The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Erickson Must Be Relatively Less Cynical Than Me

Posted on | April 20, 2011 | 3 Comments

by Smitty

Erick Erickson seems shocked, SHOCKED! that that GOP is ceding the tempo on the debt ceiling:

Now the Democrats want to increase the limit on the national credit card instead of paying down the bill. They want a free pass to more spending. Instead, the Republicans should accept the fact that no matter what they do they will never win over the press and should instead refuse to raise the debt ceiling without massive cuts and entitlement reforms.

The American people understand what it means to refuse to pay down credit cards and instead get new credit cards. They understand that is what government is doing. And they are tired of it.

If the Republican Party will not aggressively fight for real cuts and real reform in exchange for raising the debt ceiling, if at all, it very much will be time for a third party in this country.

As I was arguing yesterday, you’ve had a century of development to get to this cliff edge. We didn’t just show up. The Ruling Class as divided the people, with the Left taking the port end of the income distribution, and the Right taking the middle. The ‘sudden’ emergence of the Tea Parties, which seem ancient in Internet years, still isn’t older that the Perot-vian flash in the pan, back when Newt Gingrich had credibility.

Thus, the threat of a third major party is more useful than an actual third party, in my opinion. Shaking loose the Specter or Murkowski in centrist no-man’s land is more useful than having conservatives fragment. The only winner in that scenario is the Ruling Class.

The debt ceiling is an important battle, but pay more attention to the Rand Paul/Marco Rubio/Jim DeMint triumvirate for cues. We go to battle with the leaders we have. Sprinklerman and Eric “YouWhittle” Cantor are trying to get some right rudder on the ship of state. However, the President is using signing statements in overt defiance of Congress. I submit that:

  • The Tea Parties have to keep the pressure on the GOP, but
  • More than bending the GOP around the edges a bit will prove counterproductive.

We have a small target to hit, people, and the chances of a catastrophic cock-up are non-zero. Take it calm, take it stoic, and keep the pressure on.

Category: Red State, Republicans

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