House Republican Whip Roy Blunt spoke this afternoon to an audience at the Heritage Foundation in an address entitled 'Laying the Groundwork for a Revolution.' Blunt set forth the principles that he believes must guide Republican efforts to regain a majority on the Hill. In the main, Blunt reaffirmed the ideas that won Ronald Reagan the presidency and which earned a GOP majority in Congress starting in 1994.
But if you read conservative blogs, you may sense a disconnect between Blunt's comments and the tone of some leading center-right bloggers. Whether you read a libertarianish budget hawk like Glenn Reynolds, who wants Congress to improve on fiscal issues, or folks like Ace or Michelle Malkin, who might be described as angry and offended that inside-the-beltway Republicans aren't listening to the base on immigration, or the teams at RedState and the Corner, which skillfully chronicle when GOP leaders adhere to and deviate from conservative orthodoxy on pretty much all issues--there's a disconnect.
The bloggers seem to feel that the party has lost its way, and that an intervention might be necessary in order to bring them back to reality. Blunt (and plenty of others, obviously) are trying to reassure us that 'they got the message,' and that they're more like the reformers of 1994 than the team that was dumped in 2006.
In his speech today, Blunt focused on the renewed commitment of Congressional Republicans to fiscal responsibility, free markets, and a strong national defense. He drew contrasts between the new Democratic leadership, which has moved to increase spending by $115 billion in their first year in power, and to increase taxes by up to $400 billion. By contrast, he said, Republicans were able to trim $40 billion from entitlement spending when they were in power.
And while the Democratic leadership lacks a commitment to fighting the war on terror, and to ensuring border security, the GOP is foursquare for both of those things. Blunt reiterated a talking point that has been golden for as long as I've watched Republican politics: the first responsibility of the federal government is to protect the lives and property of the American people:
"But I don't know that it's possible to seriously discuss our domestic goals and ideas without first addressing the matter of security. The federal government has no greater responsibility than to protect the life, liberty, and property of its citizens. And so before we can talk about health savings accounts, marginal tax rates or coal-to-liquids, we must first confront the existential issue of terror and security in a new age of conflict and resolution."
And while "the three leading liberal candidates for our nation's most serious elected office have settled
on the idea that universal, government-run health care is the solution to all our health care problems," Republicans recognize that government provided health care is ultimately against the interests of the American people, he said. Blunt said that the market is the only way to deliver the care that the people want, and that federally-run health care runs into trouble from the moment bureaucrats try to determine what procedures ought to cost. Rather than expand government coverage, we ought to expand access to private, market-driven health care, he said.In the most pointed criticism of the Democratic agenda, Blunt hammered the majority over an 'energy bill' that is being put together by 11 different committees, and still has nothing in it to encourage domestic production. He said that there's something wrong in the market when you have no choice but to buy a product from "people that don't like you."
Americans' energy bills went up again this summer. Unfortunately, nearly two-thirds of our oil comes from places outside the United States these days, and a good portion of that is shipped from areas of the world where hatred for the West in general, and America in particular, is the rule of the day. There's nothing wrong with buying things from people who don't like you. But it's really dumb to have to buy things from people who don't like you.
You can't reduce our reliance on foreign energy when you refuse to tap into our own supply. You can't substitute alternative energy for imported fossil fuels fast enough if you make it impossible to build nuclear power plants,
or refuse to explore and utilize the abundant resources we have off our own shores, in the Arctic, and in the form of hydro-dams we already have in place. Renewables, alternatives, and conservation are also important parts
of energy independence - but make no mistake: Energy independence requires actual energy.During the Q&A, Blunt reiterated support for Free Trade Agreements to open other markets, and talked optimistically about why Republicans can hope to retake the House next year. When asked a sharp question about why the government didn't shrink under a GOP Congress and Republican president, Blunt pointed to budgets that held the line on domestic discretionary spending, while increasing funding for national security. He downplayed concern about earmarks, saying that they don't increase spending--they merely determine whether funds are spent by the president or Congress. He acknowledged that yes, the GOP probably could have done better, but that in any case they did far better than the Democrats who followed them.
Blunt said lots of things to remind fiscal conservatives and security hawks why they need Republicans in leadership. But to the extent that bloggers represent the GOP base--admittedly, a somewhat iffy proposition--he probably won't get a lot of love. And even if he did, would it make a difference in 2008?
You can watch Congressman Blunt's speech at the Heritage archive here. Thanks to Rob Bluey for putting it together.
