If I were Boehner
Senator Ted Cruz apologized to his colleagues for disrupting their travel plans in order to force a vote on the constitutionality of Obama's executive orders on immigration. It's not Ted Cruz who should be apologizing but the watered-down Republicans who don't want to stand and fight for the Constitution.
The politics surrounding this vote on the $1.1 trillion has me pure and outright frustrated with Republicans in general.
To be fair, I was not all that enthusiastic with Republicans before the election but I certainly supported them for the greater purpose of stopping Obama's horrible agenda. By many important measures, things have gotten worse in America under Barack Obama's presidency. From our growing national debt to increasing dependency on government, from our falling labor participation rates to increases of those living in poverty, things are tough out there for lots of Americans.
Considering all of this, you would think that the GOP would have had a lot to work with in order to inspire Americans leading up to the election. But that didn't really happen. They lacked a governing vision and that is partly due to the lack of vision on the part of GOP leadership like House Speaker John Boehner.
Immediately after the American people give the GOP a mandate in the November election, John Boehner does not seize it as a moment for conservative principles to shine. Instead, he immediately turns to Harry Reid, Barack Obama and Steny Hoyer in order to pass a huge cromnibus bill that funds ObamaCare. He also doesn't use his power of the purse in order to challenge the funding of any of Obama's unconstitutional actions. He completely ignored the conservative members of his own caucus and instead turned to the Democrats.
This isn't why the American people elected Republicans.
If I were John Boehner, this is what I would do.
Stop robbing from our kids.
A conservative governing vision can be very simple and start with the concept that we must stop robbing from our children. It is painfully immoral that we continue to spend more than we take in, which ultimately deprives future generations of opportunities because they will be stuck with the tab.
With the power of the purse, the Republicans in the House have the chance to implement policies like a balanced budget amendment. Take that case to the American people - Your families have to balance your budgets or you go into bankruptcy; why should't Washington be forced to do the same?
Then, present a plan to the American people to cut the size of government. The Penny Plan is a simple way to achieve cuts: cut one penny out of every dollar spent by government every year for six years. Most Americans would probably think that's a good idea. Needless to say, there's a lot of waste fraud and abuse in government.
Those are two simple ideas: Stop robbing from our kids and quit growing the government.
Secure the border.
Another simple idea that I would be championing if I were Boehner is to secure the border. First you plug the hole and verify that this has been accomplished. Then, and only then, do you continue on a path of immigration reform.
"Comprehensive immigration reform" is just like spending: you'll get the tax increases you agreed to but never the spending cuts. In the case of immigration, we would get the reforms without making sure our border is secure, which means the cycle of illegal immigration continues in perpetuity.
Create jobs by exploring energy.
What if I told you there was a way to create jobs, increase wages and economic opportunity, increase our domestic supply of energy and therefore lower energy prices, and become less dependent on countries that hate us?
Wow, what a deal!
That's what could happen if Republicans championed energy independence. We could be energy independent in three years. Nationwide, we would replicate the success of places like North Dakota, where wages have doubled.
Give Americans healthcare choices.
What is the Republican alternative to ObamaCare? If leadership was serious about repealing and replacing ObamaCare, Americans would have a sense of what they could expect without ObamaCare in place. Instead, John Boehner pushed through a bill to continue funding ObamaCare through the next fiscal year instead of fight it.
In my Conservative Solutions Caucus I laid out an alternative to ObamaCare. This includes health saving accounts, portability of plans, competition across state lines and less expensive catastrophic plans for younger people who are less likely to get sick.
Those are just some ideas, take them or leave them. But at least they are out there.
School choice.
Rather than reluctantly resign American families to the unholy alliance between teachers unions and Democrats, give them an option to seek better quality education. Whether its through charter schools, private schools funded by vouchers or other school choice alternatives, the opportunity to seek a better education for our children represents the biggest opportunity for our country to thrive long-term. This policy in turn makes for good politics because it offers a chance for Republicans to also reach poor or minority communities it often has a hard time reaching.
This isn't brain surgery. This is common sense governance.
But instead of bold solutions we have a GOP that is afraid of its own shadow.
Read more: http://www.hannity.com/articles/news-476261/if-i-were-boehner-13075678/#ixzz3MGOBegYc
This post was edited on 12/18 9:26 AM by bigbadjohn45
Senator Ted Cruz apologized to his colleagues for disrupting their travel plans in order to force a vote on the constitutionality of Obama's executive orders on immigration. It's not Ted Cruz who should be apologizing but the watered-down Republicans who don't want to stand and fight for the Constitution.
The politics surrounding this vote on the $1.1 trillion has me pure and outright frustrated with Republicans in general.
To be fair, I was not all that enthusiastic with Republicans before the election but I certainly supported them for the greater purpose of stopping Obama's horrible agenda. By many important measures, things have gotten worse in America under Barack Obama's presidency. From our growing national debt to increasing dependency on government, from our falling labor participation rates to increases of those living in poverty, things are tough out there for lots of Americans.
Considering all of this, you would think that the GOP would have had a lot to work with in order to inspire Americans leading up to the election. But that didn't really happen. They lacked a governing vision and that is partly due to the lack of vision on the part of GOP leadership like House Speaker John Boehner.
Immediately after the American people give the GOP a mandate in the November election, John Boehner does not seize it as a moment for conservative principles to shine. Instead, he immediately turns to Harry Reid, Barack Obama and Steny Hoyer in order to pass a huge cromnibus bill that funds ObamaCare. He also doesn't use his power of the purse in order to challenge the funding of any of Obama's unconstitutional actions. He completely ignored the conservative members of his own caucus and instead turned to the Democrats.
This isn't why the American people elected Republicans.
If I were John Boehner, this is what I would do.
Stop robbing from our kids.
A conservative governing vision can be very simple and start with the concept that we must stop robbing from our children. It is painfully immoral that we continue to spend more than we take in, which ultimately deprives future generations of opportunities because they will be stuck with the tab.
With the power of the purse, the Republicans in the House have the chance to implement policies like a balanced budget amendment. Take that case to the American people - Your families have to balance your budgets or you go into bankruptcy; why should't Washington be forced to do the same?
Then, present a plan to the American people to cut the size of government. The Penny Plan is a simple way to achieve cuts: cut one penny out of every dollar spent by government every year for six years. Most Americans would probably think that's a good idea. Needless to say, there's a lot of waste fraud and abuse in government.
Those are two simple ideas: Stop robbing from our kids and quit growing the government.
Secure the border.
Another simple idea that I would be championing if I were Boehner is to secure the border. First you plug the hole and verify that this has been accomplished. Then, and only then, do you continue on a path of immigration reform.
"Comprehensive immigration reform" is just like spending: you'll get the tax increases you agreed to but never the spending cuts. In the case of immigration, we would get the reforms without making sure our border is secure, which means the cycle of illegal immigration continues in perpetuity.
Create jobs by exploring energy.
What if I told you there was a way to create jobs, increase wages and economic opportunity, increase our domestic supply of energy and therefore lower energy prices, and become less dependent on countries that hate us?
Wow, what a deal!
That's what could happen if Republicans championed energy independence. We could be energy independent in three years. Nationwide, we would replicate the success of places like North Dakota, where wages have doubled.
Give Americans healthcare choices.
What is the Republican alternative to ObamaCare? If leadership was serious about repealing and replacing ObamaCare, Americans would have a sense of what they could expect without ObamaCare in place. Instead, John Boehner pushed through a bill to continue funding ObamaCare through the next fiscal year instead of fight it.
In my Conservative Solutions Caucus I laid out an alternative to ObamaCare. This includes health saving accounts, portability of plans, competition across state lines and less expensive catastrophic plans for younger people who are less likely to get sick.
Those are just some ideas, take them or leave them. But at least they are out there.
School choice.
Rather than reluctantly resign American families to the unholy alliance between teachers unions and Democrats, give them an option to seek better quality education. Whether its through charter schools, private schools funded by vouchers or other school choice alternatives, the opportunity to seek a better education for our children represents the biggest opportunity for our country to thrive long-term. This policy in turn makes for good politics because it offers a chance for Republicans to also reach poor or minority communities it often has a hard time reaching.
This isn't brain surgery. This is common sense governance.
But instead of bold solutions we have a GOP that is afraid of its own shadow.
Read more: http://www.hannity.com/articles/news-476261/if-i-were-boehner-13075678/#ixzz3MGOBegYc
This post was edited on 12/18 9:26 AM by bigbadjohn45
