[Arnie Steinberg, Ed Royce, and I have been friends since we were in Youth For Reagan in RR’s original campaign for California governor in 1966 – perilously close to half a century. Arnie has one of the sharpest minds in conservative politics. His case for Ed as Speaker is a good example. –JW]

Kevin McCarthy should not be Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The main reason is his gratuitous, ridiculous, and now infamous statement on national television, essentially that the Congressional inquiry into Benghazi was politically motivated.

The continuing Benghazi inquiry is not political frivolity, it is not part of the “Republican War Against Women.” Hillary was Secretary of State, this occurred under her watch, she and her team colluded in the cover-up. Hillary said of the probe, “What difference does it make?” Americans should want and demand all the facts, the truth.

Republicans should have immediately disavowed and promptly repudiated McCarthy’s statement. Benghazi committee members should have publicly taken grave offense. McCarthy should have apologized and withdrawn from the race for House Speaker.

McCarthy has two Republican opponents. Many Congressional Republicans cannot support Daniel Webster (FL-10), who has only been in Congress five years, or Jason Chaffetz, who just now chaired the botched Planned Parenthood hearings.

But these two men likely will force McCarthy into a second ballot. At some point, Republicans (hopefully) will opt for someone of stature and intellect, and I shall mention one: Congressman Ed Royce (CA-39), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Here’s why.

[Early Monday evening, 9/28, Ted Cruz gave one the greatest and most courageous speeches in the history of the US Senate. Below is the full video, followed by the full text. Watch and read it carefully, and you may well agree that Ted Cruz now stands head and shoulders above any of his rivals for the presidency. –JW]

There is a reason the American people are fed up with Washington. There is a reason the American people are frustrated. The frustration is not simply mild or passing or ephemeral. It is volcanic.

Over and over again, the American people go to the ballot box, over and over again, the American people rise up and say the direction we're going doesn't make sense. We want change. Over and over again, the American people win elections. In 2010, a tidal wave election. In 2014, a tidal wave election. And yet, nothing changes in Washington.  

I'd like to share with you and the American people the real story of what is happening in Washington. Why is it that our leaders cannot stop bankrupting this country, cannot stop the assault on our constitutional rights, cannot stop America's retreat from leadership in the world?

What happens in politics when one side is absolutely committed to its principles, willing to fight for them no matter the cost, and the other side reflexively surrenders on every issue? We have modern-day Washington.

Today, President Barack Obama fights relentlessly for his liberal priorities. Like the Terminator, he never gives up, he never stops. And Republican leadership responds to every challenge by surrendering at the outset.

The core of this capitulation comes from Republican leadership’s promise that “There will be no government shutdown.” On its face, the promise sounds reasonable. Except in practice it means that Republicans never stand for anything.

Like Charlie Brown and the football, this disconnect explains the massive frustration with Washington. The American people do not believe Republicans will actually do what we say we will do.

The alternative? We actually do what we said we would do. We fight for commonsense conservative principles, and we use the constitutional authority of the power of the purse—which leadership has forsworn—to do so. Here’s how.