Schuette: GOP roadmap for success begins with Americans mastering ABCs

Within hours of the Nov. 6 election, pundits and commentators weighed in on how to fix what ails the Republican Party. Too conservative, they said. Be more hardcore, argued others.

Others complained that clinging to a philosophy of lower taxes was a proven loser in light of President Barack Obama's re-election. Here are a handful of ideas to refocus the GOP and regain the political edge in 2014, 2016 and beyond.

The GOP must be the party to help America read. Here is the hard truth. Too many Americans cannot read. While reading should be fundamental, America is now experiencing a reading failure of epidemic proportions. One shocking statistic serves to illustrate this point.A survey by the National Institute for Literacy shows that the functional illiteracy rate of Detroit adults is 47 percent.

Unfortunately, Detroit has plenty of company. The functional illiteracy rate in New York City is 36 percent; for Los Angeles, it is 37 percent. In fact, the number of functionally illiterate Americans is increasing by more than 2 million people per year, according to that same survey. Reports indicate 70 percent of prisoners in federal and state prisons are functionally illiterate. Whatever the statistic may be, it is a crime that too many Americans cannot fill out a job application, use a computer or even read a daily newspaper.

Little wonder, then, that high school graduation rates, particularly in urban areas, are in the toilet. According to the U.S. Department of Education, 25 percent of high school freshmen fail to graduate.

In many big-city school districts, the numbers are dramatically worse.And according to reports, 60 percent of minority students do not graduate from high school in four years. If an ever increasing number of high school graduates and young adults cannot read, the American pathway to opportunity is a dead -end street.

We must have more charter public schools and choices for parents whose children are trapped in failing urban schools; more linkages between colleges and employers to help build bridges to jobs and employment after earning a degree. Parents must be empowered to regain control of their neighborhood school.

The GOP must be the party of ideas. Voters support a candidate because of his or her vision and ideas. As a congressman when Ronald Reagan was president, I was present when conservative, Republican ideas drove America's policy agenda. Supply-side economics, meaning low taxes, worked. Peace through strength worked. Americans had jobs. America was safer. Republicans delivered. As a result, Republicans won elections.

The GOP must be the party of growth and low taxes. Take it from someone who both opposed and experienced the consequences of the 1990 budget deal that was supposed to raise taxes and cut spending.

Guess what? The tax increases were for real and the spending cuts were as phony as a three dollar bill ? or, as a promise of entitlement reform by Democrats. If the GOP throws the "lower taxes" issue over the fiscal cliff, in exchange for ephemeral spending cuts, the Republican ownership of the tax issue will be blurred and our effort to be the pro-growth, pro-jobs party will be dealt a serious blow.

The GOP must not mimic Democrats on cultural issues. A strong two-party system is good for America.

There are and will be fundamental differences on certain issues between the Democrats and Republicans on important issues such as when human life begins and ends, the definition of marriage and the significance of religious liberty. But a handful of bad candidates uttering terrible quotes in the most recent election should not mean the Republican Party abandons its principled opposition to abortion, jettisons its support for traditional marriage or forgoes a vigorous defense of the Constitution's First Amendment guarantee of religious freedom.

Ronald Reagan talked about an America in which a rising tide lifts all boats; a nation that encouraged success and rewarded excellence. He described America as a bright shining city on the hill.But if 47 percent of the people cannot read the directions, then they will never find their way to that shining city.

The simple truth is that America cannot succeed if too many Americans cannot read.

If our party wants to restore the luster of that city on the hill Reagan envisioned, the way to begin is by ensuring that every child and every adult is fully literate.Do that one thing right, and Republicans will improve not just our educational system, but our economy as well.And electoral success will quickly follow suit.

Bill Schuette is the attorney general of Michigan.

Source: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130110/OPINION01/301100333/1007/rss07

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