Bad news for the GOP

(The Patriot Post) - The Republican Study Committee, led by Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas, has created an action plan that it is encouraging GOP House members to run on in this year’s races. The plan, which is modeled after the successful “Contract with America” of 1994, lists items such as energy exploration in Alaska and the outer continental shelf and a constitutional amendment to keep federal spending from growing faster than the economy. The most contentious item, though, is a complete moratorium on earmark spending, something the House leadership does not want to embrace. Hensarling understands that voters are fed up with pork-barrel spending, but it is a habit that few other Republicans seem willing to kick.

Indeed, it is chiefly because of their inability to rein in spending that Republicans can’t seem to gather any support among their base. Sure, the Republican National Committee was able to raise over $24 million in May and has far more cash on hand than the DNC, but the Republican House and Senate fundraising committees continue to lag behind their Democrat counterparts.

In one interesting primary contest Tuesday in Utah, GOP Rep. Chris Cannon (American Conservative Union rating of 96) was booted from the most Republican congressional seat in the country. Challenger Jason Chaffetz clobbered him 60-40. Some blame Cannon’s weak but changing position on immigration, though his temper didn’t help either—he stormed off stage at a debate with Chaffetz. Most likely, Chaffetz’s message that “the Republican Party is broken and I want to fix it” took hold among voters who are tired of business as usual.