The American Spectator

Political Hay

The Constitution divides the federal government into three equal branches.

1. Mammoth, labyrinthine departments set up for purposes that no individual taxpayer would ever in a million years voluntarily spend money on.
2. Mammoth, labyrinthine departments set up for purposes that probably made a lot of sense originally, but nobody can remember what they are.
3. Statuary.

This separation of powers creates a system of "checks and balances," which protects everybody by ensuring that any action taken by one part of the government will be rendered utterly meaningless by an equal and opposite reaction from some other part.
-- Dave Barry Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States

You would not know it to look at them, but Republicans in Congress are holding a winning hand. Despite their depleted numbers, the voters currently favor their views. For the third week running, Rasmussen Reports reports the Republicans are leading in the generic poll for Congress. This means that across our great country, average citizens have become convinced their predispositions will be better represented by members of the Republican Party.

Another poll tells us that the number of those who believe the Democrats are doing a good job of running Congress is a whopping 18 percent. On top of that, the President's own numbers are lagging, with seven percent more voters expressing strong disapproval than strong approval. One more finding by Rasmussen: the public trusts the Republicans more than the Democrats on eight of the top ten issues of the day.

Add to this the 9.5 percent unemployment, the utterly decimated consumer confidence figures, and the current Presidential administration is blundering full speed ahead with zero gas in its tank. Its continuing to press forward with gargantuan global warming and health care bills to knock what is left of our economy to Kingdom Come is completely inadvisable from any rational political or fiscal perspective. Yet press on they will, not because it makes any sense, but because they can. And the Republican Party, with a long history of fouling off batting-practice pitches, looks almost certain to blow another great opportunity.

The Democrats are falling back on the oldest trick in the book. They declare a crisis, say everyone agrees something must be done, propose the most radical big-government approach possible, call it a solution, then berate anyone who opposes them for being insensitive to the plight of the victims of the crisis. This time they have added a slogan, calling the Republican Party the "Party of No." This from a bunch who spent the last eight years saying no missile defense, no war against terror, no fix to Social Security.

Be that as it may, the Republicans are better off swinging into the pitch and pulling the ball for power. This would be an ideal moment for a powerful advertising campaign declaring themselves to be the "Party of Yes," yes to private enterprise, yes to letting Americans build America, yes to trusting you to make wise decisions with your own money. Nobody but the Democrat true-believers thinks this Washington orgy of bailouts and takeovers is good news for America.

Putting party politics aside, all this Presidential and Congressional overreach has to make them vulnerable. Doing this during 9.5 percent unemployment is a riverboat gamble that a very quick and robust recovery is rumbling around the corner. Dragging through another year with one out of ten able-bodied Americans unable to find gainful employment will not help the powers that be in their effort to keep on being.

The core of our citizenry which opposes this leftist agenda is the source of most of our fighting men and women. These individuals should understand how to fight when the principles of our free nation are on the line. Now is a moment calling for spirited resistance. A grateful nation will remember and repay the favor at the ballot box. Those who recall 1993 will recognize all the signs recurring. Nobody really wants government health-care. If health care in this country is a problem, of which I am not convinced, it certainly cannot be solved by shifting the responsibility to Uncle Sam. It is time to draw a line in the sand; this will be seen as a sign in the land.

topics:
Democratic Party, Congress, Republicans