Republicans Lose Third Special House Election in a Row

A Republican House candidate has lost a special election in Mississippi in what was normally a safe Republican district. With previous losses in Illinois and Louisiana, this defeat makes the third in a row. Disaster for House Republicans looms in November.

This prospect is a bitter irony, considering that the Democrats are about to nominate one of the least qualified, most liberal Presidential candidates in decades, thus setting up a landslide thrashing for the top of the ticket in November. If the Republican candidate can avoid annoying his conservative base too much, while attracting independents and disaffected Democrats, John McCain has an excellent chance of winning by a landslide of Nixon-McGovern or Reagan-Mondale dimensions. Then he would take office confronted with the most leftist Congress since the 1930s.

How did the nation and the Republican Party get to this point? How did they arrive at the brink of the abyss?

The problem was that having gotten power in 1994, thanks to the Gingrich Revolution, Congressional Republicans eventually forgot why the voters gave them that power to start with. Instead of governing conservatively, which would have implied restricting both taxes and spending, Congressional Republicans spent much of their majority enjoying the perks of power by embracing spending, especially earmarks. Earmarking, more commonly known as pork barrel spending, is the name for a corrupt practice of allocating money to special projects in various Congressional districts outside the appropriations process for the political benefit of members of Congress. Congressional Republicans also failed to pass conservative reforms, such as private accounts in Social Security and making the Bush tax cuts permanent.

True, Congressional Republicans have been firm on the War and national security issues. It would be a cold comfort, though, if Democrats are able to expand their majorities in this year's election to the extent that they can cut off funding for the war, thus raising the white flag of surrender.

Is there anything that can be done to stave off the disaster facing Congressional Republicans brought about by their own fecklessness? Fortunately there is, courtesy of the man who engineered the 1994 revolution that brought about the first Republican majority in Congress is forty years.

Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House, now commentator, author, and activist has suggested that Congressional Republicans embrace a nine point agenda for change and promise to implement it. These are:

"Repeal the gas tax for the summer, and pay for the repeal by cutting domestic discretionary spending so that the transportation infrastructure trust fund would not be hurt. At a time when, according to The Hill newspaper, Senator Clinton is asking for $2.3billion in earmarks, it should be possible for Republicans to establish a "government spending versus your pocketbook" fight over cutting the gas tax that would resonate with most Americans. Lower taxes and less government spending should be a battle cry most taxpayers and all conservatives could rally behind.

"Redirect the oil being put into the national petroleum reserve onto the open market. That oil would lower the price of gasoline an extra 5 to 6 cents per gallon, and its sale would lower the deficit.

"Introduce a "more energy at lower cost with less environmental damage and greater national security bill" as a replacement for the Warner-Lieberman "tax and trade" bill which is coming to the floor of the Senate in the next few weeks (see my newsletter next week for an outline of a solid pro-economy, pro-national security, pro-environment energy bill). When the American people realize how much the current energy prices are actually a "politicians' energy crisis" they will demand real change in our policies.

"Establish an earmark moratorium for one year and pledge to uphold the presidential veto of bills with earmarks through the end of 2009. The American people are fed up with politicians spending their money. They currently believe both parties are equally bad. This is a real opportunity to show the difference.

"Overhaul the census and cut its budget radically. The recent announcement that the Census Bureau could not build an effective hand-held computer for $1.3 billion and is turning instead to 600,000 temporary workers to do a paper and pencil census in 2010 is an opportunity to slash its budget, shrink its bureaucracy, and turn to entrepreneurial internet-based companies to build an information-age census. This is an absurdity that cries out for bold, decisive.

"Implement a space-based, GPS-style air traffic control system. The problems of the Federal Aviation Administration are symptoms of a union-dominated bureaucracy resisting change. If we implemented a space-based GPS-style air traffic system we would get 40% more air travel with one-half the bureaucrats. The union has stopped 200,000,000 passengers from enjoying more reliable air travel to protect 7,000 obsolete jobs. This real change would allow the millions of frustrated travelers to have champions in congress trying to help them get places better, safer, faster.

"Declare English the official language of government. This real change is supported by 87% of the American people including a majority of Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and Latinos. It is an issue of national unity that brings Americans together in a red, white, and blue majority.

"Protect the workers' right to a secret ballot. The vast majority (around 81%) of Americans believe that American workers have a right to have a secret ballot election before they are forced to join a union. Last year the House Democrats passed a bill that would strip American workers of the secret ballot. A new bill should be introduced reaffirming that right, and it should be brought up again and again until marginal Democrats are forced to vote with the American people against the union power structure.

"Remind Americans that judges matter. Senate Republicans should mount an ongoing fight (including a filibuster of other activities if necessary) to get the American people to realize that liberals want to block all current judicial appointments in order to maximize the number of left wing radical judges they can appoint if they win the White House. This issue has three advantages. It reminds people that judges matter and that a leftwing radical Supreme Court would be bad for the values of most (70 to 90 percent, depending on the issue) Americans. It shows the Democrats are not engaged in fair play. It arouses the activism of those who have been disappointed by Republicans and have forgotten how bad a liberal Democratic Presidency would be."

If the reader thinks this sounds like a new Contract With America, the reader would be right. In 1994 Newt Gingrich drew up a document called The Contract With America and persuaded Republican members and candidates for Congress to sign it, pledging to vote to implement its promises. The promises were common sense reforms such as term limits, requiring a super majority for tax increases, and so on. The media and Democrats hooted at the idea and called it a gimmick. The gimmick won the Republicans over fifty House seats and a majority that lasted twelve years.

I would add maybe a handful of items to what amounts to a new Contract, including making the Bush tax cuts permanent, dropping the corporate tax rate by ten points, pledging to win the War on Terror, opening ANWR and other places to drilling, and so on. The reader no doubt has their own ideas.

Will the Republican Congressional leadership, having failed so far to heed what the voters are telling them, finally listen? Some are making noises that they are, but actions will speak louder than words.

Sources: GOP Stunned by Loss in Mississippi, Reid Wilson, RealClear Politics, May 14th, 2008
My Plea to Republicans: It is Time for Real Change to Avoid Disaster, Newt Gingrich
The Republican Contract With America