Posted on 01/07/2015 7:49:35 AM PST by Sideshow Bob
Welcome to Washington, Congressman Grothman.
Glenn Grothman's very first vote as a member of Congress, a vote in favor of John Boehner for Speaker, earned the ire of RedState.com Editor in Chief Erick Erickson who declared Grothman "all talk."
"There will be no standing up by Glenn Grothman. Elections have a way of voluntarily and willingly neutering congressmen."
Critics of Grothman are pointing to Grothman's willingness during the summer primary to criticize Boehner's leadership in the House and suggest that he would vote against the sitting Speaker in 2015.
“I would have no problem looking for an alternative to Speaker Boehner,” Grothman said in a candidate debate Aug. 1. “I have no problem standing up to Republican leadership.”
So is Grothman a sell-out? One of those spineless RINOs? A member of the Establishment?
Please....
(Excerpt) Read more at rightwisconsin.com ...
How gracious of you.
Yes, I figured it out. This afternoon on WIBA Vicki was asking for an answer from Glenn, too.
Which key committee?
“I hardly doubt that came up in the campaign.”
Yea this problem with gutless Boehner is relative new and
just came to light. There was no problem with him until,
of course, after the election. Up until then Boehner was
doing a great job and no one was even thinking of kicking
him out. Right? Is that Right? Is that how you read it?
Just sayin.
Grothman will be on House Budget, House Government Oversight, and House Education and Work Force committees.
Let’s see what comes of it.
What comes of it? Next to nothing, I'll wager.
Even if Grothman is a budget hawk and inserts some innovative key language or provision during the committee process into a budget bill, will it survive markup with a committee chairman beholden to Boehner?
Will it survive to a final version and floor vote in front of a GOP caucus beholden to Boehner?
Will it survive a conference committee negotiation with conferees named by and beholden to Boehner and (worse yet) Mitch McConnell?
If Grothman's innovative and bold budget language survives conferencing and is approved by both Houses, will it survive within a bill signed by President Obama? Or one that returns to both Houses for a 2/3 override vote?
What does it matter? If the establishment knows that you are willing to negotiate a moderation of any one conservative position, they will attempt to compel moderation of ALL conservative positions.
Politics is all about compromise. Watch him and make him prove how conservative he’s been on that committee. What are the results Glenn?
Let’s not be surprised. We need to dominate the thoughtspace and use the existing levers of power to move things our way.
1. We need to keep the Internet tax free and out of FCC regulation. It’s not a public utility.
The government, establishment in both parties and the Left don’t want a free and unbridled exchange of info/money. Stop them.
2. Use the Commerce Clause to break local, county and state restrictions on interstate commerce. This is a broad strategy and a real winner.
3. Run for every open GOP seat and party position. There are some 300,000 FReepers. That’s more than enough to control the party apparatus in every state. Run, run and win.
Better still, primary EVERY GOP officeholder.
Harder to do. We need to develop a stronger bench. We need to learn to win elections and play the long game. The real action is going to happen in the marketplace and in local/county/state government.
Start here: http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/
If every FReeper agreed to set aside $25/year x 300,000 = $7.5 million. That’s a lot of money for outreach.
If just 350 conservatives in each county in a state agreed to donate a dollar a day toward political victory you’d have nearly $128,000 to run a campaign to win a seat or district.
That’s all doable. Dave Brat won with less than $100K IIRC. Start winning school board races, municipal races, county races, etc. One thoughtful person can move an entire state. It’s happened before.
American politics can turn on a dime. We have to play hard and smart. It’s a long game.
I've tried your approach of long game and working within the system. I've been the leader of local political units and have twice written the state GOP platform. The party elites paid lip service to my "leadership" and the high-minded ideals of my platform and nothing more.
Defiance of the party apparatus (just short of armed revolt) and usurping control is the only path to success. Fight and fight loudly so that that the truth and integrity of your position enflames and wins the hearts and minds of the base.
People forget that Howard Jarvis and Ronald Reagan were essentially ideological revolutionaries. Their righteous anger propelled conservatism to success in California and across the country. Similarly, anger at congressional excess propelled the Contract with America to success. Further, angry conservative street demonstrations are what stopped the judicial/electoral bureaucracy from stealing the 2000 Bush victory. Enflamed conservative passion fueled the Tea Party movement and led the GOP to 2010 & 2014 congressional victories.
Playing within the rules, "compassionate" conservatism and other centrist dreck dulls the base, loses elections and perpetuates the GOPe power and control.
Putting it simply, if your local party or governmental body meetings are not interrupted by or ending in fistfights, they are not worth squat.
If someone starts screaming that the GOP shouldn't have circular firing squads, what that really means is that the GOPe wants their rivals to disarm.
Eff them and fight the fight.
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