Mark Tapscott says Republicans should be made of sterner stuff.
He points to Senator Tommy Tuberville (R.-Ala.) as one who is showing Republicans “How to Win the Budget Battle Against the Swamp.”
Senate rules are such that a single U.S. Senator can prevent military promotions and appointments from being approved by unanimous consent (without a recorded vote). Tuberville has blocked hundreds, saying he’ll retreat only when the Biden administration drops its policy of paying for abortion-related expenses of military personnel. The policy violates the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits using tax dollars to pay for abortions.
Tuberville has stuck to his guns despite abuse. Emulate him, Tapscott enjoins.
Don’t mistake Tapscott to imply that negotiating a compromise is always legitimate, while he acknowledges: “nobody gets everything they demand, but everybody must get some of what they demand. [But only] when both sides realize that’s the only way out of an impasse.”
Demand what, though?
The principles, if any, that bring you to Congress should not be compromised. Whether forsaking them entails making any given unpalatable agreement isn’t always obvious. But often, it is. And you betray yourself by pretending otherwise.
What if, over the last 90 years, relatively decent lawmakers had never accepted deals — about spending, taxes, regulations, foreign policy, and other questions — that entailed violating the proper function of government as they understood it?
The battles, the outcomes, the procedures, and the precedents would have been much different. And I think we’d be far better off.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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4 replies on “Swim Against the Swamp”
My impression is that people who go to Washington to change Washington wind up being more changed by it. People who go to Washington to learn everything they can and to adapt wind up being in positions to change things. Frequently these people who go with a willingness to learn discover that what they thought they wanted to change doesn’t need changing. If you come to Washington with the impression that you’re going to stick to your guns, you may be surprised. Many have been. Some of them are in jail now.
The swamp corrupts. Those that refuse to play get left in the dark, by both official parties no matter which is in control. And then get propagandized at home to try to remove them.
Need to have campaign funding only allowed by constituents.
When compromise violates principle is is properly described as surrender. That is common sense.
Wow. Anyone who thinks Tuberville is acting out of principle rather than further inflation of his outsized ego, well, I’ll throw the Golden Gate in for free….