I'm a Republican....what's that mean?!

We need people like Boehner who capitulate out of self-preservation to GO AWAY!

Calvin Coolidge said that legislation should not benefit the legislator! Whenever our legislators pass laws or vote for bills because it's good for them or helps a specific special interest they are WRONG. 

We have lost so many Republicans to the Independent movement because we beat them over the head with individual religious beliefs. I'm a born-again Christian but this is wrong! How many conservative Independents or even Democrats who don't believe in the Christian God or who aren't Christians don't vote with us simply because we make them feel unwelcome if they're not Christians?! We're not the Christian-Conservative party....we're the Republican Party and we have Christian Conservative members. 

We have lost sight of certain elements of our party beliefs.....limited government. This doesn't mean NO government. Low taxes. This doesn't mean NO taxes. Government closest to the people...and like the article says, the 10th Amendment. 

How can we expect people to join our party and trust our leaders if we don't follow what we say we believe?! We need to have the courage of our convictions!!

We also need to have the courage to stand up for our principles and hold accountable those who fail to uphold them. For example, I don't care if it was written by Ronald Reagan himself, the Patriot Act is WRONG and Republicans need to REPEAL IT. We say the ends don't justify the means (and I agree with that) yet we herald leaders like Abraham Lincoln who suspended habeas corpus as a means to help end slavery. We may *personally* disagree with gay civil unions but those are our personal beliefs--is there anything illegal about allowing two consenting adults to enter into a contractual relationship? NO....and for those who don't share the same beliefs as us we have no right to stop them from doing something legal because we disagree with it!! We also need to stop throwing the proverbial babies out with the bathwater......when a Christian Conservative Republican like myself makes a statement like that...I'm not a RINO; I just have an inner sense of freedom and liberty that comes FROM my faith and my Lord, it's not in spite of Him. The same goes for illegal aliens....are they not humans? Have they broken the law? Yes...but everyone in this country who breaks the law gets humane treatment--that's American. If a child is brought to this country by it's parents at a young age THEY DIDN'T BREAK THE LAW their parents did! Do we take away the civil rights of the children of felons? Of course we don't...that's wrong. This is the same as telling a child who's lived in the USA their entire life that they now have to leave and go back to a country they don't even remember or have any connection to! Giving them a permanent green card and a legal "status" in this country is not amnesty. If they want to apply for citizenship they do it the same way anyone else would do it. If they want in-state tuition THAT'S UP TO THE STATE where they go to school--unless they are granted citizenship!

We don't live in an all-or-nothing world....if a Republican votes for raising the debt limit (which I disagree with on face value but there are other issues at stake--pragmatism) it doesn't mean he or she isn't a Republican nor does it mean we should hang them from the rafters. An elected representative can compromise on a singular piece of a singular issue without compromising their principles or values.

I'm frustrated with my party as many Republicans are...but I'm still proud to be a Republican. Do we need to make some changes...YES!! But we don't need to throw away the party. We just need more pragmatic leaders who are in it for sacrifice and service...not power.