When a progressive (or media pundit) goes on one of their anti-GOP diatribes they often reference the GOP as being the party of, “no”. I always immediately jump out of my skin, because this irks me. If the GOP were the party of, “no”, I might support them and most importantly we’d not be in this mess we are in today. In fact, the Democratic party setup an entire page on the topic, celebrating their hubris and pride. They are so proud of the fact that they (and the GOP) have spent us into oblivion. Yes, we can!
The GOP has been anything, but the “party of no”. The question is, is voting no, inherently a bad thing and why do the democrats automatically assume so? There are often times when, “no” is appropriate. Let’s take a look at a few times we could have used a party of “no”, shall we?
- The Iraq War. ($689 Billion)
- The Afghanistan War. ($230 Billion)
- The Bailouts. ($23 Trillion?)
- The Stimulus Plan. ($3.27 Trillion?)
- The Patriot Act.
- The Community Reinvestment Act.
- Medicare Prescription Drug Modernization Act. ($400 Billion)
All of this when Individual income tax receipts are down 22 percent from a year ago. Corporate income taxes are down 57 percent. Social Security tax receipts could drop for only the second time since 1940, and Medicare taxes are on pace to drop for only the third time ever. Where was this party of “no” when we needed them the most? Today we could use some people who aren’t afraid of saying, “no”.
- No more troops in Afghanistan, bring them home.
- No to cap and trade.
- No to the current Health Care Bill which will just add more government.
- No more stimulus.
- No more bailouts.
- No tax hikes.
So it seems “the party of no” is a pretty high honor to bestow on the GOP right now. The, “no” label only belongs to one man in congress and that’s the honorable Ron Paul. And as of right now, Nobody party has really joined with him.