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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

Hensarling-Bachmann

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  November 5th, 2010 at 09:59 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Quickly, I want to follow up on this earlier post to make sure the key nuggets get eyeballs.

I think having Jeb Hensarling as Conference Chair and Michelle Bachmann as Vice Chair would be a powerful duo. Hensarling is a very substantive policy guy. Michelle Bachmann gave up campaigning for herself to go all over the country for Republicans this year. She deserves a seat at the table.

Tom Price, a doctor, at Policy would be huge. I know him well. Having a doctor there would send a strong signal that the GOP is serious.

Also, Fred Upton as Chairman of Energy & Commerce is unacceptable to every single conservative I know. He is a union lackey and bad on virtually every fiscal issue. Shimkus, Stearns, or Pitts would be far better.

On Appropriations, not only do we need a guy like Jack Kingston who, by the way, was the only Appropriations Cardinal to turn in budgets balanced or in surplus. But that’s not all. There need to be a sizable number of fiscal conservatives put on the committee. Start with Jeff Flake, but don’t stop there. Tom Graves or Lynn Westmoreland from Georgia, other solid folks, etc. We need new blood on Appropriations.

Last, but absolutely not least, the Rules Committee absolutely must stop being a proxy for the Speaker. NO WAIVERS and load up Rules with good conservatives who are not tokens or proxies. Rules absolutely must start showing some independence with a conservative spine if the GOP wants to make a real difference.

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COMMENTS

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  • Death_of_the_Donkey

    would be a good thing for us going forward. seniority or not, he will make a fool of us with his wild conspiracies that will now get much more media attention.

  • calgacus

    You don’t need to be a conspiracy theorist to realize how badly Bernanke is screwing us over.

  • johnt

    Stick him somewhere, impress on him the importance and messaging of elections. Tell him, no can do.

  • red_oakster

    If conservatives want their voices to be heard, they are going to need a strategy that opposes institutional efforts to dilute their voice. Basically, the caucus needs to be strengthened against both the leadership and the committee chairmen and frankly against the power of the Appropriations Committee.

    I think Erick is hunting in the right neighborhood with his recommendation to add Flake et al, but this is a secondary issue.

    Respectfully, Erick, you should be focused like a laser on key rules that will strengthen the caucus and therefore the cause of constitutionalist government.

    Number 1: The Steering Committee. The caucus needs to get rid of weighted voting or at the very least try to dilute it severely. Strengthening the caucus in the selection of Steering Committee members also is critical.

    Number 2: Term limits for Appropriation Committee members. This is an inherently corrupting process. Members should only be allowed to serve on the committee for a limited period of time (4 years in my view). Then they need to get off.

    Number 3: Subject Appropriation Committee markups to a recission process by the Budget Committee before they come to the floor. Let Budget have a crack at stripping bad stuff out.

    Number 4: Bring proposed committee chairman selection back to the caucus for a vote. Someone like Upton needs to win in the caucus as well as behind the closed doors of the Steering Committee.

    We need new rules to give conservatives a fighting chance. Setting up new rules before the new House meets is the best and last chance for conservatives to change the way things are done in Congress. Bachmann versus Hensarling is a distraction.

  • constitutionalconservative

    Some of Paul’s theories are unorthodox, but I wish he was one of the first to Challenge the Fed when other Republicans were asleep at the wheel, and has made among the strongest public cases against TARP/Bailouts.

    If he’s the problem, it’s a problem I’m happy to have. No legislation is going to move without full caucus support in any case.

  • constitutionalconservative

    Would all be assets for the party to promote . They each have strengths and weaknesses, but all are good conservatives and far more principled than the average politician.

  • libertarianphilip

    Fans of both.

  • wonkish1

    Ron Paul’s real contribution to the movement is in monetary policy. This position is perfect for him..

  • wonkish1

    I would say that Bachman needs to be in the higher echelon of the NRCC as well. Her ability to raise money means she needs a high profile spot. I don’t think NRCC chair, but probably number 2.

    Also if your not NRCC chair you can hold another leadership post and be one of the top deputies. McCarthy needs to hold his spot as head of recruitment. That also ties well together with his position as whip.

  • wonkish1

    Back running for the RNC chair spot.

  • gregory1972hunt

    but the man got people talking about monetary policy. In my own life, I know people with no education in economics and no sincere desire to understand “economic policy”, as the topic doesn’t translate well into idle chatter or pleasant conversation, yet whom are nonetheless asking questions about the Federal Reserve, the gold standard, international currency backing, and (without really knowing they’re doing it) macroeconomic policy.

    Say what you will, but I’m happy to see people taking an interest in these subjects, and I believe the man has done his part in dragging these subjects out into the open for “the common people” to see and understand. Although, to be fair, I think what he’s had to say about monetary policy would have been forgotten by now had we not entered a recession just after his opinion re-entered the popular media.

  • ihateliberals

    While we needed him to make sure we took the house he s stil a Moderate and mostly worthless as a conservative. He is conservative only in fiscal matters and that isn’t good enough. he needs to be weeded out in 2012 and replaced by a true conservative.

  • Pizza_God

    Please name one “wild conspiracy” you are talking about.

    Truth is, he is an Austrian Economist and knows more about Monetary policy than nearly every member of Congress.

    He warned us of what was going to happen and has been saying it for years.

    Most don’t like Ron Paul because they don’t understand him. He is the most principled member of Congress by far and actually has quite a lot of influence.

    BTW, Michell Bachman along with Kenny Marchant (my personal Congressman) are both fans of Ron Paul. They know him and know he is right.

  • billybaa

    Thomas Jefferson was a Radical Right Wing Extremist
    thank God we have Obama, Pelosi, and Reid to save us