Posted on 02/26/2011 9:37:01 AM PST by Brices Crossroads
More than a century ago, Lord Acton delivered the now well worn and quite correct maxim of human affairs, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely". If I might be permitted to paraphrase Acton, "Fame, or celebrity, tends to corrupt and great celebrity tends to corrupt absolutely." Both maxims admit of exception, but both are, alas, more often true than untrue.
The early votes of the GOP Congress, which contains 63 freshly minted GOP Congressman, provide an interesting case study of power and its first cousin, fame. Every Congressman (aside from the leadership and the Committee Chairs) possesses the same Constitutional POWER, that is: one vote. But not all enjoy the same celebrity. The vote last week on GOP Representative Jim Jordan's amendment exposed a fault line in the GOP caucus that was both serious and surprising. Jordan's amendment would have compelled across the board cuts of only $22 billion in President Obama's massive $3.65 trillion budget, with its 1.5 trillion dollar deficit. Added to the $61 billion of cuts already agreed upon, it would have shaved a measly $83 billion from the deficit, less than the $100 billion promised by the GOP during the campaign. No Democrats voted for the cuts. While 147 Republicans voted for the $22 billion in cuts, 92 GOP members voted against these modest cuts, deciding that it was preferable to leave the taxpayers (and their children) on the hook for this Obama largesse.
Among those who voted AGAINST the cuts, and with the Democrats, were more than a few members who enjoyed substantial TEA Party support without which they would clearly not have won. Some of those who voted with the Democrats and Obama and against the taxpayers have enjoyed not merely support but celebrity as well. Two of the most prominent examples are Kristi Noem of South Dakota and Allen West of Florida. Both won hard fought races against incumbents. Neither would have won without the TEA party. Both were touted for higher office even before they were elected to Congress. Noem was compared to Sarah Palin (but haughtily...and apparently correctly... rejected the comparison) and, in unprecedented fashion, was elected to the leadership BEFORE she was even sworn in. West, a career military officer with no experience in elected office or in the private sector before now, has been touted on many web sites as a possible Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate. Just the other day, Newt Gingrich named him as a possible Vice Presidential nominee. Noem and West (and there were others like Sean Duffy of Wisconsin) also share another attribute. They will not face a serious challenge for their first reelection (traditionally the point at which a new Congressman is the most vulnerable) in 2012. Noem is an at large Congresswoman in a deep red state that is certain to vote GOP by a wide margin in 2012. West (and Duffy) are in purple states but the Legislatures and Governors are Republican and they can thus be assured that redistricting will leave their districts even friendlier to them in the next decade. With nothing to lose, then, West and Noem---in their first time at bat---voted against the taxpayers and with the Democrats. An inauspicious beginning, to say the least.
But many of the TEA Party members, often much less celebrated, did step up to the plate, even those who had more than a little to lose. Two examples are Andy Harris of Maryland and Ann Marie Buerkle of New York. Both hail from deep blue states with heavily Democrat state legislatures and Democrat governors who may exact revenge from them in the redistricting process this year. Both unseated incumbents in hard fought races(although Harris won by a fairly comfortable 14 point margin, while Buerkle won in a photo finish) and thus face a real prospect of spirited, well financed challenges during their first reelection bid. And neither has enjoyed the kind of celebrity status that Noem and West have received, in spite of the fact that Dr. Harris is a renowned teaching Physician at America's premier medical school, Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, and was a very able state Senator in Maryland, whose skill and energy often thwarted liberal spending and social schemes there.
Yet, with all these pressures that could have led persons of weaker character to do the expedient thing and vote against the cuts, they both stood to their tackle and against the prevailing Establishment sentiment (Both the House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and his number two, Kevin McCarthy voted AGAINST the cuts). They stood with the taxpayers and against Obama, the Democrats and the Cocktail Party Republicans, including those who passed themselves off as TEA last fall.
It is early yet. Too early to write off Noem and West and the other 92 Republicans who apparently didn't get the message last November. It is not, however, too early to praise the brave among the TEA party freshman like Harris and Buerkle, who took a political risk to do the right thing for the taxpayers. It will be interesting to see whether the Profile in Courage struck by these two will prove to be an example that will lift West, Noem and the 92, from the CONFORMITY they displayed in February to COURAGE for the balance of this Congress. Or whether the conformity of February will give way to cowardice and, finally, capitulation to Obama, Pelosi and Reid in 2012. The fate of the Republic may well depend upon which example "the 92" follow for the rest of this Congress.
Ping!
Waiting for some West advocates to comment...
Andy Harris of Maryland. Thanks for the mention. He is a staunch conservative and prolife advocate who has been working very hard for Maryland. We really need to keep him in office and we need more like him.
West has lots of fans. I read about him defendng John Boehner on these failures to cut.
He bashes the Islamonazis and CAIR and that is all well and good. But it is not enough. Caving in on spending and then being mentioned as a VP with his thin resume is really patronizing.
Thanks, Red. Hopefully , some of the “showhorses” like Noem and West can take a lesson from Andy Harris. Those two remind me of the old Texas expression: “all hat and no cattle.”
Andy Harris and those like him should be the face of the TEA party. They don’t just talk the talk; they walk the walk.
Thanks for the ping. As a resident of NV, I’ve been watching Dr. Joe Hecht from Las Vegas and have been VERY disappointed with his votes (he’s voted against more budget cut amendments than he’s voted in favor of). He beat Dina Titus with TEA party help.
Talking the talk is not going to cut it. We are watching how they vote. These two are disappointing so far. I suspect that they will continue to disappoint, but too early to know.
Maybe those who voted against the smaller cuts did so BECAUSE they considered them insufficient, and wanted DEEPER cuts.
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