives who had been aligned with the Democrat party switched to the Republican Party. President George W. Bush's election victories in 2000 and 2004 seemed to cement this realignment. In Texas, Republicans won all statewide offices and controlled the legislature.
By gaining their power on the promise of less government, no new taxes, support of small businesses, a strong national defense and family values, the Republicans effectively made a contract with their supporters that they would work to implement these policies. On some issues they have been successful but on others they have done just the opposite. Consider the massive increase in federal government deficits under Bush, and the largest tax in the history of Texas, the Perry Business Tax. The Republican leadership courted the executives on Wall Street and forgot about the small businesses on Main Street.
When a contract is made all the terms must be kept. When a contract is broken those who relied upon the promises lose faith in those who made them. This lost faith is the problem facing Republicans. There is always a penalty to be paid for violating an agreement.
About Conservative Republicans of Texas
Steven F. Hotze, M.D. is president of Conservative Republicans of Texas and founder of Hotze Health & Wellness Center in Houston, Texas.
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