-Caveat Lector-
Pence Speaks to Bloggers
Earlier this afternoon, Rep. Mike Pence, chairman of the Republican Study
Committee, spoke with a weekly meeting of conservative bloggers. It was an
appropriate venue for Pence, who, as he proudly pointed out, was the first
Member to start a blog. That was two-and-a-half years ago. Today, Pence is
committed to limited government, and he shared his ideas on how the
Republican majority can return to its limited government roots.
On policy, Pence focused his remarks on campaign finance reform,
immigration reform, and energy. He has long been an opponent of campaign
finance reform, from McCain-Feingold to the 527 reform recently passed by
the House. For Pence, more freedom is the answer to 527 reform. Moreover,
he worries that restricting political speech leads down the slippery slope
to even more government intrusion in the daily lives of Americans. "We are
on the road to serfdom in the American political debate," he said.
Free speech is "one of out blood-bought rights," and Congress is "playing
Whack-A-Mole with the First Amendment rights of Americans," he explained
Pence was pessimistic about Senate immigration reform legislation, and he
stressed his opposition to amnesty in any form. He is going to introduce
his own immigration reform bill--one that provides for a guestworker
program without any form of amnesty. (It's based on this paper.)
On energy, Pence explained the need to explore "the hidden costs of
regulation" and to increase supply. He pointed to boutique fuels mandates
as counterproductive--and they don't make any sense to constituents. He
also criticized a recently passed House bill on price gouging. He urged
aggressive action on ANWR, and he said that the House should bring an ANWR
bill to the floor every week.
ANWR, however, has fallen victim to wrangling over process. Instead of
having a debate over the merits of drilling--as Pence would have every
week--the discussion has devolved into how to pass the legislation. The
Senate, we're told, can only pass ANWR as part of budget reconciliation;
the House, on the other hand, can pass ANWR as long as it is not part of
budget reconciliation.
The ANWR example highlights the problem of the current Congress: it has
placed process ahead of principle. Peggy Noonan said it best in her column
last week.
Party leaders say they're aware they're in trouble, aware of a sense
of stasis in the country. They are going to solve the problem, they say,
by passing legislation. They're going to pass a budget. And they're going
to pass an immigration bill, too. People will like that.
But no they won't. The American people are not going to say, "I am
relieved and delighted our Congress passed a budget." They will be
relieved and delighted if Congress cuts spending. They would be relieved
and delighted if Congress finally took responsibility for the nation's
borders. They won't be impressed if you just pass bills and call it
progress.
Party leaders are showing a belief in process as opposed to a belief
in, say, belief. But belief drives politics. It certainly drives each
party's base.
Pence still believes that principle should drive politics, which is a
lesson that other Members need to remember--especially as public approval
ratings continue to drop.
Dick Armey had it right, Pence reminded us: "Good policy is good
politics."
Posted by J. Lawrence Scholer on May 16, 2006 03:28 PM | Permalink | PDF
Remember:More people have died in Ted Kennedy's car than have died in
United States Commercial Nuclear Power plant operations
visit my web site at
http://www.info-quest.org
Visit my energy page at http://www.info-quest.org/Energy.html
Check out the latest on the anwr drilling project http://www.anwr.org
visit my blog at
http://info-spectrum.blogspot.com
My ICQ# is 79071904
See the Pledge of alleginace to the flag that the 9th circuit court of
appeals doesn't want you to say.
for a precise list of the powers of the Federal Government linkto:
http://www.info-quest.org/Enumerated.html
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