GOP Again The Stupid - And Self-Destructive - Party
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Principle: ObamaCare is failing and more unchecked immigration would ensure Republicans' demise, yet GOP leaders are surrendering on both issues. Poised to win big in November, their best strategy may be to shut up.
Sometimes it seems as if top congressional Republicans have seen the movie "Animal House" one too many times, specifically the hazing scene with Kevin Bacon repeatedly saying, "Thank you, sir. May I have another?" each time he gets paddled on his rear.
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, sees a very dubious stat claiming that more than 600,000 residents of her state got new insurance through the state exchange, and she proceeds to declare that ObamaCare is a permanent fixture of American life.
"We need to look at reforming the exchanges" instead of repealing ObamaCare, said the fourth-ranking House GOP leader, whose election to that post a year and a half ago was described by TheHill.com as "a victory for party leaders over insurgent conservatives."
Wow, the Exchange Reform Party. That's really what Ronald Reagan had in mind when he emphasized that ideas have consequences, so Republicans must raise "a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors."
What would Rodgers' "reforming the exchanges" slogan be for the GOP congressional campaigns this year? "Fine-Tuning We Can Believe In"?
She — and, frankly, other GOP leaders, too — are allowing President Obama to set the political narrative.
Earlier this month, the president sneered that Republicans were going "through the stages of grief" over losing on ObamaCare. In other words, this is Social Security or Medicare all over again, with the GOP complaining and vowing to repeal a new entitlement, but eventually coming to accept and embrace it as irreversible.
With its skyrocketing costs, botched bureaucracy and numerous promises betrayed, ObamaCare is one of the least popular government schemes in history, yet "leaders" such as Rodgers are keen to follow whatever socialist unknown it leads to.
Pale pastel indeed. And not content with only flagellating themselves on ObamaCare, House Speaker John Boehner and other GOP leaders continue their needless, self-destructive push for immigration "reform."
As pointed out in the Washington Post over the weekend, registering a multitude of Hispanics through amnesty could quickly enhance their voting clout in now-solid red states such as Texas and Arizona, possibly "reducing Republicans' already weak standing with the Hispanic voters (and future voters)" — an unthinkable shot in the foot for the party to inflict on itself.
When Democrats accuse the Tea Party of holding a gun to the heads of the GOP, they have it mixed up. Republicans are holding a gun to their own heads. Why? Certain big business interests insist they do this so they can employ the cheap, unskilled labor that our Democrat-friendly immigration policies produce — and that an amnesty-based "reform" would only perpetuate.
If Republicans wish to win — a big if — it's time to stop the self-loathing, demand ObamaCare's repeal and refuse to legalize millions of new Democrats.