Some thoughts

By Jerry McConnell

The old Establishment GOP, mostly silent in recent weeks since the new upstart conservative rookies have been making good on their promises to cut big spending, suddenly found their voices and as usual, sided with the liberal big-spending Democrats on February 16, 2011.

POLITICO’s reporter, David Rogers stated on the above date that House Democrats and, in his words, “centrist Republicans, joined forces in a series of spending votes scoring quick wins and sending the clearest sign yet of second thoughts in the GOP over the depth of reductions demanded by the party’s new tea party supporters.”


That was a mis-characterization of the events which saw some old GOP RINOs coming back to the types of actions that were primarily responsible for the evolution of the TEA Party, TEA an acronym for Taxed Enough Already. It was apparent that the TEA Partiers didn’t go far enough last November, but there will be another chance in November of 2012.

The people of America spoke in November 2010 and they said they were tired of seeing big government and big spending which always results in big taxes. By electing dozens of fresh-faced and eager to do the bidding of the conservative electorate a message was sent to the Democrats who are traditionally slow learners (if at all) and to the Establishment RINO
Republicans who cave too easily to the tax-and-spend socialist-liberal Democrats that enough was already too much.

The large number of non-conservative RINO Republicans that humbled themselves to the heavy handed lib-Dems siding to stop some very much needed spending reductions put the bull’s eye on their backs as the prime target for 2012. If they thought the TEA Party man-handled the RINOs in 2010, stick around and watch the faces change in 2012.

The White House-backed spending program to save at least some of the funding for legal aid to the poor was supported by sixty-eight Establishment RINOs to go against the wishes of their own party. Minutes later, Rogers added, “seventy Republicans joined 158 Democrats on a 228 - 203 vote that restored $280 million on the Joe Biden favorite initiative of Community Oriented Policing Services. And the firefighter lobby prevailed on 132 Republicans to back a Democrat amendment to restore $510 million for Homeland Security grants for first responders.”

Keep in mind that the House now has 243 Republicans to 193 Democrats a sizeable majority of fifty votes and they lost those and other measures because of RINOs who just can’t seem to remember what party elected them. I don’t think the voters will forget that come November 2012. The moral here is don’t trust an Establishment (long time) RINO Republican to cut or stop spending.

This is not to say that the new conservative rookies elected last November all stayed the course and voted for the funding cuts; no, there were some of the newbies who joined the liberal Democrats to spend more of our tax dollars, including in at least one vote for the restoration of $510 million for Homeland Security grants for first responders; both of my own state Representatives also collaborated with the lib-Dems. But the lure and righteousness of being for first responders probably overcame good fiscal sense.

Another factor that may have played a role in rushing to judgment on these spending bills was that it was done on Wednesday, February 16 the evening before the day of the President’s Day recess; yes, already they got a recess. For the newcomers it was a needed respite as they had put in many long hour days in their new and totally different from normal ‘back home’ living routines. A few days to go back home and chat with their neighbors and friends as well as to listen to many complaints, suggestions and long stories I’m sure has put them in a better frame of mind to come back and do some of our country’s work.

Now that you’re back and all rested up and looking forward to the next vacation, flexibly called a recess to disguise its proper status, how about you old timers looking at your crystal balls and seeing where working with the very productive young conservatives will pay off better for you in 2012 than pursuing a career-ending RINO course of trying to please the liberal