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Email UpdatesI have tough questions for the Republican Party leadership. Questions which I think most Americans want answered.
I am going to use Minnesota as a specific example, but these questions apply to every Republican leader in the United States and I’m asking for your help to spread these questions from California to Maine. Digg it. Reddit it. Email it. Twitter it. Stumble it. You know what to do.
Saturday, 3-29-08, as an elected delegate, I attended the Minnesota 2nd Congressional District Convention. The Following Elected Republicans Addressed the Convention:
- Governor Tim Pawlenty
- Senator Norm Coleman
- Congressman John Kline
- Minnesota Republican Party Chair Ron Carey
To Republican leaders:
Each of you said the following…
- I believe in free markets, free enterprise, and entrepreneurship.
- We need smaller government
- We need limited government
- Government is not the answer, government is the problem
- We need less regulation
- We need fewer taxes
- We need fewer government programs
- We need less spending
- I believe in individual freedom and liberty
I agree with each and every one of your statements…
Like many voters, I want you to do the right thing and I desperately want to support you, but I’m afraid this is just more hollow rhetoric. I have been an active Republican since 1989 and since then the size and scope of government has increased dramatically. In that time, the US Federal Government and Minnesota State spending has increased 300%. We’ve seen smoking bans. We’ve seen stadium subsidies. We’ve had half-trillion dollar federal deficits. We’ve had Republican presidents, governors, legislatures, and Republicans even controlled all three branches of the federal government for six of the last eight years.
At our convention on Saturday, Chairman Carey castigated the Ron Paul Revolution, saying revolutions are for tin horn dictators, not Americans (ever heard of the American Revolution?) and said that results take many years of hard work and patience. In all respect Mr. Carey, many of us were proud members of the 1994 Republican Revolution. We didn’t expect instant results and easy answers. We expected action and instead got empty rhetoric. Many of us held our noses and supported you through 2000 and 2004, but finally, fet up in 2006, we (and many others) didn’t support you and you lost in record numbers.
To win, we need you and you need us, and it is time to talk. But do not impugn us or take us for granted. You are winning and losing elections by the smallest of margins.
All I ask is that you, the elected officials and leaders of the Republican Party, for the record, answer the following questions honestly and candidly:
- If, like you say, government is too big, how much smaller should the government be? 10%, 20%, 30%, 50%? Give me a measurable goal.
- If, like you say, we need limited government, what are those limitations? Is government currently exceeding its limitations? If so, where? And what do you propose we do about it?
- If government is the problem, which parts of the government do you plan to eliminate?
- If we need less regulation, which regulations do you plan to eliminate?
- If we need fewer taxes, which taxes do you plan to eliminate?
- If we need fewer government programs, which programs do you plan to cut?
- If we need to spend less, how much less? Give me a dollar figure. Something measurable.
- If, you believe in an individuals right to freedom and liberty, which laws and regulations restricting an individuals private life do you propose we eliminate? Be specific.
- How do you plan to get the Democrats to compromise with your vision of a smaller limited government? It appears that even when you have power you consistently compromise with the Democrat’s vision of a larger more powerful government.
Can you please clarify these items for us?
When I have asked these questions in the past, I get a talking point about how dangerous the Democrats are. And I agree. It is a given that the Democrats are bad. But don’t sell me fear of Democrats, I don’t want to hear it. I will not work for you or support you out of fear. Give me something positive, something optimistic, and something measurable.
On Saturday, Senator Coleman spoke about optimism, free enterprise, and limited government.
Help us be optimistic Senator Coleman. Tell us your plan to reduce government interference in our lives.
You could start with ethanol subsidies.
You raise too many good points to answer in comments Steve. One thing I would add though is that these questions need to be asked of another group of people as well….they need to be asked of an increasingly psychotic electorate who demands government programs be reduced….UNLESS you try to touch their pet program and then it is sacrosanct!
Our leadership is only PART of the problem.
LL
Comment by The Lady Logician March 31st, 2008 @ 8:42 am
LL,
Yes, you are right. Everyone wants smaller government unless you are talking about the part of government they benefit from. But that is for another blog post.
This blog post was produced from the fatigue of hearing platitudes without specifics at the convention. What really triggered me, was when Senator Coleman quoted Reagan, “Government is not the solution, government is the problem.”
I love that quote, but sometimes I get the impression that certain Republicans only think the government is a problem if democrats control it. It is a problem no matter who controls it, which is why it must be limited. We as Republicans must fight to keep it limited.
Comment by The Savage March 31st, 2008 @ 9:45 am
No argument there my friend. However, we simply can not attack the problem from the one end. Because politicians will listen to what their constituents tell them. We demand that of them. And if their constituents keep voting in a big government Republican In Name Only, then they are enabling that behavior that you decry. If you want more “conservative” (small “c” not large “C” conservative) government from your leaders, then you really need to get together with like minded people and write and call on every opportunity to demand that they vote in the small “c” conservative manner. It’s a lot easier for them to walk onto the floor of the House or Senate with a stack of papers that say “my constituents demand _____” to justify the vote.
The “other side” does this with great regularity. On our side we simply say “I have too much else to do…” If it matters that much, then you HAVE to get active by calling and writing and showing up at Conventions and the like. The more people like you and I who speak up the more our voices are counted!
LL
Comment by The Lady Logician March 31st, 2008 @ 10:06 am
Revolutions aren’t for Americans?!
Holy… WOW!
“When patience has begotten false estimates of its motives, when wrongs are pressed because it is believed they will be borne, resistance becomes morality.”
“The oppressed should rebel, and they will continue to rebel and raise disturbance until their civil rights are fully restored to them and all partial distinctions, exclusions and incapacitations are removed.”
“Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established, should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience [has] shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce [the people] under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.”
“Every generation needs a new revolution.”
All above statements were made by Thomas Jefferson. A tin horn dictator?
Comment by Dan McGrath March 31st, 2008 @ 6:07 pm
Great point Dan….
“n all respect Mr. Carey, many of us were proud members of the 1994 Republican Revolution.”
Let’s not forget the Reagan Revolution!
LL
Comment by The Lady Logician April 3rd, 2008 @ 12:34 pm
Maybe we are starting to understand behind the likes of CFR, UN, Federal Reserve, etc. really are for and what really is a hidden agenda.
Why do members of both parties belong to Bildenberg, CRF, Secret Societies , and NWO organizations?
Time to get back to a constitutional government and states rights.
Oh Yeah, ban Real ID, too. Promote using a passport for ID.
Comment by Digitalnomad April 7th, 2008 @ 7:49 am