The Discerning Texan
All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing.
-- Edmund Burke
-- Edmund Burke
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
How to get things back on track
Brendan Mintner has a three-step prescription for how the Republicans can sieze the initiative and regain momentum in the coming year. Well worth the read. For example:
On Friday Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dropped in on U.S. Marines in Fallujah, Iraq. The day before, the White House made sure his trips to war zones wouldn't endanger national security by rewriting the Pentagon's succession rules to allow Gordon England, the acting deputy defense secretary, to be in charge should something happen to Mr. Rumsfeld.
It's a relief to know that now a lucky strike by insurgents (or a sudden illness) can't throw the Pentagon into disarray. But that the rewrite was necessary at all is an indictment of the U.S. Senate and an indication of why Republicans are in danger of losing control of Congress.
Mr. England wasn't already in line to succeed Mr. Rumsfeld for the simple reason that Sen. Olympia Snowe, a Maine Republican, is mad at him. She placed a "hold" on his nomination because she feels he didn't do enough in recent years to keep naval installations open in her state. President Bush could sidestep the hold and give Mr. England a recess appointment, which would allow him to serve until the beginning of 2007. But under the old rules an "acting" deputy couldn't assume the powers of the secretary in an emergency, so there was a glaring hole in the Pentagon's line of succession.
While the Senate fiddles, the rest of us have time to wonder if Republicans will ever again start acting like a party that wants to change the culture in Washington. A look back over this past year gives little reason to be hopeful.
From making the tax cuts permanent to reauthorizing the Patriot Act, this Congress has preferred to kick the can down the road. And on Social Security and other necessary entitlement reforms as well as giving the president's nominees to key posts within the bureaucracy an up or down vote, the current crop of GOP leaders is dropping the ball.
One wasted political year doesn't have to follow another, however. There are a few things Republicans can do in the coming months to put the country in a better position to tackle its large and looming problems.
The first would be for President Bush to veto something. Any piece of legislation would do, and it should be easy enough to pick out a bill Sen. Snowe is particularly fond of to send back to Congress. (Though there are plenty of other Republican senators to target--George Voinovich and Susan Collins come immediately to mind.) The president hasn't yet used his veto pen, so this simple step would send shockwaves through the city and go a long way to giving the White House a better whip hand with Congress. Only so many times can a president threaten a veto without actually exercising the power and still be taken seriously, and this president has long ago surpassed that threshold.
It would be all the better if he vetoed a large spending bill, forcing Congress to strip out the pork before sending it back to his desk. The process would be therapeutic for all involved.
The man has a point. And a few other good points as well... It is time for the President, and especially for the prima donnas that Republicans elected to represent them in the Senate to get off their collective duffs and do what we elected them to do.
On Friday Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dropped in on U.S. Marines in Fallujah, Iraq. The day before, the White House made sure his trips to war zones wouldn't endanger national security by rewriting the Pentagon's succession rules to allow Gordon England, the acting deputy defense secretary, to be in charge should something happen to Mr. Rumsfeld.
It's a relief to know that now a lucky strike by insurgents (or a sudden illness) can't throw the Pentagon into disarray. But that the rewrite was necessary at all is an indictment of the U.S. Senate and an indication of why Republicans are in danger of losing control of Congress.
Mr. England wasn't already in line to succeed Mr. Rumsfeld for the simple reason that Sen. Olympia Snowe, a Maine Republican, is mad at him. She placed a "hold" on his nomination because she feels he didn't do enough in recent years to keep naval installations open in her state. President Bush could sidestep the hold and give Mr. England a recess appointment, which would allow him to serve until the beginning of 2007. But under the old rules an "acting" deputy couldn't assume the powers of the secretary in an emergency, so there was a glaring hole in the Pentagon's line of succession.
While the Senate fiddles, the rest of us have time to wonder if Republicans will ever again start acting like a party that wants to change the culture in Washington. A look back over this past year gives little reason to be hopeful.
From making the tax cuts permanent to reauthorizing the Patriot Act, this Congress has preferred to kick the can down the road. And on Social Security and other necessary entitlement reforms as well as giving the president's nominees to key posts within the bureaucracy an up or down vote, the current crop of GOP leaders is dropping the ball.
One wasted political year doesn't have to follow another, however. There are a few things Republicans can do in the coming months to put the country in a better position to tackle its large and looming problems.
The first would be for President Bush to veto something. Any piece of legislation would do, and it should be easy enough to pick out a bill Sen. Snowe is particularly fond of to send back to Congress. (Though there are plenty of other Republican senators to target--George Voinovich and Susan Collins come immediately to mind.) The president hasn't yet used his veto pen, so this simple step would send shockwaves through the city and go a long way to giving the White House a better whip hand with Congress. Only so many times can a president threaten a veto without actually exercising the power and still be taken seriously, and this president has long ago surpassed that threshold.
It would be all the better if he vetoed a large spending bill, forcing Congress to strip out the pork before sending it back to his desk. The process would be therapeutic for all involved.
The man has a point. And a few other good points as well... It is time for the President, and especially for the prima donnas that Republicans elected to represent them in the Senate to get off their collective duffs and do what we elected them to do.
