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Act now!

May 11, 2007 By 2 Comments

The boys at Redstate.com are on fire over the Ken Calvert appointment to the Appropriations committee.  They have the list of Steering Committee members who approved the appointment and they urge you to call those Members and voice your displeasure.  It would be well worth the few minutes to voice your concern and demand that Republicans in the House do the right thing and remove Calvert from the committee.

 Other bloggers are getting in on the action.  Patrick Hynes at Ankle biting pundits joins the chorus encouraging activists to call.  Peach pundit focuses on his home state Member, John Linder.  There are no Arizonans on the Steering Committee.

And this revolt is now being covered by Politico. 

This is our chance as grassroots activists to send a message.

Filed Under: Government

The continuing free-fall of House Republicans

May 11, 2007 By 1 Comment

Image(graphic courtesy of RedState.com) 

You would think that the Republicans in the U.S. House would have learned a valuable lesson following the 2006 elections: voters are fed up with arrogance, unbridled spending and corruption.  The GOP lost at least a dozen seats because of some connection (or a perceived connection) to scandal: DeLay, Ney, Foley, Pombo, Sherwood, Sweeney, Hayworth, Ryun, etc.  Others who were either reported to be under investigation or in fact under investigation survived (Lewis, Doolittle, Miller and Calvert of California, Renzi, former Speaker Hastert, Feeney of Florida, to name a few). 

So, after taking a beating in the election, what did the Republicans in the House do?  They elected the same leadership team (Boehner, Blunt et al) that drove them into the mess.  Mike Pence and Arizona’s own John Shadegg (and their message of cleaning up Washington and reforming spending practices) were thoroughly rejected by rank-and-file Republicans in the House.

 Since then, Jerry Lewis, the ranking Republican on the Appropriations committee continues to claim innocence while having spent more then $200K in legal fees.  Doolittle and Renzi have had visits from the FBI.  Feeney has been frantically trying to explain why the FBI is questioning newspapers about what he told them and his former Chief of Staff abruptly resigned as Romney’s deputy campaign manager.

Following the FBI raid of Doolittle’s home, he “temporarily” resigned from his post on the Appropriations Committee (described by Jack Abramoff as the “favor factory”).  Since the Appropriations committee is one of the most sought after panels in Congress, there was no shortage of Republican members lining up for the seat.  And what did our esteemed Republican leadership do?  They gave it to none other than Ken Calvert of California.  Who is Ken Calvert you might ask?

Following his first election in 1992, he was caught by police with a prostitute in his car.  Since this is a family-friendly blog, I won’t quote the police report, which was embarrassingly graphic.  And, the incident wasn’t made public until years later.  Recently, Calvert has been under FBI scrutiny for earmarking transportation and economic development money to an area that happens to include a parcel of land he owned.  He bought the land for about $500K and within a year (following the earmarks) sold it for a cool $1 million.

As one Capitol Hill insider said, “Republicans in the House are the gift that keeps on giving to the Democrats.”  It won’t be long before the Democrats skewer Republicans for putting Calvert on Appropriations.  It is akin to dropping an alcoholic into a pantry full of booze.

And, unfortunately, the end is nowhere in sight. As one long-time hill rat explained to me, the fallout from both the Abramoff scandal and the Duke Cunningham scandal is far from over.  One of the men who bribed Cunningham was only recently indicted himself.  With a long jail sentence hanging over his head, he will be cooperating with the Justice Department.  More than a couple GOP members could get implicated.

Even worse, Jack Abramoff isn’t done yet.  He is currently sitting in prison for a fraud conviction connected to a casino deal in Florida.  He has yet to be sentenced for the innumerable crimes he committed in D.C. through his lobbying practice.  As such, he has a lot of motivation to cooperate with the Feds in order to minimize the extension of his prison term.  D.C. insiders say that there has been a renewed flurry of activity with some of the lower level actors in his scheme.  And, they point out, sitting members of Congress are not the only targets – some former members have yet to put this behind them.

It is pretty evident that House Republicans will buck the historical trends that say the party that loses a large number of seats in an election usually makes some gains in the following election.  I predict that House Republicans lose even more seats in 2008. 

Yes, I know that there are plenty of Democrats who are ethical pygmys – Pelosi, Murtha, Mollohan and William “cold cash” Jefferson among others.  But the media will provide them cover and any criticism leveled at them by Republicans will come across as hypocritical.

Unless House GOP leadership gets serious about cleaning up their own mess, voters will do it for them.

Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections, Federal Budget, Government

Sending the wrong message

March 24, 2007 By 10 Comments

As someone who has lost a close family member to breast cancer, my heart goes out to Elizabeth Edwards as she faces the incredible challenge that lies ahead.

What has me shaking my head in disbelief is that John Edwards is continuing his campaign for the presidency.  Yes, I know that Elizabeth said that she wants him to continue to run because she believes that he is what our country needs.  And, I understand the argument that this is their way of facing the disease and showing people that you don’t have to give up.

But what this really demonstrates is that our society is losing its bearings on what really matters.  While many people applaud the courage of Elizabeth Edwards, and many are rewarding Edwards’ campaign with a spike in fundraising, they are only making matters worse.

Today people are more self-absorbed than at any point in our nation’s history.  Rather than pursuing the altruistic course of action, too often people are completely egocentric.  Unfortunately, the real message being demonstrated by John Edwards is that raw ambition is more “courageous” than selfless compassion.  I don’t doubt that Elizabeth Edwards believes this country needs her husband as president.  But he should be enough of a man to realize that his wife needs her husband at this very difficult time.

And what about the children?  What message does it send to the impressionable minds of a six year-old and an eight year-old that daddy thinks that pursuing his life dream is more important than spending the rest of his wife’s life with her, comforting her, loving her, making memories with her.

No one knows how much time she has.  But as time goes on, I believe that more and more people will think that John Edwards’ selfish pursuit of the White House makes him unworthy to reside there.

For now, our prayers are with Elizabeth.  May God bless her and be with her.

On a lighter note, if you have any doubt of how self-absorbed John Edwards is, check this out:

YouTube Preview Image
Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections, Family

Proud to be from Arizona

March 14, 2007 By Leave a Comment

Club for Growth released their Congressional Scorecard today.  Three Members of the U.S. House scored a perfect 100.  Two of them are Arizonans: Jeff Flake and John Shadegg.  Trent Franks was number four on the list with a score of 98.  Since this tallied votes in 2006, it included Hayworth, who scored 81, Renzi was 51, and to round out the delegation, Pastor’s score was 9 and Grijalva’s was 4.  In the Senate, Kyl scored an impressive 94 and McCain scored 76.

When it comes to Republicans in the U.S. House, grassroots Arizonans should be proud.  There isn’t a state in the nation that can boast that 75% (3 out of 4) of it’s Republican House members are proven, solid conservatives. 

Filed Under: Government, Taxation

An idea that is long overdue

March 12, 2007 By Leave a Comment

HT to Redstate for posting on Congressman John Shadegg’s Enumerated Powers Act.  And they even have a podcast with the Congressman.  Well worth the visit to Redstate to read and hear.

The entire bill is below.  While there is not much chance of getting Democrat co-sponsors, Reps. Franks and Renzi should jump on board.

H.R.1359

Enumerated Powers Act (Introduced in House)
HR 1359 IH

110th CONGRESS, 1st Session

H. R. 1359

To require Congress to specify the source of authority under the United States Constitution for the enactment of laws, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 6, 2007

Mr. SHADEGG (for himself, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. GINGREY, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. MARCHANT, Ms. FOXX, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. HERGER, Mr. AKIN, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. PAUL, Mr. MCCOTTER, and Mrs. MYRICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL  

To require Congress to specify the source of authority under the United States Constitution for the enactment of laws, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Enumerated Powers Act’.

SEC. 2. SPECIFICATION OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY FOR ENACTMENT OF LAW.

(a) Constitutional Authority for This Act- This Act is enacted pursuant to the power granted Congress under article I, section 8, clause 18, of the United States Constitution and the power granted to each House of Congress under article I, section 5, clause 2, of the United States Constitution.

(b) Constitutional Authority Statement Required- Chapter 2 of title 1, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 102 the following new section:

`Sec. 102a. Constitutional authority clause

`Each Act of Congress shall contain a concise and definite statement of the constitutional authority relied upon for the enactment of each portion of that Act. The failure to comply with this section shall give rise to a point of order in either House of Congress. The availability of this point of order does not affect any other available relief.’

(c) Clerical Amendment- The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 2 of title 1, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 102 the following new item:`102a. Constitutional authority clause.’.

Filed Under: Constitutional Law, Government

Deconstructing the CPAC straw poll

March 6, 2007 By 3 Comments

At the end of the day, the CPAC poll is meaningless.  I know, it is heresy to say so among us conservatives, because we want to be relevant and have an impact on the Presidential race.  But to try to prognosticate any specific trend or outcome as a result of the straw poll is folly.  Two reasons: the age and gender of the voters.

As is usually the case, CPAC registrants were heavily skewed to college students.  64% of the voters in the CPAC straw poll were 25 years old or younger.  The under-40 block was a full 80% of the vote.  And, only 30% of the vote was female.

In normal primary elections, the older you are, the more likely you are to vote.  So there is a fundamental problem with those who think there is some kind of trend in the numbers: the vast majority of ballots at CPAC were cast by the 18-25 age group, an age group that is much less traditional in it’s views on moral issues – abortion and gay marriage.  When actual voters in primaries start to vote, it will be the grandparents of the CPACers doing the voting, and they will not look kindly on candidates who are left of center on abortion and gay marriage (like Giuliani).  Additionally, women usually make up about 53% of the vote, so the 23% under-sample of women in the CPAC straw poll will muddy the waters for trend seekers as well.

Romney deserves kudos for winning the straw poll – which is more about organization and busing students in to vote – but he shouldn’t get comfortable thinking that he has locked up the conservative base.  As for Giuliani?  Rock stars typically burn bright and fast… and then burn out.

Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections

Harry and Gabby – in bed with the Communist Party

February 26, 2007 By 2 Comments

The Phoenix Business Journal reports today that Harry Mitchell and Gabby Giffords are likely to be targeted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for supporting H.R. 800 which the PBJ describes thusly:

The Employee Free Choice Act allows for union organizing in a workplace if a majority of workers sign union cards and not by a secret-ballot election.
Sponsors of the bill include more than 200 Democratic House members, including freshman members Mitchell and Gabby Giffords of Tucson, as well as Raul Grijalva of Tucson and Ed Pastor of Phoenix.  (full article here )

What is interesting about this bill is that it has also been endorsed by the Communist Party USA:

A State of the Union in the interests of working people would be far different. It would highlight the Employee Free Choice Act, with 225 co-sponsors, which restores workers’ right to organize into unions free from employer intimidation and coercion. (full article here )

 

So, after running as MODERATES, Harry and Gabby are showing their true colors: Communist sympathizers.

Filed Under: Government, Political Parties

Is the past prelude?

February 25, 2007 By 2 Comments

In October 1964 a young college student wrote that Senator Barry Goldwater, who was the Republican nominee for President, was an “incompetent” flip-flopper who pandered to “extremists.”  Was it an activist Democrat pining for Lyndon Johnson?  Nope.  It was Rudy Giuliani.

The story in today’s New York Post is titled Student Rudy’s Lefty Days and is likely to only be one of the first in a long series of articles which will begin to disect Giuliani.

This will begin to drive his numbers down among conservatives, and he will have to react in order to prove his bonafides within the Republican primary field.  The one thing Rudy has going for him is that there is not a viable stand-out conservative in the race.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

It’s gonna heat up. Immigration “reform” – Democrat style

February 23, 2007 By 4 Comments

Hat tip to Stacey at AZ Congress Watch for getting the scoop on a statement released by Congressman John Shadegg yesterday. http://www.azcongresswatch.com/?p=2879

You can read Shadegg’s entire statement here http://johnshadegg.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=58756 

This sets up a pretty interesting dynamic within the Arizona delegation.  Shadegg is well-known for his consistent stand against illegal immigration.  His A- grade is the highest lifetime score of Arizona delegation members (even higher than J.D. Hayworth) at Numbers USA http://grades.betterimmigration.com/view_list.php3?District=AZ&Category=0&Status=Career&Flag=1&VIPID=42 (Hayworth’s lifetime grade was C+ http://grades.betterimmigration.com/testgrades.php3?District=AZ05&VIPID=44&retired=1 ) and when Shadegg was Republican Policy Chairman in the House he was credited with provided a forum for hard-line anti-immigration members (Tancredo, Steve King and John Hostettler) to discuss their reasoning with Judiciary Chairman Sensenbrenner and Republican leadership in the House.  The House immigration bill that passed in late 2005 was reportedly a direct result of those discussions.

Now, with Democrats in control, there is a sense that Conservatives are going to be left out in the cold.  It is becoming more and more clear that a “comprehensive” immigration bill is headed to passage.  The Senate, under Republican leadership, passed such a bill last year, and now that Democrats run the House, it is highly likely that such a bill will pass overwhelmingly on that side of the Capital.

Shadegg’s statement calling on the White House to reject the Kennedy bill gives conservatives some ammo to reach out to Senators and Congressmen to rally them to reject an automatic pathway to citizenship. 

The inside game on this is pretty interesting as reported by the Washington Times in a story yesterday and another one today.  http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20070222-121742-6247r.htm  and http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20070222-111037-6694r.htm  Senator Sam Brownback was a co-sponsor of the Senate bill last year, but now appears to be distancing himself from Kennedy and McCain as he mulls a presidential run.  As reported in the story today:

But Senate aides said yesterday that Mr. Brownback has skipped or canceled meetings at which he was invited to discuss the bill with Mr. Kennedy and Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican and co-author of the bill.
    ”He’s chosen not to be involved and canceled meeting after meeting,” said one Senate staffer with knowledge of negotiations. “He’s chosen to distance himself from a bill that he was an original co-sponsor of because of presidential politics.”

Closer to home, Senator Kyl, who will serve as Sen. McCain’s Arizona Chairman for his presidential run, http://www.azcentral.com/blogs/index.php?blog=350&title=kyl_is_mccain_s_arizona_chairman&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1&blogtype= opposed the Senate bill.  On the House side, Flake is well-known for his support of the Kennedy-McCain bill and Franks, Renzi and Shadegg oppose.  And, Shadegg serves as one of McCain’s campaign whips in the House. http://www.azcentral.com/blogs/index.php?blog=350&title=shadegg_among_mccain_s_house_supporters_1&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1&blogtype= Shadegg blasting the Senate bill that McCain is a part of crafting will likely make delegation meetings a little more interesting.

This is only the beginning of what will be a very heated debate for the next few months, and one in which we conservatives are likely on the losing end.

Filed Under: Border, Illegal Immigration

Modern day Conscience of a Conservative

February 20, 2007 By 5 Comments

When Phil Gramm served in the U.S. Senate, he carried the banner of Conservatism.  He picked up where Sen. Barry Goldwater had left off.  Two incidents capture the wit and philosophy of Senator Phil Gramm.  During a hearing with an Asst. Secretary of Education, Gramm was making the point that he thought parents were better at making education choices than bureaucrats because as a parent, he loved his children.  This bureaucrat went on to say, “Senator, I assure you that we love your children as much as you do.”  To which Senator Gramm simply asked, “What are their names?”  It was a priceless moment in exposing the problem of big government nannyism.

The second incident was during the fight over Hillary-care, in which Gramm famously said that it would pass “over my cold, dead, political body.”  Thus, throwing down the gauntlet that he would expend every ounce of political capital he had to defeat the greatest government intrusion in our lifetime. And he succeeded.

Now, after being out of the limelight for many years, Senator Gramm is weighing in on the challenges that face our nation today.  In today’s Wall Street Journal he writes:

I believe the man we need to meet the mortal need today is here. He is experienced, but has not lost his common sense or his ability to be outraged. His conservatism is not the result of a studied philosophy, but of common sense and personal observation. His name is John McCain. He might not be the right president for all times, but he is the right president for these times.

That is a pretty solid endorsement which is going to carry a lot of weight with conservatives.  Read the whole thing, it’s worth it. http://opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110009690

Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections

Kyl’s ties to ’08 candidates

February 5, 2007 By 12 Comments

The Washington Post today reports that Christine Walton, who was a part of the Kyl for Senate fundraising team, will lead the Giuliani fundraising efforts for the Southwestern region. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/02/giulianis_money_men_and_women.html

Meanwhile, another team-Kyl fundraising guru, Corinne Lovas, has signed up for Romney.

So, while Kyl is serving as the Chairman of McCain’s campaign in AZ, there are no known Kyl staff (or former staff) serving on McCain’s team.

Another interesting tidbit is that Christine Walton is a staff member of Gordon C. James Public Relations  http://www.gcjpr.com/people.aspx?id=walton.  You may recall that Gordon James’ wife Lisa recently ran as party Chairman and was repeatedly labeled a McCainiac.  Guess not everything you read on the blogs is true.

Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections

It’s official: Giuliani is in – and a conservative?

February 5, 2007 By 8 Comments

Giuliani has filed a “statement of candidacy” with the FEC.  That’s about as official as you can make it.  He is still dogged with speculation that he won’t actually mount a campaign, but with news out that he is aggressively raising money, that is looking less likely.  He continues to top most polls of Republican primary voters.

 Even more interesting is this piece http://city-journal.org/html/17_1_rudy_giuliani.html from City Journal entitled: “Yes, Rudy Giuliani is a Conservative” and it should be required reading for any politico watching the ’08 Presidential field… watch for Giuliani campaign talking points that hit the same themes, given that this was likely a trial balloon for messaging that Rudy and his folks will try to use in early states.  With Giuliani’s fundraising ability, superstar status and personal likeability, the front-loading of big states like New Jersey, Florida, Pennsylvania and California make Giuliani even more viable… buckle in, this is going to be interesting.

Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections, Uncategorized

Where do conservatives go?

February 3, 2007 By 14 Comments

For those of us who are very conservative, the presidential field leaves us wanting.  The top-tier candidates include Guiliani, McCain and Romney – none of which have the best conservative credentials.

Lower-rung candidates include Sam Brownback, Tommy Thompson, Mike Huckabee and Newt Gingrich.  Even lower on the rung there is Jim Gilmore, Duncan Hunter, Tom Tancredo and Ron Paul.

Let’s analyze this from bottom up. 

Ron Paul has the experience of actually running for President in the past (although as a Libertarian in 1988).  A very loyal following that could fit in a small diner, and maybe even scrape up enough dough to pay for breakfast.

Tom Tancredo – great on immigration, but has become too much of a Tommy one-note.

Duncan Hunter – solid conservative on defense, life and immigration, but tends to be an earmarker, and has associated with folks who bribed Duke “Commode” Cunningham. 

Jim Gilmore – decent former Governor of Virginia, cut taxes, but then disappeared.

The above folks all have something in common:  they can’t raise a fraction of the money needed to make an even half-way serious effort.

That takes us to the middle of the field.  Gingrich talks a good game, but was largely seen as a failure as Speaker – led the Revolution to the promised land, and then became a part of the problem (remember the disaster when the Republicans blinked and opened up the government right before Clinton was about to relent?)  Gingrich is a consummate self-promoter who has access to some folks with money, but he is not putting the people in place on the ground in the early states that will be needed to make a serious run.

Huckabee seems attractive, is well-spoken, but comes from a small southern state and doesn’t have the money game.  He also raised taxes as a Governor and on Meet the Press last week wouldn’t rule out tax hikes as President – sorry, thanks for playing, here’s the door.

Tommy Thompson was a very popular Governor in a swing state, served ably on Bush’s cabinet.  Ultimately, he is really running for Vice-President.

Sam Brownback is someone that a lot of conservatives get excited about – until they realize he is to the left of McCain on immigration.  Oops.

So, that leaves us with the true competitors – based solely on fundraising ability – of Guiliani, McCain and Romney.  Guiliani is no social conservative, but is good on national security and crime.  Romney talks a good conservative game, but his flip-flopping has many conservatives very concerned (setting aside the whole religion thing). And then there is our own Senator McCain.  He is good on fiscal issues (spending and earmarks), great on defense and the war on terror and pretty good on the life issue.  He has sacrificed tax reduction in the name of balanced budgets, given us the horrific McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform and is out of touch on immigration.

Please, somebody tell me… where does a good conservative go?  There is some buzz among party insiders about a draft Gov. Mark Sanford effort.  Sanford, as you may recall, was a part of the 1994 Revolutionary class that held to his term limits and then was elected (and now re-elected) Governor of South Carolina.  He was a strong supporter of McCain in 2000, but word is that he is playing hard to get this time around. That may indicate that he is willing to be drafted.

With the massive frontloading of state’s primaries, anyone who isn’t in yet, is going to need to move fast.  Common-sense would say that there are a bunch of people with a bunch of money waiting for a true, top-tier conservative to emerge.  (Think people like Club for Growth).  Time will tell.

Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections, Political Parties
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