Cognitive Dissonance: Why do people vote for Democrats? A Liberal State of Mind pt.8 (Attack of the Republican Blogs)

Today on your home for young Republicans: Cognitive Dissonance aka A Liberal State of Mind pt.8

Cog-ni-tive (adjective)

1. Of or pertaining to cognition.
2. Of or pertaining to the mental processes of perception, memory, judgment, and reasoning as contrasted with emotional and volatile processes.

Dis-so-nance (noun)

1. Disagreement or incongruity.

To anyone who doesn’t know, this is the feeling of uncomfortable tension that comes from holding two conflicting thoughts in the mind at the same time.

It often increases with the importance of the subject to us, how strongly the dissonant thoughts conflict, and our inability to rationalize and explain away the perceived conflict.

Dissonance is often strong when we believe something about ourselves and then do something against that belief. If I believe I am good but do something bad, then the discomfort I feel as a result is cognitive dissonance.

For example, have you ever been involved in a relationship (romantic, personal, work, ect…) where you spent more time rationalizing the reasons why you’re staying in the situation than realizing the negative effects of staying in said relationship?

“He hits me, but that’s only because I make him mad”

“She cheats on me, but she says she’s going to change”

“I’m a Democrat because my father was a Democrat because my grandfather was a Democrat and so on”

“So what if my taxes were raised? At least I didn’t vote for a Republican”

Notice anything about those statements? They all express a contrary circular logic that dictates that whenever presented with a negative occurrence, the most effective method to deal with it is to find a way to justify it to yourself. While this behavior may make you feel better in the interim, it does nothing to address the root issue or solve the problem. Hence, the same (insert problem here) will keep occurring, uninterrupted, in perpetuity.

I could go on forever with this subject. Most people find it easier to rationalize the actuality of (insert problem here) with a self defeating detachment from reality as opposed to facing the truth. It’s the literal equivalent of continuing to drive your car with the check engine light on in the hopes that it will magically turn itself off. You can ignore it all you want, but sooner or later, your car’s going to break down. Your refusal to accept the truth only leads to your inevitable failure. And that’s truly a liberal state of mind.

Cognitive dissonance is a very powerful motivator in voting which leads people to change one or the other of their conflicting beliefs or actions regarding a candidate, bill, proposition, measure, ect. The discomfort often feels like a tension between the two opposing thoughts.

Say for example, your friend happened to be running for (pick any) office and you knew they weren’t qualified to fill the position. Would you vote for them?

Consequently, if someone you truly disliked were running in opposition to your friend, would you vote against them even though they were more than qualified to fill the position?

The juxtaposition between doing what someone sees as what they’re supposed to do and doing what’s in their best interest has been prevalent in politics forever. Think about how many communities have been harmed or neglected by Democratic leaders for decades and yet their populace still votes Democrat. It’s astonishing.

To relive the tension felt by not acting in self interest, one of three actions will occur: a change of behavior, justifying the behavior by changing the conflicting cognition or justifying the behavior by adding new cognitions.

Dissonance is at its most powerful when it concerns self-image. Feelings of foolishness, immorality and so on (including internal projections during decision-making) are dissonance in action.
If an action has been completed and cannot be undone, then the after-the-fact dissonance compels us to change our beliefs. If beliefs are moved, then the dissonance appears during decision-making, forcing us to take actions we would not have taken before.

Does any of this sound familiar? I thought it might. Keep this in mind when discussing politics with the unenlightened.

In closing, special thanks to all of our Armed Forces, the RNC, the Missouri Republican Party, the Illinois Republican Party, the College Republican National Committee, the National Black Republican Association, the Wall Street Journal, KSDK Channel 5, KTVI Fox 2 News (thanks for the follow on twitter!) Jeanette (this one’s for you) and to all of my Republican Blogs and Bloggers (We’ve already won), my Libertarian blogs and bloggers (join us), my Democrat blogs and bloggers (Stop trying to socialize America), and to all Political blogs and bloggers: Let your voice be heard. GOP in 2012! If you’re not on the right, you’re wrong. Ready by 2011 to win in 2012! Follow STL_Politics on Twitter.
References
Festinger (1957), Festinger and Carlsmith (1959)

It’s More Than Just Politics aka What happens when you put Democrats in office pt.6 (Attack of the Republican Blogs)

Today on your favorite political blog for young Republicans: It’s more than just politics aka yet another example of the ridiculous consequences that occur when you put Democrats into any form of office.

It’s looking like this socialist, clusterf*ck of a healthcare reform bill will face its final committee vote on Tuesday according to top Senate Democrat Harry Reid.

The bill that the Finance Committee will be voting on is a 10-year, $829 billion proposal that supposedly covers 94 percent of eligible Americans while (allegedly) reducing the federal budget.

As you may already know, Reid and other Senate Democrats who happen to be in support of this misguided attempt at healthcare reform have been busy lately characterizing GOP leaders as “partisan protesters” and “divisive”. But the fact is, Senate Dems have purposely mischaracterized or blatantly left out several key details about this bill that many Americans are still not aware of.

It’s only so long that Democrat PAC ads featuring elderly citizens and children and puppies and pretty background music can fool the American people. As much more facts come out about this bill, I’ve noticed the tide starting to shift against this Democratic version of healthcare reform.

For one, this legislation is filled with tax hikes. It starts by taxing those who earn over $10,831 per year and don’t buy health insurance-a tax that increases to $3,800 as income rises. Health Insurance, health care devices and prescription drugs are also taxed, adding to the cost of health care, and decreasing the amount of competition amongst health care related businesses.

The bill also cuts $500 billion in Medicare spending, which includes over $130 billion in cuts to Medicare Advantage and almost $120 billion in Medicare cuts for hospitals and facilities that care for seniors (remember the adorable elderly people featured in their TV ads?). The CBO (Congressional Budget Office) says they expect the Medicare Advantage plans to lose around 2.7. million enrollees over the next ten years as a result of this bill being passed, while also stating that “premiums in the new insurance exchanges would tend to be higher than the average premiums in the current-law individual market…”

In other words, the cost of insurance will increase, as opposed to the claims being made by the Obama administration otherwise. But wait…it gets a lot worse.

This current bill includes what’s being called an “individual mandate”, which in essence would force all Americans to purchase health insurance. Subsidies will be given to those who earn up to three times the federal poverty level, while those who don’t qualify for the subsidies will be taxed up to $3,800 if they don’t buy insurance. So basically, if you can’t afford to buy insurance then you’ll be taxed almost $4,000. Does that make any sense to anyone? Leaving people caught in between being unable to afford insurance and having to pay this nonsensical tax? Ask yourself: If someone living at or below the poverty line had $4,000 to spend in discretionary income-don’t you think they would buy their own insurance as opposed to being taxed for not having it? And where would the tax money come from? If someone’s in what’s considered to be a lower class tax bracket, chances are they don’t pay income taxes anyway and actually get a tax refund every year.

Again, this is just the type of absurdity that can be expected when Democrats get elected to any form of office.

I can go on and on about how forcing all the uninsured into insurance could bring as much as $200 billion a year in new premiums to insurance companies (including $465 billion in subsidies over the next ten years), allowing law enforcement agencies unobstructed access to medical records (do you want that?), how this bill does nothing to add lawsuit reform to help curb frivolous lawsuits…you get the picture.

As Garet Garrett famously stated, “social gains that cost more than society can afford, especially those that are founded on the doctrine of dividing what there is instead of producing more, are bound in a little time to annul themselves.”

Socializing health care will not solve the problem. Raising taxes will not solve the problem. Government intervention will not solve the problem (bailouts anyone?) Punishing those who can’t afford health care will not solve the problem.

The only feasible solution is to elect the party in 2010 and 2012 that’s committed to cutting waste, lowering taxes, lessening bureaucracy, strengthening our country and providing economic growth and opportunities to all Americans; that party is the Republican Party. Vote GOP!

In closing, I’d like to give a special thanks to all of our Armed Forces, the RNC, the Missouri Republican Party, the Illinois Republican Party, Freedom Works, the College Republican National Committee, the National Black Republican Association, the Wall Street Journal, KSDK Channel 5, KTVI Fox 2 News (thanks for the follow on twitter!), the best assistant/god sister/too many things to name aka Jeanette (your aura…get it?), Missy (I just do like Just had said) and to all of my Republican Blogs and Bloggers (We’ve already won), my Libertarian blogs and bloggers (join us), my Democrat blogs and bloggers (Stop trying to socialize America), and to all Political blogs and bloggers: Let your voice be heard. GOP in 2012! If you’re not on the right, you’re wrong. Ready by 2011 to win in 2012! Follow STL_Politics on Twitter.
Links: http://freedomworks.org

http://grandoldparty2011.blogspot.com

“Obamacare” aka what happens when you put Democrats in office pt.5 (Attack of the Republican blogs)

Today on your new home for all young Republicans: Change. As you’ve all noticed, I’ve recently made some changes to my site that I think will make it more accessible to all of my readers. It’s a new look, and a new format. But as some things change-others will always remain the same. Liberals will always be idiots.

Have you ever encountered someone in a bar that happened to be so blatantly ignorant about politics that you just wanted to grab them and choke them? Someone who’s’ never bothered to research the history, agenda or voting record of any person they’ve ever voted for but who complains when their taxes go up? Someone who’s’ never came to the realization that who you put into any office (local, state, federal) directly affects what legislation is or isn’t passed and how those decisions directly affect their life?

Unfortunately (or fortunately for us in 2012), I see this type of destructive, self-deprecating behavior on a daily basis. It’s almost like most democrats are suffering from abusive spouse syndrome.

This week, in yet another example of Democrat Party lunacy, House leaders are proposing adding a tax on insurers in their bizarre attempt to reduce the price of their misguided (socialist) health care bill. Read more:

By Deirdre Walsh
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that an excise tax on high-end insurance plans, similar to the one included in the Senate Finance Committee’s health care overhaul legislation, was “under consideration.”
But Pelosi added that leaders are looking at other proposals to offset the costs of the bill.
“We have to see how much money we need, and if we’re taking the bill down in costs, there are other provisions in the Senate bill that bend the curve that might be more palatable. We’ll see,” she added.
House Democratic leaders and key committee chairmen met Friday to try to come up with a final version of the House health care bill. Much of the discussion centered on how to cut about $200 billion in costs from the measure.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the House bill costs $1.1 trillion over 10 years, but President Obama told Congress he wants a bill that costs $900 billion.
The House Democrats’ health care plan includes a surtax on wealthy Americans. The graduated tax would apply to families making more than $350,000 a year, with the rate increasing as income levels go up. But a number of freshmen Democrats argued that the initial income level should be raised so the tax doesn’t unfairly burden small businesses.
Leaders have now agreed to apply the surtax on those making more than $1 million a year. But losing some revenue from the surtax is forcing Democratic leaders to look for other sources of funding.
Democratic leadership aides say that if the House moves ahead with a tax on insurers, it would probably modify the Senate Finance Committee version, because many Democrats are worried the Senate plan would hit middle-class families.
See what happens when you put democrats in office? In closing, special thanks to all of our Armed Forces, the RNC, the Missouri Republican Party, the Illinois Republican Party, the College Republican National Committee, the National Black Republican Association, the Wall Street Journal, KSDK Channel 5, KTVI Fox 2 News (thanks for the follow on twitter!) and to all of my Republican Blogs and Bloggers (We’ve already won), my Libertarian blogs and bloggers (join us), my Democrat blogs and bloggers (Stop trying to socialize America), and to all Political blogs and bloggers: Let your voice be heard. GOP in 2012! If you’re not on the right, you’re wrong. Ready by 2011 to win in 2012! Follow STL_Politics on Twitter.

Class is Back in Session! A Republican State of Mind

Today on my Republican Blog: Class is back in Session! This is just a little something for everyone to think about when deciding who to vote for in this next upcoming election and also a life lesson for anyone who’s never taken a class in political science (you can apply this to any aspect of your life). Congrats to N. Reimer, D.W. Simon and J. Romance for enlightening the masses! The irrational actor model is coming next (thanks Wash U). And don’t forget to give thanks to our Armed Forces on this remembrance of 9/11. Enjoy:

What values, what understanding of political phenomena, and what grasp of public policy alternatives actually influence decision making? How adequate is the machinery available to decision makers? What are the consequences of our public policy decisions? How is power wielded, and how are political conflicts resolved?
To answer these questions we present the following models: (1) the rational actor, (2) the political actor, (3) the organizational actor, (4) the elitist actor, and (5) the idiosyncratic actor. While these models are not mutually exclusive, they emphasize different factors in, and different approaches to, decision making.
In the rational actor model of decision making, decision makers seek to accomplish four tasks: accurately identify the problem that confronts them; take into account the key factors that bear on the problem; critically examine alternative courses of action; and make a choice that will wisely maximize benefits and minimize costs.
In the political actor model, decision making is not essentially rational deliberation. Rather, it is characterized by decision makers involved in a struggle for power, and decisions emerge from that struggle. This kind of decision making necessitates bargaining, accommodation, and consensus, as well as controversy, conflict, bluff, threat, and even deceit. The bottom line is that key decisions are most often the result of bargaining among diverse political interests.
The organizational actor model affirms the organization’s crucial role in decision making, and it stresses the importance of the organization’s vital interests, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and capabilities. It emphasizes how the organization sees problems, obtains information, shapes alternatives, assesses costs and benefits, and makes choices.
The elitist actor model of decision making asserts that very powerful individuals or limited groups of influential people, known as elites, make the really significant decisions in politics, and they do so to protect their own self-interest and power.
Finally, the idiosyncratic actor model of decision making recognizes the role of personality in politics. Factors such as the personal intuition, communication skills, charisma, compassion, demagoguery, ruthlessness, or dogmatism of a leader become important to understanding his or her decisions. A decision maker’s role may be destructive, as in the case of leaders like Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, and Saddam Hussein, or it may be creative, as in the case of Winston Churchill, Mohandas Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr.

In closing, special thanks again to all of our Armed Forces, the RNC, the Missouri Republican Party, the Illinois Republican Party, the College Republican National Committee, the National Black Republican Association, the Wall Street Journal, KSDK Channel 5, KTVI Fox 2 News, my personal assistant /gf #2 Jeanette (partners in crime), Missy (don’t make me take this to twitter-say yes already), Kevin (you’ll get this…share it with your co-workers), Joe Wilson (thank you), and to all of my Republican Blogs and Bloggers (He’s lying), my Libertarian blogs and bloggers (you know he’s lying), my Democrat blogs and bloggers (seriously; you know he’s lying. Stop trying to socialize America), and to all Political blogs and bloggers: Let your voice be heard. GOP in 2012! If you’re not on the right, you’re wrong. Ready by 2011 to win in 2012! And if John doesn’t get his truck back there’s gonna be an issue. Do Remember to follow STL_Politics on Twitter.

Let’s Debate! Barack Obama’s Healthcare Reform debacle aka What happens when you put Democrats in office pt.4 (Attack of the Republican Blogs)

Today on my Republican blog: Let’s Debate! The debacle of Barack Obama’s Healthcare Reform Plan aka what happens when you put democrats in office.

Once again in yet another example of the dems blaming Republicans for everything, Barack Obama has called for an “honest debate” on his train wreck of a healthcare reform plan.

“This is an issue of vital concern to every American, and I’m glad that so many are engaged, but it should also be an honest debate, not one dominated by willful misrepresentations and outright distortion, spread by the very folks who would benefit the most by keeping things exactly how they are,” Obama said in his weekly radio and internet address.

If I’m not mistaken, that sounds to me that anyone who speaks out against his idea of socialized healthcare is being dishonest. Realistically, anyone who’s studied his vague, confusing plan can easily see that there’s a few fundamental problems that exist within it.

Even Obama backtracked this week on his own plan, angering his liberal base by saying that he would be ok with a plan that lacked a government run-health care option. I thought that was the core basis of this nonsense in the first place?

“This is one idea among many to provide more competition and choice, especially in the many places around the country where just one insurer thoroughly dominates the marketplace,” Obama said. “Let me repeat: It would just be one option: those who prefer their private insurer would be under no obligation to shift to a public plan.”

Wait a minute: this sounds like the typical liberal flip flop and yet another example of democrats confusing the will of the American people for some mysterious Republican conspiracy to block their (socialist) goals.

I can tell honestly tell you that most of the people I’ve talked to who’ve attended any town hall meetings were genuinely concerned about the proposed changes to their healthcare. Yes, there were some individuals who attended meetings just to be disruptive or bring attention to whatever cause they’re trying to promote at the moment, but that was from both sides.

So this ridiculous notion that Republicans are somehow turning the public against this (socialized) healthcare plan is utterly laughable.

I think it has more to do with the fact that most Americans can see thru the cloudy haze of the democrats’ attempt to socialize healthcare in this country (among other things). It’s inefficient, limits choices and hemorrhages taxpayer money. I’m just guessing that people other than Republicans can see that.

Two weeks ago, the Post Office was called a “high risk” federal agency by the Government Accountability Office and the USPS is expected to have a loss of 7 billion dollars this year. And even Obama has said that Fed Ex and UPS offer more efficient service!

So what does this tell us? Maybe that the private sector is much more capable of running a profitable business than the government will ever be. This country was built on the hard work, innovation and determination of individuals; not on bureaucracy. Don’t believe me? When’s the last time you’ve been to the DMV? Do you really want the government running your healthcare?

So with that being said, I’d like to give a special thanks to all of our Armed Forces, the RNC, the Missouri Republican Party, the Illinois Republican Party, the College Republican National Committee, the National Black Republican Association, the Wall Street Journal, KSDK Channel 5, KTVI Fox 2 News, my personal assistant /gf #2 Jeanette (you’re f*cking with my education), Missy (stop it already), DeAngelo (hey jealousy), Kevin (stop the lottery people), Corey (you’re about to be a millionaire), and to all of my Republican Blogs and Bloggers (They’re really giving 2012 to us on a silver platter), my Libertarian blogs and bloggers (what’s next?), my Democrat blogs and bloggers (you’re entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts), and to all Political blogs and bloggers: Let your voice be heard. GOP in 2012! If you’re not on the right, you’re wrong. Ready by 2011 to win in 2012! Cash for clunkers anyone? That’s what happens when you put democrats in office. Follow STL_Politics on Twitter