Dim-Bulb GOP Deficit Reduction Committee Picks

Timothy Birdnow

Richard Viguerie warns about the Boehner appointments to the new deficit reduction committee.

From the article:

http://www.conservativehq.com/node/4054

"The appointment of House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton of Michigan is less encouraging. Conservatives opposed the appointment of Upton to the important Energy and Commerce Chairmanship for a number of reasons, not the least of which was his sponsorship of the much-hated incandescent light bulb ban.

The fact that Upton made it through the tangled GOP Steering Committee process to gain the powerful Energy and Commerce Chairmanship was the first inkling Tea Party activists had that the establishment’s grip on the House GOP was as strong as ever.

Hensarling and Camp have generally been regarded as strong fiscal conservatives, however the compromises they have made to gain leadership positions have caused many activists outside the Beltway to question their willingness to buck the business-as-usual elite and make the hard choices necessary to stop the spending crisis.

Both Upton and Camp voted for the TARP Wall Street bailout and the Boehner debt ceiling deal. Hensarling, who led the opposition to TARP, and because of that was in the doghouse with Boehner for several years, apparently checked those qualms at the door when he became House Republican Conference Chairman – he has been nearly invisible on spending issues this Congress, except when he comes forth to rally support for Boehner’s instinct to make a deal, as he did on the debt ceiling vote."

End excerpt.

Given the track record of Speaker Boner, I would say Mr. Viguerie's misgivings are well founded; remember the deal Boehner cut to stop the government shutdown back just a few months ago? He gave us millions in cuts! Then he expressed surprise at the fact that most "cuts" were phantoms, the merest ectoplasmic whisps. Boehner isn't a guy who really wants to significantly reduce the size and scope of government; he's an establishment man. Why go into politics if not to enjoy it?

Frankly, Upton has given us the "up yours" with his light-bulb ban; do we really want a guy advocating dim bulbs to be our shining light here? Upton has a score of 56 by the American Conservative Union - Hardly a guy we can count on to stand in the gap.

And these committees always favor Democrats, because of their "bipartisan" nature and the implicit need for amity and agreement of the members - and the pressure by the media. By their very nature they demand compromise, and compromise is something we simply cannot live with anymore. We are being nickel and dimed to death; a death by a thousand papercuts. This has to stop, and now, or the Republic is doomed.

You don't start by throwing away trillions; you start by throwing away millions, then billions. That is exactly how we have gotten into this mess. We think of a billion as an ordinary person thinks of pocket change. It wasn't always like that. But we became accustomed to waste and a million here and a million there has added up to the trillions we now owe. When someone bleeds to death they rarely lose gallons of blood; it come out in ounces. Soon ounces turn to pints, to quarts...

This committee won't see things that way. They'll want to get along, so will not quibble over a paltry billion here and there. We cannot solve our problems that way.

This committee will, in the end, prove to be just another way to waste taxpayer money. We've already HAD a deficit reduction committee, and His Majesty simply rejected it. How will this be different? The Democrats in Congress will find a way around implementing any reductions they do not like (meaning all of them).

"Hey brother, can you spare a dime?" "Nope; it's all gone to service the Obama debt."