SALMON: It’s time to break some rules in Congress

The Washington Times ^ | March 11, 2013 | Matt Salmon

[JustTheTruth]

If there’s anything I have learned since returning to Congress, it’s that talk is still cheap, progress is still slow, and our liberties continue to erode ....

(snip)

. . . compelled me to return to Washington and get back in the fight to restore fiscal sanity.

Since being sworn in, I’ve had the opportunity to survey our problems .... It’s not pretty.

(snip)

Sadly, far too many politicians in Washington lack the courage to do something to fix our problems.

(snip)

. . . by the time I left Congress in 2001 to honor my term-limits pledge, we had a budget surplus of more than $240 billion.

These successes [in my earlier terms] were not easy to achieve. They came about because House conservatives were willing to confront GOP leadership when they occasionally got off-track ....

One tactic we used was to vote against House rules on specific bills that did not uphold conservative principles.

(snip) Why should a self-described fiscal conservative enable the passage of a bad bill by supporting the rule? ...

(snip)

More recently, had House conservatives voted against certain rules, they could have defeated several big-government bills ...

It’s time to shake things up and return the Republican Party to its roots of smaller government and less spending.

(snip)

... I will vote against the rule for bills that increase spending without offsetting spending cuts .... .... If enough of my conservative colleagues in the House join me, we can unilaterally put an end to the growth of government that is moving us closer to Greece-like fiscal calamities.

(snip)

[JustTheTruth]

Too bad more Republicans in the House don't feel this way: "Why would I be willing to challenge my Republican leadership? Because my allegiance will always be to the Constitution and the American people first and foremost, not to my political party."

[Cowboy Bob]

FYi: Janet Napolitano beat Salmon in the race for Governor of Arizona in 2002. How did this happen? The Democrats vilified Salmon for the crime of being a Mormon.

[DaveA37]

ANYONE who the liberals DO NOT want in government, are afraid of politically in any way, will be vilified to the “enght” degree. Remember what they did to Palin and anyone else who tried for a Repub seat?

[rrrod]

I recall that. But to to honest a lot here on FR vilify Mormons also...