David Webb: How the new GOP Congress can lead the US to success

This Veterans Day just past is my clarion call to action — and not just for veterans. We are more than a decade into the 21st century and better leadership in America is needed. 

Following the two world wars fought by a new “great” generation, we saw a rise of better and more competent leaders at all levels of government and in the private sector. They may not all have served in the military but they lived in a time of great conflict and it helped renew the call for a stronger, better nation. We had a pool of many Americans with the skills and drive to excel under the banner of true patriotism. 

{mosads}Too many of the baby boomers and Vietnam veterans have squandered this opportunity, however. The generation that consumed the most left less than required for the future generations on the table. For the first time in our nation’s history, the next generation will be worse off.

The United States needs leadership, and leadership in Washington demands transparency. ObamaCare architect Jonathan Gruber spoke bluntly of how the administration viewed what he called “the stupidity of the American voter” in how it presented the Affordable Care Act to the Congressional Budget Office and Americans — openly admitting what many of us who oppose ObamaCare within the Tea Party movement and elsewhere have said all along. This was not about a solution to dealing with the problems around health insurance and healthcare delivery but an ideological ploy by President Obama and all Democrats who voted for his reforms. 

Once again, Obama and his cronies have demonstrated their elitist contempt for Americans. We are all, in their eyes, just too stupid to think for ourselves. After all, these are Gruber’s words. The ends justify the means, even if the ends can’t be proven to be good. A significant point in his remarks is that “a lack of transparency is a huge political advantage.” Lack of transparency is an epidemic in the Obama White House. 

Republicans, now that they have taken over the Congress, can help rectify some of this with true transparency and solution-oriented, clean bills in Congress. If they fail, more Americans are watching and new candidates are growing to challenge the establishment as it exists — and we need better establishments at the federal and state levels that function as our republic was designed. 

Yes, compromise is necessary. But compromise doesn’t mean bad deals. For example, immigration reform in the form of blanket amnesty would be a bad deal. There are already bills passed in the House with bipartisan support. Bring them up in the Senate and debate them — that is, do your job. Don’t pack them with pork and favored or lobbied projects. Send the president a message in the form of legislation geared to solutions for the two-thirds of citizens in this country who didn’t vote, along with those who did. Let him vote against good governance and the needs of Americans. 

Let’s also visit the election results beyond the U.S. Senate. There is more red leadership in the states after Republicans picked up more governorships. The Democrats are at their lowest numbers since 1920 in state legislatures. This is a recipe for fiscal and constitutional conservatism to surge as it did in Wisconsin under Gov. Scott Walker, who’s been reaffirmed three times by a significant majority as well as the youth vote. 

Here is an example of what we do not need, however. Fred Dicker wrote an explosive piece in The New York Post about a backroom deal between Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, and Republican state Senate Leader Dean Skelos that involved Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano, who is a Republican. Mangano endorsed Cuomo in what appeared to be a move by the GOP to get the New York state Senate majority by winning Long Island seats. Hardball politics aside, the Republicans have played this game repeatedly and maintained their fiefdoms at the expense of other Republicans. In the end Cuomo won because he now has less accountability to do anything but prepare for a possible presidential run — and can blame Republicans in the state Senate as needed. The big losers are the people of New York, who are back on the political hamster wheel in a state drowning in taxes, debt and long-term unfunded liabilities. 

Conservatism, especially fiscal, is for everyone. It is tried and proven in America. It may not be perfect but it’s the best there is. So let’s try it, under the new leadership of the U.S. Congress. After all, what’s the best that can happen? Success. 

Webb is host of “The David Webb Show” on SiriusXM Patriot 125, a Fox News contributor, and has appeared frequently on television as a commentator. Webb co-founded TeaParty365 in New York City, and is a spokesman for the National Tea Party Federation. His column will appear twice a month in The Hill.