Desiree Rogers To Blame For WH Party Crashers?

News programs had a field day with the party crashing incident at the White House last Tuesday night. The headline from the first State Dinner held by Team Obama is that it was infiltrated by a couple from northern Virginia - a couple well known within the polo playing, social climbing, lawsuit haggling set.

Not only are they tacky, tacky, tacky party crashers at the highest societal levels, but they, at least the wife, seem to be resume padders, too. Michaele and Tareq Salahi made it all the way to the Blue Room and shook the hand of President Obama and the Indian Prime Minister, too. Smiling for the cameras, there is photographic evidence of the coup - pictures with VP Biden and Rahm Emanuel, in particular.

All of this happened with a Bravo TV camera crew in tow. That is the truly odd part. Was there no notice of that unusual tidbit? Did cable television personnel legitimatize these impostors during any screening that took place?

So, the question is, how did this happen? On a Sunday morning talk show Dana Perino, former G.W. Bush press secretary, mentioned that during the transition the Obama people inquired as to the feasibility of dismantling the security protocol during events at the White House. Team Obama declared the process unnecessary. Perino implied that Team Obama felt it was much ado about nothing.

Was White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers to blame? According to a report by ABC News Yunji de Nies Rogers was not at the gate checking the guest list at the East Gate portico entrance, nor was anyone from her office. Rogers was in attendance, though, and answering the important questions, such as which designer dress she was wearing.

Former White House staffer Cathy Hargraves told Newsweek that she supervised guest lists and ushered guests into the White House. She also turned away those not on the guest list. She resigned in June, however, after her responsibilities were cut to the point that she was a data entry clerk in the East Wing. Rogers changed the job and shifted the responsibilities. Another former White House staffer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told ABC News that had Hargraves been at her former post that night, this incident would have never happened.

Another rookie administration misstep? Or does it point to the broader picture of an administration in such a bubble of denial of the dangers of our world that security protocols are simply outdated and unnecessary? More than one level of security checks was violated. These impostors reached the President and his honored guest. In today's world, it is not just guns and knives that are to be checked with metal detectors. That is so last century. In today's world, we must be vigilant of the dangers of chemical and biological attack, too, from bad actors.

This couple of party crashers must be prosecuted. A strong message must be sent that this is not tolerable behavior, especially in our White House. Even if a reality show hangs in the balance.

FDR Moved Thanksgiving - Citizens Not Thankful

Today's Chinese Proverb: Men in the game are blind to what men looking on see clearly.

Did you know that President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the week of Thanksgiving celebration in 1939? That year, in 1939, the month of November held five Thursdays. So, Thanksgiving was to fall on November 30. According to an interesting piece in The Wall Street Journal, Roosevelt and the lobby of the Retail Dry Goods Association decided the shopping time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was too short. So, along with other decisions Roosevelt took upon himself to proclaim, he changed the date that year. That year Thanksgiving was moved a week back. The hope was to nudge the economy and increase holiday sales.

As you might imagine, all hell broke loose. This story was front page news, of course, and the public wasn't having it. I guess you could call it a form of today's outcry from the Tea Party movement. Everyone from the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts - home of the Pilgrams and the first Thanksgiving - to college football coaches voiced displeasure in the move.

Roosevelt claimed Thanksgiving was not a proclaimed national holiday. He said it was not set by a federal law, therefore, it was the choice of the president's to pick a date. This left the individual states to ratify the president's decision. The states were divided on this decision and twenty-three states decided to stick with the original tradition and twenty-two adopted FDR's date. Texas, Mississippi and Colorado chose to celebrate both dates.

As with most of FDR's economic decisions, this one also turned out to be wrong. As Roosevelt continued on the next two years moving the date of Thanksgiving, it became apparent that the result was not as anticipated. The federal government reported no boost in result sales.

"On December 26, 1941, Roosevelt signed a joint resolution passed by Congress making Thanksgiving a national holiday and mandating that it be celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November."

Thanksgiving Day 2009

As President Abraham Lincoln wrote in his Thanksgiving Day Proclamation:

"The year that is drawing toward its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God...I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens."

As Americans, today we celebrate a holiday that is uniquely ours as a nation. This is a day we stop and reflect upon the goodness of our lives. We acknowledge the freedom in which we live, the bounty of our riches, the love of family and the support of friends.

Americans are known worldwide as generous and compassionate people. With an action as simple as the click of a computer mouse, you can help someone less fortunate. Here are some examples:

www.thehungersite.com - One click a day on the big yellow button provides a donation of food to the hungry in our country. This site partners with Mercy Corps, Millennium Promise and Feeding America. The organization is also on Facebook.

www.demandstudios.com - One click a day at this site brings donations of books to young children in low income neighborhoods. A partner with First Books, the goal this holiday season is 20,000 books through the "Write for a Cause" initiative.

www.TheAnimalRescueSite.com - One click from a visit to this site provides donations of food for animals in need. This organization also partners with PetFinder.com

www.TheBreastCancerSite.com - One click each day at this site funds free mammograms.

These are just a few examples of good works being done in the name of generous Americans each day. These sites were noted by me, as they share common interests and work in my life. Whether it is advocacy of literacy programs, supporting the hungry and those in need of medical services, or a wish that all of our furry friends find a loving home there is a way to do my part each day. It is easy, fast and absolutely free. Why not?

My wish today is that of warm Thanksgiving thoughts to all of you. I trust you will hold in your thoughts those less fortunate and click.

Mary Landrieu's Price Tag? $300 Million

“I will correct something. It’s not $100 million, it’s $300 million, and I’m proud of it and will keep fighting for it,” Landrieu told reporters after her floor speech. “But that is not why I started this health care debate; I started this health care debate for all the reasons I just mentioned in my statement” on the floor.

Used to be that politicians at least made a pretext of not being bought off when it came to voting on matters before the Senate. Not Senator Landrieu. She's proud of her price being met by Majority Ldr Harry Reid. It would be funny if it were not so terribly sad. Landrieu may think she appears strong and a stalwart voice for her state. She would be very wrong on that thought. People across the country are simply disgusted.

Landrieu is a life long politician. She is the daughter of the former mayor of New Orleans, "Moon" Landrieu and began her own political career at the age of 23. She was elected to the Louisiana state legislature. Then, after eight years there, she ran for and won the office of State Treasurer. In 1996 she won her Senate seat.

Since Hurricane Katrina, Landrieu has been a strong champion for federal monies for the state. As she should be, for it is her job. However, this latest deal stinks. While bloviating about the fiscal irresponsibility of the Senate health care/insurance reform bill, she makes a deal for an additional $300 million to be added to the final price tag.

As a conservative Democrat, in most votes, Landrieu was one of the on-the-fence holdouts in the lead up to the vote for cloture Saturday night. The yes vote that carried allows the legislation to come to the Senate floor after the Thanksgiving break for debate and then a vote.

CNN's John King pointed to the hypocrisy of the move - taking into consideration of the promises of Democrats as they took over total control of Washington, that business would not be as usual. It was to be a brand new day dawning. Hope and change! Transparency! No more behind closed doors deals. No more horse trading.

Yeah, right.

Posing a question to his Sunday morning panel, King said, "To get Senator Landrieu's vote, just to proceed, just to go across the starting line, language was inserted in the bill that gives her state up to $300 million. To get Senator Ben Nelson's vote, Reid agreed to drop a request that you take away the antiturst exemptions for insurance companies... Is healthcare reform important enough to buy votes?" Yes, apparently it is.

Harry Reid is in a tough re-election campaign back home in Nevada. President Obama has told any Democrat that will listen that health insurance reform is crucial to his legacy - to his policy agenda. He has bet his entire first term as President on it.

The bill has been described as the worst bill, ever, by The Wall Street Journal. Democrats in Congress don't care about that. They don't care that it does absolutely nothing similar to the claims being touted. They simply want to pass anything that will allow them to say they did so. It is the biggest power grab seen in Washington, D.C. Ever.

The corruption of the incumbents in office has become so deep that now it appears it is acceptable for a U.S. Senator to take the microphone and correct a lower number and brag of a higher number for her buy-off. What will the buy-offs be for the final vote to go the way of the President?

What about Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark)? She is in a tough re-election bid herself and has been on both sides of the issue, trying to straddle the fence as long as possible. Landrieu isn't up for re-election until 2014. Surely Lincoln will get a better deal, given the closer proximity of her race.

Senator Landrieu no longer deserves the public trust afforded to a U.S. Senator. She's shown her hand. We now know exactly what her price is, don't we?

Perry Values?

Fort Hood Victims & Families Benefits Protection Act

Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison has introduced legislation that would grant victims and families of the deceased victims of the attack at Fort Hood the same legal status as though the attack happened in a battle zone. Named the Fort Hood Victims and Families Benefits Protection Act, Hutchison was joined by Senators John Cornyn, James Inhofe, and Joeseph Lieberman in introducing the legislation, also closed patterned to H.R. 4008, a House bill introduced by U.S. Rep John Carter (R-TX) Tuesday.

Hutchison released this statement: "The soldiers who were gunned down at Fort Hood were targeted by a terrorist because they were soldiers about to be deployed to combat operations overseas. On that terrible day, Fort Hood became a battlefield in the War on Terror, and those killed and those wounded by this cowardly act of terrorism deserve to be recognized for their service in this war. And the families of the soldiers killed at Ft. Hood should not be denied benefits because their loved ones met the enemy here on our soil. I am proud to co-sponsor this legislation and give just honor to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice."

According to the press release, "The Fort Hood Victims and Families Benefits Protection Act would grant the following status to any member of the Armed Forces or civilian employee of the Department of Defense who was killed or wounded in the attack that occurred at Fort Hood, Texas, on November 5, 2009:

l. Military service members would be deemed to have been killed or wounded in a combat zone as the result of an act of an enemy of the United States; and

2. Civilian employees of the Department of Defense would be deemed to have been killed or wounded in a terrorist attack and while serving alongside the Armed Forces in a contingency operation."

Senators Hutchison and Cornyn are to be commended for standing with those protecting our nation and civilian communities. They deserve all we can offer.

Reid Rushes Health Insurance Reform Vote

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

From Senator John Cornyn (R-TX)on the health insurance reform bill in the Senate:

"What we do know so far, as reported by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), is that this bill will have a wide, negative impact on Americans across the board – from seniors on Medicare to small business owners to future generations of Americans who will be footing the bill. The bill will increase taxes on all Americans by nearly half a trillion dollars and breaks the President’s pledge not to raise taxes on working families earning less than $250,000—at a time that unemployment is at a 26-year high."

"While CBO has not been given time to analyze the Reid bill’s impact on premiums, every other independent analysis to date has found that Reid’s new mandates and taxes will increase health care premiums on American families. The Reid bill increases taxpayer spending and liability for health care over the next ten years—instead of reforming our already insolvent entitlement programs. It will gut the already insolvent Medicare program by $464.6 billion, hurting access to care for seniors. It includes a government-run public option that will, according to CBO, have premiums higher than private plans and cause millions of Americans to lose the coverage they currently have. The largest expansion of Medicaid since it was created means the Medicaid program will be the only coverage option for 60 million Americans. It will also impose $28 billion in punitive taxes on employers who do not comply with Washington’s new job-killing mandates."

CBO has not been given time to analyze the Reid bill's impact on premiums. Wasn't the increasing cost of premiums to American families the reason for health insurance reform? What is the rush to ram this legislation through Congress?

The reason, of course, is that if this terrible legislation is not passed in Congress and signed by the president by the end of the year, the chances of a complete overhaul of our nation's health care system diminishes. The president is losing popularity in the polls and his policies are not at all popular with the majority of voters. Each week it becomes more clear that our country is on the wrong track.

The promises of transparency, of putting bills online 72 hours before votes, have fallen by the wayside. Democrats have shut out Republicans on writing legislation and on offering amendments to bills, particularly on this health care reform. It is their right as the majority in the House and in the Senate, but it is not the path to solid legislation. Nor do the American people like one party dominance when it seems Washington is not listening to the voters.

Democrats have waited decades to be in this powerful position. They intend to use health insurance reform as a new entitlement program, one that will insure voter loyalty and support with generations to come. They just may have misread the public this time. The Democrats may have misread a perceived mandate from the American people.

Radio talk show host and Republican commentator Bill Bennett points to the conclusion that the last presidential election was a cultural one, not a political one. The election of Barack Obama as President of our country was all about culture - about an excited electorate, swept away on a nonsensical blur of slogans and nebulous goals - "hope" and "change", while taking advantage of disillusionment with Republicans in control. Plus, the election of our first bi-racial president was an enticement, too.

President Obama has failed to capture the moment and lead with purpose. He has a pattern of setting fuzzy goals, especially when it comes to the cost of his reforms, and allowing leaders in the House and Senate to write the legislation without hands-on contributions from him. As long Congress is under control by the far left of the party, bad legislation will continue to come up for votes.

Health insurance reform is necessary. Everyone can agree on that simple fact. However, it is not feasible to completely overhaul the health care delivery system and expect it to have positive results. We are talking about 1/6 of our national economy. This is too important to rush through and expect blind votes from our elected officials.

Layer Upon Layer of Arrogance From Obama Administration

With continued arrogance solidly on display, Attorney General Eric Holder went before the Senate Judiciary Committee and did his best to mask his irritation with being questioned on 'his' decision to bring the GITMO detainees to NYC for trial. His arrogance, in step with President Obama's arrogance, prevented him from awareness that he would be the recipient of the questions. Despite what the mainstream media reports may write, it is not only Republicans who question the wisdom of this decision.

It is just another example of the arrogance of this administration in an ever growing list. This decision was another example of a big decision tossed into a late Friday afternoon news dump to the press, with hopes of an escape from scrutiny by the public. As Karl Rove writes in The Wall Street Journal, "What we are seeing with the White House's timing in releasing its decision on KSM and other terrorists is a presidency clinging to campaign tactics that aim to dominate the 24-hour-news-cycle. The problem is that ploys that work in a campaign don't work nearly as well when you're in charge of the executive branch. Once in office, you have to live with the consequences of a policy decision. The debate now taking place over trying terrorists in civilian courts is showing this White House that it cannot escape the hard realities that come with making presidential decisions. Not even Friday afternoons can offer sanctuary from dangerous or ill-considered policy choices."

As an added bonus, President Obama was conveniently out of the country when this decision was announced.

The bogus numbers being used in touting the success of the stimulus package passed by Congress are coming back to bite this administration. According to the blog posted on the Houston Chronicle site called Texas on the Potomac, "Nationally, the recovery.gov site has mistakenly attributed $6.4 billion in stimulus spending to 440 non-existent districts in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and even four American territories, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan government oversite group, watchdog.org."

Continuing, "The White House's recovery.gov web site declares that Texas' 52nd district received exactly $8,937,289 in stimulus funds, while the 68th district has had precisely $310,963 funneled into it. Trouble is, none of these congressional districts exist."

The Wall Street Journal points to the naked politics of unemployment numbers and 'saved or created' jobs - "The nonexistence of the jobs and places allegedly stimulated by the Recovery Act doesn't necessarily mean the money was misspent or stolen. But it does indicate that the claims made on its behalf are a political illusion. The true jobs measure of an economic recovery is the unemployment rate, which rose to 10.2% last month. No matter how hard or imaginatively the Administration spins, the reality is that the stimulus has been the economic bust that critics predicted it would be."

One wonders if President Obama will ever be capable of setting aside the campaign mode to actually lead our nation. This is the most glaring of problems when a nation elects a person to be commander-in-chief with no executive leadership experience, only experience with running for the next higher office.

President Obama has surrounded himself with like-minded individuals, as all presidents do. In The Washington Post , Carrie Johnson writes about the time Eric Holder spent with time with family members of loved ones lost in the 9/11/01 attacks, after his time spent testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. The questions he faced from the family members are described as "unexpected queries". The encounter is described as "brief and respectful". It is noted in the article that the Republican members of the committee introduced the family members before Holder's testimony and they stayed until after the hearing to talk to Holder.

While critics of the G.W. Bush administration were fast and loose with the barbs of the arrogance of that administration, those voices are now predictably silent as the arrogance - of a different kind - permeate from the current administration.

GITMO Detainees To Be Tried in NYC

Attorney General Eric Holder says we must not "cower" from trials for the 9/11 detainees currently in GITMO. This is his justification for bringing the trials to Manhattan, New York City, just a short distance from the terrorist attacks of that day.

What Holder doesn't understand is that no one is "cowering" by voicing objections to the decision of bringing these murdering Islamofacists into our country for trial. The objection is based on the belief that these terrorists are not ordinary criminals, they are captured combatants who deserve to be tried in military tribunals. The purpose of building GITMO in the first place, a multimillion dollar state of the art complex in Cuba, was to house detainees captured overseas on fields of battle and to host military tribunals in the same complex.

Remember that Eric Holder is a former Clinton administration deputy attorney general, serving former Clinton attorney general Janet Reno. This brings us to a renewed awareness of a basic political philosophy difference between Republicans and Democrats. The Clinton administration tried terrorists in civil court - an example being the trial from the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993. It is not a stretch to conclude that this procedure decision brought about the bombings on 9/11/01.

Holder uses the deduction that civilians were killed in the attacks of 9/11/01, therefore civil court is the correct venue for the trials. This dismisses the murders of the military members at the Pentagon that day, in particular. It is not a strong premise, anyway, as this goes back to the decision to treat captured detainees as criminals.

President Obama has weighed in on this subject as he is interviewed during his trip overseas. Remember that we were told, during the presidential campaign, that Obama possesses a brilliant legal mind, that he was an adjunct constitutional professor in Chicago. Why, then, did he compromise the government's prosecution of the detainees by declaring that they would be found guilty and be issued the death penalty? This opens the door for defense attorneys to decry the fact that they will be unable to get a fair trial.

Liberals and conservatives alike, Democrats and Republicans, have weighed in on this decision. Overwhelmingly the opinion is that this is a bad decision. Members from the 9/11 Commission, including Tom Kean, voice opposition.

Why did Holder feel the need to shade the truth about the process he used to come to his conclusion to use the courts in Manhattan for the trials? He claims he made the decision without input from the administration, that he consulted with his wife and sister for their opinions. That he alone made the decision. This is not believable by most, of course. That is not how politics works. And, anyone denying this is a political decision must have his or her head in the clouds. Governor Paterson of New York is now quoted as saying that the White House told him of the decision six months ago. Six months ago? Holder only announced this decision a few days ago. Why the delay - why the announcement while Obama was overseas? Did the administration deliberately wait until after the November elections to make the announcement? You be the judge.

Governor Paterson, by the way, is against the decision, too.

The administration claims America must prove we are the better nation by bringing these detainees through our criminal court process. We must show the world from our federal courts that we will deal with detainees with our rule of law. Here's the thing - most Americans feel no such mandate. Most Americans do not feel that we have to prove anything to the world. This is simply more of the same from Team Obama - those who feel the need to prove to the world that we are worthy of our position as world leader.

Senator Cornyn says of the upcoming trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, "I believe that this decision should be reconsidered by the Attorney General and the President of the United States because of the risk it puts Americans in and because this provides Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, a self-described super-terrorist, this gives him everything he could have ever wanted, which is a platform to spew his hate-filled ideology and one in which he can recruit other like-minded individuals all around the world who will be watching." "He is anything but a common criminal. He is guilty of nothing less than war crimes against innocent Americans. And according to this decision, the Attorney General is going to be providing him the forum that he can use in order to proclaim himself as the super-terrorist and in order to attract like-minded ideologues to his sick and twisted ideas of jihad."

He continues, "Our experience with terrorist trials show that civilian courts are an inappropriate forum for the trial of war crimes. This is one example of why: as a result of information related to the East Africa embassy bombings, Osama bin Laden became aware of cell phone intercepts which prompted his organization to discontinue cell phone conversations because of the evidence disclosed in the trial. They simply realized that they were being eavesdropped on and quit using cell phones, denying us that intelligence." "This will allow al-Queda to detect our means of intelligence gathering and to push forward into areas we know nothing about."

Holder and Obama have not addressed the upcoming problem of the process known as 'discovery' in a criminal trial. This process will leave vulnerable the CIA and any intelligence gathering done as the detainees were captured. Is this all a part of a bigger picture of holding CIA intelligence gatherers for trial, too?

Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) claims bringing detainees to a facility in Illinois when GITMO is closed will be a "dream come true" for the citizens of that state. He claims the jobs created - government jobs and union jobs, not private sector jobs that stimulate the economy - will allow those seeking employment to benefit. Nifty re-election point, no?

President Obama continues with this pattern of allowing others to take the fall for his decisions. He prefers to hover above the sausage-making and feign innocence when all goes wrong. His lack of leadership experience comes though loud and clear.

We, as a nation, and those who suffered personal losses of family and friends that day on 9/11/01 deserve much better.

Texas Federation of Republican Women 2009 Convention

Texas Federation of Republican Women held the 27th Biennial convention in Galveston last weekend. More than 700 women came together at the Galveston Island Convention Center. The weather was sunny and pleasant and only added to the experience.

An election cycle is approaching and every recognizable name in Texas politics, whether on the local, state or federal level, had a presence.

The opening session brought speeches by Debra Medina and current Texas Governor Rick Perry, both now running for the Republican nomination in the primary. State Senator Dan Patrick spoke and volunteered to travel to any spot in the state, at his own expense, to speak to Republican Women's clubs. Dr. Robin Armstrong, Vice Chair of the Republican Party of Texas, spoke about the issues in Congress now. As a black physician with a young family and a busy career, he had a perspective to offer on health care reform and the effects it will have on families in Texas, if the current House bill passes into law.

Friday evening, a reception was hosted by Lt Gov David Dewhurst. Also speaking again was Gov Rick Perry. State Sen Dan Patrick was working the crowd, as were candidates for judgeships and others.

Saturday's general session was opened with our speaker, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. She broke the news that she will not resign her senate seat until after the March primary. Her thinking is sound on this - she doesn't want to leave her seat to an appointed rookie senator who doesn't know the workings of the body. She has solid seniority on committees and leads the fight against the health care reform and cap and trade legislation. She is upholding her commitment to Texans in Washington and she is doing her job. A really nice touch was after her speech, upon exiting the room, she returned and stood in a receiving line to shake hands will all of the Republican club presidents as they were acknowledged. It was an unexpected gesture to those of us in the audience. She graciously stood for pictures and was accessible to everyone.

Lt Gov Dewhurst spoke, as did Susan Combs, Comptroller of Public Accounts of Texas, and Michael Williams, Railroad Commissioner of Texas. State Senator Joan Huffman spoke and so did Dick Weekley, Co-founder and Chairman of Texans for Lawsuit Reform.

The keynote address was given by Attorney General Greg Abbott at the awards luncheon. His twelve year old daughter introduced him.

Saturday afternoon was spent in workshops. I attended "Health Care Reform and What It Means to You", presented by Arlene Wohlgemuth, a Senior Fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation's Center for Health Care Policy. A former state representative, she also spoke about the politics of the reform - actually a power grab that will not truly bring reforms or lower costs.

My second workshop was "Beating the Dems at Their Own Game: Using Education and Social Media", presented by Eric Golub. Golub is a Brooklyn born, Long Island raised Republican Jew living now in Los Angeles. He is the author of "Ideological Bigotry" and was selling his book, too. A career stock broker, received an MBA from USC and he blogs. His presentation is filled with humor, as his philosophy is that it is the best tool to win over an audience. He promotes disagreement without personal attacks.

The award banquet Saturday night brought a speech from State Senator Florence Shapiro, running in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate (as is Michael Williams) and the keynote address was by actress and author, Janine Turner.

Sunday's closing session was filled with speakers Senator John Cornyn, U.S. Representatives Michael McCaul and Pete Olson, Texas Rep Larry Taylor, and Ted Cruz, former Solicitor General of Tx and current candidate for Attorney General of Texas. Cruz made a commitment to support the re-election of current Attorney General Greg Abbott should Senator Hutchison not resign from the Senate.

While shopping in the vendor's hall, I purchased a button stating, "I think, therefore I vote Republican." Camaraderie from a range of Republicans from across the state was inspiring. Republican women in Texas are working hard to keep Texas a red state and motivated by the current atmosphere ripe for a new Republican comeback wave.

Senator Hutchison's Veteran's Day Message

For Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's web page displaying some links to her work on behalf of our Texas veterans : http://texans.forkay.com/pages/veterans .

Her campaign released this Veteran's Day statement:

“Veterans Day is a day we set aside as a nation to honor those who have served their nation in war and peace. It is a day to reflect on the deeds of these heroes and stand united in gratitude for their service and sacrifice. We also take this opportunity to honor the enduring service of our active soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen. This year, our recognition of veterans and troops is tinged with pain as we mourn the tragic loss of life and injuries of some of our bravest at Fort Hood on November 5. Their ultimate sacrifice reminds us of how much we owe our men and women in uniform.

“Ours is a great nation of free people, and this legacy has endured because, throughout our history, our finest men and women have stood guard and protected the liberty that all Americans enjoy. In peacetime or during conflict, at home or abroad, their service has been characterized by selflessness and a sense of greater purpose. Throughout our history, our nation’s veterans have answered the call, and they have served with dignity and honor.”

Senator Hutchison has been a stalwart advocate for our military and military veterans in Washington, D.C.

Freedom of Speech In Politics Is Not Pretty

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele released the following statement today:

“Since the founding of our nation, generations of brave Americans have answered the call to service. On this Veterans Day the Republican National Committee pauses to extend our heartfelt gratitude for their brave and valiant service in... Read More our Armed Forces. We honor them for their extraordinary sacrifice in defense of our country. Today I join all Americans in expressing my heartfelt gratitude to our veterans for preserving the freedoms we hold dear.”

One sacred freedom we Americans cherish is our freedom of speech. Our freedom of speech, our First Amendment right, is a part of living in a free country. All speech, nasty or pleasant, is protected. Take, for instance, speech involved in political talk. Have you noticed a continuance of the nasty language used in political settings lately?

We all endured eight years of constant Bush Derangement Syndrome - the continual personal and political bashing of every aspect of George W. Bush's very existance. Conveniently, current Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, has forgotten the daily utterances that President Bush equalled Hitler - even the name calling of "Bushitler". The language could not devolve far enough for some of the far left in our country. They were emboldened, some say, by the years of criticism of former President Clinton, and so on. Year after year it escalates.

Now, we are at the point of civil discourse where the President of the United States uses a sexual slur, a sexual term used in the gay community, as he describes the participants within the Tea Party movement. By doing so, President Obama strengthens the criticism that he is a man without grace in his personal speech. When he is speaking off the cuff, he is not a well-spoken leader. He comes off as just another political hack. He is not dignified in his personal conduct when the teleprompter is not rolling.

According to a blog post written by Kathryn Jean Lopez for the Corner at National Review "According to Representative Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, who supports the health care bill, the president asked, "Does anybody think that the teabag, anti-government people are going to support them if they bring down health care? All it will do is confuse and dispirit" Democratic voters "and encourage the extremists." Tea bag people. Extremists. All this spoken at a closed door, private pep talk to Democrats before the vote on health insurance reform last Saturday during Obama's visit to Capitol Hill - the sole purpose to twist arms of Democrats for the votes.

Then, former President Bill Clinton, not to be outdone, visited Democrats in the Senate to demand they vote for the legislation - "Just pass the bill, even if it's not exactly what you want." When you try and fail, the other guys write history." Senator Whitehouse (D-RI) said "The reason the tea-baggers are so inflamed is because we are winning." Teabaggers. That's the term.

It doesn't matter that the bill is being rushed through without due diligence. It doesn't matter that it is the worst piece of legislation ever written, according to The Wall Street Journal. It doesn't matter that it is not as advertised by the Democrats. It is all about the politics, not the benefits to Americans. It is all about Barack Obama, his legacy, and the power grab for the Democratic party.

It is all about a permanent Democratic majority in Congress.

Never mind the people don't want it.

Domestic Terror Within Our Own Country - Ft Hood

I only heard the very end of President Obama's address to the ceremony today at Fort Hood, the memorial service for the victims of the shootings of last week. In fairness to a President for whom I have very little respect or accolades, I must say he did a respectable job. He seemed to be honestly trying to offer comfort to the families and the victims present.

President Obama was able to make the distinction between the enlisted Muslims and the "twisted" Muslim ideologue who killed his fellow soldiers and a civilian. "No faith justifies murderous and craven acts."

The glaringly obvious fact in all of this press coverage is the fact that no one in the military or in elected office, except for a precious few, is able to utter the truth - this was an act of terrorism and as more facts emerge, this is a Muslim member of our military hell bent on jihad. This was a domestic act of terrorism. Period.

Senator Lieberman was the only politician brave enough to point to the obvious on the Sunday morning talk shows. He named this tragedy for what it is - a Muslim blinded by his own extreme ideology, committed to not carrying out his impending deployment overseas and voicing his distress over America being at war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This was no starry-eyed kid. This is a 39 year old man who is being handled with kid gloves solely because of his religion. How is that any more justifiable than the people who arrived at the correct conclusion - that his crime was committed because of his religious beliefs?

Evan Thomas of Newsweek says he "cringed that he (the shooter) is a Muslim" and that it would inflame the "right-wing". So much for journalistic professionalism. It is standard knee-jerk response of the left in this country to go to the stereotype of those on the right side of the political aisle. To the left, conservatives are all knuckle dragging hillbillies without educations or common sense. The knuckle draggers will go berserk and take matters into their own hands. Only the left elites would continue to coddle those most in need of help and intervention.

And, blame ordinary Americans, not the criminal.

President Obama, as candidate Obama, went out of his way to tell Muslim voters that he would always "stand with you" in the event of any backlash within the community. President Bush was the same way. After the attacks of 9/11/01, he went out of his way to embrace Muslims, which is so conveniently forgotten by the left. The left truly believes they have the market on compassion.

The disturbing part of the whole event also points to the coldness in the President's personality. He has a stony lack of empathy that is expressed in speeches. Immediately after the tragic event at Fort Hood, Obama was speaking at the Department of Interior to a group of Native Americans. He began his speech with a full two minutes of banter with the audience, even giving a "shout out" to a member of the audience. It was surreal. Instead of immediately opening with comments about the shootings, he chose to be Mister campaigner-in-chief. It was undignified and offensive.

It is a relief to be able to compliment President Obama on his words delivered today. He is not a warm man. He had his ever present teleprompter. After eight years of the emotions of George W. Bush, it is a stark contrast. Obama is not smooth or sophisticated in his off the cuff remarks.

The first sentences out of the mouths of elected officials and military officers was the plea that no one jump to any conclusions. All the touchy-feely elites were too busy giving cover to the fact that this was brought on by a different kind of extremist - not the 'right wing' conservative Republican. Apparently there are good extremists and bad extremists and those on television interviews get to choose sides.

David Brooks writes in The New York Times, "The conversation in the first few days after the massacre was well intentioned, but it suggested a willful flight from reality. It ignored the fact that the war narrative of the struggle against Islam is the central feature of American foreign policy. It ignored the fact that this narrative can be embraced by a self-radicalizing individual in the U.S. as much as by groups in Tehran, Gaza or Kandahar. If denied, before the evidence was in, the possibility of evil. It sought to reduce a heinous act to social maladjustment. It wasn't the reaction of a morally or politically serious nation."

General Casey said on a Sunday show, "You know there's been a lot of speculation going on, and probably the curiosity is a good thing, but we have to be careful, because we can't jump to conclusions no based on little snippets of information that come out." Jump to conclusions? It's called connecting the dots, General Casey. And, there is plenty of evidence growing that the Army superiors of the murderer chose to turn their collective heads away when folks like Army doctor Val Finnell alerted higher-ups about the murderer's anti-American rants.

Dorothy Rabinowitz wrote a thoughtful piece for The Wall Street Journal: "What is hard to ignore, now, is the growing derangement on all matters involving terrorism and Muslim sensitivities. Its chief symptoms: a palpitating fear of discomfiting facts and a willingness to discard those facts and embrace the richest possible variety of ludicrous theories as to the motives behind an act of Islamic terrorism. All this we have seen before but never in such naked form. The days following the Fort Hood rampage have told us more than we want to know, perhaps, about the depth and reach of this epidemic."

Rabinowitz points to another quote from General Casey: "This terrible event would be an even greater tragedy if our diversity becomes a casualty." Stunning.

This attitude is what silences people, people who witness suspicious looking behavior, or hear utterances that are disturbing. We are no better off in this aspect than we were before 9/11/01. Political correctness tied the hands of our military and the unbelievable event of mass murder by a U.S. soldier - a trained psychiatrist who didn't see deployment himself - on the largest military installation in the world. The mass murder that was the worst domestic terror attack on our soil since 9/11/01 happened right before their eyes. This guy wasn't even the usual "gosh, he was so quiet" type who shocks others with an unexpected attack on others. This guy ranted about attacks on fellow Muslims, about the wars being fought overseas, about perceived harassment because of his faith. He hired a lawyer and was trying to be discharged. Red flags, anyone?

We Americans don't want to believe the ever increasing threats on our country right here in our everyday life. The Bush administration was successful for seven years in keeping us safe at home, for breaking up developing plots at home. The tide has turned. Will we allow our current leaders to do anything short of the same?

After the Berlin Wall - 20 Years Later

"General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" --Ronald Reagan

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. From then until today, a political debate runs between those who credit President Ronald Reagan with bringing about that fall and those who cannot remove ideological blinders. Regardless of which political party you call home, today Reagan is mostly given the credit he is due. Twenty years of reflection can do that to a nation.

In an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal by Anthony Dolan today, he wrote, "Reagan had the carefully arrived at view that criminal regimes were different, that their whole way of looking at the world was inverted, that they saw acts of conciliation as weakness, and that rather than making nice in return they felt an inner compulsion to exploit this perceived weakness by engaging in more acts of aggression. All this confirmed the criminal mind's abiding conviction in its own omniscience and sovereignty, and its right to rule and victimize others."

Dolan was chief speechwriter for President Reagan for eight years.

At the time, a debate raged from the White House to the State Department, between those wanting the line "tear down this wall" in the Reagan speech and those that thought it went too far. Those brave enough to speak the truth are encouraged to not delve into good versus evil, right versus wrong. We still are in the midst of such arguments. President George W. Bush outraged the left with his axis of evil and President Obama outrages the right with his talk of appeasing brutal dictators with direct talks.

Reagan used the line.

On the night of November 9, 1989 I was watching the events on television, as were most of this nation. A proud member of the Baby Boom generation, I grew up with a constant reference to a cold war between our nation and the Soviet Union. My only child was born in September 1989 and I couldn't help but think of what a completely different world my son would be growing up in. He would not know of Civil Defense drills and bomb shelters.

Remember the line used by President George W. Bush - "the soft bigotry of low expectations"? Some of that was evident within the thoughts of the Cold War, too. Just two years before the fall of the Berlin Wall, CBS newsman Dan Rather said, "Despite what many Americans think, most Soviets do not yearn for capitalism or Western-style democracy." That quote was used in a different piece in today's Wall Street Journal. It shows a tendency of the far left to be on the wrong side of history, in foreign affairs. True, many Soviets suffered terribly once the Soviet Union became Russia and more personal freedoms arrived. Going from a life completely state-run to making your own way in life is a mind boggling concept.

Today former President George H.W. Bush and Barbara are in Berlin for the anniversary celebrations. Former Secretary of State James Baker is there, too. European leaders all have converged on Berlin to celebrate and show a gesture of friendship with current German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Except for President Obama, the free world nations are well represented. Obama sent Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and provided a congratulatory video to be shown. For many of us, the fact that our current President didn't bother to attend the celebration is embarrassing. And, that he used a video in which he does his riff on 'who'd of thought there would be an American president of African descent' is especially troubling. This is not the time for classic Obama narcissism.

The collapse of Soviet communism was monumental in scope for the people of eastern Europe. The fall of the Berlin Wall changed our world.

Health Insurance Passes In The House

By a vote of 220 - 215, a $1 trillion bill passed in the House of Representatives just before midnight CST. The bill will be substantially changed after a Senate vote and conference reconciliation, but it is a victory for President Obama and the Democrat leadership in the House.

Elections have consequences. This is a bill written and pushed through without transparency as has been promised for over a year by the Democrats. The days of expecting Democrats to live up to their pledge to put legislation online for all to read for 72 hours before a vote are long gone. I doubt even President Obama knows the details in this legislation. He left it all up to Congress, as is his way.

This is a bill that will not decrease insurance premiums, as touted by the proponents. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) came to the conclusion, while 'scoring' the bill's costs, that premiums will rise as will the deficit. Fines and fees will be abundant. The cost is guesstimated at $1.052 trillion, greater than what is being claimed by the Democrats. It is a bill described by The Wall Street Journal as the "worst bill ever" because it is so poorly written.

There is no tort reform in this bill. Even Howard Dean said this is not true reform without tort reform. As a physician he supports tort reform and the discontinuing of trial lawyers becoming wealthy on the backs of practicing physicians. It was ironic to watch House Democrats on the floor chastising insurance companies as the enemy of all, even though it is exactly through payment from insurance companies after trials that these lawyers became wealthy. Irony was rampant throughout the debate.

There were great leaps of logic during the hours of heated debate. There was a time when cancer was placed in the same category as an unwanted pregnancy. Babies and young children were paraded before the audience as props for whichever side was speaking. Wheeling and dealing from the White House was evident all the way up to voting time.

Much rode on this passage, especially for President Obama. His standard line to guilt members into voting is that if health insurance reform isn't passed, his presidency is in jeopardy. With a narcissist in the Oval Office, it is common knowledge that every action is all about him. He released a written statement from Camp David after the vote was taken.

The run up to the final vote included a vote on a GOP alternative - one that was much less wordy than the 2,000 page Democrat bill - and included tort reform, buying insurance across state lines, Medicare reform, and other more effective common sense solutions. It was voted down on a party line vote.

An amendment stating that no federal funds be used for payment of abortions passed. This freed up Blue Dog Democrats to vote for the final bill. It also freed up the lone Republican voting for the final bill. Rep. Joseph Cao was of the last to vote and he cast his with those voting in favor of it.

Why did Cao vote for the bill? Let's remember which district he represents. He took office as the successor of William "Dollar Bill" Jefferson - the corrupt, convicted Democrat from New Orleans who was caught with a freezer full of money. He brought new meaning to the expression "hard, cold cash". The District is 75% Democrat and Cao was lobbied hard by the White House. He has been promised all kinds of future goodies for his District, still recovering from Hurricane Katrina due to the corruption already in place there.

Cao had only one objection to the House bill that he repeatedly voiced - the refusal to vote in support of the final bill if federal monies were allowed for abortion services. That was eliminated in the Stupak amendment. Cao agreed to cast his vote after the 218 threshold was met of yes votes. He abided by his word - he voted on a bill that didn't include money for abortions and he waited to vote as one of the last three votes. He quickly left the House floor after voting and didn't stop to answer questions from the press. He later issued a statement: "Today, I obtained a commitment form President Obama that he and I will work together to address the critical health care issues of Louisiana including the FMAP crisis and community disaster loan forgiveness, as well as issues related to Charity and Methodist Hospitals."

No Democrat in leadership has guaranteed the amendment concerning abortion funding will survive in the reconciliation process. It would be a surprise if it did. It will be interesting to observe the response from Cao if and when it is abandoned in the legislation signed into law by the President. Many pro-choice women do not support federal funding of abortion, myself included.

No doubt Rep. Cao will feel the wrath of conservatives from both sides of the aisle. Thirty-nine Blue Dog Democrats voted against the final bill. Cao is said to have been deeply conflicted as he decided on his vote. His primary objection was resolved and he was promised additional support for his district. His District is 75% Democrat and he is a conservative Republican. He will probably not be re-elected but he appears to have responded with what he thought was best for the district.

Elections have consequences. One party rule in Washington - regardless of which party - is not good for legislation. This bill is a shining example of that.

Soldiers' Angels Supports Fort Hood

Looking for a way to help soldiers and their families at Fort Hood? Soldiers' Angels is providing a way for everyone to pitch in.

Soldiers' Angels is collecting notes of support and NEW stuffed animals for the families and children of the injured or killed. Send cards/letters and stuffed animals (anything NEW that may brighten the life of a child) to:

Soldiers' Angels
4408 PanAm Expressway
San Antonio, TX 78218

Senseless Terror at Fort Hood

At 1:30 Thursday afternoon, a thirty minute reign of horror and terror began at Ft. Hood, Texas. Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the single shooter, killed twelve people and sent thirty wounded to the local hospitals.

Hasan was promoted to the rank of Major in May. He was transferred to Ft. Hood from Walter Reed Hospital. He was a psychiatrist and a soldier. Having enlisted in the Army at the age of 19, he was the beneficiary of a free education that allowed him to have the career of psychiatrist. Now there is a story line that he hired a lawyer and was fighting to re-negotiate his repayment of money to the Army as he requested his discharge from service.

This was an act of terror.

Hasan is the son of Palestinians, born in America and educated in America. He is Muslim and is recorded on video at a convenience store the morning of the attack in traditional Arabic garb. He was dressed in his Army uniform when he killed and wounded fellow soldiers and civilians yesterday. There are witness reports that he shouted, "Allah Akbar" as he began his reign of terror.

There were approximately 400 people in the immediate area of the attack, as reported by Army sources. The Major used two hand guns in his attack. Fort Hood is the largest military installation in the world. This is the worst shooting in history. His online screeds are now being analyzed by military officials.

Hasan is 39 years old. He is not some immature kid. He is an educated military professional. He is said to have been adamantly fighting deployment to Iraq. He is said to have been vocal in his opposition to our presence in Iraq. His family claims he was harassed because of this opposition.

This was an act of terror. While he was trained to help soldiers coping with post-traumatic stress syndrom, he was never deployed overseas himself. He didn't suffer from that himself. This is not an excuse for him to use.

Hasan is in a local hospital, unconscious and on a ventilator. A thirteenth shooting victim died overnight. Hasan is guarded by both military and civilian police.

Hasan received low ratings on past performance reports while assigned to Walter Reed. Perhaps red flags were there and not noticed in his record. His presence online paints a picture of a man troubled in his loyalty to our country.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan committed an act of senseless violence and terror on fellow Americans, on fellow soliders.

Demise of the GOP Greatly Exaggerated

Perhaps all those voters in Virginia and New Jersey didn't receive the memo. The demise of the Republican party has been greatly exaggerated. The Republican candidates in Virginia and New Jersey took the governorships. The Lt Governorship went Republican in Virginia as did the Attorney General. And, in districts across the map, Republicans are winning elections where Democrats have held power for years. Westchester county, New York is an example of an electoral surprise.

Liberals with blinders on - from the White House on down to newspaper columnists - are busy, busy, busy. They are spinning as fast as they can. Do not believe your lying eyes, you American voter. This is no big deal. This is no reflection of the attitude of the electorate on what is happening in Washington. This is no reflection on the political capital Barack Obama possesses.

Yeah, right. There is still much work to do but the Republican party is, as Juan Williams put it tonight, better off, much better off, than just a year ago. The rebound has begun. The race in NY-23 will be a lesson learned, though. What does this race say to the GOP? It says that the primary system is the best system for choosing a candidate. A small gathering of party elites sitting around a diner and appointing a candidate is a brain-dead move. They chose a liberal Republican - there is no moderation to her stated positions - and then the emerging tea party conservatives propped up a third candidate. The Republican was on a quick down hill ride after her positions on issues emerged and nothing pointed to 'conservative'. The third party candidate began a surge in the polls as Sarah Palin and other conservatives jumped into this district race, usually for the publicity it brings to champion an unknown candidate. The faithful applauded and it was off to the races for Doug Hoffman. He was not the best candidate anyone would hope for - he didn't even live in the district but the Palin faithful didn't seem to be hung up on such petty points. Instead of taking out their frustration on the local GOP elites that produced this mess, they took it out on the national party who sent money for the GOP candidate, as is their job.

Newt Gingrich did what he thought was the appropriate move, he supported the GOP candidate and all hell broke loose. There were even Internet demands by bloggers and those on Twitter that he be "purged" from the party. This is the man who brought about the Republican Revolution in the early 1990's under President Bill Clinton and stopped his agenda in its first year. This is the insanity of the overzealous with no sense of political history.

And, those who say the GOP has to purge all those perceived as "RINOs". Good luck with that. The party is shrunk enough. It is time to welcome in to the tent those that identify as conservative Independent voters. That is the only hope of electoral victory for either party. There is no such winning equation as shrinking the pool of voters and winning the election. It is common sense. Independent voters made the difference in 2008 and in last night's elections.

Political parties are not private clubs. Bashing 'establishment' Republicans is ludicrous and ignorant. It's like children rebelling against parents. And if shutting off monetary donations is your way of sending a message to the party leaders, good luck finding candidates that can run a successful campaign on a shoe string. Everyone has to pull together instead of wasting time and energy in a circular firing squad.

Republicans will benefit from the dissatisfaction that is descending upon Barack Obama and his power grabs. He is doing his best to establish a permanent Democratic majority - especially with the health care reform power grab - and we cannot stop him if we are not united in our efforts.

Local candidates must be groomed to be brought though the ranks and ready to compete at the national level. This is where grass root activism comes into play. Get out there and encourage common sense people with an interest in politics to run for office, no matter how small the office may seem. It all starts somewhere. Then the conservative movement falls into place. There is no substitution for training and preparation. Doug Hoffman could have used some preparation. He gave lousy interviews on national television as his numbers grew. He was not an inspiring candidate.

Barack Obama and Rahm Emmanuel knew exactly what they were doing when John McHugh was chosen by them for his new position in the administration. They wanted the seat to go Democrat. They succeeded. That seat has been Republican for decades.

It was a good night for Republicans. Savor the wins. Then, get to work. Get involved at your local level and go from there. Real change comes from the bottom up. Common sense.

Stop the Pelosi Health Care Bill

"The House Republican Conference has compiled the following list of the 110 new Obamacare boards, bureaucracies, commissions, and programs created in H.R. 3962, Speaker Pelosi’s legislation for a government takeover of health care." The list can be found at: http://www.redstate.com/california_yankee/2009/11/02/pelosis-health-care-bill-creates-111-new-federal-obamacare-bureaucracies/. If that doesn't get your attention to the ever expanding federal government into our lives under President Obama, I don't know what will.

The time line for the Pelosi bill in the House began yesterday with the "Managers Amendment" which sets the vote for Thursday, November 5. Here are some facts that have come to light:
* It is two times as large as the House bill that came out in August.
* The largest government intrusion into American private lives.
* Small businesses will bear the burden of this bill.
* No tort reform.

If the vote Thursday passes in the House, the Pelosi bill continues on in its push for what The Wall Street Journal called the worst written bill, ever. That is saying something.

Senator John Cornyn rejects this poorly written, massive takeover attempt of 1/6 of our country's economy. He believes in focusing reform in each state by encouraging greater competition and more choices in the private insurance market. He supports cutting waste and fraud in Medicare and other entitlement programs. He supports reducing the cost of defensive medicine practiced by doctors today.

Cornyn attended a roundtable discussion with Whole Foods in Austin to listen to the benefits of their consumer-driven health insurance plan. It has lowered health care costs and produced quality care and more options.

Cornyn visited Kelsey-Seybold Clinic in Houston to understand firsthand how the clinic used $25 million in savings from malpractice reforms to implement an electronic-records program that has directly improved patient care. He spoke with physicians who relocated to Texas from other states due to the Texas medical malpractice reform law enacted in 2003. Since this reform, more than 14,000 doctors have returned or begun new practices in Texas.

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission estimates that the bill would cost Texas more than $20 billion over 10 years, and add 2.5 million Texans to Medicaid. This would cause billions in new state taxes or deep cuts in education, law enforcement, and other top priorities.

Does any of this sound like good reform to you? If not, contact those in the House sitting on the fence in this debate. There are many conservative, Blue Dog Democrats who view Speaker Pelosi's bill as too far reaching and expensive for our country to see true health care reform. Call your representative and let him or her know how you feel about this bill.

The latest Rasmussen poll shows that public support for the Pelosi bill has fallen 3 points in the last week - from 45% to 42%. The time to act is now,before it is all too late.

GOP Candidate for Tx Governor, Debra Medina

The guest speaker for the monthly meeting of Memorial West Republican Women was Debra Medina, GOP candidate for Governor of Texas. She is running against Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison in March's Republican primary.

Sometimes a person feels the call to public office and acts. "Do the good that is before you to do." That is Medina's call to action. As she received encouragement from family and friends, she began to understand the need of fresh faces and new ideas in public service. A three term county Republican Chairman in Wharton county, her passion for politics was evident.

Born in Beeville and raised on a South Texas farm, Debra Medina is a wife and mother, a registered nurse, a businesswoman, and a rancher. In the early 1990's she became involved in politics. She is a fiscally responsible conservative with a passion for freedom. She uses that word frequently. She homeschooled her two children before the current wave of popularity began. Her oldest child has graduated from college now and lives in Portland, Oregon. Her younger child is a student at Texas A&M.

Medina founded her own business, Prudentia Inc., which specializes in improving medical billing procedures. She continues to work full time as she runs for Governor - she pointed out to the audience that a candidate running for Governor is prohibited from taking campaign monies for personal salary. Nor is anyone in a candidate's immediate family allowed a salary from financial donations. An appealing quality is that Medina is not a political elite - she is a regular person with a mortgage to pay and bills to keep current.

She is a favorite with the Texas Tea Party crowd. During the current two day availability in the Houston area, one event Medina is appearing at is the tea party event in the north Houston area - which is also featuring the young mom who is a cancer survivor and was the one to whom Sheila Jackson Lee was speaking at a summer town hall while yakking on her cell phone. That stunt by Jackson Lee received national attention for the audacity of her arrogance.

Medina has an interesting idea of abolishing property tax and substituting that tax with a higher sales tax. Or, paying tax on the purchase property - at the time of purchase - and then the sales tax would be lowered. She uses the theory from Texas Public Policy Foundation's research. She is a fan of Arthur Laffer.

She believes in the right of Texas to nullify federal mandates on national health care and cap and trade legislation when it comes from the current administration's reform attempts. She has been listening to and visiting with border county sheriffs to pull together border security measures and the handling of the illegal immigrant flow from the south.

She presents her ideas with a calm and mature posture. She exhibits self-confidence and is working for a change in leadership in Texas. She will be a speaker later this month in Galveston for the Texas Federation of Republican Women's convention.