The rally I should have attended yesterday

The rally I should have attended yesterday, instead of spending an hour standing in the cold with witless “tens of thousands”, was at the Marriot. Jeb Bush (my wife’s new heart throb) spoke to fellow conservatives at National Review Institute’s conference and told them why I haven’t pryed my wallet open for them in two years;

“Don’t take offense personally if I get mad at Congress,” the Republican former Florida governor began. “It’s important for us to realize we lost, and there are significant reasons that happened, but it isn’t because conservatives were rejected. But it’s because we rejected the conservative philosophy in this country.”

He added, “If the promise of pork and more programs is the way Republicans think they’ll regain the majority, then they’ve got a problem.”

Bush’s speech prompted three standing ovations from the audience….

As well it should have. If Republicans want to remain the party of conservative thought, they need to turn loose of the same elitist, tax grabbing, wasteful government spending of the their Democrat forebearers. While the Democrats are focused on tearing apart our national defenses (the President with his veto has our backs on that issue), the Republicans should be formulating a policy of REAL fiscal restraint.

The first order of business should be dismantling the Congressional pension system. Not only would it discourage a class of professional lawmakers who’ve lost touch with the people they should be serving, it would save millions of dollars every year. It would result in Congress-critters who term limit themselves.

Their salaries and staffs should be cut in half to attract people who are only interested in serving their constitutents and not people who’re looking for an easy career of yapping incessently about nothing important and people who would do their own research rather than depending on a pack of undereducated suck-ups to think for them.

And they can get to work folding redundant government agencies into each other. Like the International Trade Administration and the International Trade Commission. They could fold the Education Department into another agency (it used to be part of Health and Human Services – then it was Health, Education and Welfare) since the only thing the Education Department does is hand out money to States. Maybe with the savings, States could raise their own taxes and stop depending on handouts from Uncle Sugar.

I’d like to see them rescind the XVIIth Amendment, too;

Amendment XVII

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any state in the Senate, the executive authority of such state shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, that the legislature of any state may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

Originally, Senators were chosen by the State Legislatures to represent the interests of the several States, but since the XVIIth Amendment, Senators no more represent their States than I represent all portly middle-aged men. They’re just a smaller, more-windy version of the House. They represent themselves and their own selfish issues (I should post a picture of Teddy Kennedy and John Kerry here, but you get the idea). Perhaps if they were beholden to the State Legislatures, they’d take their jobs more seriously and the Federal government could remember that there’s a Xth Amendment, too.

Well, that’s my wishlist, anyway. If the Republicans want my money and support, they need to start thinkng of ways to make the government better instead of ways to be more like Democrats. As long as idiots and morons like Hagel and Brownback think that Republicans lost Congress because of the war, it’s pretty doubtful that Republicans will change their evil ways, though. That’s the problem with government, though. They listen to the Fourth Branch of Government – the main stream media – instead of the People.

Category: Politics