Do They Get It?

Michael Franc in NRO today:

Conservatives on the Hill want to believe they’ve started on that long road to recovery. Last week, Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) unveiled an exquisite and ambitious reform agenda he calls “A Roadmap for America’s Future.” In it, Ryan sets forth a credible way to address the fiscal catastrophe sure to come when the Boomers retire (consisting of foundational reforms to the big three entitlement programs — Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid) even as he reforms our tax system to promote economic growth and ensure American competitiveness. Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.) and some members of the Republican Study Committee in the House have also offered up visionary action plans that should please conservatives.

But no matter how many times Ryan or his allies scream “I get it” from the mountaintop and vow to do the right thing if returned to power, the voters will not believe them until they believe his colleagues are capable of acting in a way that is consistent with conservative principles and contrary to their parochial, political interests.

Political pandering of the sort we saw with the farm bill is obviously not helping either the GOP or Congress (both have abysmally low poll numbers right now).  But despite the efforts of a few genuinely dedicated legislators (like Ryan), it increasingly looks like a lot of members of Congress are going to end up learning things the hard way — at the polls in November.