Republican Capitulation
By Erick Posted in 2008 — Comments (67) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
I have sad news to report.
While the Republicans in the United States House of Representatives are willing to fight for conservative principles, particularly those that divide the Democratic caucus in the House, the Republicans in the United States Senate have agreed to capitulate to the Democratic agenda.
Yesterday, I obtained internal Senate emails from Senator Lamar Alexander's staff. Senator Alexander is in charge of setting the GOP agenda. The emails, which you can read here, signal an intention to cave in to Democratic "bipartisan" initiatives and abandon all efforts to rein in earmarks and spending.
What makes this more troubling is that at yesterday's GOP Senate retreat, pollster David Winston told the Republicans that one reason they lost the Senate was because of spending. Senator Alexander and the Republican leadership have decided to reject that data and, instead, embrace their minority status.
Rather than push bold conservative issues, the Senate GOP Leadership will instead enjoy the table scraps Harry Reid, Teddy Kennedy, and Hillary Clinton throw them from the leadership table.
Please call your Republican Senator at (202) 224-3121 and tell him to reject bipartisan expansions of government and fight for conservative ideas that stop wasteful spending on bridges to nowhere and Hippie museums.
« Dueling June Obama fundraising claims? — Comments (2) | If You Ain't Cheatin', You Ain't Tryin' — Comments (5) »
Republican Capitulation 67 Comments (0 topical, 67 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
You know that and the DREAM Act will be back now and I bet they'll all be ready and willing to cave on it too!....yea thats grand ole party Bipartisanship for you, get elected and stab your constituents right in the back!.
If Shamnesty returns, we'll fry their phone lines again. We'll intimidate the Senate. We'll be fierce with our opposition but we'll have an additional weapon: the promise that we'll dry up their campaign funds if they proceed.
Everytime the Senator McCain campaign trumpets another endorsement from a Senate colleague.
What the hell is going on out here? - Vince Lombardi
McCain has been at the forefront of the battle to eliminate wasteful projects. He has opposed to wasteful pork-barrel projects and government subsidies not only from the Dems, but also from the GOP.
Yes, he broke party lines a lot in spending issues. But for the sake of small-government principles.
he just chases the chimera of the Balanced Budget. It didn't work for the Republicans in the 60's and 70's, it won't work now. Reagan stopped chasing the chimera and pursued lower taxes instead much to the benefit of all of us.
If opposition to tax cuts were part of the deal. Can you imagine the response to a Contract with America that had that nifty bullet point in it?
---
Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
is also taxing. It's their only revenue source. You are cutting taxes when you are cutting spending. Otherwise, you are just postponing the payment of the taxes. Like in "tax the unborn, they don't vote anyway".
... I just received my latest (weekly, at least) NRSC mailing. Apparently Liddy Dole was interested in my opinion on "Illegal Immigration" and, of course, some of my hard-earned cash.
Somewhat ironic given the timing of this post - don't you think?
Perhaps unsurprisingly, said mailing went unopened directly into the trash.
-------------
Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock.
to ram the CIR bill back down everyone's throats...The Return of McCain-Kennedy. We need to get a list of every Senator that caves to the Dem's and is up for re-election in the next few years and be sure to give heavy support to any primary opposition they get.
My husband eagerly opens every one of the "surveys" we get and then finds his favorite red marking pen. Then he scrawls across the entire first page - Fix the Illegals problem - and then on the second page with the $ appeal - Not a dime until there is a fence!
Amazingly, we still get these...regularly!
At least it gives the golfer a little fun with junk mail.
And yes, he uses the return envelope.
Soldier's Mom - Golfer's Wife - Home alone a lot
I think I will start doing the same thing. Perhaps if we all did we could really send a message to the RNC.
"Where I stand does not depend on where I'm standing." Fred D. Thompson
Her name appeared on the front of the mailing and it was from the NRSC.
Gonna start questioning my eyesight now?
-------------
Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock.
Maybe in their infinite wisdom they've decided to make Liddy the point-gal on immigration. That would be par for the couse lately, eh?
FTR, I didn't think I was suggesting that Liddy was running the NRSC - but obviously Ensign is "in charge" of this herd of cats now. Color me bewildered.
-------------
Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock.
Your post just sounded to me like you were ascribing a generic NRSC mailing to Dole, not that you got a mailing FROM Dole.
sorry about that.
To be fair, I believe Liddy Dole was rock solid in opposition to the CIR bill last summer from the start. She did not require any calling or emailing to change her mind.
....for the sake of getting it done. Bipartisanship for the sake of bipartisanship is meaningless tripe. PRINCIPLED partisanship is what we need. I don't want my Republican elected officials caving in to liberal Democrat bills for the sake of "bipartisanship".
Unfortunately, we still have folks like Lamar Alexander in charge of the Senate. Lamar! is part of the good ole boys club in the Senate (mostly southern Republicans) who like to schmooze and "just get along" with Democrats. Not much will change until these guys are removed from leadership positions.
“.....women and minorities hardest hit”
stalks the Republican cloak rooms. The man who taught republicans to be good losers, whose best golfing buddies were stalwarts like Dan Rostentkowski, who received warm cheers from Republican jelly fish in Congress a few years after '94, when all the old urges to crawl on their bellies were returning.
The Democrats come to Congress already corrupted, it only becomes worse with them in time. For many Republicans similarly, but there the corruption is the lure of sinecure, of weakness, of self protection, and always, the easy way out.
Come January '09 duck, and hide your money under the mattress.
"a man's admiration for absolute government is proportinate to the contempt he feels for those around him". Tocqueville
Maybe a number one GOP objective should be abolishing the Senate. Seriously, maybe about 1/3 of the Republican Senators don't have Republican principles and another 1/3 have Republican principles but don't let if affect how they do their job.
Thats whats needed now more than anything. If strict term limits in the House and Senate were enacted into law these political hacks wouldn't be in office anymore, they'd have to go get a REAL Job!..then see how unfair it is that all your hard earned money go to Taxes for pork spending and other useless crap.
Every 2, 4 or 6 years we get to throw this morons out on their backsides and replace them with an entirely new set of morons.
That we don't do so is not the fault of said morons (either outgoing or incomming).
-------------
Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock.
than an HLA, FMA or repeal of the 16th Amendment.
Never, ever, under any circumstances will it happen.
____
CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
The state-by-state strategy was sound until the Supreme Court made it unconstitutional. Thanks, robed masters.
the political hacks, whom we at least get some regular chance to vote out, if only in theory, will be replaced regulatory and lobbyist hacks, over whom we will have no authority whatsoever as they tell the elected mouthpieces how to vote. Then Welcome to Serfdom.
This is just the logical outcome of "Bipartisanship™", especially in the media, increasingly replacing soundness and principle as the yardstick by which to measure legislation.
And yet many here are considering putting in the White House the Senate's No. 1 Republican advocate of "Bipartisanship™ uber alles."
If You Liked George Bush's "New Tone™", You're Gonna LOOOOVE John McCain's "Bipartisanship™" ...
What have Conservatives learned this week?
1) FDT did not have a prayer because the GOP machinery has been retooled to support "Moderates" and worse. He was the furthest to the Right.
2) the GOP Senate caucus answers to the above mentioned machine.
3) The GOP left us, the Conservatives, and is trying to build a relationship with the Dems in order to share power.
4)It is time for Conservative leaders to consider a new home - translation - party. The GOP will NEVER again support our principles.
Who will step up and lead?
Soldier's Mom - Golfer's Wife - Home alone a lot
This is not the place to rally against the Republican party. There are many sites on the Internet that have that sort of thing, but this is not one of them.
But how do you interpret that? A requirement that people be both conservative and Republican? Or just one of the two? Or maybe you mean 'Republican, but with a bias towards Conservative Republicans'?
This is a serious question, btw, because to many it seems that the Republican party has lost it's conservative ideals. And I'm open to ways in which we can try to steer it back on course, but I'm not sure that 'support anyone with an (R) after their name reflexively' is particularly helpful for that task.
In practice what it means is that the front page leans toward conservative activism within the Republican party, but the whole site is expected to either be Republican or respect the Republican party bent here.
Once you're not a Republican, well, people like Leon and Moe start saying "life's not fair."
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
I would love to see the GOP return to the conservative principles that comprise my core.
Barring that, I intend to keep my options open.
Soldier's Mom - Golfer's Wife - Home alone a lot
If the Republican party continues down its current path, where will RS land? With the Republicans or Conservatives?
I will, as instructed, rally elsewhere.
Blam me if you must.
Soldier's Mom - Golfer's Wife - Home alone a lot
Welcome to the dynamic of a two-party system. The philosophical underpinnings of the Republican Party come from the Right; the ultimate power lies with the Middle. We win elections when the Right's ideas resonate with the Middle; and if that isn't happening this go-round, it's not actually the Middle's fault.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
how far is the GOP willing to bend away from the right to capture the mushy middle? How far down do the stool legs need to be cut before those in the middle finally feel comfy? Will the stool still be usable at that point?
This is one of those "somebody oughta write a diary" topics - where is the American public on the "conservative/liberal continuum" these days, and has there really been a shift to the left?
The Unofficial RedState FAQ
“You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say. ” - Martin Luther
A superior way is addressing it in terms of How does the Right express its ideas in a way that will reassure the Middle that the Right's answer is the correct one?
Of course, that way requires preparation, work, and a general avoidance of name-calling the very people that you have to convince. :)
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
But seriously - who in the GOP arena is capable of doing that without being accused of flip/flopping, or of being a traitor, or a closet liberal, or ... ? I have seen no indication that such a candidate yet exists - Bush was close, but unfortunately he meant what he said with "compassionate conservatism". It appealed to the middle, but unfortunately it didn't do so well for conservatism as a whole. The problem is that "expressing (the Right's) ideas in a way that will reassure the Middle" usually means also having ideas that don't appeal to the Right. I'd appreciate hearing an example of someone who is good at what you propose, and a sample of how they've expressed it.
The Unofficial RedState FAQ
“You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say. ” - Martin Luther
Why is it suddenly my responsibility to get around the problem that TRUE CONSERVATIVES!!!!! (I explicitly make no comparisons to anyone on this thread) spout off against anybody who isn't sufficiently TRUE CONSERVATIVE!!!!! for them? That's all theirs, man: I mean, I can't stop them from marginalizing themselves. If I could, I would, but I can't, so I won't.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
I hope you didn't take that as a challenge. I was just curious if you had anyone particular in mind as a good example of one who has done a good job of portraying the conservative agenda/policies as something that would appeal to the swing voters. I just don't know of anyone myself...
The Unofficial RedState FAQ
“You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say. ” - Martin Luther
I'm not so sure about 1).
I've been thinking ... what did you do for Thompson? All I did was donate money and sit in my computer chair refreshing Redstate every 5 minutes. I've been the first to criticize the Thompson campaign for not gathering the support, for not getting people excited, for not being professional. A lot of that is true, but it is also a bit one-sided.
I didn't go door to door. I didn't campaign.
The fact is votes have to be won. We've all thought Fred didn't try hard enough. Maybe I didn't try hard enough. Maybe a lot of us didn't. We can't sit on our keyboards railing fruitlessly against the machine and hope our collective will is going to change the world.
GOP Machinery? What about GOPeople?
There is a conservative principle about not relying on Government to solve problems, about being self-reliant. Maybe I have relied on the campaigns of others to do my work for me. There is a lot of reflection to go around following Fred's departure from the race. Maybe some of us, myself included, should take a look at the mirror ourselves.
Worth thinking about.
Former Fredhead, Current McCainiac
absentee
I actually did campaign for Fred. And I was able to take on responsibilities to free up one of his state chairs so she could get out there and operate.
I am both a member of the party and the machine, as I am the head of one of the groups that helps to write the platform locally. No, I am not claiming lofty status, just some insight from involvement.
Agree that votes have to be won, so do hearts and minds. Fred didn't have the personality, or maybe the money, or the organization, the exposure in the media.....The fact is, he did not get the support he needed from voters and the party.
I think that my interest in exploring options is a direct result of my conservative beliefs. I do not rely on others, I am just a lowly individual trying to ask others to consider where we as a group go now. My guess is that I am not the only one, but I cannot rely on others. I have to take the initial steps or forever look in the mirror and condemn myself for not trying.
Soldier's Mom - Golfer's Wife - Home alone a lot
Newt. For. President.
If/until I see a better candidate, I'll be praying for Newt in 2012.
**********************************
And statesmen at her council met
Who knew the seasons when to take
Occasion by the hand, and make
The bounds of freedom wider yet
- Tennyson, _To the Queen_
Why?
***********************************
And statesmen at her council met
Who knew the seasons when to take
Occasion by the hand, and make
The bounds of freedom wider yet
- Tennyson, _To the Queen_
1. Newt's too egotistical. He thinks he's perfect, so when the Clintons mopped the floor with him, he got a serious case of CDS, and so acts completely paranoid about them and their strength.
2. I'm rooting for Republican victory, not defeat, this year.
Oh dear. Neil:
1. McCain is the only GOP candidate that is not as egotistical.
2. Pejorative and uninformative.
Let me start:
1. (true) Fiscal Conservative
2. (true) Social Conservative
I think the only issue of Newt's the conservatives would be upset about is man-made climate change. But he's not exactly alone in this (see my favorite conservative at the moment: David Cameron). Newt truly believes in a small, limited government, in a strong national defense, and in a legal system that protects the most defenseless in our country (i.e. the unborn).
Unlike FDT, Newt is a phenomenal debater and public speaker.
*********************************
And statesmen at her council met
Who knew the seasons when to take
Occasion by the hand, and make
The bounds of freedom wider yet
- Tennyson, _To the Queen_
Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh are two people who were critical in shaping my political outlook. If not for them I might not have BEEN here today, writing on a site like this.
But look at where the Congress has gone since the Contract. There was no good reason for us to lose his leadership that fast, unless he had serious problems leading our political movement from a position of power instead of the minority.
Depressing, isn't it, when Republicans' finest moments come when in the minority? I think Reagan is one of the few exceptions.
I am unfamiliar with the intricacies of the Speakership, though I know enough to say that I would never want it! Do you remember the last speaker who had a positive image upon leaving office? I don't, though I didn't start following politics until a few years ago.
There is something inherently nasty about being Speaker -- it is the top purely political job. The President has authority to act in some respects by decree; the Speaker, however, must play brutal politics with every issue of his/her concern. IMO, this leads to rapid corruption and inability to lead because every issue is political.
*********************************
And statesmen at her council met
Who knew the seasons when to take
Occasion by the hand, and make
The bounds of freedom wider yet
- Tennyson, _To the Queen_
I will add, though, that I was young (9 during the 94 revolution) during Newt's time as Speaker, and I realize that many carry a distaste for him due to his actions as speaker. I have not figured out specifically why, but I hear from many older conservatives that they just don't like Newt.
*********************************
And statesmen at her council met
Who knew the seasons when to take
Occasion by the hand, and make
The bounds of freedom wider yet
- Tennyson, _To the Queen_
he's actually agnostic on the whole conservative vs. liberal thing. What he's not agnostic about is Good Ideas(tm). When he was in Congress all of the Good Ideas(tm) were coming out of the Republican side. And, having learned political knife fighting in academia (like Dick Armey) he was better at it than others in congress, so he was able to see the way to gain Power to enact his Good Ideas(tm). This lead to The Contract and the Republican Majority. Then he got knifed by his Senate Republican candidates, and being a savy knife fighter himself, saw there was no way he wasn't going to continue to be knifed by Senate Republicans, so he quit.
Fortunately for us, in the 1980s and 1990s, the Good Ideas(tm) were true good ideas. But since then Newt has embraced Good Ideas(tm) that have MSM approval but aren't really good ideas. He still has more truly good ideas than simple Good Ideas(tm) at least as it regards governing. But some of the bad ones he embraces are REALLY bad. And then there's the whole divorcing the second wife who is dying of cancer while she is in the hospital thing. Reagan could be divorced because it happened long in the past, and he'd been faithful ever since. Newt will have to wait at least 20 years from that divorce before he can be a viable Republican candidate for high office.
Don't get me wrong, I like Newt. I think he ought to be part of every gathering where Republicans plan strategy, because he will always have new ideas for them to evaluate. But they will need to evaluate them and choose which ones to run on.
Yeah right. His personal life is almost as messy as Rudy's. Just wait 'till the Huckabots get hold of that idea.
____
CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
Pertaining to policy, mbecker, yeah, he's a true social conservative.
His family life is very disappointing and is his biggest drawback. But in our times, mbecker, if a candidate's only drawback is his family, he's far better than most.
**********************************
And statesmen at her council met
Who knew the seasons when to take
Occasion by the hand, and make
The bounds of freedom wider yet
- Tennyson, _To the Queen_
I agree.
We are dangerously short of individuals who are strong leaders, have good policy, and are just good people.
Newt has the first two, but he's still the best candidate I see.
*********************************
And statesmen at her council met
Who knew the seasons when to take
Occasion by the hand, and make
The bounds of freedom wider yet
- Tennyson, _To the Queen_
What should we learn by the failure of the GOP to produce good candidates?
That our success begins and ends with our ability to elect good conservatives at the local and state level.
Garbage in, garbage out.
Our ideas will be vindicated. They have!!. As we watch countries around the world adopt supply side economics, and America adopt policies hostile to business, the value of the dollar has plunged. Why? Because currencies are priced based on, among other things, relative tax policy, relative economic growth, relative inflation, etc. Our conservative ideas that a limited government leads to freedom and prosperity is right now being demonstrated throughout the world as third-world countries are rising out of the dust and adopting the rule of law and free market principles. We are watching the future of our country become at risk due to non-conservative policies of entitlement programs, whose greatest harm is not in the dollars we spend today but in the erosion of individual dignity and responsibility.
We know that our ideas are right. It is up to us to place, and become, leaders in our communities that follow these principles. The leaders in our communities and state today will be the leaders of the federal government tomorrow.
***********************************
And statesmen at her council met
Who knew the seasons when to take
Occasion by the hand, and make
The bounds of freedom wider yet
- Tennyson, _To the Queen_
ageofreason
No obstructionism for the sheer sake of obstructionism, but no compromise on any matter of conservative principle.
No earmarks.
No farm subsidies.
No government backed insurance for people who choose to live in flood or other disaster=prone areas.
Cut non-defense government employees two per cent a year for the next twenty years.
Cut the corporate income tax until USA is lowest in industrial world.
Eliminate death tax.
Simplify income tax.
Fix Social Security.
Cap medicare.
ageofreason
That's quite a tall order for the minority party to undertake. The best that a minority party can hope for is to obstruct unless they can swing some of the moderates of the other party to their side.
.jpg)
for President in 2008
ageofreason
If we stick by those principles, which are on the moderate side and all essential for our long term survival, we will not be the minority party.
We became the minority party after the abandonment of principle by a corrupt Congress and a self-indulgent president led to the failures of 2002 through 2006.
Here we go again.