What was the last "Republican" Policy or Idea that was enacted and was actually a good idea?

[BrentWil]

I was trying to think about this question. There are things in the far past that were "Republican" ideas and were good. For example, freedom of the slaves and trying to grant freed slaves rights (Though the later was a defacto failure until the 1960s). I was trying to put some thought into this. I have some thoughts, but wanted to ask the board.

And let me qualify that. The idea has to be purely or mostly "Republican". For example, NAFTA was a policy supported by both parties (President Clinton and President Bush), so that wouldn't count. (Not that NAFTA is something that people here are crazy about)

[unapatriciated]

1. Eisenhower interstate highway system.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/history.htm
http://www.historynet.com/president-dwight-eisenhower-and-americas-interstate-highway-system.htm

He was the last decent republican.

http://nationalatlas.gov/articles/transportation/a_highway.html

When President Dwight D. Eisenhower took office in January 1953, the States had completed 10,327 km of system improvements at a cost of $955 million - half of which came from the Federal government. According to BPR, as it was again called, only 24 percent of interstate roadway was adequate for present traffic; that is, very little of the distance had been reconstructed to meet traffic expected 20 years hence


Long before taking office, Eisenhower recognized the importance of highways. His first realization of the value of good highways occurred in 1919, when he participated in the U.S. Army's first transcontinental motor convoy from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco.

On the way west, the convoy experienced all the woes known to motorists and then some - an endless series of mechanical difficulties; vehicles stuck in mud or sand; trucks and other equipment crashing through wooden bridges; roads as slippery as ice or dusty or the consistency of "gumbo"; [and] extremes of weather from desert heat to Rocky Mountain freezing.

During World War II, Gen. Eisenhower saw the advantages Germany enjoyed because of the autobahn network. He also noted the enhanced mobility of the Allies when they fought their way into Germany.

[BrentWil]

2. Good one, actually

[Ken Burch]

48. Yes and no

That idea had a major, MAJOR negative tradeoff:

In exchange for the funding of the highway system, the railroad system was basically left to rot. We're STILL paying the price for that, with people who might have traveled inexpensively across the country by train being forced to spend massive amounts of money on gas, with our dependence on oil both foreign and domestic being massively increased, with a commensurate increase in the political power of the petrochemical industry(reaching its ultimate expression with the election of two Big Oil ceo's as heads of our government for eight years), and with the economic destruction of small towns all across the country that happened to be unfortunate enough not to exist on the Interstate routes.

[Major Nikon]

5. I'm not sure if it's fair to say that was purely a Republican idea

The idea actually came from Hitler's Germany, and even though there was considerable debate on the subject before it was implemented, I believe most of that surrounded funding issues and which parts of the nation would be served first.

[unapatriciated]

7. yes he was impressed by Germany's autobahn

but saw the need in 1919.

edited to add: FDR did get the ball rolling in regards to the highway system. Eisenhower made it a reality.

[RKP5637]

6. Definitely, and also his warning about the MIC. I think today he would be

pushing for efficient passenger railroads and rebuilding the infrastructural as a huge potential for jobs, etc. Yep, he was the last decent republican.

Today, the republican party would kick him out as some kind of far left wing kook and also not religious enough. Hell, today, the republican party would throw Jesus in jail as some far out hippie terrorist high on drugs.

[ThomThom]

20. I think Truman first proposed that

It just happened on Eisenhower's watch

[unapatriciated]

23. I believe FDR started the ball rolling.

http://nationalatlas.gov/articles/transportation/a_highway.html

[ThomThom]

26. thanks for setting the record straight

[unapatriciated]

27. I did that earlier on edit in post #7

[aaaaaa5a]

30. That's excellent. But the question is....

would that be supported by today's Republican Party?

[unapatriciated]

31. and the answer is

No. It would not have been supported thirty years ago. They would have privatized it and tolled us to death.

[BrentWil]

3. Nixon? EPA?

How about that one?

Or another domestic policy from his administration.

[RKP5637]

9. Yep, that's a good one!

[unapatriciated]

12. I agree regarding the EPA

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/12/gallery-why-nixon-created-the-epa/67351/

Some think he cared about healthcare, I'm not one of them. He cared about making a profit on it and that is where we went in the wrong direction. He gave us for profit HMO's that were not interested in providing health care.

[WCGreen]

13. But there were overwelming democratic majorities in both houses...

That was when a republican did what he could and realized the value of leadership...

He might have been a psycho, but he wanted to at least do stuff that was good for the country...

[BrentWil]

14. There were, but from I know of the formation of the EPA

The Nixon Administration were the guys behind it, but he did win Democratic Support.

[ThomThom]

21. He signed it, it came from a Democratic congress

I think

[FarLeftFist]

4. ^^^^^^These 2. That's about it.

[Brother Buzz]

8. Pete McCloskey's Endangered Species Act

[Rex]

10. Umm....give me a minute.

Hmmm....

They....

One time...

Okay, back in the 19th century...

I think Nixon...no...

dam...

Reagan...

well...

SHIT...

Lemme get back with ya on that question!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. Oregon's Bottle Bill (mandating recycling of beverage containers )

and land use policies were both instituted by old-style Republicans.

[Proles]

15. Well, there were of course things Nixon did

that people have pointed out here, even if it were mostly due to a Democratic congress and a sweeping progressive mindset during that time period (IE: EPA, a better health care proposal, support of Keynesian economics, etc).

Though Nixon did seem to support a surprising number of progressive legislation, despite his self-professed hatred of liberals, I would say Eisenhower was the last truly respectable Republican President.

Otherwise, I cannot think of much good (if anything), that a Republican has supported in recent history. I must admit George Bush's immigration reform seemed rather promising (at least in my opinion). No matter what his motivation for it might have been, it could have been the one good thing he'd ever done during his administration. Yet, even he lacked the conviction to truly push for it.

[BrentWil]

16. That is true. He does deserve some credit for trying Immigration Reform

[CatholicEdHead]

25. Yep, that would be Ike

He had this quote:

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final

sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone.

It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.

The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities.

It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population.

It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some 50 miles of concrete highway.

We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat.

We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people.

This, I repeat, is the best way of life to be found on the road. the world has been taking.

This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron."

[lpbk2713]

17. I honestly have no idea without doing research.

Keeping track of what those idiots do makes my head hurt.

[etherealtruth]

18. The OSHA Act ...

It's an other Nixon one ... an other Democratic congress ... but, Nixon did not derail this

[customerserviceguy]

19. I'll give credit to Raygun

for targeted jobs tax credits. They actually gave money to people who put people to work, rather than just sprinkling holy water over the 1% and letting it trickle down to the poor. Of course, the rest of Reagonmics was exactly that sort of thing, so I guess you could say it was put in there to get Democratic support.

[ThomThom]

22. none, they have come up with nothing that has been of benefit to the country

as a whole. Completely worthless legislators. Just my opinion.

[BrentWil]

28. They did do the whole freedom for slaves thing...

Just saying. You can't really say that the Republican Party has NEVER done anything good. Slavery was the issue it was founded on.

[ThomThom]

29. but they would like to take that back if they could

so it doesn't really count

[jwirr]

24. Nixon's revenue sharing. That worked for local communities.

[nadinbrzezinski]

32. Well let me see

Sherman Anti Trust Act... back in the dark ages

The Interstate Highway under Ike.

The EPA, under Nixon.

Here is the rub... none of this would happen today... because they are actually, policy wise, to the left of the DEMOCRATIC party, let alone the Republican party.

Which brings me to the next thing... parties change.

[NashvilleLefty]

33. Cap and Trade?

I'll admit, i thought it was a "dumb idea" at the time. But it actually worked to reduce acid rain. Now, of course, Republiacns hate the idea.

[BrentWil]

36. That is a good idea, actually.

People forget that is a GOP idea. Create a world market for carbon and allowing trading. Bring down the total amount allowed to trade each year.

[oberliner]

34. Mailing me a check for $800

That's my favorite thing that Bush did.

[ProSense]

35. Let's see

"What was the last "Republican" Policy or Idea that was enacted and was actually a good idea? "

...the Emancipation Proclamation.

Over the last 30 years, not a damn thing.

Over the last 20 years, they've become dead weight.

Over the last 10 years, they've turned into lunatics, morons and/or obstructionists, and these are characterizations of members of Congress.

[Zorra]

40. Yep, that's the one.

[Sgent]

37. International Space Station, American's With Disabilities Act

both of the above were championed by George H.W. Bush.

[Ken Burch]

39. The A.D.A. was actually mainly the work of Tom Harkin

Last edited Sun Jan 29, 2012, 04:18 AM - Edit history (1)

(the guy we SHOULD have nominated in '92).

#41 wouldn't even let Harkin attend the signing ceremony.

And I hate to think what Dubya would've done to the A.D.A. with one of his "signing statements".

(on edit...the fact that, in some eyes, Bush The First gets the most credit for A.D.A. instead of Harkin is comparable to JFK getting the credit for the Peace Corps, an idea that Hubert Humphrey actually came up with and pushed for harder than anybody else).

[Sgent]

44. Fair Enough

I wasn't really of age at that time -- I knew he signed them.

He also signed a major revision of the clean water act, and the family medical leave act.

I disagreed with him on a lot of issues, but I would much rather have him than anyone since him who's won the republican nomination.

[Ken Burch]

45. And that says a lot about how grim that party has become.

n/t.

[Ken Burch]

38. The Emancipation Proclamation?

(Not sure any of the current GOP candidates would back ol' Abe on that one, though).

[Zorra]

41. Are you a republican? nt

[BrentWil]

42. No NT

[grantcart]

43. Changing the Republican primaries from 'winner take all' to 'proportional' so

This fratricide could go on and on and on and on.

I am hoping that they will allow for full contact demonstrations at the convention.

Let the strong rise to the top.

[Fumesucker]

46. Individual mandate for private insurance..

A quintessentially Republican idea and plenty of Democrats are telling me how great it is.

[Morning Dew]

47. The last good Republican idea was running Dole in '96

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[L. Coyote]

49. Banning slavery?

[mmonk]

50. Health insurance reform I'm told.

[Iggo]

51. Freed the slaves.

[edhopper]

52. One should differentiate

between Progressive ideas that Republicans like Nixon supported. And ideas that originated with the Republicans. The last one i can think of is anti-Trust under Teddy Roosevelt.