GOP as the "iPhone party"
(CNN) - "Imagine your government as your iPhone."
That was the message from Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, in the GOP's weekly address Saturday.
In a call for free markets and open platforms, Alexander argued that government should be more like Apple, Inc. - working to give private citizens the means "to create a happier, safer, more prosperous life."
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It's an idea that "Republican enablers" have fought for for years and that "Democrat mandators" have prevented, he said.
"Republicans want to enable and empower you. We want to be the iPhone party."
Specifically, he cited House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's JOBS Act, which passed in 2012 with bipartisan support and was signed by President Obama. It eases the rules that the Securities and Exchange Commission enforces on small companies going through the process of becoming a publicly traded company, opening up access to new sources of revenue and lifting some regulatory burdens.
Alexander referenced the Dodd-Frank law as a Democrat counter-example, saying it makes "community bankers spend more time filling out forms than... making loans." The sweeping financial reform bill was signed into law in 2010 and meant to strengthen consumer protection, rein in complex financial products, and head off future bank bailouts; critics call it more harmful red tape.
He also pointed to legislation proposed by Republicans as examples of the "iPhone government," including pushing for more school vouchers and giving states more control of their Medicaid programs. Democrats, on the other hand, want "fixed wages and more lawsuits," he said.
Alexander chided other government organizations, too.
"Just imagine the Internal Revenue code, the Food and Drug Administration or the Labor Department enabling you rather than ordering you around," Alexander said.
Healthcare is the biggest divergence, according to Alexander, who slammed Obamacare for "mandating" too much.
"Too often, Obamacare cancels the policy you want to keep and tells you what policy to buy, even if it costs more and restricts your choices of doctors and hospitals. Republicans believe that freedom and more choices will empower you to find a policy that fits your needs and your budget," he said.
To drive home the point of an e-government, Alexander finished his address by calling on constituents to submit their own ideas.
"We'll learn from you," he said, closing out with Easter wishes.
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However, it is time to bring back Glass-Steagall - the 1999 Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act was a big mistake and an important cause of the Great Recession
I agree with Yogi above -
"Alexander argued that government should be more like Apple"...Good luck with that, the GOP will never have the vision, creativity, intelligence and playfulness of Apple. The GOP is stuck in the past and will never evolve, republicans don't even believe in evolution, it is such a sad party.
Sad thing is Republicans are so clueless they do not even how Apple is perceived by the people they are trying to reach.
GOP is a KKK party and has been for years.
This shows the fundamental idiocy of the GOP; they only want wealth and success fro a very, very, few; they could not care less about everyone else. and the I phone analogy? as lame as it is false; Apple is the apotheosis of totalitarianism. It's Apple's way or the highway. Kinda like the GOP after all
In other words: If you are in the 47% who can't afford the newest iPhone, you weren't going to vote for us anyway.
Let's see a party of creationists, segregationists, bigots, Zionists, hawks and war mongers, budget busting tax cutters for the rich and climate change deniers... have I got that right? and they want... be like Apple? morons
Yes the GOP is quite like Apple. They pay slave labor wages to people, make them work 6 days a week, crummy (if any) benefits. AND no systems in place to protect the workers. GOP, YOU ARE ALREADY THERE!
This is 'It's a series of tubes' all over again.
Thank you Senator Alexander for the numerous laughs. Also, the commentators on here are just as silly. If you think that parties controlled by billionaires are going to serve your best interests, I've got some ocean front land in Denver I'll sell you for cheap.
iphone, as in apple, where the rich hide their riches from taxation. and spit on the rest of us. yep, gop.
How to continue to remain irrelevant. The GOP has an AP for that! The best they can hope for is to be the Princess corded phone. That's what all the old folks use to use to ring "Central" to get an outside line!
Newsflash: GOP discovers there are smartphones !!
The GOP is irrelevant. Cares absolutely nothing about the middle-class. And has been taken over by ultra-rightwing extremists.
They may be the iPhony party, but will NEVER be the iPhone party. The iPhone broke the gates open for smart devices and has been the trendsetting phone of which all other smart devices try to emulate. Republicans will NEVER be that as they do not know how to change from the old southern ways of the previous century. Apple is trendsetting and notorious for visionary ideas...well at least when Steve Jobs was alive...Tim Cook, well that may be another story, but the Republicans will never be like Apple, or the iPhone. I still stay they are the iPhony party with heave emphasis placed on PHONY!
Guess pretty soon only rich white christian guys will be allowed to own iphones
The iPhone party, huh? People wandering around staring blankly at their iPhones and waiting to be texted and told where to send their money to buy their political candidate a place in Congress or the House or Senate or the White House? The Zombie Apocalypse is here, people–the iPhone Generation and now they want their own political party. No thanks.
And pollute the heck out of things so we end up like China with 20% of their land mass polluted all to heck? They have billboards with sun rises and sun sets to remind people what things were like before the smog from their job creators blocked out the sun.
It's always funny to hear about how tea bag/repubs say our country should be run more like a company – when companies can be the most undemocratic, authoritarian organizations on the planet.
"We'll learn from you,"
They is certainly getting school'd. But are they learning?
As Hmmm said, Apple is restrictive and in the past 15 years that's what happened to the Republican party too. So I think the analogy (although awful) is apt.
I'm assuming they're aware that the iPhone is built on the backs of cheap labor....
Sent to moderation. Can't imagine why. As Hmmm and Skytag said, Apple is restrictive and in the past 15 years that's what happened to the party too. So I think the analogy (although awful) is apt.
@t money I have heard 20 people I know who praise the lower price they are paying under ObamaCare and 2 who are paying slightly more. Your comment is all over the board.. you tell us that your premiums and out of pocket cost were rising the last two years (before obamacare) and then you complain about paying more now? I wonder how much that ever increasing policy that was making you pay more out of pocket would be without ObamaCare. Most likely, in the long run, you will be saving more money.
Black sheep, have you any wool?
Seems logical. The iPhone is an over-priced phone for rich folks.