“What too few in Washington appreciate — and what the new Republican Congress must if we hope to succeed — is that the American people’s current distrust of their public institutions is totally justified.”
So wrote Sen. Mike Lee (R‑Utah) in The Federalist shortly after the big election earlier this month. “Americans are fed up with Washington, and they have every right to be.”
Lee starts off with the need to earn trust. Will many readers simply shrug? His notion of a “more open-source strategy development model that includes everyone” sure sounds nice. But after Obama’s promise of the most “transparent” presidency in history, and delivery of one of the least, skepticism is natural.
At least Lee knows his challenges: “Republicans in fact can’t ‘govern’ from the House and Senate alone — especially without a Senate supermajority.” He sees the necessity of working with Democrats, but insists that the congressional majority not compromise away the whole enchilada.
“Anti-cronyism legislation is win-win for the GOP,” he writes, and views “taking on crony capitalism” as a test of the GOP’s “political will and wisdom.” Fighting the corrupt Washington culture of insider deals is sure to test Democratic lawmakers, too.
“[A] new Republican majority must also make clear that our support for free enterprise cuts both ways,” argues the Senator. “To prove that point, we must target the crony capitalist policies that rig our economy for large corporations and special interests at the expense of everyone else— especially small and new businesses.”
Echoes of Ralph Nader, but with deep free-market rumblings. Not discord, but harmony. Music to my ears.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
3 replies on “Mike Lee’s Fix of Congress”
When I hear talk of “working with Democrats, I’m reminded of something the late Senator Jesse Helms once said, “Compromise, hell! That’s what has happened to us all down the line — and that’s the very cause of our woes. If freedom is right and tyranny is wrong, why should those who believe in freedom treat it as if it were a roll of bologna to be bartered a slice at a time?” Unfortunately, the Republican establishment has ignored this sound advice.
“Not discord, but harmony. Music to my ears.”
First: You forget that Senator Lee is a politician, a word synonymous with liar. Why would you believe anything he says?
Second: Why would you want harmony anyhow? Harmony among lawmakers leads to more laws. Haven’t we already more than enough of restriction, coercion and unconstitutionality?
I’d be much happier if you were more consistent in your views.
Music to my ears would be: Congress is going on an unpaid vacation for the next century and will then renew that vacation for an additional century or two.
Just a reminder that there was plenty of harmony when the Patriot Act was passed, more than enough harmony when the NDAA was passed, when DHS was formed, when nothing was done to rein in the NSA, when nothing was done about impeaching either of our last two presidents.
Is that what you have in mind when you ask for harmony?