From Senator Mitch McConnell’s remarks to the Heritage Foundation November 4, 2010. Just after the Tea Party delivered the GOP a stunning victory:
Republicans have a plan for following through on the wishes of the American people. It starts with gratitude and a certain humility for the task we’ve been handed. It means sticking ever more closely to the conservative principles that got us here. It means learning the lessons of history. And, above all, it means listening to the people who sent us here.
[pullquote]So we renewed our commitment to our core principles — win, lose, or draw.[/pullquote]
While the media was still groping to define the 2008 election, Republicans were taking stock. We knew the principles that had made our party great were the same principles that had made America great, and that if we were going to solve the problems of the day, we would have to embrace and explain those principles, not discard or conceal them. So we renewed our commitment to our core principles — win, lose, or draw.
And that’s why this, in my view, was the single most important thing Republicans in Congress did to prepare the ground for Tuesday’s election. By sticking together in principled opposition to policies we viewed as harmful, we made it perfectly clear to the American people where we stood. And we gave voters a real choice on Election Day.
For the past two years, Democrat lawmakers chose to ignore the American people, so on Tuesday the American people chose new lawmakers. They held their elected representatives to account. And they demonstrated to all of us that Constitutional conservatism is alive and well. This isn’t a reason for Republicans to gloat; rather, it’s a time for both parties to realize who’s really in charge — the people.
November 4, 2010
These sentiments now seem a hundred years old, a product of a different time. Remember that? Back when the Republicans knew what it took to win and what they were supposed to be working toward. And it was not even a year ago. Same for John Boehner:
… reject the spending sprees, the bailouts, the backroom deals, the takeovers and all the nonsense … and to join your fellow Americans in putting Washington on notice.
Because for far too long, Washington has been doing what’s best for Washington – not what’s best for America. Tonight, that begins to change.
With their voices and their votes, the American people are demanding a new way forward in Washington. And I’m here tonight to tell you that our new majority will be prepared to do things differently… to take a new approach that hasn’t been tried before in Washington – by either party.
- It starts with cutting spending instead of increasing it.
- Reducing the size of government instead of expanding it.
- Reforming the way Congress works and giving government back to the people.
- And for all those families asking ‘where are the jobs?,’ it means ending the uncertainty in our economy and helping small businesses get people back to work.
[…]
We can celebrate when small businesses are creating jobs again.
We can celebrate when the spending binge in Washington has stopped.
And we can celebrate when we have a government that has earned back the trust of the people it serves … when we have a government that honors our Constitution and stands up for the values that have made America, America: economic freedom, individual liberty, and personal responsibility.
November 2, 2010
via Boehner Gives Powerful Midterm Elections Victory Speech | POPDECAY.
Call me naive, but I was seriously banking on the possibility that the STUNNING ELECTORAL VICTORY would have shocked them into candor. I guess not. I am beyond caring whether Speaker Boehner or Leader McConnell meant what they said at the time–the fact is they have backtracked completely on what were some fundamental, existential points made in these speeches. What they both said was completely correct and what they have both done is an immoral betrayal of the promises made in these speeches.
[pullquote]GOP worthy of neither support nor victory[/pullquote]
I have never been, until quite recently, attracted to the internecine warfare which erupts periodically. I have been a party man, albeit an angry one at times, because my abiding faith in our system of government has encompassed the two-party system. I’m not ready to pitch that yet, but I do feel that we only have one and one-half parties at best. We shall have to simply conquer the Republican party or bring it down in the attempt. It has proven its worthlessness by fully funding ObamaCare, offering Defense up for unprecedented automatic cuts, and actively, bitterly resisting efforts by conservatives to stiffen its spine. We are now so heavily socialized that bad government spending is displacing good government spending.
The derision and scorn heaped upon the Tea Party and the conservatives we sent to Washington, D.C. are a far cry from the humility and gratitude which were so readily offered, and sounded heartfelt at the time, upon the GOP’s stunned acceptance of a sweeping majority in the House and a resurgence to near parity in the Senate, from a Democrat super-majority everywhere.
[pullquote]You have lied to us, denounced us, and worked against us. You will no longer have our support.[/pullquote]
Congratulations, Speaker Boehner. Well done, Leader McConnell. You have radicalized a significant percentage of your base against you. You have lied to us, denounced us, and worked against us. You will no longer have our support. Good ideas and legislation which makes sense will always deserve support, and will have it. But you have severed your connection with these things. If I support you now, it is because you are carrying a football in the proper direction. You’re still not getting your contract renewed.
The bad news will continue to pour in about this miserable debt ceiling debacle. Enjoy it, Speaker Boehner, Leader McConnell. It’s yours.
