[WideRight05]

Flake is one of many examples as to why the Republican Party hasn't been able to deliver for so long. They might be able to take one or two baby steps on an issue, but haven't been able to really pull off a huge piece of legislation. This tax legislation, for instance, is a small step in the right direction but upon reviewing it I feel like there was a lot left on the table. The initial plan was to lower the corporate tax rate to 15% all the way around, for instance. A few Republicans cave and so they instead lower it to 21%. Enough to put us below the world average and get us out of the top 5 highest world corporate income taxes, but still not quite what it could have been. People like Jeff Flake that often have prevented big conservative legislation passing - especially on social issues. When I read TRT discuss the repeal of DADT and ENDA in his posts, it's people like Jeff Flake that come to mind who attached their name to both of those pieces of legislation.

And it's not just a Jeff Flake thing, it's a Republican Party thing. You would think out of all places, Oklahoma, that the Republican Governor would jump on the opportunity to pass a major piece of pro-life legislation that would have made almost all abortions illegal. It gets through the Oklahoma House and Senate, and what happens? Mary Fallin vetoes it. Same thing happened in Ohio with John Kasich who signed a 20 week abortion ban on the same day he vetoed the other bill - not that I wouldn't expect that kind of stuff out of Kasich. Either way, this kind of fear to pass anything major is what has, does, and will continue to keep the Republican Party from being a major force in terms of passing key legislation. Both Kasich and Fallin stated their reason for not passing it was a fear of the courts - which I wonder about - but let's say that's the truth, do you think the liberals have feared the courts over the years? No. They keep appealing, appealing, and appealing and we haven't seen that same aggressiveness from Republicans.

It's even spread to certain conservative groups. I debated with the Ohio "Right to Life" organization after they went against the bill which would have essentially banned all abortions. Why? The courts. Even if it becomes law and it gets struck down, you fight that all the way to the SCOTUS. If they strike it down, do what the liberals do and fight to get new judges appointed or run it through a different court. I'm getting sick and tired of seeing this stuff happen over and over - we have one party that is pure evil, at least they fight for what they believe in, and the other that seems to enjoy losing battles with that party. It doesn't matter who occupies the White House, the Republicans have been controlled by the moderate wing for too long and until we get it to where that 52-48 (or now 51-49 lead) in the Senate actually means something then we won't see much passed.

I feel like for the Republicans to be able to pass anything significant right now they will have to have at least 270 seats in the House and at least 60 seats in the Senate - 60 seats of which neither party has had since the 1970's. It would take quite a bit to knock out that moderate vote.