Much like responsible parents that administer discipline and encourage their children to do homework, it’s imperative that Republicans continue to hold the line on entitlement spending and not cave in an effort to be the “cool” adults.
Imagine a 10-year-old girl named Stacy whose parents are recently divorced. Stacy lives in the best neighborhood, goes to the best school and has all the best things available to her. After the divorce, the two parents decided to take two completely different approaches to parenting. Stacy’s mom chose the responsible path. She forces Stacy to do her homework, makes her brush her teeth and takes away her toys when she fails to do well in school. On the other hand, her dad just wants Stacy to like him more. The dad tells Stacy she can play all day and doesn’t really need to worry about school, homework or brushing her teeth. Now imagine asking Stacy which parenting method she prefers. Despite the fact that every responsible person understands that the mother is clearly doing what is best for Stacy’s future, Stacy will likely pick her dad every time.
This past November we realized that many American voters are just like Stacy.
Republicans tried to be the responsible party. They told voters we are spending too much, we need to reform entitlements, government can’t solve most of our problems and we will need to make real sacrifices.
Meanwhile, President Obama and Democrats told voters that they don’t need to worry about those things. They attacked Republican ideas for needed entitlement reform as harmful without presenting their own ideas, even though it is a known fact that these entitlements are going bankrupt us. They said spending is under control, while simultaneously proposing an endless stream of new spending. They said we can solve our debt issues by simply making the rich pay their “fair share” in taxes and making some small cuts. All the while, they refused to actually discuss numbers as to avoid the inconvenient facts that the rich already pay more than their share, those tax hikes will really end up hurting the middle class and the cuts they propose are mostly just accounting gimmicks.
Democrats said the job market wasn’t that bad and all we need is a little more stimulus, even though we have had four straight years of inflated spending levels with just consistently high unemployment and low economic growth to show for it. None of those caveats mattered at the end of the day because Democrats and President Obama told voters they don’t need to worry and all our problems will just go away if we stay on the current path. And many voters liked that idea.
Most voters, on both sides of the aisle, don’t like the reality that some government cuts could lead to job losses for people they know, reduced future benefits from entitlements and fewer government programs to help them. Even telling people that without these cuts they are condemning their children to a future with less opportunity, less liberty and more debt, does not always force them to look past the short-term costs. It’s just like telling Stacy that doing her homework is better for her than playing games, she just doesn’t care at that exact moment. So that is the problem Republicans face. The voters are a lot like Stacy and the adults cannot just be put in a time-out.
Is the solution for Republicans to imitate the Democrats and start offering their own spending, government programs and easy solutions to voters? No. First, Republicans will never be able to match the fiscal irresponsibility of the current Democratic Party. Second, the future of America and Stacy are just too important to just give up and let them choose guaranteed failure. So there needs to be another solution. In most cases, Stacy’s mother would try to solve her dilemma with a combination of education, messaging and rewards. She would effectively explain to Stacy why she needs to do her homework and how giving up those few hours of play time will be worth it in the end. In addition, she would understand that Stacy is more likely to choose the right thing when she is rewarded for it through incentives like ice cream or more toys once she does the right thing.
Republicans need to learn this lesson from Stacy’s mom. They need to educate the public about the dire, long-term consequences of not making spending cuts, not reforming entitlements and constantly creating new government programs. This isn’t always easy with a media that willingly accepts the assurances of Democrats, but it has to be done. In addition, Republicans need to realize that they can’t run on a message that is simply focused on hard choices and bad consequences. Those things are necessary, but voters also need to know they will be rewarded for doing the right thing. Republicans can best do this by putting forward new ideas that don’t rely on bigger government and emphasizing how their policies will help the middle class, lead to more jobs, increase economic growth and create real opportunities for voters.
There are always going to be some kids that can’t be convinced. Some kids will prefer more time to play, no matter the consequences. Others will choose to smoke pot … but they will end up voting for Gary Johnson anyway. However, the vast majority of children eventually understand the importance of doing the right thing. Being the responsible party or parent isn’t easy or fun, but it is necessary. Republicans don’t need to stop being the party of responsibility, but they should take a lesson from Stacy’s mom on how to do it successfully.
