Savior of the Tea Party

Thesis:  I have a suggestion that will save the Tea Party. Oh, it will also help me.

Current situation

A lot of GOP candidates are trying to tap into the Tea Party’s energy, support, and sense of outrage. But those same candidates also have a problem: The pending vote on whether (or under what circumstances) to raise the national debt ceiling. If legislators who enjoyed Tea Party support are tempted to vote for an increase in the debt ceiling, they risk being excommunicated.

Those same legislators are hoping for some kind of face-saving compromise: They’ll vote to increase the ceiling but only alongside massive budget cuts. And they must be massive and they must take place now. Tea Party won’t be satisfied with promises of cuts to be negotiated later – preferably after the 2012 election. Tea Party won’t want to wait that long.

A Solution – thanks to yours truly

I suggest the Tea Party back a candidate for President who makes the following campaign pledges:

If elected, I will veto any bill that contains an increase in the debt ceiling. I will also veto any bill containing new spending, new taxes, or new fees.

Oh, I forgot two small details. This same candidate would also pledge:

(1)  My campaign pledges will be in the form of a written contract.

(2)  If I were to violate that contract, I would forfeit my office by means of inviting an uncontested impeachment against me. This, too, would be a provision of my written contract.

Tea Party might actually endorse this

Tea Party activists are bound to be angered by candidates they’d supported – candidates who’d promised fiscal conservatism and budget cutbacks – who end up voting “yes” to an increase in the debt ceiling. And these legislators will lamely respond to that anger by saying, “But we got a promise from the Democrats to really talk seriously about budget reduction – at some vague time in the future. And look at the token cuts they’ve already granted – if you squint just right, they’ll look huge!”

Yeah, right! And how will Tea Party react to that? Oh, they can fuss and fume all they want. But the problem is, there’s really nothing they can do. Besides, their 15-minutes of fame are just about up. So if they don’t (quickly) grab onto something novel (and enforceable, I might add), they might as well give up.

Not to mention: Barack Obama looks unbeatable. The 2012 election is his to lose, since no outside force appears ready to deny him. Desperate times call for desperate measures. So why shouldn’t the Tea Party embrace my idea of enforceable, written contracts for presidential candidates?

Side note: I’ll make that much clear right now: This is my idea, as first introduced when I was a candidate in the 2008 election: http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2010/09/written-political-contracts.html

If TP is interested in beating the “values” drum, what better way than by being able to boast their candidate not only values his word, he’ll put it in the form of a written contract? Maybe that’s about as good as swearing on a stack of bibles. Hmm…I wonder if any candidate had actually ever done that.

Stealing my thunder?

Suppose the Tea Party decides to back a GOP candidate during primary season, one who offers such a contract as I’m suggesting. Would that bother me, since they would be trying to win an election by using my original idea? I freely admit that mainstream media would fail to acknowledge my brainchild. They have a way of defining what (and who) is newsworthy. Bottom line? The general public would never be the wiser that I was first in this realm, and that I am seeking the presidency myself in 2012.

[To be sure, they might offer some few, condescending sentences on page 38 about some ridiculous Don Quixote tilting at windmills, but that would be about it.]

But…all that would be fine with me. Even if folks like you (the few who read my posts) would decide to rally to my defense (and support), We-the-People will never fully appreciate the role played by Me-the-Person. Again, I’d have no objection. Even if I end up gaining little recognition and support for my efforts, I can work wonders with even that little. I will fully appreciate any name recognition I would gain and will continue to work with that. Got to start somewhere, knowing even a small gain will be much more than I’ve managed to conjure up so far.

How ironic would that be?

Imagine Newt Gingrich seizing my initiative by offering his own Steven-Searle-type-Contract? [Yeah, I’ll boldface & italicize that.] The irony would lie in the fact that Newt was instrumental in promoting a concept called Contract with America back in 1994. Anyone reading Newt’s contract and mine, side-by-side, would see that mine is light-years ahead. Simply put, my version has teeth – for nowhere in the old GOP version is any mention made concerning consequences for failing to deliver. Also, my contract contained (during the 2008 election) and contains (for this upcoming election) provisions which only the president can unilaterally deliver.

That last is important, since I would not be able to claim, “I couldn’t deliver on my contract’s promises because Congress didn’t support me.” One example: I wouldn’t need Congress’s consent to immediately withdraw all US forces from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Or suppose Sarah Palin decides to write her own contract. She might opt to toss in some provisions that I wouldn’t approve of – for instance, promising to order US army to aggressively patrol the US/Mexican border. As far as I’m concerned, it’s her contract so she can include anything in it she wishes. I might not like her provisions but if a national figure like her can help popularize these types of contracts, who am I to complain?

I guess it’s true what they say: “Politics make strange bedfellows.”

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party

“The really important task is to defeat every single Dem/Pub for Congress, replacing them with independents. All in due time.”

Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com