Rob Wittman for Congress

Since his election in 2007, Rob Wittman has quickly become a young conservative star in Virginia. On the important issues of our day, Wittman has been a voice for conservativism in congress. His greatest moment came in the summer of 2008 when President Bush and the Republican House Leadership was shoving the TARP bailout down our throats. Rob Wittman realized that for a Republican to vote for that legislation would be a betrayal of capitalism. He was willing to buck his party, and vote against it twice. Having the courage to do the right thing on the TARP vote should guarantee any congressman he doesn't have to face a primary challenge from a "Tea Party activist."

When Republicans passed TARP under President Bush they lost the ability to oppose President Obama's bank bailouts for any reason other than partisan politics. If you can support TARP, you can support Obama's bailouts. Thankfully Wittman understood this and made the principled stand. Hopefully 1st District voters will thank him for that by nominating him overwhelmingly tomorrow.

Sadly the Virginia who did the most to make TARP and by extension the Obama bailouts a reality is not the one, while a congressman who opposed both. Maybe in a later election cycle Tea Party activists will primary the right congressman.

Eric Cantor: We failed, but they are worse than us.

Eric Cantor earned a standing ovation simply by walking on stage. He gave a strong commitment to family values. "Traditional values are the basis of America." He also said that we must protect life from fertilization to natural death. There was also a reminder that fiscal policy and family policy are two sides of the same coin. "Economy is household management."

However, his comment that, "We failed and they threw us out of office. Now they are making us look like Scrooges," was very revealing. Eric Cantor as Minority Whip lead the fight to adopt President Bush's bailout which paved the way for Obama's fiscal insanity. I hope that if we retake the congress Cantor will have the same commitment to free market capitalism that others like Mike Pence has consistently held. It is not good enough to do the right thing when doing that doesn't matter. We need people who will do the right thing when we have a chance of accomplishing things. If we had made a principled stand against TARP when we could have stopped the bailouts, we might have beaten the Obama bailouts.

Mike Pence: Standing Boldly for Freedom

Mike Pence's speech touched on a number of topics near and dear to the hearts of regular Americans, and received three standing ovations.

He began by speaking about the greatest day in his life. It was not the day he was elected to congress or any of the major things he has been able to do as congressman, but the day he gave his life to the Lord.

He followed up by stating his opposition to government funded abortions in the healthcare bill. This as well as his call to defund Planned Parenthood were the most popular moments in the speech.

The focus of the speech however was freedom. "We must be willing to fight for freedom, free markets, and traditional values." "Freedoms is an inspiration to the world." "We must stand boldly on the world stage for freedom." This was where Pence discussed the need to stand with Iran. Pence also stated, "We must defend entrepenurialistic capitalism against the onslaught of the American left."

While the focus of the speech was on the importance of freedom in every aspect of this nation, there was also a very moving portion of the speech. Congressman Pence discussed how after he returned to his district after the first Bush bailout passed. After he spoke to the boyscouts in his district, a man walked up to him who had just lost his job, and thanked him for voting against the bailout. The man told Congressman Pence, "I can get another job but I can't get another country." This followed by a reminder that, "Times like these are good times to remember what your knees are for," was a very moving portion of the speech.

Congressman Pence is a freedom loving fighter who is unafraid to stand for his personal faith.

Afterwards a number of media members talked with him. In response to questions about the strawpoll Congressman Pence said, "I have no plans to run for president. I'm focussed on taking back the congress in 2010." So far he is atleast denying he is running for president.

Ken Cuccinelli's Speech at the Roanoke Tea Party

On July 4th one of Ken's many stops was the Roanoke Tea Party. Ken compared the current situation to the first tea party where the Boston Tea Company was bailed out and then the colonists were taxed. He reminded everyone that it was the Republicans who started the bailouts, and told everyone that as Attorney General he intends to draw a line in the sand with the federal government and protect out state rights. Ken is a true unabashed conservative, let's work hard to get him elected this year so he can fight for us for the next four years.

Declaration of the Principles of Liberty

Are you afraid that this nation is quickly headed towards socialism? Do you believe this country needs to reaffirm the constitution and the founders vision for this nation? Has the bailout, GM buyout, and Department of Homeland Security report gotten you upset? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, I hope you will join me in signing the Declaration of the Principles of Liberty.

The Declaration of Principles of Liberty was written by Dr. Michael Farris (chancellor of Patrick Henry College and chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association) and was released on World Net Daily on June 2nd.

Through WND, Farris is announcing an invitation to "the citizens of this country that believe in the Constitution, who believe in traditional morality and virtue, who believe in a free America and reject the concepts of socialism and the secularist moral view" to unite in signing a newly drafted Declaration of the Principles of Liberty."

Dr. Farris was inspired to write this document in the wake of the 2008 presidential elections.

Farris told WND he was inspired to become the "draftsman" of the declaration after hundreds of people asked him what could be done in light of the nation's direction. He was further convinced that a core set of "first principles" was needed after working with conservative leaders in an effort to discern the positions of the presidential candidates prior to the last election.

"What I found in the process – to my shock – was not where candidates stood, but that the arguments made by some social conservative leaders showed that we didn't believe the same things or know what we stood for," Farris told WND. "After the election, I attended meetings with leadership of the Republican Party, leadership in the House and other conservative leaders, and I continue to believe that if there's going to be revitalization for the conservative movement, we first and foremost have to know what we believe in."

To that end, the declaration affirms a list of 10 core principles – among them the right to life, freedom of religion and conscience, the right to bear arms, economic freedom, limited government and others – that Farris believes can define and build a conservative coalition.

Dr. Farris has given up hope that a reaffirmation of our core principles will come from the top and hopes that the conservative grassroots of this nation will join with him in affirming the key principles of conservativism.

Fellow liberty lovers, please take a moment and stand up and send a message to the nation that you value life, the family, and the free enterprise system by signing the Declaration of the Principles of Liberty.

Pat Toomey vs. Arlen Specter

In 2004 Pat Toomey challenged Arlen Specter for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. With the help of Rick Santorum and President Bush, Arlen Specter won by just 2 points. Since being reelected in 2004 Arlen Specter has become very unpopular with Republicans for his stances. He did a poor job as judiciary chairman, allowing nominees to go without a committee vote for extended periods of time. However most recently he helped Obama pass his 787 Billion stimulus bill.

This and other actions have lead to a very negative opinion of Arlen Specter by Pennsylvania voters. In a Rasmussen poll released yesterday Pat Toomey lead Specter 51% to 31%. Specter's negatives 55% while Toomey's were only19%. These are pretty one sided polling results. If Toomey decides to run it sure looks like Obama will lose an ally, and one more RINO will no longer be in the U.S. Senate.

When it comes to liberal Republicans, a liberal Republican from a blue distrct is fine, but a liberal Republican who undermines his caucus like Specter has deserves to be primaried. I hope Pat Toomey is successful in 2010 and becomes part of an amazing Republican Senate class of 2010.

Campaigning for Jim Tedisco

This week I am campaigning in New York 20 in the special election for Jim Tedisco. I am here with a team of over 40 Generation Joshua students, working on grassroots GOTV work helping win the election for the GOP. The race is very close, and it is all about turnout, however today we knocked on more doors than the campaign thought it would be possible for us to hit, and they are expanding their GOTV work. Between GenJ, Huck PAC, other people from around the state, and the hard work of local New Yorkers, I think we stand a very good chance of winning this race. If we can win we will show the country that the bailout, and President Obama are not universal favorites, and add one more seat to the House Republican Caucus. If for some reason we do lose, it will be because of the highly negative adds produced and aired by the NRCC.

The Devalued Prime Minister of a Devalued Government

An English member of the EU Parliament speaking bluntly about the bailout, and economic policy.

Rick Santelli

In case you haven't seen it, some one on cable tv being blunt about the new proposed mortgage bailout.  Which bailout is this?  I'm starting to lose track.  Anyways...

This video is turning into quite the internet sensation.  Rush picked it up, it appears there may actually be a Chicago Tea Party of sorts, and it even drew a White House response.  Some have even jokingly suggested that if Roland Burris is forced to resign, Rick Santelli should be the next senator from Illinois.  Who knows...  With the talk of Joe the Plumber running for congress, maybe this could launch Rick on a political career.

The Death of Federalism

Last year's bailouts, supported by the Republican House and Senate leadership and signed into law by President Bush, spelled the death of capitalism.  The more I think about it, it appears that this bailout is the death of federalism, or the idea that there should be separate levels of government.  One of the major part of the Obama bailout is the bailout of the state governments.  Now instead of being forced to face the tough decisions of how to balance their budgets, the states can now depend on the federal government.  

In Virginia we were facing the need for across the board budget cuts.  When the bailout was passed, we decided we didn't have to cut back on any spending.  This is the inverse of losing your job, your parents letting you move in, and then not getting a job above minimum wage since your expenses were minimal.  

A couple recent quotes help illustrate how bad this problem has become.  The first comes from the governor's revenue figures.

“In sum, the combination of the downward and upward adjustments to biennial revenues should produce a positive benefit to the Virginia budget, avoiding the need for additional budgetary cuts in the near term.”

The second is from a recent e-mail from Sen. Obenshain concerning the budget process.

As the Senate debated Virginia’s budget on Wednesday, several senators thanked certain of their colleagues and staff for their hard work and cooperation. One of my Democratic colleagues, however, stood and extended her thanks to thank President Barack Obama and to Congressional Democrats. She thanked them for the passage of the “stimulus bill,” asserting that it was only through their generosity that we were able to balance the budget without deeper cuts.

If the states are essentially on federal welfare now, I wonder how long it will be till the federal government will be on welfare...

(Sen. Obenshain's response to this unnamed colleague was definitely worth reading.)

Trying to Stop the Stimulus Bill in the Senate

Last week the $819 Billion Stimulus Bill came up for a vote in the House of Representatives, and it did not receive a single Republican vote.    Eric Cantor, the man responsible for lining up those votes, did an excellent job explaining why he and his colleagues opposed the bill.  While those were not enough votes, we have a chance to stop the bill in the senate this week.  The Senate Republicans lead by Senators McConnell, and Kyl are opposing the bill, and seem to have the votes to block it.  If we can hold this caucus together, and pick up a couple Democrat votes, we will be able to stop this bill.  

Please contact your senators as soon as possible, no matter what party they belong to, and urge them to oppose the stimulus bill.  The number for the congressional switchboard is 202-224-3121.

The New Stimulus Package May not Produce a Single Job

In a recent House Ways and Means Committee meeting, the ranking member, Dave Camp (R-MI), asked the Majority Tax Staff Director a very simple question. How many jobs will the Democrats proposed stimulus package create? The man who is supposedly the expert on this topic was forced to admit that he didn't know that any jobs would necessarily be created. Over $700 billion on a plan that won't necessarily do what it purports to do? Is this really smart?

President-Elect Obama's Economy Speech: A True Piece of Eleoquence

Today President-Elect Obama delivered a speech on the economy in Fairfax Virginia to advocate his American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.  It was a speech of contradictions.  

The speech was all about the need for big government programs.

If nothing is done (by the federal government), this recession could linger for years.  

It  closed by talking about how this plan will result in increased personal responsibility.

That is why the time has come to build a 21st century economy in which hard work and responsibility are once again rewarded.

It began by talking about how the federal government needs to solve the plan immediately.  

Now, the very fact that this crisis is largely of our (the U.S. Government's) own making means that it is not beyond our (the U.S. Government's) ability to solve. 

It ended by saying that this proposal will not solve the problem addressed.

Now, this recovery plan alone will not solve all the problems that led us into this crisis.

While advocating a bill estimated to cost over 800 billion, Obama talked about the importance of being fiscally responsible.

We cannot have a solid recovery if our people and our businesses don't have confidence that we're getting our fiscal house in order.... Politicians spent taxpayer money without wisdom or discipline, and too often focused on scoring political points instead of the problems they were sent here to solve. 

However he also admitted that there is a considerable short term cost.

There is no doubt that the cost of this plan will be considerable. It will certainly add to the budget deficit in the short-term. 

In other news, China may be unwilling to buy even more U.S. debt.

...and Speaking of Corrupt Democrats, but should we really be?

According to the Washington Post,

House Minority Leader John Boehner released a campaign memo earlier this week in which he makes clear that his party will push the idea of a culture of corruption within the Democratic party over the next few years.

Luckily for Boehner he seems to have a lot of fodder.

The GOP can herald the way that Representative Cao ended the carreer of William Jefferson who was under a bribery investigation.

The GOP should beable to make plenty of hay out of this new scandal with Governor Blagojevich.

They also have the case of Charlie Rangel who is under investigation for using his position on the Ways and Means Committee to create and defend tax loopholes which he has used for personal advantage. He is also under investigation for other tax code related issues.

While it is true that the Democrats are corrupt, should the Republicans really push the idea that the the Democrats are corrupt this election cycle? The GOP seemed to have a difficult time keeping its own members from doing really bad things over the past few years. If the House Republicans are going to call the Democrats corrupt durign teh next election cycle, they better make sure they are not corrupt, and have a xero tolerance level for anyone who is even slightly tainted with corruption. Accusing the opposition of corruption is an inherently difficult strategy as you must make sure you are not corrupt yourself.

If the Republicans can pull off the whole corruption angle, cool, however I would be much more excited and inspired to campaign for them if they would advance a series of creative conservative ideas. When the GOP violates core conservative beliefs (suports the bailout, supports unlimited spending, supports amnesty, etc...) and refuses to fight for conservative principles, I am just as uninspired to vote for them as when they are corrupt. Hopefully the Republicans will grow a spine and act on it.

Not My Money

I was getting ready to head off to bed and wake up and eat turkey the next morning when I ran across a scary article. According to the Washington Times Treasury Secretary Paulson announced yesterday that the bailout package would increase by $800 billion. No debate, just an announcement.

The federal government expanded its financial-rescue effort by another $800 billion Tuesday to encourage more lending to home buyers and consumers, bringing the national bailout tab to $1.5 trillion and counting.

The program introduced Tuesday by Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. would commit $600 billion to assist the mortgage markets, and a second program would provide $200 billion of increased lending to consumers. Both would be operated by the Federal Reserve and do not need congressional approval.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/nov/26/bailout-increases-by-800-billion/

When the $780 billion bailout package was being pushed a month ago it was touted as "the solution" to our economic crisis. Almost immediately after it was passed people started referring to it as "the first step." Now we are going to have another $800 billion added to the cost of the bailout, and Obama still wants another bailout bill passed shortly after getting into office.

You have to wonder where the politicians think this money is coming from. The more money you print off, the more you devalue the currency, reduce the buying power of the dollar, and indirectly tax every American. This trillion dollar package will further ruin this nation's already bleak financial future.

Beyond this, it is destructive to the Republican Party for President Bush to advocate yet again an insane spending package. If this party learned anything as a result of the general election hopefully it was that we need to be willing to draw the line in the sand and hold fast to our conservative principles. Wasn't their some Joe the Plumber guy who didn't like Obama because he wanted to "spread the wealth?" Now George Bush is trying to do it again. I hope when the Republican leaders wake up in the morning from their turkey induced slumber, hopefully they find their backbone and see this proposal die in the dustbin of failed socialist proposals.

All that said the scariest thing is that Paulson can allocate that much money to a purely socialist policy proposal without any kind of congressional authorization. When the first bailout bill was passed it took two house votes, presidential pressconferences, and a suspended presidential campaign to give Secretary Paulson $780 billion to save the economy. If Secretary Paulson can simply allocate himself $800 billion to continue saving the economy, he is either stretching his authority, or going beyond it. Either way he has way to much power, and the congress needs to stop him from going forward with this proposal.