General @ Tuesday September 27, 2005 08:21 am by WunderKraut
I’ve been a Republican my entire life. I never went through that experimentation stage in late high school or college of being a Liberal. Nope. I have very settled views on foreign policy, public policy, taxes and spending. Coming of age in the mid 1980’s to the early 1990’s, I only knew one type of president, Republican. But except for a few bumps in the road, the Congress was exclusively controlled by the Democrats.
This had been the case for the last 60 years. From 1945 to 2000 Democrats controlled the House all but 10 years with 6 of the years coming since the watershed election of 1994. During the same time, Democrats controlled the Senate all but 16 years with 6 of the years coming since 1994. Even with Republican presidents, the Democrats still controlled the purse strings and in many ways the shaping of the courts.
For the vast majority of modern politics, Democrats have been in power. They may not have had the Presidency all those years, but they wielded unprecedented power in the Congress of our country. Think about it, the Democrats bitch and moan about how unfair the Republicans are to them and how they long to get back into power. It has only been 10 years that they have been out of power in the House and less than that for the Senate, but Republicans were pretty much out of power for 40 to 45 years!
By the mid 1990’s, the American people were fed up with elected for life Democrats and their penchant for taxing you to pay for their social utopia. When Newt Gingrich and his band of Republicans came up with the Contract With America, it touched a nerve in the U.S. electorate. Remember, 54 seats changed hands to Republicans. 54! Let’s look at why such a sea changed happened in American Politics.
For those who do not remember, you can view the Contract With America here.
The main points all involved greater accountability and transparency of the government AND greater fiscal responsibility of the government.
People were tired of being taxed, only to have their taxes go to fund waste and corruption. The Republicans took the House and later the Senate largely because they promised to clean up government waste and fraud, limit the scope and reach of the government and to control spending. They had some great successes by the end of Clinton’s second term.
But what happened?
Today’s Republicans bear very little resemblance to the Republicans of the mid 1990’s. The amount of pork barrel spending and sheer growth of government coming out of Washington is staggering. The farm bill, the highway bill and countless other wastes of tax payer funds are being spent. Why have Republicans turned from their true calling of reining in an out of control government and instead have turned into quasi Democrats? The only thing keeping them from turning into full fledged Democrats, only in terms of government growth and spending, is a tax hike. Don’t be surprised when that finally happens.
My opinion is that the government is growing much to fast and the budget is out of control. I do not blame the tax cuts. I blame the spending. The amount of spending increases this year and over the past few years, make the tax cuts seem like pocket change.
Republicans need to wake up and see that being in power has corrupted them in many ways. Doling out government funds has made them no better than the Democrats. I am afraid for the 2006 mid term elections. Democrats may make large gains. They will think it is because of Iraq and Bush, but in reality, the people may see that the group of guys in charge now are no better than the last group.
I vote we draw up a new Contract With America. Fiscal restraint and responsibility along with limited government should be the foundation.
I am not naive though. Yes there is a war on and yes we have natural disasters to deal with, but we could still do a much better job than has been done. Bush is no better. He could have vetoed the large pork bills, but he didn’t. He could have limited the growth of government, but he didn’t *cough* No Child Left Behind *cough*
Come on guys. Go back to your roots. Do not forget what you fought for all those years you were the underdog. Just because you are now the top dog does not mean you have to toss your principles on the altar of big government.
Where is the next true leader that will unite the country and this party around core conservative ideals of fiscal responsibility and limited government?
I want to hear from readers and other bloggers what their wish list is for better government.
10 Responses to “What Is Wrong With The GOP?”
Good question, Mike. Unfortunately, there’s no alternative other than calling/writing your GOP representatives in the gov’t and bitching them out.
The Dems aren’t fiscally responsible either - they’ll raise taxes to pay for programs but they’ll still spend the extra tax revenue and then some.
It may take Republicans being out of power again to slap some sense into them but I cringe when I imagine a Kerry or Hillary in power.
No good…
*cough* line item veto *cough*
I honestly don’t think we’re going to lose the presidency. But I do think we’re going to lose the legislative branch.
Cullen, we lost the ‘legislature’ years ago - Souter, Ginsberg, O’Connor, Kennedy… or to quote the mighty Hank Hill: “A woman did ruin the Supreme Court, and that woman’s name was Earl Warren.”
Oh man Nightfly that was great! I had to get a paper towl to get my lunch off my monitor. I love that episode….oh man….too good.
How about this: Hank Hill for President!
The Republican Party has completely abandoned the limited government principles they have stood for in the past. Government spending under the GOP’s reign has soared to historic highs, any way you want to measure it. In stark contrast to President Reagan, President Bush refuses to rein in spending. He hasn’t used his veto a single time since taking office — the longest such streak in U.S. history. What is truly amazing is the sheer arrogance with which the Republicans have chosen to govern.
Tom DeLay said that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an “ongoing victory,” and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budgetâ€. Who is he kidding? Congress has spent money like a drunken sailor and now DeLay says there is no place left to cut? How about starting with that outrageous pork filled transportation bill?
The contract with America was nothing more than lip service and a new one really does need to be drawn up, but this time it needs to be done by the voters and we need to hold the politicians to it or out they go.
Well said Iceman.
But instead of spending like drunk sailors, they have been spending like drunk Democrats.
I can think of all kinds of pork left to be cut. It is amazing at how quickly the Republicans have lost their way. They are now doing the things that they long accused Democrats of doing.
I am very worried about the mid term elections. Very worried. If the Democrats were worth anything, they would drop their Iraq war chant and stop their chant about tax cuts for the rich. Instead they could win back a bunch of seats if they just preach fiscal responsibility and better management of the government. There is enough blame for fiscal mismanagement alone, that the voters may turn on Republicans. I am afraid the Democrats will wake up soon and see this.
I am not a huge fan of deficits, but they happen. If spending had been kept in check, even with the war, the deficit and budget outlook would be much better. We have come out of the mini recession and State and Federal tax receipts are way up. It is depressing. If spending had been kept down and with the added tax revenue, some real change could possibly have taken place in areas such as Social Security and Medicaid. But not now.
In my opinion the real problem with the government is that, rather than stick with their principles, all the politicians are listening to the people. And not the intelligent people. Its sad but at times it seems like the stupid lady who sits in the express lane at the grocery store for 30 minutes with about 50 items rather than 10 has more influence on todays government than say a college professor.
[...] I wrote a post last week in which I longed for the days when Republicans actually were for small government. Saxby, you are doing what we used to get mad at your Democratic colleagues for doing. Kill the pork, you can do it. [...]
[...] Great. Just great. I have been bitching about the GOP lately (see here and here) but I am just so aggravated with them right now. Michelle Malkin had a post up the other day and in that post she had a comment by a reader who is basically as disgusted as I am with the GOP. Where is their back bone? They should have pushed through the more than qualified judges. They should have slashed spending to offset the tax cuts. They should have stood up and fought for what they believe in. Rest assured, the Democrats, once back in power, WILL NOT SEEK COMPROMISE WITH THE RIGHT. They will not do it. Oh sure, they may toss a bone or two to the Right, but they will scorch the earth in order to get their way. They sound full of compromise now, because they do not have a choice, but they will damn the consequences and move ahead. [...]