In the last few articles we have talked about our worry that the GOPs 'always to be reelected good old boys' simply want to maintain their position of power and they are saying and doing whatever they feel it takes to placate us to retain their power…They are hoping we will help them win the majority in the House and Senate in this election so they can get back to doing their 'business' as they see it. Their agenda, more often than not, is not what our individual agenda are or the Tea Party goals and agenda are….. This doesn't seem to be a radical idea given the history of so many of the 'still-left-standing' Repub congressmen and senators. We know them. It was this same bunch of seasoned politicians who lost control of the House and Senate because of their outrageous spending behavior during our last president's tenure as well as the president before him. They were the ones who more or less were in charge and set into motion programs and promoted liberal ideas about what all the federal government should be doing and the role it "should play" in the lives of citizens….I won't recap the errors made and the disasters caused simply because we are all living with them. However, I want to note we are in our tenth year of war, a housing market that can't easily be repaired, and national debts well beyond the scope of human comprehension.
The 'good old boys' can point fingers at the other side of the isle, the liberal press, the current president till the seas sink but they all played a role by casting their votes on short sighted schemes. Finally we have told them to stop…Did they hear us? Do they believe us? Do they understand that we are now going to watch each of them? Do they realize we were (are) speaking to each of them directly? Given their history what do you think?
Jim DeMint ( Senator, N.C.) is one of the most out spoken senators for the conservative voters. He has helped the new conservative candidates by raising money for their campaign---- Clearly he is seen as a threat to the 'core GOP Senators……(?)
(Quote from our retired Senator Trent Lott: "We don’t need a lot of Jim DeMint disciples,” Lott said in an interview. “As soon as they get here, we need to co-opt them.”) This comes from a man we trusted and was majority leader of the Senate when so many of our problems today were created.
Many of the political polls over the summer were showing that some seventy percent of the voters (Dems and Gop) hold most of the same values, beliefs, goals, as the Tea Party movement… That is a lot of citizens…Given that kind of massive numbers I have to wonder does (or if) "co-opting", as Trent Lott puts it , and the old guard GOPers are using it, mean something like conspiring... if so, then against whom?…Or does it simply imply, "Come on in, join the club, do as we do and do as we say?
We post the article below without comment….However, this article along with a number of recent similar articles are what gives us worry about how the 'always to be reelected good old boy' intend to run congress once they have control again….Same song second verse….
Republicans Take ‘No Comment’ Approach to DeMint
While Sen. Jim DeMint’s internecine warfare may rub his fellow Republicans the wrong way, it appears there is little, if anything, they can do to rein him in.
No Senate Republicans would discuss the issue on the record, and the few that would talk explained that most in the party think the best course of action is to ignore the irascible South Carolinian, at least for now.
“Jim DeMint isn’t the most effective legislator, so he has to gain power by driving headlines. His Achilles’ heel is everyone saying, ‘no comment,’” a Republican said.
Part of the problem, Republicans said, is the simple fact that in the Senate there is little leadership can do institutionally to curb troublesome Members, and the culture of the chamber discourages using even those options that are available. “It’s the same thing with every Senator. There’s nothing you can do to any of them,” a GOP aide said.
Republicans’ relationship with DeMint is further muddied by the fact that, while they may not like his constant attacks on them, he is a driving force in an election cycle that will likely see their numbers swell. “It’s sort of annoying ... but if he helps get Members elected, more power to him,” the aide said.
Nevertheless, some elements of the party would like to see DeMint punished in some form. For instance, Republicans on and off Capitol Hill recently — and quietly — discussed the possibility of taking away his chairmanship of the Senate Republican Steering Committee, a quasi-leadership role that provides DeMint a platform from which to push his conservative crusade.
According to numerous Republicans familiar with the issue, the hope had been to recruit Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to challenge DeMint for the post. Coburn is as conservative as DeMint, which would shield him against attacks from conservative activists and limiting accusations that the GOP was stifling conservative demands.
Coburn was also an attractive possibility because unlike DeMint, he has retained good relations with the Conference’s traditional and moderate Republicans. And since Coburn is increasingly seen as the staunchest supporter of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in the party’s conservative wing, he would likely win broad support from his colleagues.But Coburn spokesman John Hart said the Oklahoman would not challenge DeMint’s control of the committee.
“Dr. Coburn strongly supports Sen. DeMint for Steering chairman and hopes to serve with other new Members who will help change Congress’ borrow-and-spend culture,” Hart said.
Even if DeMint’s opponents could find another Senator willing to make a bid for Steering, it appears unlikely they would succeed in supplanting him.
Although DeMint has long been a supporter of open government and transparency, he is the beneficiary of one of the more secretive bodies in the Senate, executive steering committee.
Composed of eight Republican lawmakers — who sources said are all extremely conservative and loyal to DeMint — the executive committee keeps their identity secret, even from other members of the GOP Conference. A DeMint spokesman, who declined to comment on concerns within the Conference regarding his boss, would not identify the executive committee members, noting that as an informal organization it is not required to disclose its membership.
And because the executive committee decides who will be the Steering chairman, it is all but certain DeMint would likely survive a challenge.
Forcing him out of Steering could also pose other challenges. A former Senate Republican aide said DeMint could simply start a new caucus or other semiofficial Senate organization. “He could just start the Senate Tea Party Caucus, and you’d have the same problem,” the aide said. More Draconian measures are also not available to McConnell, even if he were to pursue them.
DeMint does not serve as ranking member on any official committees, and professes no interest in running for a formal leadership position, so Republicans cannot attempt to force him out of a top position. (Such moves are rarely attempted in the Senate, and even more rarely successful.)
Other, less drastic measures have thus far had little effect on DeMint.
Peer pressure has traditionally been the most commonly used tool of persuasion in the genteel Senate. Unfortunately for McConnell, that has not served Republicans well in dealing with DeMint.
Colleagues have repeatedly criticized DeMint’s attacks on Republicans — including his recent denunciation of the Conference’s decision not to strip Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) of her Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking membership — to little avail.
Even private pressure has had little effect. After the dustup over Murkowski, McConnell warned his colleagues during a closed-door luncheon that, with the election so close, they should avoid attacks on one another, according to several Republicans familiar with the discussions.
DeMint promised to hold his fire. But he was back at it a few days later, saying at a rally for Kentucky GOP Senate candidate Rand Paul that he was excited to have “not just two but eight or 10 Senators” as conservative as DeMint to push the bulk of the GOP Conference to the right.
Leaders in both parties have also used the power of the purse as a subtle way to reign in wayward Members. But while the threat of reduced earmarks or other appropriations priorities can often be used to bring Members in line, DeMint position as an anti-earmark crusader makes it an ineffective threat.
Threatening to slow-walk DeMint’s legislative agenda is also a nonstarter. Even if McConnell were Majority Leader, his to-do list traditionally draws minimal support, even from fellow Republicans.
DeMint has spent most of his legislative career as an outsider, championing transparency and government reform issues. Because he consistently has to fight to bring his measures to the floor, threats to hold up his bills are largely hollow.
And so, Republicans said, they are essentially left with only one option: ignoring DeMint and hoping the lack of attention is punishment enough.
It is DeMint's' ideas and values they are rejecting along with his beliefs about Federal governments role which are the same beliefs the Tea Party holds. Lack of attention is exactly the same punishment they have meted out to us during this election cycle and what that punishment finally created to their surprise was stronger and more vocal TEA PARTY. How quickly they forget.
We didn't elect the these new congressmen to "adjust" to the House and the Senate. We want the House and Senate to "adjust" to them. This is what we have all worked for…..Could it be that this group of 'good old boys' didn't get what we have been saying and doing on the streets in this raging political campaign?
(The GOPers has lost their way… Lost their principles…Another glaring example would be the complete abandonment of a young woman who beat the national party's' chosen republican candidate in the primaries in Delaware. She came out of nowhere and the republicans in Delaware wanted her as 'their' senate candidate over the national party's pick. The national GOPers believed she could not beat the DEMS candidate for senator….. Now she may or may not win the senate seat, which in my mind is besides the point, because as a matter of principle the national party should have supported her as well as supporting the republicans voters in their choice and accomplishing their goals. The national party will never get any more financial support from guess who.)
When the dust settles and the body count is done we must turn our attention to the State. We need a recall law as well as less arduous requirements for ballot propositions. The major declared goal of the Tea Party is to get back to a government of and for the people. We created it. We had it… and then we gave away the most unique form of government in the history of the world…..Clearly the people we gave it over to are not willing to give it back and this makes sense.
Recall laws and ballot propositions are tools in a free society. (Note: It was the ballot proposition 13 in California that stopped and actually rolled back property taxes in California…Property taxes were raising so fast and so high that retired folks and the elderly were loosing their homes.) Important lesson learned from "Prop 13' for the people and the government of California was an awareness that people can set limits on what government can and cannot do. (Second note: It took a number of election cycles for this lesson to be forgotten. California is now broke.)
We don't want the California story to be repeated in this state with our elected officials… BUT we don't have the laws (tools) to prevent this from happening. A potential whack on the head every two or six years is just not something politicians fear.
After next Tuesday don't tuck away you 'big stick' or your 'hammer'. There is much more to be done.
Speaking of done for now...we did a good job. We found a way to focus many people on the importance of beliefs, ideals, and founding principles. Even though we were under constant attack from the liberals, the national press, as well as the GOP disowning us. But we stayed the course…the first battle has been won…but this war is far from over…..we will be a little patient for a while but we will be paying more attention to the melody of their song, this time around, and not their newest lyrics.
• This Tuesday success is not the destination but a moment in a long learning curve that simply steals our resolve and directs us to the next stepping stone on the journey in the process of accomplishing the mission of the Tea Parties which is a government for and by the people.
We want to thank each and every one in the Tea Party for their time, effort, and tremendous courage. Please, the next Tea Partier you run into thank them and they'll thank you and we'll keep thanking each other till we all turn blue and be happy and go fishing in haven.
PS: It may seem a strange thing to say but we also need to thank President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid without their efforts and the openness of their behavior it may have taken us decades more to realize with what contempt politicians, at every level of government, have for the American citizens. In all likely hood the Tea Party owes its existence to the three of them.
Ron
Let me encourage you to click on the youtube link and spend a few minutes with a video with Dennis Parger answering a question of threats to America.
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