Posted on 11/16/2005 10:08:12 AM PST by GeneD
New Hampshire Republican Rep. Charles Bass says GOP leaders in the House are ignoring the party’s "fundamental principles” and he’s calling for new elections to replace them next year.
The five-term congressman, co-chair of a group of about 35 moderate House Republicans called the "Tuesday Group,” aired his opinions in interviews with the New Hampshire Union Leader and Boston radio station WBUR.
He said the House Republican conference "would be healthier and more unified if we had real elections and if [former House Majority Leader] Tom DeLay would step aside for the good of the conference.”
DeLay has kept his office at the Capitol and "is still very much around,” said Bass, who wants new elections for leadership "so we have a fresh slate of officers outside of the speaker for the next session of Congress.
"I think that obviously, with the party’s fortunes down, with the message clearly that most Americans would rather see a more moderate form of leadership in the country right now, then it’s time to govern from the middle.”
He said Democrats refuse to compromise, according to the Union Leader, so "in order for us to pass a difficult bill and take hard votes, for better or for worse, we have to do it within our own party.
"Leadership is going to have to accommodate the most moderate and the most conservative members, and both sides have to be willing to give a little.”
With president Bush’s approval ratings reaching an all-time low, and GOP leadership in the House unstable, Republicans are increasingly worried about next year’s congressional elections, the Union Leader noted.
Said Bass: "There are plenty of members of Congress who are concerned about the fact that a lot of their own party, Republicans, are complaining that we seem to be more concerned with the bridge to nowhere in Alaska and earmarks in appropriations than we are about what our fundamental principles are, which is less government, lower taxes and a strong national security.
"So people like me ... are sending a message to our leadership that we want them to shape up and stop thinking about what they can do for themselves and start thinking about the country and what our agenda is and what our priorities are.”
He added: "When we have our majority leader being indicted and a bridge to nowhere, then it’s time for us to reflect upon the Republican Party.”
I'll blast the GOP leadership (other than Delay) for not standing up to the Rats and the MSM and callling their lie, lies and the people that commit them liers. If they lose next fall, it will be exactly because of that. Nothing that these winnie moderates are doing.
Kerry voters. Gore voters. Clinton voters.
That's his district.
As I said, pretty fringe, and of course protectionist city.
What New Hampshire do you live in? Bizarro New Hampshire? Was Bush not conservative enough for this district? He's never won here. And Lynch has no fear of losing. No serious opponent wants to face him. He's as popular as Warner in Virginia.
Go and thank him for at least being a warm body and keeping our majority intact. We live in a liberal district. Acceptance is the final step in grief. Get there, man.
Actually the less support from the GOP the better. Charlie only wins because of his cult of personality. Nominate a regular no-name moderate who'd vote like him and he'd lose to a Dem, and we have plenty of Dems who'd walk right into that open seat.
On which of those votes is the JBS on the "fringe"?
He's going to get a "fresh slate of officers" beginning at the top with Nancy Pelosi. I'm sure he feels much more comfortable with the Democrats running the place so IF he can manage to get himself re-elected in '06 on Republican $, then he can change parties so he won't have to suffer the indignities of being in the minority. I saw this s.o.b. on H&C last week. He is as arrogant as any of the insufferable Democrats and will fit right into their caucus.
Nope. Done BOHICA-ing!
Like Patton said, "I'd rather have a German Division in front of me than a French Division behind me!"
I much prefer an enemy that isn't SUPPORTED BY MY SIDE! Likw the RNSC helping Linc Chaffing over his "more Conservative" opponent...wtf?! What goals are advanced when we are forced by traitors in our midst to retreat AFTER helping them?
So what if DemonRATs are elected...what is the bloody difference in this circumstance?! they are voting the same!
Besides, it will hasten the coming storm of Revolt...and I like that.
Bass is a second generation liberal twerp. His father Norman used to do this dance thirty years ago. Charles can be upchucked via primary in the very GOP NH rural district he represents. New Hampshire has about 400 state representatives. In Bass's district, many, many are GOP and conservative. Finance one and kiss Charlie goodbye. Make it brutal and make this nancyboy a poster boy for the results of treason in the ranks.
2, 4, 6, 7 and 10 sound fringe to me. But what is fringe is having an issue where the JBS goes one way, and 80% of the Pubbie congressmen go the other.
That idiomatic expression was used by my mother with the following meaning that I found here: http://www.wordpower.ws/idioms/c.html
The general meaning is as follows: cut off one's nose to spite one's face
- make things worse for oneself because one is angry at someone else
He is cutting off his nose to spite his face. Taking revenge on his neighbor will only cause more problems for himself.
Most Republicans in Congress are, just like the Democrats, primarily concerned with job preservation...they dispense taxpayer funded goodies and regulate where they really have no authority to buy votes.
If advocating adherance to the Constitution and principles of small government is now a "fringe" position...call me an extremist
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