Saturday, July 8, 2017

Drain the Swamp: Repeal McConnell, then Repeal Obamacare!

Townhall.com ^ | July 8, 2017 | Arthur Schaper 

On November 8th, the American people sent a clear message to Washington DC. We wanted to:
1. Make America Great Again—bring back jobs; reduce taxes; get rid of the IRS.
2. Secure our Borders—build the wall, beef up funding and hiring for border security; mandate E-verify.
3. Repeal Obamacare—and repeal all the other anti-free market, government interventionist programs disrupting our health care systems.
Most of the headlines I have read about Trump are welcome news, like the marked decrease in illegal alien crossings along our border, plus the rising number of arrests and deportations. Jobs are up, unemployment is down, and more states are prospering like never before.
Then I came across this article, a headline which I never want to see in the news:
McConnell Admits GOP May Not Repeal Obamacare
This is beyond outrageous. With strong majorities in both houses, plus an epic victory placing Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court after McConnell successful stalled Obama’s last nominee, one would think that advancing Trump’s agenda would not meet so many roadblocks. But US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is not leading. In fact, he’s the Bluegrass roadblock! He still hasn’t gotten the memo that his kind of backroom, back-slapping, horse-trading Republicanism is just as dead as the Democratic Party.
I don’t want the “adults in the room” pretending to govern. We need an active agenda of reform, streamlining, and outright removal of Washington DC from interference with the rights of the states and the people. Where’s the border wall? Where’s the repeal for Obamacare? How about tax reform, welfare reform, and the National Right to Work bill? Swamp thing, thy name is Mitch.
The tax-paying, voting public is getting restless, and we don’t have a real penchant for mincing words, either. We the People spoke loudly and clearly on Election Day. Republicans swept state legislatures in normally blue states as well as retaining power in the House and the United States Senate. Governors’ seats fell into Republicans hands, too. The Democratic Party is losing big, and they can cry if they want to, not that anyone really cares. Trump supporters are destroying the once-preeminent establishment of Big Media as well as Big Business and Big Labor, all the corrupt special interests which had been getting rich while Americans were growing poor.
Sadly, the Establishment GOP, Washington “progressive” Republicans like Mitch are still holding onto the reins of power. McConnell’s meandering capitulation on Obamacare is the last straw. Besides, the US Senate’s latest iteration of repeal met a brick wall of its own. For Cruz, Lee, Johnson, and Paul, It didn’t do enough to repeal. As for the pro-choice Republicans, they don’t want to defund Planned Murderhood, and Dean Heller of Nevada fears the bluish contour of his electorate. Does McConnell want to repeal Obamacare? Senate Leader Mitch refuses to lead.
My answer: step up, put up or shut up. True leadership depends on having a plan of action, fulfilling the promises that you ran on to win, and that got you elected to higher office. This round of failures, this foppish unwillingness to fight for anything but one’s cushy retirement and an elected sinecure in one’s home state is too much to tolerate.
This country needs a majority leader in the United States Senate who will step up to the challenges of unifying an otherwise unwieldy caucus of moderate to conservative members. Jeff Flake is facing primary challenge, so he should get along with the will of the conservative grassroots, or get lost. If US Senator Heller doesn’t want to follow through on a nation-wide promise to repeal Obamacare, then McConnell should confront Heller with US Senator Cory Gardner, the current chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee: “Repeal Obamacare with us, or forget the funding for your re-election bid.”
This country needs a majority leader who will put up a real fight with the Democrats. Does McConnell even know how to count? There are 52 Republicans, and they can count on Vice President Pence to break a tie if needed. Cryin’ Chuck Schumer is as toxic to his endangered peers for Election 2018 as is Nancy Pelosi for her dwindling Democratic caucus.
I say McConnell needs to shut up, pack up, and take off. This man is the lingering vestiges of nice-nice, bi-partisan cronyism. Log-rolling is not going to save our country, especially when the Democratic Party has embraced political views so anti-constitutional and un-American.
Future Republican leaders need to take another look at the battleground map going into 2018. They have a solid chance at 5 easy wins, with possibly three more pickups. The caucus has the upper hand. We don’t need squishy compromisers more interested in keeping the peace, while the rest of us pay dearly for their comity. It’s time to bring down this reign of error in Washington. The grassroots with the House’s conservative leadership lead the charge to bounce John Boehner from the Speakership two years ago. What would it take to repeal McConnell? Surely getting rid of McConnell could not be that difficult—and Obamacare repeal would follow.

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