Perhaps it's Time For New Republican Leaders Who Listen to the Folks Back Home

When the leading national political party becomes engulfed by scandal it is to be hoped that there would emerge an alternative party to exploit the scandalous behavior and rise to lead the country on the promise of an honest constitutional government.

The door is wide open. Where is the leader to walk through it?

In the 19th century the Whig Party rose in opposition to Andrew Jackson’s increasingly imperial presidency. The Whigs were committed to the supremacy of the Congress, that branch of government whose powers are enumerated in Article 1 of the constitution and was considered by the Founders as the first among three equal branches. Whigs ruled for a generation and elected four presidents.

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The Whig’s support of expansion of the federal government and increased markets built a party comprised of Northeastern merchants and Southern slave-owners which was its undoing over the issue of slavery.

A newly minted Republican Party exploited that opening and replaced the Whigs as the alternative to the Democrats. The first Republican President Abraham Lincoln, remains admired today for his boldness and courage.

A century later, Jimmy Carter capitalized on a party in trouble by saying, “I will never lie to you.” After the scandal of Richard Nixon’s Watergate it was a welcome relief and he was elected for just that reason.

Ronald Reagan’s victory four years later was easier and more palpable. He only needed to say that he wasn’t Jimmy Carter.

Today we have the Democrat Party controlling the White House and one half of the Congress. They are falling all over each other trying to avoid or explain away a collection of scandals, any one of which should be sufficient to defeat them.

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We look at the wreckage of our government and watch and wait for the arrival of the leader to exploit the scandal and move the nation. The time is perfect for an alternative party to the Democrats to step into the breach.

Where is it?

Benghazi was an act of war. The administration lied about it to get through an election and everyone knew it. A serious opposition with control of half of the Congress would have immediately established a select committee with special investigative powers and the authority to take criminal behavior directly to a grand jury.

The Independent Payment Advisory Board established under Obamacare will serve in the role that Sarah Palin once called a Death Panel. While she was ridiculed for saying it, no one doubts it today. The IPAB is comprised of 15 appointed bureaucrats who will ultimately determine “appropriate” treatments and reimbursement rates for providers. Thus they will be setting government spending rates, a responsibility the constitution specifically states must originate in the House of Representatives. The members appointed to date would be impeached if there were a sentient alternative party.

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The EPA has just announced that it will garnish the wages of those it claims owes them monies. The EPA can assess fines with no judicial process. It now states that it will collect those fines by placing a levy on the person’s accounts with no legal proceeding. An aggressive alternative party would eliminate the budget for the department that enforces EPA fines.

The IRS scandal alone should put the Democrat Party in the wilderness for 40 years. It is clear that the Democrats are using the most fearsome agency of government for political purposes. It is also clear that they are destroying evidence that they were specifically instructed to preserve.

One of the lawsuits against the IRS is being brought by an organization called Z Street. They are a Zionist organization dedicated to educating Americans about the Middle East and Israel’s role in it.

An IRS official has stated that he was told to give Z Street’s application special scrutiny because it was connected to Israel. The files of some of those organizations were sent to a special unit in Washington, D.C. to determine whether the activities of the organization contradicted the public policies of the administration.

The agency with the most power over our personal lives is now making judgments as to whether our political views are acceptable.

An effort is underway to repeal the 16th Amendment, which is the legal basis for the IRS to collect taxes on income. A strong leader would put that resolution to a vote. Let the Democrats vote to protect the corrupt IRS. Let them explain that to their voters at the November election.

The Republican leaders are reticent to do so because their friends on K Street, 50 percent of whom make their living gaming the tax code, are very much opposed to getting rid of it. Perhaps it’s time for new Republican leaders who still listen to the folks back home.

linderje@yahoo.com

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