Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Debt Limit
Congress is set to raise the debt limit by $800 billion. This is obviously a necessary step to take to allow the Treasury to borrow in order to finance governmental activities. I also acknowledge that our current debt/deficit situation is not all to be blamed on President Bush and the GOP Congress, as there are factors beyond their respective control that contributed to the mess.
That said, it time to take some scissors and start cutting away. It is time for the Republicans to start acting like Republicans and cut waste, scale back operations, and reform entitlements so as to restore some semblance of fiscal sanity.
George Bush has a mandate because he won the election. The size of victory is utterly meaningless- being elected is the only mandate that counts. Republicans have a sizeable enough majority in both Houses to work for real change. It would be a colassal waste to be given this opportunity only to squander it with infighting and half-hearted attempts at reform.
It is odd that the conservative party should be the party of change and reform, but even Burke said that progress is the surest way to conserve a society. If the GOP makes no real effort to reform the social security system, reform the tax code, and scale back the size of government, then they will deserve to lose in 2008 or even before. Unfortunately for this country the Democratic party is in no shape to take control. If the GOP does not come to its senses, it might be time to turn to a third party. I would prefer not to go down that road, but I will also not support a party that does not do what is right for the Nation. I am confident that Bush will fight for what he believes is right, but what he thinks is right might not be the same as what I believe is right. I will continue that point in a follow-up post shortly.
That said, it time to take some scissors and start cutting away. It is time for the Republicans to start acting like Republicans and cut waste, scale back operations, and reform entitlements so as to restore some semblance of fiscal sanity.
George Bush has a mandate because he won the election. The size of victory is utterly meaningless- being elected is the only mandate that counts. Republicans have a sizeable enough majority in both Houses to work for real change. It would be a colassal waste to be given this opportunity only to squander it with infighting and half-hearted attempts at reform.
It is odd that the conservative party should be the party of change and reform, but even Burke said that progress is the surest way to conserve a society. If the GOP makes no real effort to reform the social security system, reform the tax code, and scale back the size of government, then they will deserve to lose in 2008 or even before. Unfortunately for this country the Democratic party is in no shape to take control. If the GOP does not come to its senses, it might be time to turn to a third party. I would prefer not to go down that road, but I will also not support a party that does not do what is right for the Nation. I am confident that Bush will fight for what he believes is right, but what he thinks is right might not be the same as what I believe is right. I will continue that point in a follow-up post shortly.
# posted by Paul Zummo : 10:15 AM
