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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

We Sent ‘Tea Party’ Republicans to Washington for This?

In the House Republican’s Pledge that I told you was a “Pledge to Nowhere,” you find this language:

“tax increases must be prevented” and “We will help the economy by permanently stopping all tax increases”.

Got it? The House GOP pledged, also known as a promise, to stop “all tax increases.” It was their promise.

According to The Hill, the Republicans are about to give a capital “F” and a capital “U” to the tea party and throw in the towel on their Pledge.

Lawmakers emerged from the closed-door meeting saying Hensarling had made the case that offering some new revenue — $300 billion in at least one publicized offer — would be a good trade to secure a permanent extension of the George W. Bush-era tax rates.

So we’re going to keep permanent the Bush tax cuts that no one really thought would actually expire next year even though they technically are supposed to and replace those with a $300 billion tax increase?

To rub salt into the tea party’s wounds, “Hensarling received a standing ovation following his presentation.” Yes, a Republican got a standing ovation by Republicans for proposing a tax increase.

To be fair, if there are serious structural reforms to the tax code and serious concessions by the Democrats on entitlement reform, I would want to look seriously at the plan. But, based on what we know so far, the Democrats have offered nothing publicly substantive and the GOP is offering up a bunch of smoke and mirrors on the House side to cover up the fact that House leaders are actually proposing a tax increase on the American public.

Yet again the GOP is negotiating with itself. Given the way the GOP is operating on itself in public, I’m surprised it isn’t blind.

Parting thought: if the GOP is doing this out of fear that the Bush tax cuts won’t get extended again, are they not then operating out of fear? Of course they are. And fear should never be the starting point for negotiations.

COMMENTS

  • davesinsanantonio

    We need principled statesmen, not weak politicians.

    I hope Hensarling is being primaried. Boehner too!

    Even if they still win nomination and election, they need to know we are watching and will never again trust them on their own. They have proven they either cannot or will not live by truly conservative principles.

    Plato asked “who will guard the guardians”; The answer must be “We the People”. We the People are still in charge and cannot abrogate our responsibilities to make sure our representational employees do our bidding. They are elected to be our servants, and we must insure they do what we want. Even if that means firing them at the ballot box.

    We cannot blindly trust them and longer. Nor, can we assume they will keep their promises. Not with their track record of selling out their promises for “comity” and “civility”. Once elected the “beltway disease” infects them, and begin to think they know better than the people who hired them in the first place.

    There is a psychological theory that says when we elect them they then have to think they are smarter than us, otherwise we wouldn’t have elected them. It is time to show them just how smart we are by getting rid of them. To do otherwise is to prove they are correct in their thinking that they can keep pulling the wool over our eyes.

    It doesn’t matter how much pork they bring back to the district, It doesn’t matter how long they have been there and how much power they have built up. If they will not listen to us, they have to go! Now!

  • pttx333

    s

  • nathanalbright

    …that all too often Republican efforts to elect fiscal conservatives who hold the line on taxes is like the right-wing version of the play “The Sign In Sidney Brunstein’s Window,” where politicians are elected only to betray their (in this case, left-wing) constituents, who then promise to vote them out the next time until it works. It’s time to put their feet to the fire and learn that they don’t have impunity. If they will not obey their covenants, they will lose the privileges of office.

  • pttx333

    /

  • pttx333

    x

  • standingonthewall

    It would be nice to be surprised on the good side for a change but apparently that isn’t going to happen this time around. The other not-surprise is that we are going to have to keep working, not only to throw out the Democrats/Leftists but also the squishy Republicans.
    In Missouri, for example, we not only have one D Senator that we must defeat next year but the R who is not on the ballot needs to make a serious right turn. I doubt he will. We’ll see.
    Our Congressional delegation has at least one entrenched R who needs to go but may take several cycles to defeat. Then there are the atrocious D’s, several in minority-majority districts, that are almost impossible to defeat at present.
    All of that said to remind my impatient self (and you?) that we aren’t going to completely win this in 2010-2012. I pray we get a great start and are able to accomplish much. I am beyond reasonably certain that this is just the beginning.
    Taking our government back and saving our country is a task deserving of our time, money and prayers. It will also require a longer attention span than one or two election cycles.

  • pttx333

    And the voters should take aim at every last one of them. Anyone can put an (R) after their name! Agree with you on this.

  • PatriotForLiberty

    But will end up doing the right thing… like they did with the debt limit negotiations, the budget talks earlier this year, blocking unfit nominees like Holder, Geithner & Wendy Sherman…
    Wait, bad examples. Let me try to think of some. Sigh.

  • wbf

    Washington is all about money. It is about money buying power.
    When Washington’s checks start bouncing then people will begin to pay more attention to local politics than they do now. That is when real change will come.

  • nathanalbright

    …but what kind of revolution that is depends on a lot of people, ourselves included.

  • geocon90293

    These two lead articles are very well put forward . Your anger and dismay certainly mirror my own and , hopefully , every other conservative’s in the country . Question is , what the heck to do about these arrogant , detached liars who get themselves elected and then join up with the old boys they were sent in to straighten out ? The insults to the electorate are just endless ; remorseless . The hapless GOP is probably going to throw Obama another term . Four more years of this and I think we’re done as a cohesive Union . The mess is just too big to fix . I think we’re in the soup ! My bleak hope is that we can quit nit-picking our candidates and all push hard on one of them just to get rid of Obama . We can adjust afterwards , thanks in no small part to voices like Red State .

  • http://www.imvtcenter.com jjwcook

    it appears that’s the order followed because of the power of having a large voter base – freebie seekers!

    Somebody should explain to the masses that the word “free” is the biggest misnomer in the english language!

    There ain’t nothing “free” in this universe! everything comes with a cost, a price and/or an obligation!

    The “free” market? Cut the crap! It’s an open market and it’s only as open as rules and regilations allow it to be.

    As I see it, the price that will be paid in the not too distant future is the insolvency of the US of A.

    Let’s cut that voter base in half – pay no taxes? You only get half a vote. You need to have skin in the game to justify a full vote. And, as we all know, money is skin.

    Rein in the lawyers – loser pays – everything!

    We don’t live by the “rule of law” in this country anymore. We live by the rule of “who’s law”. federal, state and local executive, legislative and judicial branches need to abide by the same laws that the general population abides by – NO EXCEPTIONS!

    Above all else, we need to educate the masses about “marketing”. How people make decisions based on emotions and then attempt to justify their bad decision with faulty logic.

    “It could have been worse” NO! Nothing could be worse than the situation that we are now presented with.

    GOD HELP US!

  • celador2

    Any Republican who holds the line will suffer in polls and all Democrats will soar. Obama will see a several pt spike in poll numbers on a deal. That is what happened in Dec 2010. In Spring 2011 on debt ceiling. tea party not borrow and spenders were blamed for S and P downgrade.

    It is critical to have a mandate to operate, get a hawk in WH and take control of Senate.

    In the meantime can not the tea party still lead by example, do the right thing despite reelection harm?

  • daniel22

    When an article such as this is short, sweet and to the point it usually says more than a lengthy one. It states the facts and allows us to go further or make up our minds.
    My opinion is that Boner has to go as Speaker. He was known as a deal maker before and has shown that he really is. The problem is that the deals leave US out of it.
    I do think that conservatives do need to get behind one candidate. I do not think that compromising principles is the way to go for a win in the presidential sweepstakes though. It would leave the door open for more shenanigans like what Boner pulls. That is but one reason I am so concerned about the push to nominate Romney for president. If the MSM; and Fox is included, backs this man one must ask why. Just being electable is not good enough. It seems also that democrats and progressives back him as well. I mean look at all of the attacks they have made against Romney.
    So far I have called this race months ago as it has so far played out. If things continue in the way I hope they do not then Obama will win the election. Articles such as this one highlight; and rightly so, what is being done in DC. It also encourages voters to stay home because they will get Boned no matter who is in office. Obama would get re-elected because the “free lunch” he offers would be in danger. Look at what he is doing now by circumventing Congress. That should be enough to prove my point.

  • boonerdan

    The 2010 elections simply elevated the same good ol’ boys into leadership that have been in Washington for years. As stated by others, this will take more than one election cycle. More importantly, it will require the voters to throw out the GOP Establishment rulers and elect citizen legislators again.

    We have no one to blame but ourselves.

  • http://www.planettron.com NickDeringer

    This little maneuver will allow them to say they kept the Bush tax cuts in their campaign commercials while down playing the tax increases. The next election will be a make or brake for the Tea Party.

  • PubliusII

    It is premature to conclude that the Republicans are capitulating to Democratic intransigence. At this point negotiations are still in progress and rumors are just that: rumors.

    Don’t get me wrong. If we agree to a tax increase for liberal smoke and mirrors regarding spending, then I will be as unhappy as anyone here. The Wall Street Journal has an article today predicting that the committee will use accounting gimmicks to find most, if not all, of the “cuts”.

    But as Eric’s post itself points out, we don’t really know what the deal is, if there is to be a deal at all. Let’s not despair, at least not yet.

  • cheetah2

    Elect the man president who just proposed cutting congresses pay in half?

  • ihateliberals

    It isn’t the Tea Party tht is at fault here.Just look at the competition the Tea Party has. First there are the Liberal Democrats teamed up with the Liberal Republicans (RINO’s), a gullible public and then the “coup de grace” the media. With this much gong on against the Tea Party I’m amazed anytime they can get a word in edge wise. The Problem here is the people in states like Ohio tha continue to send RINO’s back to congress ever two years. People like John Boehner. As long as we continue to allow this to happen nothing is going to change in DC. In the beginning of 2011 Boehner was very cautious until he found tht he could quash the Tea party or just go against their will. he now knows th wiht the media on his side against the Tea party he doesn’t have to listen to them at all. If the Tea Party is failing it is our fault. we the public have abandoned them and we are not being looud enough to make the RINO’s quake in their boots again. Where is our outrage at the liberal Republicans like Boehner? he is the one that is caving to the Liberals or maybe he isn’t. Maybe he is doing just what he wanted to happen because he is a liberal. Granted he isn’t the Democratic version but he is one of the Tax and Spend variety. If we want the Tea Party to be successful then we have to stay behind them and we didn’t. we abandoned them in droves. By the 2010 standards Michele Bachman should be the front runner not the RINO Mitt Romney. We let the media defeat us. Don’t get me wrong I am a Newt Gingrich supporter but then maybe I too am part of the Tea Party failings.

  • nathanalbright

    Time to do some lopping and cropping in the primaries.

  • usanovak

    If they will not listen to us, they have to go!

  • iidvbii

    Romney carry the (R) banner it is truly meaningless. Glad everyone is getting a good fresh dose of liberal republicans. Now look around the primary and let’s play pin the tail on the donkeys. I can name 3 any guesses which?

  • usanovak

    Everyone should email their member of congress to let them know, we are keeping track of what you do vs. what you say. Heritage Scorecard: If you have not checked this out, please do it now. Forward to your friends. You will be amazed …. your friends will respond with great emails. http://heritageactionscorecard.com/scorecard/index.html

    Congressman Yoder in KS 3rd District is at 75% … unacceptable, need above 90%

  • johnt

    The leftist thugs get something additional, Normal People get, or may get, the status quo. We’re off to a great start for 2012.

  • deuke

    doom and destruction, so many would have us believe. And if we are honest with ourselves, it may well be true – on several levels.
    We sit here and talk about our alleged representatives as though they are demi-gods who’ve stopped hearing our prayers. We blame Democrats and “squishy” Republicans for the mess we’re in and the doom we are running headlong into; we call them out for their “backsliding ways,” about tax increases, and tax reform; defense spending/cutting, entitlements, healthcare – the list goes on and on. And what do our alleged representatives answer?
    They don’t. And they don’t have to because we can’t make them answer – we can’t bring any power to bear that will humble them. We scream they will be run out of office and at the same time we admit that it will take several election cycles to make changes.

    We are just as “squishy” as they are. We kick the can down the road as much as they do – because we are them!
    America will indeed implode, because of the corruption we have allowed. Look at the fact that these so-called public servants go into office with modest earnings and come out multi-millionaires, because of their blatant and illegal participation in insider-trading. This isn’t a one party problem either – it belongs to both sides of the aisle. These people are corrupt because we are corrupt.

    Election cycles? Get a grip, the only answer to what will change the direction of this country is a spiritual one. In the meantime, every last one of the representatives in Congress and in the Senate that benefitted from their corrupt practices should be arrested immediately!

  • nathanalbright

    And I hope that we as a nation are able to repent and turn away from our heedlong rush toward destruction. For nations get the leaders they deserve, and in a democracy, that we choose. We have brought this on ourselves–and that is why we howl so much that we want to get out of this mess, while there is still something left to save.

  • Wayne

    A idealogical one that has been fought since time immemorial! Speeches and promises are in the politician’s DNA.

    Eventually, everyone will become fiscal conservatives when they are broke.

    Having taken over our public institutions, the progressive apparatus must be disassembled in stages. Trying to do it in one fell swoop will fail. Stepping back and looking at the lay of the land, it would appear that a complete economic collapse and all that entails will have to happen before we return to fiscal sanity.

  • partyof1

    How can this have happened?

    This is why I rolled my eyes when I heard about “TPC”. If any congressmen want the tea party to notice them, then cut spending, cut taxes, shrink government.

    Don’t say. Do.

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

    I opposed the debt ceiling fight, much less the bill. I wanted to have fights over govt shutdowns sans foreign bondholders, but I digress. I hated the details of the debt ceiling bill because it didn’t cut spending at all, much less enough to avert a crisis that is coming. I used to fear the draconian defense cuts that failure to reach a deal with Dems would trigger, but given that Dems insist on tax hikes and that they and Obama have already gutted defense, surrendered Iraq to Iran and won’t let enough troops into Afghanistan to win…I say let sequestration begin. We can rebuild defense in 2013.

  • deuke

    …. those representatives that have lined their pockets with insider-trading – as a start. I’m positive there is much more than just this that these representatives have done illegally as well. There is most definitely probable cause.
    We cannot allow the process to be further corrupted. This can no longer be thought of as a “generational war.” We don’t have any generations left.

  • gator_hoo

    This is the biggest problem I see; they are desperate not to get blamed for the country’s problems, and so they are scared to death of the media. Why after all this time they have not figured out that they are the Bogeymen that the Democrats need to scare the public into giving over control, I can’t understand. Somehow they continue to believe, if we do X, then the media will finally agree it is the democrats’ fault that Y.

  • geoph

    We play by the rules, while everyone else keeps cheating!

    Yes. We made a fine start in 2010, but WE need to accept the fact that WE need to fix our Nation; that WE need to accept this new reality! ?Isn’t that what Conservatism claims to do – assess the true situation and then deal with it? Any Representative we send to DC (it’s a tad different on State and local levels) is not going to adhere and promote our ideals – unless we keep pressure on them. Heck, we can hardly do that ourselves.

    We knew this! Remember the concern during orientation week for our Freshmen Reps? How we sent our own group to speak with them? Just so GOP Liberalism would not be introduced un-opposed? ?But then what? We trusted their care to Cantor? Paul? Ryan? Bachmann? These are all powerful and experienced politicians who, when push came to shove, held to the Party line. Yes, even Mrs. Bauchmann of the Tea Party Caucus. When she had her opportunity to lead and speak, chose to hold back on forcing the debate to the Right (Same with that pretender McCotter). Yes, even Mr. Ryan who told us he was too involved with his 2011 budget to enter the fray on CR’s and spending at the end of fiscal year 2010. Boehner “bough” ?him off perfectly with that Chairman post.

    What about those whom we relied upon to be our mouthpiece to the media?
    Mrs. Palin can be directly credited with the neutering/stalling of the Conservative movement. She did assume the “leadership” role in ’09 and ’10, and now has abdicated in 2011. Title or not, candidate or not – her silence has created a vacuum, and we all know voices can not be heard in a vacuum!

    But WE empowered all those people; WE chose to overlook and learn from the history of our mistakes; WE are the ones who released our advocates of their responsibility towards us – by our inaction;?
    But WE are the ones who can make the “half-time adjustments” if we still believe there is a need for change!
    Do we abandon these freshmen to one and done status and start from scratch, or first, do we remind them why they are there?

    There seems to be a number of ?people willing to carry our message, but we have failed to unify around, and guide anyone to do so, in order to fill the vacuum that exists. Again, our voices can not be heard in a vacuum, and I don’t believe our pessimism and anger should exist there either.

  • williamjameson

    even more as recent polls favor raising taxes? I never thought the Tea Party candidates nor TP voters could sway the GOP over the long haul. “The Establishment” tried to graft them into the party, saw resistance and moved on knowing most didn’t like dems which was and still is good enough.

  • wbf

    My prayer is that God will not give us what we deserve but in His mercy with send us His Spirit to convict us of our sins and bring us to repentance. That is our only hope as a nation.

    In reading “The Old Roman World” one of the last chapters in the book deals with why Christianity was unable to stop the ruin of the Empire. The author brought out the fact that even though the Roman Empire fell the seeds of Christianity were planted in the hearts of the invading “barbarians” and carried back to Germany. Christianity did not fail. It just came too late for the Roman Empire, What grieves me so much is that we have turned away from our christian heritage.

  • carolina

    They are afraid that the masses will think they won’t compromise “for the good of the country”. The lamestream media loves to push that meme.

  • mickeydpekinil

    When BONNER got the multi-TRILLION DOLLAR borrowing increase that equaled a MULTI-TRILLION DOLLAR TAX INCREASE unless you can tell how the government intends to pay for that without using our taxes. OH YEA! They are going to balance the budget, save money, and pay down the debt. HA! HA! HA! Mick

  • izoneguy
  • JSobieski

    if we have a shutdown at this juncture, and that lifts Obama’s approval ratings and changes the prospects for 2012.

    The House of Representatives has the power to veto the process.

    That is the lever that we have. I don’t see why now is the time to use it. Toomey’s compromise proposal is put out there to help Republicans keep the independents in the upcoming election. Let the D’s turn it down.

    Why are we so determined to think that political capital is best spent now rather than being spent in 2013?

    It took a lot of years to make this mess. To blame people like Toomey for failing to fix a problem for which he doesn’t have all the tools is short sighted in my view.

    Everything this year is about positioning. Obama is not going to sign on to any real cuts. Not sure why this is a newsflash to anyone, but there it is.

  • rattlerjake

    No matter who is elected and sent to Washington, it doesn’t matter. Liberals and the RINOs will never get it. They are like a woman with a credit card – spend, spend, spend – file bankruptcy then spend, spend, spend. Governments around the world are collapsing due to the liberal/socialist agenda of spending without limits. Our entire financial well-being has been squandered by rewarding the non-working and the greedy, with the working and the entrepreneurs/ businessmen being penalized (with increased taxes). Politicians have created a system that protects them from prosecution from nearly evey law. The only true solution is inevitable – CIVIL WAR. This nation will have to fall before it will begin to recover, at which point, the only people that will know what to do is conservatives.

  • rattlerjake

    No matter who is elected and sent to Washington, it doesn’t matter. Liberals and the RINOs will never get it. They are like a woman with a credit card – spend, spend, spend – file bankruptcy then spend, spend, spend. Governments around the world are collapsing due to the liberal/socialist agenda of spending without limits. Our entire financial well-being has been squandered by rewarding the non-working and the greedy, with the working and the entrepreneurs/ businessmen being penalized (with increased taxes). Politicians have created a system that protects them from prosecution from nearly every law. The only true solution is inevitable – CIVIL WAR. This nation will have to fall before it will begin to recover, at which point, the only people that will know what to do is conservatives.

  • geoph

    I’d rather lose an election after trying to implement our plan, than lose after helping to implement someone else’s faulty plan. We’ve been doing that for years and all we’ve ever done is lose more ground.

    There really is only three options:
    Fix it and deal with the whining; shut it down, deal with the whining, and fix it; or quit our whining, deal with the collapse, and hope we can rebuild out of the ashes.
    Did Obama stop expanding government and obscene spending just because his agenda was rebuked in 2010? No.
    Did the GOP stop abetting the expansion of government and obscene spending when it was rebuked in 2010? No.
    Did the Conservatives stop our complicity towards expanding government and obscene spending when we rebuked it in 2010? No.

    There is very little we can do about the Democrats and the GOP – they are what they are. However, God Willing, we can alter our actions/inactions and accomplish something historic!

  • cbartlett

    BUT – we have a huge population of uneducated and/or uninformed voters. How on earth do we fix THAT problem so we can go work on this one?!?

  • deuke

    We don’t have to come to that place. We have to do what is righteous, what is lawful. We have to enforce the law and not be afraid of the outcome or the anger of the enemy. Our battle and our cause is to fight against those in government that have become corrupt and will continue to be lawbreakers.

    I say arrest them, because they have blatantly disregarded the law. And yet posters continue to speak about what our (true conservative’s) strategy should be. The only answer to the question of, “How do we “turn this thing around?” is to act decisively, forcefully and with purpose.

    Instead of believing that we have the law and righteousness on our side, we have already succumbed to the game-plan – the one where we are the sheep, and they are the wolves herding us to our destruction. Civil war? No sir, not against our brothers – not this time; no this time the war is against an out of control and wreckless government that no longer is hearing our cries. Shall I repeat what the Founders of this great country wrote:

    We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security

  • deuke

    acted with humbleness as a true public servant but rather a corrupt, power hungry lawbreaker. We certainly have their names. John Boehner is first on the list!

  • chock

    After all the rah, rah, it took Tim Scott of South Carolina less than 1 year to get in bed with the RINO’s (etc: Boehner, Upton, etc). He was the last vote on the last budget to see if Boehner needed him to vote yes. He is already comfortable with business as usual. I surely hope he WON”T be re-elected. We don’t need anymore RINO’s. Boehner is awful. What is the crap that you will cut spending 10 years out but raise revenue immediately. Americans we have got to get rid of this low bred, big spending Republicans in Washington. How in the Hell did Boehner become speaker and where is our tea party people we just send up there? The better speak up now or forget the next election.; I am sick of these weasles in Washington.

  • writescribe

    by the likes of Boehner and McConnell. Imagine the smirks on both their faces when the Tea Party was claiming victory and an important role in national politics, knowing all along that kick-the-can was going to be the inevitable result. Welcome to Washington!

    Whether you’re talking Democrats or Republicans, there is one principle overriding all else: preservation of self-relevance in Washington DC. The GOP Establishment just completely used the Tea Party to make it look like something got done when, in fact, nothing was accomplished.

    You know what they say: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. If the Tea Party doesn’t hold the GOP accountable on this one, then I say we get what we deserve. Simple as that.

  • deuke

    that to actually arrest these people there must be several steps taken first. I would like to see the steps completed and will continue to push for these actions. However, in the meantime, the political process continues. We are about to choose a candidate for POTUS; maybe the most important selection we?ll ever make.
    Our country is facing a devastating economic collapse. Foreign enemies taunt us, and the enemies within have managed to turn a GOD-fearing nation into a society lacking moral conviction or commitment. Our government has become lawless and seriously damaging. There is much for any one person to handle as POTUS. But he must.
    That person must be a proven leader, on many levels, including character. He must have an understanding of cultural influences from just about every corner of the Earth. He must be strong enough to know when and where the military is used; how and why particular policies are implemented, and the wisdom to judge advice given by the persons who surrounded him. At all times he must have the nation?s best interests at heart.
    Do we have such a candidate for POTUS?
    Is it Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich or Gov. Rick Perry? To me, those are the choices. I have followed Newt Gingrich?s career for many years. He is a leader and has the knowledge that would make him more than an able president. Herman Cain has been a leader for years and is proven as an economic problem solver. He lacks knowledge in foreign affairs. Gov. Perry is a proven leader, has implemented policy that has benefitted the State he has governed, and has an honored military past. Economically, his greatest achievement has been to unleash energy producers ? a very large concern in this and in many other countries. He may not be a very polished politician and that may be his most endearing characteristic.
    I have supported Herman Cain for many months and the allegations that mysteriously surfaced recently have done more damage to his campaign than anything else. But I have also seen his weakness in foreign policy ? and today, there can be none.
    I like Newt Gingrich; I think he could be a great president. For me, Newt Gingrich or Gov. Perry has the best credentials. I do not trust Mitt Romney.
    I think Rick Perry and Jim Santorum would make a good team. I think Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain would make a good team.
    I think Mitt Romney and Barack Obama make a team ? and therefore, I?ll vote for neither of them.
    If the election were today, I?d cast my vote for?..see the rest of the story after this commercial break.

  • JSobieski

    repeal Obamacare, reform entitlements, etc. then succeed in some meager accomplishment in 2012, or even worse, fail altogether.

    The point is to save the country. Pick the right piece of ground on which to make a stand, and make stand.

    The Allies invaded the beaches of France on D-Day, they didn’t paratroup into Berlin.

  • Wayne

    is to actually win it. To act foolishly now, would guarantee failure.

    The truth Duke is simply that we will probably fail regardless of our actions because the currently economic system burdened by generational debt cannot be sustained. Thus, a collapse would appear to be inevitable.

    And the only question of consequence is what we do after it as a nation. Once the EU fails, (and it will), then we will know how bad it’s going to get here.

    At that point, we can move carefully to rebuild intelligently founded on our original idealogical model, or disintegrate into chaos. I have faith in the Constitution.

  • geoph

    You’re defending your house on the slope of an exploding volcano while telling the village it has to move.

    I can appreciate your stance. It just appears we are working from differing time frame assumptions.

  • nathanalbright

    …but we may not be very far from it. It appears our politicians in Washington need to be aware of the gravity of the situation. The left is already rioting and revolting. The mood of the right is hardly less conciliatory. I can’t see any way out of this impasse short of blood. But I’d rather win the election first and then blame it on the other guys.

  • deuke

    …is something I’ve always had. It has been our guiding document for several hundred years. However, has the “guiding light” of this document been overshadowed by arrogant judges?

    Recently, as I’m sure most of you are aware, articles pointing out that our more “conservative Justices” of the SCOTUS have blatantly disregarded ‘codes of ethical conduct,’ by attending what the left refers to as ‘right-wing’ events – some of which that are absolutely conflicts of interest.

    I realize the left has attempted to put their own spin on these actions, but it seems quite obvious that the Justices cared little about the impropriety. In one of the events speakers were advocating the repeal of the healthcare law, as un-Constitutional, while the Justices were aware they would be hearing the arguments of this question. Is that appropriate? I’m not sure.

    I don’t think they must operate in a vacuum, but that may have gone too far. I’ve argued with those on the left that believe the Justices will simply rule from their ideological points of view and not on Constitutional grounds. I want to believe otherwise, but to be honest, the lefties may be right in this.

    If they are, as I said to them, we are truly lost as a republic.

  • deuke

    nathanalbright, but I fear it may be true; GOD help us all.

  • JSobieski

    We have time before our private debt gets to Greece levels.

    However, 2012 is likely do or die from a political perspective. If Obamacare is not repealed in 2013, the debt issue will be that much worse with a new entitlement and we have seen that entitlements are never removed. We could get the entire $100B promised by the Rs, and if Obamacare isn’t repealed, the $100B won’t matter.

    Even the most optimistic improvement in 2012 would be but a small fraction of what could be accomplished in 2013.

    Given all of those assessments, all of which are grounded in common sense—-it does not make sense to draw a line in the sand in 2012.

    I am defending a DD invasion of France, while you are arguing to drop everyone we have into Berlin instead.

    I appreciate your goals, but not your sense of tactics and strategy.

  • JSobieski

    nt

  • nathanalbright

    …but barring massive national repentance I don’t see any other way.

  • deuke

    agree JSobieski. Although the DD invasion got the intended results – eventually; maybe it would have been better to confront the enemy head on, on their own turf.

    Likewise, in this political climate, I’m seeing strategy sessions galore, which may have their desired effect – eventually. However, since the “enemy” has gained so much territory I believe it’s time to take it to them; confront them at every turn with their own actions – which as we know has brought us to the brink of disaster. That is why Gov. Perry’s strategy resonates with many – he has called Obama out – who will, given his past performances, immediately attempt to discredit Gov. Perry as a rabble rouser, or whatever else he determines fits his destructive/dividing agenda.

    I say, we turn up the heat – invade the heart of their battlefront – which is nothing but a house of cards anyway. Call them out on their lack of commitment toward entitlement reform, and spending frenzy, and hammer it home. Do not let these people even get a breath. Carpet bomb them if we have to and inundate the airwaves with this message; the democrats are obstructionists – period. Time to make Joe Q. Public very aware that their lifestyles are about to change drastically – prove it to them; show them the numbers straightforwardly.
    Otherwise, nathanalbright may be right, civil war is around the corner.