A Grander Vision
By Tom DeLay Posted in Archived — Comments (9) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
During Tuesday night’s State of the Union Address, the President spent the first half of the speech discussing domestic policy. Though I agree with him in some areas, I fell compelled to disagree with him on some important points.
I am a strong supporter of an orderly and well-planned guest worker program and I staunchly oppose amnesty for lawbreakers as the President said he did last night. However, the White House will need to avoid games of semantics by calling an amnesty program something else as they did in the last Congress if they are to receive Republican support.
Read on . . .
I have long been a skeptic of the ‘global warming’ doomsday set, and the President seems to be caving in to the politically correct but scientifically questionable arguments in favor of manmade ‘global climate change’ in his speech. The discussion of energy policy is best left in the realm of scientifically proven fact – and I wish he had made his argument on decreasing our energy consumption as a means to lessen our dependence on foreign oil, rather then framing the discussion by using unproven theories about the forces affecting the earth’s climate.
I have long objected to the President’s misguided, ‘No Child Left Behind’ program and continue to believe that the federal government must adhere to its constitutional restraints and not meddle with the education of our children – a truly local issue if ever there was one. The founding fathers did not concern our national government with education, nor should we join that which they consciously chose to put asunder.
Overall, I must confess that I observed a general lack of foresight in the domestic agenda which the President laid out. He seemed to be too focused on the immediate domestic issues while offering no thoughts about his long-term domestic vision. Personally, I would have liked a fuller discussion from him including fundamental tax reform, redesigning government, insuring an accountable judiciary for future generations, and his thoughts on the current (and undeniable) culture war being waged in the United States.
Domestic politics is chess, not checkers, and though the issues de jour may range from affordable healthcare to the merits of a guest worker program, they should not distract us from addressing the fundamental questions of fair taxation or the overall efficacy of government.
Many critics would charge that the President is too weighed down by the Iraq War for such ambitious proposals or that his administration has been consumed with foreign policy at the expense domestic issues. I would counter, in part, that the President’s foreign policy agenda demonstrates tremendous foresight and ambition as he has placed our country at the head of a democratic revolution in the Middle East at a pivotal moment in history.
I would also encourage the President to display this same courage and strategic vision on the domestic front. He must not squander his final years in office by allowing Democrats, empty media talking heads or mealy-mouthed pseudo conservatives, to climb on his back and weigh his administration down with ‘lame duck’ name calling and empty criticism.
My words here are not merely to criticize the President, but also to point out to him those guiding principles which will light our way forward, and reinvigorate his presidency.
Cross Posted at TomDeLay.com
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A Grander Vision 9 Comments (0 topical, 9 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
for this statement:
I have long objected to the President’s misguided, ‘No Child Left Behind’ program and continue to believe that the federal government must adhere to its constitutional restraints and not meddle with the education of our children – a truly local issue if ever there was one. The founding fathers did not concern our national government with education, nor should we join that which they consciously chose to put asunder.
The GOP caucus must keep the president's feet to the fire on the big government domestic agenda, and stop it. As for the proposed amnesty, Tim Russert reported on NBC last night that congressional Democrats expect the president to secure half the GOP caucus if they are to bring it to a vote; the obvious reason is so the Left can claim any legislation was the result of "bipartisanship" rather than their crude attempts at identity politics. This is one of many areas where the GOP, if it plays its cards right, can steer the president in the right direction and score points with the public.
It is great to hear someone of your standing exhort the president to show courage on the domestic front. Let us hope the new minority leadership presses him hard to uphold these basic principles.
support an amnesty program before promoting it. If they can get a handful of Republicans to support it, they can count on their MSM allies to trumpet it as a "bipartisan solution" even if 80% or Republicans are against it. They'll be especially happy to claim their position is so obvious that even our "stupid" President can see the sense in it.
Tom "No Fat Left to Cut" DeLay
Tom "If you don't hire my lobbyist, I'm not giving you an earmark" DeLay
Tom DeLay was part of the problem. He symbolizes the problem. He said he was a conservative, but he wanted power over principle.
Just another church-going whore. And RedState should be ashamed that they let him post on their site. Ashamed.
Warning, folk. Stand back, he's going to let fly
and BTW, what is the correct salutation? "Mr.", "Rep", or something else? I never could figure that out.
Anyway, THE problem is a lack of vision for basic principles anywhere in the party. No Republican Leader, no Representative, no Senator, and so far no potential Presidential Candidate has bothered to enunciate a VISION of what America should be. Everybody talks about legislation.
From a historical perspective, in our lifetime there have been two Republicans who brought a vision to politics. The first was Ronald Reagan (Shining City on the Hill... Government is the problem, not the solution... and We win, they lose...) and Newt with the Contract. Those two men gave us a vision we could grab hold of and pursue. Now we get Plan B, Private Accounts, Certain Dates, etc.
Where's the vision? Where's the Leadership? Where's the courage to stand and fight? The first Congress of President Bush's first term gave us No Child Left Behind. The last Congress of his last term is poised to give us No Country to Leave Behind. And the Republicans in the Senate are tagging along.
This current group of elected Republicans seems to be a group to be forgotten, not followed.
Senior Writer
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If "pro" is the opposite of "con", what is the opposite of "progress"...