GOP Still Doesn’t Get It
19 February 2008
There is no bigger or better spending hawk in Congress than Arizona’s Jeff Flake. Of 50 amendments to cut pork barrel spending in the House, Flake voted for all of them. You’d think that if the GOP really wanted to get spending under control, Flake would be the perfect choice for a seat on the House Appropriations Committee. Yet House minority leader, John Boehner, chose instead, Alabama’s Jo Bonner. Bonner has less seniority than Flake and “votes routinely for spending that Flake opposes.” Indeed, Bonner voted against 49 of the 50 amendments Flake voted for. That’s quite a contrast.
Boehner has warned the GOP that it has to cut spending to take back Congress. Yet, when given the perfect opportunity to do just that, Boehner caved to Democrat and GOP big spenders. From the Wall Street Journal:
Mr. Flake is the scourge of earmarks and the last person Members of either party want on Congress’s main spending committee. He would have been a whistle-blower for taxpayers, in particular against the powerful Democrats who get the most earmarks now that they are in the majority, such as Pennsylvania’s Jack Murtha. But Republican spenders couldn’t tolerate someone who would call out their pork too.
Conservatives have recognized all along that the primary reason for GOP losses in 2006 was governing like Democrats, outspending that party by huge margins. Most the GOP leadership was in denial then, believing the Iraq was the reason for their losses. Despite rhetoric to the contrary, GOP leadership seems to still not get it.
Congressional approval ratings under Democrat control are at all time lows. At the current rate it seems likely they will be in the single digits well before election day. One might think the time is ripe for the GOP to retake Congress. And that would be sound reasoning except that the Republican Party remains in denial.
If the GOP had a strong conservative candidate for President we might be able to count on some measure of “coat tail” effect. Alas, there is no conservative candidate to inspire the Republican base. So, when the perfect conditions exist for a Republican resurgence, instead we’re likely to see the Democrats increase their lead in both houses of Congress while taking the White House too.
It seems the news for conservatives just gets worse and worse every day. That’s why I’m so big on finding, recruiting and supporting true conservatives. I’ve said many times that when true conservatives run on solid conservative platforms, they invariably win. Unfortunately, we weren’t really given such a choice in the Republican presidential primaries. But in my own state of South Carolina, the primaries for congressional and Senate seats are still months away. There is still time to do something about this mess.
I’ve been working to replace South Carolina’s RINO senior Senator, Lindsey Graham. My Congressman, Henry Brown, isn’t much better. He routinely goes along with House GOP leadership rather than stand on conservative principles. He needs to be replaced with a principled conservative. It will be an uphill battle to replace entrenched incumbents. GOP committees in both houses of Congress will work hard to keep their people in place. But we have to remember that “we, the people” have the power. It is our votes that matter and we can turn these guys out and replace them with real conservative leaders. The question is, will we?
Sphere: Related ContentTags: earmarks, GOP, pork, spending
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