Replies

What about that pesky fact that we dont control the Senate and WH? Now you detail to me how you would get it done, because all of these drama queens here on FR never seemed to detail how that was going to happen.

But what we DO control is the House of Representatives -- the one body with a veto-proof stranglehold on federal spending. All spending bills must originate in the House, period. While the Senate may reject a House bill and the President may the veto a bill passed by both houses, not a penny can be appropriated unless it was first authorized by the House.

But let's say those scary, mean Senators reject the House budget... So what? The Senate can't originate its own version -- so if the Senate won't ultimately go along, nothing gets appropriated. And let's say the big, bad President vetoes a bill passed by both houses. So what? He can't spend what hasn't been appropriated. While the President may veto a bill, he cannot veto the absence of a bill -- so if the House fails to appropriate funds in the first place, the President can't do a damned thing about it.

The House of Representatives holds the ultimate power of the purse. The simple problem is that GOP "leaders" lack the courage to wield that power as the Founders designed it. We have chosen poorly, and we are about to suffer terribly for our poor choices...

AA Marine, you must be one of those "drama queens" that VDK was talking about.;)

We don't control jack!

Of the 242 Republican members of the House about 83 are Republican freshman and about a third of those (27 or so) identify with the Tea Party.

The career politicians (both sides of the aisle) who are "in control" are more interested in maintaining the status quo and keeping their positions and power. They are counting on the American people to once again forget about our grim reality by the next election. We never seem to disappoint. Most don't even realize that the "savings" they are talking about are merely reductions in the spending increases that are already in place. We are still slouching toward Greece.

But back to my original point, we don't control anything and you can't expect the "tea party freshman" to force anything. There are victories here for them. They greatly influenced the debate and we were heard. They were a giant pain in the ass for Boehner.

What we must do is stay engaged, find more candidates to oppose the status quo incumbents and increase our numbers. Once we've increased our numbers and taken both houses we need to force leadership changes. The Old Guard has got to go. Only then (and with a conservative President) will things begin to change.

That's my opinion.