Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Ron Paul - GOP Abandons Conservatives
House of Representatives Web Site ^ | 12-1-2003 | Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)

Posted on 12/01/2003 9:06:21 AM PST by jmc813

The Medicare prescription drug bill passed by Congress last week may prove to be a watershed event for political conservatives in America. This latest expansion of the federal government, potentially the largest in our nation’s history, is firmly in keeping with the failed New Deal and Great Society programs of the utopian left. This leaves true conservatives, who believe strongly in limited government and identify with the Goldwater- era Republican party, wondering whether they still have a political home in the modern GOP. In the eyes of many conservatives, today’s GOP simply has abandoned its limited-government heritage to buy votes and gain political power in Washington.

The unfortunate truth is that the Bush administration, aided by a Republican congress, has increased spending more in three years than the previous administration did in eight. Federal spending has grown by more than 25% since President Bush took office. The federal government now spends roughly $21,000 per household every year, up from $16,000 just 4 years ago. Columnist Cal Thomas, in a recent article entitled “The Embarrassing GOP,” raises an excellent question: “How much of that $21,000 could you spend that would produce better results for yourself and your family?”

Consider that Mr. Bush has not vetoed a single bill, nor does he even bother to employ conservative rhetoric. Chris Edwards of the CATO Institute says this about the President: “I’ve never seen him give a speech in which he says government is too big and we need to cut costs.” Furthermore, the outlook for spending restraint during a second Bush term is nil: “When you have a president who has a bunch of his own spending initiatives like education and the Medicare drug bill, it makes it difficult for him to go out and say that Congress is being wasteful,” Mr. Edwards states.

Columnists have coined the phrase “Big-Government Republicans” to describe the current crop of free spenders now controlling the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives. Many of the president’s closest advisors are Big-Government Republicans, former leftists who have no qualms about spending huge amounts of money both at home and abroad to achieve supposedly conservative ends.

The irony is that conservatives suffered through decades of Democratic control of Congress, always believing that liberals were to blame for the relentless growth of the federal government. When Republicans finally took control of Congress in 1994, many saw an opportunity for a real conservative revolution. But first, conservatives were told, the Democratic administration had to be removed. In the meantime, spending continued unabated throughout the 1990s. When Republicans won the White House in 2000, another opportunity seemed at hand. The Senate, however, was still in Democratic hands-- the last possible GOP scapegoat. Finally, in 2002 the GOP took control of the Senate and increased its majority in the U.S. House. Surely this was the moment conservatives had been waiting for! Yet the past year has seen more spending than ever, including the disastrous Medicare bill that will cost trillions over coming decades. The latest line is that the GOP needs a filibuster-proof Senate of 60 Republicans, and then, finally, the party can begin to implement a conservative agenda.

At what point will conservatives stop accepting these excuses? When does the conservative base of the GOP, a base that remains firmly committed to the principle of limited government, finally demand new leadership and a return to conservative values? Will conservatives abandon the party when they realize the GOP, at least under its current leadership, is simply not interested in reducing the size and scope of the federal government? With Republicans controlling the administration and the legislature, and nominally controlling the Supreme Court, the party has run out of other people to blame. One thing is certain: Republicans who support bigger entitlement programs and bigger federal budgets have lost all credibility as advocates for limited government.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Front Page News; Government
KEYWORDS: 1sogo3rdpartyalready; constitutionparty; prescriptionswindle; ronpaul
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 181-187 next last

1 posted on 12/01/2003 9:06:21 AM PST by jmc813
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: jmc813
GOP Abandons Conservatives

"This just in ..."

2 posted on 12/01/2003 9:09:37 AM PST by newgeezer (Admit it. Amendment XIX is very much to blame (and yes, I'm married to one who agrees).)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jmc813
"The unfortunate truth is that the Bush administration, aided by a Republican congress, has increased spending more in three years than the previous administration did in eight"

SIGH
3 posted on 12/01/2003 9:12:39 AM PST by luckydevi
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jmc813
GWB is doing his best to get reelected, thereby keeping Dean or Hillary from ruining the country!
4 posted on 12/01/2003 9:13:11 AM PST by tkathy (The islamofascists and the democrats are trying to destroy this country)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jmc813
If this ain't the truth. The Republican party has become the RINOs. I became a Republican back in 1980, a Reagan-Democrat. And some way, some how I end up in a party full of Jesse Jackson-Republicans.

In the fight between the left and the right, the right has become the left.

OUCH!

5 posted on 12/01/2003 9:14:37 AM PST by LandofLincoln
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: tkathy
That is like saying ... "If someone is going to ruin this country, let it be us."
6 posted on 12/01/2003 9:16:04 AM PST by LandofLincoln
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: tkathy
You don't do that by doing EVEYTHING that Dean or Hillary would do if they were in office.
7 posted on 12/01/2003 9:16:21 AM PST by Dead Corpse (For an Evil Super Genius, you aren't too bright are you?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: luckydevi
Come on...you Republican-voting simpletons didn't actually think it would be reduced or that government programs would be cut back or eliminated with a GoP Congress and White House did you?

Alternatives worth looking at:

The Constitution Party

The Libertarian Party

8 posted on 12/01/2003 9:21:06 AM PST by xrp (Fox News Sucks: ALL LACI PETERSON ALL MICHAEL JACKSON, ALL THE TIME!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Dead Corpse
Only time the GOP had any spine lately was when klintoon was in office. Seems like divided government is the only chance we have, at least the drift to the left seems slower that way.
9 posted on 12/01/2003 9:23:14 AM PST by steve50 ("There is Tranquility in Ignorance, but Servitude is its Partner.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: jmc813
The federal government now spends roughly $21,000 per household every year, up from $16,000 just 4 years ago.

Tommy Dashole is deeply saddened, its all Clintoon's fault, if only the R's were in control of Congress. Blah blah blah.
10 posted on 12/01/2003 9:28:14 AM PST by lelio
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: tkathy
GWB is doing his best to get reelected, thereby keeping Dean or Hillary from ruining the country!

I wonder what difference either would make.

11 posted on 12/01/2003 9:31:15 AM PST by carenot (Proud member of The Flying Skillet Brigade)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: jmc813
I think one of two things is happening: Either the Republican party is becoming less conservative or conservative thought is changing.

Hasn't it always been this way?

12 posted on 12/01/2003 9:33:37 AM PST by Scenic Sounds (Pero treinta miles al resto.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: carenot
I wonder what difference either would make

Why the hypothetical? You know the differences, but don't want to acknowledge them.

13 posted on 12/01/2003 9:34:24 AM PST by Dane
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: jmc813
Thanks for the post. I haven't read Mr Paul for a while. Have to bring his site back to the top of my bookmarks. Again.
14 posted on 12/01/2003 9:35:06 AM PST by FormerlyAnotherLurker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jmc813
To paraphrase Ronald Reagan:

I didn't leave the Republican Party; the Republican Party left me.

15 posted on 12/01/2003 9:35:53 AM PST by kevao
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jmc813; xrp; carenot; sheltonmac
Bump for later review
16 posted on 12/01/2003 9:36:16 AM PST by The_Eaglet (Conservative chat on EFNet: irc.efnet.net port 6667 , /join #conservative)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: tkathy
National security is the only reason to support Bush if
you are a conservative as to economic policy.
17 posted on 12/01/2003 9:36:27 AM PST by buckalfa
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: FormerlyAnotherLurker
I haven't read Mr Paul for a while.

He publishes a weekly column on his House web site. I try to post the columns here on FR every Monday. If you do a search for "Paul", you should find a bunch, as I try to include his name in the thread title for easier searching.

18 posted on 12/01/2003 9:37:06 AM PST by jmc813 (Help save a life - www.marrow.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Dane
Why the hypothetical? You know the differences, but don't want to acknowledge them.

Hey, Dane! How ya doin'?

19 posted on 12/01/2003 9:38:07 AM PST by carenot (Proud member of The Flying Skillet Brigade)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: kevao
I didn't leave the Republican Party; the Republican Party left me

And giving the finger to the UN, passing tax cuts, and signing a partial birth abortion ban is anti-conservative how?

20 posted on 12/01/2003 9:38:42 AM PST by Dane
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 181-187 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson