And now the US House Leadership wants to run roughshod over its caucus too? - Granite Grok

And now the US House Leadership wants to run roughshod over its caucus too?

The opening line from Instapundit that caught my eye:

IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE TEA PARTY BECOME A TRUE THIRD PARTY, THIS IS HOW TO BRING IT ABOUT:

Indeed – and the Republican Party elites will only have themselves to blame.  If Republican Leadership thinks that it has a lock on the Right of Center population, it may have a really bad surprise coming at it like a runaway, MAD, freight train.  It may well be time to think about a total overhaul of the Party where everyone agrees to the rules  – or perhaps, like the Episcopalian Church, a split?  First we see what is going on in the NH House Leadership dissfest, and now we have the US House Republican Whip, #3 in the Team, basically saying “Hey you rebellious children, we’ll pass all this legislation (running contrary to Republican ideals) simply to get stuff done” (emphasis mine):

After undergoing that unpleasant shock, House leadership hasn’t responded by listening to the concerns of the more conservative members of its caucus. Instead, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said on Sunday that he would be open to ramming through bills without the support of a majority of his own Republican caucus. Not just on small bills. On issues like immigration and gun control, McCarthy said, he’d be open to taking rogue Republicans across the aisle to work with Democrats.

 “It is better if the House does their work,” said McCarthy. “We should be sending bills to the Senate.” As CNN host Candy Crowley pointed out, McCarthy refused to give a straight answer on whether he would continue to uphold the so-called Hastert Rule, under which Republican leadership moves forward with bills only if they have a majority of Republican support.

 This is a declaration of war within the Republican ranks. And it should be deeply troubling to Republicans across the country, watching as the recently and controversially reminted House leadership continues to pursue the same political philosophy that led to a mini-rebellion in the House in January.

For a number of years I’ve said that what happens in DC has been made to happen in our state capital, Concord.  ‘Cept, it was in terms of Democrats imitating Democrats.  We’ve all assumed it was just a case of top down / command-control we normally associate with Democrats (re: amazingly, EVERY state has Democrats trying to screw with the Second Amendment that enumerates our Rights given to us by our Creator).  Now we see a trend – Obama doesn’t have to destroy the Republican Party – the elites of the Party are telling the grassroots “we don’t need you” (don’t they realize that is EXACTLY what Obama is saying with his “I can’t wait for Congress – read my Executive Order”.

We now see the Old Guard Establishment Republicans going after the more Conservative / Libertarian Members in both Houses (NH and US) simply for adhering to both the Platform and the Constitutions that are supposed to be THE operational guidelines for actions.  They really are sending a message – one of “We’re not serious about fixing what is wrong with the Party – because WE are not IN the wrong”.

Which is just plain wrong.  Sorry, Wayne MacDonald, this is not “bloggers ruining the Party“. This is exactly what will cause the grassroots to finally say “Enough” and leave.   Here in NH, what is the percentage of Republicans that would be needed to leave and support a third party (because there is no longer TRUST?) slate of candidates?  True, the third party might not win – but the NH GOP (or as Glen says, the national party) would lose too.  Every time.

Take this serious – I AM hearing exactly this.  A lot of people, including your’s truly advocated against doing exactly this when the TEA Party came into existence.

It would be wrong of me to continue that.  Will the Republican Party get the hint?  Or will it be a case of “don’t know what cha got ’til its gone…”

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