Hunting RINOs is tough, but here's how you do it

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/5/hunting-rinos-tough-heres-
how/

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

President Donald Trump has ushered in a new age of politics, one that’s
not been seen since Ronald Reagan’s day, that supporters see as putting
people over pols, citizens over Capitol Hill.

And boy, are the RINOs on edge about that. So oust ‘em, some say.

The trouble is it’s easier said than done. Here’s why. And more
importantly, here’s how to do it.

“Few things in life are more predictable than the chances of an incumbent
member of the U.S. House of Representatives winning reelection,” the
Center for Responsive Politics wrote, in its OpenSecrets.org website.

“With wide name recognition, and usually an insurmountable advantage in
campaign cash, House incumbents typically have little trouble holding onto
their seats.”

In 2010, there was a bit of a shakeup, and only about 85 percent of House
incumbents facing reelection actually kept their seats. And that low —
because that’s what that 85 percent reelection success rate represents, a
50-year low — hadn’t been seen since 1970. Typically, according to CRP’s
chart, House members retain their seats for at least one election cycle
upwards of 90 percent of the time.

In the Senate — where we just saw Blue Ribbon RINO John McCain give the
dramatic thumbs-down to Obamacare repeal, even after vowing to voters in
his most recent campaign railings he would repeal, repeal, repeal —
challengers have a slightly better chance of winning against the
incumbent.

But not much.

“Senate races still overwhelmingly favor the incumbent,” CRP reported.

“Big swings in the national mood can sometimes topple long time office-
holders, as happened with the Reagan revolution in 1980. Even so, years
like that are an exception.”

In Reagan’s time, the reelection success rate for incumbent senators fell
to 55 percent or so — but it’s not been that low in five decades.

Nowadays?Reelection rates for these pols have hovered upwards of 79
percent since 1986, the one year that there was a slight lull in incumbent
favor and only 75 percent or so of seated senators won back their slots.

Still, it’s not much of a lull, right?

All this — yet time and again, year after year, election after election,
American conservatives around the country rise up with collective cries to
demand the ousting of the RINOs.

With all this outcry — why is it so hard to boot?

In a word, money.

Political upstarts just don’t have the money to take on party-supported
and entrenched Republicans. And these RINOs often share their campaign
wealth — their surplus funds — with weaker candidates, helping them stave
off challengers that threaten to compete.

“In recent years, especially as the balance of power in the House and
Senate has remained close, members have been strongly encouraged to share
their excess money and deliver some of it to races that are truly
competitive,” CRP reported. “The money is delivered in two ways: either
directly from the member’s campaign committee or through contributions
from the member’s ‘leadership PAC.’”

The leadership PAC delivery method to candidates is especially favored by
Republicans. We’re talking amounts in recent election cycles that range
from $12 million to $30 million.

For Republicans who play the party game, even at the expense of the
constituents’ concern, it’s Message Received: The party will return the
favor with money.

That’s how we get headlines like this, from Zero Hedge, back in 2015: “79
Members of Congress Have Been in Office for at Least 20 Years.” On that
list, from the Republican side: McCain, of course, along with fellow Sens.

Charles Grassley, Orrin Hatch and Mitch McConnell. Lindsey Graham, by
contrast, hasn’t surpassed his 20-year mark of Senate service, yet — but
as any political watcher will note, he’s already made great strides in the
art of RINOism that will carry him, very likely, to another win in 2020.

Well and good. But the Founding Fathers didn’t want an entrenched, long-
serving political class. In fact, George Washington laid the groundwork
for what U.S. politics was supposed to be when he declined, after two
presidential terms, to run again, saying this country wasn’t a kingdom,
but rather an “of, by and for the people” style democratic republic.

Yet here we are in 2017, and an entrenched class is what we have — a
tough-as-nails RINO rule that’s nearly impossible, according to compiled
statistics, to oust. So what’s the solution?

Term limits have been tossed about as an idea. But for First Amendment
idealists, the idea of core freedoms like speech and expression, also
known as voting, being tossed to the side by government mandate is a
sticking point.

So here are a couple other sound solutions that don’t intrude on
constitutional purist concerns: First and foremost, stop funding the main
political parties. Instead, fund the smaller non-governmental activist and
nonprofit groups that do the real fighting for the little people on
Capitol Hill and elsewhere.

Our Second Amendment rights, say, don’t stay intact because all the
politicians in Congress think we deserve them or regard them as God-given.

Our Second Amendment rights stay intact in large part because the National
Rifle Association and other gun-rights outfits, backed by dollars and
vocal support from hundreds of thousands of Americans, insist those
politicians on Capitol Hill who might waver and cave to gun control
advocates instead stay strong.

That’s a shining example of how private citizens can make their voices
heard on Capitol Hill.

Funding these types of groups — lobbyists, nonprofits, single-issue
organizations, private entities — on all kinds of issues and matters,
rather than, say, the Republican National Committee, gives voice to the
people, keeps the Big Party pols in check and ensures constitutional
interests are properly represented.

Another solution to the RINOs who ail?

Return the U.S. Senate to state legislature control.

The Founding Fathers intended senators to represent the wills of the
states — not serve as simply longer-tenured House lawmakers.

“To balance the power between the large and small states, the
Constitution’s framers agreed that states would be represented equally in
the Senate and in proportion to their populations in the House,” the U.S.
Senate’s historical webpage reads. “Further preserving the authority of
individual states, they provided that state legislatures would elect
senators.”

Yes, indeed — that’s wisdom right there. The two-year serving
congressional members would be voted by the people, to serve the people,
while the six-year serving senators would be elected by state
legislatures, to serve the state interests. Can you say Tenth Amendment?

Nowadays, not so much.

RINO rule in Congress in large part is because of the self-interested
sharing of power, money and assistance among members. Upsetting this
balance by redirecting funding away from the formal political parties that
provide it — and toward the smaller nonprofits and private groups that
truly fight for the underrepresented American — is a quick and easy
solution most Americans can implement immediately.

Stripping the Senate of its popular vote-type process and putting its
members back under the accountability of the states is a longer term
campaign — but one that would prove long lasting.

Think of the possibilities. Instead of opportunists, elitists and self-
serving RINOs, we’d have true servants of the people. We’d have a
political class in constant check, in complete accountability to the
people and to the states — we’d have a system of governance the Founding
Fathers would truly approve.

RINO hunters, prepare to mount.


--
Donald J. Trump, 304 electoral votes to 227, defeated compulsive liar in
denial Hillary Rodham Clinton on December 19th, 2016. The clown car
parade of the democrat party has run out of gas.

Congratulations President Trump. Thank you for ending the disaster of the
Obama presidency.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp.

ObamaCare is a total 100% failure and no lie that can be put forth by its
supporters can dispute that.

Obama jobs, the result of ObamaCare. 12-15 working hours a week at minimum
wage, no benefits and the primary revenue stream for ObamaCare. It can't
be funded with money people don't have, yet liberals lie about how great
it is.

Obama increased total debt from $10 trillion to $20 trillion in the eight
years he was in office, and sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood queer
liberal democrat donors.