When people ask me if I'm a Republican, I always tell them I'm a conservative. It would be nice to be a part of a party, but the Republicans have proven so feckless in the last few years, I don't want to be associated with them.
One of the biggest problems is the issues of earmarks. Anger over earmarks is one of the main reasons conservative voters didn't turn out for the 2006 elections. Feeling that modern-day Republicans were acting too much like 1980's Democrats (No Child Left Behind, Medicare, over 14,000 earmarks), less conservatives showed up than in 2004, while liberals turned out in the same numbers. Result? A Democratic House and Senate that at least has been deadlocked into doing nothing.
The time is now to take a stand if Republicans want to take the House back. There are enough Republican and Republican-leaning voters in the country to take the House back, but it will take some real leadership from the Republicans to make it so. And that's sorely lacking.
Issue Number One: Earmarks. Bush can strike a blow at feckless Washington spending by signing an executive order that pulls funding from earmarks that were not voted on by the House. This is key Congressional opponents who say the House is solely responsible for initiating funding have no leg to stand on. 90% of the 16.9 billion in earmarks in the omnibus bill were not voted on by the House. They are a legislative trick that Bush can expose, if he has the willpower.
But Bush hesitates to exercise his authority. Surely he doesn’t fear challenging a Congress that trails him in public approval surveys. House Republican Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., has reportedly warned administration officials that meddling with earmarks will anger GOP members who are responsible for 40 percent of those in the 2008 spending bills.
I don't have connections with Blunt's office, but I do know he likes to bring home the bacon for Missouri, which while it might be helpful in keeping him elected, isn't helping the culture in Washington. The story comes in the New York Times, which has its own agenda, but I imagine if Blunt wanted to say something about being misquoted, he'd be out in force telling people the story wasn't true.
We can't trust the media or the Democrats to ask these questions, but fiscal conservatives need to be asking both the presidential candidates and our representatives whether they plan to make real change, and make the earmarks transparent, or whether they plan to hide behind the perfidy of the Democrats, just to keep their own pockets lined.
It's the difference between leadership and being a weasel to keep your own seat. Earmarks air-dropped into a bill after a vote are an insult to an open democracy. Is your congressman a craven coward, or an example of responsibility?
Bush's second term has been a disaster on everything but Iraq. He's been solid on Iraq, but the last domestic victory he had was beating John Kerry. And that's not enough. Sign the order pulling funding from the earmarks, Mr. President. And if Congressman Blunt and the rest of the Big Government Consercatives don't like it, they can go suck eggs.
Bush's last domestic victory was Sam Alito.
Posted by: AC | 01/23/2008 at 02:20 PM