Will Mitt Have the Stones to Fire Thousands of Bureaucrats?

I've been pondering something lately, and wonder if the Romney folks have a plan. There are literally thousands of D.C. bureaucrats, paid for by out tax dollars (well, the Chinese help with that), who are committed left-wingers. Under a president Romney, they will do anything possible to subvert his policy agenda at every turn. Why should it be Mitt's obligation to keep employing these people?

The problem is particularly acute at State, Justice, and the EPA. Maybe only Commerce isn't a problem.

This will be an interesting early test for Romney, because a wholesale firing like this will provoke howls of outrage from the left, just like when Bush fired a mere couple of dozen U.S. Attorneys back in '06.

We all know we stand at a historical crossroads. In one direction lies hard choices but salvation. In the other, Greece (or, if you prefer, Detroit). To choose the former will involve taking on just about everything liberals hold dear, and they will crucify anyone who tries. If Romney turns out to be a genial George H.W. Bush or Gerald Ford type, someone who wants to play nicely with everyone, it is the road to perdition. If he's a Reagan, one who weathered a horrible recession and the hatred of a good chunk of the U.S. because he did what needed to be done, there's hope.

But the the problems we face now are greater in scope than those in 1981, and even Reagan failed to do much about Federal spending, our principal issue today. Spending turns out to be the toughest nut to crack. All this means the pain will be last longer this time; after all, the longer the addiction, the longer and more painful the rehab. Accordingly, outrage will reach levels we've never seen before, and we know how effective the left is at being "outraged." It's their perpetual state of existence, the only question being how high the dial is turned up.

The Bush 43 years will look civil.

In the long sweep of history, there are not many capable of withstanding this without caving. It is human nature to want to be liked, and Romney, too, strikes one as someone who wants to be friends. It's a lovely day in his neighborhood. But liberals only pretend to like Republicans, and it's only when they're getting something they want. Teddy Kennedy went back to vilifying George Bush before the ink was even dry on the No Child Left Behind Act.

Which is why I bring up all the lefties in the federal bureaucracy. Whether they have jobs or not 30 days into the presidency may be a good early signal for which fork we will all travel.