Testing GOP “Leadership”

The end result is leaving principles behind and in the long term, creating new and prolonging old problems that will only get harder to resolve as a result of your abandoning those principles.
Via Politico, it looks like the House GOP is circling the wagons on the stimulus package:

House Republican Leader John A. Boehner and his No. 2, Whip Eric Cantor, told their rank-and-file members Tuesday morning during a closed-door meeting to oppose the bill when it comes to the floor Wednesday, according to an aide familiar with the discussion. Boehner told members that he’s voting against the stimulus, and Cantor told the assembled Republicans that there wasn’t any reason for them to support the measure, according to another person in the room. Cantor and his whip team are going to urge GOP members to oppose it.

In a nod to the president, Boehner did point out that this is the third time that Obama has met with Republican leaders, compared with the zero meetings they’ve held with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) – a now-familiar refrain from Republicans in the House. But Obama’s diplomacy clearly isn’t buying any votes yet.

And Mitch McConnell was on the Today show this morning to sow the seeds of dissent on the Democrat side. 

I’m not buying any of this.  It was John Boehner not too long ago who urged conservative Republicans to toss their “ideological purity” aside and vote for the $700 billion TARP disaster–with all of its reckless spending, government expansion and misplaced priorities.  That was about 6 weeks before a national election and when it seemed that the earth was going to explode.  Now, safely in the opposition, Boehner is lambasting the stimulus as wasteful spending–we could have used that rhetoric and principled stance over the last 8 years.   Nevertheless, I give Boehner points for essentially isolating House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from the fracas right now–her disgraceful attempt to cram billions of abortion funding ”family planning” initiatives into the bailout was quickly thrown under Obama’s bus–funding for contraception was removed from the bill. 

McConnell still gets me worried.  Last week he made it known that he will be playing nice with the Obama administration on the stimulus pork package and according to his Today show appearance, he’s pointing fingers at the Democrats in the Senate for slowing up the legislation.  So great–the GOP leader in the Senate is accusing the Democrats of dragging their feet and nitpicking at more spending.  All this despite new evidence that the stimulus package will be to slow to stimulate.

Is it too much to ask for all of the GOP members in the House to vote “No” on this bill?  A bill will pass no matter what, it doesn’t need conservative support.

(UPDATE)

I spoke too soon.  House GOP members are taken in by our new charismatic leader.  As I noted in the original post, it IS too much to ask for these Republicans to get a backbone.  Grab your ankles, it’s time to bend-over like good Republican stooges…

(UPDATE II)

I agree with Ed over at Hot Air–the GOP needs to make a stand here and oppose this nonsense; otherwise, kiss any gains for 2010 good-bye.  To be fair, I dont think they have a shot for gains in 2010 regardless.

(UPDATE III)

Sister Toldjah sums up the GOP leadership and the risks of falling for the Obama charm:

The end result is leaving principles behind and in the long term, creating new and prolonging old problems that will only get harder to resolve as a result of your abandoning those principles.

Read the entire post here.