Home > Perspective

On Earthquakes and Tsunamis

by John F. Tamburo, Editor in Chief, Publisher
Originally Posted: 11/12/2010 11:30:33 AM

In 2008, even nominally conservative pundits were bemoaning the death of small government Conservatism. Yet, even then, Conservatives outnumbered the Leftists, who had taken the White House, and increased their majorities in both houses of Congress, because of a well-engineered but fraudulent veneer of moderation. As soon as the election was over, the veneer was stripped, leaving the United States with the most extremely Leftist government in its history.

Within one year of Barack Obama’s inauguration, there were warning signs that the people were angry with the fraud. Virginia, touted as a red-state-turned-blue, elected a conservative Republican governor. Chris Christie became the Jason of the Democrats’ Friday the 13th nightmares, as he wielded a merciless-but-necessary budgetary machete to save his state from the oblivion of bankruptcy. And, then the Earthquake: Scott Brown, a right-of-center Republican, won election to the U.S. Senate seat from Massachusetts, held by a Kennedy (first John F. Kennedy, and then Ted Kennedy) for over half a century.

The people were ticked. Mr. Obama and his Congressional allies had a chance to swing to the center and avoid the Tsunami that the Earthquake heralded. If they were to give up on the massively-wasteful “stimulus” that did more to reward government employees’ labor unions than to actually put non-government citizens to work, the Tsunami might have fizzled. If they had given up on the massively unpopular health-care boondoggle instead of ramming it through the Congress without a single GOP vote in either house, and overriding a filibuster in the Senate, the Tsunami might have fizzled.

Instead, the Left adopted a “We know what’s good for you, and we’ll enact it no matter what you think” philosophy. Instead of fizzling the Tsunami, the Left amplified the Tsunami, resulting in the rise of the Tea Party coalitions, and the near-complete conversion of independents to GOP loyalty – at least for this election cycle.

And the Tsunami’s first wave crashed ashore on November 2, 2010. The GOP took over 60 House seats away from the Left, and six Senate seats have switched. Now, this cannot be taken as an endorsement of the GOP, which ran on a “We’re not Obama” platform. Had the GOP candidates uniformly endorsed the Paul Ryan plan, and Jim DeMint’s no-earmarks pledge, the results may have resulted in a GOP majority in the Senate as well.

Even more important to the GOP is its ransack of Leftist state houses across the country, right before redistricting in response to the 2010 Census. The GOP will gerrymander many seats to favor its party and thus disadvantage the Left even further. The 2010 election was the Tsunami after the Earthquake in its Congressional victories; the State House wins were a second earthquake, promising a second Tsunami in 2012.

To the Left: Do you want to avoid a Tsunami? Here’s what to do:

1.        1. Do not raise taxes at all. You need to get out of the way of the economy. In fact, a slight tax cut will likely boost revenues.

2.        2. Stop the plans to choke the economy with dubious “climate change” legislation. The people want none of your activism for extreme interests.

3.        3. Dramatically cut government spending. The people know that we can’t afford it, no matter what nonsense Paul Krugman sputters. The recent deficit commission report suggests a nice start to balancing the budget, but it’s nowhere near enough, and is the product of an unaffordable compromise. Everything in the budget, including defense, needs to be on the table.

4.        4. Seal the Border. Put up a wall with armed guards, create a fast-track means to deport illegals within 24 hours of capture, enact strict prohibitions on employing illegals.

What the GOP must do to be more than a caretaker elected in anger, and void being swept out to sea in 2012:

1.        1. Repeal the PATRIOT Act, and dramatically reduce the size of, and perhaps even disband, the department of Homeland Security. Bureaucratic nightmares do nothing to protect us, and the freedoms infringed by this draconian legislation are too precious to put at risk. If Homeland Security is still to exist, use it as a place where all law enforcement agencies in the Federal Government are merged into a single police force of reduced size, with the FBI as the elite force within that structure. Eliminate ATF, DEA, Postal Inspectors, etc., and merge their functions into a United States Police Force.

2.        2. Once the border is sealed, adopt a reasonable plan to allow immigrants to enter the country more freely, provided that said immigrants do not have criminal records and are otherwise not a threat, and there is someone who will sponsor said immigrants so that they do not end up in the welfare system.

3.        3. Don’t renege on promises to cut spending heavily and to attempt to repeal the offensive legislation passed in 2009 and 2010. While spending cuts can be compromised a little, the repeal of the health care boondoggle and protective measures to prevent more “stimulus” must be adhered to. Sign on to Jim DeMint’s no-earmarks plan!

The survival of our country is at stake. We need to stop the bickering and concentrate on the essentials.