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The Counterattack Begins
Friday morning saw something rare on the floor of the United States Senate. It was badly needed for the sake of the American people and — like most good deeds — will probably not go unpunished if the GOP leadership, leftist media, and Beltway insiders. In fact, the reprisals began almost immediately.
Sen. Ted Cruz took the floor to call out not just Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, but the whole system that’s used to insulate Congress from the will of the people. In this specific case, it dealt with the effort to end the Export/Import Bank, a relic of the New Deal which uses billions of public dollars to ensure financing for such shoestring operations as Boeing and General Electric. It’s corporate welfare and crony capitalism at its worst and should have died a well-deserved death long ago. It is kept alive by both parties as a source of taxpayer-funded power.
But the essence of Cruz’s words were about the abandonment of conservative principles by the leadership of the GOP. This specific case might have been about Mitch McConnell lying to Republican senators as a deal to keep the EX/IM Bank alive and the legislative trick used to do it, but the thrust of the charge is about betrayal of the voters who have spoken loud and clear on a number of issues.
Cruz laid out the exact details of each step in the McConnell deception with the skill of a nation college debate champion or a precise litigator who had argued nine cases before the Supreme Court and won them all (which he just happens to be). Those who rely on the network or cable news will not get the detail of his exacting and condemning, but they are clear.
Only days later, the House of Representatives saw another act of political courage to address the same lack of principled will by the established GOP elite. This time Rep. Mark Meadows from the 11th District of North Carolina introduced a resolution to declare the position of Speaker of the House to be vacant, creating an opportunity to replace John Boehner.
On the floor of the House, Meadows outlined a point-by-point list of the Boehner failures of both leadership and purpose. The GOP leadership in both houses has funded the Obama agenda while undermining the constitutional power of the Congress. Nothing has been done to contain the spending that assures our children of bankrupt future. Immigration enforcement, repeal of ObamaCare, control of nation spending, and national security comprised the basis for two huge election cycles for the GOP which gave them control of both houses.
What both Cruz and Meadows has done is publicly “out” the elite of the party for their lack of real opposition to the Obama agenda, the very basis for their being in Congress to begin with is a lie.
Regardless of your personal choice for any office, the thrust of what has to happen within the Republican Party is to leap back to the Reagan concept of “bold colors.” We do not need to consider it. We must leap toward it and embrace it. Too many of these get-along types have already taken us down the road too far for anything but a principled, all-out effort to save our children from what the Founders feared.
The media knives are already out for Cruz and Meadows. That includes a great deal of what is deemed “conservative” writers who are — for the most part — too loyal to and comfortable with the Beltway of doing things. Cruz and Meadows will find slim support in either house.
A great deal of what establishment of either party does is to force compliance and silence with party money and bullying in regard to the perks of the Congress, which they control. Both McConnell and Boehner have threatened and bullied with committee appointment and access to the legislative process. Even those who are — in spirit — agreed with Cruz and Meadows know that to publicly stand with them is to lose in regard to access to power and party money.
But an important step to restore the vision of self-government and making it work again is to publicly acknowledge that the present the leadership of the GOP stands in our way. They actively oppose conservatives while voicing their causes. This is little different from the left who have done so much to destroy that vision and practice while proclaiming the very values they destroy.
Does anyone doubt that if the Senate had 60 members like Ted Cruz and Mike Lee and House had 270 Mark Meadows that we would have fought a much better fight the last six years and actually have done some of the things promised?
The answer for our children’s future is not with a political party which has long ago committed itself more to social utopianism than to self-government. But the answer is not the Republican Party either. The answer is conservatism.
The answer is returning to a vision of responsible self-government protecting individual rights. Self-government requires citizens, not those who see elective office as a lifetime career path. It is citizens who must be the force that drives the machine.
Both Cruz and Meadows took a step to bring the individual citizen back into the process. They will be pounded by the media, their fellow Republicans who will try and dismiss them publicly, and the elites of the Beltway. Most of those who agree with them will not strand with them publicly. It is the citizens’ role to let their voice be sent as loud and consistently as possible to the members of both houses that both these men have the support and appreciation of the “base” of the nation.
I will again state that this look behind the veil at the shabby way business is done should be a clear call for an Article Five approach to remove more power from the D.C. elites and place more of the emphasis on the people themselves. These two will be feeling the “heat” today and for a long time forward. What they have done is a “game-changer” for their careers in the GOP. They will pay a political price for it from the establishment. If they gain from the people themselves will have to be seen. But the real factor will be what we do now.
The retaliation that Cruz and Meadows will receive from the establishment and the media is predicable. But the most meaningful has to come from us. It has to start now.
Published in Politics
This cartoon is a few years old, but it still holds true. Regardless of what the GOP does, the Dems will lie about it to put it in the worst possible light. What it doesn’t show is that in response the GOP shuts off the hose and lets the building burn to the ground because they’re afraid someone might believe the Dems, get offended, and not vote for them.
I ask you—why is what Ted Cruz did worse than anything Harry Reid did? Reid LIED about a presidential candidate, called people names, and I forget all the other crap he pulled, while protected from lawsuits and retaliation while saying and doing these things on the Senate floor. From where I sit, seeing the results of actions taken by the Senate since Friday, I’d say Mr. Cruz was spot on with his criticism. I was unaware of the speech given by Mr. Meadows on Boehner, but I will keep an eye on him now. I agree with everything he said about the orange man, and wish somebody would stand with him. Anyone with a heart would be shouting to shut down PP funding from the rooftops!
The problem as I see is this:
When the GOP controls Both Houses and the POTUS, the Dems block a conservative agenda. (See Bush W)
When the GOP controls only the POTUS, or the POTUS and one House, they block the conservative agenda of rolling back government (See Reagan, Ike, Bush I)
When the GOP controls only Congress, the Dems block the conservative agenda (Obama and Clinton).
When the Dems control the Both Houses and the POTUS, they get 90%+ of their agenda (Clinton, LBJ, FDR, Truman, Obama).
When the Dems control the POTUS and one house they get much of their agenda (Obama).
When the Dems control just the POTUS they get much of their agenda (Clinton, Obama).
That is what conservatives are upset about. Constantly telling us to keep voting Republican does not help. I am not saying their is no effect, but let’s be honest, what we want is to have the same action when our “guys” are running the show as the other guys get.
This is like a ball game where the other team gets touchdowns and we get only field goals.
GOP had that and did nothing with it
I thought the GOP in the 90s got welfare reform. & Reagan without Congress got tax reform. Did these things not happen?
Now tell me about every last one of Ike’s ideas about rolling back gov’t that were stymied by the Dems, please.
Tell me, too, about how Mr. Clinton got Hillarycare & what exactly the poetic 90% measures.
If there’s one skill the GOP has had in the last 80 years, it’s abandoning conservative values, no doubt about it. The heartening thing is that it seems to be coming back to its senses quicker these days, although maybe with a sharper headache. The turnaround in progress from the W years apostasy is a remarkable thing for an old coot to witness. Shoot, now if they can master this “if you’re going to do something you have to convince a hell of a lot of people it’s a sensible thing to do” thing, maybe they have a future.
So Washington has developed into a complicated system of kickbacks, boondoggles and procedural slight-of-hand that guarantees the will of the people is thwarted at every turn. Obviously the only mature response is to elect those who can work the system.
Do you people know any system at any point in history where corruption was not a big problem?
Do you know about the political machines & the spoils system before the Progressives & the introduction of the civil service?
It’s one thing to deplore corruption & the bad ways of mortal men–it’s another to start pretending you’re all so good on ‘conservative values’ & all that while the people that kept the country going only sold out! The GOP is nothing to write home about but it produced Ike & Reagan in these years. The Bush presidents were not that bad either. Nothing to write home about–but nothing to scare the daylights out of reasonable people.
They should put that on a bumper sticker: “Vote for the GOP! We’re not that bad.”
It’s a really good bumpersticker compared to: We’d rather destroy our party so the other party can rule unopposed!
That would require our party to actually do some opposing, but we can’t do anything until we have supermajorities and the presidency.
I agree the GOP seems really weak now–because it is weak!–, but let’s not overdo it. I’ve heard some on Ricochet claim–so obviously falsely, says I–that if the Dems had kept control of the Congress throughout Mr. Obama’s tenure, things would not be any worse. That’s just really weird: No immigration bill would have passed by now? Really?
Frank, you know I love you, but I must be missing your train of thought. Why is the number of seats we hold relevant to Ted Cruz’s complaint, which was that McConnell used parliamentary sleight of hand to re-fund the Ex-Im Bank, which we had already managed to defund?
Defunding, repealing, or reforming Obamacare. Entitlement reform. Balanced budgets. Border control. Real immigration enforcement. Pro-growth tax reform. Regulatory relief. Energy independence. Conservative replacements for Kennedy and Ginsburg. Standing up to Iran.
That’s the conservative agenda, as I see it. You need the White House to do any of it. Or, if you were willing to compromise, you’d need a moderate Dem president. But I just checked. Obama is still in office, and he’s still a leftist with no respect for the constitutional limitations of his office.
We need the White House. Fighting about what doomed legislation we should send to Obama’s desk for posturing purposes is small ball.
It’s not small ball it’s leadership!
I’m with you some of the way–but I would like to add: It’s not just about the White House–it’s about the national reputation of the party. I do not see that the GOP leadership has done much on that head. I think they just proved in 2014 that you need neither principle nor prudence to win. Or is anyone saying, 2014 was about the Tea Party?
Obama will veto it so we shouldn’t propose it? That’s excuse making. Included in sending legislation to him is making the case to the country for these policies, something the GOP is abysmal at doing. We’re never going to convince people to listen to our ideas if we’re afraid to even present them.
I keep hearing that we can’t be the party of No so instead we’re the party of do nothing at all. If being the party of No is such a horrible thing, then why is the GOP afraid of Obama vetoing bills? That would literally make him the party of No, not the GOP.
Good for you, Frank. For noticing that there are actually voters involved in this process. We can’t just “wish” our way into having super-majorities of far-right Republicans in both chambers. And it is silly to spend our time moaning about what we could do if we had such super-majorities. Because we don’t.
If Cruz were truly principled, he would have introduced his proposals as stand alone bills, rather than offering them as amendments to a completely unrelated Highway Bill. Cruz was playing the same political games as he accuses the “Establishment” of playing.
So forcing Democrats to take stands on the various items you listed as the “conservative agenda” and requiring Obama to veto legislation enacting that agenda is just “posturing” and has no effect on the prospects of winning the White House?
Nonsense.
That would be fine, if Cruz would propose his bills as stand alone legislation. Then, if Obama vetoed them, no big deal. But he didn’t. Instead, he wants to attach them as amendments to an important Highway Bill. If Obama vetoes that (and he would), it would be bad for everyone. I, for one, don’t want pot holes in the Interstates just so Cruz can posture.
Not Ike, Conservatives. Kinda proves my point.
Welfare reform and Tax reform = field goals. Ongoing expansion of government and illegal immigration = touch downs
So I have to defend Sen. Cruz? This is not ok, Ricochet! By the way, how long until liberals accuse Ricochet of promoting a violence–probably especially against minorities–culture?
Now, for the defense: Introducing bills is not that easy, maybe he had a reason–but I do not know the details, so I’m not committing to defending him.
Also, here is another failure of the GOP: The highway bill. Can anyone write a post about how bad an idea this is & why? (There’s the House proposal with the repatriation of profits through changes to the tax code–that’s Rep. Ryan; then there’s the Senate proposal with even weirder ideas–that’s Sen. Inhofe, I think & some Dem–Sen. Boxer?)
Here’s Mr. Salam on the matter, for whoever wants to know about highways…
14-6 is not 90% or whatever fantasies you’re peddling here, on the go. Or maybe my grasp of football is inadequate & all your metaphors really do add up…
As for the not Ike, conservatives!, then you need to go into fantasy land, where politics is not necessary & talking about being conservatives replaces any leadership, any national community or anything else…
Your writing this post and putting it out there is “doing something” and supporting anyone that is actually doing something is what it will take – a grass roots local level, taking to social media, airwaves, local Republican chapters, talking to kids, dinner guests, co-workers, emailing articles to friends and friends on the fence. Cruz is calling the old establishment on the carpet, so is Trump, so is Walker, so we need to do what we can to counteract the knives coming out – even turn the tables. How they deliver the message is less important than the message – we’ve had cotton in our ears too long – and want to sit back and let the established in DC represent us. Well they failed – miserably. If we keep putting up with it, we have ourselves to blame.
It is very clearly only posturing, if the legislation is doomed to be vetoed and there aren’t the votes to overturn. For the most part, I don’t think sending dead-on-arrival stuff to Obama will have much of an impact in the presidential race. For example, if Obama had to veto some major Obamacare reforms, what does that accomplish for Republicans? Highlighting that Obama likes Obamacare as is and Republicans don’t? Is that unclear to anyone at this point?
Perhaps there are some bills that would have an impact and could generate a helpful debate for Republicans in the presidential race. I’m open to suggestions on that.
But I don’t think Ex-Im is one of those issues. And, delaying highway funding over a relatively small agency that most Americans have never heard of could backfire on Republicans.
Again, their side makes ongoing, decade after decade advancements since 1937. We are losing over time. This is not like the roll back after the Wilson years, but a steady ongoing anti-American drip that we never turn back.
It matters not the percentages. The point is, if one team scores a touchdown every time they have the ball, and the other team only scores field goals every time they have the ball, the touchdown team wins the game.
That should be simple enough to understand. America has moved to the left decade after decade since 1937. Nothing like Europe, of course, but still headed that way. That is not a fantasy, that is a fact.
One of the critiques of Republicans’ stance on Obamacare is that they have no alternatives. That critique cannot be made if you are sending him legislation, and he is vetoing it. At that point, you have proven you have alternatives, and it is he that is directly preventing any changes, improvements, etc from being implemented.
I can get on board with this so long as those proposals are allowed to be voted on.
To the ‘America has moved to the left every decade since 1937’–don’t you mean, 1933? Or 1929? Or whenever–all I can say is, nothing doing.
Some thing are worse, others are better. My sense of the matter is, things are not going well, but there is no reason to despair. The outlook is certainly brighter than in 1937.
Like the way black people & women are treated, to say nothing of so many other minorities. Crime is way down, too. Unlike in the 30’s, not a lot of people are starving, although things could be much better even regarding poverty… The Indians still have it horribly bad, though.
Also, far less treason in gov’t. That’s good, too.
The GOP is doing much better than it did since FDR, another thing I like.
Mr. Obama might even do something really good on incarceration policy.