GOP Leaders Are Naked

[NATO AIR]

its healthy for our long term future to see conservatives standing up and saying enough is enough... we'll see how well the porkbusters and "operation offset" efforts are, but for our sake and that of our country, let's hope they succeed.

http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/Comment/DavidKeene/092705.html
GOP leaders are naked
The Republican congressional leaders want Indiana’s Rep. Mike Pence to go away, or at least shut up.

They say that he’s grandstanding by talking about cutting spending and that the effort of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), which he chairs, to force them to look for offsets as they prepare to spend as much as $200 billion on hurricane relief, on top of the spending that already has conservatives rolling their eyes, is “counterproductive.”

Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), among others, took Pence to the woodshed last week and, we are told, informed him in the bluntest terms that the problem is not runaway spending or the Democrats but him and the RSC. It seems to be the leaders’ belief that, by criticizing spending, Pence and his hundred-odd followers are not the “team players” they should be because it is at least possible that whipping up popular anger on the issue could convince people that the GOP isn’t doing all it can to deliver on decades of promises to America’s voters.

DeLay went so far as to argue preemptively even before the meeting that there is no wasteful spending in the federal budget because of the effective leadership he and his buddies have provided over the years. Though he’s backed off a little from this statement in the past few days, he laid out his views in Monday’s Washington Times on how Republicans ought to “handle” this volatile issue:

“Our positioning on this issue — as a party that is strongly identified with the American people as sensible and determined protectors of the hardworking taxpayer — demands a unified and clear opposition to those whose policies and agendas are hostile to the taxpayer’s best interests: Capitol Hill Democrats intent on raising taxes, free-spending special-interest groups intent on curing the ills of society by advocating federal dollars as the only solution and a bevy of bureaucrats more interested in an expansion of federal programs than the reduction of ineffective ones.”

What Mr. DeLay doesn’t get is that it is precisely that identification that is in danger — not from Pence, but from the actions of the GOP in office. Republicans around the country are beginning to question the wisdom of devoting their time, treasure and votes to a party that doesn’t take its commitments seriously.
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[no1tovote4]

Just another sign that the R Party "leadership" has gone on past the point of no return. "Don't criticize spending or you are part of the problem?" Have they become Democrats?

 

[dilloduck]

Just another sign that the R Party "leadership" has gone on past the point of no return. "Don't criticize spending or you are part of the problem?" Have they become Democrats?

They look like Dems to me but I'm glad a few real conservatives are still the mix. Maybe they can distance themselves a bit and provide us with some real republican leadership to support in the future.
( make a compromise with some libertarians maybe or would that be just expecting WAY too much? )

 

[ThomasPaine]

Just another sign that the R Party "leadership" has gone on past the point of no return. "Don't criticize spending or you are part of the problem?" Have they become Democrats?

to try to influence voters to reelect you is the factor. The repubs seem to have turned their backs on the Contract with America and have coopted the dem approach to majority government; write big fat checks for big fat programs or expenditures in repub districts to spread the government largesse around and get that vote out for the incumbent. I fear the repub majority will be very short termed if they continue to act like dems. If you want a big government spending politician why not elect the real thing,a dem?

 

[no1tovote4]

"( make a compromise with some libertarians maybe or would that be just expecting WAY too much? )"

Boy! From your fingers to the eyes of the GOP! I could only hope.

 

[Nuc]

Just another sign that the R Party "leadership" has gone on past the point of no return. "Don't criticize spending or you are part of the problem?" Have they become Democrats?

The Republicans frequently resort to that line. Like when they said if you're not in favor of the war in Iraq, you're against America.

It is possible to be against something just because it's stupid.