At the Federal level, social issues are limited government issues. Roe vs Wade and it’s progeny are an enormous intrusion into the separation of powers conceived by the founders—part of which was delegating most government power to 50 states rather than one federal government. Those “police power” issues were quite clearly reserved to the states in the Constitution. Roe, Lawrence and the like are a gross expansion of Federal power.
Similarly, the forcing of political correctness (”celebrate homos!”, for example) in education by the Feds is another gross expansion of Federal power, brought about by mandates in education bills and departments that are probably unconstitutional, under any reasonable interpretation of the founders’ intentions.
Abortion and “celebrate homos!” should be fought out at the state and local level, not imposed by five unelected federal officials in black robes.
Anyone who does not see this as a fundamental, limited-government, constitutional issue is willfully blind.
So let me get this straight.
The Tea Party shot meteorically in support because it stands for reducing the spending of a bloated, spoon-in-every-pot government.
And now we are supposed to appeal to those who are in the minority and whose financial and social support is through massive government spending and its social regulations?
No thanks.
The Tea Party is the party of the moral majority. We don’t have to make social issues our priority. Just decimating the size of government will go a long way toward saving this republic.
But we sure as hell don’t have to play footsie with those groups who most abhor and ridicule the Tea Party. You know, those groups who refer to us as tea baggers.
>A gay conservative group and some Tea Party leaders are campaigning to keep social issues off the Republican agenda. <
That strategy worked “so well” in Massachusetts this past election...
New Mass. Republican Party Chairman says party will no longer oppose same-sex “marriage”, abortion, other “social issues”
http://www.massresistance.org/docs/gen/09b/nassour/index.html
Mass. Republicans lose ALL statewide & Congressional races
http://www.massresistance.org/docs/govt10/election10/general/results_statewide.html
Mass. Republican Party’s RINO strategy a big part of election losses in top state races
http://www.massresistance.org/docs/govt10/election10/gop_strategy/index.html
Yeah, some birthers favor this. They think spouting their conspiracy theory crap trumps babies being murdered and gays in the military. I don’t. Liberals.
The right to buggery is protected under the 9th and 10th amendments of the Constitution. If a state does not prohibit it (and states should have the right to prohibit it, Lawrence v. Texas notwithstanding) then trying to use the federal government to push anti-sodomy laws is not even close to constitutional.
This means the is a very strong likelyhood the GOP will split prior, or as a result of the 2012 primaries.
There are at least 25million voters onboard with the GOP...new GOP...that are uncomfortable with "Social Issues"
I suspect the GOP will have to choose between keeping them, or keeping the 25million "Social Conservatives".
It's lose/lose either way.
“Already, there are Washington insiders and special interest groups that hope to co-opt the Tea Party’s message and use it to push their own agenda – particularly as it relates to social issues. We are disappointed but not surprised by this development. We recognize the importance of values but believe strongly that those values should be taught by families and our houses of worship and not legislated from Washington, D.C.
We urge you to stay focused on the issues that got you and your colleagues elected and to resist the urge to run down any social issue rabbit holes in order to appease the special interests.”
Oh, this is priceless. Thank you, idiots for telling us how afraid you are that YOUR special interests might be in jeopardy by the Conservative landslide.
This is a pure fear reaction. Especially since it was given to Politico first. If you want to sort the gold from the silt you’ve got to shake things up first. The silt is showing itself.
No, it means that the police power should be left to the states, which, as I understand it, was the case before Congress really started to step out of bounds. The states would thus regulate homosexual behavior, marriage, and abortion (the latter of which, all states will eventually outlaw, I hope).
And don’t get me started on the Big-Government Federal Marriage Amendment...
The same is true of the Tea Party. The vast majority of those aligned with the Tea Party movement are socially conservative and want action on those issue as well as fiscal ones.
If people who refuse to acknowledge this remain in control, barbarism will reign. It's already knocking on our doorstep. This is not some inconsequential “social issue”, you blithering, self-absorbed neanderthals. This is everything. Everything.
The primary reason the Tea Party has been so successful is it has avoided social issues altogether. Social issues are the single greatest dividing issue among conservatives. We should stay focused and avoid those arguments until we get our government under control.
Fiscal policy is a science not an opinion or moral position. Numbers are numbers and we can all agree the numbers are way out of line. SoCons need to put their “issues” on the back burner until we can purge our government of progressives and get our financial future back on track. Otherwise we’ll be fighting a multi-front war of which we will NOT win. Stay focused and keep up the momentum, the left will try and side track us with these social issues to dilute the sound argument that government is out of control, which leads to THEIR social agenda.
Sorry, guys, but you abandon LIFE, I abandon YOU!
This is a line I WILL NOT cross. No way, no how.
I check the candidates positions, and if they aren’t clear on this issue or dance around it, they don’t get my vote. Period.
I am NOT going to one day look in the eyes of my Lord and say, “You know, I knew he was all for slaughtering unborn babies, but I was more concerned with my taxes.” UGH.
Fortunately, I have noticed that most candidates that are fiscally conservative tend also to be pro-life.
If the RINO’s, perverts and Progressives want to rip apart the Tea Party in the quickest and most efficient way possible, they believe the way to do it is to inflame passions over Social Issues. And they might be right.
First, I’ve heard of NO effort on the part of organized Tea Party groups to make “social issues” their #1 agenda item in January. Really?! :-) That’s not what happening now, is it? We have a saying where I come from — “Don’t pee down my back and tell me it’s raining.”
I, for one, have been a Tea Party supporter FROM THE VERY BEGINNING. Literally from the first day. But I didn’t come into the movement without principles and convictions — I’ve been a Conservative and a Christian for decades. I am a Tea Partier BECAUSE I am a Christian and a Conservative. I would NOT have voted for ANY candidate — whether they wore the “Tea Party” label or not — if they were pro-abortion or pro-homosexual union/gay marriage, etc. I didn’t BEFORE the Tea Party, I won’t AFTER the Tea Party.
That these people are releasing this letter now as a pre-emptive strike indicates they are worried about having their precious sins defunded — or worse, removed from their “most favored abomination” status. Well, let me say, that’s just TOO FREAKIN’ BAD. Those elected as “Tea Partiers” came in with minds and principles and convictions of their own. I’m sure if the signers of this letter don’t like it, they’ll gladly take your votes back on the Democrat side of the aisle, or you can just STOP trying to co-opt (or shall I say pervert?) the Tea Party message to your own ends?
Appeasement.
Well it wasn't a mandate for the Tea Party either, given that most tea party candidates lost.
Tea Party Patriots is a fraud which did next to nothing except fight with Tea Party Express, which spent millions at least trying to elect conservatives.
If our lawmakers were obeying the constitution, they would not feel the need to award special rights and funding to behaviors - like buggery.
Ignoring social issues would be stripping multicultural, abortion and homosexual funding from the budget so as not to impose any one group’s social ideology upon another group.
GOPProud trashing DeMint because he doesn’t want perverts teaching our kids in school.
http://www.goproud.org/goprouds-chris-barron-on-msnbc/