News From Republican Leaders

Two articles caught my eye today, one by House Republican Minority Leader John Boehner and the other by Rep. Peter Hoekstra. Both are worth reading in their entirety, but here are the summaries.

The intent of Boehner's column on the Human Events website seems to me to be shedding the light on the current House majority. When the leadership of the House passed to the Democrats, he warned them, "The [American] people don’t care which party controls it; what they want is a government that is limited, honest, accountable, and responsive to their needs. The moment a majority forgets this lesson, it begins writing itself a ticket to minority status." Boehner shows how the Democrats have already begun that process, and uses the recent stolen vote on benefits for illegal aliens as the prime example. He points out that the severity of this event probably has not even been realized, since there is dissent in the Democrat leadership on whether or not it was even a mistake! Of the debacle, Pelosi said they've been "deluged by the success of the Democrats." But, this event is going to become a linchpin in the Republican effort to regain the House in 2008 - this cavalier attitude about representing illegal aliens and their own agenda over the American people will come back to haunt them. Boehner goes on to illuminate the 'success' Pelosi mentioned: including pork-barrel spending in a bill to fund our troops, creating a slush fund for secret earmarks, including "green pork" into the energy bill to subsidize Lexus hybrids and putting Al Gore's book in classrooms, ignoring repeated violations of House rules, stonewalling lobbying reforms to require real transparency, and passing a lobbying reform bill very similar to a Republican one introduced last year which they called a "sham" at the time.

Despite this opposition, Boehner points out a number of Republican House successes: passing 15 motions to re-commit major bills (16 if you count the one that was stolen, and more than the Democrats passed in the previous 12 years as the minority), closing a terrorist loophole in FISA and enacting the John Doe protections against lawsuits like the Flying Imams', fighting earmarks, and stopping the Democrats' "slow bleed" plan to retreat in Iraq.

Lastly, he pledges to use the August recess to build home-based support for the Republican minority as the beginning of a run to re-take control of the House through the promise of freedom and security rather than bigger government.

Hoekstra writes an editorial at National Review Online about the numerous national security leaks that have occurred over the past few years. He starts with the latest Harry Potter book, which was an extremely tightly-kept secret until it was officially released, even to the point of a mailman who inadvertently delivered a couple copies early fearing for his job. He likens the few leakers inside the intelligence community to a cancer, jeopardizing the lives and credibility of thousands of upstanding, dedicated professionals trying to protect America.

Rowan Scarborough recently released a book describing a number of illegal intelligence leaks, but instead of showing how those leaks were being addressed, the CIA attacked Scarborough. Hoekstra argues this was exactly the wrong way to respond, and plain evidence that the CIA is simply unwilling to stop the leaks. These leaks are a grave problem, but in the past six years there has not been a single prosecution of a leak to the press.

In one recent leak, CIA officials leaked news of classified government activities to a Swiss investor because they didn't like former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld!

Hoekstra has been just about the only voice consistently warning people of the serious nature of these chronic leaks, and demanding President Bush and other heads of intelligence agencies take them as such. He argues that such politically-motivated leaks are not just a violation of these people's oaths, but a violation of the public trust. "There is no room for political activity in intelligence because protecting our nation from al Qaeda and others who would do us harm is a deadly, serious business."

Both of these guys are solid conservatives, and have been responsible for a lot of good things. Sometimes, the most important issues aren't ones that are readily discussed in the media; I believe these two columns are good examples of that. The control of government and the security of intelligence are critical to the health and well-being of America. Who do we trust to manage both of those things? These are the behind-the-scenes issues that are directly affected by elections; it's critical to understand the character and goals of the people you vote for - they will be working on your behalf, both visibly and invisibly.

There's my two cents.