The Republicans now are in the majority in all three branches of government. (both the house and senate in the legislative branch).
No more excuses. They offer bigger government and an expansion of unconstitutional federal programs.
That "majority" includes so-called Republicans like Chaffee, Snowe and Specter in the Senate, and like Morella, Boehlert and Houghton in the House. Also, some votes require a 2/3 super-majority for passage.
I am starting to figure out the definition of "Compassionate Conservative."
It is a Social Conservative/Fiscal Liberal who believes in the Reagan model of tax cuts to stimulate the economy, but does not believe, as Reagan did, in smaller government.
I love and pray for President Bush. He has the character and the charisma of Reagan, but lacks his fiscal restraint. Reagan ended the Cold War without instituting one new federal agency, regulation, or program that I am aware of.
Reagan understood that faith without works is dead, but good works by government enforcement are no good works at all. Robin Hood was no Christian; he was a Socialist.
I understand that 9/11 changed a lot of things, but one thing it didn't change was the Constitution, nor the difference between right and wrong. It is wrong to raid the wallets of Americans to aid Africans, as merciful as that aid may be. It is even wrong to raid Americans to aid other Americans. Charity is a noble virtue; it incorporates the idea of a willing surrender of one's time, talent, or treasure for the benefit of another out of love. Once the giving is forced, it is no longer charity; it is then extortion. Charity begins at home, not in Washington.
I was disheartened to hear that President Bush used his executive priviledge to sign into law his Faith Based Initiative. Anyone who will accept money collected by garnering wages to continue volunteer work doesn't know the meaning of volunteerism.
I am afraid of the unintended consequences of President Bush's good intentions. Now that billions in American taxpayer dollars will be going to do good works in Africa, when any Christian organization asks for donations, Americans will reply, "But I am already giving, through the government!" It may mean the end of many good works, not the beginning of them.