Maryland Democrats Push In State Tuition for Illegals

As Maryland lawmakers prepare to begin the new legislative session in January, we must be vigilante of the impending assault on our state.  While other states will pass laws to crack down on illegal aliens, the Maryland General Asylum is already planning to give in-state tuition to illegals who graduated high school. State Senator Victor Ramirez (Marxist-Prince George's County) is  threatening to introduce such legislation at the beginning of the new session.

Victor Ramirez has served as the de facto ambassador for the criminal CASA de Maryland for eight years in the House, and will now have an opportunity to influence the immigration debate in the Senate.  Due to the efforts of Ramirez and his compatriots in the legislature, Maryland pays more per capita on illegal immigration than any state of comparable size.  Ramirez's bill would give illegal aliens a 67% discount on college tuition over out-of-state American citizens.

Conservatives throughout Maryland need to mobilize quickly to defeat this push for amnesty and handouts to illegals.  While most state legislatures swung heavily towards the GOP in November, Maryland's actually became more Democratic.  The Democrats picked up two seats in the Senate, giving them a 35-12 super majority.  Until now, Republicans were able to count on several moderate Democrats to block such legislation by joining a filibuster.  During the upcoming session, it would take seven Democrats to defy their party leadership in order to block this legislation.  Without a deluge of outside pressure, that is simply not going to happen.  And although the Republicans picked up seven seats in the House of Delegates, Democrats still enjoy an unstoppable 98-43 majority.  There is no doubt that Governor "new Americans" O' Malley would eagerly sign any pro-illegal alien bill that passes the legislature.

In addition to mobilizing local tea party groups to fight this proposal, we must push the new Republican House to enforce their budget power against states that aid illegal aliens.  They must immediately cut funding from states and jurisdictions that subvert federal law and encourage illegal aliens.  Also, they must pass a resolution clarifying the Immigration Reform Act of 1965 to explicitly deputize states to enforce immigration laws.  This will preempt any lawsuits from the Obama Justice Department against the many states that will follow Arizona's example of tough enforcement against illegal immigration.  Congress must reward those states that follow the law and punish those who implement a 'don't ask don't tell' policy towards illegals.  Then again, in Maryland, they can live openly as illegals and still receive more benefits than other legal Americans.

The Democrats Have a Suicide Wish With Filibuster Reform

Back in 2005, when Republicans controlled the House, Senate, and presidency, they were contemplating a "nuclear option" to end the filibuster on judicial nominees.  We were all aghast at the unprecedented number of filibusters that were mounted by Democrats to block highly qualified nominees to Federal Appellate courts.  At the time, the ever perspicacious George Will warned conservatives of the counter-intuitive consequences of squelching the filibuster.  He wrote in the Washington Post on April 25, 2003:

“The future will bring Democratic presidents and Senate majorities. How would you react were such a majority about to change Senate rules to prevent you from filibustering to block a nominee likely to construe the equal protection clause as creating a constitutional right to same-sex marriage?

And pruning the filibuster in the name of majority rule would sharpen the shears that one day will be used to prune it further. If filibusters of judicial nominations are impermissible, why not those of all nominations -- and of treaties, too?”

As it turned out, the Republicans lost control of both Houses within17 months, and by 2009, the Democrats had the presidency and 59 seats in the Senate.  Had Republicans opened the door for filibuster reform, the Democrats might have taken the initiative to completely extirpate it.  One could only imagine how destructive the 111th congress would have been with unbridled power.

Luckily, the Democrats lacked the political support and audacity to implement filibuster reform when it would have counted.  Now that they are irrelevant, they are calling for changes in the filibuster.  The reality is that such radical changes in Senate rules can only undermine the Democrats and benefit Republicans.

Although the Democrats will still control the Senate for the next two years, the Republican-controlled House would block any measure that passes the Senate.  Therefore, even if they were to abolish the filibuster altogether, they would never benefit from it.

Democrats Have an Uphill Battle in Taking Back House

Roll Call reports today that the DCCC is already formulating a strategy to target the most vulnerable Republicans in the upcoming election cycle.  The DCCC is defining a "marginal Republican district" as one in which Obama carried in 2008, or a seat that the Republican won with less than 55% of the vote.  According to Roll Call, the GOP holds 61 seats won by Obama, and 32 that fit both criteria.

This might sound like a cause for disquietude, as Republicans will only hold a 24 seat majority in the 112th congress.  However, not everything is as rosy for the Democrats as the DCCC would have you believe. While the Democrats are trying to compare their electoral prospects in 2012 to the GOP's in 2010, there are some major differences that provide a more optimistic outlook for Republicans.

1. The Obama electoral map was an anomaly and is totally obsolete.  Nobody believes that he will carry the second district in Nebraska, or even come close to it.  Based upon his dismal approval ratings, it is highly unlikely that he would carry Indiana, North Carolina, and Virginia.  The reality is that the Bush electoral map (or the Charlie Cook PVI) is a better standard to which one should measure the vulnerability of a district.

By that measure, the Republicans aren't nearly as overextend as the Democrats were, headed into the 2010 Midterms.  Prior to November, the Democrats held almost 70 R rated districts.  As we head into the 2012 elections, the Republicans will only hold 17 D rated districts and 7 that are rated as even.  Also, most of those 14 Democrat districts are rated as D+2 or less, while only one district (Mark Kirk's old seat), is rated over D+5.  Contrast that to the Democrat majority of 2008, in which they held 35 seats rated as R+5 or more, with many of them being R+10 or more.  The bottom line is that despite all of the hype concerning the potential for Republicans to win deep blue districts like Barney Frank's, it never materialized.  Most of their gains were from the red districts of the Blue Dog Democrats.  They are in a solid position to hold every one of those conservative leaning seats.

Hey EPA, Don't Mess with Texas

As Americans continue to shiver during this record cold December, the government continues to implement its regressive energy policies under the guise of global warming.  Over the past 40 years, the regressives have successfully blocked the construction of the most modern, clean, and efficient power plants and oil refineries in the world.  They have also mounted a full scale assault on coal and oil exploration.  In addition, the green energy subsidies and mandates, along with the regulations on fuel transportation and blends, has kept the price of energy near all time highs.  But, it appears that the Obama administration isn't satisfied with preventing the construction of new power plants and refineries.  The EPA is now ordering existing power plants and refineries in Texas to curb their carbon emissions.  The regressives obviously feel that the "little guy" isn't paying enough for his basic needs.

Here is the report from the Houston Chronicle:

The federal Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday effectively declared Texas unfit to regulate its own greenhouse gas emissions and took over carbon dioxide permitting of any new or expanding industrial facilities starting Jan. 2.

The EPA also set up a framework for regulating greenhouse gas emissions in seven other states: Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Oregon and Wyoming. In addition, the agency set a timetable on establishing regulated levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

The action will give the EPA permitting authority over refineries, power plants and cement facilities in Texas, the agency said, but will not affect small pollution source facilities, such as restaurants and farms.

Luckily, they are picking on a state with a solid conservative Governor.  Here is Rick Perry's response:

Perry spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger said the state's lawsuit against the EPA is continuing in an effort to prove the agency never was given authority by Congress to regulate greenhouse gases.

"The EPAs misguided plan paints a huge target on the backs of Texas agriculture and energy producers by implementing unnecessary, burdensome mandates on our state's energy sector, threatening hundreds of thousands of Texas jobs and imposing increased living costs on Texas families," Cesinger said.

She said the state's flexible air quality permitting system led to a 22 percent reduction in ozone and a 53 percent decrease in nitric oxide emissions since 2000.

While it is important that states take the initiative in the fight against unconstitutional administrative fiats, they need assistance from Congress.  When the Republican House majority is sworn in, they need to immediately curtail the EPA's illegal activities.  This is the time for Energy Committee Chairman Fred Upton and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hasting to fulfill their campaign promise of reigning in the EPA.  Republicans have a golden opportunity to educate the American people on the regressiveness of the progressives, by illustrating how their anti-growth policies are destroying manufacturing jobs, while raising the cost of living on vital goods and services.  We will need our eventual presidential nominee to grab the mantel of true energy reform.  Until then, Texas will have to pave the way.  As the state with the most job creation, they have the right to declare, "don't mess with Texas".

Political Zingers and Musings for the End of 2010

-  Senator Scott Brown famously declared his Massachusetts Senate seat to belong to the people and not the Kennedy family.  Yet, after voting with the Democrats on almost every fiscal, social, and defense issue, it appears that it is the Kennedy seat after all.

-Eight Republicans, including Senators Ensign and Burr supported the repeal of DADT.  Richard Burr attributed his support to the changing times, while many others in the GOP conceded that the change was inevitable.  Really?  The Democrats only had 58 votes and just a few days left until the end of the session.  Based upon the electoral dynamic of 2012 and 2014 the GOP is slated to easily win control of the Senate and hold it for quite a while.  The only thing inevitable was the capitulation of the RINOs.  Now, Joe Biden is saying that gay marriage is inevitable, as American values deteriorate rapidly.  Will Mr. Burr support gay marriage as well?  What about socialized health care?  What about liberalism and Marxism in general?  Hey, that's what the cool guys are experimenting with, and it's inevitable anyway.  Why not join them?

I've got news for you RINOs.  The Democrats are fighting vociferously to make their full agenda inevitable, and if we don't respond with comparable indomitability, it will indeed be inevitable.  If you can't handle the heat; get out of the political kitchen and let real fighters take your place.

 -  Speaking of wimpy Republicans, I think we can all agree that there is a problem with Senate Republicans when Lindsey Graham thinks that they capitulated too much during the lame session.  But fear not, Graham is doing his own capitulation.  Not to be outdone, Senator Graham is announcing a renewed push for cap and trade climate fascism during the next session.  I guess it is only a vice when the Republicans play second fiddle while backing left wing legislation.  There is no problem at all when they are the ones introducing the extreme agenda.

- The Republicans' behavior during the lame duck session, which followed their huge electoral victories, reminds me a lot of the Israelis.  They win huge victories in defensive wars, yet they are the ones who are immediately conceding territory again and again.

- The Democrats have imported millions of illegal aliens to undermine this nation and swell the ranks of the Democrat Party.  Well, for the time being, the strategy has backfired.  The illegals have augmented the population of the red states like Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and Texas.  Their unconstitutional inclusion in the census has given Republicans more electoral votes and congressional seats.  Unfortunately, the Democrats, like their Chinese counterparts, implement long term strategies.  They figure that the metastasizing illegal population will eventually overtake the red states and turn them deep blue.

The 13 Republican Putin Poodles

 Here are the thirteen Republicans who gratuitously gave Obama his biggest foreign policy victory of his presidency.  They pointlessly voted to entrust Putin and Obama with our missile defense, and capitulated to a tyrant during a time when America is exuding weakness throughout the world.  All they had to do was hold out for two days and the session would have been over.  Not only did they support this repudiation of American exceptionalism, they did so in a lame duck session, thus empowering those whom the voters rejected, while disenfranchising those new Senators who were elected.  The resolution of ratification passed with 71 votes, but 9 of those supporters no longer belong in congress.

 The Thirteen Traitors

Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Bob Bennett (Utah), Scott Brown (Mass.), Thad Cochran (Miss.), Susan Collins (Maine), Bob Corker (Tenn.), Judd Gregg (N.H.), Johnny Isakson (Georgia), Mike Johanns (Nebraska), Richard Lugar (Indiana), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Olympia Snowe (Maine), and George Voinovich (Ohio).

The amazing thing is that they are from such conservative states as Alaska, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Utah!  Imagine if the Democrats had as many traitors among their ranks as we do.  Imagine if Democrat Senators from Vermont and Massachusetts would vote for staunch conservative legislation.  Unfortunately, they don’t have any sellouts.

Bennett, Gregg, and Voinovich are retiring, but felt the need to flip one last birdie at the American people.  Isakson took the resounding conservative support he just received in his reelection and pocketed it.  But Brown, Corker, Lugar, and Snowe are up this cycle.  Corker and Lugar must be toast at all costs.  Collins, Cochran, Johanns, and Alexander are up in 2014 and every one of them must be defeated.  This is not the first infraction of any of those on this list, and many of them were part of the lame duck massacre that has served to undermine the mandate of the midterm elections.  Hey, when Lindsey Graham thinks that the Senate Republicans have wimped out, we really have a problem.

Mike Huckabee Sides with Obama and Nanny State Liberals Over Palin

Mike Huckabee is a very likable person and often has a knack for charming conservatives by his articulate and passionate speeches, especially in regard to cultural issues.  The problem is that despite his rhetoric, he has never been a conservative.  He was always an ardent supporter of open borders and believed in government intervention for global warming.  His hallmark legislative philosophy in Arkansas was nanny-statism, especially as it relates to the regulation of food.

Earlier this week, Sarah Palin ripped Michelle Obama over her anti obesity campaign during her documentary show Sarah's Alaska.  Yesterday, Huckabee was on the radio with Curtis Sliwa and said that he sided with Michelle Obama on this one.  Of course, he went on to explain that he opposes government intervention, but his record in Arkansas proves otherwise.  He always supported heavy handed regulations and had a tendency to advocate for liberalism under the guise of religious compassion.  For this reason, he voted to raise the minimum wage in Arkansas.

Some Observations on Reapportionment: Part 1

It is widely being reported that the data from the new decennial census provides us with good news.  The new reapportionment based upon the population shifts will have ramifications on the presidential election and on House seats.  We'll start with this article by analyzing how reapportionment affects our prospects to win the presidency in 2012.

The New Reapportionment

States gaining Congressional seats: Arizona (1), Florida (2), Georgia (1), Nevada (1), South Carolina (1), Texas (4), Utah (1), Washington (1).
States losing Congressional seats: Illinois (1), Iowa (1), Louisiana (1), Massachusetts (1), Michigan (1), Missouri (1), New Jersey (1), New York (2), Ohio (2), Pennsylvania (1).

In order to properly assess the ramifications of reapportionment on the 2012 elections, we need to divide up the states into several categories; solid GOP, solid Dem, and swing states (red, blue, and purple).  Any meaningful appraisement of the political leanings of specific states will judge them based upon their election returns during the past three presidential elections.  The 2000, 2004, and 2008 elections have ostensibly set the table for the modern electoral dynamic.  Let's categorize the solid red states as those that voted Republican all three times (McCain states), solid democrat states as those that voted Democrat all three times, and swing states as those who vacillated between elections.  Based upon this criteria, here is the breakdown of the states:

If Republicans Were Democrats

As an observer of the 2010 midterm elections and the subsequent lame duck session from beginning to end, I am absolutely dumbfounded.  After hearing the news about a plethora of Republicans who committed to pimping away our national security for Obama and Putin, I am flabbergasted.   It's as if the midterm elections never occurred.

The Democrats successfully strike out at our social values, military (DADT), national security (START), liberty (FDA takeover), and economic freedom (FDA takeover, green mandates) in a matter of just a few weeks following an electoral rout.  They come close to passing amnesty, even while our border agents are being killed and nobody demands action.  They also seek to control the internet by administrative fiat in an effort to circumvent the courts.  As gas soars beyond $3 a gallon, they destroy coal and oil exploration, while pushing "green measures" which destroy our economy and impoverish American consumers.  Worse yet, the Republicans help pass almost every one of those legislative calamities.  As a bonus, the margin of passage for all of these bills was achieved through the support of members who no longer belong in the Senate.  It appears that every retiring member is voting for START except for Sam Brownback. There comes a point in time when it's hard to comprehend why we should continue fighting.

Another Act of Treachery By Senator Dick Lugar, And the Political Imbalance in the Senate

Richard Lugar has become the leader of the rampaging RINOs.  Ever since the November electoral repudiation of liberalism, Lugar has voted for the FDA farm takeover, Amnesty for illegals, and co-sponsored the child nutrition law.  Lugar also opposed the moratorium on earmarks.  He has also been the chief architect of the near confirmation of the START, unilateral disarmament treaty in the Senate.  In fact, he is so incorrigible in his quest to carry water for America's enemies that he even voted against the McCain amendment to the treaty.

The McCain amendment would have clarified the language of the treaty to exclude missile defense from the reduction of offensive arms.  The language of the treaty clearly interconnects the two.  For any Senator, much less a Republican, to vote against this amendment, is stupefying.  Richard Lugar is so focused on undermining this country’s security and screwing fellow Republicans that he is willing to oppose a common sense amendment that would still allow the treaty to be ratified.  Lugar, Bennett, and Voinovich joined every Democrat (except Joe Lieberman) to defeat McCain's amendment.

A U.S. Tourist Killed by Religion of Pieces in Israel

One tenet of the Bush Doctrine is that nations that fund terror should be held as accountable as the actual terrorists.  Well, based upon that judgment, we should be punishing ourselves for aiding the so called "Palestinians" with hundreds of millions of dollars, equipment, and military training.  These same peaceful loving recipients of U.S. aid, decided to brutally kill a random American tourist in Israel.  The NY Daily News has the scoop:

An American tourist was brutally stabbed to death in Israel as she hiked with a friend who says they were attacked by a pair of Arab men.
Israeli officials found the body of Christine Logan, a U.S. citizen whose age and hometown were not immediately released, Sunday morning outside of Jerusalem. She had been bound and stabbed multiple times.
Logan's friend, Kaye Susan Wilson, who hails from England but has lived in Israel for decades, was also bound and stabbed numerous times but managed to escape.
Wilson, 46, said the two men had attacked with murder in their eyes.
"They came to kill," she told Israeli news agency Ynet from her hospital bed.

She said they had been hiking in a mountainous area between the southern Jerusalem suburb of Tzur Hadassah and the nearby town of Beit Shemesh on Saturday when the men approached.

I would note that these mountains are not even in the area that the left and the media refer to as the "occupied West Bank".  The story continues:

8 Republicans, Including Ensign and Burr Support Immoral Military

Here is a list of the Republicans who supported the repeal of DADT and the undermining of our troops during a time of war. 

Richard Burr of North Carolina, Mark Kirk of Illinois, John Ensign of Nevada, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, George Voinovich of Ohio, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Ensign and Burr?  Unfortunately, Burr just took his reelection and ran with it.  He has voted for some other un-American pieces of legislation since November, such as the FDA farm takeover.  The real shock of the night is the fact that sleazy Ensign voted along with it.  Who saw that coming?  Then again, based upon his lack of regard for the sanctity of marriage, it is no surprise that he spits on conservative values.  The difference between the two Senators is that Ensign is up for reelection this year and is already vulnerable.  He needs to be defeated at all costs.  

And what about Scott Brown?  I am convinced that he is the biggest liar in the history of politics.  In the time span of less than a year, Brown has supported every far left, corrupt, "political chicanery" that he railed against during his election.  I hope the Democrats defeat him in 2012. 

A List of Red District Dems Who Voted for Social Engineering in the Military

There is a broad misconception among the election handicappers that the Republicans picked the electoral map clean.  The fact is that there is still room to grow, as there are blue dogs who were almost defeated and will be prime targets in 2012.  We need to start keeping a tally of these Pelosi lapdogs and publicize every instance in which they vote with the far left.  Let's start with their support for social engineering in the barracks during a time of war.  Here is a list of 14 Dems who reside in culturally conservative districts, and will stand for election in 2012, that voted for the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell (H.R. 2965).

Jason Altmire (PA-4)
John Barrow (GA-12)
Sanford Bishop (GA-2)
Leonard Boswell (IA-3)
Ben Chandler (KY-6)
Jim Cooper (TN-5)
Joe Donnelly (IN-2)
Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-8)
Tim Holden (PA-17)
Larry Kissell (NC-8)
Bill Owens (NY-23)
Gary Peters (MI-9)
Heath Schuler (NC-11)
Chuck Yarmuth (KY-3)

Now, there are obviously many more blue dogs who supported this bill, but were defeated in November.  They figure that they can flip the birdie to their constituents one more time.  It is these 14 however, whom we must remind their constituents in 2012 that they are not the social conservatives that they profess to be.

John McCain's Seminal Moment

“I know this is a seminal moment, because for the first time since I’ve been here, we stood up and said ‘enough.’"

These were John McCain's comments regarding the successful GOP filibuster of the Omnibus bill.  Hey, Senator McCain, now that you realize the effectiveness of a united Republican front against the liberal assault on this country, maybe you will use it more often?  You are precisely correct about this being the first time in your tenure that the RINOs stood up.  Please don't let it be the last.  According to your own admission, it took 28 years to unconditionally stand up to the Democrats on a single issue.  We can only hope that it doesn't take another 28 for the next time.  Imagine if you had coalesced opposition against DADT, the tax porkulus, and START.  In fact, you voted for the introduction of the START treaty, even though that only required 34 Republicans to obstruct it.  Imagine if you would have fought so valiantly against McCain-Feingold.  The first time is a real charm, isn't it?

Amidst Obama's Economic Assault, Let's not Forget the Battle for National Security

Our brave soldiers have been dying every day in Afghanistan due to political correctness and egregious rules of engagement.  Unfortunately, conservatives have failed to importune public outrage over the misdirection of the war because everyone is focused so keenly on the Democrats’ unrelenting, multi-pronged assault on our freedoms back home.  However, in light of the killing of a border agent on our own soil, we need to refocus our outrage on national security and the safety of those who are protecting us.

Brian Terry, an American hero, was killed Tuesday night in a shootout with illegal armed bandits near Nogales, Arizona.  KPHO reports:

National Border Patrol Council President T.J. Bonner said Terry was waiting with three other agents in a remote area north of Nogales late last night when a gun battle with the bandits ensued. No other agents were injured, but one of the suspects was wounded in the shootout.  The Border Patrol said that Manuel Arianes, a.k.a. Manuel Arellanes Osorio, was wounded in the gunfight.  Arianes, 34, and a Mexican national, was convicted in Maricopa County Superior Court in 2006 for aggravated assault on a police officer, and had been deported to Mexico twice, according to sources familiar with his case.  Border Patrol spokesman Eric Cantu and FBI spokeswoman Brenda Lee Nath declined to confirm Bonner's account, but said authorities have four suspects in custody and are searching for a fifth.  FBI Special Agent Manuel J. Johnson confirmed authorities were still searching for a fifth suspect.  Johnson said Terry died shortly after he was shot about 11:15 p.m. in a remote and rugged area near Rio Rico, just north of Nogales. (Emphasis added).

So, once again, our brave border agents are obliged to conduct law enforcement operations in areas that are ostensibly war zones and require military action.  Not only do we send thousands of our boys into the meat grinder to fight a politically correct war on the other side of the world, we have them die on our own soil as well.  How did this guy reenter the country after he was apprehended and arrested twice?

6 Republicans Oppose Permanent Extension of Tax Cuts

Today, the Senate voted on the DeMint amendment to the tax deal (H.R. 4853).  This amendment would have extended all of the Bush tax forever and would have permanently eliminated the death tax.  The amendment was forced through a suspension motion which required 67 votes because Harry Reid has once again filled the amendment tree.  The motion only garnered 37 votes.  Ben Nelson was the only Democrat to support DeMint, but 6 Republicans opposed him:

Scott Brown
Susan Collins
Mark Kirk
Olympia Snowe
George Voinivich
Lisa Murkowski

Thank you Scott Brown for stabbing those who elected you in the back.  There is one thing to support this "compromise" on the premise that it is the best deal we could get.  However, now that they opposed a stand alone measure to permanently extend the tax cuts, their true colors are exposed.  These five Senators are nothing but socialist, class warriors.  With friends like these, who needs enemies?

Tom Coburn offered another amendment to pay for the unemployment welfare, but failed by a 47-52 vote.  Luckily, every Republican supported it along with Democrats; McCaskill, Bayh, Tester, Lincoln, and Hagan.  Noticeably missing from this list is Joe Manchin.  We knew all along that he would be a lap dog for Harry Reid.  So far, he hasn't disappointed.

John Thune Attacks Conservatives, Ignores Ethanol Support

Potential presidential candidate John Thune (R-Ethanol) lashed out at conservative critics of the Porkulus II (Obama tax deal) today.  Thune said on the Senate floor,"Inaction is not an option, and advocating against this proposal is no different than advocating for higher taxes.”

It's funny that Thune makes no mention of the ethanol subsidies that he so emphatically supports.  He has supported subsides, tariffs, and mandates that have driven up the costs of food and fuel on every American.  If this is not a tax, please explain to us what is. So, Mr. Thune, who is the one who is raising taxes after all?

Senator Orin Hatch (R-UT) was on the Sean Hannity show last hour and expressed the same arrogance as Thune.  It is all about deal making and working with the political reality of Democrat control.  But here is the dirty little secret.  Even if these guys had 70 Senators, they would still support big government programs.  Thune and Hatch support ethanol subsidies even as a stand alone bill.  It has nothing to do with the tax deal.  They are always demanding that we support big government bills under the guise of it being "the best political option at the time".  Well, I'm waiting for a time in which the Republicans will finally stand on principle.

The Ethanol Juggernaut :Do Republicans Have the Will to Stop Big Government?

It's always politically advantageous to support tax cuts.  However, it takes more intransigence and fortitude to oppose big government programs and special interest handouts.  It is even more arduous to oppose such programs when they are coupled with tax cuts as part of a backroom compromise.  Based upon Senator Jim Inhofe's comments to NRO it appears that there aren't too many GOP Senators who are down for the struggle.  Concerning the green handouts hidden in H.R. 4853, Inhofe told National Review's Robert Costa:

“94 percent of the provisions are meaningful. For people talking about wind and ethanol subsidies, you’re talking about 2 percent of the whole deal.”

Well, if Inhofe is signing on to this, then there won't be too many others joining Jim DeMint.  If today's cloture vote to proceed with debate is any indication of the final outcome, only 5 Republicans oppose the bill: Coburn, DeMint, Ensign, Sessions, and Voinovich.  (Although Voinovich opposes it on liberal grounds).  What concerns me more than Inhofe's support for the tax deal is the way he expresses it.  I could respect the fact that some believe that this is the best political decision we could make given the circumstances.  However, to dismiss the permanent welfare benefits, the special interest handouts, and the regressive ethanol "Hawkeye Handout" as "2 percent", is very disconcerting.

Alex Mooney, A Movement Conservative, Becomes Chairman of MD GOP

Over the weekend, Maryland GOP Central Committee members met in Annapolis to elect a new leadership.  With the state party is disarray, the most important thing was to elect a leader who is one of us.  That is to say, somebody who views themselves as a movement conservative, and not a big government political hack with an R next to their name.  The two front-runners were former state Senator Alex Mooney and Ehrlich running mate Mary Kane.  Thankfully, Alex Mooney is the new chairman.

According to the Washington Post, Mooney lead on the first ballot but failed to garner a majority.  He defeated Rino Mary Kane by 362-219.  John Kane, husband of Mary Kane and former state party chairman himself expressed his dismay over the election of a conservative.  "I believe it's clearly a step back to an uncompromising and uninviting environment that clearly didn't work in the past and won't work in the future, said Kane".  This tells us everything we need to know about the results.  I wasn't quite sure how much animosity Kane held towards conservatives, but now it is abundantly clear that we made the right decision.

The Tax Deal and the Bush Republicans

President George W. Bush and his compatriots introduced a new typology of conservatism called "compassionate conservatism".  They believed in big government, entitlement and transfer programs, market distortions such as ethanol mandates, and special interest handouts.  They felt that it was all fine and dandy to grow government, as long as they advocated for tax reform.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has always been a paradigm Bush Republican.  It is therefore not surprising why he so emphatically supports the Obama tax deal. 

All throughout the week, we have highlighted the disastrous big government spending and ethanol price distortions that were part of the larger compromise.  All of these permanent concessions are being used as bait for temporarily retaining the marginal tax rates and reinstating the death tax.  I'm glad to hear that Rush is categorically rejecting the compromise even if it means that we miss the deadline.  The tax rates for 2011 will not be finalized until the end of the year and we will have the political clout and mandate to repeal them retroactively when we retake the House on January 3.  On the other hand, if we acquiesce to this deal, there will be no way to repeal the destructive entitlements, market-distorting corn welfare and tariffs, and God knows what other special interest handouts will be slipped into this bill before the session is over.

What's Up with the Extension for Ethanol Subsidies?

As conservatives, we understand that not everything that is dubbed as a tax cut is a good thing.  Liberals are wrought to describe handouts as tax cuts and tax cuts as handouts.  Thus, the extension of the regressive, job killing, price hiking ethanol subsidies are not good tax cuts and should not be extended.  Yet, through all of the discussion concerning the deal on the Bush tax cuts, there is a total blackout concerning the deal with the ethanol subsidies.  Tim Carney reports at the Washington Examiner, that Chuck Grassley (R-Ethanol) is claiming that a one year extension of these subsidies is part of the deal.  He draws attention to this article from the Quad-City Times:

"A deal to extend the Bush-era tax cuts also includes action on ethanol and biodiesel credits, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Tuesday.
The details aren’t clear yet, but Grassley told reporters that the ethanol and biodiesel tax credits would get a temporary extension, through 2011.
The biodiesel credit of $1 a gallon expired last year, and farm-state lawmakers have blamed the expiration for the idling of biodiesel plants.
The ethanol credit, at 45 cents per gallon, is scheduled to expire at the end of the year.
Grassley said the biodiesel credit extension also included applying it retroactively to 2010."

Republicans have already agreed to a permanent unemployment welfare system in order to extend the tax cuts for just two years.  They also agreed to bring back the death tax, albeit at a lower rate.  Are we now going to agree to more corn welfare for special interest groups?  According to the CBO, the ethanol subsidies cost us $6 billion annually.  The payroll tax cut will cost social security $120 billion and the unemployment welfare will cost $57 billion.  How much more are we going to bankrupt the nation in order to make a deal with Obama on something that he is already compelled to support?  Where is this deal anyway?  What else is hidden in this compromise?  Could Senator Kyl provide us with a hard copy?

There is currently a robust debate among conservatives whether the current tax deal is the best we could get from Obama.  But don't the supporters want to see the full copy of the deal before they sign off on it?  Is there any limit to the number of poison pills that the deal  would contain before Republicans will oppose it?  How can we blindly trust an invisible deal made with the devil that already contains extraneous details that are detrimental to this country?  I guess it is all about compromise for some GOPers.  To hell with the details.

The EPA's War on.....Bed Bugs!

Liberals always like to feign indignation towards government regulation of marriage by exclaiming that "the government should stay out of our bedrooms."  Well, it appears that the EPA is doing just that.  Accodring to The Hill, the EPA will be holding a summit next year to "help find solutions to the nation’s bed bug problem.”  They report:

At the Feb. 1-2 meeting, government officials will review the progress made by the Federal Bed Bug Workgroup, which includes representatives from the Department of Defense, the Department of Commerce and the Department of Agriculture. The EPA held the first bed bug summit last year.

The EPA said the summit’s agenda includes “identifying knowledge gaps and barriers to effective community-wide bed bug control, proposals for next steps in addressing knowledge gaps and eliminating barriers, and developing a framework for addressing the highest priority needs.”

Talk about the nanny state!  Well, Fred Upton, the incoming Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee is now provided with an opportunity to show that he is serious about reducing the mandate of the EPA.  He might want to start with cutting their budget for bed bug summits.

For Republicans, Elections Have No Consequences.

The GOP won their greatest electoral victory since 1938, but you wouldn't know it from most of the recent news.  Let's round up some of the GOP's greatest hits since November 2nd.

• The House Republican Steering Committee, led by leadership, appointed big government, big liberals Fred Upton as Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Hal Rogers as Approps Chair, and Spencer Bachus (R- Freddie Mac) at Financial Services.  So we have three wolves guarding the hen houses by leading three of the most vital committees.
• Last week, 6 Republican Senators (including John Thune) joined Tom Harkin in signing a letter of support for extension of Ethanol welfare.  This comes at a time in which these same regressive policies of the progressives have already spiked the price of gasoline to $3 a gallon.
• Last week, 8 Republican Senators voted against the earmark moratorium.  Mark Kirk, a member of the class of 2010 voted against it.
• After the health care and financial services takeover, the FDA food-Nazi bill was one of the most egregious nanny state, job killing, cost raising, special interest pandering pieces of legislation to come out of the 111th congress.  15 Republican Senators, including the likes Vitter, Burr, and Enzi, ensured its passage.
• The Debt Commission.  Yes, even Conservatives like Coburn and Crapo voted for massive tax hikes and the exacerbation of the current Social Security ponzi scheme that will force young workers to pay even more into a bankrupt system until age 69.
• Incoming Majority Whip Eric Cantor announced that he would support the pre-conditions and slacker (26 year old's on parent's plans) previsions of Obama Care.  These mandates are the very reason why insurance is already so expensive and will ensure that costs rise to the point that all Americans will beg for single payer.  This is exactly what Obama had envisioned all along, and Cantor is being played like a fiddle.
• Loads of GOP Senators seem to support unilateral disarmament, the return to Soviet era rivalries, and the gutting of our missile defense by ratifying START.  Even John Kyl has indicated that Republican support of START might be part of a compromise to other issues.

The list is unfortunately too long to mention the numerous other policy hits from the GOP.  Are there any conservatives left aside for Jim DeMint?   Did we just have an election, or are we living in the twilight zone?

35% for Death is Still Confiscation

John Kyl is proud of his compromise with Obama that has resulted in an agreement to extend all of the Bush tax cuts until the next election, except for the death tax.  Those who are content with the death tax compromise are remembering the time when 55% of anything over $1 million was taxed upon death.  They therefore are praising the new rate of 35% on assets above $5 million.  The problem with it is that a 35% tax for dying is immoral, unconstitutional, and confiscatory no matter how you slice it.

The reality is that most of these taxable assets from estates were already taxed at least once (if not several times) and there is simply no reason to tax them again upon the owners death.  Also, if we cut through much of the class warfare rhetoric we will see that $ 5 million is not that much.  Keep in mind that we are not referring to $5 million in annual income.  The death tax confiscates all land, equipment, and assets of businesses and farms that have accumulated during the lifetime of its owner.  It is not hard to understand that any successful entrepreneur would be able to accrue such assets during his lifetime without reaching the top 1%.  Why should his descendants pay a dime to inherit the fruits of his labor?  The death tax, in any shape or form, fundamentally violates the spirit of liberty and property rights that the country was founded upon.

Even some authentic conservatives are applauding the Obama deal, especially in light of his surprise tax holiday on payroll taxes.  They believe that we have achieved an unimaginable victory by securing the Bush tax cuts while the Democrats control all branches of government. However, the fact is that the Democrats have been backed into a corner on this issue for quite some time and were forced to pass the tax cuts.  This is not only a result of the midterm elections, but also a consequence of so many red state Democrats up for election in 2012 (including Obama himself).  Despite their bravado shown through their class warfare rhetoric, in private, they knew that they could not raise taxes on anyone in a recession.  This is why they waited until the last minute to agree to the deal.  They didn't want to be perceived as giving into the Republicans until the last week of the session in which it would be do or die for the Democrats.

Baltimore Crime Update: White Patrols Are Racist and Must be Disbanded

Anyone who is familiar with the sociological orientation of Baltimore City knows that there is a a very troubling cycle of violent crime throughout every corner of the city.  Due to the Soviet style one-party rule for so many years, Baltimore has become one of the most criminally oriented cities in the country.  The laws that were passed by the legislature over many decades make it extremely difficult to lock up repeat offenders so they cannot hurt others.  The juvenile laws are non existent.  There are thousands of outstanding warrants in the city that are not pursued by the state's attorney.  In addition, Maryland has some of the most morally perverse anti-self defense laws in the country.

Now, the liberal media and prominent "black leaders" (creations of the media) are calling for the disbandment of a local Jewish patrol called Shomrim.  They claim that a recent incident, in which a patrolman roughed up a 15 year old black juvenile delinquent, is proof that the local Jewish community is racist and a threat to "community relations."  Worse yet, the police have arrested the patrolman for first degree assault.  Here is the report from the extreme leftist Baltimore Scum.

Social Security is the Poison Pill of the Debt Commission's Proposal

If the only legislative option is to vote on the entire report from the Debt Commission, then the changes in Social Security should serve as a poison pill to prevent any Republican from supporting it. While there are definitely some good proposals in the report that call for spending cuts, anyone who calls themselves a conservative cannot support the commission's report as a package deal.  It is therefore disappointing to hear that Senators Coburn and Crapo plan to vote for the report unconditionally. 

The Hill is reporting that these Senators believe that if something is not done soon we are headed for a fiscal ruin.  Therefore, they will vote for any proposal, irrespective of how flawed it is.  Coburn declared at a press conference,” I am scared to death of the potential that could unwind this country far greater than anything we've seen before.”

Senator Coburn is correct in asserting that if we don't cut the spending then we will face peril.  However, we need to understand that this is not about balancing a budget, it is about limiting government.  If our only option of immediate reform is to vote for modest spending cuts in conjunction with dramatic tax hikes, entrenchment of Obama Care, and the perpetuation of the SS ponzi scheme, then it is better that we wait two months so we can propose drastic limits in government spending without any tax increases.

Six Republicans Sign Letter Demanding Ethanol Subsidy Extension

The ethanol mandates are one of the most regressive socialist interventions into the free market that have been peddled by the progressives. [Here is our editorial on the costs of ethanol]  Unfortunately, many Republicans, red state ones at that, are signing onto the extension of these backdoor taxes on food and fuel.  6 Republicans joined seven Democrats in penning a letter to Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell demanding that the subsidies be renewed before the end of this congress. 

Here is a list of the Republicans who signed the letter together with their socialist compatriots.

Chuck Grassley
Kit Bond
Sam Brownback
John Thune
Mike Johanns
Mark Kirk

Mark Kirk is no surprise.  He has wasted no time in voting with the democrats on virtually every issue since the minute he took office.  The rest of these guys are from red states.  Did we gain anything from the midterm elections, or did it never take place?  Kit Bond and Sam Brownback are retiring and it remains to be seen if Moran and Blunt will be any better on this issue.  Chuck Grassley?  Well, he is .... Chuck Grassley after all.  Johanns and Thune are really upsetting.  Is this the best we can do from ruby red states?  John Thune should kiss his bid for the presidency goodbye.

When it Comes to the Regressive Policies of Progressives, Let’s Pin the Tail on the Donkey

Let's face it.  The Democrats get away with murder.  They pick an industry; from health care to energy, financial services to mortgages, and set a time bomb to blow it up through taxation, regulation, and or litigation.  It often takes years, maybe even decades to destroy that industry by raising costs of its delivery and by extension, its price tag for consumers.  By the time the crisis within that industry comes to fruition, nobody remembers to pin the tail on the donkey and ascribe blame to those who deserve it.

Worse yet, the Democrats attempt to enforce their "solutions" to their contrived crises.  These solutions usually contain every aspect of the factors which caused the crisis to foment in the first place.  They always include market busting mandates which raise the cost of doing business and purchasing that product or service to the point of unsustainability.  Then, the Democrats quickly swoon in to pick up the dead corpses of the private industry and demand full nationalization ( the auto industry is one of many great examples).

What is the typical Republican response?  Instead of agreeing that there is a problem of high costs to the American people and illustrating how that problem was caused by the very government intervention that was already implemented by the Democrats, they simply oppose the new Democrat "reforms".

The Earmark Eight, and the Food Fifteen

Everyone is busy analyzing what the Democrats have learned from the midterm elections.  The real question is what Republicans have learned from this election.  Within 25 minutes, 8 Republicans voted to continue the practice of pork barrel spending, while 15 voted to give the FDA unlimited power to shut down food producers and cut jobs.

Here is a list of the 8 Republicans who voted against the Coburn AMDT. to S.510 (S. AMDT. 4697), which would have placed a moratorium on earmarks.

Bennett (R-UT)
Cochran (R-MS)
Collins (R-ME)
Inhofe (R-OK)Lugar (R-IN)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Shelby (R-AL)
Voinovich (R-OH)

Here is a list of those 15 Republicans who supported the unconstitutional, food-Nazi, job killing bill. (S.510)

Alexander (R-TN)
Brown (R-MA)
Burr (R-NC)
Collins (R-ME)
Enzi (R-WY)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Johanns (R-NE)
Kirk (R-IL)
LeMieux (R-FL)
Lugar (R-IN)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Snowe (R-ME)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)

The amazing thing about both lists is that they include so many names from ruby red states like Utah, Mississippi, Alabama, Indiana, Wyoming, etc.  Is this the best that we can do from such conservative states?  Do the Democrats elect Senators from deep blue states Vermont and California who vote with conservatives?  Also, it is interesting to note that Mark Kirk has wasted no time in joining the Senate and voting with the Dems.  And as we predicted, Joe Manchin has voted with the Democrat leadership every single time!  With friends like these who needs enemies?

Update:  Here is a synopsis of the food bill from Fox News.  If this is not a socialist, job killing bill, then I don't know what is.  

• Gives the FDA long-sought power to force a company to recall foods believed to be contaminated and to impose fees on those companies under a mandatory recall.
• Authorizes the FDA to impose new fees for reinspecting those facilities and for registering food importers.
• Requires FDA to inspect registered domestic “high risk” food producers (as defined by HHS – parent of FDA) at least once five years after passage of the bill.
• Requires food processors, growers, and importers to meet additional safety requirements for high-risk foods and to meet new safety and security rules for the importation of food.
• Requires companies to turn over test results and other records to federal officials on domestic or imported food items believed to be contaminated.
• Requires imported food suppliers to meet established food safety requirements with a certification.
• Requires food processors to impose and monitor food safety systems.

John Danforth is Wrong About the RINOs

Recently, reports have been circulating in the Capitol Hill newspapers that conservatives are planning to challenge Dick Lugar and other RINOs in 2012.  Last week, former Missouri Senator John Danforth gave the following assessment of a potential primary challenge to Lugar:

“If Dick Lugar, having served five terms in the U.S. Senate and being the most respected person in the Senate and the leading authority on foreign policy, is seriously challenged by anybody in the Republican Party, we have gone so far overboard that we are beyond redemption.” 

This is simply one of the most preposterous statements concerning electoral politics that I have ever heard from a once respected Republican official.  Richard Lugar is the leading Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, yet there is not a single policy issue in which he differs from the Democrat Chairman John Kerry.  John Kerry is one of the most radical Senators in American history, but Lugar has supported every one of his appeasement policies; from his dealings with Israel to his support for unilateral disarmament with Russia.  He fought Senator Jessee Helms at every turn in order to promote Kerry's policies.  If the Republicans win back the Senate in 2012, Lugar would be slated to be the chairman of that committee.  I challenge Mr. Danforth to list one policy that Lugar will change from Kerry's tenure as leader of that panel.  The only difference will be that we will own all of the moral relativist, appeasement, and anti-American exceptionalism driven policies that emerge from that committee.

Interior Department to Lock up Drilling Because of Polar Bears

In yet another example of overzealous land confiscation on the part of the DOI, the WSJ is reporting that Interior has "designated 187,000 square miles of offshore sea ice and other areas as critical habitat for polar bears".  This act will severely hamper drilling activity in that large, oil rich region.  Although the designation doesn't automatically close off the land to development, it calls on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to research whether outside development will negatively effect the polar bear population.  Furthermore, it exposes the developers to endless lawsuits from radical eco-socialist public interest law firms.

This is a perfect illustration of the regressivness of the progressives.  They will destroy hundreds of local jobs in Alaska, while simultaneously keeping the price of energy high and unaffordable for the "little guy" whom they purport to care for.

It is also another example of the growing amount of public land that is either directly owned by the Feds or heavily regulated.  The DOI has been using contrived pseudo- environmental concerns to thwart other important activities in different parts of the country.  Obama's DOI has been hamstringing our border agents by preventing them from building watch towers along the border due to concerns about plant and animal life in the Arizona desert.

The pattern of overzealous regulations and land annexation on the part of the DOI is very disconcerting.  This is another reason why it is so vital that we have solid conservatives calling the shots on the natural resources and energy committees.  Any future chairman of those committees must make it an immediate priority to reign in the interior department's unconstitutional infringement on our economy, security, and pursuit of happiness.

Maryland Democrats Love their Pork, Even for Illegals

If you travel on Maryland highways, and wonder why you encounter random construction every few miles, look no farther than Maryland's two Senators for the source of the prodigal and costly juggernauts.  Yesterday, the Baltimore Sun published an article lamenting the fact that a GOP moratorium on earmarks will severely effect Maryland's share of the public lard.  They also reveal that Barbara Mikulski is one of the most prolific porkers in the Senate, hauling in over $50 million in pork for FY 2011.  Junior Senator Ben Cardin is quickly catching up, while some of Maryland's congressmen like Dutch Rupersberger are willing to fight to the death to defend their raiding of the public trough.

Anyone who travels on Maryland's interstate highways and major byways can attest to the fact that there is construction everywhere.  Most of the construction sites are on roads that have recently been paved and appear to be nothing more than wasted money.  What about the lost revenue and productivity due to unwarranted traffic jams?  Tough luck!  That's what you get in a one party state, in which its congressional delegation includes a member on the Senate Approps Committee (Mikulski), House Approps Committee (Rupersperger), a House Leader (Steny Hoyer), and House campaign chief (Chris Van Hollen).

As if the highway pork is not enough, Mikulski plans to earmark $750,000 for the criminal organization, Casa de Maryland.  Keep in mind that these illegal alien smugglers already secure over $1 million in state funding.  Maybe we should open an organization involved in slave trading and ask congress for some bacon to fund its operations.  After all, as long as it's a Democrat who advocates for the criminal behavior, they won't face electoral reprisal in the state of Maryland.  In fact, if Democrats have their way, the criminals will be voting in our state elections.

Andy Harris's Health Care Request: Who are the Real Hypocrites?

The drive-by media is attempting to gin up political hay for Democrats by accusing Andy Harris of hypocrisy.  Last week, Andy Harris asked if he can pre-buy his health coverage from the FEHBP because he was told that he would not be insured until February.  In response, the government run Democrat lobby, AFSCME, is calling upon Republicans to opt out of the "government-provided" health care benefits that are given to congressmen.  These clowns are missing one basic point about the health care debate, which is partially exacerbated by a lack of articulation from most Republicans.

We all agree that the cost of health care and health insurance has skyrocketed (even before Obama Care, which is already causing severe increases in premiums) to the point that it is hard for individuals to pay for it on their own.  However, the factors that are driving up those costs are all related to the 50 years of Democrat inducement of taxation, regulation, and litigation which has all but eliminated the free market from the health care industry.  The result is that all of us (yes, even conservatives like Harris) must suffer with artificially high prices and are forced to rely on third parties to provide it; namely the employer.  If the employer is the federal government, then they are even more responsible for providing coverage because they have destroyed health care insurance in this country.

The fundamental effect of the GOP's communication problem lies with the perception of most people that the Republicans own the status quo of health care, while the Democrats own the changes made by Obama Care.  To that end, although the country strongly opposes the socialist takeover, they are also wary (and justifiably so) of the rising costs of health care and health insurance even without Obama Care.  Unfortunately, the reality is that the Democrats own the problems with the current system as well as the disaster that will arise from the new system.

Tony Campbell, Baltimore County's Obama Supporting Republican Chairman

Lost amidst the devastation of of the Maryland GOP this past election, was a low profile election for Chairman of the Baltimore County Republican Central Committee.  Baltimore County is one of the few localities in which the voters choose the committee chairman as opposed to the committee's members. During the September primary, a little known challenger, Tony Campbell, edged out incumbent Chris Cavey for the Chairmanship of the Committee.  Some members of the committee warned that Campbell had worked for an organization named "Republicans for Obama" and that we were facing an Orwellian situation in which there would be a wolf gaurding our hen house.  Well, it appears that our fears have been confirmed.

Last week, Campbell urged his fellow committee members to endorse radical, campaign finance crook,  Democrat Ken Oliver for County Council Chairman because he would "become the first African-American chair of the County Council".  In addition, he is demanding a commission for organizing fundraisers for local Republicans.  Last Wednesday, he sent out an email to the other members of the central committee telling them to impeach him of they don't like it.

Folks, you can't make this stuff up!  Do the Democrats have county party leaders who are members of Democrats for Palin?  Why are we saddled with this nonsense when our party is so small and insignificant in the first place?

Baltimore County is the key jurisdiction to any electoral success in Maryland and it is imperative that we have a committed conservative to lead our effort in this area.  Is it too much to ask for to have the leaders of our decimating fractious party be authentic conservatives?

Unfortunately, it appears that we are stuck with this impostor in Baltimore County for 4 years.  But we have a golden opportunity to elect a conservative tea party leader as state party chairman on December 11th.  Sam Hale, the founder of Maryland Society of Patriots, stands out as the only effective conservative voice among many uninspiring candidates.  You can see an interivew of Sam with our friend Mark Newman here.  Call your Republican Central Committee members and urge them to vote for Sam Hale so we don't wind up with Obama Republicans running the full state Republican Party.

Lamar Smith and Steve King: The Paradigm Committee Chairmen

When the Republican led 112th congress is sworn in next January, the magnitude of the turnover will be most evident on the Judiciary Committee.  Instead of radical John Conyers heading the committee, we will have border champion Lamar Smith as chairman.  Also, instead of Zoe Lofgren chairing the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship, Steve King will lead that panel.  Today, the Miami Herald is reporting that Congressman King plans to go after birthright citizenship during the next congress.  While other Republicans are intimidated by the left's demagoguery and distortion of the 14th amendment, King realizes that the constitution never meant to bestow citizenship upon babies that are illegally thrown across the border.

This latest news concerning Steve King made me reflect on what we are lacking in leadership of other vital House committees.  For many years, we have been conditioned to accept the reality that important committees (A's and B's) will be chaired by the old bull, compromising, Democrat light veterans.  We see this playing out in regard to the chairmanships of the Energy and Approps Committees.  But why should we settle for mediocrity when it comes to committee chairmanships?  Why should we have our weakest link on spending issues chair the Appropriations Committee, or a big government statist chair the Energy and Commerce Committee?

We should have our toughest guns who have excelled in those particular issues lead the committee.  Lamar Smith and Steve King have fought against illegal immigration for years and therefore rightfully deserve the leadership of those panels which deal with immigration related issues.  However, when you examine the seniority of the other committees you find that at best the leadership is mediocre and at worst it is Democrat light.  This is why the Judiciary Committee stands out to me as a guide for who should be appointed Chairman of their respective committees.

Republicans Must Eliminate Ethanol Mandate

The government's ethanol mandates embody everything that is wrong with Democrats, RINOs, and Marxists.  It is an unconstitutional regulation that has enriched a few special interests with $7.7 billion taxpayer dollars, regressively drove up the cost of food and fuel; and by extension all products and services that rely on fuel based delivery.  The tax credits for energy producers who blend fuel with ethanol have created so many unintended (or intended by some)  negative consequences that even Al Gore is calling for its repeal.  The tax credits are slated to expire in one month and yet, we have not heard much from the newly elected Republican majority in the House.  Is your Republican Congressman more conservative than Al Gore?

According to analysts at Goldman Sachs, the ethanol industry consumes 41% of the domestic corn crop.  Corn is at the top of the food chain, so by creating an artificial shortage in supply of corn, the feds have caused a spike in the cost of meat and chicken as well. In addition, it costs much more to produce a barrel of ethanol than it does a barrel of oil.  Also, aside for providing corporate welfare to domestic ethanol producers, the government slapped high tariffs on imported ethanol.  This prevents us from importing cheaper, more efficient sugar based ethanol from Brazil.  All of this leads to higher prices for home heating and gasoline for cars.  The costs for trucks are even more devastating, as most domestic products that are transported by trucks are now more expensive for consumers.

Every Republican needs to make this a top priority.  Energy is the lifeblood of our economy, while fuel and food represent the basic needs of the low income Americans whom the liberals purport to defend.  This is a perfect opportunity for us to push a prudent policy that will "stimulate" the economy, save taxpayer dollars, put corrupt lobbyists on the defense, and make political hay from it as the same time.  However, does anyone believe that Fred Upton would support repeal of ethanol if he were to become Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee?  Call your congressman and tell him/her to vote to repeal the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit.

Joe Manchin, The Left Wing Lapdog for Radical Feminism

We knew that it wouldn't take too long for Joe Manchin to shed his conservative camouflage and leave it behind in the Mountain state.  Well, it turns out that he has gone all in for the job killing, socialist agenda on his first day in the Senate.  After voting to make anti gun, cap and trade supporting Harry Reid Majority Leader, Manchin voted with Reid on two other measures yesterday.  He voted for the job killing FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) and the Paycheck Fairness Act(S. 3772).

We already detailed some of the egregious provisions of the food bill, as well as the disappointing fact that 14 Republicans supported it.  Luckily, the Republicans held together and blocked cloture on the paycheck social engineering bill by a 58-41 vote.  Ben Nelson was the only Democrat to oppose both measures, while Manchin voted in goose step with the leadership.  This bill does not mandate equal pay for women with the same education, experience, and qualifications for the same job in the same place of employment.  That was already required in the original equal Pay Act of 1963.  The only purpose of this law is to expand the requirement to peg women's wages to established salaries for males everywhere.  This will expose job creators to potential litigation demanding established male wages of other workplaces or other regions that have a higher cost of living.  The only possible outcome of such legislation would be increased unemployment and higher costs to produce goods and services during a recession.  So this bill is taxation, regulation, and litigation rolled up in one monstrosity.  Yet, Joe Manchin didn't bat an eyelash as he cast his vote in support of this bill.

Manchin will stand for reelection in 2012 with Obama on the ballot in a solid red state.  There is no reason why he shouldn't be defeated in a walk.  Any takers?

14 Republican Vote for New Nanny State Regulations on Food Producers

If there is anything that is clear from the outcome of the elections, it is that we have barely changed the Senate.  Yes, we have gained some seats and moved some Republican open seats to the right for the 112th congress.  However, there are still many Republicans that remain in the Senate who have shown no signs of changing their big government tendencies.  Today, 14 Republicans joined every Democrat (except Ben Nelson, who is obviously pandering to keep his seat) to invoke cloture on the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510).  Aside for the fact that this bill will add more layers of bureaucracy and expenses to the FDA and DOA, it will also burden food producers with more onerous regulations and kill jobs.  There is no evidence that this will improve the safety of our food, which is already the safest in the world.  As Tom Coburn so aptly explained:

"Fixing the real problems is about making the bureaucracy work right, not adding more layers and rules and bureaucracy," Coburn said. "I want us to have food safety, but for every dollar additionally spent, how much can you really improve? We have the safest food in the world, but you can't get to 100 percent. So at what point do you stop spending additional dollars? It's like homeland security. Can we ever spend enough money to be absolutely sure nothing happens? No, we can't."

Here is the list of Obama's Republicans:

Any Supporter of START is a RINO

While there is much debate concerning how "big of a tent" the Republican Party should be concerning social issues, there is no excuse for any Republican to damage our national security and support unilateral disarmament.  The START treaty is a unilateral demand proposed by Vladimir Putin and its sole intent is to weaken our missile capabilities and our deterrent against Russia.

When the treaty was first taken up in the Senate, I figured that it lacked 51 votes, much less the 67 super majority that is required for its ratification.  After all, who except for the fringe left would support a treaty that is being forced upon us by our sworn enemies that are known to violate every treaty on record.  As it turns out, there are no clear opponents of the treaty in the Democrat Party, while there are a number of Republicans who are considering supporting it.  Senators Isackson, Lugar, and Corker already voted for the treaty in committee.  This doesn't even include the list of usual RINOs.  Now, Minority Whip John Kyl sounds like he thinks there is something to consider with START.  All the headlines today are focused on the fact that Kyl opposes the consideration of the treaty in the lame duck session.  Here is what Kyl had to say:

Congress Can Implement Attrition through Enforcement Illegal Immigration Policy

The pro open borders advocates in both parties often present the American people with the false choice of amnesty or physically rounding up every last illegal alien.  They assert that deportations are so unpractical and distasteful that the only way to solve the illegal immigration problem is by legalizing them.  Those with some sense of sanity have always realized that the source of the problem is our criminal incentivizing of illegal behavior, and a concerted effort to enforce the laws would drain the illegal population through "attrition by enforcement".  Here are two immigration related updates that vividly illustrate the effectiveness of enforcement and the disaster of enticement.

Fox News reported last week that according to a recent study, roughly 100,000 illegals have left Arizona since the passage of SB 1070. In fact, the Mexican government is claiming that almost 25,000 illegals have returned to Mexico.  The amazing thing is that the major provision of SB 1070 is not even being enforced due to the court injunction.  This just proves that a mere perception of enforcement will make the environment inhospitable for illegals, forcing them to go home.  Let's call it attrition before enforcement.

The Sorry State of the Maryland GOP

Several major Democrat leaders in PG County have been arrested, including County Executive Jack Johnson.  Yet, there is no noise coming from the Maryland GOP.  In order to win elections we need to register on the political map.  Unfortunately, in Maryland, the GOP never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity.  Here is a sober commentary from our friends at Red Maryland:

"Jack Johnson has long had a reputation for questionable ethics.

Democrat Leslie Johnson has just been elected to represent PG Council District 6. No Republican ran against her.

Council District 6 largely overlaps General Assembly District 25. The Democratic Senator from that district is under federal indictment on numerous counts. No Republican ran against him.

I am unaware of any official Republican Party statements concerning the indictment of Sen. Currie or previous questions raised about Jack Johnson's behavior in office.

The Republican Party is unlikely to make much progress in rebuilding itself in Maryland when it sits idly by, not challenging corrupt Democratic politicians at the polls or in the media."

I would add that this is also occurring in the same year that Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon was removed from office for stealing target gift cards that were intended to be given to charity.  What vice do the Democrats need to committ in order to solicit a strong reaction from the GOP?

Democrat Media Hosting Republican Presidential Debates

Presidential primary politics has already begun to percolate into the media following the midterm elections.  There is now discussion of hosting the first GOP primary debate at the Reagan Library as early as this coming spring.  While many conservatives are upset that we are already contemplating debates before the field of candidates is set, I have another bone to pick concerning this development. 

Politico announced yesterday that they will be sponsoring that debate at the Reagan Library along with ...... NBC news!  This is astounding.  We have already ceded over the general election debates to be controlled and orchestrated by the Democrat media.  Do we need to have them moderate our own primary debates as well?  Keep in mind that these media types live in a very different world than we do, and their policy premises and understanding of the political dynamic makes them unqualified to moderate a debate among conservatives.

We should have at least one debate that is moderated by a panel of respected conservative journalists, talk radio figures, and others who would frame the debate in a meaningful way to conservatives. Yet, we are going to let those who garner vociferous antipathy towards conservatives have the opportunity to influence the selection of our leader!  Do we really need moderators who will ask the candidate what they will do to curb global warming?

House GOP: Forget About the Symbolism, Let's go for the Meat and Potatoes

There has been a pervasive misconception that has been promulgated by those within and outside of the Republican Party concerning the power of the GOP House majority .  They assert that because the Democrats control the other branches of government, there is no way we can pass any meaningful conservative legislation until 2012.

There seems to be an assumption that we can only scuttle the passage of new nefarious bills, and should sit pretty until we can win back the Presidency.  In fact, they believe that our only proactive legislative agenda should be one that involves issues in which we can seek common ground with the Democrats, thus garnering positive media for leading a productive and bi-partisan congress.  This view of the political landscape is counterproductive and will lead to the same unsuccessful cycle of 94'-06', in which we failed to deliver on conservative change and eventually forfeited the majority.

The Republican House leaders have floated some good ideas concerning reform in procedures and parliamentary rules.  We always welcome more transparency in government and fully support the decentralization of power in the House as well as the posting of legislation online before its passage.  However, these changes are full of symbolism, but lack any real substantial element of conservative change.  So, we will post legislation on the internet 72 hours before the vote.  But which legislation?  Are we going to squander our historical mandate on symbolism, procedural reform, and playing defense; without a coherent and proactive policy agenda to strike out at the heart of the welfare and regulatory state?

We all realize that the Democrats still control the Senate and the Presidency, but we will control the most effective legislative body.  Unlike in the Senate, we will have full operational control of the House and have the ability to pass anything (assuming that there aren't too many Rinos left).  Let's get to work on our conservative agenda and let the Democrats and Obama vote down our proposals that will undoubtedly remain popular with the public.  Here is a list of agenda items that we should shove down the throats of the Democrats every week, while forcing them to be on the wrong side of popular legislation with the public:

Florida Exit Poll: Rubio and Scott won the Hispanic Vote

We are lectured ad nauseum by the open borders Republicans about the electoral devastation that is looming if we fail to enact an amnesty program.  They assert that our strong support for borders and immigration enforcement will drive away all Hispanic voters.  Well, the Miami Herald observes that not only didn't we get swamped by Hispanics; we actually won their vote outright in Florida.  Both Marco Rubio and Rick Scott campaigned on their support for Arizona SB 1070.  In fact, Rick Scott won his stunning upset over Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum exclusively due to his promise of implementing a similar law in Florida.  We were told that Scott would be viewed like David Duke by most Hispanic voters.  To those who understand the importance of immigration enforcement, the election results are not surprising.  Here is the exit polling data from Florida, as reported in the Miami Herald:

Republican Marco Rubio, who is Cuban-American, got 55 percent of the Hispanic vote in the U.S. Senate race, compared to no-party Charlie Crist with 23 percent and Democrat Kendrick Meek with 21 percent. Republican Rick Scott got 50 percent of the Hispanic vote in the governor's race, while Democrat Alex Sink got 48 percent.

Mark Kirk Might Vote for Disclose Act

Here we go again.  The same vicious cycle seems to repeat itself ad nauseum.  We become all excited about the prospects of picking up Senate seats during the election.  Then, within a few days these RINOs return to their old ways.  The Hill is reporting that Mark Kirk is considering whether to vote with the Democrats and support the unconstitutional Disclose Act.  Even though he voted against this particular bill while he was in the House, he is showing willingness to sell himself out to liberal special interest groups that are pressuring RINOs to support this legislation.  Here is what Kirk had to say for himself:

“Federal candidates should disclose all of their campaign contributions within 24 hours on the Internet. I hope we can get that done in the next Senate and Congress. Also, for all of these outside groups we don’t want to silence any political voice ... we should have them disclose all of their donors, both from the left and the right.”



The Hill further notes, that these liberal advocacy groups will be pressuring Lisa Murkowski to support the Disclose Act.  There is no doubt in my mind that if she ultimately returns to the Senate, she will take revenge against Republicans and support much of the signature legislation of the left.  There is very little hope for Senate Republicans, even after last week's gains.  The House is where we need to make our stand.  This all brings me back to my favorite cartoon that my wife illustrated in honor of our Senate Republicans:

Bright Prospects for GOP Farm Team

After examining the results of state and local elections, it appears that the lower  the profile of the election, the better the result for conservatives.  In other words, where the Democrat/media smear machine was silent, the majority of the voters picked the Republican.  This explains our historic margins in the state legislature races across the country.  In addition, we picked up 6 Secretary of State offices and 5 (or 6, depending upon the fraud in California) Attorneys General offices.  See more about those races here.

After examining the down the ticket races more carefully, it appears that we have picked up 8 offices that are roughly the equivalent to the CFO of the state.  In some states they are referred to as Comptroller, in others they are the state Treasurer or CFO.  We picked up those seats in Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin.  As you can see, some of those turnovers were in vital swing states.  These positions are important, not just because of their control over the budget, but also as future farm teams for higher office.  Overall, we are in a very good position to field quality candidates in every swing state for the foreseeable future.

Two More New York House Seats in Play

For all of the talk concerning the Republican's dismal showing in the northeast, we did exceptionally well in New York.  We picked up five seats across the state, and now there is a possibility that we can win two remaining contested seats.  In NY-25, Republican Ann Marie Buerkle is now leading Democratic Rep. Dan Maffei by 659 votes.  With many staunch Republican military ballots yet to be counted, I am confident that we will pull this one out.  This is quite significant because NY-25 (which represents Syracuse and it's suburbs) is actually rated D+3 by Charlie Cook, and would represent one of the few D seats that we successfully flipped this cycle.

The big news over the weekend was in NY-1 (Suffolk County, Long Island) in which an error in a ballot machine has turned a certain victory for the incumbent Democrat into a possible defeat.  On election night, Democrat Tim Bishop was ahead of Republican Randy Altschuler by 3,400 votes.  This race was actually called for Bishop fairly early in the night.  Amazingly, over the weekend, the local board of elections discovered an error in one machine that has now created a 400 vote lead for Altschuler.  According to the AP, "Board of Elections commissioner Wayne Rogers said the original numbers were reported by telephone and relayed through intermediaries before being entered into the county's computer system."

There were a bunch of House races in which the Democrat won by just a few thousand votes.  One has to wonder how many other races were erroneously called for Democrats.  It is amazing to me that the Democrats seem to win almost every close race, or any race that goes past election day.  These two races in New York might turn out to be exceptions to the rule.  If that is the case, we will net 7 seats from New York, the most of any state in the country.  If not for the conservative/Republican split in NY-23, in which Doug Hoffman remained on the ballot, we would have flipped that seat as well.  How ironic that our biggest victory in the House elections would have occurred in the bluest of states!  One could only imagine what would have happened had we had substantive challengers on the top of the ticket.

Election 2010: A Look at Some Down the Ticket Races

 There has been a lot of focus on the major Republican victories in state legislatures.  Most people haven't focused as much on some of the other statewide races across the country.  Well, according to preliminary results, it appears that we have won some Attorney General and Secretary of State offices in several key states.  It is important to note that these offices are vital to our efforts to augment our farm team of future candidates in some key states.  Many Gubernatorial and Senatorial candidates in recent years have been AG's or SOS's.  Here is a brief synopsis of the Republican victories in these key races:

Secretaries of State

We have previously expressed the importance of this office due to the election fraud laws that are being passed by Democrats across the country.  It appears that we have picked up 6 of these offices, some of them in key swing states.  There will be new Republican Secretaries of State in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas (Kris Kobach), Iowa, New Mexico, and the all important state of Ohio.  In New Mexico, there hasn't been a Republican SOS since 1928!  Also, in Oklahoma, the Governor picks the Sec. of State.  Currently, a Democrat occupies that office, but that will change with the inauguration of Mary Fallin.  In January, Republicans will control 26 Sec. of State offices, while Democrats will control 20.

Attorneys General

These positions have growing importance due to the coming state's rights clashes in the realm of issues such as immigration, health care, and environmental regulations.  Our election primer on the AG races is here. We could have done a little better on the AG front, but it appears that we have picked up at least 5 offices.  We have added Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Ohio, and Oklahoma to the list of state AG's that we control.  The Democrats still control 27 of these offices.