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By opposing Obama, Republicans might make the GOP conservative again
City Paper, Charleston, SC ^ | 2009-02-04 | Jack Hunter

Posted on 02/05/2009 6:22:54 PM PST by rabscuttle385

When every single Republican in the House voted against President Barack Obama's $800 billion stimulus package last week, many conservatives cheered, while also saying that it was "too little too late."

Perhaps. But I say better late than never. This is a perfect example of how important it has been for Republicans to lose the election.

Imagine this week, if President John McCain spent time meeting with leaders of both parties, business execs, and economists and worked overtime to build a bipartisan consensus on his own stimulus package. Given his theatrics during the election — like when he suspended his campaign to meet with Democrats and Republicans to fix the economy — this scenario is not hard to imagine. If he was president today, McCain the bipartisan bridge-builder would likely be presenting his own billion dollar economic bridge-to-nowhere, much like Obama.

Unlike Obama, McCain would have received significant Republican support. Even though members of the GOP disagreed with former President George W. Bush's expansion of the government, Congress continued to write endless blank checks, increasing the national debt astronomically. I don't remember hearing as much criticism from mainstream conservatives in print, TV, or radio about reckless spending under Bush as I do now under Obama. If McCain was president, it's safe to say House Republicans would not be as unified in opposing a stimulus package.

But House Republicans have put up a united front when it comes to Obama's stimulus plan. Writes conservative columnist Robert Stacy McCain, "Man, if all it took to get Republicans to vote conservative was to elect a Democratic president, this is a change I can believe in." Indeed. Yesterday's "we must support the president" big government economics is rightfully seen today as "socialism." And whether out of principle or partisanship, it's refreshing to see Republicans standing on conservative principle once again.

Watching a television news story about Obama's stimulus package, my girlfriend, who not only voted for Obama but has the bumper sticker to prove it, said to me, "I'm not an economist, but doesn't spending money you don't have make the situation worse? Doesn't it just devalue the dollar even more?" I'm not an economist either, but I did manage to pass basic math in high school. And unless the rules of math have changed recently, my girlfriend is absolutely right.

The larger financial crisis we face in the years to come is the house of cards we call our economy, in which we constantly inject more paper money into an already devalued and weak system, much the same way a heroin addict shoots up to temporarily ease his pain. The addict can keep shooting up, and it will continue to make him feel better in small increments, but unless he goes cold turkey and endures the hardships of withdrawal, he will die. So-called "bailouts" or "stimulus packages," whether served up by Republicans or Democrats, are temporary stop-gap measures, both emblematic and symptomatic, that will eventually lead to complete financial collapse. You can't spend what you don't have.

The Republicans currently do not have the numbers to stop this stimulus package and other examples of reckless spending yet to come. But with no liberal Republican president to please and a liberal Democratic president to oppose, the GOP might become useful to conservatives again.

However, Republicans could also be distracted by partisanship.

Their obsession with Bill Clinton in the 1990s was more about being against a Democrat than about standing for conservative principles.

My biggest problems with Clinton remain his open borders policy, his reckless spending, and his foreign intervention in the Balkans, Somalia, and Haiti. Most conservatives still obsess over Monica Lewinsky.

As with Clinton, conservatism cannot simply mean being against Obama, and intelligent folks on the right would do well to leave such petty nonsense to the unintentionally comedic Sean Hannity and the intentionally-comedic Stephen Colbert.

Maybe, after four or eight years of Obama, a realigned, more conservative and mature Republican Party will be better positioned to rein in an economy and country constantly teetering on the edge of the abyss.

Catch Southern Avenger commentaries every Tuesday and Friday at 7:50 a.m. on the "Morning Buzz with Richard Todd" on 1250 AM WTMA.


TOPICS: Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 111th; bho44; bholegacy; conservatives; gop
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1 posted on 02/05/2009 6:22:54 PM PST by rabscuttle385
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To: rabscuttle385

Talk about your “accidental” consequences. *L* ;-)


2 posted on 02/05/2009 6:24:02 PM PST by IMissPresidentReagan (I no longer have a President. I just pray in four years I still have a country.)
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To: rabscuttle385

Churchill Speeches and Quotations
http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=387


3 posted on 02/05/2009 6:25:52 PM PST by The Spirit Of Allegiance (Public Employees: Honor Your Oaths! Defend the Constitution from Enemies--Foreign and Domestic!)
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To: rabscuttle385

Liberal Democrats are so overplaying their hand, and the media is not doing anything to keep them in check. They will be out of power in two year, but great damage will be done in the meantime.


4 posted on 02/05/2009 6:26:23 PM PST by Always Right (Obama: more arrogant than Bill Clinton, more naive than Jimmy Carter, and more liberal than LBJ.)
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To: rabscuttle385

If the GOP is to ever recover, it must reconnect with its base. It must never cross the aisle just to be bipartisian. We must resist the pressure of criticism. We must fight the left with their tactics if necessary. . . and it is necessary.


5 posted on 02/05/2009 6:28:02 PM PST by shankbear (Al-Qaeda grew while Monica blew)
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To: rabscuttle385

Hope so, though this is a guy even RINOs can oppose.


6 posted on 02/05/2009 6:31:14 PM PST by SJackson (most merciful thing that a large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it, M Sanger)
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To: rabscuttle385
Let the Leftist WHACKOS bring it on.

Watch them loose in 2010.

I do not believe Obama will last more than 8 months at this rate

Resignation imminent.

7 posted on 02/05/2009 6:34:58 PM PST by Candor7 (Fascism? All it takes is for good men to say nothing, ( member NRA)
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To: Candor7
Resignation imminent.

And then we get Biden, who's just as much an idiot as Zero. After that, it's Pelosi, Byrd, and....Hillary.

8 posted on 02/05/2009 6:40:13 PM PST by rabscuttle385 ("If this be treason, then make the most of it!" —Patrick Henry)
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To: rabscuttle385
I hear ya Rab,

But you know, after what I have seen, I believe that Biden would be better, but maybe I am too optomistic.

9 posted on 02/05/2009 6:43:18 PM PST by Candor7 (Fascism? All it takes is for good men to say nothing, ( member NRA)
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To: Candor7

Sorry Reid but Porkulus is not bipartisan.


10 posted on 02/05/2009 6:49:08 PM PST by jocko12
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To: rabscuttle385
From a Newt Gingrich email.

I'm sure by now you've heard of the almost one trillion dollar stimulus package moving through the U.S. Senate.

But it's not really a stimulus bill.  It's a big government, big corruption, and big pork bill.

Among many other wasteful, non-stimulative projects, it includes $650 million for digital TV coupons, $1 billion for climate satellite and habitat restoration programs, and $600 million to replace a portion of the federal government vehicle fleet.

In the video below, I lay out in stark terms exactly why this bill, as currently written, is not worthy of our support. Please take a moment to watch.




The Gallup Poll found that 54% of Americans either want to see major changes to the current plan, or they outright reject it.  Other surveys are also indicating that public support is plummeting.   Politicians can call it stimulus and they can call it change, but it's just more of the same - and the American people are starting to realize it.

That's why the time to act is now. With so much at stake, our elected officials need to hear from us.

Here is what you can do - pick up your phone and call your Senators right now at 202-224-3121. Let them know exactly what you think about how they intend to spend your hard-earned money.

The Senate is voting at the end of this week, so please make the call today.


11 posted on 02/05/2009 6:54:59 PM PST by Salvation ( †With God all things are possible.†)
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To: rabscuttle385

The Dems turned the kettle up to full boil. The frogs are starting to notice.


12 posted on 02/05/2009 6:56:17 PM PST by CowboyJay (Don't tread on me)
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To: rabscuttle385

Scared straight.


13 posted on 02/05/2009 8:17:47 PM PST by Force of Truth (Sarah Palin in 2012!!!!!! WOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!!!)
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To: rabscuttle385
We cannot just be against Obama. The big mistake conservatives made in the 1990s was to carry on against Clinton rather build a majority for conservatism. Let's not fall into that trap again.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

14 posted on 02/05/2009 10:35:33 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: Always Right

[Liberal Democrats are so overplaying their hand, and the media is not doing anything to keep them in check. They will be out of power in two year, but great damage will be done in the meantime.]

I’ve been saying for quite a while that our only jope is if Obama and the Dems overreach and screw up so bad they are removed postahaste from office.

It appears Obama and the Dems are well on their way to destroying everything they touch. I just hope not too many people die because of it.


15 posted on 02/06/2009 5:11:04 AM PST by FastCoyote (I am intolerant of the intolerable.)
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To: FastCoyote

Hope NOT Jope. Spellcheck is our friend!


16 posted on 02/06/2009 5:13:36 AM PST by FastCoyote (I am intolerant of the intolerable.)
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To: rabscuttle385

Opposing a marxist in chief over the obvious is child’s play. Living and breathing conservatism is for grownups.


17 posted on 02/06/2009 5:25:02 AM PST by TADSLOS (McCain always has a job as Obama's Butt Boy when he loses his seat in 2010)
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To: rabscuttle385
> By opposing Obama, Republicans might make the GOP conservative again

That's hopeful thinking. But if past behavior is a reliable indicator, the "new GOP conservatism" will probably last only until a GOP majority is achieved again (which could occur as early as 2010). After that, these legislators will again start drifting left and "reaching across the aisle."

Unless, of course, the GOP at the grassroots level really gets serious NOW about cleaning house and getting rid of the RINOs. But I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for that.

18 posted on 02/06/2009 6:39:24 AM PST by NewJerseyJoe (Rat mantra: "Facts are meaningless! You can use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!")
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To: rabscuttle385

Just look at what Moderates like the Ditzy Twins in Maine, my own George ‘Cry me a River’ Voinovich are suggesting right now, folks.

Its why I find moderates holding office to be so disgusting.


19 posted on 02/06/2009 7:04:12 AM PST by Badeye (There are no 'great moments' in Moderate Political History. Only losses.)
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To: Candor7
Resignation imminent.

Are you kidding? Democrats do not resign, we have loads of examples. Carter, Rangle, Clinton, Blago, etc,etc,etc there are loads of disgraced dems not resigning. O will never resign. He will win another term, because he has the resources, especially in this boondoggle of a bill, to pull it off. All it takes is lots of money and a complicit press to do it.

I am afraid that he will not leave when his 8 years are up, I bet $100 that no matter how bad it gets he will not resign. Dems have no shame.

20 posted on 02/06/2009 8:27:19 AM PST by thirst4truth (www.Believer.com)
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