Open Letter to The Republican Party

Open Letter to The Republican Party

It looks as though we have a déjà vu situation forming in the 2010-2012 elections years.  In 1994 the Republican Party had a mandate to change the problems with American politics. Back then people were sick of the socialist policies and sexual shenanigans of Bill Clinton and demanded a change in the mid-term elections and the contract with America was born. [1] The people are now sick and tired of the current administration and their socialistic bullying and abuse of The Constitution, and they want a change.

The 1994 Contract with America, had 357 signatories that agreed to a bold 10 point program which promised a "return to the wisdom and brilliance of the Founding Fathers."; including a promise to return to limited government, individual liberty, free markets, personal responsibility, and the protection of American sovereignty.[2] So how’s that working out for ya? Well, the Contract with America failed miserably to meet any of these lofty promises. [See postscript for an explanation]

This is the bottom line on how effective it was in turning things around:  Here we are in 2010 sixteen years afterwards, in debt up to our necks, unemployment running rampant, our homes are being foreclosed, our jobs have been shipped overseas, our government is protecting the unlawful practice of illegal immigration,  United States Government is now the controlling shareholder in AIG, Citigroup, GM, GMAC, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, etc. [3], and our Federal Reserve has ransacked our treasury and stolen our children’s futures.

Now in 2010 the people have (AGAIN) had a belly full of this socialist garbage and the Republican Party is (ONCE AGAIN) resurrecting the Contract with America, which now has the name of Speaking Out America[4].  

Like Yogi Berra once said: “It’s Déjà vu all over again”.

Republican apologists would say that the failures of the 1994 Contract with America were ‘the Democrats fault’. To which I would respond ‘You had your chance... repeatedly for nearly two decades to return us to a stable Constitutional government. There is only one opponent you have, the socialists in the Democratic party, and you have not been able to stop their agenda and turn this country back to a free Republic. The Republican leadership is not up to the task at hand.’

It’s clear that the Republican Party leadership is not up to the task of restoring our Constitution in the face of socialist opposition. If the Republican Party cannot be more effective than this at stopping national destruction, then they need to find another line of work because they are a failure on two legs, a dead man walking.  Get out of the way and make room for someone that can make lasting positive changes for this country.

Why should we think that all of a sudden the Republican Party has what it takes to return us to a great Republic? Letting the Media marginalize and ridicule Republic candidate Ron Paul, and not rallying public opinion to stop Supreme Court confirmation by exposing Elena Kagan’s pro-socialist views (see her 1981 Princeton thesis) are unforgivable sins for a party that claims to be working to return our country from it’s socialist slide. There is more, so much more... but I will give you one glaring example.

I offer up for an example of continual Republican Constitutional incompetence the draft Senate bill S. 3081, which was sponsored by no less than the Republican presidential candidate Mr. John McCain. To wit, the bill allows the president to set up a government board to redefine any citizen “who is suspected of engaging in hostilities against the United States” as an “enemy combatant” and suspend their Constitutional rights:

·        “...An individual, including a citizen of the United States...

·        ...shall not, during interrogation under this subsection, be provided the statement required by Miranda v. Arizona...

·        ...the individual may or may not have to counsel or to remain silent consistent with Miranda v. Arizona...

·        ...may be detained without criminal charges and without trial for the duration of hostilities against the United States...

·        ...captured or otherwise comes into the custody or under the effective control of the United States by an intelligence agency of the United States may be held, interrogated, or transported by the intelligence agency... (RENDITION TORTURE?) [5]

Is this how The Republican Party protects citizen’s Liberties and seeks a “return to the wisdom and brilliance of the Founding Fathers”? What level of Constitutional incompetence thinks that you can legislate / modify / remove unalienable rights without going through the amendment process?  But there is more. The idiots who are the primary sponsors of this awful bill are McCain and Lieberman, both ‘presidential caliber’ politicians. Is this the best that either party has to offer to protect our Constitutional rights?

Many of the ‘T-Party’ type people are ex-Republicans just because of garbage like this.  They didn’t leave The Party, The Party left them.  Do you really expect patriotic people to fall in line with The Republican Party with this kind of behavior and track record?

Listen well to the following sentences my dear Republican Leadership. 

People who know the Constitution are educating the public, and there is a growing body politic that will not continue to compromise our future. If you are afraid of a split voter base, then don’t be... You can bank on it if you don’t dramatically change to restore our Constitution.   The conflict is changing. It’s no longer Republicans vs. Democrats,  it’s becoming Constitutionalists vs. Socialists (and socialist sympathizers).  We Patriots are anchoring ourselves to The Constitution, and if you continue to drift to the left (socialist), then you will be the ones that tear the conservative voting base apart. We are, and have been, on the road to hell and will no longer be a part of it.  Come back to your roots and aggressively restore the legal law of the land and we will support you.  If not, then the Republican leadership will be exposed as the Democrats in Drag that they are, and they will suffer split ticket and conservative Democrat defeats... even though frustrations are at record levels with our current administration. Take heed.

The Madison Institute Association

PS. So how has that Contract for America worked out for us? Let’s take a quick critical review on how effective some of the main planks that were set met those noble goals.

·        The Fiscal Responsibility Act sought “to restore fiscal responsibility to an out-of-control Congress” via a Balanced Budget Amendment and a Line Item Veto.  Just look at our current situation with the debts that we have and the answer is obvious that this was an utter failure.

·        The Taking Back Our Streets Act was an anti-crime package including stronger truth-in-sentencing, death penalty provisions, funding prison construction, Violent Criminal Incarceration Act, and Law Enforcement Block Grants; all passed to reduce crime. This also resulted in an exemption to the ‘exclusionary principle’ that allows evidence obtained from illegal searches to be admitted into court against the defendant(s) if an officer acted in ‘good faith’. "The exclusionary rule is grounded in the Fourth Amendment and it is intended to protect citizens from illegal searches and seizures."

This Act was the fore-runner to the Patriot Act that dramatically reduced restrictions on law enforcement agencies' ability to search telephone, e-mail communications, medical, financial, and other records; eased restrictions on foreign intelligence gathering within the United States.[6] While legislation supporting this act was passed, one has to ask themselves if this is really what the Founding Fathers meant when they talked of Liberty and Freedom.

·        The National Security Restoration Act demanded that the president “stop putting U.S. troops under U.N. command [and] stop raiding the defense budget to finance social programs and U.N. peacekeeping.” Actually the defense budget shrank between 1994 and 2002 [7], and president Bush put US soldiers under UN command in Georgia. [8] While there were some successes, the argument is somewhat an exercise in semantics as the US is still supporting UN ‘Peacekeeping’ missions in various foreign countries.[9]

·        The Personal Responsibility Act promised to “reduce government dependency, attack illegitimacy, require welfare recipients to work, and cut welfare spending. The fact is that while legislative bills were enacted in support of the Personal Responsibility Act welfare has increased every year since 1994. [10] Are we less dependent on government? I think not. While the legislation did limit welfare payouts it also did not pay for prenatal care / birthing, and did pay for abortions.[11]

Also, the promise was to limit welfare but there are exception for refugees and all who have “physical, developmental, or mental impairment.” Ever since, thousands upon thousands of immigrants are arriving in America with notes from foreign doctors, declaring them unfit to work and thus eligible for every American handout—including SSI benefits.[12] While the legislation was passed I would rate this as a failure to meet the goals proposed by the contract.

·        The American Dream Restoration Act was passed to create a $500-per-child tax credit, begin repeal of the marriage tax penalty, and creation of American Dream Savings Accounts to provide middle-class tax relief. All good, and kudos for making this happen.

·        The Common Sense Legal Reform Act enacted "Loser pays" laws, put limits on punitive damages and reform of product liability laws to “stem the endless tide of litigation”.[13] The bad part is that this legislation helps big business at the expense of average consumers. The assumptions fueling this bill were wrong and were argued by a well-financed corporate lobbying campaign. Products liability cases were not crowding the courts but are declining, and cases do not result in excessive damages for users of defective products.[14] The problem is that this is an example of the government limiting the trial by jury process.

·        The Job Creation and Wage Enhancement Act was a package of measures to act as small-business incentives: capital-gains cuts. Once again, all good and kudos for enacting this. However, our present unemployment situation is evidence that this didn’t fix some fundamental problems.

·        Senior Citizens Fairness Act was intended to raise the Social Security earnings limit which currently forces seniors out of the work force, repeal the 1993 tax hikes on Social Security benefits and provide tax incentives for private long-term care insurance to let Older Americans keep more of what they have earned over the years. This was not passed.

Legislatively speaking the overall the results were mixed, but meeting the main goals fell into the failed category. What can be said with confidence is that the Contract with America definitely did not return the United States ‘to the wisdom and brilliance of the Founding Fathers. Including the promise to return to limited government, individual liberty, free markets, personal responsibility, and the protection of American sovereignty’.

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