SHUT THE GOVERNMENT DOWN AND GET SERIOUS ABOUT SPENDING CUTS - THE SUNDAY COMMENTARY

Last November the American people sent a clear message to Washington. It was not a message of party but one of an angered electorate that was tired of business as usual and disgusted with the direction our Nation was taking. We did not send a message telling lawmakers to get a long with each other and work together or to try and compromise with a President that the majority of the country disagrees with.

We voted out Democrats not so much because we loved Republicans but because the Democrats were spending money and taking our country toward bankruptcy and total financial failure. Democrats were taking our Nation down a socialist path that went against every principle and tradition our country was founded on and we not only did not like it but said by our vote we would not stand for it.

So we voted in Republicans with the expectation that not only would the Obama agenda stop but spending would be cut and cut dramatically, deficit spending would come to an end and the $15 trillion dollar debt would begin to decrease getting our fiscal house back in order so future generations would still have the ability to live a free and prosperous life which is the legacy Americans have left each generation since our founding.

We understood that cleaning up our fiscal nightmare would not happen over night but we expected it to begin changing direction and start heading down a path of fiscal responsibility immediately and dramatically. The first weeks of the new Congress looked promising as Republicans started immediately making cuts, sought to repeal Obamacare and led by example by curbing spending of each member of Congress and the operating budget of the House of Representatives.

Then came the attempted assassination of Gabrielle Giffords, a tragedy that understandably shook the Nation and members of Congress. In the days that followed the left spent all of their liberal air time trying to blame the act of a lone non political nut on Republicans and the right with everyone on the left from Barack Obama to his partners at MSNBC calling for, "civil discourse," as if the anger toward he and his bankrupting agenda caused the shooting, which it most certainly did not.

But what did happen is the GOP that listened to the people who voiced our disgust with the direction our country was headed by our vote last November, lost its backbone after the shooting and now seems to fear doing what we sent them to do. They still talk a good game but when it comes to actually making cuts that match the talk, Republicans are coming up far short of what we expect and still trying to get along with Democrats who have no desire to cut spending but continue to move us closer and closer toward national bankruptcy.

The time to try and get along is over. The time to make minimal and even marginal cuts is over. It's time to get a backbone and even if Democrats fight tooth and nail in the Senate to prevent deep cuts from taking place we expect and yes demand that Republicans do what we sent them to do and fight for the people by making the cuts necessary to stop the direction our country is headed. If that means shutting the government down in the process then so be it.

This playing with constant Continual Resolutions and throwing out a few billion hear and a couple of billion there in order to get Senate Democrats and Obama to sign on to the resolution is ridiculous. Republicans have a strong and decisive weapon to force Obama and Democrats into agreeing with deep cuts but are not only afraid to use it but want to keep the resolution, "clean," so Democrats will play patty cake with Republicans and keep the government running regardless of the cost.

Even if deep cuts fail to pass the Democrat held Senate or by some miracle pass the Senate and fall to an Obama VETO, we expect the GOP to take a fiscal stand and make the deep cuts and show the country the truth about the left and their total lack of fiscal responsibility and their hypocrisy in claiming they want to cut spending but in actuality refuse to do so. Use every tool available to force Obama and Democrats and if that means shutting down the government then do it!

It is not 1995 when Bill Clinton managed to cry that grandma would be starved and kids wouldn't eat in school because the mean and nasty Republicans shut down the government. Obama, Reid and the rest of the Democrats use the usual lies to try and scare Americans over a government shut down but this is a different time and a different electorate. We understand who they are and we also understand what they do to try and deceive Americans.

Democrats are scared to death of a government shut down because they live and die by the government and if any portion of it is shut down they panic and think the world will come to an end because government can't be used as the answer to every problem. We the people know that essential services like the military and yes even the huge entitlements that conservatives do not consider essential but many in our country unfortunately depend on will not stop.

Get a backbone Republicans. If you must send a Continuing Resolution on March 18 then send one with hundreds of billions in cuts. Michelle Bachman has been trying with little success to get GOP House members on board in stopping an unconstitutional appropriation already taken from the Treasury to illegally fund all implementation of Obamacare which totals $105 billion dollars. Add this to the Resolution.

Republicans we demand that serious cuts are made and made quickly. The $61 billion dollar joke that was sent to the Senate was not enough to even make a dent in spending. Although it was significantly more than what Democrats proposed at a little over $4 billion it was nothing compared to the cuts we expect and demand. The time for playing political games and compromise just for the sake of getting along is over.

If Republicans shut down the government in an attempt to make deep and serious cuts forcing the hand of Democrats, it will not anger Americans but will rally us behind Republicans as we will see the GOP is serious in representing the interest of the people and working to get our fiscal nightmare in order. Polls have shown that most Americans favor a government shut down if it accompanies deep cuts.

It's time to use every means available to force Obama and Democrats and get our fiscal house in order. Republicans, shut the government down and then go to the American people and tell them why you did it. Scott Walker has shown by example how to stand up against the left and the people of Wisconsin did not run from him but stood with him as he faced down the left and Democrats who refused to do their job.

We expect Republicans in Washington to take the same type of stance against Obama and Democrats in DC as Walker did in Madison. Force their hand, make the deep cuts. Demand the return of the illegal $105 billion dollar Obamacare appropriation. Use the Continuing Resolution as the tool and if Democrats refuse to vote yes on a Resolution with deep cuts in it then SHUT THE GOVERNMENT DOWN. We sent Republicans to Washington to take this type of stand, to make the hard decisions and stop Obama, Democrats and our of control government and spending. Draw the line in the sand and stand strong GOP, we the people will be right there with you to force the hand of the left and get our country moving back in the right direction.

Ken Taylor