Political capital: use it or lose it

By Brian Yates

Political capital: use it or lose it

For the last few weeks, Democrats and television talking heads have been criticizing President Bush for his relentless campaigning on behalf of Republican candidates around the nation. What Bush realizes is that a president has only so much political capital. With Bush being very popular right now, he has plenty, but that capital won’t be around forever. Either he uses it or he loses it. And in what was quite obviously a terrific decision, the president chose to use it.

These midterm elections were very successful for Republicans across the nation. The GOP expanded their majority in the House of Representatives, became the majority party in the Senate, and of course, they already had the presidency. But what does this mean for Republicans? Clearly, the Democratic message was tiring to voters everywhere. They have no plans; only criticism for whatever plan the Republicans create. A telling fact is this: in the final Gallup Poll before the election, voters overwhelmingly chose the economy as the biggest Election Day issue… a fact that should have benefited Democrats last Tuesday, not Republicans. Concern over the economy more than doubled concern about terrorism or the war in Iraq, and yet, voters still chose Republicans.

Now it’s up to the Republican Party. They’ve been given an excellent opportunity by the American people and they must take advantage of it. There will be no Tom Daschles and Dick Gephardts to blame if they are unable to accomplish a laundry list of items. Making the tax cuts permanent, approving judicial nominees, a Department of Homeland Security, terrorism insurance, Social Security and Medicare reform must all be addressed. With all eyes on the GOP, they must stay unified as a party, and they must follow solid conservative values.

First things first, they must make the tax cuts permanent. To truly stimulate the economy, people must have the guarantee that their taxes will not be going up in the near future. Giving people this guarantee would stimulate investments and build up consumer confidence. Raising taxes has never, and will never stimulate an economy. Government intervention is never the solution; it is up to the consumer. So Congress must make the tax cuts permanent and give consumers the confidence that they will be able to retain more of their paychecks.

Secondly, the Senate has to get its act together and approve the president’s judicial nominees. Our benches are empty because Tom Daschle and Pat Leahy conspired to keep Bush’s nominees from even coming to vote before the full Senate. Using a litmus test of whether the judge was pro-life or pro-choice, nominees that come before Leahy’s committee were unmercifully slandered and then rejected. Liberals love to argue that Republicans did the same thing to Clinton’s nominees, etc. etc.. But folks, never have there been more rejections than under the Senatorial leadership of Tom Daschle and Pat Leahy. The president appoints judges that will fairly and accurately interpret the Constitution; however, Daschle and Leahy would rather have judges that will legislate from the bench. Judges such as those on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that attempted to take God out of the Pledge. Judges are not supposed to legislate, and the ridiculous obstruction from the Senate Majority Leader was unacceptable, but typical of Congressional Democrats.

Third, Congress needs to get the Department of Homeland Security up and running. As a conservative, many have asked me how I can support such an expansion. However, as I have previously explained, this is not necessarily an expansion. You’ve all heard of addition by subtraction? Well this is subtraction by addition. By moving different government agencies under a new roof, it should streamline the process and rid us of some of the bureaucracy. Of course, in the infinite wisdom of politicians today, this may not actually work out; however it’s worth the risk. And regardless, it’s not going to hurt.

Finally, they have to take a look at Social Security. Frankly, I’d kind of like to get a little something back when I retire. (Memo to Congress: if I’m not going to be collecting anything, please stop deducting the tax from my check immediately.)

If Congress can address these four issues — at least in part — within the next two years, I’ll be completely thrilled. Right now, all the political capital belongs to President Bush and the Republicans in Congress. They must use it or risk losing it in two years.