McConnell Listens to People; Backs DeMint's Earmark Ban

In the summer of 2009 Sen. Jim DeMint decided to endorse a largely unknown state legislator battling a sitting governor for the Republican nomination for Senate. At the time this primary challenge was considered a quixotic quest, and a political impossibility. After Marco Rubio won overwhelmingly in the general election, Sen. DeMint turned his sights to passing a Republican Senate Conference ban on earmarks. At the time, Sen. McConnell, along with D.C. lobbyists, and conservative senators like Sen. Inhofe, and Sen. Thune were leading the fight to protect earmarks. Grassroots groups like FRC, RedState, and AFP joined Sen. DeMint in the trenches pushing hard for Senate Republicans to take this first symbolic step in the war on spending.

Today Sen. McConnell announced that he was going to support an earmark moratorium for this session of congress.

"Nearly every day that the Senate’s been in session for the past two years, I have come down to this spot and said that Democrats are ignoring the wishes of the American people. When it comes to earmarks, I won’t be guilty of the same thing.

Make no mistake. I know the good that has come from the projects I have helped support throughout my state. I don’t apologize for them. But there is simply no doubt that the abuse of this practice has caused Americans to view it as a symbol of the waste and the out-of-control spending that every Republican in Washington is determined to fight. And unless people like me show the American people that we’re willing to follow through on small or even symbolic things, we risk losing them on our broader efforts to cut spending and rein in government.

That’s why today I am announcing that I will join the Republican Leadership in the House in support of a moratorium on earmarks in the 112th Congress."

Is there a purpose for earmarks? Yes. However it is very encouraging to see Sen. McConnell listen to the American people and support banning them for this congress as they work on solving the major fiscal crisis in this nation. A leadership willing to listen to the American people instead of blindly doing what they desire inspires hope and renews confidence.

With senate Republicans joining House in banning earmarks, and most of our presidential contenders supporting the effort as well, the party is solidly on the right side of this issue.

Marco Rubio's strong challenge to Charlie Crist lead to many other conservative challenges this cycle, and ultimately to a more conservative Republican Senate Conference. Let's hope this victory on earmarks is a sign of even better things to come legislatively this congress. Extending the Bush Tax Cuts? Balanced Budget Amendment?

Pray and Work: Jim DeMint and the Earmark Ban

Jim DeMint is leading an effort to push for a ban within the Senate Republican Conference on earmarks. Tony Perkins and FRC are issuing a call to prayer for DeMint as he fights for a conservative senate. RedState has the battle plan for helping DeMint politically.

Are earmarks a way for the legislature to direct how money is spent as opposed to the executive? Yes.

Have they been added to bills regularly to encourage people to vote for bills? Yes.

In this way they lead to excess spending, and need to be banned for now.

Also call Mitch McConnell and let him know he needs to stop fighting against this effort.

For the record earmarks are not the solution to the deficit/spending problem in D.C. They are a key first step, partially symbolic partially meaningful, that must be followed by other things that will eventually culminate in a balanced budget amendment.

John Thune for President?

Sen. John Thune has been talking about running for president recently. He has been a solid U.S. Senator, but is he the person we want to nominate to run for president? The following article from Erick Erickson of RedState is a must read for anyone thinking of supporting him for president.

John Thune’s Tan Is Starting to Resemble Toast

Posted by Erick Erickson (Profile)

Friday, October 1st at 11:43AM EDT

151 Comments

Let’s be honest for a minute. John Thune is a great United States Senator from South Dakota. But the only reason people talk about him for President is because he’s a good looking guy in a city full of lesser looking people, is tall, and has an attractive wife.

Other than that his greatest accomplishments are doing nothing. But he gives a great talk about biennial budgeting, the topic of choice for establishmentarians who want to show a little leg.

The other day, Thune went on record dinging Jim DeMint for helping conservatives get elected. Thune also sided with Lisa Murkowski on her keeping her Senate seat.

Now comes word that Thune is doing zilch, zip, nada to help tea party backed Senate candidates.

In fact, in a review of Thune’s giving:

• Thune’s PAC gave $10,000 to Shelby (appropriator with no real race) and $5,000 to earmarxist Trey Grayson, but nothing for Rand Paul (anti-earmarker in tough race), even post-primary.
• His PAC gave $10,000 to Murkowski (earmarxist party traitor), but nothing to Joe Miller (anti-earmark primary winner).
• His PAC gave both Crist and Rubio $5,000.
• Thune’s PAC gave Jane Norton $5,000 but gave Buck nothing. Update: Thune has now given to Buck and will be doing a fundraiser for him.
• His PAC gave earmarxist Bob Bennett $10,000 for a 100% safe GOP seat, but only gave $5,000 to the anti-earmark Pat Toomey who’s running in blue PA.

This guy has all the makings of a Presidential candidate . . . in an Aaron Sorkin drama for NBC. That’s about it. By every other measure he is toast.

Frankly, the talk about Thune 2012 is a greater commentary on the vapid nature of inside the beltway punditry and Senate egos than on his actual, factual chances. Need we roll the tape on Senate Republicans who’ve won the White House? Bob Dole will run the slide projector while John McCain serves crow.

What do we do with Michael Steele…? UPDATES

After the California sex club incident, and then Steele using the race card on television, many Republicans and Conservatives are at a loss of what to do with him. Do we kick him out? Force him to resign? Let him stay – as he has insisted on doing? Make a scene?

In my opinion, Erick Erickson from RedState nails it here -

"I did not support Michael Steele for Chairman of the Republican Party, but was perfectly happy to give him a chance to prove himself. That all pretty much went out the window the moment he decided to start throwing the race card around against Republicans when feeling threatened.

If Michael Steele left tomorrow, I would not cry. As it stands now, the RNC under Michael Steele has raised a massive amount of money and spent a massive amount of money. There will not be much if any to hand over to state parties by November for the various victory funds.

That said, the GOP won in New Jersey, Virginia, and Massachusetts, draining resources along the way. If we are going to blame Michael Steele for all the bad, we should at least charitably credit him for the good too.

Were Michael Steele to leave the RNC tomorrow, what really would have changed? The incestuous culture of consultants will still be there sucking the same money from the building.

The narrative will shift to the GOP throwing out the black man. Steele would become the sympathetic victim at the hands of evil racist Republicans who really always wanted that racist country clubber from South Carolina to be Chairman anyway.

It serves no good purpose to try to oust Michael Steele right now. A two-thirds vote would be required. The votes aren't there. The process would be ugly and would be a distraction. Steele could in various ways use RNC dollars to defend himself instead of beat the Democrats. The Democrats would use the opportunity to smear the GOP even more. Pursuit of removal would be folly.

At the end of the day, though, it is not all Michael Steele's fault. A lot of the blame for things these days is being foisted up by a press all too happy to highlight Republican problems and ignore Democrat problems. Some of what is happening is within Steele's control and some of it is not. The Democrats and some Republicans have happily peddled the story about Michael Steele's incompetent management, some because of very real concerns, but some to distraction from other issues.

Here we are in April, more than a year after his election, having the same debate we had before his election — from spendthrift ways to management skills to consultants milking the RNC. All of the present problems derive from known knowns. Were the RNC leadership to replace him it would be because they are embarrassed, not because they have all of a sudden grown wiser.

And this is the Achilles heel of the whole GOP structure right now. From the Chairman of the Party to the Congressional leadership, we have in place a bunch of people who led us out of power who will lead us back into power. Sure, Steele was not there, but those he has surrounded himself with and who advise him and take donor money were as much a part of the problem as the congressional guys.

With the exception of the top of the House leadership, there is little indication that any lessons were ever learned regarding the Republican defeats of 2006 and 2008. If the GOP wins big in 2010 it will be in spite of themselves — but they'll take it, use it, and abuse it.

Again — it is April of 2010. The election is less than seven months away. We go into the election with the army we have, not the one we would prefer. We go with Michael Steele and Mitch McConnell and the rest, so suck it up and deal with it.

Don't like it? Join me in beating them in the primaries. Then we can talk."

UPDATE 9:29am: Politico reports

Republican National Committee Chief of Staff Ken McKay resigned Monday, becoming the highest-ranking official to depart the committee after revelations that the national party spent nearly $2,000 at California sex club.

McKay's departure in turn prompted one of RNC Chairman Michael Steele's closest advisers to cut ties to the party – an indication that a full-scale bloodletting is under way at the troubled committee.

It should be interesting to see where it goes from here…

What about Bart Stupak?

The one who failed us. You realize we would have had 216 if he and his "block" hadn't of switched their votes under the guise of a "pro-life Executive Order".

Problems with the Executive Order:

- It can be undone with a second Executive order at any time.
- It doesn't last beyond President Obama's term.

For Stupak to actually fall into the trap of believing that any good will come from the Order, proves that he is not as smart as we all hailed him as.

RedState has suggested sending Stupak a "parting gift" - and I completely agree. Check it out HERE.

Charlie Crist to Run as Independent? - Arlen Specter 2.0

Everyone knows Charlie Crist has two options: 1. lose embarrassingly to Marco Rubio in the primary, or 2. switch parties. RedState today posted an article predicting option 2, saying that the evidence points to the fact that Crist may be turning to the blue side, or becoming an independent. He was caught having a private meal with VP Biden in Miami, and has returned to "embracing the Obama stimulus fraud" - I'd say that's pretty conclusive evidence.

However, everyone also knows that before Crist switches, he's gonna smear Rubio like crazy. Well folks, the games have begun. Today it was discovered that Crist took Rubio's private credit card records from the Republican Party of Florida and leaked them to the press. Although Rubio has only used the cards to help get Republicans elected within the state, he also used them for several personal expenses. What Crist did NOT elude to in the leak, was that every single one of those personal expenses were reimbursed to the state by Rubio.

This is yet another example of how "Republicans", e.g. Arlen Specter and Charlie Crist, will do anything to get elected with little concern for their values and constituents. If Crist becomes an independent it will be concrete evidence that his Republican title was all for show.

Obama bows to Tampa Mayor

What in the world does he think he's doing?! Does he hold any respect for his office? British Ambassadors used to refuse to bow to any foreign kings (much less a local MAYOR) out of respect for their country and the position they held.

RedState puts it best HERE when they say –

"The mayor of Tampa isn't a Third World potentate, totalitarian dictator, or terrorist leader so I can't understand why Obama would be in full-bow mode. Is bowing now the standard way the President greets people these days? Is he misoriented, for some reason, and thinks Tampa is a terrorist stronghold or an enemy of the United States? Does the US owe Tampa a boatload of money and the bow just good business practice?"

What has our country come to…?

What is our priority for next year?

In a recent interview Erick Erickson made news by saying that his number one goal for 2010 is beating the Republican establishment.



Those are sentiments I definitely concur with. Some argue our end goal must be electing Republicans, and after the nomination contests are over that is definitely true, but our number one goal must be advancing conservative principles. We must run viable conservatives in primaries, run them for party office, and hold them and all Republicans accountable after we elect them. We did it this year by electing Ken Cuccinelli, and we will run him for whatever else he needs to run for, my fellow blogger and others tried to do it last spring when they fought to keep Jeff Frederick as party chair, and we must keep up the fight this coming year in the many nomination contests and district chair races across the state next spring.

It is as we advance our conservative principles and govern as conservatives that we will win elections, and if the establishment stands in our way, so be it.

Convention Analysis from Justin Hart of Too Conservative

Justin Hart a new contributor at Too Conservative posted some excellent analysis of the convention. One thing I definitely agree with him on is that Ken Cuccinelli should run on the limited government "Tea Party" message from his convention speech. that resonated so well with the delegates at the convention.

VAP GOP 2009 = GOP Victories 2010?

June 1, 2009
Justin Hart

(cross-posted at RedState.com for non-Virginians)

Will Virginia field the first wave of comebacks for the GOP this coming November or will the momentum of Obama-mania continue unabated through 2009 and on into the next federal elections? Saturday’s convention in Richmond for the Republican Party of Virginia holds some interesting lessons for us all.

At the best attended convention in nearly 15 years, Republicans gathered at the Richmond Coliseum to crown their next set of candidates for the upcoming 2009 elections. (Virginia is one of the few states to hold off-year elections for state level offices.) All politics is local as they say, so what follows is a series of lessons learned from the debates leading up to the convention and the final results. Glean from it what you will:

(Note to newcomers: Virginia has a closed convention approach to picking party nominees. Delegates from around the state gather and vote in secret ballot deciding their candidates for elected offices. This year there was three majors spots up for bid: Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General.)

* Attorney General - I’m starting with the AG spot for obvious reasons that will follow. This year a three-way fight ensued between State Senator Ken Cuccinelli and local elected officials John Brownlee and David Foster. This battle was a microcosm of every conservative angst and internal melee since November. Cuccinelli was the favored candidate going into the election but was countered heavily by the moderate “egg-shell walking” / Vichy Republicans. “Too conservative to be elected”, they declared. “Social conservatism” is dead!” they’d shout. They were wrong. To be fair Brownlee has strong social conservative credentials but Cuccinelli has the ear and heart of the social conservative base in a major way. Cuccinelli made his pitch on Saturday to an enthused crowd of over 7000 as big yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” flags went flying around the floor. Insiders around the stadium took bets that a second and third ballot would keep us well into the evening. It took one vote and Cuccinelli walked away victorious with over 55% of the vote in a three-way race. The Post did their usual “pro-life” extremist explanation but Cuccinelli is the tea party candidate to be sure. Cuccinelli has a lot of learning to do on the new media side of things but he has consistently won his elections as Senator in increasingly blue Fairfax County since 2002. LESSON LEARNED: moderates nervous about perceptions are using November’s losses to oust social conservatives. The truth: social conservatives are some of the strongest supporters and will work hard to elect full spectrum conservatives.