(Written Saturday morning.)
I hope that people in the 5th Congressional District GOP take note of this post I made earlier this week…big opportunity to get it right…reposted here for today….
The 5th Congressional District GOP Committee has a big decision before them. I’m sure the members are already getting calls from candidates who want to fill the seat occupied by Congressman Tom Garrett who is stepping aside. If I lived in the 5th District, I might be one of them making those calls. While I did represent Fauquier, which is part of the 5th, I do think that the candidate should live in the district they represent.
That said, the 5th Congressional District GOP Committee has a huge opportunity to select a candidate who will actually commit to a conservative reform agenda that will save the nation from its looming demise. Here is my “freedom agenda” that I would require of any candidate I would support were I part of that committee.
• Term limits for Congress: Five for the House, two for the Senate. Careerism is killing the legislative process in America and is the preeminent threat to our system of government. A citizen legislature was the intent of the Founders. It has become an oligarchy that doesn’t even live under the same rules they write for everyone else. Besides, if you can’t get done what must be done in 10 ot 12 years, another year won’t make a bit of difference. Pick a candidate—by the way—who will self-impose these limits on themselves as a condition of their nomination.
• Term limits for Federal Judges: Judicial activism is destroying the legal system and upending the balance of power at the Federal level. Moreover, Congress and the President are abrogating their responsibly to legislate by allowing—in some cases—the courts to do that job. We should embrace the Virginia model where both houses of the legislature vote to put judges on the bench, under term limits, and then evaluate them before reappointment. This is vital for America.
• A balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution and a line item veto for the President: These important fiscal disciplines are present and working in most of the states that compose our nation. If we don’t impose these commonsense requirements on our national government, our fiscal system will fail. We are perilously close now. We must do this.
• Build the wall and reform the immigration system: Enough said. Do it.
• Close all (that means all, not some) departments and commissions of the Federal government that do not have a clear nexus to the powers of the Federal government as articulated in the US Constitution: Next to careerism, federal overreach is an existential danger to the nation. Our government is too big, bloated beyond all recognition, and expensive. Stop it, please. I need a government that will protect my rights as stated in the Bill of Rights, not a nanny.
These are not all of the “issues” that are important to this old Colonel. Those of you who know me know that. But I think just about any candidate the 5th District GOP nominates will be “right” on the issues that concern many of us. The question is will they commit to the reforms above and be willing to step aside in the next election if they fail to make a determined effort to implement them. In other words, will they commit to being specifically accountable to the people to actually stake their position on advancing these goals. Not just lip service, but by real action, both in and out of Congress.
If they are not willing to embrace this “Freedom Agenda” as I would call it, then I suggest you politely thank them for their interest in running for Congress and move on to the next candidate. If you don’t nominate a candidate who will specifically subscribe to this program of action, you will get more of the same, and “same” is not what is needed…
