GOP Elites Circle the Wagons

As I predicted the other day, Reince Priebus of the RNC has prepared a 97 page document that exonerates the RNC and GOP leadership of ... to be blunt, fucking up the election. Their ideas to fix what went wrong in 2008 and 2012 would utterly change the GOP primary system.  They seek to eliminate caucuses.  These changes would only benefit those candidates with very deep pockets.  Stuck at the very end of the report is a suggestion that would seek to reduce by half the number of urges halving the number of  primary debates in 2016.  Furthermore, the report urges the creation of regional primary clusters that would start after the  early states of Iowa and New Hampshire.


This would only benefit the candidate that had amassed a huge warchest, such as Mitt Romney and John McCain...both of whom ran incompetent campaigns against a beatable Socialist candidate.  Furthermore, this is a naked attempt to beat back any sort of insurgent candidacy. POLITICO is reporting that,

The recommendations are also a nod to the party’s donor class. Several donors bluntly told RNC Chair Reince Priebus at meetings right after the election that they wanted Iowa, with its more conservative base, to have less of a role in the process.

Reaction was swift. Allies of potential 2016 hopefuls Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and former Sen. Rick Santorum, sensing a power play by the establishment-dominated panel, reacted angrily to recommendations they think are aimed at hurting candidates who do well in caucuses and conventions and need debates to get attention.

A Rand Paul supporter was even more to the point, 

“Elimination of caucuses would mean nuclear war with the grassroots, social conservatives and [the] Ron Paul movement,” said this Republican.

Bring it on, said some GOP leaders. “If Paul forces want ‘nuclear war’ over reducing [the number] of caucuses, let’s have it,” tweeted longtime GOP strategist Mike Murphy. “[The] key to [a] stronger party is more open primaries.”

How about me, I now believe that the GOP Leadership is beginning to run very scared.  They're starting to realize the the Tea Party movement is far broader than they thought it was.  That group seeks to toss them out on their collective asses.  After all, they've lost every single election since 2006.  2010, was a clear cut victory of the Tea Party as most of the candidates they supported were in fact elected.

That has been the only ray of sunshine in the GOP picture.  Instead of spending huge sums on candidates who are "moderates' or "Democrat Lite" that can't possibly win, the GOP should instead focus on candidates who are in fact conservatives.  Essentially, this is the party elites saying, "If we don't  select you get the hell out."  That will not do.

While I support the idea of regionalizing primaries, because it in my opinion would reduce the amounts candidates would have to spend bouncing from one side of the country to another...and would permit a less well funded candidate to concentrate on one region at a time. How ever, I  believe that instead of reducing the number of debates, that number should be tied to the regional primaries.

Iowa (Jan)

New Hampshire (1 week later)

Then New England (Feb)

Mid Atlantic (Late Feb: NY, PA, MD, DE, VA)

South (Early March:  NC, SC, GA, FL)

Upper South (Late March:  KY, TN, AL, MS , MO)

Mid West (Early April:  OH, MI, IN, IN)

Upper MidWest (Late April:  WI, MN, MT, ND, SD)

South West (early May:  TX, AR, OK, AZ, NM)

Central (Late May:  CO, WY, KS, NB, ID)

West (Early June:  CA, OR, UT, NV, WA, HI,  AK)

I'm sure I missed a few, but you get the picture.  That still gives the traditional early states their early time to shine...but would end the primaries by June and give us our convention by late June, and our nominee four solid months to campaign.  

What do you think?   Please comment.

GOP Leadership: It's Time For A Change!

Has the time come for a re-assessment of the GOP leadership?  Have they lost touch with what the base of the party really desires.  In Congress, the leadership of John Boehner has  increased spending through "continuing resolutions" instead of passing a budget.  That is a huge problem because those "CR's" have increased spending in each of the past 4 years...which was when the Democratically controlled Senate last passed a budget (2009).

Instead of passing a budget and sending it to die in the Senate, and effectively shutting down the Federal government, the House leadership has gone along to get along...which is the root of the problem.  We, the American people, don't want our leaders to just go along. Oddly enough, we expect them to lead.  That's something they've just not done.

Furthermore, our "elite" party leadership, through their top notch consultants have lost the last four elections.  2006 (GOP lost control of both houses of Congress...and the Dem's increased spending, except Defense, 25% across the board).  

2008 was disastrous because we chose a Moderate candidate (aka Democrat Lite) as our standard bearer...who ran the worst GOP presidential campaign in modern history and managed to lose badly to a candidate who was wholly unqualified for the office of President, and allowing a Socialist to be elected for the first time in our history. 

In 2010, those candidate anointed by our "elite leadership" lost, while those chosen by the Tea Party movement returned control of the House of Representatives back to the GOP...leadership of whom, promptly squandered the opportunity  to force the Democratically controlled Senate to do their Constitutionally mandated jobs...and produce a budget...something they have yet to do.  Instead, they chose to "go along to get along" and passed "continuing resolutions" to fund government operations.  Those CR's included regular increases in spending each of the past 4 years.

In 2012, having NOT learned a damn thing from 2008, the "elite leadership" of the party anointed yet another Moderate (aka Democrat Lite) who ran arguably an even worse campaign against a President who has had the worst recovery from a recession in history...yet...

We expect Rince Piebus and his coterie of inside the beltway strategists to be able to figure out where they went wrong.  These guys ARE the problem...they aren't part of the solution.  We in the GOP aren't called the "party of stupid" for nothing.  Thinking  that these people will be able to solve the party problem is like asking an alcoholic if just one more drink will help him over the finish line...

It may well be time to boot all these people out.  Start fresh...those of us who are small-time bloggers and grass roots activists have been calling for this for four long years.  It's time for a change in the GOP.  Unless we want to be come the irrelevant party of a permanent minority, we need to dump the current leadership and find new.  

Remember that Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz were NOT selected by the "elite leadership" they were chosen by We The People as our voice in the corrupt cesspool inside the Washington Beltway.  They're now the standard bearers of the future of our party, NOT the Rince Priebus', John Boehner's and Mitch McConnel's...they are the past that has gone along to get along and helped put us into a debt that our great grand children won't be able to pay off...

It's time for a change in leadership.  The current leadership has led us down the primrose path to ruin.  It's time to dump them, because  dammit, we can't do any  worse than they already have.

Romney Wins Fla Primary...but Kills Party Doing So...

The GOP Establishment has driven this country (in cahoots with the Democratic Party) onto a reef...and now we're sinking. What do they do? They choose ObamaLite as the Elite's candidate. Mitt Romney will merely spend a little less than Obama's done/doing...all while the GOP Establishment lines it's pockets...just as Obama's supports are doing.

After Romney's and the GOP establishment's attacks on the "elite's chosen one," I will not vote for Mitt Romney in any election at all. I will skip that line and vote down ticket. My choices at this point are reduced to voting against all incumbents...whatever the party.

Incumbents and the GOP Establishment have become the problem, NOT the solution. They will tax and spend just like the Democrats have done...and they have "gone along to get along" with for the past 70+ years. They are the problem and not the solution..

The GOP Establishment has shown that they have nothing but contempt for the base of this party, and the Tea Party Movement in particular. This election cycle is done with (I firmly believe that Romney can't beat Obama in the general) and the party has not learned anything from 2010. That being said, it's time to start a new fiscally conservative party that will be able in 2014, and later, begin fielding candidates that will actually try and make those difficult choices that the GOP Establishment has refused to make.
It's time for a fundamental shift in the American political scene...by turning the Tea Party Movement into a genuine political party.  Fiscal conservatives should, nay, must abandon the party of "spend a little less" and begin finding candidates who will enter primaries TPM candidates.

The end of the GOP is nigh...and it will be an ugly end...just as the end of the Federalist and Whig parties were ugly...the end of the later...led to the Civil War and the rise of a now corrupt and moribund Republican Party.

President Obama Is Doomed....BUT,

There's a terrific article in Forbes today by John Tamny.  His premise is that Mr. Obama will be a one term president, but only if the GOP candidates can figure out why.  He argues that having a soft dollar will doom Obama because he's not done anything to defend the currency.  Mr. Tamny make many valid assertions, at leas in my opinion.  BUT, yes, that horrible word, Mr. Tamny doesn't take into account the following, which I added to the comments:

The One Big Thing you miss is presuming the GOP candidates are smart enough to catch on. After all, the leadership of the GOP in congress promised real spending cuts...and delivered "cuts in future spending." As if that means anything (since no Congress can restrict what a future Congress can do...without a Constitutional amendment.).

 

That being said, the media anointed "front runner," Mitt Romney is Obama "Light"...see RomneyCare, the blueprint for ObamaCare (not that I object of Massachusetts having a state mandated health care system...that's covered by the 10th Amendment). Rick Perry is faltering, and I don't really think that he has what it takes to puts things back on track. Herman Cain, has a clue, but I'm not certain he has the political experience to get things done either.

 

Soooo...never under estimate the ability of the GOP to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The real problem with the GOP currently is that it's current leadership, has "gone along to get along" for so long, that they just don't know anything else. They've compromised (i.e. sold out to) with the Democratic Party on every item that's been passed through Congress over the past 50 years. I don't think they have what it takes to...right the vessel of state.

 

Congress if they really wanted to could pass a genuine austerity budget, and derail the Obama attempt at growing government by fiat and through the regulatory agencies (EPA, alphabet soup offices) by simply NOT FUNDING THEM...they can't pass new growth chocking regulation if they have no funds.

 

The GOP needs to pass a budget, a real budget and send it to the Senate and watch the Democratically controlled Senate, choke on it. 23 Democratic Senators are up for reelection...let them explain to their constituents WHY THEY VOTED AGAINST A BUDGET THAT WOULD MOVE THE COUNTRY FORWARD...unfortunately, Mr. Boehner doesn't have the courage, or character to do this...and the country will continue to suffer because both parties are playing politics.

If we could actually get the GOP in Congress to actually deliver on what they promised BEFORE the election of 2010, when the country gave them a majority  in the House of Representatives, and near parity in the Senate. 

• Vote to repeal ObamaCare...and send it to the Democratically controlled Senate so they can choke on it.
• Vote on a budget that either cuts funding altogether, or severely reduces funding on the alphabet soup regulatory agencies...as well as those useless cabinet level departments that simply waste money and provide employment to bureaucrats...and send it to the Democratically controlled Senate so those 23 Dem Senators would have to explain to their constituents WHY THEY VOTED AGAINST reducing the size and scope of government.
• Live up to the promises you gave in 2010...
• Pass a balanced budget amendment and send it to the states.
• Really screw the Senate and pass and send to the States an amendment repealing the 17th Amendment (direct election of Senators, instead of them being selected by the various state legislatures, and immediately remove a huge crutch of federalism)

If they GOP would do this...the Democrats would be painted into a corner they can't get out of...just looking at the meltdown in Europe and pounding home the simple lesson that what is happening there will happen here within 5 years if we don't do something NOW...would give us super majority in both houses of Congress as well as a president with a mandate to commit America to real change...change that would guarantee a return to prosperity for at least 20 years.

  

Republicans in Congress Betray The Tea Party & GOP Principles

We, in the heartland have long lamented that the GOP's "elite leadership" in Washington are clueless imbeciles, who regularly "go along to get along."  But as they say, the proof is in the pudding.  Very nearly all the current membership of Congress has spent the vast majority of their political careers as a minority party in either their state house, or in Congress.

Once upon a time, the GOP stood for things like keeping down taxation, regulation and the reducing the size of blouted federal government.  But  like all things political, GOP politicians who said they were for this, were only paying lip-service for the masses. Most recently, GOP opposition to ObamaCare was that it was beyond the purview of the federal government both in the Commerce Clause as well as the 10th amendment, which limits the scope of the federal government.  Then came politics...

Among other things, S.197 sets a statute of limitations for claims, caps damages and creates standards for expert witnesses. These may sound like great ideas, but they are not within the constitutional powers granted to the federal government for the very same reasons Obamacare is not.

The law’s own justification for its constitutional authority should be chilling to anyone committed to limited federal power. The bill’s findings state that health care and health insurance are industries that “affect interstate commerce,” and conclude that Congress therefore has Commerce Clause power to regulate them — even when it involves an in-state transaction between a doctor and patient, governed by in-state medical malpractice laws. Is there any industry that couldn’t be found to have an effect on interstate commerce? The agriculture and manufacturing industries, long considered the paradigmatic areas not covered by the Commerce Clause, certainly fall under federal power under this broad analysis.

Now, the Senate GOP is for big government, because it's something that they want...for political jockeying. So, which is it? They have no principles that matter, and should adhere to, or they're just political hacks who say one thing one day, and something diametrically opposite the other? This is hypocrisy that is often laid at the feet of Congressional [Social] Democats...and a bat that should be used to beat the GOP political leadership.

No wonder Rush Limbaugh took to the airwaves at the close of last week, an advance copy of this article in his hand, to say in essence -- and sadly -- that he was coming to the conclusion that in fact there were a number of Republicans who were on the other side -- as in those who once supported the conservative argument having jumped the fence to play in some fashion for Clark Clifford's old team

Making them, as we will call them here, "Clark Clifford Republicans."

"Clark Clifford Republicans" defined as those who really don't believe in the Reagan/Coolidge view -- the conservative view and once upon a time the Republican view -- of the world at all. Even if they give good lip service to the idea in public, it is clear from this piece that in the quiet corners of this or that Washington bistro they are muttering their equivalent derogations for Tea Partiers that match in some fashion Clifford's "amiable dunce" derisive. Although, it appears, they have dropped the "amiable."

It's not simply that they have a Thomas E. Dewey/Nelson Rockefeller view of the world or, to use Barry Goldwater's pithy description, they favor a "dime store New Deal."

The real problem here is that all of Clark Clifford's friends across the decades have so rooted Big Government in the psychology of Washington that "Republican Elites" have elected to accept the whole premise -- and for reasons having to do with self-preservation simply cannot bring themselves to get seriously Reaganesque or Coolidge-like because to do so gnaws at their own economic vitals and capacity for influence. Both now hopelessly entangled with the concrete boxes of bureaucracy that literally litter the Washington landscape. [Emphasis is mine, Ed.]

This is a bad bill and should never have been written this way.  You can't scream about a massive government over-reach in one minute...then try and extend the reach of government in another.  This is what DEMOCRATS DO...and is a gross betrayal of core principles of the Republican Party.

Paul Ryan: A Duty To Serve

Recently, Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) said that he didn't want to run for president because,

Ryan has said that one reason he is not interested in running for president is that he would have to spend time away from his family, including three young children.

As a former US Marine...at some point in their every single American has a duty to serve our country, in some shape form or fashion, even if it's only showing up to a retail store to work.  But, Jenifer Rubin in her WaPo blog, Right Turns, makes this devastating point:

I do not know Paul Ryan. I am not acquainted with him. I have never even met the man. If I knew him at all well, I would walk into his office and slap down on his desk Jennifer Rubin’s post. As she points out, lots of Americans in uniform have answered their country’s call. Here is the question I would ask Ryan: “In this crisis, how can you of all people justify not doing what those soldiers have done?” And here is the argument that I would make: “You have the preparation; you have the training; you have the temperament; you have the knowledge; you have the persuasive capacity. We now face a great crisis, and you understand what has to be done better than anyone else. Your country needs you. In the circumstances, what possible excuse could trump that? You have a duty to serve.”

Mr. Ryan, you are currently, the only member of the GOP leadership that has a clue about the myriad of problems that face this country.  More importantly, you are the only "official" member of the leadership that has actually had the balls to put out a plan on how to undo the economic train-wreck that the Democratic party and Barack Obama has turned us into. 

Therefore sir, you have the DUTY to serve!  It's time to ante up and put your money where your mouth is.  You can talk the talk, not it's time to walk...down Pennsylvania Avenue in January, 2013 and take the oath of office...here's a web page petition to draft Mr. Ryan. I signed it.

GOP Leadership Betrays The Base

As I predicted last year, the GOP leadership in Congress has betrayed not just the Tea Party that gave them a huge historic victory, but the entire Republican Party.  Mr. Bohner, et al, have prized collegiality above principles.  We were promised $100B in cuts on THIS YEARS budget, what we got? Less than 0.38% of that figure.

"Meaningful cuts" was, after all, the GOP mantra going into the talks -- but what they came away with was a handful of sand. The Congressional Budget Office reported yesterday that the deal ac tually trims just $352 million from this year's outlays instead of the advertised $38.5 billion.

I don't think the corrupt GOP leadership understands that they were given one chance to get it right...and they've blown it.  We The People will remember in 2012 what you've done to our country, our party and those principles you claimed to hold dear.  We will elect a new slate and you'll be kicked to the curb.

HT Instapundit

UPDATE:  Instalanche!  Thanks Glenn.

Here's a link  that shows just who voted for the "deal" that screws America.  Boehner blew it.  He had a chance to do the right thing...and blinked.  I hope that next year, someone will have the courage to give him a real primary challenge.  Remember, for anyone to challenge an incumbent takes time and money...contribute freely to their opponents with both.  It's the only way to show the leaders of the Republican Party, that We The People meant what we said at the ballot box last year.

UPDATE II:  Percentage corrected per a commenter.  Thanks!

Why The GOP Will Screw Up Next Year...

This is why I have no faith in the GOP leadership inside the Washington DC beltway.  Here's a bit from Instapundit...the bold is exactly why I don't think that the GOP has what it takes to turn this country around.  In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the leadership of the party in Congress IS PART OF THE PROBLEM!

UNEMPLOYMENT: “The jobs lost in the 2000-2001 recession don’t seem to have ever come back. The percentage of people in the workforce stabilized, but never recovered. This time, it looks like the re-employment picture will be even worse. . . . The Boomers are not retiring. Their workforce participation rate is well above forecast. Have you looked at your 401(k)?” Understandable, but of course that means fewer new jobs will open up.


Plus, from the comments: “The USA is increasingly not a good place to do business. We need a stiff broom. I worry that the GOP won’t do what it takes.” So do I. I was on Hugh Hewitt’s show last night, and he said that when he talks to Beltway GOP insiders he’s amazed at how out of touch they are. They’re not even sure about passing a ban on earmarks if they take the majority, much less more significant change. If they get the majority back, and blow it, they’ll be looking at a third-party challenge in 2012, and not just at the Presidential level.

The so called "elite leaders" of the party are actively blocking the necessary reforms that we as a nation need in order to remain economically viable.  Perhaps it's time to form that 3rd party and cast aside the corrupt GOP leadership.

A Plea From A Moderate Republican

Via Instapundit comes this...

The chest-thumping that is prevalent today among conservative pundits is justified by polling data that seems to spell doom for the Democrats in November. Still, I can’t help but feel like I’m having déjà vu. And you know what they say about those who don’t learn from history.

In the last few years of the Bush administration, the President’s poll numbers crept ever downward. Democrats in politics and the press rejoiced that Americans were finally “waking up” to the fact that they had been right about Bushitler all along. They boasted loud and often that Republicans were losing the country because of their unpopular decisions to go to war in Iraq, establish new national security protocols, lobby for Social Security reform, stress border security, etc. Liberals started at the ideological position that those policies were immoral (if not illegal), and when Bush’s poll numbers dropped, they inferred causality. It never occurred to them that Bush’s poll numbers were dropping because many on the right didn’t think his policies went far enough. Conservatives wanted him to put more emphasis on border security, not less; they wanted to see a more aggressive approach to entitlement reform, not a Medicare prescription boondoggle; they wanted a comprehensive immigration solution that started with border security first, not blanket amnesty. The list could go on. The left, especially liberal journalists, just assumed that their criticisms of the right were being validated by the greater populace with each and every poll. It was wrong at the time, and it’s the main reason that so many of them today can’t understand what happened to their “mandate.”

Conservatives are making the same mistakes right now.

Obama’s poll numbers are dropping and more people than ever are self-identifying as Republicans. Naturally, conservatives believe this means that the public has finally “woken up” and decided that Obama and the Democrats are closet socialists hell-bent on “eroding the bedrock of American prosperity.” They started at the ideological position that the stimulus was a mistake, that health care reform was an overreach, , that the auto industry bailouts were a disaster, that we have to win in Afghanistan at all costs, etc. Every time Obama’s approval rating drops another point, they infer validation that more and more people are seeing the light. It doesn’t occur to them that his poll number are (among other reasons) dropping because liberals are angry that Obama/Reid/Pelosi haven’t worked harder to advance the progressive agenda. Liberals disapprove of the fact that that Obama settled for Obamacare instead of embracing a true, single-payer system; because they watered down financial oversight instead of going for the corporate jugular; because they escalated the war in Afghanistan instead of forcing the new government to sink or swim on its own. The list could go on.

You’re probably asking, “What about independents identifying as Republican? That’s true validation, right?” My answer would be, where else are Independents supposed to go? Their affiliation shift is a protest, and a fickle one at that. Right now, people are unhappy with the present course, specifically when it comes to national fiscal policy. If Republicans make great gains in the November elections, which it seems like they will, they need to govern with perspective and humility. If they mistake their electoral success for a “mandate” to challenge social norms, they’ll be swept out of office again soon. Ironically, the loss of independents from the Republican coalition over the next couple of years would probably provide the boost Obama needs to win reelection in 2012.

If in two years, conservatives are scratching their heads and saying, “What happened to our movement,” they’ll have only themselves to blame.

Humility and perspective are the most underrated commodities in modern politics. Just because people are trending Republican at the moment, it doesn’t mean that they’re particularly conservative. Every time I read a story about how the conservative death knell was greatly exaggerated in 2006 and 2008, or how independents are finally coming back into the conservative fold, I feel like there’s no doubt the right will screw this up again. Conservatism isn’t really back in vogue. Anti-incumbency is. And it will be again when the Republicans are back in charge. You know, déjà vu and all that.

I suspect the the leadership of the GOP will make all the mistakes the possibly could.  They've done it before in 2002-2006.  But George Bednekoff's comment is VERY  pertinent

I believe that the federal system allows Americans across the political spectrum to get along in a politically diverse country, but only if the size and role of government is relatively small at the national level. With more government functions at the state and local level, voters in different regions can agree to disagree. As an example, Massachusetts chose to have lots of government intervention in their medical insurance market and their choice has very little impact on my life in Texas. However, expand similar government intervention in health insurance to the national level, Obamacare, and political debate is elevated to 1850s level of divisiveness. A Republican congressional majority could help turn down the heat of American politics if they resist the urge to make a federal case of everything. They need to learn from their mistakes in the Terri Schiavo case, No Child Left Behind, TSA stupidity, the TARP bailout slush fund, and reckless earmarking.

...never underestimate the GOP leadership's ability to snatch stupidity from the jaws of victory and cause another defeat.  Read the whole thing.

Congressman Phil Hare publicly admits he does not know the Constitution from Declaration

Yet another of the ruling Democratic Congressman shows off his lack of knowledge of the American Constitutional system.


Congressman Phil Hare publicly admits he does not know the difference of the United States Constitution from the Declaration of Independence.





You have to keep in mind that this is a Congressman who helps his party control our laws and money..
Watch and think very hard about how this man, and many other just like him are altering in a fundamental way how our country is run...and be very afraid, these are the people running Washington.

I think that many Americans have begun waking up to the fact that our two party system that runs roughshod over its people broken. I do believe that there is a small handful of Democrats or Republicans that are worth a damn, but there remains a huge pool of ignorance and arrogance in Washington, DC "ruling class."



It's not about the people, it's about the purses strings.

The only difference between the two parties is how they waste your hard earned dollars and what part of the Constitution they don't mind running roughshod over.


Tea Party To Become Majority of GOP?

Rep. Michele Bachmann told Bill O’Reilly on his show tonight that the tea party movement will become the dominant movement within the Republican Party.

She added that if the Republicans are smart they will embrace them.

Yep...I'm much less conservative on social issues (more libertarian that is...I don't give a damn what you do as long as you don't impinge upon me while I'm doing mine), but fiscally, I'm very conservative. I'd like to see those federal departments that are just jobs programs masquerading as "something important" were eliminated (education, "Homeland Security"-isn't that what DoD is for?, labour, just to name a few) and those people put to doing something productive, like working for a living, instead of sucking off Uncle Sam's hind tit.

But Instapundit.com reader, Reader Paul Lee has a great suggestion:

Regarding your link about whether the Tea Party becoming a dominant force in the Republican Party, I offer this suggestion: when giving money to any candidate going forward, make sure you to accompany the cash with a note that says, “Tea Party strings attached to this contribution.”

If enough people do it, politicians will begin to understand that fiscal conservatism isn’t something they can give meaningless lip service to.

If enough people do that, maybe the damn politicians will actually begin to pay attention. The best suggestion I've heard is simply don't send money to the RNC...send it directly to the politician...with the above note. That way, pol's will REALLY know what you think.

Change We Can Live Without

This started as a comment in Politico.com article on the double standard over the Reid/Lott controversy of comments that were politically inexpedient/inexplicable from intelligent men. And has metamorphosed (spelling?) into something much broader and about what is wrong...both the double standard in saying unpleasant things, to how Congress is screwing things up in a way that only Congress can. So, here is my comment.

I suspect, that many people who voted for Mr. Obama last year didn't think that the "change" he has initiated was what they wanted, hence the large movement of indepent voters away from the Democratic brand over the past 7 or so months. This doesn't make them Republicans either. After all, the GOP seems to have forgotten what the party was about (at least during the Bush years...huge deficits and earmarks that have only been exceeded in the past 2 years under the Dems)--fiscal conservatism, not spending beyond the country's means of paying for it...on the other hand, Mr. Obama seems to have jumped off the deficit cliffs, having run up in under a year, more deficit spending than all the past presidents combined.

That is why those independents are becoming jittery. The economy is a shambles, the "stimulus package" wasn't about stimulus, but about paying Democratic constituencies...and it did in spades. For something that was supposed to keep unemployment under 8%, I'd say it's an utter failure. TARP has metamorphosed into something far different that it's original intent, buying up toxic assets from banks, and become a slush fund to spend any way Bernanke and this government desire.

That is why independents are jittery...they see a government that has spent 8 months attempting to pass a plan that will fundamentally alter one sixth of the economy when the economy is a shambles. They didn't vote for that, but you can bet this fall they'll alter who they vote for...and the present governing majority is terrified of what that will mean. So, they are going to try and ram though as much "change" as they can, while they are still the majority.

My hope, is that the GOP won't be the winners this fall...because power corrupts, and they were corrupted while they had the power. My hope is that record numbers of independents will gain office this November and force BOTH parties to reassess themselves, and the goals they once professed to believe in.

GOP Base Dissaffected By Leadership

(Rasmussen)- President Obama and congressional Democrats may be suffering these days in the polls, but Republican voters are still unhappy with the job their legislators are doing in Washington, D.C.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 75% of Republicans voters still believe Republicans in Congress have lost touch with GOP voters throughout the nation over the past several years. Just 21% of GOP voters think their legislators have done a good job representing party values.

Fifty-four percent (54%) of GOP voters say the average Republican congressman is more liberal than they are, while 23% say their views are about the same. Just 20% believe the average GOP representative in Congress is more conservative than the average Republican voter.

Rest here>>>

The Tea Party Is Growing In North Georga

As I've spoken of in the past, the Tea Party IS growing...in North Georgia at least. Historically speaking, this is exactly how the Republican Party started in the old "NorthWest Territory" (i.e. Ohio, Mich, Ill, Ind, Wis, Minn)...a small group of disatisfied voters who banded together and started a new party.

There's a political movement percolating in North Georgia, and it's picking up steam.

Catoosa, Gilmer and Walker counties have tea party groups, and new ones are forming in Dade and Whitfield counties.

"My desire is to go through all of the (Georgia's) 9th Congressional District and organize tea parties," said James Groce, a leader with the Tea Party of Walker County.

They're starting small, but building...I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them begin to elect people not just locally, but nationally next year.

But if their candidates do not win Republican primaries, will Tea Party activists support their own third-party candidates in the fall elections, prompting what Republican strategist Bill McInturff conceded would be a "disaster" for the GOP? Will their supporters simply not vote? Or could their movement, born of concern over government spending even when Republicans were in control, end up taking down incumbents of all political stripes?

"Right now the Tea Party movement has higher favorables (in polls) than either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party," said Democratic pollster Fred Yang. "Eleven months from now, the enemy could be all of us."

In other words, either you support the goals of the Tea Party, or they will actively work against you...Go Tea Party!

NY-23, Palin Is Right To Back Hoffman

Sarah Palin has chosen to back Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate for the 23rd District Congressional seat for New York. On her facebook.com page, her statement reads,

The votes of every member of Congress affect every American, so it’s important for all of us to pay attention to this important Congressional campaign in upstate New York. I am very pleased to announce my support for Doug Hoffman in his fight to be the next Representative from New York’s 23rd Congressional district. It’s my honor to endorse Doug and to do what I can to help him win, including having my political action committee, SarahPAC, donate to his campaign the maximum contribution allowed by law.

Our nation is at a crossroads, and this is once again a “time for choosing.”

The local Republican Party in the NY-23 district has made a serious miscalculation here by nominating a RINO. The RNC doubled down on that mistake by throwing their weight behind the wrong candidate. As Melissa Clouthier said in her blog on pajamasmedia.com,

The Republican establishment made another miscalculation last year. They underestimated the resolve and force of the tea party movement. These folks are ticked. They are angrier at the Republican establishment than they are at President Obama and his Marxist minions.

One recent poll's findings were that 73% of the "base" is pissed at the "elite" leadership. A leadership that has made the mistake of thinking that running a moderate or RINO will win over moderate or independent voters. NOT, that's why Obama won last fall. His bait-and-switch, snookered the independent voters who are now as disenchanted with his unrestricted/undisciplined spending. The RNC has miscalculated the anger of the base and that of the "Tea Partiers" completely.

So the Republicans have seemed as stunned with the tea partiers as the tea partiers are stunned at their party. The grassroots folks have had it. They’re tired of being disrespected. They’re tired of being told to pipe down and go along to get along when the candidates the party picks stink and then lose.

Me? I've come to the conclusion that the leadership at the RNC hasn't a clue what the base wants, and moreover just doesn't care. That's the reason why the Tea Party has gained immense popularity. There is more than a small kernel there for the establishment of a new party, if the RNC and the leadership continues to ignore the desires of the base of this party.