tangent4ronpaul
02-08-2011, 08:06 AM
http://www.slate.com/id/2283738/
So far, House Republicans are honoring their pledge not to pass any major legislation—and gaining popularity for it.
There are small, loud signs on the desks outside of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's offices. The "Cantor rule" is written on all of them. It reads: "Are my efforts addressing job creation and the economy? Are they reducing spending? Are they shrinking the size of the federal government while protecting and expanding liberty? If not, why am I doing it. … Why are WE doing it?"
[...]
The new Republicans promised much less. In December, Cantor announced that every two weeks of House business would be followed by a weeklong recess. "We had freshmen who said we should be here less, a lot less than we have been for the past two years," said Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio, who helped put together the schedule. In his first speech on becoming speaker, John Boehner promised that the next Congress would move slowly. "We will dispense with the conventional wisdom that bigger bills are always better," he said, "that fast legislating is good legislating."
[...]
The answer: They are taking an approach to legislating completely antithetical to what President Obama proposed in his State of the Union speech. They don't want Congress to "do big things." Government, in general, should not do big things.
[...]
This year, Republicans have kicked things off with repeal bills. There are no bold new ideas. There is just dismantling of Democratic ideas. And the result of this, so far, has been resilient Republican popularity. At the end of January, a Gallup poll gave Republicans their first favorable approval ratings since 2005, when their Bush-era slide began. Since the election, Rasmussen Reports polls have put the number of Americans identifying as Republicans close to the number of Americans who identify as Democrats. I asked Scott Rasmussen why this was.
"The Republicans are helped by low expectations," said Rasmussen. "Hardly anybody expects them to actually cut spending. The GOP is also helped by the fact that Democrats still control the White House and the Senate. You cite the lack of legislative accomplishment. Remember, by a 3-to-1 margin, voters believe that no matter how bad something is, Congress can always make it worse. That's true regardless of whether Democrats or Republicans are in charge. Lack of action may be a plus in some eyes.
[...]
So far, House Republicans are honoring their pledge not to pass any major legislation—and gaining popularity for it.
There are small, loud signs on the desks outside of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's offices. The "Cantor rule" is written on all of them. It reads: "Are my efforts addressing job creation and the economy? Are they reducing spending? Are they shrinking the size of the federal government while protecting and expanding liberty? If not, why am I doing it. … Why are WE doing it?"
[...]
The new Republicans promised much less. In December, Cantor announced that every two weeks of House business would be followed by a weeklong recess. "We had freshmen who said we should be here less, a lot less than we have been for the past two years," said Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio, who helped put together the schedule. In his first speech on becoming speaker, John Boehner promised that the next Congress would move slowly. "We will dispense with the conventional wisdom that bigger bills are always better," he said, "that fast legislating is good legislating."
[...]
The answer: They are taking an approach to legislating completely antithetical to what President Obama proposed in his State of the Union speech. They don't want Congress to "do big things." Government, in general, should not do big things.
[...]
This year, Republicans have kicked things off with repeal bills. There are no bold new ideas. There is just dismantling of Democratic ideas. And the result of this, so far, has been resilient Republican popularity. At the end of January, a Gallup poll gave Republicans their first favorable approval ratings since 2005, when their Bush-era slide began. Since the election, Rasmussen Reports polls have put the number of Americans identifying as Republicans close to the number of Americans who identify as Democrats. I asked Scott Rasmussen why this was.
"The Republicans are helped by low expectations," said Rasmussen. "Hardly anybody expects them to actually cut spending. The GOP is also helped by the fact that Democrats still control the White House and the Senate. You cite the lack of legislative accomplishment. Remember, by a 3-to-1 margin, voters believe that no matter how bad something is, Congress can always make it worse. That's true regardless of whether Democrats or Republicans are in charge. Lack of action may be a plus in some eyes.
[...]