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Freshman Republicans hold the leadership’s feet to the fire

February 11, 2011
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  Two days ago I wrote a post about the Republicans’ proposed appropriations bill which would eliminate or reduce dozens of government programs and cut $74 billion from the federal budget.  In that post I wrote that this represented a good starting point, but not everyone agreed–including some of the conservative commentors here. And as it turns out they were not alone because the freshman Republicans also felt that these cuts were not deep enough, especially in light of the promise included in the “Pledge to America” to cut $100 billion from the budget.

  So the freshman Republicans called for an “emergency meeting” with the establishment Republicans and emerged from that meeting with a new appropriations bill which would meet the promised cuts in the budget of $100 billion.

The freshmen, who obviously are just in their first month of serving, want to make sure that this is a Congress that can earn the respect of the people that sent them here,” said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.). “And first thing’s first and that is to earn the trust. And that means to deliver on your promises and that’s what we do by this bill
    Naturally the media is going to use this as a means to continue the narrative that the Republican party is splitting apart, but what this really shows us is the fact that it is no longer going to be acceptable for the Republicans to campaign on an issue only to move more towards the center after the election. The fact that the freshmen Republicans did not simply fall in lockstep with the leadership of the party is good news.
 
  In 2006 many Democrats who won election promised to be an independent voice for their state but they succumbed to the pressures exerted on them by Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and the other leaders in the Democrat party, as most of them voted with the leadership well over 90% of the time. The Democrat leadership basically said to them, “this is how we do it in Washington and if you do not do as we say, you will be on your own at election time” and the newly elected Democrats simply did as they were told.
 
  If this is any indication of things to come it looks as if there is a new sheriff in town and the freshman Republicans might actually hold the Republican leadership’s feet to the fire.
 
from → Politics
13 Comments leave one →
  1. John Carey's avatar
    John Carey permalink
    February 12, 2011 12:25 am

    This is good news Steve. Finally a few entrenching themselves in principle. I like it!

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    • Steve Dennis's avatar
      Steve Dennis permalink*
      February 12, 2011 8:45 am

      This may be a small step, but it is encouraging to see that the rookies are not just going to fall in line!

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  2. Matt's avatar
    Matt permalink
    February 12, 2011 2:30 am

    I’m liking this Steve. This is why we elected them in November. Hopefully, we can send them some more help in 2012.

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    • Steve Dennis's avatar
      Steve Dennis permalink*
      February 12, 2011 8:45 am

      They are still going to need all the help they can get and hopefully the backups will be coming in a couple of years.

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  3. rjjrdq's avatar
    rjjrdq permalink
    February 12, 2011 10:35 pm

    Politicians who understand that they work for the people? Quite a refreshing change.

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  4. Bunkerville's avatar
    Bunkerville permalink
    February 13, 2011 11:24 am

    Looking good for once. Message received.

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  5. Conservatives on Fire's avatar
    Conservatives on Fire permalink
    February 14, 2011 3:38 pm

    Now THAT is a good first step! Good news, Steve. Thanks for sharing that bit f good news. I needed that.

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  6. Reaganite Republican's avatar
    Reaganite Republican permalink
    February 14, 2011 4:59 pm

    After talk of promptly co opting the TEA Party, I’m really encouraged to see them stick to their guns… these are some of the most sincere politicians this country’s seen in a coon’s age

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    • Steve Dennis's avatar
      Steve Dennis permalink*
      February 14, 2011 9:13 pm

      Meanwhile the media is still trying to portray this as bad for the Republican party…..

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