I Had A Dream … A Conservative Dream!

My wife is one of those people who has long vivid dreams and she remembers in minute detail. Her dreams range from bizarre to weird, but they always involve the family. Me? I rarely remember dreams ( my wife thinks I am weird because of that). The occasional dream that I do remember usually involves me at a much younger age and people I do not know. My memory of the dream is always sketchy, at best. What I remember about last night’s dream is also sketchy; but what is interesting is that I was only an observer and not a participant in the dream and the dream was pure politics. You wouldn’t think it would be rare for a political blogger to have political dreams, but I don’t recall ever having had one before.

I can’t be sure but I think there were two things that may have precipitated this dream. One was a post I did earlier this month with the title: “One Man/One Vote” Does Not Mean All Votes Are Equal. In that post there were three political maps of the US in Red for Republicans and Blue for Democrats. One was the electoral college map after the 2012 elections showing 25 Blue states and 24 Red states. The second map was the same thing only distorted to reflect population. And, the third map was a Red and Blue map by counties and it was that map that had stuck in my mind at the time.

I remember thinking two things about this map. First, whoever made the map forgot to color Alaska red and the other thing was that there is no reason the Republicans should ever lose control of the House of Representatives.

The other thing that may have brought on this dream was the last thing I read last night before shutting down the trusty computer. I had received an email from Martin at the  What Would the Founders Think blog advising me that Steve at Motor City Times was hosting a round table on the question of: Should the GOP drop social issues in order to win elections. Do yourself a favor and when you finish here get over to Motor City Times and read what the special roundtable had to say.

The Dream

As I said at the beginning, I do not remember dreams in detail so all I can do is give you the highlights as I remember them.

I was at a convention in Tulsa, Oklahoma.{ I do not know Tulsa at all. } It was a large auditorium and there was a banner over the stage the said Conservatives for America. There was a woman at the podium who had the crowd cheering. I can’t put a name to her, but I felt as if I knew her. Her message was that conservatives were sick and tired of President Obama saying: “If congress doesn’t do something, I will.” She said: ” We can play that game, too.” What had the crowd cheering was her plan for the 2014 mid-term elections. Conservatives in each district that had a Republican congressman would demand that they sign a pact to use the power of the purse to force the Senate and the President to reduce spending and pass bills that would help grow the economy and create jobs. The incumbents were to be told the if they did not sign the pact, conservatives in their districts would not vote for them even if that meant the seat would go to a Democrat.

When the word got out, the president and the Democrats and the media went on the attack. They claimed the Tea Parties had given the GOP the kiss of death. But, it was much more than the Tea Parties. As the mid-terms drew near, 218 incumbent Republican congress had singed the pact with Conservatives for America, however, 15 incumbents did not sign. The conservatives were true to their word. They supported the incumbents that had signed the pact and did not support the other fifteen. All of the 218 won relection, but only three of fifteen who didn’t sign managed to be reelected by very small margins. On of them was John Boehner. I have a vivid picture in my mind of Boehner, with his sad droopy eyes, reading a letter that said: “Dear Mr. Speaker: If you want to regain the nine seats your 2014 loses in 2016, you know what you have to do.”

Apparently, Boehner got the message. He set up a number of working groups among the Republican congressmen. A tough 2015 budget proposal was written, knowing it would be DOA in the Senate. Other groups took the current budgets of the EPA, DHS, DOE, Department of Commerce, the FCC, and the Department of Education. Going line by line, the working groups cut each department 50%. They, also, did each of these departments making cuts of 25%. Other working groups prepared bills to reduce corporate tax rate to 17%, to approve the Keystone Pipeline, to allow companies to bring home foreign profits with no tax, reduce capital gains tax to zero, and a bill to open federal lands to oil and gas exploration and development.

The dream moved to September of 2014. The House submitted their 2015 budget proposal. Harry Reid declared it DOA. The Senate sent a budget proposal to the House, which Boehner declared DOA. The media were blaming the GOP for the fact that there would have to be another Continuing Resolution. But, Boehner called a press conference. He made it clear there would be no Continuing Resolution. He explained that the constitution gives the House of Representatives the power of the purse and the House has already prepared the only spending it will approve for fiscal 2015.

There was a meeting between the House leadership and the Senate leaders. Boehner presented the bills they wanted the Senate to pass and what Boehner described and minor cuts to the department listed above. Harry Reid broke out laughing and prepared to lead his troops out of the meeting. Boehner stopped him and said “You might want to look at these”. He handed Harry the list with the 50% cuts. Harry turned bright red and said: ” You don’t have the balls!” To which Boehner replied: F**k you, Harry.” The meeting ended.

Obama and the media claimed that radical elements of the GOP were trying blackmail the country in order to protect the rich. Conservatives flooded the congressmen with emails of support. Harry Reid and the Senate called Boehner’s bluff and the 50% cuts went into effect.

Conservatives were ecstatic and tuned out the MSM attacks. They went to work in their districts and despite the projections of Obama, the Republicans picked up eight seats in the House.

There was a mood change in the country. The people and even the media could sense that something had changed. In September of 2015, the battle over fiscal year 2016 began exactly the same. Claiming that the country was being hijacked, The Senate and the President caved in and passed the House bills and the lower additional spending cuts. By June of 2016, the Dow was at 1500 and climbing. Companies were investing and hiring. The unemployment rate dropped to 6.2%. Gasoline prices were just over $3.00   a gallon.

Even though 2016 was a presidential election year, the House Republicans used the same ploy for the fiscal 2017 spending. Only this time they asked for reforms to Social Security and Medicare. The Senate Democrats were fearing for their political lives and gave the Republicans all that they asked for. Obama vetoed the Social Security and Medicare reforms, but his vetoes were overridden. America was on the road to a healthy economy and a bright future. Obama had become a laughing stock at home and abroad. All the polls showed the Republicans wining a landslide victory that would sweep the presidency and the Senate. The dream didn’t reveal who the presidential candidates were, but it was two men. Sorry Hillary!

That’s when I woke up with a smile on my face.

Okay. I can not tell a lie. I did embellish the dream just a tad. If you are going to dream, you may as well dream big, right?

Well, that’s what I’m thinking. What are your thoughts?