BIG GOVERNMENT REPUBLICANS

Two years ago, when I presented the keynote address to the Conservative Political Action Conference, I likened the state of the Republican movement to a tall ship at sea – a ship that had drifted off-course from essential conservative principles.

I said we had lost our way. But I believed we could get back on course — would get back on course. We could make the corrections. We needed only to keep our eye on True North — our core principles of limited government and traditional moral values.

I believed that we were off course not because we’d abandoned these principles, or forgotten the shining city on the hill. We’d simply made honest, but flawed calculations on how to get there.

It’s quite another thing to continue that course when half the crew and passengers are pointing out that nothing looks familiar … not to mention the tens of millions of Americans lining the shoreline screaming, "You’re going the wrong way!"

In short, we’re no longer adrift. We might’ve been when we started but now "off course" is the accepted course.

The evidence for this is overwhelming … while President Bush has called for increases in non-defense spending of 4 percent for the last five years, Congress has delivered budgets spending more than twice that each year … Congress has spent $380 billion more than the President requested under Republican control.

Whether it’s called "compassionate conservatism" or "big government republicanism," after years of record increases in federal spending, more government is now the accepted Republican philosophy in Washington.

We are in danger of becoming the party of Big Government. And for the sake of our party and for the sake of the nation we must say, here and now, to all who would lead us in this new century, "the era of big Republican government is over!"

When I think of the state of our movement in Washington … it reminds me of a story:

There was this construction worker, Mac, who'd bring his neatly and lovingly packed lunch to work each day. Mac would sit down with his buddies, open the brown paper sack and pull out a cheeseburger, chocolate cake and peanut butter cookies. Without fail, he'd look at his fellow workers and complain, "I can't believe it! A cheeseburger, cake and cookies again! How am I ever going to lose weight?!"

After about a month of hearing him complain about the burger, cake and cookies, one of his buddies finally said, "Come on Mac! If you're so concerned about your weight, just ask your wife to send you off with something different."

Congress might ask itself the same question. We control the spending and the process … and we wonder how the things got to such a state?

And it’s not like we haven’t made important course corrections in many significant areas. There can be no diminishing those accomplishments.

We’ve dismantled and scattered the network of terrorists within our United States.

We’ve liberated nations from oppressive, murderous regimes and the American soldier has brought the promise of democracy and freedom to millions who have never known it.

President Bush has put the brakes on leftist, activist courts with his sound appointments, including two strict constructionist justices to the Supreme Court of the United States.

But what of those other promises central to our nation’s values and liberty? The promises that said, "We’ll cut spending. We’ll rein in big government. We’ll restore ethics and honesty to government."

On these promises? All sizzle and no steak. The ship’s galley just keeps sending up giant pu-pu platters of pork, platitudes, promises and never-ending pleas for patience to the passengers on the deck.

"We’re working on it," Congress tells them. "But in the meantime, we’ve got to get re-elected so that we can get this ship back on course to cut spending, rein in big government, and restore ethics and honesty. We can’t do it without a majority."

Former Majority Leader Dick Armey said it best, "we do the things we ought not do, so we can be reelected to do the things we ought to do and never get around to doing"

We are not, as a party, bereft of ideas – we are bereft of will -- the will to even consider ideas that might touch on the sacred cows of federal spending…

And for the past six years, we have had no excuse for the outrageous growth in the size and scope of government.

If we are still on the wrong course, it is because we choose to be—either because we truly do not see the urgency of course correction or we lack the will to bring it about.

The American people see a disconnect between what we’ve been saying and what we’ve been doing.

There is no escaping the fact that many of the things we have done look more like the work of a Democrat majority. Like:

l National testing and a 50 percent increase in the federal department of education;

Not to mention a pork barrel culture that saw more than 15,000 earmarks, including public funding for an indoor rainforest in Iowa, a weather center for Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog, and, of course, a Bridge to Nowhere.

Our ship is running out of fuel, our crew is running out of patience, and we are running out of time.

Every day, we sail further into the dangerous waters of Big Government Republicanism … perilous straits for a society built on personal responsibility and freedom. We risk finding ourselves past the point of no return on the Road to Serfdom.

If we must look over our shoulder to see that shining city on a hill, we are sailing in the wrong direction.

And I know some of you want to abandon ship, head for the lifeboats and let the ship hit the unforgiving reef of the midterm elections.

But anyone who thinks that a Democrat Congress would do any better has (as we say in Indiana) "another think comin!"

In my five years in Congress, despite all their talk about deficits and the national debt, I have never seen the Democrats bring a bill to the floor that wasn’t a lot bigger and a lot more intrusive than what we Republicans were selling.

We need to stop, set anchor, and reset our heading based on what we know to be true about the nature of government:

l That government should never do for a man what he can and should do for himself;

l That societies are judged by their treatment of the most vulnerable: the aged, the infirm, and the unborn.

But it’s not enough to know these truths. We need to choose to put them into practice.

Our party and many of you -- its rising generation of new leaders face an age-old choice:

A choice between the belief in limited government and tradition -- and the siren song of the central planner, who says that big government is good government if it’s our government.

The conservative movement is at a crossroads. Are we committed to the ideals of limited government, fiscal discipline and traditional moral values or not?

If we are, we must act accordingly. It is why voters gave us a governing majority.

We once walked the path with heads held high -- with energy, hope and determination.

Remember when America walked it together? Twenty-five years ago, when another son of the heartland came east with the ideals of our founders, we walked into our future of liberty, prosperity, security, and values.

It is as if Ronald Reagan’s 1975 address to CPAC was meant for us today. He said, "A political party cannot be all things to all people. It must represent certain fundamental beliefs which must not be compromised to political expediency, or simply to swell its numbers."

He said in that speech over 30 years ago, "I do not believe I have proposed anything that is contrary to what has been considered Republican principle. It is at the same time the very basis of conservatism. It is time to reassert that principle and raise it to full view. And if there are those who cannot subscribe to these principles, then let them go their way."

President Reagan described the path that led to morning, the shining city on the hill and a national majority.

We will find our way to Morning in America. But first, we must go back to the future—back to doing the hard thing because it’s the right thing

And there are signs that we are doing just that … signs that our party is beginning to rekindle our commitment to limited government and reform.

2005 will be remembered as a year of good intentions, bad disasters and promises kept. Congress, early last year, adopted the toughest budget since the Reagan years and under the leadership of the Appropriations Committee reported one bill after another on time and on budget.

And then came Katrina … 90,000 square miles of our Gulf Coast destroyed and $60 billion appropriated in just six days.

Now back in Indiana, when a tree falls on your house...first you tend to the wounded, then you start the cleanup, then you sit down and figure out how you are going to pay for it ... but not in Washington D.C.!

After the storm, many in Congress thought that fiscal discipline was the last thing that Congress should be thinking about … preferring to raise taxes or increase the national debt instead of making tough choices.

Seeing that a catastrophe of nature could become a catastrophe of debt, dozens of conservative leaders in Congress challenged our colleagues to offset the cost of Hurricane Katrina with budget cuts. We called it "Operation Offset" ... And I will always believe that our efforts sparked a national debate that galvanized into fiscal discipline.

The American people wanted Washington to pay for Katrina with budget cuts, and Washington got the message.

In direct response to the call for cuts, Speaker Dennis Hastert unveiled a plan which would cut spending in every area of the federal budget.

And just last Wednesday, I joined the President at the White House as he signed the first Deficit Reduction Act since 1997, saving taxpayers nearly 40 billion dollars.

Suddenly, we didn’t just say the hard things, but for the first time in a long time we did them … and it really wasn’t even all that hard.

You see, the conventional wisdom — which is a Washington term; back in Indiana they use the term "excuse" — the conventional wisdom is that these things are just so complex, just so involved, that nothing can simply "just get done."

Yes, a lot of these issues are complex. Yes, they’re involved. But so is electricity. You don’t have to be Thomas Edison to turn out the light at night. Anyone with a lick of common sense and initiative can pull a plug.

And you don’t have to be a genius to turn out the lights on big government or to pull the plug on wasteful government spending!

This is just a start -- a small step down the road toward fiscal discipline. But for Americans troubled by a rising tide of red ink here in Washington D.C., 2006 begins with reason for optimism, as this Congress begins to make tough choices in tough times to put our fiscal house in order.

There’s also reason for optimism as we see this Congress rekindle our commitment to honest and open government in Washington DC

The headlines announcing one scandal after another have eroded public confidence in our commitment to government of the highest moral caliber.

I am here to tell you that even as we speak, Congress is preparing to fight for ethics reform, not because such scandals hurt our party, but because they hurt the nation. The Bible says "Righteousness exalts a nation," so the converse must also be true. The scandals, which have beset our national government in recent days have grieved the heart of the American people.

And while we must reform the rules, install more, tighten the process, understand this: such tinkering does not substitute for genuine restoration of honesty and integrity to our halls of leadership.

True servants of the people do not need to be compelled to keep their hand out of the cookie jar.

For all others, we can only make it harder to play the system and easier to catch them.

But as we reform our rules of ethics, we will do so with the understanding that these are but symptoms of the core problem.

Fiscal integrity and moral integrity are inseparable issues. You can’t complain about the sharks while you’re holding a bucket of chum.

So it’s not enough to change the way lobbyists spend their money. We must change the way Congress spends the people’s money.

Only by marrying budget reform and ethical reform can we restore the confidence of the American people in the fiscal and moral integrity of our national government.

So on fiscal responsibility and reform, there are signs that our ship is turning.

And while fiscal and ethical renewal will not be easy, I’m puzzled by those who say it will take courage to make these changes.

Perhaps they confuse courage with will. It takes no courage to cast a vote or speak from the well of the House of Representatives. There are no grenade launchers or snipers in the visitors’ balcony.

Let me tell you about courage. Twice I had the privilege of visiting Iraq with our brave American soldiers — men and women who chose to leave the comforts of their home, put their lives on hold and on the line, in the fight for liberty.

Sadly, there are faces I was never privileged to see. Men and women from my district whose hands I will never have the honor of shaking on this side of eternity.

Raymond White grew up in Elwood Indiana, a small town in my district. This red-headed Boy Scout "always had a smile on his face," was upbeat and a young man of faith … he carried pocket-sized King James Bible everywhere he went and had what his folks called an "others first" attitude from early on.

As the nation watched in horror the images on TV, and as smoke billowed from the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, there came for this 6’4" Hoosier a personal time for choosing.

Ray told his father, "Dad, I have a higher calling, and I’ve got to go serve my country." He joined the Army, and was eventually deployed to Baghdad.

On November 12, 2004, there came for Ray another time for choosing. His convoy came under fire in an ambush. There was no time to think. No time to weigh options. In an instant, in a single moment of decision, Ray chose life. Not his own, but his friends’.

Instead of taking cover, he provided it for his fellow soldiers to evacuate to the trenches. He stood at the gun turret mounted on his Humvee and returned fire, fending off the assault until everyone was safe. His Dad, Hank described it this way, "In the final few moments of his life, the best of him came out. He had a job to do and he did it to the very bitter end."

Raymond White was 22 when the Lord called him home. Because of his heroism, there were no other casualties. "No greater love hath man than this, that he should lay down his life for his friends."

If it ever crosses my mind to think my job is hard … when I’m tired and weary of the battle on Capitol Hill, this is what sets me straight.

Most of our men and women in the armed forces are less than half the age of most members of Congress, yet possessed of a timeless wisdom, strength, and commitment to freedom that shall survive to inspire generations.

They fight and die for the cause of liberty. Surely we can muster the will to cast a vote for it.

Their courage is not shaken by the whine of a bullet. Shall Republicans cower at the whine of liberal democrats or special interests?

Surely we can face mere objection and bureaucracy in the cause of liberty. I believe we can … and I believe we will.

Plutarch said millennia ago, "The real destroyer of the liberties of the people, is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits."

The destroyers of liberty, whether they are butchers and tyrants, or the false prophets of socialism, do not fall meekly. They cling to power as stubbornly as Saddam’s statue clung to its base in the square of Baghdad.

But I am confident, for they are no match for the spirit of liberty, for the will of the American people, and the resolve of millions with their eye on True North. People like you, here at CPAC, the future of our country, whose passion for freedom strengthens our will to right the course of our party’s wayward ship.

It is you who will steer our ship toward Morning in America and to that shining city on the hill.

If there were not cause for hope, you would not be here today. Each of you has chosen to stay and fight for this country’s future, its course, and its place in history, as a defender of freedom and a beacon to all nations.

You have chosen to stand against the defeatists and the preachers of inevitability. Each of you is armed with unique strengths, talents and skills, but most of all, conviction -- the strength of knowing that our cause is just and our cause is right. And that the American cause is mankind’s cause for it is in the hearts of all people to be free.

Thank you for your love of liberty, your love for this country and your evident love of our God who watches over this nation that He placed on these, our wilderness shores.

Let us appeal to the Author and Finisher of our faith that He might grant us wisdom in the choices to come. And may He bless us with energy, optimism, hope and resolve as we once again set sail to a renewed era of limited government and liberty … as we set sail to morning in America.

Congressman Mike Pence represents the 6th district of Indiana and is chairman of the Republican Study Committee.

**I really don't believe there is a workable majority of 'small government believers' out there among the constituents that rel,ably vote GOP.**

The government is run by lobbyists and conservatives have lobbyists who tend to be single issue folks. The Congress funds a program and then the natural lobbyists are those getting the money. They are funded to worry about their money expanding and work hard - day and and day out to protect their money.

Conservatives are worried about what? - not spending money but also we are not targeting cuts. If we were following a plan to reduce government, we would be more effective. We totally dropped the idea of getting the government out of the Education business and in our weakness let Bush do "No Child Left Behind" with our Congress.

You are presenting a case why I think term limits are vitally important.

If one had to leave in some limited number of terms the less likely he/she would succumb to the allure of lobbyists.

Education is a prime example where I don't believe that a majority constituency exists to drive it back to the state level. Unfortunately the corruption and incompetence that exists at local & state level educational establishments takes your breath away. ( I attribute this to NEA influence!)

I like Mike Pence. He's a good cosnervative. Unlike many so-called conservatives around today, Pence actually sounds like a Reagan conservative. Pence speaks the truth.

Hope I'm wrong about this, but my gut tells me hard times are ahead for the conservative movement in America today. And I WILL blame it on the Jekyll and Hyde Presidency of Dubya Bush.

The GOP seems to be morphing back into the way it use to be before Ronald Reagan came along and ran for POTUS in 1976/1980. The Rockefeller wing of the GOP, aka. moderate-centrist-liberal wing of the GOP, has been gaining influence over the traditional mainstream conservative agenda that operated in the 1980`s under Reagan, through Gingrich in the 1990`s. Yeah, Bush is pro-defense, pro-life and an instinctive conservative tax cutter. But on domestic spending issues he's been a big disappointment. Big government Republicanism rules with Dubya Bush. And Bush`s opposition to real immigration reform, has been a utter failure.

Just as conservatives need to remain vigilant in the WOT, we also need to remain vigilant when it comes to advancing a conservative agenda for America. If we don't, we'll be stuck with more moderate-centrist-liberal Republicans, running the big government show, in status quo Washington DC.

"You would feel so much more secure and happy with Al Sharpton's party in power."

I sure as **** would not! But I am not happy with the republicans acting like dems. Until we get term limits and kick the lobbyists out of Washington it is going to be harder and harder to tell Republicans from Dems.

The Dems did not have Congressional power to spend the past six years so Republicans could not be outspending them. What you are saying is that Republicans increased spending from what they spent the past six years.

If Democrats did have power, they would have taken over gas prices with the hike in cost this past couple of years (see Hawaii) and they would have outspent Republicans.

Don't be so sure.

Discretionary spending rose 48.5 percent in Bush's first term, according to Cato Institute, twice as much as in two terms under President Bill Clinton, when spending rose 21.6 percent. Adjusted for inflation, Bush has increased total spending at an annualized rate of 5.6 percent, compared with 1.5 percent under Clinton.

Actually, you've simply restated the situation. It's the power politician who "...always lean towards the most votes,". It's the power politician in the GOP who "...leans left to try to pick off moderate democrats."

Sadly, that's why the GOP is starting to look like the democrat party.

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.