Are there examples of countries run with republican/tea party principles? Why, yes!

[apples and oranges]

It has among the lowest tax burdens of any major country: fewer than 2 percent of the people pay any taxes. Government is limited, so that burdensome regulations never kill jobs.

This society embraces traditional religious values and a conservative sensibility. Nobody minds school prayer, same-sex marriage isn’t imaginable, and criminals are never coddled.

The budget priority is a strong military, the nation’s most respected institution. When generals decide on a policy for, say, Afghanistan, politicians defer to them. Citizens are deeply patriotic, and nobody burns flags.

...wealthy people in such countries manage to live surprisingly comfortably. Instead of financing education with taxes, these feudal elites send their children to elite private schools. Instead of financing a reliable police force, they hire bodyguards. Instead of supporting a modern health care system for their nation, they fly to hospitals in London.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/opinion/05kristof.html?_r=0

Please pass this around to your republican friends. They don't realize that if their ideas become the norm here, this would not be the land of opportunity that they brag about. I'm not sure why it's so hard for them to understand that our progressive system is what makes this country so great. If they don't like it, they should move to one of the countries listed in the article.

[mmonk]

1. Somalia.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

2. Chile?

They are always talking about the "Chilean model" as if it some shining example of success.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Pakistan might meet the demands of standard Repukes, but only Somalia

would meet the needs of the true libertarians and Tea baggers.

[2on2u]

4. Can we please just starve the part of govt that doesn't contribute to my campaigns or

reelection bids?? I'm pretty sure this thought has passed through the head of more than one congress critter over the years.

[darkangel218]

5. Oh wow.. thats an excelent article!

Thank you so much for posting this x

[JaneyVee]

6. Iran. Mahmoud is a conservative republican.

[liberal N proud]

7. Can we buy a plane, round them all up and send them there?

I will pitch in to help pay for the plane.

[CurtEastPoint]

8. The author is the NYT article is the author behind "Half The Sky" movement.

He has a great deal of credibility!

[cui bono]

9. "Instead of paying taxes for a reliable electrical grid, each wealthy family installs its own

powerful generator to run the lights and air-conditioning."

Republican voters never think things through to their logical conclusion. Most of them never think at all.

[deutsey]

10. Good column n/t

[Initech]

11. Iran is a religious fundamentalist hell, er, paradise.

[MichaelSoE]

12. k&r x 1,000