Morning Bell: Get to Work

Ed Feulner /

My fellow conservatives,

The people have spoken. Reckless spending, stifling regulations, ever-rising taxes, endless debt and the looming government takeover of health care have brought this nation to a tipping point. Not surprisingly, the American people have now taken matters into their own hands.

How we got to that tipping point is clear. For too long, Washington’s preening elites have assumed that they knew best and that government was in itself the all-purpose solution to every perceived problem.

But the American people have a collective wisdom, and they expressed it yesterday. They took a stand and decided on a new direction because continuing down the path we’re currently on would mean the end of the American Dream.

They repudiated “change” that denies our character and tradition, and called instead for an American Renewal that taps our values. The message that came out of this election, I can assure you, was heard around the world. Everyone now knows that Americans remain a strong and free people, unbowed by adversity and unwilling to exchange their birthright of liberty for a perpetual stew of bureaucratic rule and government dependency.

But let’s be clear, now we must all get to work.  The new Congress has a choice: answer the call of renewal or betray the hopes of the American people.  It is time for conservatives to be conservative, and not backslide.

We here at The Heritage Foundation are inspired by your commitment to America’s principles, and bolstered by your demand for practical, conservative solutions to our common problems. We and our 700,000 members will work day and night to make sure Washington has heard you, too, for now the real work begins. (more…)