Posted on 09/03/2006 1:12:40 PM PDT by Treize
The other day I watched a panel discussion about the forthcoming congressional elections. The panel's conclusions ranged from Bob Novak's grim report that some believe the GOP could lose as many as 30 House seats in November to John Fund's suggestion that all is not lost (maybe), to Human Events' John Gizzi's fear that Republicans will sit out the election to National Review Kate O'Beirne's less gloomy outlook.
All, however, agreed that the key to this election is Republican turnout.
If GOP voters, angered with their party's failure to live up to conservative principles, elect to stay home, Election Day in November will be an absolute disaster.
Most of the pessimists — and that includes just about every political guru around — insist that Republicans will sit it out, thus handing control of the House at the very least, and maybe even the Senate, to the Democrats. I'll accept that view only if Republican voters prove to be either politically suicidal of just plain stupid.
The concept that it's a good idea to wreak vengeance on the Republican Party by standing aside and allowing Democrats, who will proceed to wreak havoc on the nation, to take over Capitol Hill, is nothing less than a death wish that borders on insanity.
Getting even with congressional Republicans for failing to live up to your expectations by throwing them out of office is on a par with killing yourself to get even with your doctor because he failed to cure you of a bad cold while you are still suffering from a chronic disease that requires constant medical care.
The mood among conservative GOP voters may be sour, bitter, and resentful, but I can't believe that when Election Day rolls around and they recognize the consequences of staying home and handing the Congress over to the thoroughly demented Democratic Party, they won't bestir themselves to go out and cast their votes for their Republican incumbents or candidates, even if they have to hold their noses while they mark their ballots.
It is, after all, better than the alternative which is just plain unthinkable.
Think about it.
As the results in the recent Connecticut primary once again proved, the Democratic Party is in the hands of its now totally deranged, MoveOn.org wacko-left wing.
Democrat Chairman Howard Dean made that clear when he pronounced the leftist victor Ned Lamont the party's man of the future. The Party is now so far left that that they even dumped a certified liberal such as Joe Lieberman who votes slavishly for every item in their leftist agenda, for apparently not being liberal enough on the Iraq war.
What rational, sane, intelligent conservative Republican would want to see a congress that from day one would set out to destroy everything they stand for and for which they have fought so hard? We have an economy that is thriving, and it's booming thanks to the Bush tax cuts that took money from the spendthrift federal government and gave it back to the people who earned it and know best how to spend it.
A record number of taxpayers received and average of $2,100 tax refunds on their 2003 tax returns. They spent it, pouring billions into the economy which then took off like a rocket. The Democrats want that money back. They think it belongs to them.
Those tax cuts helped to create millions of new jobs, spark the establishment of job-creating new businesses and put more spending money in taxpayer's pockets. (And even vastly increased federal tax revenues along the way.)
All that would go into the trash can once Democrats got back in office and raised taxes, as they promise to do. Give them a full term on Capitol Hill and the economy could take a nose dive, unemployment skyrocket and scores of small businesses go under, driven down by new taxes and the kind of strangling government regulations Democrats just love to hang around our necks. Any new jobs would be with the government.
Look at the record:
After all, there's all those millions the trial lawyers give to the Democrat campaign treasuries.
In 1950 there were 16 workers to support every single Social Security beneficiary. Today it's just 3.3 workers supporting every beneficiary. Under the current system, today's 30-year-old worker will face a 27 percent benefit cut upon normal retirement age.
In 2017, 11 years from now, the government will begin to pay out more in Social Security benefits than it collects in payroll taxes — and shortfalls will continue to balloon with each passing year.
In less than 20 years the government will face having to come up with an extra $200 billion annually year to keep the system afloat. By 2033, that annual shortfall will be more than $300 billion a year — money that will have to be raised by huge tax increases. By 2041, when workers now in their mid-20s begin to retire, the system will go bankrupt — unless we act now to save it. Yet Democrats refuse to act, preferring to keep Social Security as a political issue they can exploit by misrepresenting GOP efforts to save the system.
They have also made it plain that they will attempt to de-fund the troops, thus forcing their withdrawal, exactly as they did during the Vietnam War, condemning millions to death or the slave camps.
Here's some of what allowing Democrats to control the House would mean:
Pelosi has also promised to harass the administration with countless investigations and subpoenas.
That would be an unlikely promotion for the man who, not so long ago, was known mainly for the fact that he was one of only six judges in the history of the United States to be removed from office by the Senate.
The teachers unions, the abortion Industry, the labor union bosses, the trial lawyers of America, and the ACLU would be running things behind the scenes on Capitol Hill.
America is currently watching the sheer insanity of Democrats attacking one of the nation's most popular institutions - Wal-Mart, where 127 million people shop every week while enjoying the lowest possible prices.
This stand puts them at odds with the very people they hope to herd to the polls — middle class Americans. And why would they do such a crazy thing? Well they do it because big labor demands it. Big labor hates Wal-Mart and pours millions into Democratic campaign coffers. Big labor provides workers at the grass roots during elections.
What big labor wants, big labor gets from the Democrats.
You could say goodbye to the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Mike Reagan, Bill Bennett, Sean Hannity, Neal Boortz, and Laura Ingraham. CBS, NBC, and ABC would be back in the saddle.
Only Republicans willing to see the Congress of the United States turned over a party now controlled by left-wing lunatics could stand by and allow that to happen simply to satisfy a desire to get even with the GOP for not doing everything they should have done to control illegal immigration and out-of-control government spending. And if they think things are bad now, wait until Speaker Pelosi takes charge in the House and Senator Harry Reid gets to run the Senate.
Maybe I'm overly optimistic, but I think when the chips are down, the majority of conservative Republicans will swallow their resentment and go to the polls in great numbers and vote to keep the barbarians from taking over and once again pillaging the United States of America. And don't forget, Karl Rove is at work, quietly doing what needs to be done to get our folks to the polls.
Oh how sweet that would be.
Phil Brennan is a veteran journalist who writes for NewsMax.com. He is editor & publisher of Wednesday on the Web (http://www.pvbr.com) and was Washington columnist for National Review magazine in the 1960s.
He also served as a staff aide for the House Republican Policy Committee and helped handle the Washington public relations operation for the Alaska Statehood Committee which won statehood for Alaska. He is also a trustee of the Lincoln Heritage Institute and a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers.
I suppose you don't realize how ridiculous you sound.
For hopefully the last time, I'm not ADVOCATING turning anything over to the Democrats. I am trying to squelch the alarmism which people like you seem to have bought hook line and sinker.
I don't want the Democrats in control any more than you do but, if it happens, it won't be the end of the world. You sound like the media going crazy over John Mark Karr and Hurricane Ernesto.
Do you think the Democrats will try any harder to cheat in 2006 than they did in 2004? Didn't work then, did it? In fact, when did the media buildup to any election turn out to be right?
I refuse to let all the alarmism get to me because it is wrong far more often than it's right.
I owe you an apology ... I was reading the past postings of someone else, not you! When I took a break and came back online, I realized your posts have been mostly regarding the Ramsey case, which confused the heck out of me because I found myself reading the posts with same dates but completely different entries! So, I apologize for inferring you were anti-Bush. As to your invitation to allow the democrats to take the House and thus get the Senate too, shear foolishness. Democraps can do too much damage from which this nation with such an insidious enemy could not recover from.
I have a theory about this .. when there is so small a group in the majority .. the minority thinks it can run things and it can make it very hard for the majority to get anything done.
However, if we increase the majority .. there is less of a likelihood that the majority will be willing to cave to the minority.
You see how that works ..?? A lot of these people are terrified of the media in DC - because they can damage you - but if you have a whole group who can stand together - there is less chance of any media reports singling out one person.
I know it's not curing the problem of repubs acting like conservatives .. but just being a repub is no guarantee that the person is a conservative! We have to make it easier for them to agree with the conservative viewpoint more often - not less often - by staying home and allowing the minority to gain strength.
Is anybody getting this ..??
"... by staying home and allowing the minority to gain strength." Did you mean to write 'by NOT staying home'? If not, I'm not getting it ...
"We have to make it easier for the moderate repubs to agree with the conservative viewpoint more often - not less often by staying home and allowing the minority to gain strength."
Because, if we stay home and allow the minority to get larger .. it will make it harder for the moderate repubs to side with conservative ideas because the moderates will be under more pressure from the minority. I revised the sentence a little - maybe that makes more sense to you.
The GOP has been trying like mad to accommodate the dems at the expense of the conservatives for the last couple years. Betting that "anything is better than HILLARY!". But, when the only choice is between a quick slide to ruin or a slightly slower one, is there really a choice? If people don't vote GOP because the candidates don't represent them, why blame them for the lack of support? I don't vote a straight ticket just to get someone with an R in office, I vote on the person's views.
Amen.
Or, it could happen that the democrats assisted by the media would claim credit for everything good and blame everything bad on bush leading to a successful takeover of all three branches in 2008.
Big Labor in conjunction with trial lawyers and big government regulations are the three main reasons american jobs are exported overseas.
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