MADISON - ST. CLAIR RECORD

To the Editor:

On November 4, voters of all persuasions sent Republican candidates a resounding mandate on what they wanted done on their behalf. Incredibly, though the message seemed unmistakable and irrefutable, what was received by the incumbent Republican leadership has missed the mark entirely.

On December 11, the Republican controlled House of Representatives passed a Continuing Resolution Omnibus Budget Bill (CRomnibus) for $1.1 trillion that keeps the U.S. government funded until September of 2015. At that time the budget will be one created by the two houses of Congress, both controlled by Republicans. So in September of 2015, Republicans will assume the “Power of the Purse” and control of the budget to match Republican goals.

The question is: Why did they delay the assumption of this power for nearly a year after earning complete control of Congress? The two local representatives involved, John Shimkus of the 15th District, and Rodney Davis, of the 13th District both voted for passage of the bill. Why?

In this, let’s be clear. They were following the party’s leadership and though many might differ, such loyalty and sense of purpose can never be impugned. However, I personally disagree with the vote and would hope that the party would take a harder line on issues that face us after these many years of Obama’s determined efforts to change every single thing and principle that is important to Republicans and Conservatives.

Relations with Cuba is the latest example. I feel certain we will hear more from our representatives about this vote, but we must truly appreciate loyalty, a principle that applies to all of us in everything we say and do. So let us hear what is involved in the alternatives envisioned.

The most common answer provided to the “why” question is that Republicans feared that failure to approve funding would result in a government shutdown and this would be blamed on them. Their answer was, “We need to fund the government, then we will fight the president’s 2016 budget when it is presented this coming February.” The vote passing the Cromnibus Bill was 216-209, so opposition existed on both sides of the aisle.

So how did Speaker of the House John Boehner win passage? He turned to Barack Obama who was more than willing to help because he wanted Obamacare fully funded and his Executive Amnesty of Illegals moved forward. So consider this picture. Boehner, with Obama’s help, passed a bill that the Republican base wanted no part of, plus that base is overwhelmingly opposed to the fact that Boehner elected to work with Obama to make this happen. The vote and the act of working with Obama to make it happen is of profound dismay to many.

In the November elections, Democrats began to sprint as far and as fast as they could away from Obama and Obamacare. New York Senator Chuck Schumer called it a bad bill. Tom Harkin and many others also spoke out against Obamacare. Obama was persona non grata at most Democratic campaign events.

Then, who rides in to save the Cromnibus Bill, Obamacare, and Amnesty; none other than our very own Speaker of the House John Boehner. To many of those voters who made the November elections a resounding success, this is simply an outrageous development, poorly explained and little understood.

Following the passage of the bill on December 11, Speaker Boehner took the podium to boast of the passage of the Omnibus Bill. “All of the provisions of the bill were worked out in a Bi-partisan (Republican & Democrat), Bicameral (House & Senate) fashion or they wouldn’t be in the bill. Yeah, we worked on the bill with the Democrats.” His unspoken message was: Just as the American people want us to do!

On November 4, I served as a poll watcher in Granite City and in late afternoon a burly gentleman came out of the polling place. I greeted him as he was departing after voting and asked him how he felt about the election. The gentleman virtually left his feet and proudly announced that for the first time in his life he had voted a straight Republican ticket. When I asked him why, he said that the Democrats had had their chance and they’d not gotten the job done and he was looking for the Republicans to fix what ails us. In Granite City it was obvious that not even Democrats are happy with the direction that Obama is taking this country.

In November, the Republican Party did not run on a national agenda. They personally stood silent nationally. In some races candidates ran specifically against Obamacare and they won in landslides for doing that. It is rare that a political party can run, not standing for anything, and emerge with such an undeniable mandate. Perhaps the most important mandate in recent history: STOP BARACK OBAMA……….PERIOD!

Republicans were not elected to govern. They were not elected to fix a broken system, or make it work. They definitely were not elected to compromise, and sit down to work with Democrats. They were elected to stop this country from going over the cliff; to stop Obamacare; to stop amnesty, to stop the assault on the free enterprise economy; to stop national security policies that have allowed terrorist networks to flourish worldwide; to run up a debt larger than all previous presidents combined; to use the IRS and other government agencies against law-abiding citizens exercising their rights of free speech and assembly; to put an end to the divisive lie that is the "War on Women."

There is no way whatsoever that voters want Republicans to work with Democrats at this critical juncture. They had their chance. Anybody who tells you that everyone must work together is terribly wrong. The Republicans never even gained front door access to early Obamacare deliberations. The voter’s intent was not for the winners to work with the losers. The voter’s intent was about “STOPPING THE LOSERS.”

When Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Karl Rove, Reince Priebus and other party leaders profess that the GOP was sent there to compromise and work with Obama, politely respond: “If the American people wanted more of Obama’s policies and leadership they could have very easily have sent Democrats back to the Senate, and sent Democrats back to the House. They didn’t do that."

They sent Republicans there to STOP BARACK OBAMA………………NOTHING MORE, NOTHING LESS!

Rod Spears
Maryville