Popular politics website Politico had a very interesting article on Tuesday by the talented journalist Manu Raju. It was titled. ‘I’ve Been Hearing that since the Coolidge Administration’ and it contained several perfect examples of the disconnect between conservatives and the mainstream GOP. The premise of the piece focused in on the many promises GOP Presidential contenders have been making to the electorate and how mainstream GOP politicians simply laugh off those promises.
It’s really enough to make a conservative cynical… if he wasn’t already.
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has been championing term limits while travelling around the country speaking to perspective voters. Term limits has become a popular issue among conservatives and anyone else fed up with the “same old, same old” in Washington, D.C. However, the people who’ve been in DC for decades don’t seem so keen on term limits, and they were quick to pour cold water on Paul’s proposal, saying that passing term limits legislation would never happen. Moderate Republican Senators Cornyn (R-TX) and Hatch (R-UT) both dismissed the idea of term limits out of hand.
But the dismissing of conservative ideas didn’t stop there.
The skepticism covers more than just term-limit pledges. GOP senators have poured cold water on Paul’s vow to repeal the Patriot Act, with Kelly Ayotte even warning such a move would endanger Americans. Marco Rubio’s promise to reverse President Barack Obama’s effort to normalize relations with Cuba “would not fly,” in the estimation of Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake.
And Ted Cruz’s promise to abolish the IRS “I’ve been hearing that since the Coolidge administration!” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said with a big laugh.
Notice that all of the skeptics who are so quick to poo-poo conservative ideas also happen to be leaders in the RINO caucus. McCain, Flake, Ayotte, Cornyn, Hatch… these are the people who are the real problem in Washington. They offer no alternative to the Democrat Party – in fact, you might just call them the Democrat JV team.
And therein lies our problem. For conservative grassroots activists who are almost constantly being betrayed by the GOP, this is why we have begun to question our support of the Republican Party. Why should we work so hard for a group of politicians who so easily dismiss our ideas, our desires, and our hopes? Why should we spend our time, talent, or treasure working to see them elected when they won’t even lift a finger to support us? It’s insanity. It makes no sense.
This is not to say that the GOP isn’t a “better” alternative than the Democrat Party. They are. But the GOP is better in the sense that you are choosing between two pilots to bring you home safely… one (the Democrat) is unconscious, the other (the Republican) is blind and deaf. Sure the guy who’s awake is the better choice to land the plane… but not by much.
I’m a big fan of Idaho Republican Rep. Raul Labrador (who happens to be supporting Rand Paul for President), and I think he may have had the best insight on the matter. “That’s part of the problem: New ideas are not going to come from within Washington. The new ideas are going to come from the outside. They are going to come with new blood, new people, and people who have been recently in the private sector — not people who have been in Washington, D.C. for a long time.”
Exactly right. The new (and best) ideas to fix our nation will not come from Washington, D.C. -- and it’s time these RINO’s get that message.
No comments:
Post a Comment