How did GOP right get it so wrong? (Dick Armey editorial)

Houston Chronicle ^ | 11-4-06 | Dick Armey

[SolomoninSouthDakota]

I don't know the numbers but my guess, and I am pretty confident of this, is that such expenditures you mention would not amount to diddly on the scale you posted.

Maybe someone else does. But like I wrote this is a distraction and I will not be distracted more on it right now.

Nothing wrong with a critical analysis---later.

[raybbr]

Conventional wisdom holds that non-defense discretionary spending has been cut to make room for defense spending increases. Conventional wisdom is wrong. According to OMB Historical Table 8.2, non-defense discretionary outlays – adjusted for inflation –surged by 34 percent between 1999 and 2005. That is the largest six-year expansion since the 1970s.Heritage Foundation Report.

[tflabo]

It's sad to see what has become of Dick Armey.
I used to live in his district and voted for him.
Certainly there are problems to fix within the GOP however he should be helping to steer the party not criticize it ad nauseum. TERM LIMITS for all elected officials.

[ExcursionGuy84]

Ok, I gotcha...

...But Banning Gay Marriages is a HUGE issue for Evangelical Christians like myself.

[Vaquero]

No.....thats not what I said or mean.

I am talking about weak-knee'd republicans looking for an excuse to give up. big DICK just gave it to 'em.

[x]

He's right. The idea that Republicans could form a "permanent majority" by big government spending has been the party's undoing. But it's not the sort of thing he should say until after the election.

Also, what happened was in accord with the logic of politics. We might like to think that elected officials should go in, fix things and then be willing to go home, but once they get a taste of power, they'll do almost anything to keep it.

Armey was majority leader from 1995 to 2003. He saw what was happening in its early stages. What did he do to stop it?

[Vaquero]

I agree with you BUT he is right to some extent. I only wish he had kept his BIG mouth SHUT until AFTER the election.

agreed, this was neither the time or his place.

[sgtbono2002]

I believe Dick Armey is only half right. Republican voters expected the republ;ican majority to act like a majority, instead they folded up like a cheap pair of boxer drawers.

[MonroeDNA]

Dick Armey is dead on, as usual.

[mad_as_he$$]

tracking ping

[My2Cents]

Maybe the GOP got it wrong by making you a leader, Dick.

[mad_as_he$$]

man you are so right on target. I have told both my Congressman and the good Senator the same thing face to face. They just nodded and said thanks. Now Gibbons is in a fight that should of been a cake walk. They need to listen to us!!!!(more).

[centexan]

"The likely Republican losses in this week's elections will not constitute a repudiation of the conservative legacy that drove the Reagan presidency and created the Contract With America. To the contrary, it would represent a rejection of big government conservatism"

I don't believe President Reagan would have written such an article on the eve of an election.

Neither do I. But I do think he would agree with the statement. I understand the spending on the WOT. I don't understand the earmarks and the other spending increases.

[HitmanLV]

Gibbons will win. I don't think many people bought the cocktail waitress's story, and the video doesn't support her claim at all. Nevada will be a fine state for the GOP on election day - GOP GOV, GOP Senator, and both GOP House seats should remain comfortably GOP.

[technomage]

Gee, sounds rather familiar to a phrase someone here on FR has been posting for years:

Republicans Have Nothing To Fear Except Themselves

[MAD-AS-HELL]

I understand exactly what you are typing. My point is that it's not deterring you and it's a stretch for you to think that it will deter rational thinking republican from voting.

I am no fan of the Rino's that we have in congress now and their ineptitude. But, I'll support them because they are better than the socialists that have hijacked the Democratic party.

[DoughtyOne]

What is scarey about that list, is that anyone who considered themselves to be a solid conservative, could post it without a myriad of disclaimers.

This isn't the time or the place to be discusing it. Still, it is quite painful to see it in print.

What I want from conservative political leaders is precisely what I want from leftist political leaders. I want the truth. I do not want slanted claims. I do not want to see what could pass for big government leftist pipe dreams to be heralded as something 'our guy did' that we should be really happy about.

I expect a conservative leader to do many of the things listed. I do not expect those things to be able to be explained away in part. I do not expect to be put in the position of reminding folks of what was never addressed, or after six years still needs to be addressed.

I think Army was wrong to address this now. I think it is wrong to trot out lists that are as shakey as this one.

When election day comes, voters should be able to look back and realize what has been done in the name of conservatism. They shouldn't be able to look back and realize their wish list was barely touched.

This party wants my support on Tuesday. They will get it. If they should be fortunate enough to prevail, they better pull their heads out. We may have only two more years to get some things done. It's an absolute travesty that after six years some things have not been addressed. And now they say they need more time. You know what, I agree. I've voted for Republicans my whole life, but I have never found it more difficult to do so, than in the last four years.

I grew up in the show-me state. During the next two years, this party better show-me a lot more than they did in the last six years.

I expect them to do the good things they have done. Duh! I do not expect to see the bad that they have done, and the bad that they have never addressed.

[Spirochete]

He's saying that the GOP went from its grand vision of 1994 (e.g., passing welfare reform and limited government - in short, the Contract With America) to little more than frivolous sideshows (e.g., banning horsemeat and same-sex marriage).

A lot of people on this thread are pissed because of it, but no one denies the truth of it.

[sgtyork]

Good chart, whats a link?

[LegalEagle61]

All I can say is Dick is...well..a DICK