I find it rather difficult to feel appreciative of the GOP’s tortured decision to oppose Obama’s “stimulus” Bill. Ungrateful you say? Nothing of the sort.
Republicans are sent to office by voters who expect them to uphold certain principles and philosophical views irrespective of the demands of political expediency. Therefore it should never have been necessary for the constituents and commentators to demand that their Congressional representatives do that very thing. It was their job to resist the advance of Socialism. So why should they get special praise for being forced to do their duty?
This is a Representative Republic, not a Democracy. Democracy ends at the voting booth. Voters are expected to be informed and candidates expected to be honest with their views so that once the vote is cast, the electorate may rest assured that their representatives will uphold the principles on which they campaigned. Those principles must stand always in opposition to Socialism. In the words of James Madison, “It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties. We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first duty of citizens, and one of the noblest characteristics of the late Revolution. The freeman of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise, and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle.”
I will no sooner praise the GOP for rejecting this Bill than I would praise a bird for spreading its wings and flying.
Obama's idea of bipartisanship is allowing the Republicans to loot the taxpayer's money as well.
ReplyDeleteThere is such an illogical mystique surrounding bipartisanship. Republicans are supposedly the Party of Lincoln yet Abe couldn't even get the Republican nomination for his second term. He was more concerned with political reconciliation than the Republican principles. (unwavering, unapologetic equality for all. NO EXCEPTIONS)
The result was another 100 years of injustice and suffering. People wonder why the abolition of slavery wasn't in the Constitution. Think about that the next time you champion BIPARTISANSHIP.
Excellent point Talionis. Those who fight for freedom gain nothing by compromising their principles for the sake of “bipartisanship.” I recall one of Aesop’s fables, “The Man and His Two Wives” wherein the old man marries a young woman and an old woman each of whom wanted him to be the man she desired. So one plucked out his grey hairs while the other plucked out the black hairs. In the end he was left with no hair. Yield to all and you will soon have nothing to yield.
ReplyDeleteThe older I get, the more I see that the government's policies have led to problems which the government must then fix.
ReplyDeleteThe mortgage crisis is just the most recent.