Is it time

Mark Tapscott wrote in Townhall Thanks to the incredible expansion of federal entitlements, regulations and pork spending sanctioned by the GOP leadership in Congress since 2001, there is virtually no chance that Big Government is going to be shrunk even a little any time soon. And since there is no sign the folks running Congress are willing to change course, why shouldn’t conservatives dump the GOP?

Because the alternative (the Dems) is even worse. They will raise taxes much more than the freespending Republicans, and will waste even more money on even bigger government projects.

Now, all you party loyalists who started gasping while reading that last sentence can take a deep breath. I’m not saying we should just up and bolt right now. What I am saying is this: The rebirth of limited government will remain a conservative pipedream as long as the people in charge of the GOP refuse to sober up.

Republicans are big spenders because they know that bringing home the bacon is the way to be reelected. What we need is a constitutional ammendment that would legalize the line item veto.

Put another way, it’s time for an intervention. That’s when the family and closest friends and professional associates of an addict confront the abuser with an ultimatum – get sober and get help now … or else. The presence of the spouse with suitcases packed and the boss with pink slip in-hand helps the abuser realize the consequences of not getting help will be immediate and unpleasant. More than a few lives and careers have been saved over the years by such interventions.

But sometimes interventions work and sometimes they don’t. There is no guarantee that the GOP leaders will get the message, either. Quite frankly, I am not optimistic because I’ve seen the Stan Evans Law in operation for too long. Evans is the retired conservative activist/journalist who years ago said: “When one of our people gets elected, sooner or later he [or she] stops being one of our people.”