Morning Line – March 2, 2009
March 2, 2009 by Cato
Filed under Delaware, Delaware Politics, Maryland, Maryland Politics, Virginia, Virginia Politics
Delaware -
DelawareLiberal is still showing the love for Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE).
Delaware Libertarian has a great recording of an interview with Barry Goldwater from the late ’70′s.
Delaware Libertarian on why “taxing the rich” won’t work. Tax attorneys and accountants are going to do well though.
Maryland -
Mike’s Nether Land supports Harris for Congress in 2010.
Maryland Moment on changing the lyrics to Maryland, My Maryland. Personally, I say go for it. Just get it over with. There are a few more important things for the legislature to worry about.
Virginia -
Bearing Drift examines Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and the completion of America’s socialist transition. I guess we’ll all be working for the G soon.
Below the Beltway thinks it’s MythBusters. Liberals and fauxcons will never get it. It’s never about winning the NEXT election. It’s about governing by a set of principles. About the only thing BtB got right was the statement about Gingrich playing chicken with the budget. That was admittedly poor judgement. It was a revolution never the less.
Even NLS admits the extreme partisanship of Virginia Senate Dems. I’m sure that’s alright though because we all know that the Dems are always right.
National -
Colossus highlights the upcoming “MegaBrawl” over the Obama agenda.
Mason Conservative recommends an interesting interview with Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman. I think Huntsman misses the mark quite a few times, but he’s definitely worth listening to.
If it was a “revolution” then what, exactly, did it accomplish ?
Looking at the state of things when it ended in 2006, I don’t see all that much. They certainly didn’t take the central elements of the Great Society on, and welfare reform was a largely bipartisan project.
That’s why I don’t see why we should trust the current Congressional leadership in any significant respect. They’re the same guys who f**ked it up.
You are absolutely right about that Doug.
We’ll forgo the 1964 – 1980 period and go directly to 1994+. After Gingrich played chicken and lost (which was a HUGE blunder), he was weakened politically. This, along with his affair, etc. lead to his being replaced as speaker. That is where the problem really began.
I never understood what Hastert’s motivation was. With DeLay it was obviously about personal (and corporate) power. If DeLay was ever a true conservative he also become the poster child for the old adage “power corrupts …”. We are now saddle with a “kinder and gentler” version in the top GOP leadership. Big government is great because it’s easy (politically). These same guys who so adamantly opposed PORKULUS were all for Bush’s bank bailout.
My argument is simple. The revolution was real. It was just corrupted by the likes of DeLay, Boehner, Blunt, and now Eric Cantor (who I always respected until a few years ago). When the House GOP caucus decides to put guys like Pence, Shadegg, Flake, etc. in the top posts then the conservative majority in this country will be ready to fight for them again.
The lessons of 1964 – 1980 and 1994 – ??? are relatively simple. Put principle first. Winning elections will come because our beliefs are truly what is best for America. But as we allow the Karl Roves, George W. Bushes, and Tom DeLays to corrupt the conservative movement we are doomed to short, cyclical periods of victory.