Washington, We Have a Problem…

by OOTM

I remember election night 2000. I stayed up all night waiting to find out which man would be the next president and which party would control Congress. It took 36 days to fully materialize, but in the end, I was thrilled. The Republicans had both houses of Congress and the White House.

Except for a minor Jim Jeffords hiccup along the way, we have have fully retained both branches for the last six years. (I use the term “we” loosely, having recently requested the Republican Party remove my name from their rolls.)

However, after nearly 12 years with a Republican Congress and 6 years with a Republican president, I am ready to concede at least the House, and perhaps the Senate as well, to the Democrats. And I’m not alone in feeling that way:

The only way that our government will ever reduce spending is if it is divided. Judicial appointments are too important to allow the Democrats to control the Senate and the Executive Branch, but we can and should sacrifice the House. All spending bills originate in the House of Representatives. The House is responsible for this mess. At one time I honestly believed that our system of divided government was inferior to the parliamentary system. I believed that a parliamentary system was better, because there was more accountability, structure, and efficiency. I hated gridlock. Now I have completely changed my mind. After taking a second look at the pigs (Republicans), I noticed that they very closely resemble the farmers (Democrats) they replaced. It turned out that there wasn’t a dimes worth of difference between the two parties, at least not fiscally.

Quick sidenote to Republicans: If you have lost people like me, you are screwed in November. November will represent the first time I have ever pulled the lever for a Democrat for either Congress or the Presidency. I donated money and time to Republican causes for every election in which I have been eligible to participate, and I helped convince numerous people to register and vote as Republicans. Folks, you don’t want to lose people like me. I don’t just cast votes…

But this time will be different. After watching the Republicans spend and spend and spend, I am done with them. I am done with budget deficits during economic booms, I am done with borrow and spend politics, I am done with bridges to nowhere, I am done with railroads being moved in Mississippi, I am done with debit cards for everyone even remotely effected by hurricanes, I am done with pet projects that don’t make it into the real budget being inserted in “emergency spending” packages, I am done with it all. Every. Last. Bit.

I would go further than the quote above that suggests some things are too important to sacrifice the Senate. Hogwash. A SCOTUS justice is not worth raising the national debt to $10 Trillion or more. Justices just aren’t worth the spending. I would rather have Hillary Clinton and 61 flaming liberal senators appoint all 9 SCOTUS justices than have the Republicans continue to spend money like they have done for 6 solid years. It is disgusting!

1994 was a wakeup call about what happens to an incumbent party drunk with power. America tossed out the Democrats and put in Republicans who campaigned on fiscal responsibility and limited government.

The Republican Party of 2006 no longer resembles the Republican Party of 1994. They look much more like New Deal and Great Society Democrats.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 18th, 2006 at 3:59 pm and is filed under Constitution and Courts, History, The Right, Politics, The Culture, The Left. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.