June 22, 2009 09:00 AM UTC

Engaging...

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• by: Meiner49er

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

A new group is set to launch in the House of Representatives, made up of conservatives set on defending American power and interests against encroachment from international institutions: The Congressional Sovereignty Caucus.

Their kickoff meeting will be this coming Wednesday, featuring co-founders Reps. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) and Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), plus Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) — and special guests Oliver North, Frank Gaffney and Doug Feith.

Rep. Lamborn declined to comment, but his office did point us to an opinion column he wrote last week:  

“Sovereignty is vital for America because we are an exceptional nation,” wrote Lamborn, “one uniquely blessed with a vibrant Judeo-Christian heritage, as demonstrated both through its founding documents and by the witness of history. For any nation, and I believe especially for America, to give up any degree of control of its destiny to transnational bodies is irresponsible and wrong.”

Combine this with Newt’s proclamations last week that he’s “not a citizen of the world,” and it seems that the Right’s right back where it belongs in a bad economy, head in the sand with its “America First” rhetoric.  Quite a contrast to all the talk about promoting open markets, free trade, NAFTA, and “the common calling of freedom-loving

people across the globe” we heard from the Bush Administration!  

Perhaps Lamborn and his ‘league’ think we can’t afford our global engagements any longer, but the issue is that we need global engagement now, more than ever.

Colorado businesses relied on various international regimes and agreements to establish relationships with 197 foreign markets, bringing in 7.4 BUSD in 2007 (all figures are from USGLC).  Colorado Private Voluntary Organizations likewise gained roughly 10 MUSD from funds pledged to the International Affairs Budget that same year, a budget Lamborn voted AGAINST renewing last week.  Too costly?

Now add in the tax hikes that would have to follow if we were in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the War on Drugs alone (sacrificing a little bit of our destiny pays 8:1 on the DoD dollar), or how much larger our intelligence community’s already bloated black budget would have to be if we didn’t share intelligence with partners around the globe (would love to provide figures, but don’t want to be accused of treason!).  

The conclusion SHOULD be clear:  isolationism “is irresponsible and wrong.”  Have the Republicans also forgotten the Munich Analogy now that Bush is out of office?