THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XII, Issue # 260, December 30, 2010
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
NEW CONGRESS CAN DEFINE ISSUES FOR 2012
By Christopher G. Adamo
ENDING THE STAMPEDE TOWARD IMPLEMENTATION OF THE OBAMA/REID/PELOSI POLITICAL AGENDA & THE RESULTING
DESTRUCTION OF THE AMERICAN ECONOMY & OUR SYSTEM OF CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERTY: CONSERVATIVE HOPES
OF IMPEDING & REVERSING THE COURSE OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY LIBERAL/LEFTIST JUGERNAUT DRIVING AMERICA
TOWARD TOTAL DISASTER -- SOME PROMISING SIGNS IN THE 112TH. CONGRESS, PARTICULARLY IN THE REPUBLICAN
PARTY-CONTROLLED U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FULL STORY:
One nightmarish chapter of the Obama/Reid/Pelosi Leftwing Liberal leadership in the U.S. national government has
mercifully ended. The “lame duck” congressional debacle is, at last, at an end. And America waits expectantly to see if
all of the efforts of the grassroots to begin the work of restoring the American nation hold any promise of paying off.
Admittedly, the options of the incoming, 112th. Congress are limited, since both the U.S. Senate and the White House
remain in the clutches of the political Left, at least for the next two years. However, some promising signs indicate that
soon-to-be U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (Republican - Ohio) and his decisive Repubican Party majority in the
U.S. House of Representatives are acutely aware of the forces that propelled the political fortunes of Republicans in
the November 2, 2010, congressional elections. And, if House Republicans continue in their present course, they may
well set the stage for another rout of the remaining Leftists in the 2012 presidential and congressional elections. Real
America would do well to actively support them or, if necessary, occasionally remind them to stay fixed on the
principles that rallied the nation’s heartland in 2009 and 2010.
For starters, Speaker Boehner intends to implement a policy that will require any new proposed legislation to reference
the portion of the United States Constitution which authorizes it as a legitimate governmental function. Without such
an explanation, it will not be considered for further advancement through the national legislative process.
It may be much more difficult than Boehner currently expects to implement a policy of this nature and magnitude. Once
enacted, its implications reach far beyond the U.S. House of Representatives. Undoubtedly, the Democratic
Party-controlled U.S. Senate would despise and disdain any such limitation on their regular abuses of power. Seeing
one of their own duly passed bills declared “dead on arrival” in the House of Representatives -- "dead" for lack of
constitutional standing -- would both outrage and humiliate them. But how could they openly admit as much, if
evaluating proposed legislation by such an unassailable standard were indeed official U.S. House policy? Their only
recourse would then be to attempt to make the case that it should pass, regardless of its unconstitutional nature.
In a similar vein, the new Congress intends to have the U.S. Constitution read in its entirety at the opening of the
session. While this move may be largely symbolic, it represents a clear admission by the Republican majority that
much (if not all) of the current catastrophe of creeping socialism, and the economic disaster that has predictably
accompanied it, are symptomatic of a government that has willfully ignored the restraints wisely placed on it by the
Founders of the American Federal Republic.
More significantly, however, after having made such a gesture, Speaker Boehner would face enormous repercussions,
were he to then backtrack on those constitutional principles he committed to, after having them proclaimed from the
well of the House. In essence, he is knowingly cutting off any avenues of “escape,” for himself and his Republican
coalition, if they are ever again tempted to revert to Washington “business as usual.”
By the inherent worthiness of Boehner’s action, Republicans in the Senate are offered an effective weapon, and an
opportunity by which to overcome their lingering minority status, if they have a mind to do so. As laws are proposed
and judges and Cabinet members nominated for Senate consideration during the remaining two years of President
Barack Obama’s current term, Republican Senators will be enabled to remind their counterparts among Senate
Democrats of the immutable standard which they have taken an oath to uphold and defend.
Thereafter, no judicial nominee should receive a single Republican vote of confirmation, if he or she does not have a
provable track record of venerating and supporting American constitutional law and American constitutional
government. And none of Obama’s “hope and change” should enjoy Senate support without likewise remaining
within the constitutional framework on which the nation was established.
This policy would, of course, deal an immediate death blow to Obamacare, along with “Cap and Trade” and a host of
other illicit actions by the current administration that were sanctioned by the former Congress, often with too much
“Republican” participation. So now, let them attempt to continue brazenly advocating a continuation of these
excesses, despite their being constitutionally unsupportable.
No doubt, a few hardcore Leftists may still do so (Nancy Pelosi’s unreserved contempt for the whole concept was a
major deciding factor for many Americans who voted her party out in last Fall’s congressional elections). Others,
who are not so ideologically obsessed, will recognize how far out of the mainstream they appear, and, as with the
Bush tax cuts that were recently extended by a Democratic Party-dominated Congress, under pressure from a
Democratic White House, they will be forced to shift to the Right.
Of course, this whole exercise may quickly degenerate, if the House GOP leadership is not diligent to maintain it, or
if its current champions were never serious about doing so in the first place. Look for a likely cadre of “RINO”
Republicans to join Democrats in justifying more outlandish behavior, by offering tepid and oblique “constitutional”
references to “promoting the general welfare,” the Interstate Commerce Clause, and other select passages of the
document that have been excessively and perversely employed to justify government actions that were never
initially intended or authorized. Such antics, if they do occur, need to be immediately and stridently called out and
stopped.
Republicans will either get serious about preserving and protecting their nation from the Liberal onslaught that
threatens it, or they will cower and hide from such difficult issues in the face of media ridicule, only offering
transparent attempts at pandering to the Conservative base during the waning days of the 2012 election cycle. But
the time for empty promises has passed. America will no longer accept last minute platitudes, if the GOP does not
come through in the next twenty-four months.
Meanwhile, three cheers for Speaker-to-be John Boehner, the new Republican House majority, and their
determination to put the United States Constitution back where it belongs at front and center. If they stay true,
Obama and the Democrats will spend this session completely on the defensive. It is a good start.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
American Politics, Political Competition, & the Control of
Public Policy: Elections, Political Parties, Political Factions,
Ideologies, & Special Interest Groups
American Government & the U.S. Congress:
Congressional Legislative Politics & National Public Policy
American Government & the U.S. Presidency:
Presidential Politics & National Leadership
U.S. Constitutional Law & Political Philosophy
The Constitution of the United States of America
The American Political System:
Politics & Government in the U.S.A.
Political Economy -- Philosophies, Systems, & Public Policies:
Government, the Economy, & Economic Prosperity
Liberalism Versus Conservatism in American Politics
-------------------------
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY & POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES:
COMPETING SYSTEMS OF POLITICAL THOUGHT
Conservatism
Traditional Conservatism: Questions & Answers
Conservatism: Attitudes, Types, & Present Status
Constitutional Conservatism: American & British
Liberalism
Classical Liberalism: Intellectual Foundations
Classical Liberalism: Conservative Liberalism
Manchester Liberalism & Social Darwinism
Modern Social "Liberalism": Statist "Liberalism"
Radical & Totalitarian Ideologies
Radicalism, Utopianism, & Totalitarianism
Christopher G. Adamo is a resident of southeastern Wyoming. He has been involved in politics at the local and state
level for many years, and is a contributing columnist at the new print publication Liberty Ink Journal. His
contact information and article archives can be found at www.chrisadamo.com
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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