Cruz, Amash, Paul and Lee: They’re Not The Problem With The GOP

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas recently endorsed Justin Amash for his House re-election effort in Michigan:

“Washington needs more conservatives with backbone – more conservatives like Justin Amash,” Cruz says. “Justin and I have fought to repeal Obamacare, to defend the right to life and to uphold the Constitution against Barack Obama and his cronies.”

Cruz closed the ad by calling Amash “west Michigan’s principled conservative.”

This apparently got the hackles up of many Republicans who don’t appreciate the fact that Amash has a big libertarian streak, especially as it relates to national security.

  • Aside from that, Amash is exactly the type of conservative, Republicans want in Congress.
  • He supports lower taxes and tax reform
  • He’s pro-life
  • He supports the full repeal of Obamacare
  • He supports doing away with crony capitalism and allowing free markets to work
  • He supports less regulation on business

Who the hell wants that guy around? (Sarcasm tag not available) Yes, I don’t agree fully with Amash on all of his views related to national security but you’re nothing but a damned fool if you reject him outright based on his other positions.

I hate to break it to people but this is not the same country it was 30 years ago. Republicans could win on, “Lower taxes, less government and a strong national defense.”

But priorities have changed. People are also less trustful of government than they have ever been. Conservatives saw the absolutely wasted opportunity the Republican Party had from 2003 to 2006. Complete control of Congress and a Republican in the White House.

And they blew it. 

Congress tucked their tail between their legs and ran as fast they could early in 2005 when President Bush was suggesting Social Security reform. There was no reigning in of spending. There was no government reform.

There was only Medicare Part D. 

It was this total lack of any conservative governance during that time, TARP, the bailouts and the ushering in of promising big spender Barack Obama, that brought about the rise of the Tea Party movement and ushered in the aforementioned Congressmen (and others) with a more libertarian bent.

Granted, there are people within the Tea Party movement that have become annoying purists. When people started saying, “Pink Slip” Marco Rubio (and calling him a RINO) because of his embrace of the Senate immigration reform bill, I made it clear that was nonsense (I even asked Neal to write about it so he could take the bullets).

That said, the people who are sniping at Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Mike Lee and Justin Amash are missing the overall. The GOP is changing and it needs to change in order to appeal to more people. 

It’s simple math. Republicans will have a very difficult time trying to win national elections in the future, the way they have in the past. 

It will be much harder to do that while the people who are always calling for “Unity!” are busy throwing stones at pols like Ted Cruz and Justin Amash.