Jim DeMint Does My Heart Good

I managed to catch of few minutes of Senator DeMint's comments during the debate on the senate floor last night after the House voted on the debt ceiling bill.  Senator DeMint, as expected, was not happy about the bill and made it clear it does nothing to address the underlying issues of our very serious debt problem.  While he did not offer blistering criticism of Senator McConnell and Speaker Boehner, he did indicate a lack of leadership is part of the problem.  Couple that with a White House that has no interest in helping America with her problems and it is going to be difficult to secure a meaningful solution.  However, Senator DeMint also said a couple of things that made my heart swell with pride and hope.  He said the struggle that ensued with the debt ceiling fight is evidence there's been "an historic sea change in the way we do business."  Also, after his remarks criticizing the White House and the congressional leaders, he said it's "nothing one more good election can't fix."  I love Senator DeMint.  He's on our team and he proves it every single day with his words and his actions.  We need to support and encourage as much as we can the people who are on our team.

I know there were many freshmen who voted for the debt ceiling bill.  I, along with tens of millions of Americans, want this debt problem worked on in a  meaningful way and we mean RIGHT NOW.  Of course this is going to be a difficult thing to accomplish since we lack adequate reins of power.  I know many of the freshmen voted in favor of this bill, believing it is a step in the right direction.  I hope they aren't burned by those who convinced them it was the right thing to do.  The only thing I fear is I think Americans need to be very careful to not throw overboard the freshmen who supported this legislation.  I heard there was a  comment or two, supposedly coming from segments of the tea party, suggesting we should offer a primary challenger to Colonel Allen West, for example.  This is downright ludicrous.  Col West did vote for the bill and, while I wish he hadn't, we cannot kneecap these freshmen every time they do something with which we disagree.  We will have no good congressional members left if we start doing that.  Of course, voicing our disagreement is crucial and has got to happen so Congress knows what we expect, but we also need to try to be patient.  Col. West said on On the Record with Greta Van Sustern last night that "Americans need to manage their expectations."  To a degree, he has a point.  We need to stay focused on the overall picture and keep pushing in the right direction and support those who are responding to our demands.  As scripture says, those who are not against us are for us.  Let's remember that and forge ahead together.

There has been a sea change, indeed.  The bloodied knuckle fight over this debt ceiling vote is proof.  There's more where that came from.