Immediately before and after Tuesday’s Republican wave election Senators Mitch McConnell and Rob Portman and Speaker John Boehner were on the talking head shows talking about working with Democrats, insisting on a limited agenda, not focusing on the mandate they received to stop and reverse Obama’s policies. Rather they spoke of making those policies work, oblivious to their long term portent and the reasons they supposedly opposed them. And of course there was no concentration that the Obamacrats pushed their policies with no “bipartisan” support, instead using raw political power and no honest Constitutional basis. It was a pathetic display of leadership by them or any recognition of the hue and cry from the electorate.
In the last couple of days there are some indications that they may be getting the message from the grassroots that there will be no tolerance for decrepitude. But let us not forget the narrative they put on the country, reflected in this November 5th Washington Post article by Lori Montgomery and Robert Costa:
GOP crafts narrow agenda for new Congress, seeking unity, Democratic votes
Within hours of solidifying their control of Congress, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John A. Boehner were quietly laying plans for a series of quick votes in January aimed at erasing their obstructionist image ahead of the 2016 elections.
First up: Action on long-stalled bills with bipartisan support, including measures to repeal an unpopular tax on medical devices and approve construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
After that: Pass a budget through both chambers of Congress for the first time since 2009, followed by the full array of government-funding bills. “There will be no government shutdowns,” said McConnell, who will soon become majority leader.
Courtesy Americans for Limited Government
Ted Cruz was the first person of note that we heard calling for a defining use of the mandate received from the election. Cruz called for votes to overturn Obamacare and replace it. Acknowledging the likelihood of a veto he argued that was no reason not to proceed. He also called for constant legislation to be placed on Obama’s desk in order to expose and hopefully stop Obama’s agenda and moving good Republican legislation. And of course he has been a consistent champion of the power of the purse.
John Hawkins writing at Townhall yesterday held forth with a dose of reality and realpolitik populist strategy.
GOP Leaders Shouldn’t Forget That They Won Because Obama Sucks, Not Because They’re Great
For example, if we intend to repeal Obamacare, the last thing we should do is start trying to change the law to make it more viable. Not only would “fixing” some of the more onerous parts of the law make it much less likely that it will be repealed, it gives Republicans partial ownership of an albatross around the neck of the Democrat Party. Right now, the Democrats own every problem with an incredibly unpopular law. Why would we want to change that, especially when we’re in sight of our goal of holding the House, the Senate and electing a Republican President in 2016 so we can tear the law out root and branch before we replace it with something else? The only changes we should agree to make with Obamacare are ones that make the law less viable. For example, we should move to end the Obamacare bailouts for insurance companies. It’s outrageous that these insurance companies are getting huge payouts from the same taxpayers who are being forced to buy policies they don’t want. . . .
So are Republicans in leadership going to live up to the promises that were made to the American people on the campaign trail or are they going to make sleazy backroom deals with corrupt billionaires who want to make a few more bucks by screwing Americans out of jobs to help foreigners?
The GOP has talked a lot about holding Barack Obama accountable. Now that we have the House AND the Senate, are we going to do it? Is the IRS going to pay the price for going after Tea Party groups? Will the EPA be reined in? Is the GOP going to be a rubber stamp for Obama’s radical judges and appointees? . . .
As a party, we’re actually in a fantastic position because we can now force Democrats to take tough votes on popular legislation that we can pass and send to Barack Obama. Then if it gets over the filibuster hump, he either has to sign on the dotted line or he has to veto it, which would give our 2016 candidate an issue to run on. . . .
. . . Are conservatives going overboard when we ask the Republican Party to actually live up to what it promises on the campaign trail? . . . Hopefully, they will surprise us and live up to their highest potential, which probably consists of being plodding “C” grade leaders who don’t mess things up too badly. Whether they do or don’t, they should know that conservatives will be watching them, we’re not cutting them any slack and we recognize that Barack Obama was the MVP of this election for the GOP, not our Republican Party leadership.
Rush Limbaugh had much to say this week with related advise and in his inimitable style and clarity.
“The mandate of this election is to stop Obama.”
So just to be clear, the mandate of the election, the American people, the exit poll data now proves it: stop Obama, stop Obamaism, stop the implementation of policies, for example, that are doing great harm to the free enterprise economy. Stop Obamacare and repeal it. Stop this unnecessary wild spending. Stop illegal immigration. It’s all there. Just enforce the law. Stop Obama . . .
Stop Obama and then pepper him with bill after bill after bill that we know he’s gonna veto, but portray him as the obstructionist, portray him as the guy saying “no.” Portray him as the guy governing against the will of the people because every bill you send up there is accompanied by a poll showing it’s majority support for the American people.
No, no, no, no. The Republicans were not sent there to compromise. They were not sent there to govern with Obama. They were not sent there to fix anything. They were sent there to stop the things that are transforming and, in some cases, destroying the country.
R Mall
