Establishment Republicans Cannot Be Trusted

By Susan Stamper Brown, CP Guest Contributor Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Susan Stamper Brown is an Alaska resident and recovering political pundit.

Establishment Republicans gave Democrats a generous Christmas gift this year while at the same time stuffing conservatives' stockings with coal in the passage of the omnibus spending bill.

These Republicans obviously forgot that it was the hard work of grassroots conservatives that gave them the majority, winning the largest number of Congressional seats since the Civil War during the 2010 and 2014 midterm elections. Conservatives expected a little something in return. Nothing big, they just wanted them to keep their promises to stop or at least stall some of President Obama's highly unpopular policies, not continue or increase them. No wonder Donald Trump and Ted Cruz continue to lead the pack in the run for the White House.

At this point, it seems we'd be much better off with a Democrat-controlled Congress because at least we'd have someone besides ourselves to blame. The $1.1 trillion, 2000-plus page omnibus spending bill continues to fund programs like Planned Parenthood, despite videos showing people haggling over the price of aborted baby parts. It also continues to fund President Obama's unconstitutional program, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and grants illegal aliens tax credits, entitlements, and work permits. Sanctuary cities and refugee programs including those vulnerable to exploitation by terrorist groups were also funded.

Without a doubt, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, (D-CA) is one of the most effective politicians in recent history, continuing her party's agenda, despite being in the solid minority. Bragging about the Democrats' omnibus spending bill victory, Pelosi said Republicans "gave away the store," claiming in an interview that Democrats outsmarted their opponents by keeping "on their long faces" and calibrating "how we presented this to members because ... we were afraid [Republicans] might pull things out" if they knew what was in the bill.

I seem to recall a similar statement and tactic was used by Pelosi back in 2009 to pass Obamacare. Will Republicans ever learn?

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. continued in the celebration saying, "If you would have told me this year that we'd be standing here celebrating the passage of an omnibus bill with no poison pill riders at higher levels above sequester than even the president requested, I wouldn't have believed it. But here we are. This bill is a great victory for the principles Democrats stand for."

And Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, did not disappoint, bragging about the GOP's willful surrender over issues like tightening the reigns on Obama's refugee program and failing to defund Planned Parenthood. Reid said Democrats accomplished all of their goals. "We wanted to get rid of sequestration, we were able to do that. We wanted to make sure there is parity between defense and the middle class, we wanted to make sure that we kept these poison pills off the legislation. All three goals we had, we accomplished."

During a recent NBC "Meet the Press" show Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said, "We advanced our priorities and principles. Not every single one of them, but many of them."

Ryan is obviously out of touch to actually believe that lifting a ban on crude oil exports somehow supersedes a national security issue like postponing the entry of Syrian refugees or defunding a taxpayer-funded baby part factory like Planned Parenthood.

"But let me be first to say," Ryan added, "this is divided government, and in divided government you don't get everything you want."

Unless you are a Democrat, apparently.

©2015 Susan Stamper Brown. Susan resides in Alaska and writes about culture, politics and current events. Her columns are syndicated by CagleCartoons.com. Contact her by Facebook or at writestamper@gmail.com.