The rebellion of the small-government conservatives has turned into a battle over the Republican leadership in the House. The Weekly Standard handicaps, and indicates that the staunchest small-government candidate, Arizona's John Shadegg, is gaining momentum on the establishment candidate.
The Wall Street Journal's editorial page has been plugging hard for Shadegg and a few days ago posted the following op-ed by him, making the case for why Republicans need to live up to their small-government rhetoric. Too bad he spends most of the op-ed talking about pork-barrel "earmarks"--the most flagrantly corrupt but also the smallest items in the bloated federal budget.
"The Spirit of 1994," John Shadegg, Wall Street Journal, January 18 "Republicans promised the American people two things in 1994. First, we promised to rein in the size and scope of the federal government. Second, we promised to clean up Washington. In recent years, we have fallen short on both counts. Total federal spending has grown by 33% since 1995, in inflation-adjusted dollars. Worse, we have permitted some of the same backroom practices that flourished in the old Democrat-controlled House…. The system itself needs structural reforms. This has been clear for some time. I did not discover reform as an issue--like Saul on the road to Damascus--when I entered the majority leader race. It has been an integral part of my record, not at one time a decade ago, but constantly, year in and year out since 1994. Yesterday John Boehner wrote on this page about a proposal to reform the earmark process offered by Rep. Jeff Flake. While Mr. Boehner is suddenly talking about this idea, I was one of the first co-sponsors when it was introduced last spring."
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