The Nature of the Betrayal

A couple of decades ago, the Communist Party in Great Britain became a laughingstock when it was revealed that they had made millions of dollars through investments in the stock market. While most organizations might consider a good return on their investments to be a positive, the Communist Party's profiting from capitalism amounted to a fundamental betrayal of its principles.

The Republican Party suffers from a comparable betrayal. Many people are pointing to the debate over immigration as the primary issue in the Republican Party's demise. Although that is the issue of the day, Republican discontent flows from more fundamental issues. The Republican Party has for more than two decades stood as the party of limited government. Whether speaking of the budget, the role of the judiciary, or the reach of federal regulators, Republicans have taken positions that that would keep the federal government within carefully defined roles -- at least more carefully defined than what would be favored by Democrats.

Now, a Republican Congress is riddled by charges of corruption -- some of it legal, some of it not -- and, yet, persists as though they can continue with business as usual. Today's exhibit, cited by National Review Online, is Kentucky Congressman Hal Rogers, who as Chair of the House Homeland Security Committee has enriched his campaign war chest and his district at the expense of the safety of the country.

Only a couple of years ago, there was talk of a somewhat permanent Republican majority taking shape. That possibility has been thrown away by a Congress and a President who have been wrong -- not about the war, not about immigration -- about the size and reach of government. If government growth will not be controlled, their is frankly little reason to elect Republicans.