Paul Ryan

President Obama gave a press conference today in which he tried to spin the election outcome as being the result of voters’ frustration with the slow economic recovery rather than a rejection of his policies. He wants to “mix and match” policies with Republicans. He said that we could make minor modifications to Obamacare. How generous.

No! There can be no compromise on principles!

Obama, Congressional Democrats and the left-wing media call for “compromise” which is code for Republicans giving up the policies they campaigned for. In 2008, when Democrats won, the media, of course, did not call on Democrats to compromise and President Obama told House Republicans when asked to consider their ideas: “We won!”

Republicans need to stand firm and recognize that the winning side is not the side that needs to make concessions. That is the role of the side that has lost the election – the Democrats.

Republicans should immediately push for keeping all the Bush tax cuts. It would be preferable for this to be addressed in the lame duck Congress, but if the Wicked Witch of the West, departing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, blocks this, it needs to be implemented retroactively in January by the new Congress. Even in the Senate there will be enough Democrats supporting an extension of the tax cuts. They just need to break Harry Reid, the villain that has returned, so that the Senate gets to vote.

Next Republican in the House should move to repeal Obamacare. Not tinker at the margin. Repeal it. It is bad policy that will increase health care costs and limit choices. If you get seriously ill, you will face de-facto death panels even if they are called something else, all disguised in nice rhetoric. And the way Obamacare was rammed through Congress by Reid and Pelosi was a perversion of the rule of law. If Senate Democrats block repeal or the President vetoes it, so be it. Republicans can still stop a lot of Obamacare by refusing to fund it and the choice for the voters in 2012 will be crystal clear.

Third, House Republicans need to cut spending. They could enact across the board cuts to bring spending back to 2007 levels when we had a deficit less than a tenth of what it is today. Sure, some items can’t easily be cut and defense cuts are, in Florida Pundit’s opinion, not desirable. But we can also start eliminating programs. Start small with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) which gained increased notoriety in October when its subsidiary, National Public Radio (NPR), fired Juan Williams and suggested that he needs a psychiatrist for expressing on Fox News how he feels when he sees people in Muslim dress on airplanes. After eliminating subsidies for CPB, we can move on to bigger fish.

Republicans must commit to banning all earmarks. Earmarks don’t account for a large percentage of spending, but they are, in the words of Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn, a “gateway drug” that gets representatives hooked on all kinds of other spending.

These steps will be a good beginning. But they are only a beginning. Republicans should have the courage to tackle entitlement reform. Voters are receptive to doing this more than ever before. Without change, Social Security and Medicare will bankrupt America. Of course, we need to keep commitments made to retired Americans and those close to retirement. But there is no reason, for example, not to raise the retirement age by a couple of years. Life expectancy is a lot longer today than when Social Security was first passed in the 1930s. The goal is to preserve security for senior citizens now and in the future.

We would like to see Republicans adopt Paul Ryan’s plan for restoring America to fiscal discipline.

As Senator-elect Marco Rubio said, voters did not embrace the Republican Party. They did reject Democrats and, for lack of a realistic alternative, they have put Republicans on probation.

Now Republicans need to earn back the trust of the American people by doing what they said they would do. Republican initiatives will be blocked by Democrats in the Senate although, given the number of Democrat Senators up for re-election in 2012, it would not be surprising if a handful of Democrats in the Senate start voting with Republicans.

Obama can veto anything that reaches his desk. Fine. The choice in 2012 will be that much clearer.

If Republicans do not stick to the principles that they were elected to defend, there is a big danger a third party movement will split the opposition to Obama socialism in 2012. The result: Obama gets reelected and Democrats are back in control of Congress.

If, however, Republicans stick with their principles, we will be poised for the next big step in returning America to Constitutional government: defeat Obama in 2012 and elect a Republican majority in the Senate.

So, congratulations to all the candidates that won on Tuesday. Now get to work. Don’t forget why you were elected and realize that if you are seduced by power your tenure will be very short. If you are tempted, go talk to Congressman-elect Allen West or listen to one of his speeches. He will inspire you and recommit you to stay true to your principles!

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