Fridays
with Erick Erickson
Hold the Line
06.24.11
Last night, Eagle Publishing’s softball team held the line against the
Heritage Foundation with a final score of 16-12. As much as I love the
Heritage Foundation, the visiting team gave them a drubbing. Well done
guys!
On another matter of holding the line, there is a lot of handwringing
out there about how to actually implement the Cut, Cap, and Balance
Pledge—the new conservative pledge asking members of Congress to (1)
make serious cuts, (2) cap federal spending, and (3) pass the
Lee-Cornyn-Hatch Balanced Budget Amendment before raising the debt
ceiling.
The strategy is very, very simple. Refuse to vote to raise the debt
ceiling until we have cut, capped, and balanced.
Yes, I know to people in Washington this sounds willfully naive. In
Washington, things are done through a series of compromises. In
Washington, people give and take and get things done.
But if we believe the rhetoric that we are in a terrible crisis, then
the best option should be to do nothing — either extract major cuts,
cap spending, and get a balanced budget amendment, or do not raise the
debt ceiling.
The conservative strategy should be clear on this: Hold the freaking
line.
Do not negotiate, do not compromise. The Democrats want a “clean” vote.
They can’t get it. The Democrats want the debt ceiling raised. Well,
that vote comes with a price. That price is cut, cap, and balance.
Conservatives must hold the line on this. And if their Republican
colleagues waver, conservative organizations must be willing to wage a
scorched earth fight against them to keep them from breaking the line.
Otherwise, the debt ceiling will be raised and nothing else will
change. That, ultimately, is how Washington works. To win this fight,
Republicans and conservatives must be willing to operate in ways
Washington isn’t supposed to operate. In fact, they need to operate
just like the Democrats did to force through ObamaCare.
At least on the debt ceiling fight the public is with the GOP.
— Erick Erickson
Read it at Daily Events
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