I have not seen this officially communicated anywhere but it appears to me the GOP heads of state have devised the following strategy for 2014 – Let’s move to the middle and make small compromises with the Left on all issues so we can avoid being labeled obstructionists and then we can focus on Obamacare in hopes of taking back the Senate and increasing our control of the House.

There is really no other conclusion to draw based on the fact that:

1)      The House passed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 that sets our discretionary spending at $1 trillion and rolls back $62 billion of the sequester spending cuts over the next 2 years and

2)      House Speaker John Boehner publically lambasted the Tea Party members of the House.

No doubt the failures of Obamacare will increase in 2014 but here is my question.  Is it wise for the GOP to throw its Conservative base under the bus in the hope that the Left will be so damaged by the Obamacare failures that Republicans will retake the Senate and increase their control of the house?

I’ll get to my thoughts on that question later but first let me give you my viewpoints on this latest budget deal.  My reservations with this bill are summed up nicely by two quotes from the WSJ article:

“It seems to me that once you embrace spending at these target levels, which are higher than the Budget Control Act, you’ve got yourself in a position where you’ve got to raise the debt ceiling,” said Sen. Mike Johanns (R., Neb.), who had not yet decided whether to support the budget deal.”

“Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) said he still hoped Republicans would use the debt debate as another occasion to pursue deficit reduction—but conceded that the current bill illustrates Congress’ limited appetite for tough compromises and confrontation.”

The spending increases in the latest budget bill are indeed minimal when you consider a Federal government that spends over $3 trillion and has a debt of over $17 trillion but it’s the principle of the matter for me.  Increasing our spending (which also means raising the debt limit this spring) at this time, even a little, is not responsible leadership when we are traveling in the fast lane toward a collapse.

Yes, the current political climate in DC is not conducive to such a grand bargain that would reduce our deficit.  I understand that.  But at what point do we come to the realization that the US is at the brink and we can’t wait for a few more years to get the right people in office so that doing the right thing will not expend too much political capital?

It appears that the GOP was so upset about the way the State Run Media killed them over the latest government shutdown that they don’t want to do anything to come close to shutting down the government in 2014 or being labeled as obstructionists.  This apparently now means the GOP will give the Left modest spending increases to avoid not having to be the lead story on the network news programs.

I would never be elected to any national office but even if I was, I couldn’t stand the political games that are played regarding important issues that have clearly defined problems and are in need of real world solutions.  If I were in office right now I would not care about the political fallout over shutting the government down indefinitely until we forced Obama, the Senate and the House to address the only real issue that will reduce our debt and that is unsustainable entitlement spending.  If we can’t come together and recognize that 2+2=4 then let’s shut the whole thing down and reduce spending that way.

But I guess that’s why I’m not in politics.  So once again this year I’ll support the GOP, place my hope that they know what they’re doing and hold my nose as I watch the GOP accept a little more spending in hopes that once the GOP controls the House and Senate we’ll get back on track.

But then again, I had hoped that selecting a moderate Republican Presidential candidate in 2012 would ensure Obama would be a one term POTUS.  I honestly thought Romney would be the guy to bring in the votes from the political Center but we all know that didn’t work out so well.

I fear the harsh reality is this – The strategy of simply moving to the Center to get more votes can’t work right now.  The power of the State Run Media to influence the Low Information Voters negates our viable candidates we elect in Republican primaries.  It is also my belief that the ‘Gimme Free Stuff’ voters outnumber the voters who understand math/economics and the GOP will never win these entitlement minded votes by telling them they need to take some personal responsibility.  I think the US is truly past the point of no return and we are now just managing the decline.

But I sincerely hope I’m wrong and the GOP leaders are right.  I do not think the current GOP strategy will work in November 2014 but if I’m wrong I will gladly admit it and post it here for all to see.  Until then, I’ll have hope for 1 more year but if we don’t make real gains in the midterm elections then the GOP will lose me.