More ‘Conservatives’ Whore Out on the Trump Train

by / on September 14, 2016 at 6:00 pm /

trump_trainIt is being reported that the Family Research Council and some other conservatives are supporting Donald Trump’s Leftist “family care” plan involving six weeks of paid maternity leave, additional tax deductions for child expenses, and expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit.

I know there are people out there who will be voting for Donald Trump out of pure desperation to stop Hillary Clinton, that they know what a liberal Trump is and admit it up front, but are just desperate to stop what they believe is a worse evil.

I can respect that on some level.  I disagree with their conclusion about the outcome of voting for Donald Trump (i.e. that he’ll be slightly less bad for America than Hillary Clinton-especially in the long run), but I respect their desire to shield our nation from as much of the fallout of liberalism as possible, and most of all their intellectual honesty about the caliber of the GOP nominee.

Heck, I can even summon some respect for a liberal who doesn’t know better but has always sincerely believed, based on a somewhat consistent-if fundamentally flawed in its assumptions-system of reason, that government handouts are the way to go.

What I can’t respect is “conservatives” who attempt to “revise” or “rewrite” or just plain ignore conservative principles to make excuses so they can support the liberal policies of a liberal who has an “R” after his name…just because he has that “R” after his name.

While tax deductions for the everyday expenses of family life sounds good, other aspects of Trump’s plan do not fit within Republican principles.   The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is little more than an avenue for more welfare payments to people who don’t pay any taxes to begin with; it’s no wonder Wikipedia calls it “the third-largest social welfare program in the United States”.  Further, forcing businesses to give things to their employees violates not only conservative principles of limited government, but the U.S. Constitution as well. Also, this would certainly be extended to federal workers, which means taxpayers get to foot the bill for that lost productivity.

To be fair to FRC, nothing I saw in their statements clearly indicated support for the paid maternity leave or the EITC expansion, but neither did I see any indication of disagreement with those liberal proposals, either. If FRC really opposed them, the perfect time to say so would have been when they issued praise for other parts of the Trump proposal. This “missed” opportunity therefore speaks even in its silence.  If I liked part of a particular proposal, but other parts of it went against fundamental principles I claimed were important, I’d darn sure make it clear that people knew I opposed the bad parts. FRC didn’t.  This wouldn’t be the first time FRC and other organizations have whored themselves out to support a RINO.

Also in the interest of full disclosure, I wasn’t able to find much in the way of a public stance the Family Research Council has taken on the issue of paid maternity leave previously, other than a report last year that FRC had declined to comment on its family leave policy, but this is certainly the kind of socialist wealth redistribution scheme all true conservatives have long opposed (I know-I’ve been one for decades, and used to attend FRC’s Values Voter Summit regularly).

For what it’s worth, the May 21, 2015 Social Conservative Review, put out by FRC, features a link to a study from the Social Science Research Network which found no tangible benefit to the welfare of families or children, resulted in “regressive transfers both from ineligibles to eligibles,” and “the large increases in public spending on maternity leave imply a considerable increase in taxes, at a cost to economic efficiency.” Therefore, FRC is aware of its cons, and ostensibly agreed with them since it published this link.

It’s no surprise that Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity would whore themselves out for this (something they recognized was another liberal entitlement not that long ago); they already sold their souls to the service of Donald Trump many months ago. I haven’t paid any attention to either of these whores in a long time.

I noticed that Richard Viguerie’s organization, ConservativeHQ, also came out in favor of this socialist initiative yesterday.  I also noticed that ConservativeHQ jumped on the Trump Train a few months ago, so it’s not that big of a surprise that they would also sell out conservative principles to stay in harmony with their Orange Messiah.

I quit listening to the Rush Limbaugh show several weeks ago (I just couldn’t stomach anymore the guy who has been Mr. Conservative for over 25 years now telling us how wonderful Trump’s liberal positions are because they came from Donald Trump), but I was driving around yesterday and had nothing else to do, and I was curious (like watching a train wreck) what he and his fellow STrumpets would say about this, so I tuned in for a few minutes. Sure enough, former Mr. Conservative was bashing conservatives for still opposing what conservatives have always opposed, and so were his STrumpet callers. The way several callers “justified” supporting a liberal policy because it was Trump’s policy amounted to, “Well, the federal government has for years been doing things for illegals and other dregs, it’s about time they did stuff for the rest of us.”  Sure.  Justify the gravy train you’ve (rightly) been railing against for years because now it’s your turn.  Yeah, that oozes with integrity and principle. Whores.

Mark Levin recently decided that he would grudgingly vote for Donald Trump out of desperation to stop Hillary Clinton. Still, while I believe Levin’s hope is naive and short-sighted, he has the integrity to call Trump’s plan what it is: liberal-speak for a new Leftist welfare program. Levin demonstrates how to compromise out of desperation, without becoming a whore.

If a business voluntarily wants to offer paid maternity leave as a benefit to attract and keep employees, that is their right, and as a proponent of the free market, I support it 100%.

But the federal government does NOT have the authority to mandate businesses offer paid maternity leave. Private businesses are private property, owned by private individuals. Would you want the federal government inserting itself into your business, your home, your family, telling you what you can and can’t do, telling you what you must spend your money on, dictating how you use your own property?  If we’re honest, most of us find that idea repugnant.

The U.S. Constitution provides no authority for the federal government to implement a system of charity, no authority to redistribute wealth, no authority to force a business to offer this or that compensation for labor rendered, none. Article 1 Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution lists the areas of authority granted to the federal government, and while things like defense and post offices are there, authority to dictate how a private business operates is not found therein. The Tenth Amendment amendment removes any doubt that might remain:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

Regardless of how the paid maternity leave is paid for (and the Trump plan is vague, other than something about unemployment insurance fixes), it’s wrong for the federal government to mandate it. If the government forces businesses to offer it and pay for it, it’s wrong (unconstitutional); if the government funds it (through alleged unemployment insurance “improvements”), it’s wrong (forcing the taxpayers to pay for yet another welfare benefit).  Either way, it’s wrong, and violates Republican and conservative principles of limited government, the free market and personal responsibility.

Conservatives have always been known for upholding the U.S. Constitution, promoting the principles of limited government that made us the most free and prosperous nation in history, and for opposing socialism.

Now we have conservatives and conservative organizations abandoning their most cherished principles in order to support Donald Trump and his agenda (whatever it is at a given moment).

You see, THIS is one of the many, many reasons why supporting Donald Trump is harmful to the conservative cause in the long run-even more harmful to it than a Hillary Clinton presidency.  It should be clear, based on past behavior if nothing else, conservatives will continue to fight Leftist wealth redistribution schemes if they are proposed by Democrats. But now we are seeing that if a powerful “Republican” proposes Leftist wealth redistribution schemes, the unprincipled on the Right will jump on it like a teenager to the latest social trend.

When supporting a man becomes more important to us than supporting a set of tried-and-true principles, we quickly make ourselves slaves to the whims and failures of that man. We quickly end up making a joke of ourselves as we twist ourselves into pretzels trying to explain why we now love what we opposed yesterday, and why we now hate what we loved yesterday.

It already became apparent some time ago that you must abandon conscience and principle to ride the Trump Train (again, I’m not talking about desperate conservatives, but the Trump True Believers). Cheeto Jesus is a jealous god, and he and those who love him will harbor no allegiance to other gods through things like principle and conscience. Unless you forsake mother, father, principle and all, you cannot follow him.

This is exactly why I’ve been telling the “Republicans” who want me to fall in line with the herd and support Donald Trump that a Donald Trump presidency will to more harm to America in the long run than will a Hillary Clinton presidency.

To be sure, Hillary Clinton is an evil witch who viscerally loathes everything that has made America great.

But remember that Donald Trump has given more than $100,000 to the Clintons, palled around with them, praised Hillary Clinton’s performance as Secretary of State, and has said she would make a good president. And by his own words, Donald Trump has told us he believes many of the same important things that the Clintons do: socialized health care, establishing homosexual behavior as a “civil right,”  government intervention for “global warming,” big government to solve all our problems, admiration for Marxist dictators, soft on illegal immigration, and so forth.

Given that a couple of once-reliable conservative organizations have now whored out their principles to fall in line with Donald Trump on paid maternity leave, how long will it be until they (and other conservative organizations) fall in line with Trump’s desire to have the federal government pay for everyone’s health care, to enshrine homosexual behavior as a “civil right” and so on? In for a penny, in for a pound, as they say. That’s the nature of compromise: once you start making it, (like a meth addict) it’s hard to draw any lines.

A Hillary Clinton presidency couldn’t force conservatives to abandon their fight for limited government, the free market, and so many other conservative principles. But it’s very swiftly become obvious that Donald Trump at the helm of the Republican Party has ALREADY caused some conservatives to drop their conservative principles like a hot potato. How much more obeisance would (former) conservatives render to liberalism with Democrat-with-an-“R”-after-his-name Donald Trump in the White House?  Based on what we’ve seen so far: ALL.

Thanks, RINOs, for yet again proving my point. Only there’s no joy whatsoever in being right about this. There can be no joy in watching people who know better sell out-themselves, their principles, and their country.

Note: I apologize if I’ve given offense to any “sex workers” through my comments in this article. At least sex-worker whores have enough integrity to admit up front that they’re selling their virtue (something priceless for something cheap and fleeting).

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11 Comments

  1. Thisoldspouse says:
    September 15, 2016 at 9:02 am

    This is a very basic argument, assessing which “hills are worth dying on.”

    Some sell-outs will tell us that we must “live to fight another day,” failing to notice that the LIFE they are seeking to preserve is compromised.

    You soon learn that there are NO hills worth dying on, in the final analysis, for such people. Before they know it, they’ve incrementally adopted leftism to keep up their strategy.

  2. Kevin says:
    September 15, 2016 at 4:08 pm

    I believe the Trump supporters are suffering from a delusion. I expect the scales will fall off there eyes soon after the election. They will learn to have a deep regret for casting aside Ted Cruse for a counterfeit.
    I am still voting against Hillary. As bad as Trump will be; I do not doubt he would be better than Hillary. If our Republic can survive another 4 years, perhaps Ted will run again and actually have the support of the true conservatives in this country.
    By that time we will have a clear record of who is a REAL conservative.

    May God Help Us!

    • Bob Ellis says:
      September 16, 2016 at 8:45 am

      I wish I could agree about those scales, but I’ve pretty much lost all hope. The delusion that has fallen over most Americans in recent years is so strong and persistent, it’s astonishing even to someone like me who’s been wrangling with deluded liberals for years. And now with so many “conservatives” bellying-up to the Koolaid bar, I don’t think there are enough committed conservatives left to make a difference. People that are as beholden to error as these STrumpets are, they’re like typical liberals: they’re not about to face the error of their ways. They’ll double and triple down…and end up nothing but liberals with an “R” after their name, having “redefined” conservatism to include any liberal policy that someone with an “R” proposes.

      We’re doomed.

      • Thisoldspouse says:
        September 16, 2016 at 9:44 am

        Trump is already capitulating to political correctness by backing off his so-called “birther” (i.e. insisting on Constitutional eligibility for the office of President) position.

        • Bob Ellis says:
          September 16, 2016 at 10:45 am

          He’s been capitulating for months on just about everything he’s supposedly been a “fighter” on.

          Supposedly he’s (the guy who hired illegal aliens and funded sanctuary city politicians) going to fix illegal immigration, but he’s been vacillating on these claims of a wall, et al for months. Do the idiot STrumpets care? Of course not.

          Supposedly he’s (the guy who praised government health care and said the federal government should pay for everyone’s health care) going to get rid of ObamaCare, and now he says we need to expand Medicaid (a key component of ObamaCare). But do the STrumpet idiots care? No way.

          And the list of flip-flops just goes on and on and on. Yet the STrumpets continue to scream their love and praise for him because “he fights” blah blah blah. Fights what??? His last position? The one five minutes ago?

          The stupidity is absolutely off-the-scales un-freaking-believable.

          The past few months, I’ve felt like I woke up in some alternate universe where nothing makes sense, or one of those sci-fi movie where everybody you know has been replaced by some sinister pod people or are under some kind of mind control.

          God gave us brains that can employ logic and reason. What a profound pity this function is mostly mothballed in 2016.

    • Thisoldspouse says:
      September 17, 2016 at 5:39 pm

      Even if Trump were to win, there is little hope that he would achieve even a micron of what he has promised, if he is even honest about his promises at all (all evidence points to deception.) Any promises he did fulfill would be immediately negated by a leftist federal court (now 70% controlled by Marxists judges.). A Democrat/Leftist would eventually win back the Presidency, and would continue to shred the Constitution and implement the leftist agenda, including essentially nullifying the First and Second Amendments, as well as all states’ rights.

      We now have a thoroughly evil electorate, either for Hillary for any reason, or for Trump for the wrong reason. Such an electorate is unworthy of freedom and the Constitution envisioned by the Founders.

  3. Thisoldspouse says:
    September 17, 2016 at 5:29 pm

    I recently watched the Twilight Zone episode “Still Valley,” and it’s relevant message was so powerful I almost dropped to the floor.

    A battle worn unit of the Confederate Army near the end of the Civil war is tasked with obtaining Union Troop information in a small valley town in the South. The scout finds that an old witchcraft conjurer in the town can “freeze” the entire Union army with a spell out of a book, but he is on death’s bed and passes the book onto the scout to carry on his conjuring work. The spell requires an appeal to Satan and a renunciation of God. As he relates what he has found to his lieutenant in camp, he suddenly realizes the truth of what must be done, and stops reading the incantation in mid-sentence. The entire cause of the South hinges on this one last hope – THIS ONE LAST HOPE. But he finally throws the Witchcraft book into the campfire. His last painful, but wise words: “If our cause it to be buried, let it be buried in hallowed ground.”

  4. Peggy Borchert says:
    September 19, 2016 at 8:22 am

    We don’t want the government to fix our problems, but just protect our rights to fix our own problems:

    Dear Mr. Ellis,

    I agree with you that child care “for free” is not a conservative idea. I was horrified when Mr. Trump suggested it. I am disappointed that people, who call themselves conservative Republicans, think it is a conservative idea.

    However, we haven’t had a conservative running for President for at least as far back as the compromise began with the so called conservative Republicans when they adopted the idea of Public/Private/Partnerships – making a private profit off our public money and then calling it the free market.

    Mr. Trump, who is for America and not a globalist, the main reason I like him, is a problem solver. I don’t believe he is a constitutionalist, and apparently those “Conservative” Republicans who are advising him are not either.

    My concern is that Mr. Trump is listening to these so called conservative
    Republicans for answers to problems that were created by people seeing
    themselves as victims rather than seeing themselves as people who are
    responsible for the consequences of their own choices. Democrats never cease to
    see a so-called victim which they helped to create, even though it is the
    so-called victim’s own fault, that they can’t use for a vote or for a profit.
    The so called conservative Republicans have done the same.

    I remember when I was horrified when I first heard then Gov. George Bush, I am
    a Texan, speak of compassionate conservatism which consisted of giving government
    money to help churches – the Faith-based Initiative. The government would
    partnership with churches. Really?

    Another big government entitlement which the “conservative”
    Republicans have been touting for years is government vouchers for private
    schools and now charter schools to “help the less fortunate” of
    course while making a profit. You can hardly find a so called conservative
    Republican who is not for government vouchers and charter schools, for after
    all as they say, we pay so it is our money. Only thing is as you said in your
    article about child care, the poor who the “Conservative” Republicans
    use as the reason for needing vouchers (the conservative, compassionate thing
    to do) don’t pay any taxes. Not only that, if you pay $8000 in taxes, that may
    cover one child, but what if you have more than one?

    My interest is not even that the “rich” or people like me want their children to go to their
    private school “for free”. My interest is that once a private school
    or home school takes government money, the school is no longer private and the
    content and goal of their curriculum is no longer controlled by the school or
    the family but by the government. Thomas Di’ Lorenzo wrote an article about
    what happened to our colleges and universities because of the GI Bill. They
    could no longer control their curriculum because they had to be accredited to take
    the money. As a result our colleges and Universities are morally bankrupt and
    are confusing and destroying our children. When you give your money to the
    government, it is theirs and when they give it back, it has strings called
    government control. When you take government money you must also accept
    government control. Well, probably even you are for vouchers Mr. Ellis. So you are also for government entitlements, maybe not. If not I would really be surprised and
    pleased.

    I mention vouchers and charter schools just to make my point that so called Republican conservatives have not been for small government for a long time and are also for government entitlements so it was easy for them to accept the idea of “free” child care paid for by the government.

    All this to say, in my opinion, when some of the so-called conservative
    Republicans could not defeat Mr. Trump who is a problem solver and who loves
    America and could see something is wrong and who opposed globalism – I think the
    main reason they hated him, they apparently decided to become his advisors with
    their big government solutions (public/private/partnership) ideas.

    It is Mr. Trump’s fault that he fell for it.

    He needs to remember that, all men are created equal and they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the “pursuit” of happiness not the “guarantee” of happiness. The government’s job is to
    protect our right to pursuit, we pursuit happiness. The government should not
    make laws that guarantee our happiness.

    By the way Senator Cruz is also for vouchers and charter schools. Most Republicans are for vouchers and charter schools, and they can’t hear you when you tell them that
    this is not a conservative Republican idea, and that our private schools and
    home schools will be regulated if they accept government money. Their eyes glaze over. They will say, well they are already regulated and we will have to be ever vigilant to see that they are not too regulated. You mean like our colleges and universities?

    My point is the so called Conservative Republicans have not just abandoned their conservative principles to follow Mr. Trump. They abandoned them long ago.

    I like Mr. Trump because he loves America. He is not a globalist. He is a
    problem solver. Unfortunately his good instincts don’t seem to be
    grounded in the Constitution which Senator Cruz wants to change (Article
    V). Somebody who does not just want to use Mr. Trump or criticize him needs
    to advise him that we don’t want the government to fix our problems, but just protect our rights to fix our own problems.

    We who consider ourselves to be the “real” conservative Republicans need to quit tearing Mr. Trump down. Let’s advise him.

    I will continue to support and encourage others to support Mr. Trump. The only other option is Mrs. Clinton. That would be disastrous. It is not an option for someone who considers himself to be a Republican let alone a conservative Republican to vote for
    anyone but Mr. Trump.

    This is a response to Mr. Ellis’ article justly criticizing so called conservative Republicans for supporting Mr. Trump’s position on child care and maternity leave. Mr. Ellis writes for the American Clarion.

    • Bob Ellis says:
      September 19, 2016 at 8:59 am

      So you’re okay with a liberal who lies like he breaths, so long as he is “not a globalist” and who is “a problem solver”?

      Stop and think about what you just said. Does that really make any sense whatsoever?

      So the guy who owes huge amounts of money to China, who hires foreign workers, and who has lots of his products manufactured overseas, runs companies in overseas locations, isn’t a “globalist”? Okay. Pull my other leg now.

      And the guy who has supported most of the liberal rot that is tearing this country apart (hiring illegal aliens, promoting big government solutions, showing contempt for the U.S. Constitution, supporting abortion, supporting the homosexual agenda, etc.), and has thrown thousands and thousands of campaign contributions to prop up Leftists like Hillary Clinton and Harry Reid is a “problem solver”? Sounds to me like he’s a problem CAUSER.

      There is just no rational way to expect someone who supports and has helped cause so many of America’s problems to now turn around and FIX those problems, just because he SAYS so (in contradiction to YEARS of doing the opposite).

      The only way to turn things around is to STOP FEEDING THE RINOS! As long as we keep feeding the RINOs and dutifully handing over our vote any time they try to fear-monger us into pointing to the worse Democrats, this country is going to keep on sliding Left…into the cesspool

      We must make it clear to the RINO establishment that we will not give them out vote until they PROVE they will govern like Republicans should.

      http://stepstopoliticalepiphany.com/steps/4

      https://www.conservativereview.com/GeneratedFiles/Pdf/412573_20160919.pdf