In his inaugural speech as newly elected — with unanimous House GOP support — Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson quoted Ronald Reagan, Abraham Lincoln, and G. K. Chesterton, all giants in the pro-America arena, displaying his broader vision as Speaker.
Mr. Johnson, in his fourth term as a congressman, also spoke about “seven core principles of conservatism” that he drafted and published in 2018: individual freedom, limited government, the rule of law, peace through strength, fiscal responsibility, free markets, and human dignity.
Yet almost as soon as he was handed the gavel, the handwringing started about how the conservatives and Mr. Johnson, arguably the most conservative speaker elected in the past 100 years, have risked the GOP majority in the House.
Are his core principles really so “hard right” or are they everyday American values? Probably the latter.
Specifically, these over-educated-coastal elites in the mainstream media cabal and the socialist Democratic ranks focused their hysteria on Mr. Johnson’s past support for limitations on abortion, opposition to same-sex marriage, and (gasp!) the fact that he worked with a Christian advocacy group prior to entering Congress.
They point out that 18 House Republicans won in districts won by President Joe Biden in 2020 and, therefore, they are at risk. Maybe, maybe not.
Current poling data’s not looking real good for Mr. Biden, however, and those seats could well be secure for the GOP in 2024. Their concern is probably better placed on the five Democrats that won in districts carried by President Donald Trump in 2020.
As to the issues, those cited as problems for the GOP and Mr. Johnson don’t even show up on likely voters’ radar screens. Americans are concerned about the economy, inflation, lack of government leadership, and immigration, according to an October 2023 Gallop poll. Not to mention the two wars raging abroad.
Having no success in the issues that Americans care about, the socialist Democrats have to try to call Mr. Johnson and the GOP out on the issues they care about for the singular purpose of igniting their base for turnout in a year when enthusiasm for their likely candidate, Mr. Biden, just isn’t there.
Since taking office, Mr. Johnson has stared down the White House and the hard left Democrats in the Senate regarding a funding bill to support Israel in her darkest hour.
Rather than move expeditiously to do that, Mr. Biden proposed a $100-plus billion bill to fund not only Israel with $14 billion, a cause with broad support, but also give Ukraine, where corruption is rampant and American support is rifting, an astounding additional $64 billion. The remaining billions are just boondoggle causes with no urgency at all.
Talk about cynicism.
Mr. Johnson said “No” and crafted a bill that meets the immediate needs of Israel, got his party behind it, and passed it in a matter of days. It’s now up to the Senate and the White House.
He followed up this triumph more recently with a bill to keep the government open and avoid a government shutdown. Here Mr. Johnson had to take on a large element of his own party to get the legislation passed, since they opposed the idea of no spending cuts for now. The objectionable issues (or lack of inclusion thereof) will be revisited the first of the new year when the GOP comes to the table with a complete spending package, restoring regular order to the budgetary process.
In putting his bi-partisan package together, Speaker Johnson understood, like Sir Winston Churchill did when he had to face the Nazi menace when Adolf Hitler was knocking on Great Britain’s door, “You cannot reason with a tiger when your head is in his mouth.”
Get what you can and lose no ground. Should the GOP hold on to the House and possibly regain the Senate, maybe the White House in 2024, there will be plenty of time to negotiate with the socialist Democrats.
The Speaker prevailed and, pretermitting the idea that a government shutdown is a bad idea, he avoided the blame of a shutdown.
Speaker Johnson showed strength and leadership in putting together a bi-partisan bill which passed by an impressive two-thirds majority of the House.
More than that, he has a Reaganesque vision of American and where we as a nation should be.
“We all know that the world is in turmoil, but a strong America is good for the entire world,” Mr. Johnson recently remarked. “We are the beacon of freedom, and we must preserve this grand experiment in self-governance.”
There is, indeed, hope for the Republic.