Last week I offered some suggestions to the Democratic party if they hope to capture the presidency next year. Okay, what I actually did was make fun of the bumbling lot of Democratic presidential candidates and their policies. Now, in the interest of fairness, it’s the Republicans turn. Here’s what President Bush and the GOP need to do to retain the world heavyweight title of elected offices:

Counterpunch: Team Bush seems a little timid – at least so far – in trumpeting their successes. For example, Bush is doing comparatively little to counter the false impression given by the mass media and the Democrats that our occupation and rebuilding efforts in Iraq are a complete disaster. In order to offer a more balanced perspective, Bush needs to express in a more forceful manner the things that are going right in Iraq: more than 6,000 Iraqi civil affairs units have been set up, hospitals have reopened, a court system has been set up, a new currency will be introduced Oct. 1, a new constitution is being drawn up, etc. Also, Bush could talk up more the fact that the economy is improving. Recent figures show the Gross Domestic Product grew at a 3.3 percent annual rate – higher than what was predicted – during April-June.

Cut Some Spending: And speaking of the economy, the Republican-controlled Congress needs to stop spending money like it’s going out of style, with the exception of defense and Homeland Security. Republicans always decry tax-and-spend Democrats, meanwhile Bush got his tax cuts passed, but there were no corresponding spending cuts – quite the opposite, in fact. In the spring of 2002 Bush signed a $190 billion farm subsidy bill. Also, the GOP has embraced costly proposals for education and prescription drug benefits. Bush has stated he wants to spend $15 billion on fighting AIDS in Africa. Deficit spending is sometimes a good thing – during recessions and times of war, for example – but the federal government is spending way more money than it needs to…and I don’t want to have to pay it back when I’m old.

Pronunciation: Okay, this is trivial, but there’s something disconcerting about the leader of the free world constantly mispronouncing the “n” word. I am, of course, referring to the world “nuclear,” which President Bush pronounces “nucular.” Shocking, for a man with a bachelor’s degree from Yale and a master’s degree from Harvard Business School.

“My Two Cents” is a weekly column where the author – who is obviously not a professional political advisor – gets in his two cents worth in spite of the old saying that you only get a penny for your thoughts.