A Little U.S. History To Start Us Off

Please see below this post for the Welcome and Introduction Posts
This great experiment called American democracy did not come about easily. Those who settled the colonies and the framers of the Constitution did so with a sense of purpose, yet decisions and compromises were essential. One of the greatest debates in which the delegates to the Constitutional Convention engaged was in deciding the structure of our legislature. In particular, the assignment of delegates to the legislative body was placing the delegates at odds.

Early in the debate there was only one chamber of a legislative body beingdiscussed by the delegates. There were two plans on the table – The Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. The Virginia plan favored the larger states in that each would have their representatives delegated relative to the population of the state. The New Jersey Plan favored the smaller states as it provided for an equal number of representatives from each state. It was Roger Sherman from Connecticut who proposed what became the Connecticut Compromise, or the Great Compromise, that was passed and implemented the bicameral legislature and the apportionment of senators and representatives.

We spend a great deal of time concentrating on who our president will be. Once in office, we spend our time looking at his policies and his statements. In an international view that is most appropriate, as the President dispatches Ambassadors and is the Commander-In-Chief of the armed forces. However, the situation is different in domestic politics because of the division of powers between the branches of government. It is our Congress who is responsible for taxation and for spending. It is the Congress where the great debates (or what passes for them these days) occurs. It is in the Congress where policy is established.
In the 1980s, President Reagan slashed the marginal rates of taxes and ended the confiscatory tax policy of the Congress that the democrats had held for decades. The national debt skyrocketed, just as it is doing under President Bush and will continue to do under President Obama. Reagan was promised a decrease in spending to accompany those tax cuts, but Congress never delivered. Congress spends our money, not the President.

It is the Congress that sets the agenda for legislation. The Congress is where the oversight of our government takes place.

So why this particular history lesson at this particular time? The best analogy I can give is a military campaign. In war there are both strategic objectives (the big picture such as defeating Germany in World War II) and tactical action (the operations part such as Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, etc). The strategic objective is accomplished by multiple tactical operations. So if our strategic goal is to demand a return to conservative principles in our party, and a conservative movement within the nation, then we have to define our tactical operations to accomplish that goal. Our first tactical battle that looms is the mid-term elections in 2010. This is the first impact we can have on bringing back conservative leadership in Washington.

These races are every bit as important as the Presidential race. We need to search for good, solid candidates that are conservative and represent real change for our nation. We need new faces, and new energy. We need people who will remain steadfast, and aggressive in taking back our party.

We need people who understand the Reagan Revolution and aren’t afraid to say it.