In 2006, I was sickened by what the Republican party had become--the party of more spending and bigger Constitutional right killing government. I know I wasn't the only conservative sick of what the Republican party had become. In 2010, I am cautiously optimistic, but I know deep down inside after reading the Pledge to America not to put a lot of faith in Republicans.
That's why I call out to my conservative blogger friends with one request, let's not celebrate until they prove to us something is worth celebrating from Constitutional conservative perspective. One election hasn't defeated Obama the man. He still has tricks up his sleeve to play and further kill Jeffersonian principles. It's yet to be seen whether or not Republicans will move far enough to the right to earn our trust and truly beat the Obama agenda. In fact, some pundits believe a Republican congress is the best thing to happen to Obama's reelection chances.
By 2006, the Republican party had moved quickly to the left. They gave us big deficits. They gave us Constitutional killing bureaucracies like the Department of Homeland Security, which gave birth to the TSA. Their own character flaws defeated their promises of family values. In other words, these weren't the Reagan Republicans many of us loved. These Republicans acted more like the latter day Kennedys. It is because they lost their way, we have Obamacare today. Had they behaved and remained loyal to conservatism, they would have not lost the numbers in the House and Senate that made it possible to pass Obamacare.
Let's look at what Republicans are promising. They are promising to roll back federal spending to 2008, the same 2008 Nancy Pelosi and Democrats controlled Congress and created another $450 billion in deficit spending. They are promising more power to the Department of Homeland Security in the name of safety over terrorism. These two items alone concern me. These are not Jeffersonian by any means, and it's going to take the Tea Parties and constant criticism to pull Republicans closer to 2000, when a conservative Congress passed budgets that created surpluses and we didn't have this intrusive Department of Homeland Security threatening our liberty.
If we give up in 2011 and give Republicans a pass, I don't have a lot of faith things are going to get better. That's why we must not be afraid to call Republicans out when they lose their way. There is no time to celebrate this week as we watch Democrats lose power. There is only time to prepare to put pressure on Republicans once they gain their power.
One of their first tests will be a vote to raise the debt ceiling. That's going to tell us a lot about this next generation of Republicans. Get ready to watch and comment if they don't take the steps necessary to cut federal spending and allow more debt to threaten our great Republic.
For my loyal followers, if you expect Republicans to get a pass, they won't here until they show they are good Constitutional conservatives.
