The year 2012 ends with a Republican Party which is overly defeated. Yes we failed to wrestle the Presidency from the dunderheads. But the schizophrenic electorate, understanding that they were making a catastrophic error and hoping no one would get hurt, kept a Republican House to be sure there were some adults in the room. Almost every Republican member of the House won their seats by a greater margin than the President achieved in his reelection. If Obama has a mandate at all, it is no bigger than the mandate given to House Republicans.
Now “no brainer Boehner” seems to be in quite a hurry to “compromise” with President Obama. Indeed, immediately after the election, the President announced he was ready to compromise with the House to get a “deal done” to avoid the fiscal cliff1. The President has announced before that he was ready to compromise on one thing or another, but in his mind the compromise always consists of the other side accepting the President’s position. What he has proposed so far indicates that he is continuing this tradition. It is like Lucy and the football in the peanuts cartoon. We understand that as a construction of ink and paper and a witty imagination that Charlie Brown will fall for this every time. But surely the Congressional Republicans are smarter than ink and paper. Can we possibly fall for this again? Yet Boehner seems ready, even anxious, to cave once again.
Because of most Congressional Republicans’ stands on issues such as “gay marriage,” abortion and gun rights, (you know, preferring centuries of accumulated wisdom rather than embracing the latest musings of leftist professors) the media never tires of calling them “knuckle dragging Neanderthals.” This is grossly unfair. They are, for the most part, “cavemen,” too often too willing to abandon any principle for the political expediency of appearing to “have gotten something done.” Will Republican leaders cave once again? Will they allow onerous taxes to be imposed on a struggling economy? Will they allow the debt ceiling to rise again on a current of Washington hot air? It is this approach over decades which has delivered us today, not to the country our Founders envisioned for us, but to the country they warned us we would become if we failed to be vigilant. Republicans in Congress must now be vigilant.
Early in December, the Sentinel sent the following email to Representative Jeb Hensarling:
Dear Representative Hensarling,
Congressional Republicans should create certainty by immediately passing legislation making the Bush tax cuts permanent for all Americans. This action should be well publicized. Obama can be the spoiler if he chooses.
Next, the Republicans should let it be known that the President may raise taxes on this generation of Americans who voted for him if he insists, but that the war on the unborn must end. This President must take his hand out of the deep pocket of future generations. There will be no increase in the debt limit under any circumstances. He can spend what he has on programs or to pay down the debt, but no generation has the right to impoverish the next.
Respectfully,
Terrell AronSpeer
Sentinel editor
The Sentinel encourages all citizens to weigh in on this issue. Contact your Representative today.
1) A physical cliff is like the one Thelma and Louise ran off. A Physical cliff has weight and mass and driving off it will result in physical injuries. Fiscal has to do with finances. Driving off a fiscal cliff results in financial ruination and may inspire one to drive off a physical cliff, but the two are not the same. Commentators on this issue should take note.
