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Pundits and politicians lately have been harping on the growing distrust between the Senate and the House. One blog commenter even said “If the House and the Senate do not trust each other, how can the American people trust the government.” He is correct, and it is one sign that the Founding Fathers really knew what they were doing.

John Feehery

John Feehery has an excellent article over at CNN entitled “Can the House trust the Senate?” His opening two paragraphs just about say it all:

When the Founding Fathers decided to create a bicameral legislative branch, they were trying to make things difficult for the federal government to grab power from the people.

What the Founding Fathers may not have foreseen was how much the House and the Senate would grow to dislike and distrust each other. Why is this important now? Democrats in the House may have to take the political risk of voting to pass the health care bill based on assurances from the Senate that the upper chamber will eventually modify the law to change some things House Democrats don’t want.

The Founding Fathers set up a Congress that had two competing interests – the House that represented the people, and the Senate that represented the states. These two houses of Congress were always meant to be at odds with each other – in order to protect the people it was meant to serve. James Wilson (1791):

…a single legislature is calculated to unite in it all the pernicious qualities of the different extremes of bad government. It produces general weakness, inactivity, and confusion; and these are intermixed with sudden and violent fits of despotism, injustice and cruelty. (Of Government, The Legislative Department, Lectures on Law)

Add to this bicameral house an entire government with branches that share different powers equally. The entire government is meant to be at odds with itself – with a certain amount of distrust and perhaps hostility –in order to protect the Republic which it serves. The Founding Fathers built in this level of distrust within the government, because they had a healthy distrust of government itself. Thomas Jefferson: “That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.” They slowed down the government – making it difficult to govern and pass laws – precisely because they wanted a limited government in the first place.

In this insane push towards a Health Care Reform – we can take comfort that the distrust that is going on is entirely healthy.

Senator Chris Dodd (D) of Connecticut announced today that he will not run for reelection.  Despite the joyful news of getting rid of one of the country’s most corrupt Senators, the GOP needs to be careful in their response.

Democrats are loosing 4 seats to retirement this year.  While Republicans are loosing 6 seats for the same reason – the Democrats are considered more at risk.  (Fox News)

Republicans, however, have to overcome two major hurdles.

First is the division in their own party between conservatives and moderates.  Moderates such as Olympia Snowe and others have continuously disappointed Republicans across the country by voting with Democrats on key issues.  They have embraced the idea of bi-partisanship – not understanding that the Democrats aren’t giving up anything.

Meghan McCain writes on her blog:

I am very proud to have the opportunity to speak on how the Republican Party can continue to find ways to be more inclusive and return to its core values and beliefs. Some photos from the weekend are below. (http://mccainblogette.com/)

These people and others do not realize that the reason why the GOP lost the election in 2008 was precisely because it got away from its core values and beliefs – though not the ones that Meghan is talking about.

Fortunately, RNC chair Michael Steele is waking up:

RNC Chairman Michael Steele, appearing Wednesday on “Fox and Friends,” said the right-wing populist movement “puts in stark relief where the American people are” and asserted it’s important for the GOP to “understand this so that we can move towards it, embrace it, and then move into the future.” (UPI.com)

About time – because I continue to believe that if the GOP will embrace its core values of limited government, less taxes, and individual freedom – they will win just about every time.

The other obstacle is overcome a very persuasive ignorance in this country.

This audio clip is from a few months ago, but it illustrates an ignorance that got President Obama and the Democrats elected in the first place.

Unfortunately, no amount of reasoned discussion will overcome such an incorrect view of government.  However, we must try.  The conservative movement must be in the cities, in the community centers, on campuses, and in churches.  We must be reaching out – providing for basic needs, but also educating at the same time.  Instead of Acorn, we should be the Oak Tree – strong, stately, and helping people get to the point where they can be Oak Trees themselves.

Goodbye, Senator Todd.  We will not miss you.  Here’s to hoping that we elect responsible Senators who will wipe out all the mess you have caused.

Mr. Michael Steel, Chairman
Republican National Committee
310 First Street
Washington, D. C. 20003

Dear Mr. Steele:

The controversies concerning ACORN and the Democrat party have only served to reinforce the foundational challenge of the Republican National Committee. ACORN and its leadership are undeniably corrupt, but they are out where the RNC should be – in the communities and meeting centers around the country.

Americans, although they might not realize it, identify with conservatism. No matter what economic level, everyone wants to pay a reduced amount in taxes. We all want our neighborhoods to be safe, and our country free from foreign influence. We all want an equal shake – or at least the chance to improve our lives and the lives of our children. Despite what the media reports, this country has some basic moralities, codes of behavior that are at odds with the liberal left. In short, the conservative message is the message of the American people.

We are not getting that message to the people who need to hear it. While we must continue to use the new media that the web and cable provide, the reason why ACORN has been so effective is that they realize that they must go to where the people are. They are walking the streets, holding meetings, rallying people, and lecturing in the classroom. They have provided a face, a voice, and a hand – all in the effort to promote the liberal agenda. We must do the same.

As an instructor and department chair at a career college in Knoxville, I daily interacted with students who come from the demographic that ACORN typically targeted. My students were lower income, high school degrees or GEDs, and usually worked for an hourly wage. While not “book smart”, they were very street smart. Always being careful to present all sides, I would take opportunities in my lectures to present issues and ideas of current topics to my class. In math classes, I would mathematically demonstrate the reason why a Fair Tax would work for everyone, and why an increase in taxes for the rich would hurt those who work for an hourly wage. In political science classes, we would discuss different forms of government and the basis of each. The impact of classical music and art were discussed in the English classes that my wife taught at the same institution. In EVERY case, the students responded to these ideas with enthusiasm and debate. They had never been told that Social Security was not a bank account. They never realized the mathematics behind taxation. They had never been taught the reasons behind the core differences between the parties. Certainly, not everyone in my classes agreed with all the conservative principles I was presenting. But they all had one thing in common – they all asked “Why haven’t I heard this before?”

We need to reclaim the grassroots at these levels. The RNC has done a great job of being in suburbia – but that is not where the fight is. We must be in the community centers of cities. We need to be on our universities and campuses. We must be where the people are, answering their questions, admitting where we have failed, but also educating them how our conservative principles will change their individual and communal lives for the better.

The caveat, though, is that the RNC needs to be united in our message. We cannot be a party of all people, though the conservative principles will indeed benefit all. We cannot be a party of fiscal responsibility yet still abide Congressman and Senators who routinely put pork in bills. In short, we cannot be a party of moderates, but one of conservatives. After we unite our message, our efforts at the grassroots level that ACORN seems to believe belong solely to them will be that much more successful.

Sincerely yours,

Reuel K. Sample