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- JULY 18, 2011
The Debt Battle Is Good for the GOP
Tea party Republicans speak for a large group of voters who have been swinging back and forth between the parties for more than a decade.
By CLARK S. JUDGE
Watching the debt-ceiling battle on Capitol Hill—and even more the battle between the tea party young guns and older House Republicans—feels like déjà vu, or, rather, 1995, all over again.Sixteen years ago, in the middle of the government shutdown, I found myself racing up Capitol Hill in a car filled with Republican congressmen. I had expected to hear talk of standing firm, of arguing their case for spending cuts on the House floor, of raising banners with bright, bold colors.
As I'd learned from years in the Reagan White House, confidence, clarity and consistency were essential to winning such high-stakes showdowns. Instead, these seasoned politicians were wringing their hands, snapping at any stalwart suggestion, and asking, "How did we get ourselves into this mess and how do we get out?"
Then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich takes criticism to this day for surrendering too quickly in his face-off with President Bill Clinton. Exhibit One has been the incredulous jubilation of Clinton staffers when Mr. Gingrich accepted an offer they regarded as the start of serious bargaining, not the end. But the speaker was dealing with what I saw in that car ride up the Hill—a majority that could not hold. Too many members were melting under White House and, even more, media heat. Raising the white flag reflected no more than a bow to reality. The GOP retreat could be orderly or chaotic. Mr. Gingrich prevented panic.
Today, again, the GOP caucus is divided, but with a difference. The tea party freshmen are insisting on a strong negotiating stance. They want real spending cuts without tax increases. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has become their voice in the budget talks. Reflecting uncertainty about holding non-freshmen in line, both Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker John Boehner have signaled readiness to accept cosmetic compromises.
Mr. Boehner in particular is responding to House members desperately in search of cover from fallout over the president's threat to delay Social Security checks if the debt ceiling isn't raised. Many are terrified of Democratic attack ads painting them as would-be destroyers of Medicare. The GOP defeat this May in the special election in New York's 26th District shook them, which is a sign of how badly they've defended their positions.
Associated PressHouse Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
So, if the checks stop coming, it will be the president who decided to stop them. That's not a hard message to get across.
Meanwhile, messaging on Medicare should be in Republicans' favor, not against them. Without reform, the system is doomed—and sooner than used to be thought, thanks to the half-trillion-dollar cuts written into Mr. Obama's health-reform legislation last year.
So, if Democrats don't like the budget reforms proposed by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, they should propose something else. There will be lots of ideas put on the table before this is done. Medicare's only enemy is Dr. No, those who say "no" to exploring any reforms—and Dr. No is the role congressional Democrats and the administration are playing today.
Congressional tea party Republicans hold a stronger hand than anyone realizes. They speak for a large group of voters who have been swinging back and forth between the parties for more than a decade, determined the last three elections, and are likely to determine the 2012 outcome.
As early as 2005 at least one pollster—Kellyanne Conway—reported that part of the Bush 2004 vote was becoming disaffected over revulsion at federal spending. After the 2006 GOP debacle, then Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman told his troops they had got out their vote, which, as he said, then voted for the other guys.
Those same voters stayed with the other guys in 2008. But by 2010, the new Obama administration's multiple trillion-dollar bailouts and stimulus packages had driven them back toward the GOP, with one hitch. They still didn't trust the party and its officeholders.
The national tea party movement is just the most vocal element in this much larger wave. By and large, polling has not captured it. Pollsters follow the movements of demographic groups or the changing preferences of party loyalists and independents. They typically do not try to identify something like Bush voters of 2004 who became Obama voters in 2008 and GOP House voters in 2010. The tea party is the first broadly based American political insurgency since California's Proposition 13 in the 1970s. Sure, its fervor will make the old guard uncomfortable, but intensity is what the GOP needs.
In short, the tea party movement is Reaganism updated. A contest has been fought over and over in Washington since Republicans embraced cutting tax rates and nondefense spending under Ronald Reagan in the early '80s. When Republicans have united behind these priorities, they have won elections. Nervous Republicans should bear that in mind when they begin to go wobbly on something as basic as reining in spending and refusing to raise taxes. And achieving that unity has always been difficult.
Global markets must receive a clear signal that Washington has the political will to reduce spending radically. If market jitters over U.S. government debt do not convince congressional Republicans that, in the days ahead, they should hold firm for spending cuts, politics should.
Mr. Judge is managing director of the White House Writers Group and chairman of Pacific Research Institute. He was a speechwriter and special assistant to the president during the Reagan administration.
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Human Events had it right in 2005 when it named Sally Pipes one of the "Top 10 Women in the Conservative Movement." As president and CEO of Pacific Research Institute (PRI), Pipes has become an essential voice in the health-care debate, frequently sounding the alarm against the single-payer system. During the ongoing debate over ObamaCare, Pipes was a constant presence on cable news shows and newspaper op-ed pages. She debated Howard Dean and Paul Krugman , appeared in Michael Moore’s movie "Sicko," and testified before Congress — all the while spreading the message that government should not be responsible for universal health coverage. Pipes' latest book, " The Truth About ObamaCare" (Regnery), was released last summer. Her message of limited government fits well with the Pacific Research Institute, a San Francisco free-market think tank founded in 1979. PRI’s stated mission is to promote "principles of individual freedom and personal responsibility" through policies that "emphasize a free economy, private initiative, and limited government." The institute uses its research publications, events, media outreach and legislative testimony to get its message out, Kelly Gorton, PRI’s marketing associate, said in an interview. As part of the institute’s focus on health care, it sponsors the Benjamin Rush Society, a group which encourages dialogue among health-care professionals. The society holds regular debates and last year had several on the topic: "Is it the Federal Government’s Responsibility to Provide Health Care for All Americans?" At one debate, PRI President Pipes took the "No" position, along with syndicated columnist Deroy Murdock against two Harvard medical professors. Pipes as a native Canadian knows firsthand the flaws in that country's government-run medical system. While health are is a high priority for PRI, the think tank has a stable of experts that explore free-market solutions on issues ranging from education and the environment to business and technology. In February, the institute started the CalWatchdog, an independent journalism center based in Sacramento, which works on investigative projects and covers the state government. It turned out to be excellent timing as California’s public pension system and bloated state government bureaucracy is increasingly becoming a national scandal. CalWatch seeks to expose waste, fraud and abuse while holding the state government accountable. The journalism center' head is Steven Greenhut, former editorial writer at the Orange County Register and an expert on public-sector union abuses. He is the author of "Plunder! How Public Employee Unions are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives and Bankrupting the Nation." PRI also conducts training sessions for school board members. The training seeks to help the officials become effective reformers in their school districts and learn what kind of policy options and strategies work best. Seminars address topics such the state budget issues, technology, school finance, academic achievement and union negotiations. Last year’s training session highlighted how charter schools can use new technology to track students’ progress. Another high-priority issue for think tank is the environment. Gorton said the institute’s 14-year database of environmental research will soon be transferred to an interactive website. Every year, PRI releases its "Index of Leading Environmental Indicators ," which stands in stark contrast to the doomsday scenarios put forth by the environmental lobby. Last year’s index, which is released annually on Earth Day, noted progress being made in efforts to clean up and preserve the environment. It cited evidence that air pollution is falling in U.S. cities, the ozone layer has reversed its decline and tropical rain forests are expanding faster than they are being cut down. The author of the index, Steven F. Hayward, a senior fellow at PRI, said there is "growing public weariness with ‘green’ messages in general and messages on global warming in particular." That sums up the work of PRI -- taking a stand contrary to the liberal orthodoxy so prevalent in liberal think-tanks, academia and the media. Kenneth Hanner is former national editor of The Washington Times and former managing editor of HUMAN EVENTS. Sponsored Content
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- Love those conservatives.
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What is there not to love them? They got the deep pockets. They gotmy sister Eileen, oops, Sarah Rah-Rah Sis-Boom Pah Palin. They got Abraham Lincon. They got Ronald reagan. They got John Boehner. They got Sousa, oops, Dilip D'Souza. They got TV Preachers, oops, Media Moguls like Rupert Murdoch. They got babes and babes in the woods, oops, in the wooden hot water bottles, oops, battles, oops, hot tubs. Hubba-Hubba, oops, Rubba-Rabbi, oops, Rubba-Bathe in, oops, with babes with bouncy boobs in wooden hot tubba. They got the Devil, oops, Lord with them. They got looks, charm and "Bam-bam-Thank-ye-Mam" style front and center Superbowl tickets, oops, Sky auditoriums. All paid for for the next Millennium, oops, forever and ever and one day. They got it made in the shade, oops, sun. They make money, "hands over fists" while the Republican sun shines in the baby blue Republican franchise called Skype, oops, sky....and I am Sid Harthmysistereileen .com
I think the best alternative nationally is to get the federal government totally out of health care except for taking care of the miltary out in the field and out to sea.
Even those in the miltary should get a medical plan voucher when on base.
Since the federal medicare program is unconstitutional seniors and the diabled should be given a cash bonus on their monthly social security check.
The federal government would also fund high risk pools co-ops owned by the members which can not charge more for premiums than the cash bonus.
If the membership approves the co-ops will be allowed to have members who do not get a social security check but no part of their cost will be paid by the federal government other than US miltary veterns, federal employees , those with black lung and American Indians.
Federal funding with come from a tax on state governments based on the number of people in the state.
Each state will decide how to come up with the federal revenue.
Each state will also be loowed to opt out for the residence of the state but even those state governments that opt out will be required to send their per capta share to the federal government for those states that do not opt out.
I think even Florida which as the highest percentage of senior population will opt out and find a superior alternative.
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