Feehery: Not this way

As many of you know, I have been in favor of America getting out of Afghanistan for more than a decade.  But not this way.

Not in a way so that the Taliban could raise their flag over Kabul on Sept. 11.

Not in a way so to make us and our allies exceptionally vulnerable to attack. 

Not in a way that gave billions of dollars of weapons to the bad guys and kept them out of the hands of the good guys, which will surely help the bad guys win the upcoming civil war in Afghanistan.

When Bob Gates said that President Biden has “been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades,” he wasn’t joking.  And the streak continues. 

In a similar vein, I am in favor of vaccines.

I took the Johnson & Johnson shot, and I think the right choice for many people is to get the jab. But not the way Joe Biden has prescribed.

Not in a way that will cause thousands of low-income African Americans to lose their jobs because they have historic hesitancy to government-prescribed vaccines based on years of experience.

Not in a way which villainizes millions of people who would like to see more of the science and aren’t all that impressed by a vaccine that hasn’t done much to stop cases from skyrocketing in Israel and Iceland despite their high vaccination rates. 

Not in a way that creates more fear and uses less reason to make political statements and policy pronouncements that are clearly unconstitutional. 

I am in favor of rich billionaires paying more in taxes. But not the way Joe Biden and congressional Democrats are going to do it. 

Because their tax increase doesn’t just hit billionaires like George Soros, Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffet. 

Not in a way that will hit everybody, by raising taxes on small businesses and large businesses, who will inevitably have to raise prices on their products to pay for it. 

Not in a way that will pay for more useless spending that will spark inflation and put additional burdens on hard-working Americans.

I am favor of a cleaner environment, clean drinking water, and smarter infrastructure, but not in the way the Biden administration is promising to do it.

Not in a way that will sharply increase the cost of energy, stop American energy independence and make us once again forced to rely on dictators to import our energy needs. 

Not in a way that needlessly increases construction costs through labor-rule pay mandates and through ridiculous environmental regulations that sound good to bureaucrats but are unworkable in the real world.

I am in favor of immigration and I understand the importance of immigrants to the economic life-blood of this country, but not in the way the Biden administration is pursuing it.

Not in a way that stops all immigration enforcement, that throws open our borders to all who are willing to make a dangerous journey, that creates chaos and anarchy on our southern border. 

I am in favor of criminal justice reform, but not in the way the president’s allies have pursued. 

Not in a way that makes it impossible for the police to do their jobs, not in a way that defunds police departments and is responsible for the sharp increase in violent crime in this country.

I am favor of election laws that make sure that every citizen has the opportunity to vote, but not in the way the president and the Democrats are trying to do it.

Not in a way that will forever destroy the Senate as place where consensus is achieved through debate, not in a way that will federalize election law, not in a way that will make it easier for Democrats to fraudulently steal elections in the future. 

On almost every issue, the Democrats and the president are leading us down the wrong path. We have to tell them in no uncertain terms, “Not This Way.”

Feehery is a partner at EFB Advocacy and blogs at www.thefeeherytheory.com. He served as spokesman to former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), as communications director to former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) when he was majority whip and as a speechwriter to former House Minority Leader Bob Michel (R-Ill.).