finally figured it out.

Maybe I'm slow on the uptick.

Maybe I was too charitable in my initial assessment of House Speaker John Boehner.

Maybe I was too confident that Republicans might have actually learned a lesson from their own mistakes in 2008 (remember TARP?) and historic emergence of the tea-party movement.

Maybe, maybe, maybe …

Join the "No More Red Ink" campaign, and make your voice heard.

In any case, I think I know why House Republicans have chosen to lay aside one of two nuclear weapons they hold in their political arsenal as a result of controlling one house of Congress and instead continue to emphasize legislation that will never be passed in the Senate or approved by Barack Obama.

It's simply this: Republicans don't actually want dramatic cuts in the federal budget any more than Democrats do – at least not the leadership. What they want is to position themselves politically as good guys, while actually accomplishing nothing.

There is simply no other logical explanation why Boehner and his leadership would put forward the Paul Ryan budget plan, which stands no chance of approval by the Senate and less chance of getting a signature from the questionably legitimate occupant of the White House, as the hallmark Republican legislative effort of the House in 2011.

As I mentioned before, anyone who believes the federal government should stop borrowing money from our great-grandchildren should oppose the Ryan plan. It calls for more borrowing, for raising the debt limit yet again, for giving Obama more spending capital to destroy the economy. For heaven's sake, it's a 10-year plan that doesn't tie the hands of future congresses and future presidents. It increases debt – the No. 1 self-made crisis of Washington politicians of both parties.

I'm convinced the Republican leadership thinks it can just hold on to power by telling voters, "Look what we tried to do! And those nasty Democrats voted it down." Meanwhile, Republican voters who oppose raising the debt limit by some 89 percent (along with a majority of Democrat voters, by the way) are supposed to forget that it required Republican votes in the House to pass it!

I'm going to say this, again, very simply: There are only two things we can ask Republicans in the House to do this year and next year that will represent real change in the way Washington does business:

• Vote no on raising the debt limit;
• Vote no on any tax increases.

I don't really care what else they do. If they get it wrong on one or both of these critical issues, they do not deserve to be re-elected. And they have all the power to accomplish these two objectives without any help from Democrats.

That's why I have waged a lonely crusade to oppose raising the debt limit for the last several months. I am gratified that it is finally catching on – with newfound support from some media big guns in Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage and Sean Hannity.

This campaign is still viable – despite the willingness of Boehner and company to continue business as usual. I still believe we can win the necessary votes of Republicans in the House (along with a couple Democratic votes) to defeat a hike in the debt limit. And when we do, here's what will happen.

Without any more ability to borrow money, the federal government will be forced to cut spending dramatically. No, despite the dire predictions (and threats) of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the man who couldn't fill out his own tax return without errors, the federal government will not default on loan obligations. There will be a couple trillion dollars of revenues (far too much, not too little) to service the debt to the tune of $200 billion a year. It will simply mean a return to something resembling constitutionally limited government for the first time in many decades.

Isn't that what Republicans promised when they ran last November?

It's time to hold their feet to the fire.

Join the "No More Red Ink" campaign, and make your voice heard. We are winning converts. We are opening eyes. With more than 1 million red letters inundating the offices of House Republicans, they are starting to get the message.

It's time to pour on the pressure.

Would an investment of $29.95 be worth it to you to stop the federal government from borrowing more money, further indebting your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren?

Would an investment of $29.95 be worth it to you to cut government down to size and force the cuts politicians can never agree on through bickering and demagoguery?

Would an investment of $29.95 be worth it to you to transform an out-of-control government to one that is forced to live within its means like you, me and every other taxpayer in America?

If so, don't hesitate to join this campaign. It's working. And it represents our only realistic chance to stop Obama destructive policies until November 2012.

Joseph Farah

Editor and Chief Executive Officer

WND.com

http://alerts@alerts.worldnetdaily.com