GOP should exercise voter mandate

Just as Newt Gingrich and his Republican majority in both houses of Congress and their famous Contract With America allowed the minority party to dictate the issues and thus disappointed their electors, the current Republican majority is once again showing the same signs of weakness in leadership.

What they have, once again, failed to see is the mandate the voters placed upon them in the last general election. The voters are fed up with the status quo and partisan bickering and standstill that’s generated. This is exactly what they mean when they say it’s time to “drain the swamp.”

The Republican Party has control of both houses and the presidency but you would never believe it when they continue to allow the minority to dictate the terms and obstruct the leadership every step of the way.

Why do we have to dance this dance? We won this election, now let’s get things done. All the Senate has to do is evoke the “Reid Rule,” allowing a simple majority to affirm appointments and one that’s been used against Republicans in the past and we would have all appointments, from the Cabinet right down to judgeships, in place in record time.

The Republican Party has already said that Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch will be the next Supreme Court justice, period. So, why then are we waiting until March 20 to begin hearings that are going to result in the same bottom line? Why have this highly respected and qualified jurist out there kissing Democrats’ butts when the Republican leadership could simply call for a vote and let the Democratic Party filibuster their way to defeat as several of their party are on the bubble for reelection and probably could not risk irritating their constituents going forward.

The left is the first to whine partisanship and obstruction from the right and yet they themselves fail to see the double standard from their side. Let’s be honest, the left doesn’t want to see President Trump succeed just as much as the right never wanted President Obama to succeed.

This story was originally published February 25, 2017 at 2:57 PM with the headline "GOP should exercise voter mandate."