Posted on 10/13/2015 10:21:19 AM PDT by Kaslin
When Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) walked into a Capitol Hill conference room to meet with his Republican colleagues last Thursday, he seemed a certain bet to be elected the next speaker of the House of Representatives. Subsequent reports revealed McCarthy already knew he didn't have enough votes to win, or if he did, it was barely enough, but an insufficient majority to rule the contentious GOP caucus. And so he shocked everyone when he emerged and announced his withdrawal as a candidate.
The website The Hill reported that Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.) and Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) confronted Speaker John Boehner over his apparently unilateral decision to postpone the election of a new speaker following McCarthy's withdrawal.
Some conservative members reportedly accused Boehner of displaying the characteristics of a dictator in a banana republic. Among them was Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who told me in a telephone interview of the deep frustration conservative Republicans feel about their leadership, which, he says, has stymied their attempt to reduce spending and reform government.
"Everything here is top-down," Jordan said. "The steering committee runs everything. You can't get a bill or an amendment to the floor unless the steering committee approves, and the committee is made up of members appointed by Boehner, who as speaker gets more than one vote."
Jordan says that gives Boehner dictatorial power over any bill or amendment he doesn't want to bring to a vote. Jordan and his conservative colleagues want to change the system so every member has a chance to introduce bills and to get amendments considered, debated and voted on. This, he says, "will benefit everyone, including moderates and even Democrats. This way we can have a debate about ideas and whose are better."
According to Jordan, leadership is afraid to entertain any bills it doesn't believe will pass the Senate, much less get to the president's desk. But he also says this kind of thinking angers voters who elected Republican majorities in both houses and who want their representatives to fight for their principles.
Jordan says he would have demanded that Planned Parenthood stop receiving federal funds on the first day undercover videos were released that allegedly depicted employees discussing the sale of fetal body parts in ways to maximize profits. If the videos had been shown during the congressional testimony of Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards, he says, they might have changed the dynamic in favor of those who want to defund the organization.
Jordan says he understands why "60 percent of Republicans -- not conservatives, not Tea Party members, but 60 percent of (all) Republicans -- think we have betrayed them."
Many within the political establishment, including some in the major media, are using the word "chaos" to describe the last few days in Washington. But just as it is difficult to remove a stain embedded in a fabric for a long time, so too is it difficult to change a system that has benefitted career politicians, lobbyists, lawyers and big donors for decades.
The way to restore "order," the way to change the system and make it more democratic and fair, is to elect more members who hate the current system and vow to bend it to the will of voters. This will require Republicans to seize the initiative and explain to voters who don't pay enough attention that the current leadership in both parties is mortgaging the future with higher taxes, astronomical debt and possible bankruptcy.
Jordan's candidate for speaker is Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.), "but we will talk to others," Jordan said. Those others presumably include Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who has repeatedly said he doesn't want the job but reportedly will be discussing it with his family over the 10-day congressional recess. About Ryan, Jordan will only say "he's a good man."
Anger is not a policy, so if voters want a change of direction, they can have it in November by electing more people like Jordan. The Founders made it that easy, but it's up to us to make it happen.
Like a stain that has been on a cloth to long...
You don’t spit clean it, you don’t mend it, you rip it out and replace it. RIP IT OUT and replace it.
Spit = spot
Every day brings us closer to what I’m convinced will be a VERY UGLY time in what remains of America, the IDEA! The “progressives” (aka “communists”) will continue pushing until they provoke a reaction from those who still remember what freedom was. As was the case in 1775, the flash point will almost certainly be a thrust to seize private firearms and related items. It is then that we will see what their plans are for those MILLIONS OF ROUNDS of ammunition and thousands of weapons now in the hands of previously UNARMED bureaucracies.
Oh, did I mention that millions of brainwashed, Obama worshiping idiots — many of them your left leaning neighbors, friends and, yes, FAMILY MEMBERS, will join forces with the other side in “fingering” you as an “enemy of the new state” and help them hunt you down? These are the Quislings who, throughout history, have always been anxious to feed others to the tyrannical T-Rex of a despotic state in the moronic belief that the creature will no longer be hungry when it gets to them. These FOOLS forget that that creature is ALWAYS HUNGRY!
On the off chance that you are one of those Quislings, I’d urge you to contemplate the fate of one Ernst Rohm here http://www.historyinanhour.com/2010/11/28/ernst-rohm-summary/ You need only read the two short sentences at the top of that piece to understand that tyrants must eliminate those who might offer the slightest resistance to them.
As you contemplate what you’ve just read, remember that the most dangerous phrase in ANY language is “WHY, THAT COULD NEVER HAPPEN HERE!”
Look around. It already has!
In the words of cop Jimmy Malone in the thought provoking film “The Untouchables”, written by liberal turned conservative patriot David Mamet, “What are you prepared to do?”
I am afraid you are correct.
Self ping
Many in the party are currently entertaining a revolution rather than a reformation. The establishment has provoked the base and if they do not become a true alternative to big government expansion and social degradation they have lost purpose for their existence.
Afraid? Maybe. More likely, though, more than happy to think it "gives them an issue" to raise more money or get more favors from donors or voters. Republicans have long since stopped being the party of limited government and have instead become a different flavor of big government from the Democrats.
Well put
If you replaced the House and Senate with an actual rubber stamp we would save money by not having to pay trillions to keep all their friends rich. We’d all have the same phone, pen tyranny unencumbered by written law but save lots of money.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.