Yes, the Republican Party WILL make gains this fall.  In the current environment, it would be virtually impossible for them not to.  But do they really have what it takes?  Witness Rep. Aaron Schock from the Peoria, IL area, hem and haw and show a complete inability to come up with any areas of the Federal Government that we can simply cut.

There are ENTIRE Departments of the Federal Government that could be cut...completely cut.  Thousands of employees put to the work of growing our economy instead of stifling its ability to function.  And one of our most "Conservative" Republican Congressmen cannot think of one agency that could simply disappear.  If THIS is the new leadership that's going to bring us into fiscal sanity, we're doomed. 

UPDATE:

By the way...the punlike nature of the title of this article never occurred to us...really. 

The recently passed health care legislation and the debate that has surrounded it has been a wake-up call for many Americans. For the first time, many have begun to pay attention to how policy is crafted and how bills get passed. It has also given them a chance to scrutinize the two major political parties who now run our governments. For Americans who hold firmly to their freedom, health care reform should serve as a litmus test issue for how they view the  Democrat and Republican parties.

The Democrat Party has made its position on this issue clear for everyone to see. They have planted their flag firmly in the soil of socialism and government control. They have defied the Constitution and the will of a solid majority of Americans by passing this bill and by rejecting individual liberty and the opportunity for free markets to have any part in creating real health care reform.. Time will prove that these new laws will even fail to accomplish their stated goals of reducing costs, lowering deficits, and improving access. In creating these so-called reforms Democrats have chosen to ignore American principles, human nature and basic economic theory, instead opting for policies that, given time, will lead to single payer government-run health care in this country.

The Republican Party’s role on this issue is less clearly defined. Yes, congressional Republicans stood in unison at the end and did what they could to derail the passage of this health care monstrosity. They simply did not have the votes to stop the legislation from passing. On this recently passed legislation there was little the Republicans could do, and the weight of this bill rests squarely on the shoulders of Democrats.

Having said that, Republicans do not get a free pass on this issue. Republicans must be judged on what they have done in the past and what they will do in the future in regard to health care reform. Their past record is dismal. The GOP’s time in control of Congress and the White House saw few meaningful efforts and no cohesive plan to bring about true health care reform by reducing governmental restrictions and allowing free markets to lower costs and create more access and better care. Only when the Democrats seized control of the issue did Republicans come forth with plausible solutions. Of course at that point, the highly partisan Democrats – despite their claims - were not interested in any alternative proposals.

The next test for the Republican Party is what will they do going forward? Will Republicans side with the majority of Americans who reject this legislation and want it repealed and true reform enacted, or will they wither in the face of liberal name-calling and offer only half measures? With the legislation only a little over a week old, it is too early to say what they will do. Some Republican legislators have made bold promises to “repeal and reform” while others have sat quietly or have even begun to backpedal in their opposition. Only time will tell which face of the GOP emerges. Given the party’s track record, it’s difficult to be confident that they will fight this incredible encroachment on freedom with the same level of passion that many Americans share.

For Americans who value their freedom and cherish the ideals upon which our country was founded, the choice is clear. This new law must be rolled back completely so that true reforms that will work can be enacted. On this critical issue, the Democrats have already failed the test. Indeed their position on an issue this important has the power to taint local Democrats who have tried for so long to distance themselves from an increasingly left-leaning national party. For the Republicans, this is make-or-break time. The party’s laziness on this issue has helped to bring our country to this point. If they now fail to fight with everything they have to repeal this newly-passed health care legislation, then they will have permanently ceded any claim to represent conservative ideals and constitutional government. If that happens, those who hold the idea of constitutional government dear will be forced to find a new political home. For many of us, that process has already begun, and those who follow are welcome here in the ACP.

In case anyone wasn't clear exactly why the Virginia Conservative Party only endorsed ONE candidate in the Statewide elections in November of 2009, this should help clear it up:

"RICHMOND -- Not five minutes after President Obama signed health-care legislation into law Tuesday, top staff members for Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II made their way out of his office, court papers in hand and TV cameras in pursuit, and headed to Richmond's federal courthouse to sue to stop the measure.

"...Although ideologically in line with McDonnell, who was also elected in November and supports Cuccinelli's lawsuit to stop the health-care law, Cuccinelli and his confrontational style could complicate the governor's efforts to rebrand the GOP as inclusive and pragmatic.

"Cuccinelli did not alert McDonnell's office before sending his letter on nondiscrimination policies to colleges and universities, leaving officials to learn of it through a media inquiry. Although McDonnell agreed with Cuccinelli's legal reasoning, protests that followed were a distraction while McDonnell was trying to help legislators adopt a budget and conclude the first legislative session of his term.

"'This back-of-the-hand, gratuitous, finger-in-your-eye, hand-on-the-chest stuff -- people don't feel good about it,' said a senior Republican strategist in Richmond, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid creating a rift in the party. 'It's not how you build a broad-based coalition.'"

Somehow, the "Republican strategist" interpretation of fulfilling a campaign promise of standing up for the Constitution and protecting the people of the Commonwealth from an overarching and tyrannical Federal Government is "back-of-the-hand" and "gratuitous."  A Conservative Governor, even with an "R" by his name, that has earned the endorsement of the VCP, would be on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC defending his Attorney General as doing the right thing.  We hate to proven right, in this circumstance, because it gives the media the ability to make this about a personality instead of about the Commonwealth's sovereignty.  

But we were right to support the person who is willing to not only follow the law of his own State, but to stand up and back it up with conviction. We're still waiting on our Governor to do what HE promised: fight to uphold the laws of the United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Sic Semper Tyrannus 

UPDATE AND CLARIFICATION:

Since many of you are undoubtedly frustrated, we want you to rest assured that all of us here at the American Conservative Party have never been more convinced that the turnaround of our country is at hand.  Last nights' vote all but guarantees a severe slowing down of the train wreck that is Democratic leadership.  The Republicans, who today are doing a great job sounding like Conservatives, will likely be given a chance this fall to act like they are.  We hold no illusions that they will lead us to the promised land, but they can buy us some time until we can take back our country.

Luckily, the Heritage Foundation expressed this morning a good approximation of our feelings about the bill and its passage:

Those who supported this bill are our fellow Americans, and we do not question their good will or patriotism. In public policy, however, good intentions alone do not suffice. And let there be no mistake, our philosophical differences with supporters of this bill are profound. The reason government-run health care has been the holy grail of the left for decades is that liberals realize as much as we do that it is a giant step toward the creation of a European-style welfare state. This is an evolution Americans have always resisted because it is alien to our national character.

If there is one good thing about the past year—one in which we have witnessed unprecedented horse-trading, press stunts, midnight votes and political manipulation in both houses of the U.S. Congress—it is that the American people have come away educated as never before about the differences between these two visions for America. Americans are strongly opposed to this bill not because they have been hoodwinked but because they understand this bill both in its particulars and at an instinctive, gut level.

They understand this health care bill forces individuals and employers to buy insurance policies designed by government bureaucrats. This intrusion is intended to follow us from cradle to grave.

Instead of empowering families and individuals to make their own choices, Obamacare empowers the bureaucracy to make those decisions for them. It is this unelected bureaucracy, unanswerable to the electorate, that will determine the content of health benefits packages, including medical treatment and procedures, and how much will be paid for those services. Yesterday’s legislation brings us one step closer to fully government-run medicine, with expanded government power over the financing and delivery of medical services that is sure to ration care in the name of cost control.

You will hear the left say this new entitlement will be popular with the American people. Do not believe them for a second. Yes, 32 million people will gain the theoretical right to health insurance. But over half of that coverage comes from placing at least 16 million more Americans into Medicaid, an unpopular and overextended welfare program that already rations care.

Americans will not stand for it. The American love for liberty prevailed in our founding, and will prevail once again. 

We can take our country back.  One county at a time, one district at a time.

OH, and by the way...today, March 22nd is the 245th anniversary of the STAMP ACT.  Just so you know.