Following the democrats

Jonathan Last of the Weekly Standard offers very sage advice to Republicans regarding the identity politics of the Democrat Party:

Finally, any discussion of the GOP's Official Stance on Wooing Hispanic Voters that envisions policy changes as a means to attract a targeted ethnic demographic assumes stasis in Democratic policy world. But do you really think the Democratic party—which is officially signed on to the diversity spoils system—would ever allow itself to be outbid in such an auction? Me neither. All of which is why the talk about the GOP changing course on immigration so that it can win Hispanic votes is wrongheaded. If Republicans are going to go in a new direction on immigration, they should do so on the merits of the policy. Because it’s the right thing to do. Not because they think it's politically expedient. The party just saw what happens when you run on political expediency. It's far too late to do anything about the destructive, misguided immigration policy put in place by Ted Kennedy and the liberals in the '60s, however, to make matters worse by playing their cynical game of politics is to abdicate the moral high ground. The answer to the conundrum of no growth and the destructive politics of the democrats and many republicans lies in this comment from a Powerline reader responding to an economist who thinks any growth in the economy is behind us forever: "... we really don’t know what drives economic growth over the long term..." Au contraire! We know what drives economic growth, it is the result of people trying to improve their lives. It's workers doing more in order to make their companies more profitable and get themselves raises. It's entrepreneurs starting businesses in hopes of improving their lives. It's brilliant people figuring out things that other people want to buy. It's people willing to spend the money they make buying things that make them happy. And we know what causes the opposite, stagnation, recession and depression. These take place when confidence and ambition are sucked out of the economy, when people with money don't spend it, when people with ideas don't start a business to exploit that idea. This is what is happening now. There is little optim ism on the horizon. People with money to spare aren't willing to spend it because they fear higher taxes and higher costs of gas, health care and food. Companies with money aren't willing to 'invest' (more equipment and more people) because they don't think they'll get a positive return on their spending. Banks with money aren't willing to lend it because they don't think the borrowers will be successful and thus won't pay the loans back. And unfortunately, with Obama being re-elected, I see no reason why this outlook is going to change anytime in the next four years. I don't want to bet against the US, but what is there that would make anyone think that Obama is going to cease his anti-success, anti-business policies?