Bi-Partisan, Party of One?
Here is an excerpt from today’s column by Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee:
Walters brings up a good point.
What the Governor is labeling ‘bi-partisan’ cooperation has really been his own personal willingness to embrace several items on the Democrat Party agenda, and more or less unilaterally enact them. So the burning question in my mind is when does the pendulum swing the other way? When do we see Tax CUTS, spending REDUCTIONS, SCALING BACK regulations, LOWERING fees — all of the GOP principles that involve shifting power out of state government and back to taxpayers?
We really are not talking about rocket science here, and Republicans are not unreasonable. The idea, though, is that the size and scope of our state government only grows and grows. Except for some occasional moments (such as the Governor’s admirable reduction in the car-tax), by and large we don’t see any pull back in the growth of spending in California. On the contrary, spending is going up in epic proportions.
Congressman Jerry Lewis and his role in the GOP losses last week…
The other day, the FR ran an open letter from former California Republican Party Chairman Shawn Steel, where Steel called on Republican Congressman Jerry Lewis, currently the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, to resign from Congress. Why? Because Jerry Lewis is the poster child for the Republicans’ embrace of big government, and for the model of governance that says, we will keep your taxes high, and then the Lords of Appropriations shall dole out tax dollars back to you as we see fit (my favorite was funding a big swimming pool in Banning, in his own district). Steel’s point was that until the GOP excises those Republicans who embrace spending, and replace them with Republicans who truly are committed to shrinking the size and scope of federal spending, we will have trouble reclaiming the majority. Core GOP voters no longer see our own Party as standing for limited government.
Apparently Lewis’ is rallying California Republicans to his defense. The FlashReport has learned that at a delegation meeting of California Republican Members of Congress yesterday, a letter was circulated that presumably defends Lewis. This is unfortunate. Republicans desperately need to reject the system that glorifies and empowers "Appropriators" — and we agree with Newt Gingrich who said this in his memo to Republican Members of Congress today:
Steel, and others who are willing to challenge the Jerry Lewis style of growing government should be applauded. If Republicans don’t self-police our own turncoats, the Democrats will do it for us. If Lewis doesn’t resign, then he needs to be challenged in his next primary.
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