Faux-Cons Sieze House Leadership …

… Disco and Leisure Suits Coming Back

The only thing left to prove that the 1970’s are back is to see if President-Elect Barack Obama governs like Jimmy Carter.  As far as the House GOP is concerned, the Bee Gees are back at the top of the charts.  As Rep. John Boehner cements his control over the House GOP caucus, Republicans can be assured that the Wilderness Years are just beginning.

Boehner’s overwhelming re-election as Minority Leader provides yet more evidence that the House GOP caucus is only fit for the minority.  Coupled with the elevation of Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) to Whip, and Boehner loyalist Rep. Cathy Rodgers (R-WA) to Conference Vice-Chair conservatives can be reassured that there is no place for them in the House leadership structure.

While leading House conservative Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) was elected Conference chair, expect this to be mere window dressing by Boehner and Cantor.  Both, former conservatives, have become too attached to power and have proven themselves unable to provide genuine conservative leadership.

While unfortunate, it appears that we must go back to the days of primary battles to elect true conservative leaders before we will be able to launch a genuine fight for the majority.  It is unlikely that a majority of Americans will be willing to accept promises of fiscal responsibility from the likes of Boehner and Cantor.  Merely pandering on social issues while promoting corporate welfare will not be sufficient for the GOP to retake the House.

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US House – Principle or More of the Same?

Are the Republican members of the US House serious about taking back the majority? … or saving their own skins and egos?

It’s obvious that Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) is more worried about his ego.  Leadership under Boehner has been little better than that under disgraced former leader Tom DeLay.

If Boehner were half as principled as he claimed he would resign his leadership post.  Any attempt to move the GOP caucus to a principled position on the political spectrum will simply not be possible under Boehner.  His past willingness to sell out fiscal conservatives means that the public won’t trust a House caucus lead by him.

It is ironic that Boehner has jumped on the bandwagon endorsing Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) for Conference Chair.  I guess that Boehner believes that backing a real, live, principled conservative for the number three spot in the leadership will somehow make up for his betrayal of the principles that brought us to the majority in 1994.
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Why “Democrat” Has Just Become Another Synonym for Whore

… or How “Little Tommy” became madam of the nation’s biggest brothel.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is desperately hoping that allowing a few vulnerable Dems to publicly support opening up the outer shelf to drilling will yield a larger Democrat majority in the next Congress. She may get her wish, but it’s looking more doubtful by the day.

Pelosi seems to be hoping that a simple re-hash of the Democrat’s 2006 strategy will work – run Democrats that will run on conservative issues and then sell out their constituents in order to sit at the “cool kids table” in Congress. Things are a bit different in 2008, however. High fuel prices have risen to the top of the issues heap. The Democrat congress is no more highly regarded than the GOP congress was in 2006.

While it’s true that GOP leaders such as Denny Hastert, Tom DeLay, John Boehner and Roy Blunt whored us right into the minority. A group of insurgent conservatives are seizing the leadership roles as we move toward November. Hastert and DeLay are fortunately gone. We can only hope that Boehner and Blunt will be purged in January and replaced with people like Mike Pence, John Shadegg and Jeb Hensarling.

In the meantime, the Democrat leadership of Pelosi and Steny Hoyer aren’t even being very secretive about their plans to screw the American people: Read more

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House GOP Continues Sit-in

Welcome to the Revolution! House conservatives, led by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) vow to continue their 1960’s style sit-in to protest the Democrat-led adjournment of the House without acting to combat the rising cost of energy.

We’re starting to see some of the fire that ignited the Reagan, then Gingrich revolutions. My only hope is that when we return to the majority, a new group of leaders won’t forget WHAT we fight for and WHY!

thanks to Worcester Right for the link

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Why We Don’t Deserve to Be The Majority Party

Missouri State Treasurer Sarah Steelman is running for governor. Who is attacking her at every opportunity? People like House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO).

Why? Steelman appears to be a Republican more in the mold of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK). Steelman is a fiscal conservative.

The Bush wing of the party still believes that spending is irrelevant. Hawking lower taxes, pimping for the U.S. Chamber (by supplying corporate welfare) and pandering to our socially conservative brethren (rather than offering real solutions which are governed by Federalism) seem to be the magic elixir for staying in office – as far as these guys are concerned.

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Better to Be in the Wilderness

Eric Earling argues in The Next Right that, as conservative Republicans, we need to start challenging MORE GOP incumbents. He’s right, but he disappointingly hedges:

The process of truly remaking the GOP into a party that the grassroots can be proud of again requires a step that was more complicated in 2006 when there was still a majority to worry about: cheering the electoral confrontation of Republican Members of Congress currently doing more harm than good to the conservative cause.

There lies the problem. Too many Republicans, who claimed to be conservatives, worried more about protecting a majority than in electing principled candidates who shared our common beliefs. Read more

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Bold Colors

Jokers to the Right posted an interesting piece tying in the Delaware races with our national party defeat and it reminded me of something Ronald Reagan said at the 1975 CPAC:

Our people look for a cause to believe in. Is it a third party we need, or is it a revitalized party, raising a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors which make it unmistakably clear where we stand on all of the issues troubling the people?

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Boehner Pulls Off Victory on Second Ballot

The Hill reports on John Boehner’s surprise victory for House Majority Leader. The man is no John Shaddegg, but is beats Blunt by a mile.

Boehner has long been considered DeLay’s chief rival, and he pledged during his campaign to renew many of the ideals that characterized the so-called Republican Revolution spear-headed by Gingrich.

Will Boehner bring back the days of a true conservative majority in the House? We’ll see.

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Will the House GOP Hear Us?

A Club for Growth polls shows 77% of voters in 20 swing Republican districts believe that the new Majority Leader should come from outside the current House leadership.

Will the GOP Caucus hear the voters who put them in office and give us John Shaddeg? We can only hope. We’ll find out today.

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