Truer Words Have Seldom Been Written

The American Spectator:

Conservatives who are excited about Republican victories in last night's elections should read this article in the Politico and remember that the GOP has a long way to go before it has any credibility as a small government party. The piece takes a close look at the House select committee on earmark reform, which Republican leaders created among much fanfare after the Nov. 2008 election to combat pork barrel spending projects. Yet the committee still hasn't delivered a report on earmark spending that was supposed to be completed in February, and more tellingly, eight out of the 10 members of the committee have requested earmarks themselves this year. This is a great example of the futility of Republicans when it comes to reining in government -- they talk a big game about cutting spending, take symbolic measures like creating a committee, but don't deliver anything tangible.

Commenting on the article, David Hogberg asks three questions:

First, does it make much sense to have an earmark reform panel dominated by members who earmark?

Second, is the GOP ready to reach out to the Tea Party movement (which is clearly anxious about the size, scope and honesty of government) or is it a party that is engaged in “business as usual”?

Third, is this what Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, was referring to when he recently said the following about the Tea Party movement on CNN: “It’s going to be a difficult road to walk with these relatively new entrants into the political system and work with them to show them that, by and large, we are the party that represents their interests?”

I would add a fourth: if Republicans can't kick their spending habit when they have absolutely no power, than how can we expect them to control themselves should they return to power?

Amen to that!  This is the problem with the Republican party over the past few years.  George W. Bush didn't veto a single spending bill until his second term.  He implemented huge new entitlements in education, prescription drugs, and lots of other spending.  Unfortunately, he also claimed to be a 'compassionate conservative'.  True conservatives failed by refusing to call him on that, and we've paid the price by almost a decade of out of control spending and hypocrisy on the Right.

It is time to fix that, and it starts now.

We as an American public need to demand actual results, and true conservatism.  Not the watered down kind like we get from the likes of John McCain or Dede Scozzafava, or 'moderates' who say one thing to their constituents and then vote the opposite way when it comes time to go on the record.



We deserve that much, at least.


There's my two cents.