By Stan Welch
Powdersville businessman and candidate for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate Richard Cash spoke to a full room at the meeting of the First Monday Group.
The group, named for its regular meeting date, is a grassroots conservative organization that provides a public forum for various elected and other government officials. The group is non-partisan and does not endorse candidates. Still, during their two year existence, they have attracted major political figures, locally, statewide and from the national level.
Cash was clearly there to present his conservative credentials. He began by praising Congressman Jeff Duncan, who defeated Cash in 2010. Cash said that Duncan has done a solid job in the Congress and that there is really little to choose from between him and Cash.
“But there is a certain United States Senator with whom I have serious disagreements. That Senator is Lindsey Graham and it is his seat that I am running for,” said Cash.
Cash said that his foundational beliefs can be characterized by the Three Cs, as he calls them. “The first is the Constitution. In my opinion, judicial activism has materially altered and I believe damaged our Constitutional foundation. Add to that the Presidential imperialism shown by this president as he repeatedly ignores all or parts of laws which hinder him and his agenda, and we can see that the very nature of our government is changing drastically.”
The second point is capitalism. “This president has made it plain that he favors the redistribution of wealth. He is the first president to admit that. He favors not equal opportunity, which is the foundation of the free enterprise system, but equal outcome instead. In other words, if you work harder and do better than the next guy, this president thinks the next guy deserves some of what you made so he can have as much as you.”
Cash, who is a theological seminary graduate, called the third C, Christianity, the yeast in the bread of American life. “Christian beliefs and doctrines form the foundation of this nation, and the fact is that we need to turn back to God. In the 60s, the Supreme Court began driving God from the public places in American life. I know, you’re wondering when you walked into church. But some things are true no matter where you say them. America has gone astray. Roe v Wade was simply a symptom of the shift from moral absolutes to moral relativism, and situational ethics. “
Cash went on to say that the definition of marriage is not subject to a vote. “God created and ordained marriage as the union between a man and a woman, and that is not subject to human review.”
He then went to great pains to tie Senator Graham to four issues he said proved that Graham cannot help change the culture.
“He was the only Republican on the judiciary committee to support Justices Kagan and Soto Mayor for the Supreme Court. He proposes what I call Grahamnesty for 12 million illegal immigrants. He opposed plans to defund Obamacare, which I considered unconstitutional to begin with. And he is in favor of U.S. military action against Syria.”
Cash said that Obama clearly is required to get Congressional approval of any military action; approval which he said Congress should withhold. “There is no threat to America or American interests in Syria. Congress should exercise its Constitutional duty under the separation of powers and refuse to become caught up in this.”
Cash closed by saying that while Graham is not always wrong, he is inconsistent, and that trait makes it almost impossible for him to help change the culture of big government.
“The country is going in the wrong direction. Former Senator Jim DeMint knew this and he formed a super PAC to recruit and elect conservatives who would work to change the culture in our government. Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Mike Wilson, Rand Paul, to name a few, have come to Washington and are in fact beginning to change that culture. But we need many more conservative thinkers, perhaps as many as twenty to twenty five, in the Senate, especially.”
Cash asked the crowd to make Graham the first of many dominoes to fall in the U.S. Senate. If we can defeat Lindsey Graham, I believe we will see a real and effective effort to remove a number of other Republican leaders who have become complacent.”
