On Sunday, Glenn Reynolds wrote that should Republicans win this fall and don’t get their act together in the 112th Congress, we could see third-party challenges in 2012:
But those establishment GOP figures who think that they’ll cruise to victory and a return to the pocket-stuffing business-as-usual that marked the prior GOP majority need to think again. This election cycle is, in a very real sense, a last chance for the Republicans. If they blow it, we’re likely to see third-party challenges in 2012, not only at the Presidential level but in numerous Congressional races as well.
For the national GOP, it’s do-or-die time. So guys, you’d better perform — unless you want me to be writing another “I told you so” column in 2013. And trust me, you don’t.
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) echoed that thought, predicting
. . . that if Republicans win majorities in Congress but don’t follow through on their promises, it could cause a third party built in the shape of the Tea Party movement to take off.
“I will say this: If we do not govern according to our principles and if we don’t follow through on the things we say we’re going to do, I think there will be a third party in this country,” the fourth-ranking Senate Republican said on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” program, set for broadcast this weekend.
To that end, if victorious this fall, Republicans should follow the lead of the Club for Growth and push for an immediate and full repeal of Obamacare:
“The grass-roots and the Tea Party movement want full repeal,” said Andy Roth, vice president of Club For Growth. “If that cannot be done, they could be assuaged if Republicans in Congress are seen as actively picking away at it.” . . . .
Others are trying to make certain that Republicans don’t find ways to dodge the issue. “I was frustrated that the health care issue was not more of an issue — it should be in a lot of campaigns where it isn’t,” said Heather Higgins, CEO of the Independent Women’s Voice, a conservative group. “Other pledges out there seemed rather narrow. They didn’t apply to the bits-and-pieces, incremental approach that would be necessary in the interim.”
The IWV pledge commits candidates and members who sign it to vote for full repeal and for legislation that kills ObamaCare provisions such as the tax hikes and the individual mandate to buy insurance. Thus far, 52 members and candidates have signed it.
If Republicans really want to show they’ve changed and have returned to the principles which helped us win the White House in the 1980s and recapture Congress in the 1990s, the first item on the agenda of the 112th Congress will be repeal of Obamcacare.
“If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.” – Barack Hussein Obama, Mmmmmm, mmmmm,mmmmm
Well, my doctor said he’s quitting medicine, due to ObamaCareless, and moving to Oregon. He was an engineer before and will do it again.
I was watching Larry Kudlow this morning and he let out that he had just left a private breakfast with Speaker Boehner. According to Kudlow, the new Speaker informed all those in attendance, the Republican lead House would be halting all the BAD policies passed by Obama and the Democrats of the 111th Congress.
I’ll tell you though…I did catch myself laughing earlier… when what I can only assume was a funnier note, I caught Obama announcing that he want’s to make real the dream of Jimmy Carter by finally putting solar panels on the White House…… Hmmmmmm, maybe this is a sign of what’s to come. Remember when Carter announced the same illuminating idea, it wasn’t long before he was voted out of office….. Maybe we’ve just lucked out, and this is the beginning of Obama’s swan song too.
“To show they’ve changed, Republicans (if victorious) must work for immediate & full repeal of Obamacare”; to which I comment: Amen, brother; A-men!!
Obamacare is an example of left-wing overreach. But the Republicans must do more than just repeal. Health care delivery in this country must be made more affordable, more efficient.
For starters, allow all insurance companies to compete nationwide, just as do the auto-insurance companies.
Then allow all americans, regardless of their employment status, to enjoy the same tax favorable treatment that only employers have.
Portability is very important. Many people with preexisting conditions can’t get insurance now, so they do without or stay in their jobs just for benefits.
Tort reform is absolutely essential. We are losing doctors at an alarming rate, and possibly legal liability drives up the cost of health care.
Big pharma, Big insurance, and Big government and Big AARP got us into this mess. No more secret deals.
We as conservatives need to start the discussion now, and not let our elected representatives off the hook. Repeal AND Replace.
3M is phasing out its health care plan for retired workers, because of ObamaCare.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703859204575526953379583836.html?KEYWORDS=3M+and+insurance
So, even if they liked their health care, they don’t get to keep it.
I am sure this is, somehow, Bush’s fault, too.
They won’t. Obama will just VETO any repeal attempt.
BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Proud Liberal: pray tell – who is going to pay for all of this? At some point, people who produce things are just going to decide that it’s not worth the trouble. I look forward to an answer.
As far as the GOP: a third party is the least of our worries. These are not normal times – the country is in deep doo-doo. The federal deficit is growing exponentially as are its future liabilities (north of $100 trillion, I think).
The states are almost all facing insolvency ($192 billion shortfalls coming up).
The current course is simply not sustainable. We’re doomed if the Congress doesn’t hit the brakes – hard. (And even if they do – and I have my doubts – there’s no guarantee that we’ve not passed the point of no return.)
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/States-face-crisis-when-fed-funds-dry-up-1110351-104306998.html#ixzz11VxnQbuG
A new survey by the Public Religion Research Institute (PPRI) bucks the conventional wisdom that voters are overwhelmingly mad about health care reform and that candidates who embrace it on the campaign trail are putting themselves at risk.
Fifty-four percent of voters say they would be more likely to back a candidate who supported health care reform, according to the poll. That number includes 51 percent of independents and 79 percent of Democratic voters. Fifty-nine percent of Republican voters, however, say they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who supported the legislation.
“This isn’t a shock to anyone who’s actually been on the ground, in the 50 states, organizing,” said Arshad Hasan, executive director of Democracy for America, which provides grassroots support to progressive candidates. “We’ve been shouting this from the rooftops all year, and this data backs it up. Most people are tired of being ripped off by big insurance companies and were hungry for reform. That’s why President Obama ran on health care as an issue, and that’s why Democrats should stand by it now. If anything, people are upset that reform wasn’t stronger.”
I’ll believe it when the Dramacrats start running ads in swing district bragging about how they voted for ObamaCare.
Yup.
Kicked Puppy’s desperate Obama Party puppets are running away from ObamaCare and actually starting to call for its repeal.
Too bad for Kicked Puppy that his racist Obama is in for two years of investigations that will likely end up resulting in the racist Michelle Obama going to prison for violations of Federal law and the racist Obama being impeached for his orders to commit voter fraud and blocking enforcement of the Voting Rights Act in order to protect criminal minority members like the Black Panthers.
Does the racist Kicked Puppy know why the Obama Party supports criminals and voter fraud? Does the racist Kicked Puppy agree with Obama that it’s all right for black people to cheat in elections?
. . why, in that case, are Democrats running screaming from it. . and not even calling themselves democrats, Proud LIberal?
Dan, thanks for putting the concept out there. On domestic policy / the fiscal and economic issues, the Republicans under Presidents such as Bush 43, Bush 41 and further back, have definitely betrayed the small-government principles that made Reagan popular. They have been “part of the problem” of ever-expanding Big Government.
The Republican Party, once the party that proudly defended human freedom as it freed the slaves, protected sound money / people’s savings, and kept government small, now owes the American people a lot of amends.
If kicked puppy insists upon cutting and pasting his comments, it might be a good idea if he cites them, no?
Or are we all just accepting the notion that liberals steal everything they use? 🙂
So far, I’ve counted five different sources he’s stolen from, and posted here, seemingly as his own.
But then again, I may be wrong. Douchebag usually posts in all caps, which led me to believe he was stealing other people’s work.