What are the Republicans’ top priorities?
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) will say Thursday that defeating President Obama is Republicans’ “only way” to truly halt his agenda.
McConnell’s comments are a doubling-down on his remark last week that Republicans’ top priority during the next two years would be to defeat Obama.
“Over the past week, some have said it was indelicate of me to suggest that our top political priority over the next two years should be to deny President Obama a second term in office,” McConnell will say Thursday during a speech at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
“But the fact is, if our primary legislative goals are to repeal and replace the health spending bill; to end the bailouts; cut spending; and shrink the size and scope of government, the only way to do all these things it is to put someone in the White House who won’t veto any of these things,” the top Senate Republican will add.
If the Republicans are serious about shrinking the size and scope of government it will be for the first time. But, having gotten in bed with the Tea Party Movement, they have no choice but to make moves in that direction. I’m not really bothered by McConnell’s bluntness about his partisan aims. However, it’s not much different from Rush Limbaugh’s statement back in January 2009 that he wanted President Obama to fail. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised about a little smack-talk after the spanking we received on Tuesday. But it’s an attitude that we’ll be able to point to throughout the remainder of this Congress as evidence of the GOP’s bad faith.
