Principled conservatives vs old line Republicans like Mike Conaway on the farm bill

The defeat of Republican Senator Dick Lugar in the Indiana Primary yesterday is a very encouraging sign to those of us who "want to purge the Republican Party," to borrow a phrase from Mr. Lugar himself.

To use another cliche, the old school Republican office holders should be put out to pasture. For too long they've talked the conservative talk to their voting constituents at home, but back at the office it was business as usual as they voted for more spending to placate the lobbyists and special interest groups.

If there's one positive thing the Obama administration has done, it has driven home the fear of what a far left government can do to a country. We should have learned that lesson already from Europe, and the prospect of ending up like a Grecian style basket case has frightened a lot of voters. But we see many of the old guard Republicans as part of the problem rather than part of the solution. Should that include West Texas' own District 11 Congressman Mike Conaway?

Born again conservative Congressmen want us to accept their new commitment to fiscal responsibility. We would like to believe them, but the money they pull in from K-street is enough to convince us to be cautious. Mr. Conaway raises about a million dollars each election cycle. He's 3/4 the way there so far this year, and a peek at the locations of his fund raisers suggest that his donors don't reside in his district but in and around Washington, DC.

The one area when Rep. Conaway shines is in his commitment to farm subsidies. We all remember when the Bush administration tried to reform farm subsidy programs, but Rep. Conaway fought reform tooth and nail. Bush vetoed the farm bill in 2008, and Rep. Conaway was one of the cheerleaders for a veto override. Conaway's side won that skirmish.

A few years ago there was an attempt to call attention to wasteful farm subsidies such as this satirical video highlighting the hilarity of the millions of dollars in farm subsidies going to farmers living in New York City, San Francisco and other big cities. (See a more extensive list of the big cities and the dollar amounts at ewg.org.) Unfortunately for us, the USDA pulled the plug USDA pulled the plug in 2010 on the database that let citizens single out those big recipients.

While we are at it, be sure to watch John Stossel ripping farm subsidies as a way politicians buy votes and reminding us that the recipients aren't the small family farmers used to justify the subsidies but big agri-business. The farm bill is set to expire in 2012.  It's a good bet that a vote won't take place until after the November election.

There are two alternatives in the Republican Primary for the District 11 seat, Chris Younts and Wade Brown. But if you like the idea that $1.88 billion in taxpayer money was doled out to residents in District 11 from 1995-2010, then reelect Mike Conaway.

Comments

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Rush was caught with illegal doses of Viagra that weren't prescribed to him on his return from the Dominican Republic. I've never heard the true context of the incident. Isn't there a positive explanation for why a serious Christian and Republican role model like Rush would take such a drug to a poor Caribbean nation like the Dominican Republic?.

[Geo]

Sorry, rm, you've got me. I didn't even know viagra was illegal in the Dominican Republic much less that it should be an issue Christians and Republicans should concern themselves with.