This is Floyd Wynne with THE VIEW FROM HERE  3/09/06

The Republicans need another T party!

Not like the dumping of the tea in Boston Harbor that precipitated the Revolutionary War…..but a tee party non-the-less.

            A few days ago one of my e-mails was a questionnaire from the Information Director of the GOP as to what the Republicans need to do to restore confidence in the Congress.

            My reply was simply to stage another tee party….the tees being such subjects as taxes, tort reform and terrorism.

            At present all the Congress seems to be doing is staging one investigation after another.  Currently it’s the big controversy over the Arabian Emirate taking over the transactions at six different seaports in America.

            The handling of this issue precipitated the problem but my view was that the Congress needs to do three things.

            On taxes they need to make the recent tax cuts permanent.  If not they will represent a very sizeable increase in taxes for almost everyone in the future.

            The medical industry, particularly has been stymied by law suits.  These suits have driven many medical professionals out of the field and have greatly increased almost all of our health costs.  The current action on federal control of health costs is an issue that is going to break the federal government in the very near future and it must be addressed. 

            And thirdly, the terrorists threat hangs over it all.  The situation in Iraq is dicey at best with little movement toward setting up a unified government.  The Congress has passed a renewal of the Patriot Act, but pulled much of the teeth from it.

            So now….where is the Congress on these issues?

            Currently the Republicans themselves are split over the port issue, and the Democrats are busy casting doubt on the President’s ability to protect the country.  It’s needless to point out that the move does not threaten our security, that Britain controls at least that many if not more of our ports….and Community China controls at least one…I think its San Francisco.

            The tax issue has become lost amid this brewhau.

            As far as tort reform…..it has been all talk and no action.  First of all too many Congresspeople are lawyers.  That, in itself, poses a problem in trying to pass any tort reform that might limit such things as extra compensation, lawyer fees to actual damages.  At present we also have the situation where even if one is adjudged innocent of a crime by a jury of his or her peers….they can be sued for what is loosely called violation of civil rights.   This has trumped the Constitution that prohibits an individual being tried twice for the same act.

            At any rate…..if the current Congress would only pass the three parts of my tee party….confidence in their actions would grow considerably.

            There was a revolution following the Boston Tea Party…and unless the Republicans get something done….there may be a political revolution at the next election.

            This is Floyd Wynne and that’s THE VIEW FROM HERE.