GOP Wisdom
by digby
A Republican explains our problems and their solutions:
YOU are the government! You are God’s minister to punish evil and reward good conduct. But, too many Christians have refused the figurative “sword” or the power that in this great country, this little experiment in democracy as a republic, is supposed to be held by YOU. You are the one God has ordained to run the country, but you haven’t even participated … That is also why we have penalties for societal good things like marriage (the income tax “marriage penalty”) and for 45 years we have rewarded having children out of wedlock instead of helping incentivise such women to finish their education. It is why we have a death tax that says you were too successful so we must take 55% away and give to the government. It is why people have in the past been threatened with removal from low-rent government housing for saving too much money for a down payment on a home. We punish good behavior too often and reward potentially hurtful conduct. It is also why we passed a Wall Street bailout to reward uncontrolled and irresponsible greed. It is also why TARP has not already been repealed, since it would mean admitting that maybe those who voted for it, including Republican leaders, had made a mistake. So, as unpleasant as it may be, far too many of the employers, We the PEOPLE, have been lazy and apathetic which has caused we the people to get what we deserve. But it is high time the people of this country started deserving better. It is time that the PEOPLE as rulers in this land started exercising the God-given power in this country by voting, by serving on jury duty, filling appointed positions when called upon, by supporting the best candidates, and even by running for office. It is high time that we gave God something to smile about again.
That’s Louis Gohmert, a member of the House of Representatives.
You really should read the whole thing. It’s quite an interesting history lesson. I particularly liked this part:
One of the founders’ proudest accomplishments was a government that had so many checks and balances that it would be difficult to overstep governing boundaries. Since they did not trust the hired help to restrict themselves in making laws only as directed by the people who hired them, they created not one body of representatives, but two.
The second body would not be merely be socially elite figures, but would have full power to stop the larger body from making laws it did not agree with. In fact, the second body, we know to be the Senate, would be SELECTED by the state governments to insure that the larger body didn’t go off on a tangent and pass laws that would take away the states’ authority which was ultimately protected in the 10th Amendment.
If a federal senator ever did try to take away a state’s rights, that senator could be, would be, hauled back to the state and replaced by someone who was not complicit in big federal government usurpation. The founders’ idea was to keep as much power locally as possible while still allowing enough power at the federal level to increase chances of protecting all the states from enemies, both foreign and domestic.
It’s really not fair to look at Angle/O’Donnell/Miller et al as something new. We already have a bunch of these unusual people in the congress. It’s just reaching critical mass.
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