List Price: $26.00
www.amazon.com's Price: $26.00
Condition: New
Release Date: 2009-06-09
Average Customer Rating: 3.0
| At it's very bestThis book is purely sophmoric at it's very best. I don't think any research, fact checking, or alternative analysis was done or needed for this work void of one unique thought. It seems as though he wrote a weak outline, spoke into a microphone for a couple of months, and then edited the garbage. The Last Best Hope stinks, and offers not one unique or useful idea for anyone, let alone conservatives seeking office. He should concentrate on his divide and conquer rhetoric he uses on his show every day. At least there are consumers for that.
Don't always agree with him but don't feel like he's shoving his view in my faceIt's refreshing to see a conservative that abhors all the yelling and screaming that has typified the right this decade. Although I do not agree with many of his positions, the manner in which it is presented and his dedication to keeping a calm dialogue is needed. Joe Scarborough's examples of the relationships he developed with liberal house members during his tenure as a Congressman and his daily news program on MSNBC show that he practices what he preaches.
Conservative Opinions With Thoughtful AnalysisThe author argues that conservatives should be grounded in realistic solutions which upholding their beliefs in restraining an overreaching government. He is sad to be conservatism as represented by increased militarization, Wall Street-ers without control, and those who insist upon placing ideological litmus tests on determining who is a supportable conservative. Scarborough instead believes conservatism should avoid rigid adherence to ideology and use its principles towards guiding modern issue policies.
Scarborough's beliefs have libertarian roots on both economic and privacy issues. He urges for less spending on empire building and on government programs. He calls for more attention to economic soundness. He notes that conservatives need to accept Social Security and Medicare and need to concentrate, not on criticizing these programs, but on making these programs more fiscally sound.
Scarborough calls for a foreign policy designed to protect our strategic national interests. Force should be a last resort should when used it should be decisive and we should exit after victory, he argues. Military power should also be aware of our economic limits.
There were $2.1 trillion in mortgage and securities backed by mortgages owned by publicly supported Fannie Mac and Freddie Mac. This grew to $5 trillion by 2008, representing almost half all national mortgages. Meanwhile, banks were leveraging loans to assets at 40 to 1 rates. In 2008, the economy collapsed due to this excessive debt when much of it could not be repaid. Scarborough warns that using $12.8 trillion of Federal government funds to support failing companies only creates more debt.
Scarborough calls for making car batteries more energy efficient. We need to reduce our reliance on oil from governments that oppose our interests. We cannot continue using 25% of the oil worldwide while possessing 3% of proven oil reserves. The US spent $700 billion to import oil in 2008.
Federal government spending is approaching 40% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), an increase from 34.3% ten years ago. In Eurozone nations, national government spending is 48% of their GDP.
Scarborough warns there are $80 trillion in future entitlement obligations that have no tax credits dedicated towards paying these entitlements. This is six times greater than our entire national economy and 16 times larger than the Federal debt. Scarborough argues these programs are important part of social fabric and that conservative proposals to eliminate them are unrealistic. He argues there should be actions taken to make them economically more stable, such as increasing the age for eligibility, which makes sense since life spans have increased.
Great Book! No Matter What Your Party Is, You'll Love It.We have become big fans of Joe and Mika on The Morning Show. Joe is quite the writer and makes political reading fun and very interesting - not boring at all. Book also helps you recover, get over and move on from the American Presidential Bush disaster.
The Morning Show has another great writer. It's co-host Mika Brzezinski. Just read her book too: All Things at Once. Very inspirational and courageous writing.
Continued success on the show and to both of your very successful writing careers.
Tock!
Stick to BroadcastingI personally like Joe and enjoy his MSNBC talk show. I agree with him on almost all of his points, but I could not finish this book. Seems very repetitive and speaks to what went wrong, but not much insight on how to turn things around. This Rodney King approach, "Why can't we all just get along..." seems juvenile. If you must read this--use the copy at the public library, this is not worth your hard earned pay.
Product DescriptionIn this groundbreaking book, Joe Scarborough tells Republican Party bosses what they don’t want to hear, explains why Democrats are making matters so much worse, and then shows leaders of both parties the way forward.
The Last Best Hope draws on the forgotten genius of conservatism to offer a road map for the movement and the country. Delivering a searing indictment of the political leaders who have led us astray, Scarborough inspires conservatives to reclaim their heritage by drawing upon the strength of the movement’s rich history.
With independent thinking and straight talk, Scarborough explains:
• How Washington and Wall Street conspired to create the housing bubble that caused America’s financial meltdown
• How the “candidate of change” has not only maintained but accelerated the reckless spending policies that led us to this historic economic collapse
• How Washington’s bailout culture will cripple America’s future if left unchecked
• How Barack Obama’s stimulus plan devolved into a socialist spending spree that would make FDR and LBJ shudder
• And how conservatives need to take a closer look at Ronald Reagan’s political career before claiming his great legacy
A fearlessly argued conservative manifesto that brings American conservatism into the twenty-first century, The Last Best Hope is a must-read for all who care about the direction America is heading.
From the Hardcover edition.
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