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Paul Ryan says House Republicans are going to demand something in exchange for raising the debt ceiling again in February.

We shall see: Paul Ryan says House Republicans are going to demand something in exchange for raising the debt ceiling again in February.

Though I’m glad he’s saying this, forgive me if I am skeptical. The Republican leadership in the House has proven itself weak and willing to back down all too often. For example, they have allowed the lie that they alone caused the government shutdown to become accepted as truth, merely by acting as if it were true. The result: they were unwilling to demand any concessions in the just completed budget negotiations, even though they had a strong hand and could have easily obtained concessions, especially on Obamacare.

Then there’s this: Ten quotes that explain why conservatives do not trust the Republican Party.

His conclusion is most pertinent:

Incidentally, the solution to all of this is not to leave the Republican Party. To the contrary, it’s to treat the Republican Party like a puppy that’s having difficulty with house training. When Republicans do the right thing, praise them, support them and do what you can to help them out. When they do the wrong thing, rub their noses in it. Attack Republicans who betray their principles relentlessly, primary them at every opportunity and take over the Republican Party so we can shove the politicians who won’t listen to us to the side. While we will never be able to build an entire party full of men like Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and Rand Paul, we can make it miserable enough for bad actors that the go-along-to-get-along Republicans will conclude it’s better to work with us than face primaries and incessant attacks from their own side in the new media. Most people don’t realize it, but we have already started moving the Republican Party to the Right and the time will come when Republicans are just as afraid of their base as Democrats are of Planned Parenthood and the unions. It’s not going to happen overnight, but if we keep going after Republicans who sell us out, even the ones that are as hostile as John McCain, Peter King and Lindsey Graham will eventually have to get on board if they want to keep their jobs.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

8 comments

  • Edward

    “the solution to all of this is … take over the Republican Party so we can shove the politicians who won’t listen to us to the side.”

    It looks to me like the Democrats have been employing this strategy for long enough that the Republican leadership is already comprised of Democrats.

  • Kelly Starks

    Both republicans and dems are having core turn overs in their philosophies etc. Making both less moderate.
    One point of conflict is the new Tea Party like politicians would rather lose, or at least get nothing, while standing on their principles against something. The older hands would rather get little, or at least take no losses, for a cause or principle they can’t possibly win anything for. Which you think is the best path tells a lot about you.

    ;)

  • Edward

    Hmm. Fight tyranny and possibly lose, or accept tyranny and declare victory.

  • Don

    By the time that happens what will be remain of America?

  • Kelly Starks

    Fight and lose, or compromise and rein things in somewhat……

  • Edward

    Except that the compromises are less reining in things and more capitulation. Each “compromise” leaves us with less freedom, more debt, or both — never more freedom or less debt. Thus, each is an acceptance of tyranny.

    The question is whether you hope for change back to freedom or you accept tyranny.

  • Kelly Starks

    > Except that the compromises are less reining in things and more capitulation…

    So you don’t compromise and choose to lose everything?

  • Edward

    Kelly Starks,

    Everything *is* lost through all of those compromises. Review Fabian Socialism:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabian_Society
    Rather than shock a country with socialism all at once, they gradually introduce socialism until the entire country has come to accept it as the new normal. This is where the analogy of “how do you boil a frog?” comes from.

    This is what has been happening to the US for about a century. One compromise at a time.

    The difference between President Obama and past presidents is that Obama is not a Fabian. The difference between our current Congress and past Congresses is that the current one is not Fabian. They are now trying to fundamentally transform America into a socialist society. They have already turned it into a fascist one, with all the crony capitalism; the rewarding of friends and punishment of enemies; and the control of the financial industry, the healthcare industry, and much of the auto industry. Did I miss any industries controlled by government?

    Oh, and the silencing of any opposition is another aspect of fascism and socialism.

    If we compromise, we lose everything. And so do our posterity.

    That you think that the losing strategy of compromise is the best strategy tells a lot about you.

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