Posted on 11/07/2002 6:25:30 AM PST by Illbay
The focus for FReepers in the election cycle just concluded was to take back the Senate. 77% of FReeperdom opined that this was "critical."
This has now occurred, and congratulations are in order.
Now, we have to reset the agenda. Of course, there are many agenda items already set, such as homeland security, confirmation of judges, making tax cuts permanent, passing a budget, etc. And before we know it, the 2004 election cycle will be upon us.
But before ANY of that can take place, I submit there is one item that is MOST important, before all of those.
The Senate is ours, but only just. One less Senator, and we'd be back to "parity," with Mr. Cheney representing the tie breaking vote--and we all remember where that led.
The new majority leader is likely to be the OLD majority leader, Trent Lott of Mississippi. It should come as a surprise to few here on FR that Sen. Lott has a very, very small coterie of admirers here. In short, we consider him basically spineless, and far too accomodating to the Democrats, not to mention "moderates" and RINOS such as McCain, Snow, Chaffee and others.
When the Senate proceeds with its business next year, the Dems will have had months to recover from their defeat. If the past is any indication, they will come back swinging, under the assumption that "stupid people" elected Republicans, and any "mandate" from "stupid people" can be ignored. This is precisely what happened after 1994--when the shift that gave the entire Congress to the Republicans was far more dramatic than this year--and by the next year (with Boy Clinton's help) they had painted the Pubbies into a corner. I don't believe the Republicans have EVER really taken the initiative as a result.
It's time to help our Republican Senators, in particular, to see that you cannot accomodate Democrats. They don't accomodate; they see any attempt to "reach out" to them as weakness, and they take full advantage.
After the 2000 election, even though the Dems were still in the minority, they took advantage immediately to demand "power sharing." Mr. Lott, of course, was quick to accomodate them, and the result was that a few months later they were calling Tom Daschle "Majority Leader."
This time, it can't happen. Democrats have to be kept on the defensive, and off balance. Things are far too critical now. Beside the war on terrorism, we have judges to confirm, and much critical legislation to pass. We have no time for Democrat shenanigans.
But we KNOW those shenanigans are going to occur. Believe me, it's NOT going to take long for the Dems to rally. They are infallibly convinced of their own superiority. They are willing to stop at nothing to get their way.
I propose that we begin discussions on how we can help Mr. Lott, for one, grow a spine. He and the Republican Senate leadership need help from loyal conservatives to see the evil that they face (you'd think they could see it for themselves, but they continue to surprise me).
This, to me, is JOB NO. 1 for Free Republic at this time. I'd like to solicit ideas on how to accomplish this. FR has proven to be a great voice for responsible government. This task is tailor-made for us.
FReegards to all.
Now, if you tell me that Bush is having talks with Daschle about how to reorganize the Senate, and asking his advice on what measures need to go forward, then I say we include the White House in our upcoming FReep.
Agreed, and I do think there are too many pointless vanity posts lately, but this post fit JimRob's definitions of acceptable, and that you simply managed to post it into the wrong category.
Now if we can just get the GOP to make the most of the two years it has until the next election - I think that Bush needs to drop some of the nice guy routine, realize the power he just gained by kicking some Donkey a** in the midterms, and ram through his judges and agenda. Lott will do whatever the White House tells him to do.
So this is a silly question and
I propose that we begin discussions on how we can help Mr. Lott, for one, grow a spine
This isn't? You wrote a 500 word wandering message on what we can do? Well, Illbay, I've already written an email and put a call into Congress to my Senator, Jesse Helms. Unfortunately Jesse will not be there in January. He's being replaced by Giddy Dolt. Her views make Jim Jeffords look conservative. But I did voice my opinion on what should be done when the next Congress convenes.
Now if you have some other suggestions that the rest of the citizens of the respective states don't know about to influence Congress more than getting out, voting, and staying in regular contact with your elected leader, and holding their feet to the fire as necessary, please feel free to share with us (i.e. secret decoder ring, voices in your head, invisible ink).
If that is an accurate quote, Lord help us!!!
But we DO have the opportunity to make some major strides here, as long as these people remember who's watching (Free Republic, for one!)
NOW we need to stop 'em from taking over the Senate by fiat, which they in essence did after 2000.
This can't be allowed to happen again.
WRITE MR. LOTT AND TELL HIM WE'RE PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION!!!!
Sounds like the terrorists and nation-state thugs we are also fighting. The Democrats must reform from the fiscally predatory and emotionally mercenary travesties they are now, or we must firmly keep them in check and make the most of the 12-18 months left to us. No compromise.
We do not have 24 months left. Remember that the presidential cycle starts almost 12 months before elections now, so in terms of effective activism, we should realistically forecast only 12 precious months of work left available to us. The Daschle Democrats' obstructionism has been far more effective than many of us would care to admit; they took what could have been three years of conservative activism and bled us to one.
So he recognizes that his first essay was fraught with incompetence and misplaced trust. If re-elected, I hope the recognition will preclude the same mistakes. Including the grossly misnamed "power sharing."
Me too.
The Income Tax has got to go.
If the Republicans do not pull this off, now that they're in the driver's seat,
kiss our free republic goodbye.
I think you miss the point.
The GOP is majority. Lott should be leading the GOP and getting them going. Or do you care more about the Dems?
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.