The Republican Study Committee is made up of the most committed, conservative Members of Congress.  Today, the FlashReport features an exclusive column from one of the leading conservatives in Washington, D.C – Congressman Ed Royce.  From 1992-1993, I had the privilege of working for Congressman Royce when he first was elected to Congress.  He is exactly the kind of person we need in Washington.  This is someone who, at his core, has a firm grasp of economic principles, and just as importantly, he understands the principles of federalism, and the importance of a restrained federal government.  Congressman Royce not only ‘gets it’ – but he espouses it, and he networks it.  The Congressman is one of the leaders on the Hill in terms of really explaining and convincing his colleagues about the importance of the Republican Majority standing for limiting the size and scope of the federal government.  When a bill passes towards this end, you can see and hear the excitement coming from him!   But when something comes out of the house that expands a program, or contains pork spending — whew, keep your distance!  It is this Congressman’s passion that sets him apart from many of his colleagues.  Even though he has been serving for well over a decade, Ed Royce is an example that not everyone ‘goes native’.  Please take the time to read his column today – it will help you, as it helped me, to understand that there is a growing movement among Republicans to take our country back onto the right course, starting with reigning in federal spending, and tax relief for Americans.

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher is a good friend.  I’ve known him since I volunteered on his first campaign for Congress in 1988.  He married one of my closest friends, and has become one himself.  Dana has a lot of great qualities – one of his most endearing is his loyalty to his friends.  I don’t question nor do I criticize Dana for wanting to be there, as a friend, for Jack Abramoff.  Who among us, if someone we were close to for many years, was going through a tough time, wouldn’t be there to lend support.  That said, Abramoff is in the midst of one of the highest-profile cases of political corruption that our country has seen in some time.  And this brings me to the story in today’s Los Angeles Times (linked on the main page) where Rohrabacher comes to the defense of his friend, Jack Abramoff.  Not, I should say, defending his criminal activity.  But more along the lines of saying that Abramoff isn’t a bad person, but rather that he did a bad thing.  To twist an old axiom for my use, "If you don’t have something mean to say, perhaps you shouldn’t say anything at all."  Republicans are going to be trying to deal with the ramifications of Abramoff for a long time to come, especially this election season.  If he is your friend, spend time with him, console him.  But when we need to be convincing all Americans that we repudiate what he did, to express sympathy for his situation or defend him as a "good person" in major newspapers serves only to deeper our public relations quagmire.  Dana, you may know Jack Abramoff well.  But to America, he is now a poster child for corruption in the halls of Congress.  I admire your loyalty to your friend, but remember that because you are a Republican elected official, there is also loyalty to the team. 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 10th, 2006 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.