Judging by the underwhelming response part one of this article received it is obvious that the rest of the country is as unenthusiastic about the
GOP Pledge as I am. I received plenty of comments from readers and none of them were positive. Here is a small sample of what my readers
thought, “lame, vague, and this thing is little better than toilet paper.” Let’s hope that GOP leadership gets the message that we are not looking for
more of the same left of center policies that were used during the Bush years. The American People want Reagan era conservatism brought back
to Washington and for our leaders to start governing by the Constitution.

For the life of me I don’t understand why our leaders don’t understand this. They are so worried about being accepted by the “old media” which
nobody watches anymore when they should be worried about what their constituents want. We are a representative republic and our
representatives stopped representing us long ago. Well in case you haven’t been paying attention, a bunch of you will be getting pink-slips in 34
days.

The pledge does little to reign in out-of-control spending and the authors went out of the way to pacify the left by stating that they intend to “protect
entitlement programs.” The American People understand that our current system is unsustainable and that we have to make some tough choices
to phase out many of the more than 2,000 entitlement programs.

You cannot have it both ways which is where the Republican Party has lost its way. You cannot say that you want small government in one
sentence and then turn around and promote entitlement programs in the next. We expect our leaders to care more about doing what is right for the
country than staying in office. The electorate has awakened and if you don’t start doing your jobs, we are going to go Donald Trump on you and
say, “You’re fired!” Alright, back to the plan…

The plan also calls for the repeal of the healthcare plan. While I don’t think there’s a snow ball’s chance in hell of that happening, at least while
Obama has the veto pen, there may be some ways to stop funding of the bill. There are some good points in this portion of the GOP plan in which
they want to open up insurance to be bought across state lines, just like car insurance, which should make rates much more competitive. The
plan also calls for medical liability reform, aka tort reform, which will also help lower costs because the cost of malpractice insurance will drop
nationwide. We have seen this passed in Texas and doctors are flocking here in droves. The plan also seeks to incentivize states to help lower
healthcare costs and to expand health savings accounts. They also plan to pass laws to require insurance companies to cover pre-existing
conditions, permanently end tax payer funded abortions, spending caps, and conscience protection for hospital personnel.

The next section is to Reform Congress and Restore Trust. They certainly have their work cut out for them. The plan calls for posting all bills on-
line for three days (where have we heard that before?), require bills to state their Constitutional authority, allow either party to introduce
amendments which will lower the cost of legislation, and advance only one piece of major legislation at a time.

Here’s my two cents - while this sounds okay, Congress would probably be better served if they spent a session weeding out and abolishing
some of the useless legislation we already have on the books. Less than a hundred years ago, all the legislation we had would fit into two
encyclopedia size volumes, it now requires nearly thirty feet of shelf space to house all the laws that have been passed. Certainly some regulation
is necessary but I find it hard to believe we need all these regulations. And while they’re at it, let’s simplify the tax code so you don’t need a PhD to
complete your taxes. You cannot tell me that it requires over 70,000 pages for Congress to figure out a way to “lay and collect taxes.”

The next section is, A Plan to Keep Our Nation Safe at Home and Abroad. There are a few things in this section I can get behind such as, “pass
clean troop spending bills” so that legislation such as Amnesty for Illegal’s cannot be attached to bills like Harry Reid did last week. These bills
are meant to provide vital necessities for our troops and their safety should not be compromised because of someone’s political agenda. The
plan also calls for military tribunals rather than trying terrorists in civilian courts like Obama and Holder have suggested. Enforce sanctions
against Iran, which is probably a pipe dream since Russia and China are behind them. The plan also calls for stricter visa restrictions and gaining
operational control of the border. Again we want to know what that entails and why there is no provision for deporting all the illegals currently in
country now. President Eisenhower had the courage to do it and we expect our leaders to do the same.

I would have also liked to have seen some sort of statement on Afghanistan and Iraq. We clearly need to step up our efforts in Afghanistan since
we have very little operational control. I am tired of hearing about my brothers-in-arms perishing when we are clearly not fighting with the full power
of the America’s military might. Let’s also be honest, our troops in Iraq are still performing combat operations despite the lies told by President
Obama. I have received emails from combat troops in country that state the only thing that has changed is that the word “combat” has been
dropped from the title of their unit. We know how fond the president is of re-branding things to make them sound all warm and fuzzy. Well Mr.
President, we are not that stupid and dropping the word combat from a unit’s designation doesn't mean they aren't still fighting.

The final section is to install Checks and Balances to Congress. The plan states that Republicans will fight to ensure transparency (again we've
heard that before), oppose any new stimulus spending, fight efforts to fund Obamacare, work to increase access to domestic energy sources, and
oppose card check to fight for union worker’s rights to a secret ballot.

They probably could have put an entire section in on energy because the Obama administration has all but crippled energy production in America
while giving billions of dollars to Mexico and Brazil to drill in the Gulf of Mexico. I have heard no one but Glenn Beck ask the question; why the two
standards? Why is it too dangerous for American companies to drill offshore but it’s safe for Pemex (Mexico’s national oil company) and Petrobras
(Brazil’s national oil company)? Not to mention that Petrochina is drilling in the waters between Florida and Cuba. I haven’t heard anyone but me
ask the president about the new environmental review process for drilling? And what about the land grab that the Obama administration is
making? I have heard absolute silence from the Republican Party about this as well.

You people better start doing your jobs or you will be replaced.





Todd Kinsey is leading the conservative revolution to defend the Constitution, protect liberty, and defeat liberalism. He is a proud veteran of the US Army, serves
as the President of the Galveston County Young Republicans, is active in the Republican Network, the Galveston County Republican Party, The Clear Lake
Republicans, and the JROTC. He is also contributing writer to The GOP Journal, The Examiner.com and The Coastal Conservative. Todd has appeared on
several radio talk shows and publishes his own website: www.toddkinsey.com. He is also an active member of the community where he has coached several
championship baseball teams but most importantly, Todd is a devoted husband and the proud father of two teenage sons.

To arrange guest appearances or speaking engagements, you can contact him by email: todd@toddkinsey.com
Republican Pledge doesn't go far enough - Part II
By: Todd Kinsey
Monday - September 30, 2010
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