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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

Eric Cantor and John Boehner Don’t Really Want to Repeal Obamacare

They just want to play politics with the issue without actually doing anything.

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  June 30th, 2010 at 11:09 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Well, it is official.

Eric Cantor and John Boehner — particularly Eric Cantor — have decided they don’t need or want conservatives and, more troubling, do not have any intention of trying to win at the polls by forcing Democrat hands on Obamacare.

Our leadership is behaving badly.

Last week and on Monday I mentioned Rep. Steve King’s effort to repeal Obamacare and start over. He’s filed a discharge petition. If he gets 218 signatures, Nancy Pelosi must hold a vote.

At the time, I was hearing that Eric Cantor was desperate to undermine Steve King’s efforts and, sure enough, he’s trying. Worse, he has John Boehner helping him.

Let me explain.

King’s legislative effort would repeal Obamacare and start over. In effect, all those Democrats who have been saying they too want to start over get a “put up or shut up” moment by signing the King discharge petition.

Today, Eric Cantor and John Boehner are announcing that they’ll sign King’s discharge petition, but they’re also going to go with one by Congressman Wally Herger that would repeal Obamacare and replace it with a Republican alternative.

Notice that Cantor and Boehner were absolutely silent on Rep. King’s efforts until they had Wally Herger’s discharge petition ready to go. Why? Because they want to bully Republican House members into signing the Herger petition and undercut the repeal effort with a “replace and replace with lame legislation” effort. In effect, this undercuts a unified repeal effort and muddies the waters.

This is a direct confrontation by the House GOP leadership with conservatives and with Heritage Action for America, the Heritage Foundation’s spin off 501(c)(4) group.

It is also stupid for a number of reasons:

  • If the GOP unites behind the Heritage effort on the King “Repeal Obamacare” bill, we actually have a chance of winning. 60% of Americans want this to happen, and numerous Democrats are gettable in this fight. The Herger “Repeal and Replace” bill has zero chance of passing, it will drive a number of GOP members away who don’t agree with this particular replacement bill and give Democrats an easy excuse to not sign onto the repeal movement.
  • The Republican alternative is a milquetoast alternative.
  • The Republicans spent months calling on the Democrats to work with the GOP to draft Obamacare. The Cantor-Boehner strategy means the GOP is now pushing a proposal to the floor of the House without input from the left or even from conservatives.

Tea Party activists and others should pay attention here: Eric Cantor and John Boehner are implementing a strategy that makes it look like they are on your side, but are in fact stabbing you in the back.

Cantor and Boehner are spinning this as a good thing. But it is not. It muddies the water and gives Democrats an escape from being forced to take action.

Any Republican who signs on to the Herger discharge petition should be driven from office for betraying the “repeal” cause. This does nothing but provide cover to people who don’t really want to repeal Obamacare, just nibble at the edges.

And should the GOP take back Congress in November, we should remember this betrayal and the lies that go with it.

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COMMENTS

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  • http://realchangeandsense.blogspot.com jamesrileyjr

    There’s no way they didn’t think that through before going forward with it.

  • erod
  • erod
  • MojoMan

    Obamacare does need to be repealed, and I will fully support any effort to do that, with or without a Republican replacement alternative.

    However, this knee-jerk resistance by you and many on this blog to Republican proposals of an alternative package of health care reforms to replace Obamacare makes no sense. If you want to debate exactly what that replacement package of reforms should consist of, that I can totally understand. But digging your heels in, crossing your arms and just being opposed to any and all health care reform in this country is a big loser.

    Our health care system, despite being the best in the world, is not working the way that it really should or could, and is obviously in need of some repair. It does not help Republicans or conservatives to just be opposed to all proposals for health care reform. Clearly, what was passed earlier this year was not the real reform we need. But we do need real reform, and that is the point that Boehner and Cantor are making here.

    The position you are trying to stake out here is not an inherently “conservative” position. This is just your position on this issue. I usually agree with what you write in this blog, Erik. But on this topic, you have missed the boat.

  • Andrew_D

    Erick,

    I couldn’t disagree more. This is the worst possible time for a blanket repeal effort. Health care cannot possibly be repealed, because the Senate passed it and Obama signed it. There is no way that the GOP could force a repeal.

    We want the Democrats to own this thing, hang it around their necks, and drown them with it on Election Day. They passed it. They win by, and they die by it.

    King’s effort gives so-called conservative Democrats a chance to backpeddle just in time for the fall election season. Herger’s effort forces Dems to sign onto the GOP way of doing things……either way this all just politics. Health care cannot be repealed until we take back both houses of Congress AND the White House. Even then, it will be difficult. Our best weapons now are to defund implementation, mount aggressive court challenges, and popularize system abuse.

    Your post is shortsighted, very mean spirited, and shows a shocking lack of comprehension of the political process. Eric Cantor and John Boehner are heroes. What are you going to do – call for their defeat this fall too? Honestly some of us are getting shrill and out of control.

  • acat

    (seriously, can we replace these idiots yet?)

  • pittbull

    If there is only one shot at a discharge petition, shouldn’t everyone back the one that will overturn the Obamacare bill so that something wise and meaningful can be made to replace it?
    I think that perhaps Eric Cantor and John Boehner will not be getting any backing from me or any of my friends and family.

  • deano64

    They’ve got 60% of the American people behind them and they still don’t have the guts to do what’s right? We talk about the Dems governing against the will of the people and now this. These guys need to go.

  • bk

    If the blue dogs really were blue dogs, ObamaCare would not have passed in the first place.

  • rdelbov

    60% want repeal
    85% think our health care system needs fixing (think tort reform-insurance sales over state lines)

    So why not reach the broader view of repeal and replace it with something that works.

    Lets be clear–Pelosi is not letting squat get a real vote–that’s not a chance either plan gets 218 votes.

    We are two down on HC with IN3 & NY29 vacant. So we need to turn 6 yes’s to repealers–ain’t a chance.

    I applaud the effort but both are non starters

  • deano64

    It’s widely understood that getting repeal passed in the house doesn’t actaully repeal the law. If it did though it would then allow us to see who’s on our side in the Senate. We all know where the current White House stands. The discharge petition allows us to see who’s on our side. Boehner and Cantor are not. Heroes? I guess you have set the bar low for your hero standard. 60% of the American people want repeal and start over from scratch not repeal and replace.

  • JSobieski

    I’m not sure I have a problem with it.

    Frankly, if dems are more likely to sign Herger but not King, then R’s can campaign on the difference. i.e. I don’t think signing Herger helps a democraat, but it does help a republican in a purple-blue district concerned about “not proposing alternatives”

  • redneck_hippie

    And I had to type very carefully not to bring the sex poodle into it.

  • izoneguy

    That is where America is headed…..

    Nothing will change until thousands – and probably hundreds of thousands of people are dying on a yearly basis because they were denied treatment by a death panel. This is a war and the most vulnerable citizens are the sacrificial lambs. You have to look at the big picture – 50-75 years out…..

    The whole reason the socialists really pushed “ObamaCare” is to control those nasty old people who want their social security benefits.

    Eventually the graph lines will cross where the “retirement age” is well past the expected lifespan. That is why the socialists need those “immigrants”. The old folks on “ObamaCare” won’t matter as a voting block. The young healthy immigrants will keep filling the voter pipeline.

    This war will probably get uncivil very quick and then it will be anyones guess what happens to our “republic”.

    It’s not just about repealing ObamaCare….there has to be a tetonic shift in American politics and it will be painful. Unless the Republicans start acting like it is a war then the path to 2010 and beyond should be crystal clear to those who understand the fight we are fighting and must continue until you win – or are dead.

  • Andrew_D

    but the truth is that we have the dems in the position of having to own this health care travesty. Why give a single one of them an out before the fall? If they want to sign on an endorse our health care approach – fine! If they just want to go on record in favor of a fake repeal effort – no way!

    They passed this thing. Now they own it all the way to November. Rep King is simply distracting us from the main goal – vote them out of power.

  • bigredone

    Non-starters, if we don’t try.

    I want the King petition or nothing at all. I have contacted my Rep., Brett Guthrie (R-KY-2) to tell him just that.

    We must fight with a singular focus. None of this alternative stuff.

  • Joliphant

    Its not even being talked about as far as I can tell.

    The problem with our Healthcare system is there are too many chokepoints and gatekeepers with monopoly power over its distribution. If there were serious proposals to eliminate the requirement for prescriptions for all drugs except narcotics and psychoactive medications, the sudden drop in what we are paying for health care would feel like we had stepped off a ledge.

    If you want the drop in prices to feel like you are falling off the Empire State building, allow more categories of medical professional to actually practice medicine.

  • The_Gadfly

    The 85% is a synthetic number generated from people with disparate positions about what repeal should go forward. About 1/3 want tort reform, about 1/3 want a more socialist bill than The Big 0 and the rest of his socialist pals got through, and the other 1/3 want something else. If you raise the specter of a replacement, people ask What replacement? When you specify what replacement, you lose 2/3 of the vote.

    I like Cantor and the leadership he has provided prior to this, Boehner not as much but it is the Senate. But even more than me, these two Republicans OUGHT to understand the simple math I just laid out. We can get all Republicans behind the King Bill. Those in purple states can outline their plans for the replacement that follows and make that case in their states. Similarly the tort reformers can make their arguments in their states. The same can’t be said of the alternative.

  • mblack

    This isn’t just about whether or not to repeal Obamacare. This is about the type of infighting & ineptitude that the Republican leadership continues in their long list of surrender tactics to the leftists.

    It’s like we have Captain Parmenter & Corporal Agarn of “F Troop” in the leadership chairs except they aren’t fighting that fake war with the Hekawis, they are losing a battle for the direction of our nation, & it’s citizens’ prosperity against those whom will stop at nothing to dictate everything in ones daily life. The Left fights to win they are ideologues, they do not care whether Boehner & Cantor are nice & civil to them, they are playing to win & their vision of America is one in ruins. They do not give a damn about American exceptionalism. Maxine Waters, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd et al are more and more brazen about there efforts to nationalize everything as the days go by, because they sense they have a limited window of opportunity, however; with Cantor & Boehner eviscerating any counterattack by Republican members maybe they have nothing to worry about on any issue.

    Cantor & Boehner both talk a good game, all the while behind closed doors the American people are getting hosed. I am absolutely terrified about what will not happen if the Republicans gain control of the House and or the Senate if this is the example they give of their leadership. They show themselves for the elitists that they are & are a prime example of why many Americans despise DC politicians and its insiders.

    We need strong willed and leadership with a spine, not those that are more concerned with not being invited to the cocktail party. If these two will undermine an effort which would overturn and repeal a law which I consider to be unconstitutional that interferes with my personal liberty and other as American citizens then they are unfit to lead.

  • Syndicate

    Andrew, the King discharge petition does not give Dems an out between now and November. It is exactly the opposite, this puts them on the spot again.

    Right now, blue dogs who voted against Obamacare have all the cover in the world. They can tell their constituents that they opposed the terrible bill and be done with it.

    The existence of the King discharge petition for straight repeal forces them to deal with the issue again. Their opponent can point out in the campaign that they lack the courage to break with Nancy Pelosi because they refuse to sign the petition (and most of them will refuse). The Herger petition is laughable because you will never be able to challenge a blue dog to sign on to a petition that offers a Republican alternative.

    Your worry is that they actually sign the King petition and get cover again even though they already have cover now. Heck, to my mind, having Dems buck their leadership on this issue is a good thing as it locks in anti-Obamacare votes for next Congress.

    It is appalling that GOP leadership doesn’t seem to recognize this.

  • fpete13527

    I’m not interested in the contined there, there now “we can’t do anything but be liberal” philosophy of the GOP.

    They have been wrong in every action and attitude starting from “tactics” IE wimpiness during initial ObamaCare up through most all their current actions and attitude.

    Cantor made it clear who he is the day after the 2008 CPAC conference. He stated that he thinks true conservatives are “entertaining” but nothing more.

    Boehner has been faking it whith the hopes of the return of GOP liberal moderacy leadership such as Crist, McCain, and Spector.

    The GOP wants to FAKE support of conservatives and Tea Party activists so they can remain liberal and can still can get the benefits of conservative hard work. No more!

    The current GOP leadership…..Boehner, Cantor, …and McConnell deserve F minus ratings at this point.

  • rdelbov

    okay all the GOP sign on to King–then the democrats who are voted no and really mean “no” do the same. That gets you about 205.

    How exactly does that repeal HC in 2010?

    How exactly that squeeze the guys who voted Yes? They already have that cross to bear. I have not heard anyone say “I voted Yes and now I want to repeal”>

    I guess the logic is to squeeze the blue dogs who voted “no” into making them say whether they are for repeal or not. I suspect they all sign or they all quibble but to no real effect.

    I might add if they sign up as a repealer that gives them even more street creed–do we want that? Do we want Skelton -Boren-Taylor to have even more protection? Ditto for Minnick and Stephenie HS.

    There are plus and minuses to each approach and there is a plus to not doing anything but talking repeal until you get more votes.

  • ralatredstate

    What does nt or n/t mean?

  • Achance
  • http://www.AmericanThinker.com Hammer2008

    Great analysis Erick. My gut instincts were telling me what you have laid out. Boehner/Cantor’s “repeal AND replace” only serves to placate liberals in govt and media because such a move will never have enough support from the GOP caucus alone to pass, much less any blue (ahem) whipped dog democrats.

    However, a petition titled “repeal THEN replace” denotes putting a full stop to ObamaScare PPACA with the intent to replace it with something that a vast majority of Americans would rally behind. It alludes to the correct assumption that says to the electorate in explicit terms, put us in the majority and we republicans will have open-door hearings and take a go-slow approach to transforming pre-3/23 healthcare law.

    This inane (trying to be polite here) maneuver by Boehner/Cantor denotes an elitist attitude that they know how to do this, which smacks of the “trust us, it’s okay” pre-2007 GOP congressional leadership, of which Rep. Boehner was a part of then.

    What’s more, it smacks of tired ol’ politics as usual, in the same way John McCain suspended his tired campaign to in effect rally to TARP, vice saying “Hell No!” and putting down a marker that would have led to his victory that November.

    “Here’s ten cent, my two cents is free.” ~ Eminem

  • ATLconservative

    …to discharge Boehner and Cantor from their leadership positions?

    And if we were of the left, we would drop this down the memory hole:

    http://www.redstate.com/the_directors/2008/08/27/eric-cantor-vice-president

  • acat

    They hope to one day re-take control and run it “the right way”…

    This is why I’m not long-term hopeful – too many statist big-government types are still happily calling themselves Repubs.

    They’ll reach across the aisle, not to help Joe Citizen, but to help build a government machine they long to drive. Despicable.

    Mew

  • Scope

    Reading through the comments above is giving me heartburn. Some are accusing EE of knee-jerk reactions, to being outright wrong, to calling Eric Cantor a “hero” and it appears we have more than a few armchair generals here predicting what this means for the November elections. Have any of you read even parts of what is in the Herger plan that is being proposed as the replacement?

    http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/health-care/3889-gop-favored-alternatives-to-obamacare

    There are some great ideas like tort reform, and purchasing insurance across state lines but, it is filled with Republican mandates, that do nothing more than replace the Obamacare mandates. The language is as confusing and distorted as in the O’s plan. It accomplishes nothing more than to take the O’s plan, and replace it with a plan written by an R.

    READ THE BILL before you all start squawking. I doubt you’d be attacking EE if you did.

    Calling Eric Cantor a “hero” brings on the gag factor for me, I ought to know he’s my rep. If Elmer Fudd was willing to primary him, I’d vote happily for Elmer Fudd, and, I promise we all here in this area feel that way.

  • acat

    Repeal first.

    Simple tactics – you can get more people to vote for repealing than you can get to line up for any potential replacement.

    Call it a “return to status quo”, and announce that, after the repeal, public bipartisan talks can begin on the replacement.

    This is not rocket science, this isn’t even brain surgery.

    Also, your sentence “But digging your heels in, crossing your arms and just being opposed to any and all health care reform in this country is a big loser” marks you, in my book, as a troll.

    It wasn’t the Repubs who blocked the other party from participating last year, it wasn’t the Repubs who wrote the Obamacare bill in a series of backrooom deals of debatable legality.

    It was the Repubs who proposed some functional alternatives, too bad they didn’t have the cajones to do so when they still controlled Congress.

    You’re just plain wrong.

    Mew

  • Bill

    really believe that the GOP “leadership” really want anything but POWER! They think that if they go along with the DEMS and get along, when they get the POWER again, it will be their kind of “bipartisan leadership” that will get things done. REPEAL IT AND START AGAIN. You may get the 218 signatures with just a REPEAL and Start Again. If you use some mamby pamby “GOP Replacement” that had no input from DEMS at the beginning, you are not going to get the 218. Think critically.

  • maddog

    N/T or NT means No Text. The subject line is all that is writen. Nothing in the body of the post.

  • ralatredstate

    I would really like to. If we can’t then what? Pray for the Apocalypse? A meteor strike?

    I’m pretty sure we can assume Boehner, etc. want to take over the House – that they’re not closet communists. I think they may be far too cautious about acting on conservative principles, but I don’t think they’re traitors.

    These guys are political professionals. They must know how to win.

    But on the other hand, these are the guys that gave us a cockroach congress in 2006 and a communist president in 2008.

    You judge. I’ll watch.

  • RedBeard

    One word. No replacement. Period.

    It’s not the job of the federal government to micromanage the health care industry, either constitutionally or by any standards of common sense.

    Oh, yes, I recognize the fact that getting this congress to operate within the law (Constitution) is about as likely as seeing Cedric Benson winning the Good Citizen of the Year award, but I can still dream.

  • acat

    This thread is bringing out the idiocy.

    Look, this is simple Alinsky tactics. Fix the target and kill it. Obamacare is the target. King’s bill repeals it, rendering it neutered.

    There are a lot more folk who can agree, today, that Obamacare needs to be repealed than there are who agree on what needs to replace it, so – as I’ve said before – announce that the day after the repeal happens, a bipartisan working group will begin hammering out a real replacement… but this must go away *first*.

    This is the same kind of b.s. logic that I keep hearing on immigration – and from the same types of people – either those who want to stall out attempts to change the system (block building a fence, block repealing bad law) or those who honestly don’t understand why the perfect is the enemy of the good.

    I don’t know which camp you fall into – although your last paragraph leads me to some guesses – but in any case, there’s no *good* reason for the gutless D.C. wing of the GOP to be opposing King.

    Mew

  • acat

    …

  • Swamp_Yankee

    This is all posturing for electoral purposes. The King discharge has no shot at passing. Neither does Herger.

    But in the long run, it will have to be repeal and replace. Replace and start over is a futile endeavor and completely unrealistic. Many of the same Americans who want ObamaCare repealed also want reform. The GOP can gain ground by preaching a return to status quo. That’s not a winning strategy. That’s just being stubborn.

  • Achance
  • acat

    If they voted for Obamacare and now vote to repeal, they’re wishy-washy.

    If they voted for Obamacare and now vote against repeal, they’re Obama-ites (or Pelosi-ites, whichever sticks)

    There will be a *few* who see the writing on the wall and try to get away – but they will be risking their positions with Pelosi’s house leadership to do it – and she’s vindictive.

    Mew

  • Scope

    I’ve been trying to say for months and months that Eric Cantor is not the conservative many believed him to be. I have given examples of statements he has made here on local radio that proved that he is a Big Government kinda guy, but, gets angry because the D’s haven’t given him the chance to make their bills “better.” During the healthcare debate, he wasn’t just outright against Obamacare, he said he and the Republicans wanted a seat at the table to make the bill better. There was/is no question that he would like to replace just certain parts of the bill. No surprise he would try to undermine the party, and what is in it’s best interest. He’s been in Washington way too long and has caught elitist disease.

    If Cantor and Boehner remain the Republican leadership in the house after November, the Republican party will be screwed forever. No one will ever be willing to give R’s a chance again, because nothing will have changed.

  • acat

    We’ve had the same gutless wonders in charge since W was in the White House – they lost in 2006, they lost in 2008, they’re gearing up to lose in 2010.

    They’re busy re-arranging the deck chairs, which would be of no value but no harm if the ship were actually sinking, but the ship can be righted with bold action now and they won’t do it.

    Gutless idiots.

    Mew

  • philbo

    That is the biggest challenge facing us conservatives. If we don’t come out of 2010 with a new GOP being led by new leadership dedicated to conservative principles, there is no reason for us to even discuss which Republican candidate we are going to support for 2012. We might as well start talking 3rd party right now.

  • acat
  • Jewels

    Nobody is advocating a real solution because everyone is using this monstrosity for their own gains. It has nothing to do with lowering the cost of healthcare.

    If they were serious about lowering healthcare costs, they would go after frivolous law suits against doctors and it would stop putting so many regulations on the healthcare industry. My sister has a great insurance plan, but I can’t get the same one as her because I live in another state. It’s idiotic.

    Repealing doesn’t mean being stubborn, repealing means less regulation. Get the government out of our healthcare, period. If the GOP really wants to put up an effective plan, they wouldn’t propose Obamacare-lite. They would propose a plan that removed all of the red-tape.

  • clintonformccain

    Nanci Pelosi is going to allow 218 signatures on any petition to repeal ObamaCare? Come on, this just fantasyland.

    IMO, Republicans need to be seen as the party of commonsense, competence, and better ideas. I don’t a stunt petition in the Congress as being a productive use of ammunition at this time.There are enough real problems facing tthe country today that the Republicans don’t need stunt distractions.

    The first step in repealing ObamaCare is to defeat every Democrat in November and take majorities in both houses of Congress.

  • rdelbov

    its a tactical decision.

    1. HC will be repealed in 2010–that’s the truth –its plain and simple. If this fact is a reason to vote GOP in 2010 then so be it. That fact is not changing. No repeal is happening in house or senate in 2010 and Obama would be there to veto it anyway.

    2. This discharge petition-either one -is not getting to 218. Sorry Charlie–218 is not happening. 219 voted Yes and no one has changed their mind. So with two vanacies that gives us a max total of 214. That’s less then 218.

    3. So now its all about politics and what is the best way to maximize the GOP advantage between now and November. King thinks pushing repeal is best. Boehner thinks Repeal but replace. Can anyone be absolutely sure what approach is best? I personally think both efforts have potential drawbacks. Childers in MS1 & Minnick in ID1 may sign both of these petitions and they will buy themselves some more political protection. I deplore that. I don’t buy this as a winning strategy and I am not sure dropping both of these petition plans would not be best. We know exactly who the 219 “Yes” votes are and they will pay a price. Why give more shelter to the “no” votes? see point 1 & 2 repeal ain;t happening.

  • MojoMan

    “It was the Repubs who proposed some functional alternatives, too bad they didn?t have the cajones to do so when they still controlled Congress.”

    Many of the ideas proposed by the Republicans during the last health care debate were excellent then, and they are still excellent now. The problem is that just being opposed to stuff is a great position for a minority party to take while they are in opposition. However, it is not an effective way to convince people that a minority party deserves to be in the majority again and that they are ready to take on the leadership responsibility of effectively governing.

    It is a fair criticism to say that the Republicans have historically failed to address the issue of health care reform when they were in power. It is in part because of the Republican’s reticence to take on issues like health care reform that the Democrats continue to have these sorts of issues to run on. Are Republicans and conservatives being honest when they offer limited proposals to reform health care? Or is this just empty posturing that vanishes once the cameras are turned off? Now is the time to put up or shut up on this issue, and both Boehner and Cantor know it. Their proposals probably leave room for debate and improvement, but they are doing the right thing by trying to provide some conservative leadership on this issue.

    It appears that the Republicans are on track to take back both houses of Congress and the White House by 2012, if they play their cards right. People in this country do want Obamacare repealed, but they also correctly realize that our health care system needs to be reformed in certain areas. And “comprehensive” health care reform no longer holds the appeal that it once did, now that the American people have seen the bureaucratic monstrosity that is Obamacare.

    So, if the Republicans handle this right, they have an opportunity to put together a limited package of reform proposals that will actually fix the health care related issues that need fixing, while at the same time repealing Obamacare. That could certainly help to propel the Republicans back into power, and ultimately deprive the Democrats of this issue to run on for a very long time.

    Why some people who call themselves conservatives are opposed to seeing our health care system fixed and the Republicans providing leadership on this issue to get that done is beyond me. This is not a threat, it is an opportunity. The repeal only strategy is short-sited and wrong. This is the time for conservatives and Republicans to show what sort of health care improvements they are truly in support of. Failure to do so will result in this issue being yielded to the Democrats for another generation. And after all the Democrats have done to mishandle this issue over the last year, that would be a huge and unnecessary loss for the Republicans, and a really sad scene for all Americans to see.

  • clintonformccain

    1) Throw the bums out.

    2) Next time, throw the new bums out.

    ——————-

    I’m stuck on Item 1 for 2010. IMO, it is urgent to end one-party rule in Washington.

    I’ll worry about Item 2 once that is accomplished. For now, for 2010, I’d vote for Charles Manson if it would take a seat in the House or the Senate away from the Democrat party.

    I’m just a simple guy. I don’t think a circular firing squad in the Repubican Party is productive at this moment in time.

  • Achance

    to deal with methodical, ruthless, trained communists, and that is what the leadership of this administration are. The only places that Republicans see the Trotsky/Alinsky tactics are in the Blue states that have some Republican districts, e.g., PA. In states with a large union presence, most Republicans do the “get along, go along” act with the unions rather than confront them. There are only a couple of states with fully unionized public employees that have a Republican government; right now I think only AK and CA. The CA government tried to take them on very agressively and got its head handed to it. Since then Swartzenegger has been more of a Democrat than lots of Democrats. Having been though my own existential battle with the unions, I was content to just make them behave; I knew my Governor (Murkowski) didn’t have the political capital to have an all out confrontation with them. And even though we controlled both bodies of the Legislature, I’d already seen how much courage Republicans don’t have when it gets nasty.

    Some of it is how we select candidates. Ours are usually the “hail fellow, well met” types who do soundbites and grip and grin real well and run away from controversy and confrontation. I’ve saved their butts and run interference for Republican politicians here for years and they all know me and have worked with me, but I’ll guarantee you that if I show up at a Republican grip and grin I’ll hear, “here comes trouble” in the first five minutes. Unfortunately, a lot of our constituency is the same way and the politicians know that the voters will abandom them if they become embroiled in controversy. People generally, not just politics junkies, need to toughen up or they can stay soft and agreeable right up until the jackboots are on their doorstep.

  • chihank

    Ed Gillespe did some polling about repealing ObamaCare. He says Repealing ObamaCare only and not offering soemthing better is a political loser. He also said the GOP needs to pay attention to the economy which is the # 1 issue for 2010.

  • Achance

    in hte whole damned Country, but you can get the Republican beat by a Democrat in enough districts to give the Democrats absolute control again.

  • chihank

    In August, Eric Cantor & Paul Ryan will doing a nation wide book tour ro promote GOP ideas. Perhaps, posters can give the GOP house leaders their opinions at book signings.

  • JadedByPolitics

    Boehner should NOT be Speaker he is no friend to Conservatives and I could give example after example but lets just go with him support the D turned R in the primary over a Conservative!

  • avgjo

    Sadly, we’re going to have to, as a group, put the same energy into forcing the GOP’s hand to do the right thing, as we did in trying to get the dems to not pass obamacare. The diff b/t the two parties, is that at the end of the day, the GOP listens to the American people (q.v., Social Security privitization, Amnesty – Bush edition and others). I have been saying for some time now, we’re going to have to force the GOP to do this. And that will require (a) keeping a close eye on them, (b) being VERY vocal and (c) teaching them the primary/electoral consequences of ignoring us if they are so foolish.

    Who’s ready for round 2?

  • avgjo

    Sadly, we’re going to have to, as a group, put the same energy into forcing the GOP’s hand to do the right thing, as we did in trying to get the dems to not pass obamacare. The diff b/t the two parties, is that at the end of the day, the GOP listens to the American people (q.v., Social Security privitization, Amnesty – Bush edition and others). I have been saying for some time now, we’re going to have to force the GOP to do this. And that will require (a) keeping a close eye on them, (b) being VERY vocal and (c) teaching them the primary/electoral consequences of ignoring us if they are so foolish.

    Who’s ready for round 2?

  • E Pluribus Unum

    I am surprised at these comments.

    The Farce is strong with these.

  • E Pluribus Unum

    I am surprised at these comments.

    The Farce is strong with these.

  • saltydawg

    THE AGENDA OF THIS” NEW WORLD ORDER SUPREME COURT” IS COMING OUT INTO THE OPEN DAY BY DAY NOW,NO LONGER THE STUFF OF CONSPIRACY THEORIST ,BUT A BLATANT PLAN OF ATTACK ON OUR CHERISHED TRADITIONS,WAY OF LIFE,AND TRUE AMERICAN LIBERTY GRANTED TO US BY THE IMMORTAL FIGHTING MEN WHO FOUNDED THIS GREAT COUNTRY.IF IT COMES TO IT WE MUST BE PREPARED TO RETAKE CONTROL OF OUR COUNTRY BY FORCE,FROM THIS RICHARD PERLE LED (DEFENSE POLICY BOARD MEMBER) FROM THIS “COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS/A.I.P.A.C. /HUDSON INSTITUTE” ,LED MOVEMENT .I AS A VETERAN OF THE FIRST GULF WAR ,I DEMAND WE DEFEND OUR OWN BORDERS ABOVE ANYTHING ELSE,HAVE WE BEEN BRAIN WASHED BY THE JEWISH CONTROLLED MEDIA ?YES,AND HAVING BEEN STATIONED ALL OVER THE WORLD HAVE COME TO REALIZE THE INCREDIBLE MEDIA BIAS IN THE MASS MEDIA BY THOSE WHO REALLY WIELD POWER THROUGH THE K-STREET LOBBIES,THE BANKS,THE U.N.,.AND THE NATION BUILDERS/DESRTOYERS LIKE MICHAEL LEDEEN(DEFENSE ANALYST),RICHARD PERLE,PAUL WOLFEWITZ,HENRY KISSINGER,GEORGE SOROS,THE GATES FOUNDATION ,THE “KILLERS”CLINTONS AND FRIENDS,THE BUSH CRIME FAMILY AND ALL THEIR FREINDS AT “THE CARLYLE GROUP”I.E. -WAR PROFITEERS ARE US,RUPERT”GOLDLINE”MURDOCK, ELLIOT ABRAMS,”THE PROJECT FOR A NEW AMERICAN CENTURY”AND SO MANY,MANY MORE WOULD BE CONSERVATIVE/LIBERAL POLITICIAL MULTIMILLIONAIRES/BILLIONAIRES, SO PARDON ME IF I POINT OUT THAT THE MISERY IN THE MIDDLE EAST IS A RESULT OF WESTERN GREED AND DECEIT.WHICH CAME FIRST? ARAB TERRORISM OR THE BALFOUR AGREEMENT WITH LORD ROTHCHILD? ,WHICH CAME FIRST? THE P.L.O. OR THE BRITISH MANDATE?,WHICH CAME FIRST THE IRANIAN HOSTAGE CRISIS OR THE OVERTHROW OF THE DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED GOVT. OF IRAN IN 1953 ,BY OUR OWN C.I.A. IN “OPERATION AJAX ” WITH THE HELP OF THE BRITSH M-I6 SECRET SERVICE TO STOP THE IRANIAN PEOPLE FROM NATIONALIZING THEIR OWN OIL.THE ANGLO- PERSIAN OIL CO. IS NOW NONE OTHER THAN B.P.(BRITISH PETROLEUM)DUMPINING MILLIONS OF GALLONS OF OIL INTO OUR GULF .YES THE SAME COMPANY THAT DESTROYED THE TRUST OF THE IRANIAN PEOPLE AND THEIR ECONOMY ,NOW SAYS THEY SHOULD BE WIPED OUT ON BEHALF OF THE ZIONIST THAT CONTROL THE I.M.F. THE FEDERAL RESERVE,AND THE UNITED STATES GOVT.ALL THE WHILE THE SAME PEOPLE TELL US IT IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL FOR THE STATE OF ARIZONA TO DEFEND ITS OWN BORDERS FROM ATTACK ,EVEN WITH 20-30 MILLION ILLEGAL ALIENS HERE RAPING AND MURDERING THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS EVERY DAY ,AT A COST OF 300 BILLION A YEAR TO THE AMERICAN TAXPAYING FOOLS! YES THAT IS HOW THE BRITISH FUELED THE WAR MACHINE FOR THE FIRST AND SECOND WORLD WARS WITH IRANIAN OIL! AFTER THE STATE OF ISRAEL WAS CREATED OUT OF NOTHING ,WITH THE BACKING OF HARRY TRUMAN ,AND HIS NEW ATOMIC BOMBS,WE STUCK THE SHAH OF IRAN BACK IN AS OUR PUPPET,AND UNLEASHED THE SAVAK,THE CRUELEST DICTATORSHIP IN THE MIDDLE EAST .THEN BY 1965 THE ISRAELIS SECRETLY GOT “THE BOMB”,AND WE REFUSE ANYONE ELSE IN THE REGION TO EQUALLY ARM THEMSELVES.WHAT WOULD YOU THINK ?THE AMERICANS SEND 3 BILLION A YEAR IN SUPPORT OF ZIONIST APARTHEID,AND HAVE CREATED A CYCLE OF NATION BUILDING ,THEN DESTROYING ,ALL IN A NEVER ENDING CONQUEST OF FREE PEOPLE AND THEIR NATURAL RESOURCES. EITHER DO AS WE SAY OR WE WILL WIPE YOU OUT !FACE IT WE HAVE BECOME THE NEW WORLD ORDER-AND WE HAVE TO STOP IT NOW! RON PAUL 2012

  • E Pluribus Unum

    This is yet another example of them playing short-term political expeciency against taking a stand for character.

    If they can’t lead, they should get out of the way.

  • Swamp_Yankee

    So, not really. Substantively, this amounts to a hill of beans.

    All this is electoral posturing. It depends on how the GOP wants to be perceived. I suspect the leadership just doesn’t want to look like a petty party content with dismantling the Obama agenda, but also as a party that can offer alternatives.

    Yes, people want want ObamaCare repealed. Yes, people did not like the status quo and wanted reform. Assuming that a poll showing voters favor repeal is the same as voters wanting the status quo is a political loser.

  • ceili_dancer

    n/t

  • Castor

    I have no problem with Cantor & Boehner if they sign King?s and Herger?s discharge petitions. The fact is that neither will pass, but the longer Obambi?s Health-Snare is being debated, the better it will be for Republicans in November. KEEP IT OUT THERE AS LONG AS POSSIBLE!

  • acat

    You said “The repeal only strategy is short-sited and wrong.”

    The problem, other than using sited instead of sighted, is, while there’s a consensus – today – that Obamacare is bad law and must go, there is no consensus on what to replace it with.

    Building a consensus around what the replacement should look like is going to take time, and should be done out in the open by a bipartisan group.

    There is no good reason that I can see to start building this consensus now – and there’s one devious reason why statists would want Repubs to start on this – it splinters apart those who want Obamacare repealed.

    There’s nothing stopping the Repubs from saying “We will repeal this and then, once we’re back to status quo, we will start a bipartisan discussion”… again, except the devious and the statists.

    Case not made, sir.

    Mew

  • acat

    .. that several are from members with over a year, but very light posting histories?

    Just sayin’

    Mew

  • acat
  • red_oakster

    1. There is no way either discharge petition is going to get 218 votes. No chance.

    2. 218 votes for a discharge does not repeal Obamacare. There is ZERO chance of repeal until 2013.

    3. The real issue is what happens beyond 2012. If we win the White House and the Congress that year, there is a chance to repeal this monstrosity. But legislating in the gigantic mire that is the federal government is a fierce, exhausting venture. Republican are going to have ONE and ONLY ONE chance to fix healthcare. That is why anything that happens is going to be Repeal and Reform. Because if and when the GOP passes a law, there will be no energy left to do more.

  • michiganwolverine

    So in 2012, if we want a president who will repeal Obamacare, it will not be Romney.

    Romney, Cantor etc were part of that great take off of the new message for republicans that had a pizza party and then fizzled.

    If you want to repeal Obamacare, Romney cannot be president in 2012. And Eric Cantor is a big supporter of Romney. Is Boehner?

  • red_oakster

    The name of the game is to build big majorities that are as conservative as possible. To complain about Boehner and Cantor and Ryan as if they are liberals is absurd. The more conservatives we elect to the House, the further they will push the majority rightward.

  • gamechange11two

    I was for HCR before I was against HCR.

    So you’re saying it’ll never get past Pelosi.

  • Locked and Loaded

    Allow me one redundancy: Spurious bass turds.

  • Locked and Loaded

    Allow me one redundancy: Spurious bass turds.

  • Scope

    that a majority of people were happy with their current healthcare. To even bring up an R alternative plan now, that virtually has not been seen or debated is as bad as how the O’s bill was written behind closed doors, and we were told it would have to pass to know what was in it.

    It is utterly outreageous to even propose an alternative plan now, with the D’s still in the majority. The petition will never get the required number of signatures, and if by some miracle it made it to the floor, it would never get enough votes for passage. It would never make it to the Senate, and the O would veto it in a heartbeat. It is an exercise in futility.

    Paul Ryan had an alternative plan that many outside of DC had some interest in. The R’s in DC wouldn’t even consider it or throw their support behind it, even if it was tweakable. Boehner and Cantor want it all to be their way or the highway, even against those in their own party.

  • Scope

    are they promoting? I wasn’t aware that either one wrote any books.

  • http://www.incredibleco.ning.com Incredible

    The all-caps, the complete lack of punctuation, the kooky conspiracy theories – you nailed the Ronulans! This is easily the best parody in quite a while. You even worked a couple of “It’s the Jooooos!” comments. Priceless. You’ve got Wolfowitz in the same sentence as Soros. Just one name apart, no less!

    It was a like a World History of wackyness. You start at the founding of our country and tie it all into the BP spill.

    I [italics] really [/italics] do not like Republican infighting but Ronulans are completely fair game. Thank you for re-illustrating why. Your writing skills are now legendary.

  • http://www.incredibleco.ning.com Incredible

    The all-caps, the complete lack of punctuation, the kooky conspiracy theories – you nailed the Ronulans! This is easily the best parody in quite a while. You even worked a couple of “It’s the Jooooos!” comments. Priceless. You’ve got Wolfowitz in the same sentence as Soros. Just one name apart, no less!

    It was a like a World History of wackyness. You start at the founding of our country and tie it all into the BP spill.

    I [italics] really [/italics] do not like Republican infighting but Ronulans are completely fair game. Thank you for re-illustrating why. Your writing skills are now legendary.

  • Stephen Halsey

    I live in Cantor’s district and he has be a squish for years. The final straw for me was not being able to keep the troops in line last year when Crap and Tax passed the House. Voting for bailouts and TARP just made matters worse before Crap and Tax. He is no conservative. heck, he’s barely even a RINO. What he is is worse…..he’s establishment.

    Anyway, this past weekend the Times Dispatch include a health care bill pullout that went through in pretty detailed, understandable language what was in the bill (that we had to pass to know, right??) and its affects of businesses, families, employees, etc…. What struck me the most is who do these politicians think drive the economy? I mean the subsidy expires for a family of four making $88,200 a year. That family may be a welder and a bookeeper or a HVAC trademans and a receptionist, all working people working for small businesses which either won’t have to provide a .gov approved plan or will choose to pay the fine and force the employee/individual to purchase a plan. Depending on the age of those covered, a .gov approved plan will cost anywhere from $7,000 to $21,000.

    That’s right.

    $21,000.

    If that welder and bookeeper are making $88,200, they may take home $60, 000-$62,000 a year. They may be forced to pay 1/3 of their take home pay on health care or choose to go without coverage and pay the 2.5% penalty for each adult.

    How is that family going to buy a car or a TV or a phone or pay for vacation when 1/3 of their take home is going towards a crappy .gov health care plan?

    To take matters one step further, maybe that family didn’t have a lot of disposable income to begin with. Let’s talk about another family; maybe an architect and an attorney. Together they make a nice wage. A nice enough wage to send their 2 kids to a modest private Catholic school to further reinforce what is prohibited from being mentioned in any way in K-12 public indoctrination centers. They have most of their health care premiums provided by one of their employers. They have some disposable income to have a few gadgets, take a nice vacation and more importantly on a macro scale, contribute a big share to their 401k plans.

    Faced with the situation of having to pay $21,000 for health care once their employers cancel their plans and pay the fine, this comfortablly middle class couple now has to come up with $1800 a month for health care. Where do you think that is coming from? Maybe they reduce their 401k contributions (what if this entire demographic does this and imagine the consequence on the markets…). Maybe they are forced to pull their kids from their Catholic school environment and put their kids back into K-12 public indoctrination centers. There is no money left for gadgets, or a new car every now and then or a decent vacation. Every bit of disposable income would go towards a crappy .gov health care plan.

    It is this demographic that absolutely drives the economy.

    It is this demographic that are among the most productive and responsible citizens in this country.

    It is on the backs of this demographic that the Marxists plan to fund their utopia Marxists dreams.

    And it is this demographic that may end up being affected the most.

    After all, socialism is only successfull when everyone is equally miserable.

    Do you hear this Cong. Cantor?!?!?

    This bill needs to be repealed. Not replaced. Not improved. Not tweaked.

    REPEALED!!!!

    If you don’t pledge to do this and pledge from an HONEST place free from other CYA language and petitions then I will make sure that YOU sir are repealed.

  • http://www.incredibleco.ning.com Incredible

    Now triple-post. Please delete.

  • chihank

    Cantor’s new book will be called YOUNG GUNS.

    Due out this August.

    http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/39201.html

  • Scope

    OK, so it’s from Politico’s Mike Allen, and I sure don’t know if it’s all true, but, it is exactly how I see Cantor in my eyes-

    “BEHIND THE CURTAIN ? ?Boehner, Cantor not always on same page,? by John Bresnahan and Jake Sherman: ?House Minority Whip Eric Cantor has asked the ethics committee to greenlight a national book tour this August for a new GOP manifesto he?s co-authoring with two younger members of Congress, according to sources familiar with the situation. This is classic Cantor: a hyperambitious move to publish and push ideas he thinks will help rebrand the GOP, on his terms ? and not necessarily those of his boss, Minority Leader John Boehner. If this were an isolated incident, it would pass without a peep. But it?s not: Cantor is earning a reputation for pushing his ideas so hard and so often that some GOP colleagues are questioning his motives. Is he guided by a burning desire to help the party ? or to boost himself? ?Boehner is running 1994 all over again,? a senior Republican lawmaker said, meaning Boehner wants to rely on a wave of voter anger with Democrats to ride into the majority. ?Cantor and [California Rep. Kevin McCarthy] see it totally differently.? McCarthy serves as Cantor?s top lieutenant in the whip organization and is one of the co-authors, along with Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), of Cantor?s new book, ?Young Guns.?? http://bit.ly/aZxQqY ”

    Exactly, what are his motives?

  • saltydawg

    YES MY EQUIPMENT IS FAULTY , MY HANDS AND FACE HAVE BEEN DISFIGURED IN IRAQ.BUT MY MIND IS STILL QUITE CLEAR ,NOT EASY TO TYPE WITH NO FINGERS.BUT I APPRECIATE YOUR OPINION ,AND ALLOWING ME TO EXPRESS MINE .I USED TO BELIEVE THAT WAS WHAT I WAS FIGHTING FOR.

  • tinwhisker

    . . . that moderate Republicans are merely liberal enablers. Moreover, these career politicians, like Boehner especially, are more interested in entrenching their power than they are in reversing our descent into statism. They either don’t want to see or cannot see that pursuing a government solution to our health care cost problems already places them in the “progressive” camp; free-market/private enterprise solutions, major tort reform, and changing the law to promote the sale of health ins. across state lines are thus necessarily eschewed since these measures mitigate against the statist goal.

    Both Boehner and Cantor are liberal enablers. They are the establishment we must defeat. Steve King, OTOH, has long been among the few Congressmen I’ve known to be a principled conservative. Boehner and Cantor would do well to recognize that we are on to them; we demand opposition to Leftism. If the Republican Party hasn’t the balls for the job, they’re history — or this country (as founded) is.

  • Scope

    The problem in our VA07 district is that no one will primary Cantor. Whenever you hear of someone willing to run against him, they wind up dropping out before the primary. Isn’t that odd? I wouldn’t put it past this arrogant elitist establishment jerk to pay them to drop out, or to offer them a nice job somewhere else.

  • IJB
  • IJB

    However, revolution may be the only option if this plays out in the way it’s starting to look like it might…

  • izoneguy

    That was like War & Peace – with no peace…..

  • Scope

    Cantor poked his nose in the R nomination for VA05 district. There was already a big field with some good conservative candidates. Cantor recruited his “good friend” Robert Hurt to be the nominee, and promoted him on local radio. He is without question a moderate RINO. Hurt wound up with the biggest war chest, with Cantor’s help no doubt, and, was able to put his face and name out there every 5 minutes leading up to the primary. The Tea Partiers chant was Anyone but Hurt. Now we have a third party candidate that would not have run if any of the other candidates won the nomination.

    I just saw an article where the NRCC, and Cantor are taking credit for these great Young Guns they successfully helped get elected. Robert Hurt is one of them.

    I do have to laugh because when someone posted early on that Hurt was being pushed and promoted by the NRCC, they were attacked because there was no proof of that. Huh!

  • badgerbyte

    If there is one molecular whiff from any of our representatives that doesn’t comport to conservative principle meaning being truthful to the cause will be summarily dispatched to the private sector. I’m done with this feely mealy slight of hand c*ap. Be up front and honest and your in, play any semblance to the heretofore article?s description of political games? Do it on your own time as we will take you down. We aren’t bluffing here Gentlemen.

    What say you Messer’s Cantor and Boehner? Waiting???..

  • MojoMan

    Very well said. The suggestion that the Republicans will move to repeal Obamacare and then get back around to health reform in some sort of unspecified future time frame is not believable. They will do nothing of the sort.

    Nothing is going to happen with this until 2012 at the earliest. The Republicans will have one shot at this, as you suggested, and then all of the political oxygen around this issue will be completely evacuated from the room. The Republicans need to do this all at one time, and they need to get it right the first time, as there will be no round two. “Repeal and replace” is the only approach that makes practical sense.

    The “repeal only” proposition is an ill-conceived half measure that does not effectively deal with the underlying health care issues that need to be reformed. As a result, this approach is not practical and it is a political loser.

  • mikerazar

    Is Tuesday bash Cantor day and Wednesday bash Boehner day at RedState? I know Thursday is devoted to Palin bashing and Friday to Romney….so whoever bashed Romney in these comments is way out of line.

    Art has tried to make it seem that his inside knowledge of the true Sarah Palin trumps everything else we know about her. After all, he was a hot shot political insider in Alaska. Now Scope and Halsey from Eric Cantor’s own district will educate us on the “real” Eric Cantor. Is he ambitious? If so, that be a grievous flaw. (apologies to the bard).

    Rdelbov is obviously correct. No discharge petition will get close to 218. If it is just a symbolic gesture, why not just sign both petitions? Is there any tactical disagreement too small to read somebody out of the party?

    I have my gripes with the Republican Party too. RINO or Ryanist, they are impervious to outside ideas or information or suggestions. It is too bad that the Tea Party has evolved into a collection of rival splinter groups with no specific proposals. The intellectual base of the Conservative movement is close to a vacuum. Pro life, pro capitalism and pro Constitution is hardly a list of action items.

    Progressives seem to think that slogans are a good substitute for thoughtful analysis. If Conservatives think so too, the future of America is a crapshoot.

    Snap out if it RedState. It isn’t too late to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

  • dariencrow

    Why are wanting to start a fight within our own ranks for a cause that has absolutely zero chance of changing anything???

    As long as Obama is in office he will never never never sign a repeal of his own law. He will veto any attempt at repeal of Obamacare… and we do not have a veto-proof majority.

    We have to take majority control of the House… defund this monster and repeal it when Obama is gone in 2012.

    So what are you people fighting about?

  • gazill

    leadership, currently, would be Tom McClintock. While here representing California, he was a steady voice for (fiscal) conservatism, and he knows clearly what an out of control government can lead to (though, now adays, everybody but Californians seem to). This is still his first term, so maybe in a term or two, he can get there.

    I must say, I missed the part about Cantor, I always thought he was one of the more conservative reps. Boehner has never impressed me; once in a while he’d fight, but I never knew exactly his MO. My confidence for 2010 is (again) beginning to wane.

  • ralatredstate

    Club for Growth 2009 Scorecard

    Rating Rank
    Boehnor 86% 88
    Cantor 92% 42

    http://www.clubforgrowth.org//projects/

  • Bill

    1. You may have a very slight chance you could get some DEMS to vote for a discharge petition to REPEAL the Obamacare bill with the prospect of a do over!
    2. There is absolutely no chance you will get a DEM to support a petition which has “allegedly a GOP replacement plan” which has not any DEM input!

    Regardless, I believe that the totally of the American People who have any really cares about politics in the Federal realm now do not want a “one party rule with the Executive & Legislative Branches in either the DEM or GOP control” anytime soon. If I had the means to control who controls what for the next 12 years, I would say GOP President and GOP House. The President appoints judges and the House controls spending and originates taxes. Compromise would have to happen to get anything done. The less the GOP & DEMS do by enacting laws, the less freedoms we lose overall.

  • cactusjack

    On the off chance we end up in 2012, through the vicissitudes of the primary process, with a 2008 R- retread for Pres., here are 3 things good about him 1) he’s the only R who can *really take Michigan*, now more than ever, & that seriously screws up the Dems’ 2012 electoral college map and strategy; 2) he may be the only “sleeper conservative candidate,” ever, i.e., he campaigns center right but IMO would actually tend to govern further right if put in office; 3)you wouldn’t vote for him because…. you want to vote for Obama?
    I’m making a simliar list for Huckabee, not finished but his list starts with Romney’s #3. We don’t throw out Romney yet, keep him in the wings. The economy may be so deeply, dreadfully in trouble by 2012, that a virtual national 9-1-1 call is made to draft him as the only qualified candidate with the financial smarts to save the country. Now having said all that, I like everyone else here am looking forward to a fresh new crop in 2012, and that would include Palin since she’d be running for Pres in her own right, not as VP to that “my friends” guy.

  • E Pluribus Unum

    Of course he still owes me an answer regarding that Barton thing.

    I like McClintock, not sure he’s been there long enough to have gotten a base. I like Hensarling, I would consider Shaddegg or Price.

    What I am really looking for is (a) a true-north conservatives, (b) who are dirty, mean rotten b*st*rd with a natural-born hatred for left-wingers. I’m not sure we have any at all in the House who are that person.

    And I’m willling to bend more on (a) than I am on (b)..

  • redneck_hippie

    record for repeal or not. Muddying the water is contraindicated and EE is 100% correct.

    This is a tennis club moment. Unfortunately, our leadership is unwilling to take the oath and instead grovels in front of ravening beasts for a share of the hamburger.

  • JSobieski

    No one else in the house is as good at explaining policy. Although House leadership is not necessarily a role for policy wonks, its the leadership that gets the TV time.

    The more tv time Ryan gets, the better off we are.

  • JSobieski

    nt

  • http://www.wolvesofliberty.com GJ Merits

    http://hotair.com/archives/2010/06/30/gulp-multiple-polls-show-support-for-obamacare-climbing/

    Look folks, repeal, repeal and replace, whatever. It just is not going to work. If you rely on politicians you’ll be disappointed every time. And don’t count on lawyers and federal courts either.

    Very, very rarely is a victory like this week’s 2nd amendment fight go our way. Having the Supreme court (a federal body) arbitrate between the states and the federal government is like having a wife you are about to divorce rule on the terms of the divorce. The founders never intended it this way and until we fix that, we’ll be writing and wringing our hands about this stuff until its too late. The IMF is already stating our debt will exceed GDP in 2012. 2012 people. It’s now or never or we go the way of Greece minus the bailouts. Who the hell is going to bail us out?

    I’m through thinking for a second that elections will do anything other than slow the decline. And I don’t give one whit about who you think is going to save our collective butts. It. Ain’t. Gonna. Happen.

  • gazill

    I am embarassed I had forgotten Pence (and Ryan). Guess I was zoned in on McClintock (and my work)….I cannot find anything in your post to disagree with, EPU….

  • lineholder

    the self-fulfilling prophecy principle? It states that a person’s attitude affects their actions which can in turn influence the outcome of the situation. The minute a person starts thinking “I can’t”, they won’t. The minute they stop believing something to be possible, it ceases to be possible.

    There isn’t a human being among us who knows for certain what the future holds. None of us do. We can cease and desist now and seal our own future and that of our children and grandchildren. Or we can continue to fight, come what may come, even if things go against us.

  • tinwhisker

    . . . with Jeb Bush shortly after the O inauguration (or it might have been right after the Nov. ’08 election), the tour that was meant to get the republican “faithful” all fired up about how the leadership was going to tackle our national problems and do a better job than the dems. And that was the problem: they assumed we thought government had the solutions, for example, Jeb’s going on and on about his proposals to improve education. Not a one of them seemed to understand that what WE want (from the feds especially) is LESS government, not more. Less spending for loony programs, not more. Less intrusion into our lives, not more.

    The day I saw that video and heard their proposals, I thought to myself: these guys just don’t get it; they simply live in a different world from us and are swimming around in the same pool as the Marxist-globalists. We’re in deep do-do, I thought. But now with the Tea Party gaining strength and putting up the long overdue stink about our deficit spending and descent into despotism, we just might be able to pull in the reins and turn this horse around. God knows the alternative is just too terrible to contemplate.

    Bottom line: I don’t trust Cantor as far as I can throw him, which is not even a measurable distance.

  • gumbeaux

    With everything today, everyone is either part of the problem or part of the solution. This Obamacare deal is like a cancer, it grows and destroys everything around it. It will not do one bit of good and both Cantor and Boehner know that. They want the revenue it generates for the government. Pure and simple. This is sad. They can be replaced until they understand the problem, because they are very much part of it.

  • edintexas

    I followed Eric’s link to The Hill article. Unless I misread the posts about Steve King’s bill, I was under the impression that King wished to repeal the entire mess which is called Obamacare and start a national discussion about what should be done.

    Yet this is in The Hill article: “King’s petition would repeal parts of the healthcare reform law that originated in the Senate, while Herger’s petition would repeal all of the healthcare law and the reconciliation bill.” Did The Hill get it backwards? I’d encourage anyone to try and nail down the facts here, for I don’t know who is correct at this point.

  • atillathehun

    King’s discharge petition makes great political sense and accomplishes the most with the least waste of time.
    Simple and brief is always superior to the alternative.

  • lwe6576

    I have sent my email to Cantor telling him I didn’t appreciate what he was doing and he should know that his constituents would find out. I don’t trust any of them. He’s been there too long and needs to go when his time is up.

  • conritwng

    does this cancel all the law suits that are saying the Obamacare is unconstitutional? BAAAD IDEA

  • vtdelacy

    Everyone starting to back down on repealing that monstrosity ought to be first forced to watch the 20/20 video available at YouTube done by John Stossel about socialized medicine(which shows that under it in Canada Fluffy and Fido get better and more timely medical care than do their masters) , then they should also be given a copy of the opinion letter from the physician who read the bill and clearly concluded that he would work tirelessly to insure that every representative voting for that destructive bill ended up being sent directly to the unemployment lines, with good reason since the bill will destroy the doctor/patient relationship while subjecting people over age 65 to death panels, etc. ad nauseum. Good doctors will stop accepting Medicare patients (there’s a shortage of those as it stands now) and many physicians will feel compelled to either leave to practice medicine in another country or retire or switch professions altogether – we will lose the best doctors who care the most about their patients. Republicans – my party – MUST find thir spinal column and stand firm on this one! If they fail, surely another party (the Constitution party?) will arise to replace them. The other last hope is that the Supreme Court may declare the bill unconstitutional based on the individual mandate clause. May God save America!

  • txharleyman

    MoJoMan you?re very misguided. When 60% of the American people want Obamacare repealed, it should and must be repealed.

    I agree that there are many things about our medical care that need to be fixed. However, I vehemently disagree that ?Government? is the solution. The best solution is to get rid of Obamacare, then introduce legislation that will get the government OUT of the healthcare business and not legalize them becomeing even more entrenched.

    Too many rules, too many regulations, too much paperwork, too much oversight and last and probably the most expensive and unnecessary part of our current ?medical system? is too many lawsuits. Trial lawyers and their aggressive pursuit of riches (for themselves, mostly) have driven up the cost of every single component of healthcare. Doctors, hospitals, clinics, testing labs, pharmaceutical companies, medical equipment manufactures all pay zillions of dollars in protecting and defending themselves from lawsuits, most of which are frivious.Those outrageous and unnecessary costs are paid for by exhorbident insurance premiums and charges for medical services.

    Can Obamacare, period. Then dismantle the ?medical / government complex” and let free Americans and the free enterprise system (which, by the way, created the best medical care the world has ever know without the government’s help) get back to work without having to kiss the government?s and the trial lawyer?s a** es.

  • txharleyman

    …. MoJoMan:

    You?re very misguided. When 60% of the American people want Obamacare repealed, it should and must be repealed.

    I agree that there are many things about our medical care infrastructure that need to be fixed. However, I vehemently disagree that ?Government? is the solution. The best solution is to get rid of Obamacare, then introduce legislation that will get the government OUT of the healthcare business and not more entrenched.

    Too many rules, too many regulations, too much paperwork, too much oversight and last and probably the most expensive and unnecessary part of our current ?medical system? is too many lawsuits. Trial lawyers in their aggressive pursuit of riches (for themselves, mostly) have driven up the cost of every single component of healthcare. Doctors, hospitals, clinics, testing labs, pharmaceutical companies, medical equipment manufactures all pay zillions of dollars in protecting and defending themselves from lawsuits, most of which are frivolous. All of those excessive, unnecessary and expensive cost go into every single aspect of day-to-day health care cost.

    Can Obamacare. Then dismantle the ?medical / government complex? and let free Americans and the free enterprise system (which, by the way, created the best medical care the world has ever known without the governments “help”) get back to work without having to kiss the government?s and the trial lawyer?s butts.

    You do NOT want the same management, the same people, the same systems and same the philosophies that have started, managed, then bankrupted the Post Office, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security running your doctor?s office or your local hospital.
    Now do you?

  • fightinmad

    and get JB and EC to stop muddying the water. John Boehner tried to interfere with the selection of our Congressman here in Alabama despite the fact that none of us wanted his choice, the x-Democrat to run on our ticket. We beat the socks of him and Mo Brooks beat Parker Griffith handily. We had a plan and Bonehead, I mean Boehner and the Washington crowd thought they knew more than we. King has a great plan to bring the true colors of the representatives in both houses out of hiding. Why would Cannot and Bonehead confuse the issue? I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that we need to clean house from stem to stern/top to bottom. We are hanging in the balance and we have too many weak-kneed Republicans destroying our chance to save our nation. As Sean would say, “They are too smart by half!” That is the nice way of saying they are stupid and stupid on purpose because they want to look important instead of joining the team and pulling the plow. We are rapidly approaching the end of the line. We must stay focused, unified and consistent with our goals and our message.

  • MojoMan

    I agree with pretty much everything you said here. I want Obamacare repealed, and I want it replaced with many of the same kinds of solutions that you discussed in your post above. I just do not think that is actually likely to occur using a two part approach where we repeal it now, and then perhaps down the road, if the Republicans can somehow find the time, then they will hopefully try to find a way to squeeze in a discussion on the reform elements that we need. Does anyone really believe that is likely to happen?

    The Republicans have failed to take up health care reform every time that they have been in power during my lifetime. If the passing of Obamacare does not serve as an abrupt wake-call for the Republican party on this issue, then nothing ever will. The Republicans have to step forward and provide conservative leadership on this issue. They need to repeal Obamacare AND replace it with reforms we need, many of which you discussed above. Not just repeal, but repeal AND replace with real conservative reforms.

    Don’t get me wrong. If there is a vote in Congress next week on a straight up repeal, I will support the repeal. But honestly, Obamacare is not going to be repealed as long as Obama is in office. So let’s get real here. The Republicans are going to have to marshal their forces to win back control of the US government in 2012. The Senate races in 2010 are especially important, as all those winners will still be in office through 2016. There are 33 Senators running in 2012, including 23 Dems and 10 Republicans. If the Republicans do well this time, they could be in position to get close to 60 seats in the Senate in 2012 with another strong showing. If that happens, then all of what we are discussing could be brought to pass in 2013.

    Since there is no way to repeal this before 2013, when the Republicans have hopefully regained control of Washington, then why not just do all of this at the same time? Under that scenario, it just makes no sense to wait.

    Repeal and Replace in 2013. Get it done.

  • myramadza

    If the Republican Party doesn’t come through on the repeal of the Obamacare; I for one feel they will be letting me down again.
    I felt this way during our last presidential election. I voted for McCain and Palin, but I got the feeling that Mc Cain didn’t really want to win. I have been growning more confident about Boehner but this will do me in again.
    I am an independant but vote conservative rather than Republican…PLEASE GIVE ME A CHANCE TO SUPPORT SOMEONE WITH LIKE THINKING!
    MYRAMADZA

  • edweirdness

    Eric;
    I understand your frustration with Cantor and Boehner, but I fail to see what your rant will accomplish. It’s undeniable that we, all of us, Conservatives, Independents, and reformed Democrats alike, must do everything within our power to remove Congressional Democrats and RINO’s from power, and stop the Obama administration trainwreck!

    Arguably, the time for reining in RINO’s was during the primaries, where it must be said, some success was had. Pragmatically, there aren’t any Independent or third party candidates that have any chance in most Congressional districts. Now, the task before us must be to end the creeping socialist agenda that threatens our nation by removing as many of President Obama’s self dealing enablers as possible.

    Realistically, we really don’t have a choice come the November mid-terms. Our focus must be laser like on sending the only message that these people in Washington will understand. A thorough, emetic house cleaning of Congress. Indeed, the results of the November mid-term elections must send a clear, resolute message that we, the people, are awake and united in our efforts to take back control of our government. From my perspective, only a complete, humiliating, epic, crushing, financially debilitating defeat of biblical proportions for Congressional Democrats, such that the remaining incumbents are placed under suicide watch, will convey the message of just how wrong we, the people, feel this Administration and Congress have failed us! The defeat of Democrats at every level of government must be so historic, so pervasive, so paradigm shifting as to serve as a cautionary example to Republicans that citizens patience is thin, and our vengence swift. The November elections must leave no doubt, no ambiguity that America’s citizens are back in charge, and that, going forward, the will of the people will guide our governance!

    We cannot achieve this objective if we allow our own petty anger and frustration to distract us from what must be accomplished. We all agree that Obamacare was flawed from it’s inception. It’s axiomatic though that it is far easier to stop a bad bill, rather than repeal a bad law. Especially a law as self serving and financially lucrative as the egregious Obamacare legislation.

    If the objective of your comments was to motivate us all to contact Cantor and Boehner and try and steer them back to reality, you could and should have made this clear. I’m concerned that your message will cause many to lose hope, instill despair that no matter who we elect, it won’t matter. Nothing could be farther from the truth!

    Our words have power, and thus we should not allow anger or frustration to inform those words. Pragmatism must act as arbiter in any comment we make, lest we render our movement powerless. In future, if your intent is to motivate like minded members to action, I would recommend that you draft a generic letter of disapproval or sanction of the actions of Mr. Cantor and Mr. Boehner, and post it where Redstate members can cut and paste it and send their own views to Cantor and Boehner. It’s better that we try and reform their thinking now rather than make vague plans about how ‘we get even’ once sanity has been restored to Congress in November.

    Make no mistake, I fervently wish that there were a viable alternative to voting partisan this election. However, the threat to our nation, our economy, and our society posed by the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats is far to dire to allow my personal desires to color what must be done. I will not allow any action or comment on my part to undermine efforts to take back our government and end the socialist spiral.

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    I would guess that bringing these matters up has several results. One result might be to shame or scare them into doing the right thing. Another might be to constantly remind constituents of their apostasy, so the they can put pressure on them.

    Certainly the days when we just sit silently while our own party leaders hand us a crap sandwich are gone, long gone forever.

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    you said: “The problem is that just being opposed to stuff is a great position for a minority party to take while they are in opposition. However, it is not an effective way to convince people that a minority party deserves to be in the majority again and that they are ready to take on the leadership responsibility of effectively governing.”

    But it worked pretty well for the Democrats.

  • tngal

    which might explain why you’re getting some mail on this topic this afternoon. They don’t like to be called out on one of the big sites.

  • tngal

    which might explain why you’re getting some mail on this topic this afternoon. They don’t like to be called out on one of the big sites.

  • Scope

    to come on Redstate and tell us too “snap out of it.” You are very bossy, arrogant and a know it all. People will form their own ideas, and write their own opinions without being led by someone who comes on here just to tell everyone they should support the same RINOS that you support. If one listed to your advice the elitist status quo in DC would remain, and the R’s would stay in the hinterlands forever.

    From the link that was provided below where you are referred to in an article, your bio is a little interesting- Havud math prof., stock trader, high position in a bank and on and on. That is not an invitation for someone sitting in an Ivory Tower to tell us little peons what to think, or who to support.

  • Scope

    like everything else, if an issue dies out, and everyone takes their minds off it, it becomes less important to keep up the fight. The D’s running for re-election want nothing more than for the voters to forget about Ocare.

  • Scope

    Cantor voted for TARP, and a Bank that his wife works for got $267 million from TARP funds-

    http://www.propublica.org/article/bank-employing-gop-house-leaders-wife-got-bailout-bucks-090123

    Seems Cantor’s wife is a very busy lady. She holds several high level positions including-

    Chair of the Board of VRS. Virginia Retirement Systems that covers Virginia’s public sector employees.

    Partner in Alternative Investment Management LLC, New York

    Director of Dominoes Pizza

    Member of Board of Directors of Media General Inc.

    and of course she has a position in the Bank named in the article above, don’t remember the name, but it is another NY Bank.

  • E Pluribus Unum

    He is awesome.

    Issa is another one I like alot. And he absolutely fits my criterion (b).

  • E Pluribus Unum

    He is awesome.

    Issa is another one I like alot. And he absolutely fits my criterion (b).

  • E Pluribus Unum

    I have a hard time, on demand, coming up with a list, but I think we got 25-35 big-[censored] hosses in the House around whom the movement can be built.

  • Scope

    He gets to the heart of the matter, and doesn’t just throw out sound bites and talking points. He and Ryan delve into the problems, and are willing to put info on paper such as Ryan’s Roadmap, and, the recently released Issa report on the oil spill bungling-

    http://republicans.oversight.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=848%3Arelations-campaign-on-the-oil-spill-is-harming-the-actual-clean-up&catid=21&Itemid=28

    I hope Issa is keeping a safely guarded list on the investigations to come when the R’s regain control. Work on the most serious infractions first, and, work down the list. The D’s won’t look to pretty for years and years to come when the public hangings take place, in Congress of course.

  • txharleyman
  • mikerazar

    My daughter works for a bank that got funds. Should she resign, so that I can keep posting at RedState?

  • mikerazar

    No one is more arrogant than you. All you are capable of is to accuse anyone you disagree with of being a RINO.

    Sorry chump. I’m not apologizing for or hiding my background. I have never tried to bludgeon anybody with credentials like you do. Every post I make stands or falls on its merits. You live in Cantor’s district. So if you say he is a RINO, it must be true. But you call me arrogant.

    The article you are referring to did not refer to me. It was written by me. It is a sardonic take on the cause of the meltdown, and cannot possibly be read as supporting a bailout.

    I will say unconditionally that anyone who thinks we can build a conservative majority around people whose views are more conservative than Eric Cantor’s is a blithering idiot. There I said it!! (imitating the great one). You obviously don’t care about winning actual elections.

  • JSobieski

    so I wouldn’t want him in the leadership

  • floydbayne

    Vote for Floyd Bayne in Virginia’s 7th District! Check out -www.floydbayne.com – look in the left column for “market based healthcare plan.”

  • http://xmmlbchat.blogspot.com katesmith

    I agree with the assessment that most politicians have been pulled far left in recent decades. It will take big people to change this. Democrats very methodically changed their party from within which resulted in their getting rid of Hillary and electing Obama. And they aren’t done. I think republicans can do the same. I don’t see it happening under the Ed Gillespie/Karl Rove banner or via new government plans except to repeal Obamacare. I read Rove gathered wealthy donors to wrest influence from both the Tea Party people and Michael Steele, and will recruit candidates loyal to the donors. I am a fan of Rush and was shocked to hear he is a good friend of Rove. I don’t see Rove or Gillespie as helpful.

  • conservativecrusade

    does not set Republican policy or cause it not to change. He is simply the best at getting someone elected and gets paid very well for is brilliance. Democrats actually get scared to here Karl is on the election team.

  • izoneguy

    Health law risks turning away sick

    http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/106887-health-law-risks-turning-away-sick

  • izoneguy

    ObamaCare will kill people like this: They won’t be covered
    and going to the ER will get more expensive.
    They will be wishing they could only pay $1000 month….
    To cover a family of four and the husband with a pre-exisitng condition is affordable. If there business cannot generate
    enough money to cover expenses and $1000 per month then they are poor business people. Why do they need an office? How much does that cost? They might need to fire someone and work a little harder. But looking to ObamaCare as the savior for your problems is wishful thinking.

    Health overhaul may mean longer ER waits, crowding

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100702/ap_on_he_me/us_med_er_crowding