The American Spectator

Hardius| 8.18.09 @ 6:51AM

The lobbiest outnumber Congress six to one, who still believes they can hear us. Anyone who thinks the battle over National healthcare is going in favor of the so called conservatives is not giving the liberals their just due. If they can not get it in one big bite they are willing to get it in smaller bites, but get it they will. The sad part is that there are no conservatives when it comes to taking the lobbiest money, favors, and misc. handouts. If you still believe the Republicans are fiscal conservatives name the last one who left any office with the National debt smaller then when he entered. Rewarding these people for their past behavior is just plain foolish. Look around, there must be some group out there who still honors the Constitution but it is not the Republicans or the Democrats.

oto kiralama| 8.18.09 @ 6:51AM

oto kiralama: thanks for share.

TennesseeVolunteer| 8.18.09 @ 7:54AM

The participation of the people in the political process has just begun. It is going to take enormous discipline on the part of the Republican party to take the path of limited government and individual decision making. I, for one, am not just against the onslaught of liberal oversight from the Dems but am just as much against the earmark ridden, money wasting ways of the GOP. I am against big government. I understand that government cannot do all things and also am comfortable that I, my wife and my family will have to make decisions concerning our way of life as we go from middle age to senior age. I just don't want the government to tell me what I have to do, and then to take all of my money and possessions to give it to to others while depriving me of any ability to use my own money to make my own life choices.
Either party who tries to take away individual freedoms will have a long fight from me.
The politicians who have been in office the last forty years have betrayed the American people by spending all of the Social Security funds and all of the Medicare funds. These lifetime politicians have worried first about their reelection, their donors and lastly, the American people.
I have thought a lot about what Quiin wrote last Thursday and the inspiring thread that came after. Quin countenanced against insurrection at the town halls and counseled for firm, but polite communication. If you really think about the hard decisions that are to come, it will take everyone sitting at the table like a family and deciding what we can afford, and what we can't. I am sure individual responsibility will be the prime topic if there are fair minded eople at the table. Emotions are running high right now and those that care only for themselves or their ideology may try to use our emotions against us. The second Revolution is among the American people right now, we just don't know it yet. Our purpose is to guide it with care so that it is passionate, not bloody.
Whenever I have made a real mistake, I try to not look back but to focus on the solution and the future. Our politicians have sold us out , from both sides. The only real leaders who can help guide us out of this must go to the Constitution.

S.L. Toddard| 8.18.09 @ 8:23AM

Mr. Mehan asks: What Would a New Era of Republican Governance Bring?

The answer right now: the same thing the old era of Republican governance brought - massive spending, huge deficits, open borders, extreme fiscal irresponsibility, colossal federal social programs and disastrous wars that have deprived us of the service of thousands of men sworn to defend our way of life, who instead died in failed, un-American nation building crusades.

Unless the GOP embraces and demonstrates fidelity to Conservative principles then "Republican Governance" is something to be avoided at all costs, for “Republican Governance” means big government liberalism at home and liberal Wilsonian internationalism abroad.

A Conservative is one who reveres tradition, community and those things sanctified by Time. A Conservative favors a small, un-intrusive and Constitutionally-defined federal government, partially because a massive federal government is inherently wasteful, but first and foremost because centralizing so much power far from the people and in the hands of a few is a danger to our Liberty and way of life. A Conservative agrees with Lord Acton that power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely – that as governments acquire more and more power and wield it with less and less accountability they invariably wield it arbitrarily, in a radical fashion destructive to institutions and traditions hallowed by antiquity. A Conservative values his people and community, and therefore is a proponent of localism and subsidiarity. A Conservative recognizes that the Constitution granted the lion’s share of power to the States so that it would be more accessible to the People – what is called “States Rights”. A Conservative loves Liberty, and recognizes - as the Founders did - that the greatest threat to one’s own Liberty comes from one’s own government. Because of this, a Conservative reveres the Constitution, the 2nd and 10th Amendments especially, as they serve (or should, at least) as a check on tyranny – on arbitrary power - and so a Conservative demands accountability when the Constitution is violated. A Conservative believes fervently in the Rule of Law and an open, Constitutional Republic. A Conservative loves the soldiers who stand ready to defend America, and because he values them dearly he recognizes they should be sent to war only in defense or in the face of an imminent attack. A Conservative loves his people and culture, and so opposes open borders and mass immigration, as a massive and unending influx of foreign peoples of alien culture does violence to the maintenance, cultivation and enrichment of the native culture. A Conservative believes in self-reliance and responsibility - both for himself and his gov’t, and therefore a Conservative demands that balanced budgets and fiscal responsibility be the norm rather than the exception. A Conservative opposes federal social programs because they are unconstitutional, and because they do damage to the moral fiber of the people.

One cannot consistently believe these things and support the GOP. Read through the above paragraph again – it is a fact that the GOP has not only failed to advance a Conservative agenda, they have consistently and unwaveringly done the opposite. They dominated congress for over a decade and had the White House for eight years. They did not seal the border with Mexico – instead, they actively maintained an open-border policy. They did nothing to restore to the states their traditional and constitutional powers – instead, they further consolidated power in the federal gov’t – especially the the executive branch – at the States’ expense. They did NOT strengthen the Rule of Law – they violated it egregiously, they seized radical, unprecedented, unconstitutional powers for the Executive, they instituted an illegal spying regime to eavesdrop on American citizens, they constructed a torture regime in violation of domestic and international law etc. They did not decrease spending and the size and power of the federal government – instead they DRASTICALLY increased spending – more so than the two previous Dem administrations – and increased the size and scope of an already massive, intrusive, overbearing, socialistic behemoth of a federal government. They did not decrease social spending – instead, they increased social spending dramatically and initiated and sunk billions into monstrous, massive new social programs worthy of LBJ. And they did not value the lives of our soldiers – instead, they flung them into the Middle East to conquer a country that posed no threat whatsoever, without ever having ANY evidence that Iraq was planning to attack us. Whatever evidence they had – whether drummed up or not – NONE of it ever demonstrated a clear and present danger.

Every vote for the GOP – every word of support – is support for an anti-Conservative, liberal Wilsonian agenda that does damage to America as sure as any terrorist attack. It goes without saying that the same goes for support of the Democrats. There is one solution only: for Conservatives – true, American Conservatives – to reject un-Conservative policies and the people and parties that enact them, to do so loudly and often, in conversation, in writing, and at the ballot box. That means registering Republican and only voting for true Conservatives and never voting for the lesser of two evils. It means having to vote Third Party more often than one would like. It means depriving the GOP of your vote – even if it means the Democrats will win in the short term – until they adopt a truly Conservative agenda.

Otherwise, despite having Conservative leanings, you are supporting an un-Conservative agenda no less than Barack Obama is. No less than any liberal. You know the GOP’s record – erase the rhetoric and you’re left with *nothing* Conservative whatsoever.

What America needs is Conservatism – not the GOP.

Kevin| 8.18.09 @ 9:20AM

Our system has morphed into a two-party state. I'm not sure how that could be broken at this point in time (perhaps if Oprah ran as a libertarian, but otherwise - no).

Hence, our best bet is to show "tough love" to the Republican party, guiding them back to limited-government, market-based approaches to governance.

This will not be easy; many current republicans are quite enamored of big government. It will take activism on our part to make sure the party puts forward candidates who are actual republicans - what I have seen called "the republican wing" of the republican party.

Ken (Old Texican)| 8.18.09 @ 10:25AM

Toddard
When one is in the desert, and has only one horse...and out of water... the appropriate response is to walk beside the horse with a loop around one's hand and the saddle-horn.

One does not shoot the horse.

Yes, you and I both want to kick the Republicans in the butt...for lots of reasons. But!

They are the only horse we have in this "desert" of totalitarianism.

The worse we get dehydrated, the worse we need the darn horse.
We know where (generally) where the nearest water should be, but the horse will smell EXACTLY where the nearest water is, and it may just save our life.

If you simply cannot quit bitching and walk, you will die in the desert.

Tim| 8.18.09 @ 10:44AM

"And by fighting health care reform with tactics ripped from the Democratic playbooks, and enlisting anxious seniors as foot soldiers, conservatives are setting themselves up to win the battle and lose the longer war."

Respectfully: if we lose THIS battle the war is OVER.

As for Republicans, they've already proved that they put their own interests ahead of the Nation's. This disgraceful rabble was just a month ago trying to figure out how to be more "big tent" and inclusive as a survival strategy. Arlen Specter switched sides. Suddenly We the People are mad and here they are, fire breathing conservatives! Bullsh*t. They are just opportunists who if returned to power will go about spending us into oblivion.

Christopher Scott| 8.18.09 @ 11:25AM

I agree with Ken's comments. The GOP is the worst political party in the United States except for every other political party.

The GOP's biggest problem is that Republicans get elected to Congress as conservatives and then they trend liberal as time goes by. I think it is very hard to stick to your conservative principles when you are in Washington, D.C.

In my opinion, we could make the federal government more responsive to the public's needs if we expanded the number of representatives from 435 to 10,000 and limited U.S. Senators to two six-year terms. Currently, it is so hard to get elected to Congress that incumbents enjoy enormous advantages in fundraising and can become very unresponsive to their constituents as they become entrenched. Reducing the ratio of representatives to the governed from the current 1:700,000 to approximately 1:30,000 would greatly reduce the hurdles to getting elected and would greatly reduce the evil of gerrymandering. As for the U.S. Senate, a Senator who is limited to two terms will not become too powerful and we will see the end of Senators like Ted Kennedy, Christopher Dodd, and Joe Biden who make lifetimes in the Senate. This would do much for the health of our republic.

S.L. Toddard| 8.18.09 @ 12:06PM

"They are the only horse we have in this "desert" of totalitarianism."

The only way to make that analogy accurate is to note that this particular horse is dead. You can either strike out for an oasis, or stay saddled on that dead horse.

Bob Miller| 8.18.09 @ 12:31PM

I'm impressed overall by our Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, who has made state government (including the Bureau of Motor Vehicles! Yes!) leaner and more responsive. He's no rock star but has a knack for administration. Perhaps Americans can tire of incompetents with charisma in time to keep the nation from going broke and the government from becoming an all-powerful mommy.

Ken (Old Texican)| 8.18.09 @ 12:55PM

Toddard, I am so glad you are here.

Your continual LONG WINDED self-contradictory comments demonstrate just how silly you truly are.

Thank you for continually reminding us.
(scroll button, please. Heh!)

S.L. Toddard| 8.18.09 @ 1:03PM

"Hence, our best bet is to show "tough love" to the Republican party, guiding them back to limited-government, market-based approaches to governance."

Precisely! And how do we do that? By continuing to support the GOP regardless of their socialistic tendencies, their big gov't agenda, their disastrous foreign policy, their extreme fiscal irresponsibility which under Bush doubled the deficit? No - obviously not. It means, as I said, registering Republican and only voting for true Conservatives and never voting for the lesser of two evils. It means having to vote Third Party more often than one would like. It means depriving the GOP of your vote – even if it means the Democrats will win in the short term – until they adopt a truly Conservative agenda.

Ken (Old Texican)| 8.18.09 @ 1:32PM

TODDARD IS RIGHT! I HAVE FINALLY SEEEEEEEN THE LIGHT!!!!!!!!

BE "PRISSY" CONSERVATIVES, AND DIE SAYING "I TOLD YOU SO".

(Well, some of us have some better ideas. T.E.A.M. AMERICA is taking the field as we write.
Please stay tuned.)

Bob Miller| 8.18.09 @ 1:33PM

SL Toddard, if the Obama administration sends us into budgetary oblivion and commandeers major sections of the formerly private sector, is it not in part because purists like you made the 2008 election turn out as it did?

Ken (Old Texican)| 8.18.09 @ 1:54PM

Bob Miller,
You are very kind with your gentle rebuke.
Your suspicions are correct of course.
We are looking forward to giving you a unform number on the T.E.A.M.

Michael Tomlinson| 8.18.09 @ 2:19PM

Mr. Mehan obviously missed the 80's when Reagan and Republicans championed democracy and freedom to eliminate the threat of their time -- the Soviet Union. Republicans have not embraced "Wilsonian interventionism" they're just following in the footsteps of Ronald Reagan.

Sadly, some self-proclaimed "conservatives" have their heads buried up the Democrat jackass' ass so far they can't see how important the success of the GOP is for the nation's freedom. Thankfully, they aren't a majority of conservatives or Americans (if they are we're in for trouble and rule by the left into oblivion).

The good news is that predictions of the GOP's demise are as always wrong!

Bob Miller| 8.18.09 @ 3:27PM

At the moment, my Republican team and my Mets team are both in poor shape. The former seems to have better prospects of recovery.

Al Adab| 8.18.09 @ 3:50PM

The GOP is greatly compromised by the infection of RINOs. It was the Conservative movement which brought the party success. Only if the Conservatives regain contol of the party and make it one of principle do we have any hope of restoring a Constitutional government to America.

We look forward to following all the upcoming town halls and TEA party events.

Bud| 8.18.09 @ 3:57PM

There is no doubt that both political parties have betrayed We The People. There is much truth in the proposition that both republicans and democrats are invested in Big Government, and their primary disagreement is who is in charge. We can encourage the republicans to do better by us than they did when they last held sway, but never forget that as currently constituted, the republican party is a club of professional politicians first and foremost, a far cry from the citizen legislator envisioned by the Founders.

Consider the possibility that the way out of this mess is to be as cynical about the politicos as they have been about We The People. Aside from such folk as Senator Coburn, we need to question every premise they hold, criticize every move they make, lament every breath they take. This is a time to facilitate gridlock, squeeze the funding sent to Washington to the degree possible, by any means, fair or foul.

The self-appointed ruling class looks upon us with disdain, as lesser beings, and we should return the favor. Our opportunity is to make the job of elective office so odious, stressful, and unpleasant for people who do not follow the example of Senator Coburn and his few cohorts that the thought of seeking another term in office will be the last thing on their minds.

We have allowed the experience of elective office to be so supremely cushy, attractive, and profitable that we've facilitated the equivalent of a sheltered workshop for megalomaniacs in Washington D.C. This extends to much of the civil service, the inhabitants of the myriad Federal bureaucracies. We need to make such service as brutish and unpleasant as can be arranged, providing an incentive for retirement to the private sector.

Until and unless we have a political party that rejects the premise of Big Government we are in a virtual war with all the political class. Until we have a political party that rejects Statism in power, the best we can do is to make their lives unpleasant, short of funds, and play them off against one another, keeping them busy fighting one another over minutiae that is of marginal consequence to We The People.

In the final analysis, it is unwise to trust political power in any set of hands for an extended period of time. The old saw about power and corruption is relentlessly accurate.

Joel Dillard| 8.18.09 @ 4:00PM

The main problem with the GOP is the RINO's. The likes of Charlie Crist, Mel Martinez, Schwartineger, turn coat Spector, etc, etc, etc.. to include GW Bush to a degree have all divorced from their principals in the name of having a group hug in the aisle or lining their pockets with lobbiest money. Vote them all out and start with a clean slate of idealistic young relative unknowns who will champion the charge and who still believe in their oath of office and know in their hearts who they really work for. After 2 terms rotate them all either by instituting term limits or by watchdog groups that will monitor when their time is up and advise the public on such... Get them out before they become so jaded and corrupted by the political process... We owe it to them and ourselves not to let any RINO's sit too long. Put Ron Paul and Peter Schiff on the economics advisory pannel and I am confident that those two all by themselves could undo the economic boondogle we are experiencing in about 6 months. Finally once we get pasts some serious economic recovery and social reforms .. institute the Fair Tax to permanently do away with Business as Usual in Washington for all parties.

jr| 8.18.09 @ 5:22PM

My sense, like most others, is that the Republicans do no know what to do and what position to take on most subjects. If you gave all of the Repubs in Congress a well conceived test of 100 questions to prove that they are liberal, moderate, or conservative, you might find that that they are lib-moderate -- because that will get them re-elected. They cannot stand the heat from the liberal media and they are overly sensitive to the feelings of people, not to mention, of course, the lobbyists who pay their way.

D Jones| 8.18.09 @ 5:24PM

It's important to note that while the author says that during the previous 8 years the GOP controlled the executive, legislative, and judicial branches this is absolutely not true.

They controlled the Congress from 2001 through January 2007, but thereafter the Democrats have to take the blame for all spending bills that came out. They controlled the Senate sporadically from January 2001 through November 2002 because of a 50/50 split in which the Democrats retained "Majority Leader" status for much of the time. They did have the Majority during 2003 thru January 2007, but again, not during the last two years of the Bush presidency. They never had a lock on the judiciary, although that may have been because of Bush's "bi-partisanship" (read: lack of guts) in not pushing for his judges to be voted on.

It's also important to note that although Bush is seen as some kind of arch-conservative by the leftists, he was really very moderate: conservative on national defense and taxes; quite liberal on education, general spending, social programs, bailouts, etc. And the Republican Congresses did spend like drunken whores (or Democrats...same thing mostly).

It would be nice to see the Republican party taken back by conservatives at the same time that the party takes back control of the country.

Maggie| 8.19.09 @ 2:34AM

Anyone advocating a third party vote must have short memories. The last third party debacle gave us Billy Jeff and Hillary. No more third parties please! Get behind a true conservative (and there are many to choose from within the GOP) and we can restore America to the greatness she richly deserves.

jordan 6 rings| 8.19.09 @ 6:00AM

The good news is that predictions of the GOP's demise are as always wrong!

S.L. Toddard| 8.19.09 @ 7:53AM

"SL Toddard, if the Obama administration sends us into budgetary oblivion and commandeers major sections of the formerly private sector, is it not in part because purists like you made the 2008 election turn out as it did?"

Good god no. George W Bush "sent us into budgetary oblivion and commandeer(ed) major sections of the formerly private sector", you may recall. The GOP lost the 2008 election because the liberal internationalist policies of George W Bush failed on all counts, his big spending policies and egregious mismanagement destroyed the American economy, his foreign policy left America's military stretched to the breaking point and stranded in two failed, hopeless, unpopular and entirely unnecessary wars, and in 2008 the GOP ran a candidate who promised to continue and compound Bush's abysmal, across-the-board failures - and America rejected those failures.

Cris Worth| 8.19.09 @ 8:42AM

According to various polls Romney is top dog for the 2012 GOP nomination. Before giddiness sets in over the current debacle, the GOP better find a true blue economic and social conservative ready to roll back every sort of liberalism known to mankind otherwise they will be stuck with loser Latter Day Willard.

Bob Miller| 8.19.09 @ 9:49AM

SL Toddard, do you have any feel for the difference between bad and worse?

PaulRevere| 8.19.09 @ 3:03PM

We need strong Libertarian Government Reps and a President who are not members of "The Bilderberg Group", CFR, TC, IMF, WTO, WHO, United Nations, NWO, European Union, Any Elitist group or association with!
Republicans have Elitist members as well as the Democrats!

No more Marxists, Fascists, Communists, Dictators or emperors , Czars

We need representatives for the American people, by the American people!

Buffalo| 8.20.09 @ 2:09PM

Republicans had control of all three for only six years, and then there was a power sharing in the Senate for at least two of those six. Things really went bad the two years that the Democrats had the House and Senate. Never did the Rs have a veto proof or even near veto proof Senate. I'm not excusing them; the Rs did a poor job all eight years, just as not as bad a job as the Ds would have done had positions been reversed. Vote out all incumbents and never, ever vote for a lawyer!

Dave Lincoln| 8.21.09 @ 2:34AM

Mr. Toddard, very good posts again. I usually agree with you too, Mr. Texican, but not today. Your horse/desert analogy fails, just the way Mr. Toddard put it.

Imagine John McAmnesty as the president, if enough of us had voted for that lesser-of-two-evils guy: We would be talking about a socialist health care takeover that is 90% of what Obama and the Dem congress are proposing now. The left would be calling Mr. McAmnesty a meany. Mr. McAmnesty, because he is such a sensitive guy and all, would feel so bad about being called a “meany” that he would go ahead and compromise with the lefties, which means, in lefty terms, total capitulation to the cause of the motherland.

In the meantime, the amnesty for 20-25 million (yes, it's not 12 million, that is pure BS) illegal aliens would have already been passed long ago, as Mr. McAmnesty does not have any problem with national suicide. Who would be opposing the amnesty, BTW, Nancy Pelosi? Why? The Democrat party could really use another 20-25 million votes to solidify things for the motherland.

Do you all not remember the recent past at all? Buffalo, I like your post too, but I don't see what a veto-proof majority for the R's would have done for anyone. The R reps never proposed anything conservative enough for Bush to veto, and he didn't know what vetoing is anyway until the one time in 2008 when someone told him it was a lot of fun (tastes like chicken, man).

Dave Lincoln| 8.21.09 @ 2:42AM

Oh, I forgot. With McAmnesty as pres. the energy sector of our economy would long ago have been ruined by the global warming/cooling/staying-the-same solving cap and tax fiasco. He is a big fan of that (and any other) stupidity.

Look, at least now, we have a fight on our hands that we can be a part of. People are getting a look at socialism and a chance to fight back. If the R's were still in power, they'd also be telling us none of this crap is socialism, it's conservatism. The D's would say, "hey, you uncompassionate hard-core conservative b___ards! You are sooo mean. We want to give you real socialism, good and hard."

Vote for whom you believe in, people. A vote for McAmnesty back last year was a vote for socialism just the same. I voted for freedom. If you don't like it, piss off and quit complaining.

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