Don’t Get Giddy Yet Republicans
So Massachusetts elected a Republican to replace Ted Kennedy in the Senate, thus providing the Republicans with enough seats to filibuster. Oh, and Kool-Aid drinkers across the country are just giddy. Typically liberal Mass has put a Republican in the Senate! The tide is turning on Obama!
Hang on a second. I would advise all my Republican friends (and remember here that I am a Conservative) not to get too excited about all this. As of late, Republican control of power hasn’t been a lot better than Democrat control. I’d say it’s been “less bad”. Remember the under Republican leadership we had:
- The Patriot Act. The single biggest erosion of personal liberty ever enacted into legislation.
- Tax cuts yes, spending cuts no.
- Deregulation of the securities market with deference to huge banks that transformed investing into essentially gambling.
- Monetary policy that promoted inflation and economic bubbles. Can you say Greenspan?
- Policies of intervention in the affairs of other countries that have cost lives and untold billions of dollars.
- Little to no progress on freeing us from foreign oil dependence. “Drill baby drill” isn’t a long term answer.
The list goes on and on. So, I would advise my Republican friends to dispense with the excitement and stay focused. Republicans are doing no better guiding this country than the Democrats are. We need Conservative leadership that will
- Actually cut spending significantly rather than just cutting taxes and growing deficits
- Restore a focus on limiting government that includes personal freedom.
- Revise monetary policy so as not to allow government inflation of the currency.
- Focus our military efforts on defending the US, not nation-building overseas. We don’t have the money for all these wars.
- Return power to the states where it belongs.
My frustration is that this will probably never happen. If it ever did though, I’d be as giddy as the talk radio pundits are right now.
