House Passes 9th Vote on Keystone Pipeline XL

This is the press release from the House Energy and Commerce Committee after the vote was taken on Keystone Pipeline XL Friday:

WASHINGTON, DC –The U.S. House of Representatives today approved H.R. 5682, a bill authored by Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), which would approve the application for the Keystone XL pipeline and allow construction of the job-creating project to finally proceed after years of the president’s delays. Today marks the ninth time the House has voted to advance construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which has been tied up in red tape now for over six years. The House approved Cassidy’s bill by a strong bipartisan vote of 252 to 161, and a vote on the legislation is expected in the Senate next week.
“President Obama famously proclaimed in January 2013 that he would do ‘whatever it takes’ to create jobs and 2014 was renamed the president's so-called ‘Year of Action.’ But when the chips are down, President Obama is incapable of saying ‘yes’ to a project that would create thousands of American jobs and advance our energy security. But despite the president’s excuses, we haven’t given up on finding a bipartisan solution,” said Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI). “Hopefully, this ninth vote is the charm, and the Senate and president will finally agree that after six years, it’s time to say yes to energy and yes to jobs.”

The  Senate is set to vote on the pipeline next week, if Majority Leader Reid keeps his word on that promise.  Once passed by both chambers, it will end up on the desk of the president.  There it will be vetoed in short order.  President Obama does not support the Keystone Pipeline XL project and makes no bones about that.  He pledges to veto the bill.  

While this is all about the Louisiana senate race, it is important to keep this issue fresh in the minds of voters.  It has been too long in the making and the excuses from Democrats and President Obama - even some "conservatives" - have all been addressed long ago.  Study after study has been completed and no damage to the environment is foreseen.  President Obama is beholden to far left wing environmentalists who give big dollars to campaign war chests with strings attached - those strings being a promise that fossil fuel energy will continue to be their boogie man.  It is an immoral and incorrect view of energy policy but that is the vacuum in which they dwell.

Here is the recap of the vote:

The 252-161 roll call Friday by which the House approved the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, setting up a Senate showdown vote next week.A "yes" vote is a vote to pass the bill.Voting yes were 31 Democrats and 221 Republicans.Voting no were 161 Democrats and 0 Republicans.

Rep Jason Amash (R-MI) voted "Present" on the bill.  If he runs for another term, it will be entirely appropriate for him to face a primary challenger.  

Landrieu Turns to Keystone Pipeline XL and Personal Attacks in Run-Off Election

Nothing like a Republican tidal wave of an election in historic proportions to clarify thoughts on an important issue.  Take,  for example, the Keystone Pipeline XL project.  Now that the race for U.S. Senate in Louisiana is in a run-off, the incumbent Democrat Senator Landrieu has raced to the floor of the Senate to beg colleagues - and Senate Majority Leader Reid - to bring the project up for a vote.




The House of Representatives, controlled by a Republican majority, has already passed eight (8) bills to move forward on the project but they have all sat languishing on Reid's desk as he refuses to bring them up for a vote.  Talk about obstruction.

Rep Bill Cassidy (R-LA) is in the December 6 run-off with Landrieu.  He is expected to win rather handily and that is not sitting well with Democrats.  On Wednesday, as the House came back into session, it was announced that Rep Cassidy has a Keystone Pipeline XL bill of his own which would be voted on at the end of the week.

“I will now pass a bill identical to the bill the Senate is said to consider to push this issue forward,” said Cassidy in a statement. “If the Senate also passes the bill it can go straight to the President’s desk for signature. It is easy to wonder if the Senate is only considering this because of politics, even so, I hope the Senate and the President do the right thing and pass this legislation creating thousands of jobs. When I’m on the Senate Energy Committee next year, I will work to ensure the President follows the law and allows the construction of this pipeline.”

 Landrieu has said all along that it is important for her to remain in the Senate due to her seniority and chairmanship of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.  Wednesday it was also announced that when Cassidy wins the run-off election, he will be placed on the same committee, only he will be the Senator frrm Louisiana in the majority party.  Landrieu would be in the minority, should she win the run-off.  Also, it can be asked that if she was so important and powerful on this committee, why hasn't she been able to get any of the House bills brought to a vote?

She admitted during a hastily called press conference Wednesday that she had no promise from President Obama that he would sign a bill into law anyway.

Landrieu is taking heat in Louisiana as she is credited with supporting Obamacare.  She was one of the last holdout votes on that 2009 legislation and only agreed to vote for it after she sold her vote to the Democrat majority with a deal known as the Louisiana Purchase.  Her vote was bought for increased federal funding going to Louisiana for that state's Medicaid program.

Do you remember the "Louisiana Purchase?" I don't mean Thomas Jefferson's acquisition of land from Napoleon, but rather Democrats' acquisition of Sen. Mary Landrieu's (D., La.) support for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Landrieu, critics believe, pledged her vote in exchange for gaining $200 million additional federal funds for Louisiana's Medicaid program. Except that, due to a drafting error, the law ended up giving Louisiana $4.3 billion in extra Medicaid funds -- more than twenty times the assigned amount. How this happened, and how Congress failed to fully fix it, is a microcosm of our new health law's many flaws.

Obamacare is deeply unpopular in Louisiana.

Landrieu is desperate to win this election.  Failing to win over voters with ideas on the issues concerning them, she has turned to personal attacks on Cassidy.  The first was lobbed the day after the primary election.  She accused Cassidy of being absent in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.  The problems with this attack were that Cassidy was not in Congress at that time (he was elected to Congress in 2009)  and also that Cassidy, a physician, was busy setting up a hospital for the refugees of the storm. That little attack turned viral thanks to the hashtag Landrieu used on Twitter - #WhereWasBill - and it soon backfired.  Cassidy took to Twitter himself and educated Landrieu on the subject.

So, after that failure, Landrieu launched an ad attacking Cassidy's speaking skills.

The Landrieu campaign ad, released over the weekend, ran during the New Orleans Saints game. It shows Cassidy giving a speech at the Republican Leadership Conference earlier this year, and highlights various moments from the speech where he appears to trip over his words.The ad describes the Republican lawmaker as being “nearly incoherent” before the narrator asks: “We’d lose Mary Landrieu’s clout for this?”

To which Cassidy responded by saying,

“I may not speak like Barack Obama, she prefers Barack Obama, but I tell you — I speak on the right side of the issues for the people of Louisiana, and that’s why I’m going to win on Dec. 6,” Cassidy said Tuesday. 

NAACP Increases Its Irrelevance

The NAACP didn't bother to celebrate the victories of two groundbreaking elections - that of Mia Love in Utah and Tim Scott in South Carolina.  

Instead of celebrating gains made by black Americans, the NAACP pushed the well worn theme of voter suppression.
The NAACP addressed the election in a statement, but failed to acknowledge the election of the first black Republican woman to Congress, or the first black senator to win an election in the South since Reconstruction.

Lashing out on Twitter, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) proved again the association's liberal allegiance instead of honoring its place in American history.  The NAACP began in 1909 and is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization.  Over the course of time, the once respectable organization is now seen through politically partisan eyes.  The organization claims to be non-partisan, in order to keep its tax status, but no one is fooled.  Any black conservative running and winning as a Republican elected official is told they are not black enough.  The old Uncle Tom slur is flung and leadership is openly hostile to anyone not falling in line with the now standard race baiting language of those who certainly know better than to conduct themselves in such hateful ways.

The usefulness of the NAACP has come to the end of the line. The organization has allowed itself to become irrelevant instead of growing and flourishing with the times.

When Democrats are losing an argument - or in this case, a tidal wave of races this election cycle - the default action taken is throwing the race card.  There are many professional race baiters and those in the upper eschelon of the NAACP are no exception. The organization graded Senator Tim Scott, the first black senator in the South since Reconstruction (from either party) and determined he deserved a grade of F for his performance in the U.S. Senate. The media was only too happy to play along.  Senator Scott was interviewed on MSNBC and ended up schooling the news host about conservative political philosophy and why he thinks it is a path to success for minorities. Scott was asked: how he responds to that "if his true concern is for helping lower income families and children."  Apparently, on MSNBC, if the NAACP issues a politically motivated message via a grade, then that is the last word.  How could Scott possibly argue with that logic?

Quite well, actually.  I wish more Republican elected officials were able to express Republican philosophy as well as Senator Scott did.  



And what about Mia Love, you ask?  Why isn't she to be congratulated by the NAACP for her accomplishments?  Good question.  If Mia Love was a Democrat, she would be the darling of this organization.  The daughter of Haitian immigrants, she is an accomplished women, including the former Mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah and this was her second run for Congress.  She is known as an emerging star of the Republican party, regularly making lists of those to watch.  She is the first black Republican woman in Congress now.

No stranger to being the recipient of ugly talk from Democrats, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was none too pleased with the race baiting shown in the recent election cycle. Responding to a question during an interview on Fox News recently about the hideous political mailer sent out in Georgia, she said:

“The idea that you would play such a card and try fear mongering among minorities just because you disagree with Republicans, that they’re somehow all racist … I find it appalling, I find it insulting,” said Rice during a Fox News interview. “As a Republican black woman from the South, I would say really? Is that really the argument you’re going to make in 2014?

The voters in Georgia didn't fall for it, either:

For the record, Georgia elected a Republican senator by eight percentage points, with only 34 of 159 counties voting for the Democratic opponent. And the state also reelected its GOP governor by a similar margin.

Seems like this lopsided political organization should lose their tax-exempt status.

The War On Women Meme Is Dead

A favorite talking point from Democrats since the campaigns of 2010 has been the War on Women.  This mostly centers on a single issue - that of abortion, and to a lesser degree free birth control for all.  Democrats claimed that Republicans are the anti-woman party due to pro-life plank in the Republican Party platform.  The media was only too happy to oblige and promote this meme.

Democrats assume that women are single issue voters.  Women voters now make up the majority of the voting population so Democrats thought this was a winning tactic.  It worked among some voters for a couple of election cycles.  Apparently voters have wised up now.  Democrats have overplayed their line.

The War on Women was extended to peripheral issues.  GOP votes down a redundant equal pay for equal work bill?  War on Women!  GOP votes down a minimum wage increase at the federal level? War on Women!  GOP votes against federal monies going to Planned Parenthood for abortion services?  War on Women!

President Obama was a big cheerleader for this nonsense.  Recently, he was heard on the campaign trail to say, "The idea that my daughters wouldn't have the same opportunities as somebody’s sons." "that’s unacceptable”.

The so-called Republican "war on women" was never really a thing — and now it's not even a thing that works.It's hard to pinpoint when the canard started (sometime around 2010) — but its maiden voyage might have begun in earnest the night of February 7, 2012, during a debate in New Hampshire, when, apropos of nothing, moderator George Stephanopoulos asked the Republican candidates a complete non sequitur: Should states have the right to ban contraception? Some later speculated that Stephanopoulos might have been helping Obama concoct that narrative. Whether or not this was coordinated, he certainly seems to have contributed.The term was subsequently used as an attack on anyone who supported restrictions on abortion, or thought it inappropriate for taxpayers or employers who believe it violates their rights of conscience to be required to pay for someone else's birth control. And, for a while, the allegation seemed to have a real impact, helping defeat Republican men like 2010 Republican Senate candidate Ken Buck, who was painted as a "sexist." Other Republicans seemed to invite these attacks by talking about things such as "legitimate rape."

Wendy Davis ran as the Democratic nominee in the 2014 Texas Gubernatorial race. She was the perfect candidate for Democrats as she had filibustered a pro-life bill in the Texas Legislature in the last session. Her filibuster ultimately failed but her fifteen minutes of fame soared. She was the darling of liberal America. She even got a book deal out of it, which conveniently put the book tour at the same time as her campaign for governor.

Here is what happened on Election Day in Texas:

Exit polling for the 2014 Texas Gubernatorial race produced this breakdown between men and women voters:

Greg Abbott	Wendy Davis
Men	66%	33%
Women	54%	45%

Greg Abbott, the Republican candidate, won the majority of both men and women in Texas.

The meme, popular for the last two election cycles, no longer applies. 

Accusing Republicans of hostility to contraception, for example, may work as a way of motivating marginal voters in presidential years, when they just need a little nudge to go to the polls. Not so in the midterms.

The Democrats thought for sure that this was the winning story line for Wendy Davis in Texas.  Why, that book of hers even told her own abortion stories. See, women.  Wendy is just like you.

Except she's not.  Wendy Davis did not speak for conservative women.  Conservative women are not single issue voters.  Looks like Democrat women aren't so much single issue voters anymore either.  The myth has exploded. Independent leaning women voters aren't accepting the War on Women mantra anymore either.

All across America, Republican women were elected to office.  

Good riddance, War on Women.

Governor Christie Wins Big On Election Night

Harris County remained solidly in the Republican column on Election Night.  As the country's third most populous county, this is crucial. This sends a message to Democrats from the local level all the way to Battleground Texas and the former Obama people. Texans who voted kept the state in Republican control on the local and state level.

Wendy Davis was soundly defeated.  Despite backing from Hollywood, national Democratic leaders, and liberal women around the country, her ugly campaign did her in.  One of her campaign ads made the list of the ten worst campaign ad in the country.  Now, as a bonus, Republican woman Konni Burton has won Davis' Texas Senate seat.  Bye, girl, bye.

The big winner of the night was Governor Chris Christie.  As the chairman of the Republican Governors Association, he was a warrior on the campaign trail for the election of Republican gubernatorial candidates around the country.  Those concerned about the appeal of Christie as a possible presidential candidate can rest easier.  The GOP took back control of state governments in unprecedented ways.  Think about this - the new governor of very Blue State Maryland is a Republican. The same is true of Illinois. And Massachusetts.

Christie, the chairman of the Republican Governors Association, lauded the quality of the GOP’s candidates in Tuesday’s races. Republicans seized control of the Senate by gaining at least seven seats, and also made a strong showing in gubernatorial races, winning in Maryland, Arkansas, Illinois and Massachusetts.

The victories at the state level are crucial for future party successes.

Thank you, Senator Udall, for giving the War on Women the funeral it so richly deserves. Incumbent Senator Udall made the so-called Republican War on Women the central issue in his race for re-election and ended up being mocked for it - he earned the nickname of "Senator Uterus".

Republicans elected the first female Senator from the state of West Virginia, Shelley Moore Capito ; the first black female Republican in Congress, Mia Love of Utah; the first female veteran to the U.S. Senate, Joni Ernst of Iowa; the first Hispanic woman Lt Gov in Illinois, Maria Rodriguez;  re-elected the first female Indian - American, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley; and the first female Republican Hispanic Governor, Susanna Martinez of New Mexico.

It was a good night for Republicans around the country.  A really good night.  Now for the hard part - governing.

Landrieu Says The South is Racist and Sexist

How do we know that Democrats are facing some troubling poll numbers as early voting in many states comes to a close before Tuesday's general election?  The divisive political rhetoric is in full throat with everyone from President Obama to Senate candidates like incumbent Senator Mary Landrieu in Louisiana.  

Here is what Landrieu told NBC's Chuck Todd when she was asked why President Obama would not be particularly well received in Louisiana to campaign for her re-election:

“I’ll be very, very honest with you. The South has not always been the friendliest place for African-Americans,” the senator told Todd. “It’s been a difficult time for the president to present himself in a very positive light as a leader.”Landrieu also said that Louisiana was a tough place for women as well. “It’s not always been a good place for women to present ourselves,” she added. “It’s more of a conservative place.”

She started out with the usual race baiting and then moved into claims of sexism.  Perhaps she forgot that the last Governor before the current one was a woman.  Yeah, well, we'd all like to forget her and her utter incompetence in handling Hurricane Katrina.

When the push back on this insipidness began from the Louisiana Republicans, Landrieu doubled down as she offered her explanation:

In a statement released Friday evening, Landrieu defended herself against people trying to “twist” her comments. After clarifying that the president’s energy policies are the “main reason” for his unpopularity in Louisiana, the senator addressed the backlash over her race comment.“[T]he South has not always been the friendliest or easiest place for African-Americans to advance, and it’s been a difficult place for women to be recognized as the leaders we are,” Landrieu said, echoing her initial statement. “Everyone knows this is the truth, and I will continue to speak the truth even as some would twist my words seeking political advantage.”

Mary Landrieu has been in elected office since 1980.  She has the advantage of being a part of a political family in Louisiana.  She knows exactly what she is doing when she says such remarks to the media.  

The Democrats have nothing of note to run on for re-election and they face another shellacking this mid-term, just as the last one.  It's desperate times for them.

The War on Women Game

Carly Fiorina has a plan to combat the War on Women game played by Democrats pandering to women and Independents voters.  As we know, women now make up the majority of voters.  Elections are won by appealing to the majority of Independent voters, as well as getting out your own party's voters with a solid, well implemented ground game for early voting and on election day.

Part of the problem with the GOP’s current strategy (or lack thereof) to combat the Left’s “war on women” narrative is that there’s too much talk and not enough action and accountability.Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and a former Senate candidate, has a plan she says is based on results instead of speeches and lectures.“As a business person, results matter to me,” Fiorina said when she spoke to the Washington Examiner. “So words are nice, but in the end words don’t change that much.”Fiorina came up with the idea for her plan, the Unlocking Potential Project, after she gave a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in March 2014. In the speech she took on the “war on women” narrative aggressively, noting that women make up 54 percent of voters.

Women are not single issue voters.

“We’re not some special interest group and please don’t insult us by saying all we care about is reproductive rights, whether you’re pro-life or pro-choice,” Fiorina said. “I happen to be pro-life. But there’s more to women than that debate, there’s more to women than the debate about birth control.”

Fiorina is right.  It is insulting to assume that women solely are concerned with one issue or another. The War on Women meme began when all else failed for Democrats on the social issues.  You may remember that during the re-election of President George W Bush, it was all about national security and the threats of terrorism on our shores.  Women voters swung over to him in the aftermath of 9/11/01 - they were called "security moms".  Before that women were referred to as "soccer moms" as it was presumed that women cared most about family issues and children, therefore more women voted for Democrats. To further exploit that line of thinking, the War on Women emerged over recent arguments about the so-called rights of women to tax payer funded birth control.  Obamacare has provisions for federally funded birth control.  Free birth control is assumed to be a human right now, according to Democrats.  It's all rather silly when one looks at it from a realistic approach - most standard prescriptions for basic birth control pills cost about $7.00 per month.  The issue clearly isn't about birth control.  It is about the larger issue of employer paid health care insurance.  Thus, the legal wrangling and debates.

And, over the battle of equal pay for men and women, Democrats like to say that those mean Republicans don't want women to make as much money as men in the work place.  Paid partisans like to give the press tantalizing quotes to make headlines and sometimes that come back in a bad way.

Maybe you remember this one:

"Scott Walker is giving women the back of his hand"  said Debbie Wasserman Schultz, DNC Chair. Walker is the Republican governor of Wisconsin running for re-election. She said this as the issue of domestic violence was all over the air waves and newspapers due to stories relating to that issue and professional athletes.  She later had to apologize for her crude remark.

We Republicans have our own communications problems. We also make the mistake that voters won't take such nonsense seriously.  We know better so we assume that everyone knows better.  Unfortunately, that is not the case with most of today's voters. We can fix that and allow successful Republican businesswomen to lead the way.  Carly Fiorina has taken the right first step.  Republican women have to step up and state that Democrats don't speak for us. She has several ads out in states that can be in the GOP win column to take back control of the U.S. Senate.  You can see ads she has done for Iowa, North Carolina, and New Hampshire, for example, HERE.  Targeting specific races is how she is reaching voters.

Republican Women lead the way.

Which Cable Network Airs More Republican Campaign Ads?

This is a chart found online which shows the cable networks and the percentages of money spent from both Republican and Democrat campaigns.  You may notice the obvious - the majority of Republican ad money is spent on networks believed to fit into the stereotype that the party is traditionally older, whiter and not much for diversity.  

It's time to switch out that kind of thinking and reach outside of the normal comfort zones.  Preaching to the choir doesn't increase the number of voters in the Republican column.  Even on the Food Network the difference is almost 50% - 38.57% GOP and 61.43 Democrat.  What's up with that?  I know this chart doesn't represent the majority of my television viewing and I surely can't be alone in that.  

Surely it is worth more investment in reaching Independent voters needed to win elections.  

You may think that FOX and MSNBC would be the most partisan when it comes to running political ads.  This proves to be wrong, in this survey.  

As cable networks take up a bigger percentage of viewer eyeballs, campaigns are spending more on those networks than ever before. A new study by Echelon Insights, a Republican firm that specializes in digital and advertising strategy, found that Republican campaigns tend to buy cable spots on channels aimed at men, while Democrats are buying more spots on channels that draw more women and young viewers.It’s little surprise that the overwhelming number of political advertisements on Fox News come from Republicans: GOP candidates accounted for 84 percent of Fox’s ads. A similar number, 85 percent, of ads on MSNBC come from Democrats.But the news networks are only the second-most partisan channels. Echelon found that 93 percent of political ads on the Golf Channel are paid for by Republican candidates and outside groups. And 94 percent of the political spots on the E! Network are sponsored by Democrats and their allies, making it the bluest network in America.

Attention shifts a bit, as you would expect, from primary season into the general election time frame.

Because of Fox News’ overwhelmingly Republican viewership, its relative value to political campaigns changes over time. Echelon’s analysis shows Republicans advertised most heavily on Fox News, almost to the exclusion of other channels, between February and late March, and again in late June — both times when expensive primary battles made access to conservative eyeballs essential to success.After primaries, Republican cable dollars expanded across many other networks. Similarly, Democrats tended to gravitate towards MSNBC earlier in the year, when primary voters were about to cast their ballots. 

By taking a look at the results, as itemized in three separate charts in this piece linked above, the Golf Channel used most by Republicans is also the most expensive cable channel for advertising.  

Wendy Davis Attack on Greg Abbott Brings Immediate Bi-Partisan Criticism

The backlash from the latest political ad released by the Wendy Davis for Governor campaign has been quite an amazing situation to watch, to say the least.  I have yet to see anyone defend that ad except for Wendy Davis herself and her campaign communications director, Zac Petkanas. 

This is where I remind you that before coming to the Wendy Davis campaign, Zac Petkanas was the communications director for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).  Enough said.

Liberals and conservatives alike are weighing in with disgust and disbelief with the ad - it is literally attacking a candidate who is in a wheelchair with a wheelchair.  Time Magazine even called an article about it : "Wendy Davis Wins the Prize for Most Ill-Advised Political Ad of 2014". It called the ad the nastiest point of the campaign season:

The 2014 campaign season reached its nastiest point yet Friday, with a campaign ad by Texas gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis that plays off the disability of her opponent Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, while calling him a hypocrite in the same breath.

With all the ugly stuff out there during this mid term election season, with the Democrats running scared about losing control of the U.S. Senate, running THE nastiest ad is saying something. 

Here is the ad:

Energy Policy and Poverty - At the Crossroads

Recently, I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Judith Curry speak at the Texas Public Policy Foundation's first annual At the Crossroads Energy and Climate Policy Summit in Houston.  Dr. Curry has an op-ed in Friday's Wall Street Journal. Some of her credentials are at the bottom of the article: Ms. Curry, a professor and former chairwoman of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology, is the president of Climate Forecast Applications Network. She points out that the numbers do not add up in the arguments in the climate change alarmists' rhetoric.

Here is a good introduction to the information now available from that summit on the TPPF website:



It is not an exaggeration to call most of the policy demands and emotional rhetoric coming from the wealthy and unaffected simply snake oil.  Wealthy liberals like Al Gore, formerly career politicians, jumped on this bandwagon in the early stages not out of some kind of need to save the world but out of pure greed.  Many have become even more wealthy from actions taken that have now been proven contrary to not only common sense but also to basic statistics. 

Bad policy decisions - especially many of the arbitrary mandates promoted by policy makers - are literally killing poor people.  How's that for alarmist reaction?  By making electricity more expensive in hopes of discouraging use of power, the poor suffer.  Think of African villages with no power source.  Without a cheap source of energy - namely electricity - there is common place shortened life spans and no hope for a better future.  

Electricity lifts people out of poverty.  It gets no simpler than that. 

You can listen to Dr. Curry's presentation to the Summit HERE. 

Other presentations are available now on the website, too.  It is worth your time to get the real facts on the subject.

Weekly Republican Address: NY-21 Candidate Elise Stefanik

"It's NOT a war on women. It's a war FOR women", said Texas Federation of Republican Women President Jody Rushton recently.  I see the Speaker of the House, Republican John Boehner of Ohio, agrees with this statement. He asked Elise Stefanik to deliver the Republican weekly response to President Obama's weekly address.

She's been called the new "poster candidate" of the Republican Party, and this weekend New York congressional candidate Elise Stefanik was selected by House Speaker John Boehner to deliver the GOP's weekly address."One month from today, all Americans face a clear choice: stick with the status quo of more government, more spending, and higher taxes or choose a new direction of new ideas to unleash job creation and economic growth," she said.

At 30 years old, she will also be the youngest member of Congress on Election Day.   

TPPF Hosted At the Crossroads Energy and Climate Policy Summit

The recent summit held by Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) in Houston, titled At the Crossroads Energy and Climate Policy Summit, has proven to be a very timely event given recent headlines.  The event was well attended and everyone came away with an arsenal of new information and factual arguments against the onset of the liberal climate change agenda. Those promoting more and more regulations and public policy to curtail the effects of carbon production are true believers that the science has long been settled.  Most of the presenters at this event were of a different mindset.  

There was even a strong presentation on the moral argument for fossil fuels.  The most effective way to lift the poor out of dire circumstances and into stable, productive lives is with the production of electricity.  Electricity, of course, most reliably comes from fossil fuels. 

From a press release concerning the intrusion of EPA regulations on Texas electricity market: 

Texas Public Policy Foundation Armstrong Center for Energy & the Environment Director Kathleen Hartnett White testified Tuesday before the Environmental Regulation Committee of the Texas House of Representatives on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP).
 
“EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan rule would usurp long-upheld state authority over electric utilities and impose federally centralized low-carbon operation of the nation’s electric power system,” said White. “Yet, EPA admits that the intended reduction of carbon dioxide from electric power plants would not have any meaningful impact on assumed global warming.
 
“The CPP would have a disproportionately large impact on Texas – more than any other state. The regulatory mandate imposed on Texas is almost two times that of the next two states combined. Full state implementation would involve violation of Texas law to comply with EPA regulation that violates federal law.
 
“The U.S. Congress alone can restrain EPA’s ever expanding regulatory regime. The time is nigh for Congress to establish clear limits on EPA’s authority so that federal courts can meaningfully restrain an agency which now knows no bounds.”

And this article Tuesday from Institute for Energy Research on the consequences experienced in Germany from arbitrary renewable energy mandates:

Germany now has the second highest residential rates for electricity in Europe, second only to Denmark; just a decade ago, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy had higher rates than Germany. Between 2005 and 2010, the annual increase in residential electricity rates in Germany was 4.3 percent. Since the tsunami hit Japan in 2011, the annual increase was 7 percent because Germany increased its solar and wind subsidies to spur their development so it could close down eight of its nuclear reactors. Germany’s 40 million households and other taxed consumers paid 106 billion Euros between 2000 and 2013 to renewable energy producers. The government estimates it could cost as much as 1 trillion Euros by 2040. Due to the higher prices, household electricity consumption has declined by about 1 percent per year since 2005. The economic toll on the country and its residents has made the government recently cut renewable subsidies by 29 percent on average to 120 Euros a megawatt-hour.Germany is also taking an economic toll for the energy transition when job-creating investment leaves Germany for countries with lower power costs. For example, earlier this year chemical company BASF said it would reduce its investments in Germany from one-third to one-quarter of its global total.[iii]

Government mandates are jobs killers.  

Last week at the U.N. climate summit, California Governor Jerry Brown pleaded for cap and trade legislation and regulations.  Maybe he doesn't realize what a poor state of affairs California is for the ordinary resident.  Already overtaxed and watching jobs leave the state for more business friendly states - like Texas - Californians must have been shaking their heads. As noted in a Wall Street Journal piece this week:

The truth is that the glut of oil being produced from U.S. shale—in part via fracking—has helped reduce gas prices. Luckily for Mr. Brown and his environmentalist friends, the oil boom will also mitigate a gas price spike in California next year. Although Californians may ultimately pay more for gas because of the carbon regulations, they might not feel it.Consider the state's divestment from coal and renewable mandate. The average retail price of electricity in California has increased by 2.37 cents per kWh in the last three years—or about 15%—compared to about 1.42 cents nationwide. Yet electricity prices would be a lot higher in California (and nationwide) were it not for the natural-gas surfeit from fracking. The price of natural gas, which provides about 50% of California's electricity, has fallen by more than half since 2008.Mr. Brown is smart enough to appreciates how the fossil fuels are in effect subsidizing his expensive anti-carbon agenda, even if it's an inconvenient truth that the Al Gore crowd would rather ignore.

And, who else is jumping on the bandwagon? Your doctor. Thanks, Obamacare!

Among the more than 310,000 demonstrators marching through Manhattan in last week’s People’s Climate March were contingents of physicians. And now the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the voice of the nation’s powerful medical establishment, has issued a call-to-arms to doctors,urging those in health and health-related fields to throw their weight behind climate change prevention efforts.“Is climate change similar to poverty and war, best left to other scientists and politicians, or is it of such fundamental importance—like clean water, clean air, and adequate sanitation—that physicians should strive to further clarify the effects of climate change on health, educate themselves and the public, and mount a campaign to ensure that climate change does not lead to an epidemic of eroding health?” wrote Howard Bauchner, JAMA editor-in-chief, and executive editor Phil Fontanarosa.Yes, they concluded.“Understanding and characterizing this threat and educating the medical community, public, and policy makers are crucial if the health of the world’s population is to continue to improve during the latter half of the 21st century,” according to Bauchner and Fontanarosa.  

 Those are three articles from just the first of this week that crossed my path with no effort at all.  Imagine what awaits us as this administration remains in office for two more years.  We should all be alarmed by those thoughts.

If you are interested in the presentations delivered by some excellent speakers at the TPPF summit, keep an eye on their website.  We were told that the panels would be up on the website soon.  

HCRP's Westside Victory Center Holds Grand Opening

The Westside Victory Headquarters held a Grand Opening event Wednesday night featuring a 20 year old young man from Illinois as the guest speaker.  He spoke truth to power and held the attention of the entire audience of Republicans with his candid opinions and his experience as told in the stories he recited.

Charlie Kirk is the Founder and Executive Director of Turning Point, USA. One very good prediction made by Kirk is that in the 2016 election campaign, look for the Democrat candidate to entice young voters with a promise of legislation to eliminate student debt.  I see the Wall Street Journal editorial page is thinking along the same lines with this story:

"Last week we told you  about the$20 billion annual rise in Department of Education outlays, due to an increase in student-loan borrowers using income-based repayment programs. Today the Journal reports the disturbing details for taxpayers.

"Enrollment in the plans has surged, thanks in part to a continuing administration publicity campaign. As of June, the number had swelled to 1.91 million Americans holding more than $101 billion in student loans—nearly a 10th of all outstanding federal student debt. The number of borrowers and debt covered roughly has doubled in the past year," reports the Journal.

These plans allow borrowers to reduce monthly payments to just 10% of discretionary income. The loans can then be forgiven after ten years if borrowers work in government or for a non-profit—basically any job as long as it doesn't involve a profit-seeking business.

So the government is spending taxpayer dollars to encourage young people to avoid repaying loans to taxpayers, while at the same time encouraging these young people to work for outfits that don't pay taxes. Margaret Thatcher might have called it a perfect formula for eventually running out of other people's money."

The Obama White House is currently running a publicity campaign to encourage young people to go into public service by offering the goodie of reduced payments on student loans.  As Charlie Kirk mentioned, the typical graduating college student leaves school $33,000 in debt.  Unfortunately, free money is more of an incentive to support a candidate than the logic of a private sector job that Republican business economics can produce.

The Westside Victory Center is a part of the Harris County Republican Party network in the get out the vote effort.  There are now several centers open throughout Harris County.  Phone banking for candidates and campaign literature distribution are two of the ways these centers are helping out this election season.

Thanks to Republican Women, the Westside Victory Center is up and running.  The Grand Opening was hosted by Village Republican Women and Magic Circle Republican Women.  Also credited with support was Memorial West Republican Women. Many candidates and elected officials stopped by, as well as Paul Simpson, chairman of Harris County Republican Party and Tracy Hobson, HCRP Political Director.

POTUS Salutes Marine With Coffee Cup In Hand

President Obama saluted a Marine while holding a coffee cup in his right hand.  I've never seen that done before, by a Commander in Chief.  In case you have never seen this either, take a look:

http://i.instagram.com/p/tS2r-hwina/


That tidbit was not originally in the report from the White House press pool.  The White House, though, included it in its Instagram account.  Social media strikes again.  See how this works?

Also, on the subject of basic manners, you will also see on the little video clip that he comes down the steps from Marine One and walks on down the tarmac without looking back at First Lady Michelle Obama disembarking behind him. He just keeps walking with his sunglasses on and coffee cup in hand.  What a swell guy.

Republicans Must Embrace Social Media to Win Elections

Where are you, fellow Republicans, as the political debates and discussions are waged on social media? In the beginning of the world of Twitter, a real effort was made for conservative leaning people - especially among those identifying with the Tea Party - to grow a real presence.  It is an undeniably useful tool in getting a message out.  Campaigns not embracing the full use of Twitter are missing a large block of politically engaged people.  The same can be said of Facebook.  Every candidate for political office in the year 2014 should have a presence on Facebook.  Every campaign should have a Facebook page that can be "liked" by supporters.  Each time a new supporter hits the "Like" button, the candidate's page is opened up to more eyes.  The candidate's information moves into more time lines and more exposure.

How many times have you heard, especially in Republican circles populated by older members, that all this social media stuff is silly?  How about the canard that social media is just for the younger people and doesn't really amount to much?  Generally speaking, Facebook attracts more older people and Twitter is more popular among younger people.  Embrace both outlets for a successful campaign.  A campaign wants everyone to hear the message.  Grassroots volunteers are a ready source of social media activism.  

Journalists,bloggers,television and radio people are on social media all day long. There is no easier way to have a message attract the attention of those who write about candidates and campaigns. Get the Republican message in print and on air, not just that of the Democrats! 

A key to growing the Republican Party - essential to remaining a viable political party - is to bring in younger voters, as well as those newly awakened to the world of politics.  Just as the original Tea Party movement did, before it became a vehicle for paid, professional dividers, using activists and grassroots supporters is the key to political success.  There is no easier way for an activist to engage in politics than through social media.

Friday night brought the first debate between Greg Abbott and Wendy Davis.  These two candidates running for the office of Governor of Texas debated for one hour in the Rio Grande Valley and it was televised statewide.  It was also live streamed on the Internet from various sources.  I am sorry to say that the Republican Party of Texas did not live stream the debate on its website.  Battleground Texas did. There is no daylight between Battleground Texas and the Democratic Party of Texas.  

I was dismayed that I saw so little engagement on Twitter during the debate.  While I was sending off thoughts in 140 characters, I noticed all the tweets coming from Wendy Davis supporters.  From Jaoquin Castro to Annie's List and everyone in between elected officials and special interest groups, the thoughts flew.  The opportunity was lost to reach a broader audience with Abbott's messages and directing traffic to his campaign website.

Let's recognize that the Communication Director for Wendy Davis' campaign is the former Communication Director to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. There are few that are nastier in their speech and quotes than Harry Reid.  The Davis campaign is organized in social media efforts using the Obama campaign model.  

In an email that went out overnight from Amber Mostyn, the woman and money behind Annie's List, her pitch included playing up the "anti-woman rhetoric" of some on social media during the Texas governor candidate debate.

"I can't believe the words I have seen directed at me, Wendy Davis and all other women tonight, but I know Annie's List will be there to call out the politicians who think that behavior is acceptable." 
"Annie's List is there to fight back against all of the vitriole that is being spewed. We need you to fight with us!"

This is right in line with the obvious theme that Team Wendy decided upon before Friday evening's debate.  Mostyn used a few ugly remarks made on Twitter as examples in the email.  

All Wendy Davis really offered to viewers and listeners Friday night, in my readily acknowledged partisan opinion, was the standard Democrat talking points of the war on women, pay inequality, and victimhood.  She was lacking in solutions and used an overabundance of personal attacks on Attorney General Abbott.  She came off looking robotic and disengaged.  It was not difficult to push back on her in social media.  I wish more on the GOP side had done that.  

Here is an article about the efforts in social media and voter tracking data base research coordination being done at the RNC.  It is a fact-filled article and should be read by Republican voters and those encouraging others to vote Republican in the mid-term elections.  I hope the Republican Party will be able to take back the technical advantages we had at one time, in the pre-Obama days.  I think it is fair to say we can't win without it.

Houston Columnist Bill King Sparks Lively Discussion with United Republicans of Harris County

Despite a very stormy night, United Republicans of Harris County hosted a full room of interested guests Tuesday evening. The featured speaker was Bill King, columnist for the Houston Chronicle. The audience was treated to a very candid talk about the current environment for Republicans in Harris County and Texas, as well as the national picture.

Mr. King frequently noted that the audience may not appreciate what he was saying, but it is important to understand the conclusions derived from polling, as well as census numbers.  The truth is, often those who attend political events live in a bit of a bubble.  It is normal to gravitate to events that will feature a speaker with views we also hold but it is essential to allow the whole picture on an issue to filter through.

Bill King began the speech by stating that, though he tends to vote Republican, he no longer considers himself a Republican.  He is an Independent voter.  Before he was introduced, a person addressing the crowd on behalf of a Republican candidate spoke to those in attendance about the importance of voting a straight Republican ticket.  Mr. King said he would not be voting a straight ticket and wasn't there to encourage anyone else to do so.

Clearly, this was going to get interesting.

King spoke about the growing numbers of Latino voters in Harris county and in the State of Texas. Republicans must find a way to speak to this demographic with compassion and intelligence in order to remain a viable political party.  This isn't random criticism, it is a real necessity.  He used the example of George W. Bush and his ability to garner 40% of the Latino vote in Texas and then carried a good amount of their support when he ran for President.  Since then, Republicans have failed miserably to grow that vote, instead falling backwards.

Mr. King noted that though the Latino community in general would be a natural for joining with the Republican Party in elections, candidates and party leaders unable to shed harsh rhetoric during campaigns, especially on social issues, send those voters to other candidates.  He used the example of abortion and gay marriage.  One topic already law, the other topic going that way across the country.
On immigration reform, King supports the U.S. Senate's bill as written.  He used the Romney campaign example of the unintended error of Romney's "they will self-deport" remark that sealed his fate on election day.  King does not believe that voter fraud plays a real role in the outcome of elections.  In the case of Mitt Romney, he noted that Romney lost by 5 million votes in November 2012. Who could believe that number was the fault of voter fraud, he asked.

I keep reading polls that show voters are not so concerned about immigration reform.  While it is important, it is not at the top of the issues driving voters to get out on election day.  This is also cited as a reason the President Obama has put it on the back burner until after the mid-term elections in November 2014 - why stir up the voters who might be angered against any executive action he may take on the subject?  Yet, during the question and answer portion of the program, the first question was about immigration reform.  Perhaps because Texans are quite in tune with the subject, as a border state which feels the impact of illegal immigration, the first questioner took King to task for what was perceived as his acceptance of those already here.  King said that, as a Christian, he thought it was morally wrong to have a policy that would send someone back to another country when that person had been raised in America.  He also stated that Evangelical voters were turning away from the Republican Party over this issue.

The question and answer portion of the program was spirited, to say the least.  This, to me, was the best part of the evening.  It is crucial that people come together and debate important issues while remaining civil to each other. That is what our nation was built upon - ideas, not tribes or geographical lines. As Mr. King pointed out, that is what makes America truly unique in the world. The United States of America is the only country built on the ideas of our founders.

It was apparent that the audience enjoyed the program and discussions.  The best part?  Everyone left energized and with a smile on their face.  That's a winning ending any day of the week.