On this Saturday, I’ve decided to pen a very short column. I have a lot of thinking to do. As a conservative activist and voter in California, I am struggling to find my enthusiasm. Can you help me find it? As I reflect on where things are right now:
I am struggling to show enthusiasm for the President. His embrace and seeming comfort with the growth in domestic spending is unnerving. Add to this my belief that trying to create a democracy in Iraq will end with us never being able to leave that place, else there will be a quick return to a religious hegemony. I will never forgive the President for signing the McCain-Feingold ‘attack on free speech’ campaign law. Thank goodness for those SCOTUS picks, but while that affirms I voted right, it doesn’t instill enthusiasm.
I am struggling to show enthusiasm for our Republican Congress. With spending up in record amounts and the ‘conservative’ House Leadership passionately defending the status quo, it’s easy to get disappointed. I keep waiting for up and down votes on real reductions in the size and scope in government, to allow us all to focus our ire on the ‘problem’ Republicans — and help the party realize that liberal/moderate Republicans are endangering our majority by creating a chasm between GOP rhetoric and GOP accomplishment (how can we credibly campaign as a party of limited government when our record is presiding over the growth of government?).
As a conservative, I stepped up and pushed hard for Arnold Schwarzenegger in the recall. Yet, the ‘broom’ he used as a prop in rallies as he talked about the need to ‘sweep out’ the special interests is now in the gubernatorial broom closet. Instead, as a conservative, I have to read over a dozen headlines today about how this massive infrastructure plan is a win-win for the Governor and for Democrats. For the Governor because he has called for infrastructure investment, and for the Democrats because it is largely their spending plan. Lost in the discussion is that pay-as-you-go was triumphantly canned by Democrats, while Republican parade around "Prop 42 reform" as our victory. Pay-as-you-go was and is supposed to be annual allocations from the general fund towards infrastructure. Now conservatives are supposed to campaign for profligate government spending without any pay-as-you-go, and with a sausage-machine set of bonds that include literally BILLIONS in spending on programs that would make ANY conservative literally sick to their stomach? Our GOP legislative leadership didn’t lead, but rather they followed the lead of Perata and Nunez, which was very disappointing. Senator Tom McClintock, always more eloquent, said in a newspaper today, " "My main concern is that much of those three bonds is for equipment, maintenance and social programs that are going to be obsolete before the bonds are paid off by our children."
Even locally, here in my own city of Irvine, the Democrats control city government — and my own left-wing Mayor got a ‘shout out’ and a photo-op with the President when he came to town (I’m quite certain she’s never voted for him, and equally as certain that her photo with the POTUS will appear in re-election mailers to high-propensity voting GOP households).
I figure with the many, many thousands of you who, for some reason, read my thoughts here each day, I probably owe it to you all to step-it-up and find something to be positive about. We’ll see if this column is a single occurrence or not. With my attitude today, you may see a string of commentaries asking a very important question: Shouldn’t conservative voters have a reason to be FOR something to motivate us to vote in November? I’m not willing to settle for having to vote to AGAINST something, or someone.
There was a time when conservatives could champion candidates and causes that matched the rhetoric of individual liberty, freedom, and opportunity with policy goals that matched them.
Now I am wondering what or who to be FOR in the coming elections. Especially when Republicans seem intent on campaigning on a theme of "what government can do for you" that would make Ronald Reagan angry.
I am also prepared to be skeptical as the election approaches, of rhetoric to appease conservatives that is more motivated to get our votes than to achieve our goals.
With all of that said, have a GREAT Saturday! I will!
Jon
P.S. How about instead of the worn out ‘No New Taxes’ rhetoric, we pick up the banner of ‘No New Spending’ — it would be more accurate of our problems in Washington, Sacramento, and in my home town of Irvine.
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