Sunday, October 03, 2010

Sweeping out Democrats will start, but not finish, needed work

Those who will be voting Republican in November as the best practical option in protest of the unprecedented growth in government power that has taken place over the last decade should realize that, while they will have improved the situation, there will still be work to do after that election. Exhibit One in that regard could be Rep. Joe Barton (R-Arlington).

The House Republican caucus, in an effort to prevent members of Congress from using committee leadership as a means of growing their own personal fiefdoms, has a rule preventing members from serving more than three terms as the chairman or ranking member of a committee. One wonders what exactly he would find to be outside the arena of federal control.

Rep. Barton, anticipating the return of majority control to the Republicans, has now taken up the argument that the rule should not apply to him. In a fit of immodesty, he even manages to compare himself to Moses, saying that such a denial of chairmanships to ranking members would be like getting "to the Promised Land and, like Moses, we're not able to enter."

Of course, Rep. Barton has long had an issue with limited government. Having decided that Congress has adequately managed all of the important problems, he has been on a long crusade to allow the federal government to manage the affairs of college football's bowl championship series.

Rep. Barton is not the only north Texas congressman who sees representation in Congress as an opportunity to horde power and raid the federal treasury. Rep. Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth) has gone on record saying that she hopes that Republicans will abandon their opposition to earmarks in the coming term.

By 2006, the country had tired of Republicans who gave lip service to limited government while increasing federal power and spending just like they accused Democrats of doing. People appalled by Democratic spending in the last two years are not seeking Democrat-Lite -- everything you always wanted in a Democrat, just less. If Republicans return to business as usual after November, they will be similarly abandoned again.

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