At this time of economic anxiety, the American people deserve better. Open debate and transparency are two of the key ingredients needed to produce good legislation. The Contract with America was about restoring the bonds of trust between the American people and their elected leaders. If Congressional Democrats proceed with these regrettable changes, the message it sends about their intended style of legislating in the 11th Congress will be an ominous one.

As I and other House Republican leaders noted in a letter to Speaker Pelosi yesterday, the rules package Congressional Democrats are poised to ram through the House today does not represent change; it is reverting back to the undemocratic one-party rule and backroom deals that the American people rejected more than a decade ago. And it has grave implications for the American people and their freedom, coming at a time when an unprecedented expansion of federal power and spending is being hastily planned by a single party behind closed doors. Republicans will vigorously oppose repealing these reforms if they are brought to a vote on the House floor later today.

We didn’t win yesterday’s election. But during the 110th Congress, while I have been Leader, House Republicans have learned how to win an issue, even in a toxic political environment, by standing on conservative principles. And knowing how to win an issue gives us the ability to rebuild a majority coalition, one issue at a time.

What do I mean by winning the issue? When the chips were down for our team last spring and gas prices were skyrocketing, I urged that we put all our efforts into championing an “all of the above” energy strategy. We focused relentlessly on the need for such reform throughout the summer, connecting with the concerns of real Americans and illustrating the consequences of a Democrat-controlled Congress. It gave us renewed credibility as reformers that helped prevent deeper GOP losses yesterday. When my colleagues Mike Pence, Tom Price, and Lynn Westmoreland sparked the historic energy protest on the House floor, I and other GOP leaders joined them immediately and did everything in our power to keep it going. Weeks later, as a result of our actions, the Democratic majority lifted the ban on offshore energy drilling.

In addition to helping to prevent deeper Democratic gains in a difficult year, the energy fight added a new signature issue to the GOP arsenal of 21st Century solutions and reform. Working with Governor Sarah Palin and others who represent the future of our party, we need to capitalize on it. Even more importantly, we need to apply the same model to other issues. One such issue is the economy, where Democrats are currently pushing a $300 billion “stimulus” spending bill despite unmistakable evidence that Americans believe cutting taxes is more likely to avert a recession.

Republicans will have many more opportunities to “win the issue” by standing on conservative principles in the next Congress. President-elect Obama has sketched a troubling policy roadmap that will be run through a Congress that has been purchased by powerful liberal special interests. While important conversations will take place in the coming weeks about our party’s future, here are 12 opportunities for Republicans that I consider “no-brainers” for the party of freedom, security, and smaller government:

• If an Obama presidency means “spreading the wealth around” by raising taxes on small businesses, families and investment to pay for more spending in Washington, DC, Republicans will have no choice but to fight it vigorously in favor of a pro-growth plan for rapid economic recovery.

• If an Obama presidency means cutting defense and troop funding while we’re fighting a war against terror, Republicans will stand opposed on behalf of our military men and women and the nation they protect.

• If an Obama presidency means doing the bidding of radical special interests by taking away workers’ right to secret ballot elections, forcing workers to join unions, rolling back school choice for low-income children on behalf of powerful Washington teachers unions, and making it easier for dishonest trial lawyers to extort money through job-killing, frivolous lawsuits, Republicans will fight to put the country’s interests first.

• If an Obama presidency means blocking production of American energy that would help lower costs, create jobs, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, Republicans will fight for enactment of an energy plan that does “all of the above” – increased conservation, innovation, and domestic production.

• If an Obama presidency means spending billions of dollars annually on wasteful pork-barrel projects, including taxpayer-funded “monuments to me” and earmarks “airdropped” into bills at the last possible minute to avoid scrutiny, Republicans will fight it vigorously.

• If an Obama presidency means repealing state and federal laws that protect the rights of unborn children and respect the sanctity of innocent human life, we’ll fight it vigorously.

• If an Obama presidency means regulating free speech and stifling dissent on the airwaves, Republicans will fight it vigorously.

• If an Obama presidency means forcing people out of their private health insurance and into a government-run program, Republicans will oppose it and fight for real solutions that keep Americans’ health care in the hands of patients and doctors, not government bureaucrats.

• If an Obama presidency means ignoring the looming fiscal tsunami in our entitlement programs –- ducking a problem that could eventually make the current financial crisis look like a tempest in a teacup – Republicans will have no choice but to fight it and demand responsible reforms to protect current and future generations of Americans.

• If an Obama presidency means cutting off job-creating trade with the rest of the world, Republicans will stand opposed and fight to open foreign markets to products created by American workers.

• If an Obama presidency means blocking investigation of the role Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, ACORN, and subprime mortgages played in the financial meltdown, Republicans will fight for accountability, transparency, and real reform to ensure taxpayers are never again put at such risk.

• If an Obama presidency means sweeping ethical issues involving Members of Congress under a rug, Republicans will fight for transparency and accountability, while holding ourselves to the highest possible ethical standards.

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve tried to lead by example. I’m an outspoken opponent of wasteful pork-barrel earmarks. This is not a new position for me: I’ve had a no-earmarks policy since I came to Congress in 1991, after telling my constituents that if they wanted a Congressman who would go to Washington to raid the federal Treasury on their behalf, they should probably vote for someone else.

I voted against the farm bill this year, as I have in previous years, and made clear that I did not believe it was sufficient for Republicans to simply “vote their districts” on it. My own district is heavily agricultural, but my constituents know I believe passionately that the true economic potential of American farmers and ranchers can never be achieved under big government farm policies.

I have irritated the Washington teachers unions by being a strong advocate for school choice. I am a thorn in the side of job-killing trial lawyers, and an unflinching defender of the sanctity of life who is willing to take on our nation’s disgraceful multi-billion dollar abortion industry.

As Leader, I’ve stood up to John Murtha, Charlie Rangel, Rahm Emanuel, Bill Jefferson, David Obey, and Steny Hoyer, and directly challenged Nancy Pelosi’s hypocritical efforts to sweep all of their abuses and ethical lapses under the rug. I have also insisted that our own members adhere to the highest possible ethical standards, and done my best to enforce it. While RedState readers have not agreed with all my decisions in this regard, I’ve tried to be tough but fair in carrying out this important duty.

As both an individual legislator and Republican Leader, I’ve tried to lead by example, and you always know where I stand. Sometimes my straight-shooting, blunt manner produces moments of candor that get me in trouble in the “elite” media. I come from a blue-collar family with 11 brothers and sisters, and our dad ran a bar. It’s just the way I am, and it’s never held against me here. That’s one of the reasons I appreciate RedState.

The fight for smaller government must be renewed, and Republicans now have an unprecedented opportunity to fully re-engage in it. I’ve asked my colleagues to give me the chance to lead this effort. We’ll win the majority back and rebuild our party in the same manner in which President Lincoln built it and President Reagan renewed it: by standing up for the principles of freedom, security, and individual liberty that have defined the GOP since the beginning and continue to resonate with the American people.

Thank you for the chance to share my vision for the future of our party.

To solve this crisis, we need to do it all, and we need to do it now. We need alternative energy sources – wind, solar, biomass, clean coal, nuclear. We need more conservation. And in an environmentally sound manner, we need to unlock the vast oil and gas resources that are currently off-limits to the American people in energy-rich locations such as Alaska, the mountainous West, and deepwater energy zones far off our coasts.

In short, we need all of the above.

The good news: legislation that would put the “all-of-the-above” strategy into effect – the American Energy Act – was introduced in Congress two months ago. It enjoys strong support among the American people. The bad news: Congress is controlled by the Democratic Party. And with time running short, its leaders – Nancy Pelosi of California, Harry Reid of Nevada, and Barack Obama of Illinois – have refused to allow a vote on “all of the above.”

By doing anything less than all-of-the-above, Congress is cheating our children and defying the will of the American people, who want Congress to pass the most aggressive energy reforms possible. It’s also delaying our nation’s transition to clean, alternative, homegrown energy – the very objective Democratic leaders claim to support.

House Republicans stunned Democratic leaders last month by staying in Washington throughout Congress’ traditional August break to protest Nancy Pelosi’s decision to adjourn the House without a vote on the comprehensive energy reforms Americans want. We took to the House floor every day for five weeks, even during our own convention, asking the Democratic Speaker to bring Congress back for a vote.

Our protest made national headlines and won the support of millions of Americans. Democrats scrambled to abandon their “no energy” rhetoric. But when it comes to the policy, Democratic leaders still haven’t gotten the message. They still refuse to allow an honest vote on the all-of-the-above energy plan the American people want.

Americans have run out of patience, and Democratic leaders have run out of excuses. Democrats say drilling alone won’t solve our problems. But no one is advocating a “drill-only” approach. To the contrary, the American Energy Act is comprehensive: equal parts production, conservation, and innovation. And there’s a direct connection in the bill between exploration of the resources available today for our use, and the development of the clean, alternative fuels of tomorrow.

Under the American Energy Act, our nation’s vast energy resources would be unlocked and opened for environmentally responsible exploration. A significant share of the revenues from exploration would go into a renewable energy trust fund. The money in this trust fund would be plowed directly into development and implementation of clean, renewable energy sources throughout the United States – the kind of alternative energy we need, ultimately, in order to permanently end America’s foreign energy dependence. Unfortunately, Democratic leaders have refused to allow a vote.

The more of America’s existing resources Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Barack Obama keep under the lock and key of the federal government, the longer it will take to develop and achieve the widespread use of clean, alternative fuels. By blocking a vote on the American Energy Act, the leaders of the Democratic Party are blocking America’s path to clean, affordable, renewable energy.

This is why the Democratic leadership’s new “compromise” energy bill is not a compromise at all. At a time when Americans are demanding Congress do all-of-the-above, the Democratic leadership bill allows almost none of the above. To begin, it would place vast American oil and gas supplies under lock-and-key permanently. For example, by leaving out critical revenue-sharing with coastal states and banning environmentally-safe drilling up to 50 miles offshore, it permanently locks away some 88 percent of the best American oil resources on the Outer Continental Shelf. Moreover, it will produce no new energy on Alaska’s remote North Slope and in the Inter-Mountain West, where trillions – yes, trillions – barrels of oil sits idly today. Their sham bill also does nothing to tap the potential of nuclear energy and clean coal. It keeps the door slammed shut on construction of new refineries. And it would raise taxes and increase electricity costs, taking more money from the pockets of energy-strapped families at a time when they need relief.

Now is not a time for half-measures or politically-motivated window dressing. To solve America’s energy crisis, we need to do it all, and do it now. It starts with a vote on the American Energy Act. The American people deserve nothing less, and shouldn’t settle for anything less.

I ran for Congress in 1990 because, like your contributors and users, I believe strongly in the need for a limited and more accountable federal government. Since that time technology has changed dramatically, but the fundamental need for oversight and passionate citizen activism has remained. The internet has been a gift to our democracy, increasing the transparency of our political process and giving the American people a powerful tool for the rapid exchange of ideas and information. The community that has been cultivated here at RedState has made the most of this gift, using it to hold elected leaders accountable and providing a vibrant forum to discuss conservative principles and reforms that offer hope for a better, more secure America.

While RedState has already left an indelible impression on national politics, we must not forget the critical need for activism on the state and local level. Having served previously as a state legislator, a township trustee, and even as president of my neighborhood homeowners’ organization, I can attest that getting involved makes a difference. I’ve watched with appreciation over the past four years as the RedState community has steadily increased its involvement in local government with impressive results. I look forward to seeing further evidence of that expanding reach in the weeks and months ahead with the launch of RedState 3.0.

As we look ahead to the challenges of this year and beyond, I’m encouraged by the fact that the conservative movement has cemented its position online in growing communities like RedState. Our mission together now is to continue building and continue fighting. Building a better future for America requires new conservative ideas rooted in our enduring principles. By harnessing the power and possibilities of technology, RedState is now poised to play a larger and more pivotal role than ever in that process.