CRASH: We Just Won A Battle, Not The War

If we took a small break from activism to savor a hard-won victory in this past mid-term election, that is fine.  If you think we are victorious and the fight is complete, you are badly mistaken.  We have only started.  Your break is over; gear up, and move back to the front.  (H/T Dale Franks @ QandO)

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Washington, DC, is a powerful place, and we are sending people into a deeply broken machine.  It grinds up new meat, and reforms it to fit...or it spits it out.  The Political Class with "R" behind their names is sometimes little different from the Collective...sometimes NO different, and they all have to be controlled.  They will not control themselves, as we know too well.

But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, along with other Senate leaders from both parties, say that earmarking is a constitutional right and senatorial privilege and show little interest in relinquishing the decades-long practice of inserting pet projects into appropriations bills.

On Thursday, McConnell, who has secured $113 million in earmarks this past year, declined to say whether he’d support DeMint’s moratorium. Instead, he framed the issue as a debate over whether Congress should give the president unchecked spending authority.

“Every president, Republican or Democrat, would love to have a blank check from Congress to do whatever he chose to do on every single issue,” McConnell said after a speech at The Heritage Foundation. “We’ll be discussing the appropriateness of giving the president that kind of blank check in the coming weeks, because that’s really what that issue is about.

“As I think all of you know, you can eliminate every congressional earmark and save no money,” the Republican leader said. “It’s really an argument about discretion.”

 That is GOLDEN.  It IS an argument about discretion, and the fact that the ESTABLISHMENT uses none when it comes to spending other people's money.  Earmarks are not a big budget issue; they are a BIG GOVERNMENT, corruption issue.  The American people want them stopped.

There are GOP "old hands" that SAY they have gotten religion.  Consider Rep. Jerry Lewis (R., CA), a guy who has not been "Mr. Responsible" in the past, and who now would require a waiver of Republican caucus rules to serve where he wants...chairing the House Appropriations Committee.

“The American people have demanded a change in the spending habits of Washington, and they clearly want an end to the massive deficits and debt that are stifling our economy,” Mr. Lewis said in a statement Friday evening. “The Appropriations Committee will be ground-zero in this fight.”

“There are numerous talented and capable fiscally conservative Members and incoming freshmen who would make many valuable contributions to our Committee,” he said. “While these decisions will be made by the Steering Committee, I will encourage the addition of Republicans to the Appropriations Committee – including Congressman Flake – who are ready to roll up their sleeves and work with their colleagues to conduct critical and time-consuming oversight, and get down to the serious work of cutting government spending.”

Not to be flip, but a guy from Kulhifornia named Jerry Lewis...makes me scratch my head when considering the CFO of the U.S.A.

We all knew that we were just starting this war...or we should have known.  We have to remain activists.  We cannot flag or retire.  For some of us, this will be the work we do the rest of our lives, and we very likely won't see the end of it.  The Machine has to be set right, and winning one election will never be enough.