Winners State the Terms...Losers Compromise

Lesson #1 about voting: Elections Have Consequences.

For the most part, winners are going to get their way and the losers will not. Time and time, we've when winners don't act like winners, they become the losers the next time around.

Two events took place this week that are making me think about the phrase I've used to title this blog entry.

For nearly the past month, we've seen protesters in Wisconsin converge on the State Capitol in Madison to protest Governor Scott Walker and his money-saving bill. We've seen these protesters break laws to get their voices heard, and in this supposed new era of civility, make death threats, declare war and trash the statehouse. State Senators cowardly left the state so the legislative process would be stalled and the bill would not be able to be passed. Scott Walker faced great pressure and is the new Public Enemy #1 of the media, but he faced them down, stood by his principles, showed strength and courage, then leading the Senate to overcome the stalemate and vote on the bill. Other Republicans, especially those in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan who are facing these same questions, should look highly upon Scott Walker and the Wisconsin Republicans who stood by principle and did what they promised. These leaders will have the same admiration among their consituents that Scott Walker will have among his constituents.

While Republicans in Madison are doing the right thing, Republicans in Washington, specifically those in Congress, are looking like they are about to crack under the pressure. To their credit, they voted to repeal ObamaCare and have made steps to defund, yet there is the question of the $105 billion in annual spending hidden in ObamaCare to fund its implementation. Despite efforts to defund, the law will still be implemented unless Republicans change the rules to take this spending out. (Under a Budget, this is considered discretionary spending, yet under a Continuing Resolution, which the government is operating under, it is authorized and cannot be cut.) The Leadership's hesitance could be tied to two things. First, they fear if they change the rules, they will be breaking a campaign promise to "do things differently than the Democrats." Second, assuming they do not change the rules, there is a great a fear of a government shutdown and how they will be judged, as they think back to 1995. Both of these fears are overly paranoid, as a majority of Americans do not like ObamaCare and want their Representatives to do what it takes to get rid of it. Therefore, they need to emulate Michele Bachmann and Steve King by standing firm, standing by principles, and follow the example of Scott Walker. In the end, they must remember:

Winners State the Terms...Losers compromise!