NEW HOUSE SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER TOOK THE GAVEL FROM OUTGOING NANCY PELOSI in humblest fashion. It was impressive to again see the peaceful transfer of power. Boehner now presides over the most youthful, tech savvy group of commuting Congressmen we've ever elected. All the better to keep our new citizen politicians' feet planted firmly with their constituents rather than on the banks of the Potomac where the fever of power can so quickly overtake them.Tomorrow, the Constitution will be read on the House floor for the first time in history, as this group begins a 20-day blitz aimed at turning the tide towards spending reforms on the heels of frightening, even nightmarish, government debt and expansion away from enumerated powers during the last session.
I'm truly impressed and hopeful that these energized men and women can make visible headway quickly.
However, whatever happens over the next 20 days, the jury will be out for much, much longer. Theirs will not be a sprint, but a long marathon slog. Only the strongest, most dedicated of souls can survive and endure what's ahead. There will be discouragement.
Like the sexual revolution of the sixties and seventies that had myriad consequences we never dreamed, our government's credit and spending revolution---binge--- which began decades ago, is now taking us to the edge of the abyss. The turnaround---if there is to be one---will be like turning an aircraft carrier around at full speed.
Meanwhile, expect hysterical opposition to fiscal restraint and budget cuts, the filibuster and limiting earmarks. There will be war cries of financial collapse--- the end of the world. Only the strongest resolve by the Grace of God can help this group stay the course, then stay it again.
God be with them and us all. It won't be easy or quick.
I think the question is not so much "Can they pull it off?", but "Will they...?"
ReplyDeleteThe day after the election, in Election 2010 - So, where are we now? , I wrote...
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The Joker in this deck is, Will the Republicans actually exercise this power they have won?
We've been here before, after the GOP takeover in 1994; some Republicans then didn't seem to grasp that power sometimes has to actually be used. When Democrats were in charge of committees, they were, By God, IN CHARGE, and had no compunction whatever about running over and stomping flat anyone who got in their way. When the Republicans had their brief moment in the Sun, they seemed more anxious to "get along" with bastards who seldom (if ever) were inclined to reciprocate.
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That fear is still with me as I see senior members of the RNC whose attitude seems to be that if you are distinguishable from a democrat, not only will we refuse to help you, we may actually go after you instead.
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Thanks Paul. Yes, time will tell. And reasonable expectations are in order for what can be accomplished quickly....
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