The Party of ?No, But Here?s A Better Idea?
Since the election of President Obama, the Democrats have been very effective at portraying the Republican Party as the ?Party of No.? Depending on your political persuasion, this could be completely true, completely false or somewhere in the middle.
In the last couple of weeks, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has been hammered by Erick Erickson of RedState and Michelle Malkin for not fighting to the very finish on the recent Senate passage of a health care reform bill. On the one hand, these criticisms are of delaying tactics would only have slowed the vote by twelve hours, which would have done nothing in the halls of Congress but would have, as Ed Morrissey points out, given the media less time to cover the vote?s aftermath. On the other hand, if the Republican leadership had held firm on the many opportunities they had to slow things down, for example by following Senator Judd Gregg?s (R-NH) advice, and Senator Tom Coburn?s (R-OK) wish to read every part of the Senate bill, among other tactics to slow the bill, senators would have had to go home for Christmas a) without a bill, and b) to face their constituents, the majority of whom dislike the Democratic versions of health care reform and whom are increasingly against them as time goes on.
Senators Gregg, Coburn and Jim DeMint (R-SC), among many others, have been vilified for their articulate and unyielding opposition to health care reform and other Democratic measures. However, they are also the poster children for what Republicans should be about- namely, being the party of ?No, But Here?s A Better Idea.? All of these senators, along with other Republicans, have jammed the Democrats but also offered their own solutions to the various issues facing America. They have also worked with Democrats in a bipartisan fashion on a case-by-case basis.
When it comes to dispelling the myth that Republicans have been, and are being, merely obstructionists, let’s start with Senator Judd Gregg. On the one hand, Gregg voted for Secretary Geithner?s nomination, nearly accepted a position as President Obama?s Commerce Secretary, offered support for the bipartisan Wyden-Bennett bill and has worked with Democrat Kent Conrad (D-ND) on a debt commission. On the other, Gregg has hammered Obama on debt, passed around a virtual handbook for Republican obstructionism and taken the lead on opposing Democratic reconciliation. Additionally, however, Gregg has offered his own bill as an alternative to the Democratic proposals.
Senator DeMint is probably most famous for his Waterloo statement and his numerous delaying tactics on health care reform (see here and here for examples). However, he has also worked with self-declared socialist Independent Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on halting the Bernanke nomination and bringing transparency to the Federal Reserve. As a representative of the Party of ?No, but here?s a better idea,? he too has put forth a health care alternative to the Democratic proposals.
Lastly, we have Senator Coburn. Coburn has slid in two gun amendments this year to two Democrat-supported bills, halting the DC voting bill in its tracks. He has also held up funding for veterans because he wanted to use unused stimulus funds for the benefits and loudly opposed the stimulus package. He also forced a reading of Senator Sanders? single-payer amendment to the Democratic bill. However, at the same time, he has maintained a friendship with President Obama, pushed a transparency bill with then-Senator Obama (D-IL) into law in 2006 and sponsored a Republican alternative to the Democratic health care bills on, of all places, Huffington Post. In fact, he wrote on Huffington Post not once but twice. This is a guy who clearly wants his message to get out to all Americans, not just his constituents or fellow conservatives.
Other ?No but here?s a better idea? Republicans include Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI), the numerous Republican co-sponsors of the Wyden-Bennett bill and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
The fact is that Republicans are trying to stop a very bad makeover of a massive portion of America in ways that swing from bad policy to unethical to unconstitutional. For an example of the latter, with respect to David Frum?s recent piece supporting the individual mandate?s constitutionality, he is wrong- an individual mandate is clearly unconstitutional. Other bad components include the Senate bill’s abortion funding, the House bill’s public option and the lack of legitimate tort reform in either bill.
Personally, I think Republicans should have fought tooth-and-nail for a post-Christmas vote on the Democratic health care reform bill in the Senate. They should have offered amendments, yes, as Frum has said- but they have a responsibility to stop the bill first and foremost. That is what the minority is supposed to do with a bill as bad as this one, with as little power as Republicans and conservatives have right now- stop the legislation cold and start over with a bill that includes conservative and free market principles and ideas. Some Republicans are just being the Party of No, but sometimes saying?saying?’no’ is necessary, despite what some Democrats may say.
Will Sanford Survive in the Republican Party?
By now, everyone knows South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has admitted to an affair in South America. Within hours of his admitting to the affair the frontrunner SC Republican to replace him had taken his picture down from her campaign website and conspiracy theories about what REALLY happened in Argentina appeared on a blog coldheartedtruth.com. Sanford has also resigned as the head of the Republican Governor?s Association, though he refuses to do the same as governor.
After Sanford admitted to the affair, one of my co-workers mentioned he thought the Republican Party should perhaps give up its mantle as the party of family values- not a bad opinion, given what happened with Nevada Senator John Ensign and former Congressional members Mark Foley, Newt Gingrich, Larry Craig and other Republicans who have had sordid and underhanded parts of their personal life come to light in recent years. However, as Dinesh D?Souza put it in “Letters to a Young Conservative”- to paraphrase- Republicans accept that people aren?t perfect, and that even those who proclaim family values will fail (the reference, written in 2002, compares former President Clinton to then- Majority Leader Gingrich), but that the movement should not follow the failures of the imperfect beings who are family values proponents. Instead, the fight must continue through its supporters failures.
With this thought in mind, I have a question for members of the Republican Party- if Republicans are trying to have a bigger tent AND not give up the family values battle, do we essentially alienate Sanford from the party, or do we encourage failed public leaders to continue in their areas of strength? Sanford may have failed on the social values front (of course, he seems to be going off the deep end since admitting the affair), but if he gets his act together he could still be a strong face for smaller government spending (assuming he did nothing illegal- otherwise, he?s toast). This is not without precedent- despite their unethical pasts, both Gingrich and former New York City mayor Rudy Guiliani have become major public faces for the Republican Party. Of course, on the Democratic side, former President Clinton, Rep. Barney Frank and others still have powerful positions within their respective party even after their personal lives have come apart.
As HotAir puts it regarding the Sanford Affair: ?If you want to have a career in national politics, keep it in your pants. If you want to conduct affairs, stay out of politics. If you use your public office to lie to your constituents and your family, you deserve everything coming your way. No sniveling.? There is no question that Sanford should be hung out to dry, and furthermore be investigated for using funds inappropriately (he has since repaid those funds to the state of South Carolina) and having possibly abandoned his post. Once the dust has settled, however, will Sanford have a place in the Republican Party?
