Fellow RCSB Readers:

First, let me apologize for the lack of activity on the site for the past few weeks.  Now that the election is over, you can count on more activity from myself and all RCSB contributors. 

Secondly, I have been recieving countless e-mails and phone calls regarding the local election results and the San Bernardino County Republican Party from various local elected officials, business owners, political activists, and of course- RCSB readers. 

I will be posting more on those conversations soon. 

For now, here is a great piece from a local businessman, Mike Morrell.  I find the topic to be very fitting to the current situation we conservatives find ourselves in now; especially within the GOP. 

Enjoy!

A Time for Choosing II: Restoring the Reagan Legacy

By: Mike Morrell 

"No leadership," "re-branding," "compromise," "reinventing"--all these words and more have recently appeared in print to describe a party adrift--as suggested in the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal. Even our California governor has suggested altering our platform's political principles by moving to the center.

It's been said that we've become a party of marketers, not thinkers--a party not serious about policies and ideas and a party soon to capture the title of "Big Government." Perhaps after the disappointing losses we've experienced, there's some truth to these judgments. But to abandon our principles has never been proven a winning strategy. Following his own and his party's electoral defeat in 1976, many Republicans rushed to say, "We must broaden the base of our party and blur the differences between us and our opponents." Ronald Reagan replied simply, "No."

Why? Reagan understood that we cannot be all things to all people, and we must not compromise our principles for political expediency. We now know Reagan was right, and we must not wander off into the land of compromise but return and restore those bedrock political principles of limited government--the greatest blueprint for freedom in 6,000 years of recorded history. Then, and only then, can we secure victories.

Besides, the Democrats' way is destined for failure, so why should we be rushing to re-invent ourselves? Consider, first, how the Dems came into power. Not on the basis of principles, goals, or solutions but rather by pointing out--sometimes rightfully so--how bad we ourselves have become at governing. But the good news is that movements like this soon fade, for Americans are looking for answers. And the Democrats have none--no workable goals or solutions and no appropriate means of achieving any form of greatness.

Does anyone really expect greatness from Hillary, Harry Reed or Nancy Pelosi? Their message is one of hopelessness, self-pity, and despair. And their solution remains one of big government--from womb to tomb and everything in between. And the funding for those big government solutions are always the same - "tax and spend". Their way penalizes thrift and successful achievement and rewards slothfulness. As hard-working Americans toil and sweat for their bread, they take ever more of that income and consume it. If they had their way of simplifying the tax code, it would be a two-step process: First, how much did you make? Second, send it all in. History shows that Americans will rally around Republicans when we stand on principle and fight to reduce the size of government.

Consider California and the dilemma we're in again with a proposed $15 billion-plus deficit. As unemployment rises, construction, finance, and manufacturing trades shrink, yet government grows at an alarming rate of 44 percent (4 years), making it impossible for businesses and families to survive in this hostile environment.  So, to ask us to move to the center suggests a political wisdom superior to the classical Americanism of Washington, Madison, and Reagan.

We do have the answers and the right principles to solve the problems of California and America. We believe in the free market, the most efficient and productive system in history, which encourages citizens to be responsible and families to keep more of their hard-earned money. Our party always wins on issues respecting family and faith, believing that the family and God are the moral anchors of our nation and that government should not replace parents as decision makers. Whether the issues are crime and justice, or welfare to workfare, the majority of Americans are with us on these issues. 

Remember that in the 1994 Contract with America, citizens gave the Republican Party permission to reduce the size of government. And we did, sweeping the House, Senate, and, in time, recapturing the presidency. But what happened? We started losing elections as we grew government spending and caved to powerful unions and lobbyists.

So I ask the question: Do we, despite our recent losses, end the revolution that Reagan began? Or do we continue? Should we compromise, looking for common ground or bipartisanship? Did Washington try to find common ground with the British or Lincoln with the slaveholders or Reagan with the Soviets or Christ with the Pharisees? All great movements require principles worth fighting for. Besides, we know battles aren't easy, for we've been told that, "the battle isn't to the strong alone, but to the active, the vigilant, and the brave."

So fight we must to restore America to that destiny spoken of by President Reagan--"America, the shining city upon a hill."

 

Mike Morrell is a business man from Southern California.  He has been married to Joanie for 31 years and together they have 3 children.

 

(Note: The title of the piece references the famous speech given by Ronald Reagan at the 1964 Republican National Convention.  After the recent losses our party has experienced, it is even more important to return back to the political principles of "limited government".)