With election day Tuesday, it seems like everywhere I go in search of news I see headlines predicting the Democrats regaining control of the House and Senate. This is what’s going on, if the media is to be believed: there’s great disenchantment within the GOP; the main voting base of the Republican Party is disgusted with the way the party has handled everything the last six years, and plans to either vote Democratic in protest, or not vote at all; every undecided or independent voter in America will be voting for a Democrat.
Up to a point, the media is correct. There is a fair amount of disappointment in the Republican Congressional leadership. They’ve had every opportunity to be fiscally responsible, to cut spending, eliminate bureaucratic excesses and restrict lobbyist influence peddling. Instead, we got the largest federal budget in history. Government spending on pork projects has grown obscenely. They could have taken serious actions to close the border between the U.S. and Mexico, and move to deport those illegals already in this country. Nothing doing. We get a bill authorizing a 700 mile fence. Nice, except that the fence will be a couple thousand miles short. The broadest base of the Republican Party, those of us in the red states, voted these jokers into office to do those type things. Because they have neglected these duties, there IS a sense of disappointment among Conservatives.
But the Republicans have been doing some things right, some very important things. The most important issue facing this nation right now is security. President Bush and the Republicans have led the fight to keep this nation safe and secure. We haven’t been attacked since September 11th. We’ve liberated the Iraqi people, who now have a government that was freely elected and which represents all of the Iraqi people. The U.S. economy is growing stronger and more vibrant than ever before. We’ve seen record stock market prices, record home ownership levels, lower and lower unemployment, millions of new jobs… it goes on and on. The President’s tax cuts have made a difference, putting more money in everyone’s pockets and, in turn, building the economy. More renewable fuel facilities have been constructed or proposed in the last six years than ever before, to help lessen our dependency on foreign fuels.
What can we expect from the Republicans if they retain control of both houses of Congress? I’d like to be optimistic, but I fear that we’ll see more of the same. But if the Democrats were to gain control of the House or, worse yet, both the House and Senate… you know what we’ll see. The War of Terror will be compromised because the military will be pulled from Iraq, and perhaps Afghanistan too. The tax cuts which have spurred the economy will be eliminated. Our taxes will go back up. The Estate Tax, aka the “Death Tax“, will be rolled back out. Charles Rangel, who could wind up chairing the House Ways & Means Committee, has gone on the record saying there are no Bush tax cuts he wouldn‘t try to overturn. The minimum wage will be increased dramatically. This country will move closer and closer to socialization of medical care. In every aspect, the liberal agenda will be pushed further and further.
It’s a simple thing for those of us who believe in liberty and individual rights and freedoms. We can cast a hopeful vote for the Republican candidate for House or Senate and hope they’ll represent us like we expect them to. Or, we hold our nose and vote for the Democrat. In that case, we get what we deserve.
