Sunday, April 29, 2012

True the Vote 2012 National Summit Showcases Diversity

While the liberals and the folks profiting from a very divided American electorate continue on with their agendas, a groundswell of grassroots activists met for the second annual True the Vote National Summit in Houston Saturday. A full day of motivating speeches and education for activists to take into the field was presented. The sold-out crowd was fired up and ready to go.
Unlike what the Houston Chronicle reporter would like for the reader to believe, the crowd was filled with folks from all walks of political life. To say that True the Vote is solely a Tea Party project or that one political party controls the work is wrong. From the beginning of the movement, the foundation of non-partisanship has been evident. Election integrity is not a Republican or Democratic initiative, it is an American initiative. It is easy to point a finger at one side of the political aisle and it is sloppy journalism. It is also deliberately divisive. It is wrong.
Speakers included experts on poll watching, voter challenges, open records requests and other election-related concerns, as well as writers, commentators and activists familiar to tea partiers and the political right.
While the reporter quotes Pat Caddell, the final speaker on Friday night's opening slate, he doesn't bother to acknowledge a similarly powerful Democrat who spoke just before Caddell - former U.S. Rep Artur Davis, (D-AL), a black Democrat who is strongly in favor of voter identification laws. Davis doesn't quite fit the narrative of the article, does he? Davis was fiery and strongly delivered a message of motivation to the audience. He told them to stay focused and demand election integrity. He spoke of the old days of Jim Crow and the battles of civil rights leaders. He clearly stated that a drivers license, or other photo id required to vote, is not Jim Crow. Davis also noted the diversity in the audience. Sorry, Houston Chronicle reporter. Mr. Davis, like all of the speakers both Friday night and Saturday, received a standing ovation from the audience.

It can also be noted that the group does live up to its inclusive claims - liberal bloggers and Soros-backed organizations received media credentials as well as conservative bloggers and groups. *Full disclosure - I received media credentials as a conservative political blogger.*

The all day session Saturday included strong speeches from author/editor John Fund who addressed the issue of stealing elections and how important election integrity is to the process from the registration process to the polling place.

James O'Keefe spoke about making videos showing how easy it often is to game the system as voting takes place. Thanks to his videos, states have passed legislation to tighten up the process and re-instill citizen confidence, like in New Hampshire.

Christian Adams, author of "Injustice" and former attorney with DOJ Election Law Center, spoke about the corruption within the office of DOJ.

Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch, announced that the organization intends to pursue a Section 8 lawsuit and demand that for the first time in over 20 years, voter logs are cleaned as required by law. "Holder is in office at the sufferance of Republicans. I want you to remember that." He stated that Eric Holder is the most corrupt attorney general since the Nixon years. If the GOP would speak up and demand that he be gone, it would happen. The cabinet serves at the pleasure of Congress.


  Fitton spoke of the Election Integrity Project. States such as Colorado, Texas, Indiana, Missouri and Ohio have more registered voters on the rolls than eligible voters. He said that the room Saturday should have been filled with Secretaries of State from all states - "Who is talking about voter integrity?"

Washington State and Oregon have both gone almost solely to the mail-in ballot system. This leads to total corruption of the system.

Our system has been corrupted. The Obama administration is taking active steps to stop voter identification laws, especially in Ohio. There is no line between the DOJ and the Obama administration.

Catherine Engelbrecht spoke the common sense goal: "All that we ask is everyone play by the same set of rules." That shouldn't be too much to expect.

Friday, April 27, 2012

True the Vote 2012 National Summit - Opening Night



The second annual True the Vote National Summit kicked off Friday evening in Houston with a slate of fired up, righteously indignant speakers. Some new faces are on the list this year.

After the opening remarks by True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht, the first speaker was Anita MonCrief, known as the ACORN whistleblower and current Emerging Corruption publisher. She was followed by Han Von Spakovsky, Senior Legal Fellow and Mgr, The Heritage Foundation and a former Federal Elections Commissioner. I have heard both Anita and Hans speak at previous events - including last year's True the Vote National Summit - so I knew they would be delivering good speeches.

Hans did something a little different as he did a bit of a live rebuttal to taped remarks delivered by liberal, anti-Voter Id surrogates in television interviews. It was both informative and entertaining. It is important to know what the other side is saying.

For me, the best were the two that I have never heard speak in person - Rep. Artur Davis, former Alabama Congressman and current Fellow, Harvard Institute of Politics and Pat Caddell, FOX News Contributor and political strategist. Both are Democrats and both speak truth to power.

Artur Davis, a black American, remarked that "I see a lot of diversity in this room" and that this issue may be the only one that everyone in the room had in common but that is a good thing. Voter identification laws are not a party issue, they are an American issue. The slurs that only white Americans support voter identification requirements - to bring back Jim Crow days - is an insult to all those who fought in the Civil Rights movement. Davis held up his drivers license and said that "this is not a Billy club, this is not a fire hose. This is not Jim Crow." He said that for those claiming that having the right to vote doesn't require personal responsibility is like a homeowner claiming not to have to mow his lawn. There is no auto-enroll for voter registration. Rights don't mean a person has no responsibility in the process. Registering to vote is an affirmative event.

Davis said that politics is why this uproar over voter identification laws is happening. He referenced that back in 2008, everyone responded favorably to the speech with the talk of "no red states and no blue states only the United States", regardless of whom you would be voting for. Now, four years later, those same people (specifically Barack Obama) who were talking about uniting the country are the ones who put voters in a box and separate all of us. This is why young people, in particular, are so disillusioned. They are demoralized by the broken promises.

To become a whole America, those in top leadership must stop acting like the country is made up of different labels for people, stop putting people in separate baskets. "I see Americans". "You cannot let the insiders run this game".

Pat Caddell was the evening's final speaker. He remarked that he was the only speaker tonight that wasn't a native of the state of Alabama. He is a native of South Carolina. He is a fiery speaker and is not afraid to call out both political parties. He had some great insight into the 2000 election results and the Florida re-counts, in particular. He said the Gore campaign flat out intended to steal the election and that the Bush campaign missed opportunities to prove that Bush won the state of Florida handily and that went on to haunt his presidency.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Romney Labeled Uncool to Obama's Cool

Sorry, Mitt Romney. Team Obama doesn't think that you are cool. President Obama, however, is the coolest ever. Let's check how effective coolness is in a President, shall we?



I'll take uncool and competent any day.

Sen. Cornyn Responds to EPA “Crucify” Comments

Senator John Cornyn, (R-TX) released the following statement Thursday, in response to the autrocious remarks made by EPA South Central Region - Region 6- Administrator Al Armendariz back in 2010 and recently exposed:

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, today issued the following statement after comments surfaced by Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Al Almendariz, whose region includes Texas, in which he likened the EPA’s “philosophy of enforcement” for oil and gas producers to Roman crucifixion:

“The EPA has systematically targeted Texas through burdensome regulatory overreach, putting politics ahead of facts and due process. Now we know they intend to crucify energy producers in our state. It is time for the Obama Administration to get its boot off the neck of Texas job creators and either lead, follow, or just get out of the way.”

Texas is in Region 6. Almendariz, according to former Shell Oil Chairman John Hofmeister, came into his new position stating that his mission was to "undo" all the environmental damage done by the previous administration. What environmental damage? Almendariz is of the same ilk as Secretary of the Interior Salazar who is determined to destroy the domestic oil and gas energy to satisfy their own politically ideological philosophies. Hofmeister was at the helm of Shell Oil during the Bush administration and took that remark as a personal insult.

Here is what Almendariz said in 2010:

“I was in a meeting once and I gave an analogy to my staff about my philosophy of enforcement,” Armendariz said during a meeting in 2010. “It’s kind of like how the Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean: They’d go into little Turkish towns somewhere, they’d find the first five guys they’d run into, and they’d crucify them and then, you know, that town was really easy to manage over the next few years.”

Nice talk, right? He knew it was wrong to say and yet didn't have the maturity to avoid repeating it.

Senator Inhofe, (R-OK) isn't having it.

Inhofe announced he would be launching an investigation through the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works into the EPA’s actions against natural gas producers in Parker County, Texas, Pavilion, Wyoming, and Dimock, Pennsylvania.

“Against the backdrop of recent events, and Administrator Armendariz’s admission that EPA is out to crucify natural gas companies, it’s clear that EPA did not base these three studies on sound science or engage in the proper scientific process,” Inhofe said on the Senate floor Wednesday. “The agency has been using questionable authorities while usurping the rightful regulatory authority of states. EPA clearly went through with these investigations based on preconceived conclusions with the explicit goal of tying potential environmental harms to hydraulic fracturing.”

Armendariz should be fired. This is not the kind of public servant that the American taxpayer deserves. Big government ideologues hamper businesses across the country and do nothing to inspire employers to hire.

Boehner Demands Obama Campaign to Pony Up For Trips

A small handful of states will determine who will be the next president and University of Virginia Professor Larry Sabato explains the landscape:

This is the electoral map as of today, as predicted by Larry Sabato:


It is a little-known Electoral College tidbit that a president reelected to a second term has always added a state to his coalition that he did not win during his first successful run. Sometimes, in the early days of the Republic, it was a state that didn’t exist during a president’s first bid. But it appears that Obama, if reelected, will break this trend. The only state John McCain won that Obama appears to have a chance of flipping is Arizona, but that is a long shot that would require a massive turnout effort by the Obama campaign among Hispanic voters.

You may have noticed President Obama's frequent trips to these swing states. He has traveled to them so frequently that Speaker of the House Boehner has called for the Obama re-election campaign to repay the taxpayers for some of this activity. The Obama campaign claims he will only truly be beginning to campaign next week.

“Presidents have the ability to use Air Force One and all the tools of the federal government to do official business, and when you look at almost all of the presidents, they find official business to do along with their campaigning,” Boehner said. “But this one does not pass the straight face test. You know it, and I know it. So it’s time for the Obama campaign to pony up and reimburse” taxpayers.

If he hasn't been really campaigning yet, Katie bar the door.

The RNC has a complaint about the excessive travel, too:

Boehner made the comment Thursday - one day after the Republican National Committee filed a formal complaint with the Government Accountability Office accusing the Obama reelection campaign, or Obama for America, of misusing tax dollars for the president’s reelection.

“Obama for America has been cheating the American taxpayer by using taxpayer dollars to fund their general election efforts,” RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement. “The president, who has held more campaign events in 3.5 years than any other president did in their full term, should refund the taxpayers for the cost of these trips through his campaign account Obama for America.”

As with everything else in the Obama administration, the re-election team is milking the taxpayer for all they can. Barack Obama has far surpassed any previous president in his penchant for traveling to pander for swing state votes.

Is this the change the voters hoped for in 2008?

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Obama Campaigns on Legislation He Failed to Vote On in 2007

Listening to a blurb from President Obama's speech to college students in North Carolina Tuesday, I was struck by the pandering tone. I'm always struck by his pandering tone but this time it was truly disingenuous.

He traveled to North Carolina because he is in a very close presidential re-election and North Carolina went for him in 2008 but is up in the air this time around. He has seen a steep decline in support from the younger voters whom he depended upon in 2008. Go to North Carolina, a swing state, and talk to college students like he's their older, wiser, big brother? Sure, why not?

What struck me was his usual making the speech all about him. He told the students that he and Michelle racked up a "mountain" of student loan debts and when they married, it made them both poorer.

Here's the thing: Barack Obama enjoyed the privilege of attending the finest of American schools by the award of scholarships. He attended the best prep school in Honolulu ( I happen to know a former classmate from those days) and went on to go to colleges on scholarships, too. As for Michelle, I do not know, but for Barack Obama to act as though it was all out of pocket, signing on the dotted line, indebtedness is just wrong. And deliberately misleading.

Also, he should have tied all of that pity party into the American Dream. His two daughters will attend the best schools and their wealthy parents will finance that education.

What Barack Obama did not do in this bold pandering to young voters was to mention that when he was Senator Obama, in 2007, he failed to even bother to vote for the legislation he is pushing now, in this election year. He didn't vote on the bill then though he supports the renewing of that legislation now - it
keeps interest rates on student loans at a lower rate of 3.4 percent. If Congress doesn’t extend this lower rate, rates will double on July 1 to 6.8 percent.

As the president prepared for his push — which Democrats hope will also shore up support for the president among younger voters, a group among which enthusiasm for Mr. Obama has been lagging — Republicans on Capitol Hill noted that then-Senator Obama seemed to make the lower interest rates for student loans a lower priority.

When the bill came up for final passage on September 7, 2007, then-Senator Obama did not vote; he was campaigning for president in California and Oregon.

“It seems not much has changed,” said Brendan Buck, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. “Five years ago, just like today, the President put campaigning before governing. As a result, 50 percent of new graduates can’t find full-time employment in this economy.”

The pandering will take him on to Colorado and Iowa in the next two days. You may notice that these two states are up for grabs, too.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Free Market America Explained

A clear and concise video that tells the story of a free market America:

Election Rolls List Too Many Voters in 16 Texas Counties

Is there some kind of something something going on with voter registration numbers in the small counties in Texas? According to THIS

Sixteen small counties across Texas appear to have more registered voters on their rolls as of 2010 than qualified citizens of voting age — a phenomenon prompting conservative Washington watchdog group to question whether the “over counts” could raise the potential for election fraud.

A review of public records for all Texas counties found evidence of surplus registered voters in rural Texas counties scattered statewide, including seven in South Texas — Maverick, Kendall, Brooks, Kenedy, Dimmit, Duval and Zavala — and several East Texas counties, such as Chambers, Trinity, and Polk.

Tom Fitton, president of nonprofit Judicial Watch, said his group plans to ask the Texas secretary of state to examine all Texas counties with oversized voter rolls. The group has demanded probes in other states as the result of its own nationwide comparisons of 2010 voter registration and census data.

“One bad vote is a vote that can ruin an election and so it's important that every county no matter how small have the procedures in place to make sure their roles are up to date and clean and ultimately under federal law the state is responsible for this,” Fitton said in an interview. “Not only does it affect federal elections but in the case of Texas, state and local elections would be impacted as well.”

The newspaper found the overages by comparing the county's registered voters in January 2010 to the number the U.S. Census reported of citizens considered eligible to register to vote in that same year.
With the True the Vote National Summit quickly approaching, this story caught my eye.

Logically speaking, there is no reason for more voters to be on a voter registrar's list than residents of voting age unless it is gross inefficiency within the administrator's office or someone is allowing the process to be corrupted. No wild conspiracies, just common sense.

Either way, it must be stopped.

Sometimes elections are won by a very small amount of votes. The old cliche that every vote counts is still relevant.

Demanding up to date and clean voter registration records is a citizen's civic duty. We deserve to rest assured that our elections are fair and legal.

Friday, April 20, 2012

What If ANWR Drilling Was Approved 10 Years Ago?

Ten years ago, members of the U.S. Senate voiced their objections to drilling in ANWR - a constant reason against the drilling was that it wasn't an immediate fix to our domestic energy needs. The objectors said it would take ten years to have oil from the drilling efforts, should drilling begin. Well, it's ten years and how's that all worked out?
Their objections voiced a common concern: ANWR wouldn’t begin to produce oil for up to ten years. Here’s what some of the Senators had to say: •“There would be no production out of [ANWR] for at least 7 years.” -Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) •“Oil extracted from [ANWR] would not reach refineries for seven to ten years.” -Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) •“No oil will flow from ANWR…until from 7 to 10 years from now.” -Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) •“Oil exploration in ANWR will not actually start producing oil for as many as 10 years.” -Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) •“Even if we started drilling [in ANWR] tomorrow, the first barrel of crude oil would not make it to the market for at least 10 years.” -Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
Here's the video of objections : We have to start somewhere, sometime. Reaping the bounty of our natural resources of oil and gas drilling is never an immediate proposition. The process is, in fact, laborious. It is slow. Much preparation and skill is required to produce a barrel of oil. The technology is available and safety of the worker and the environment is of the utmost concern. To imply that energy companies and workers do not respect the fragility of their natural surroundings is a farce pushed by political ideologues. As is his habit, Barack Obama would like for you to believe that there is really nothing that a president can do about energy prices. He makes election year stunt moves - like stating that he is considering releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve or holding press conferences to blame "speculators" for the rise in prices - but the fact is that the president can put into place sound energy policy that will increase our energy independence. So far, Barack Obama has done everything in his power to shut down domestic energy production and promote his new green energy start-up pet projects, mostly owned and pitched by big dollar contributors to his campaigns.
 
Yes, Virginia. There is gambling in River City.

There is nothing wrong with pursuing green energy - of which I would argue includes natural gas production - but not at the expense of domestic oil drilling. Talk about benefits years and years down the road. Solar, wind and the like are decades down the line before any widespread use will be available. If at all. The president likes to hijack the "all of the above" strategy during election years but acts in the reverse.

With this president, watch what he does, not what he says.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Why I Endorse Paul Simpson for HCRP Chairman

Today, yet another reason to replace the current chairman of the Harris County Republican Party surfaced. In this blog post, the reader learns that the Kingwood Tea Party and other groups came together and voted to finance the Harris County GOP convention that will take place on Saturday, April 21. A call was placed to the county headquarters and a message was delivered to the administrative assistant that the chairman, Jared Woodfill, should return the call so the group could tell him that the payment was arranged for the taking.

Jared Woodfill did not return the phone call.

After the misguided idea put forth that the candidates themselves would have to finance the convention and grassroots activists took action against this idea. After the web page was put up for regular GOP voters to pledge financial support for the convention so that challengers to Democratic incumbents with humble campaign coffers would not have to bear the expense. After Woodfill and HCRP hijacked the idea of individual support in the manner of pledges and urged others to join in the effort in a newsletter e-blast. This is where we are.

Jared Woodfill did not return the phone call and the group withdrew their financial offer.

It is inexcusable that the Harris County Republican party is in such dire financial straits. Harris County is the nation's third largest county. Harris County is a strongly Republican county. Harris County is the home of lots of very wealthy Republicans. Why in the world is the Harris County Republican party broke? This is unacceptable.

This is not Woodfill's first term as chairman. He has been in the position through several terms now. These mistakes are not those of a rookie.

It is time for new leadership.

We must insist that the good ole boys, pay for play network is eliminated. Outreach to grow the party and welcome new participation is essential. Yes, we need a big tent approach to membership. We must insist that new blood and fresh ideas are sought and embraced. The same old same old is no longer accepted and tolerated.


There is an alternative to Woodfill. I encourage you to give a look to the Paul F. Simpson campaign. Here is his website: http://simpsonforgopchair.com/ You can check out his Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Paul-Simpson-for-Harris-County-GOP-Chair/245540848069 And, on Twitter: @paulfsimpson

Simpson supports the action of which I am demanding of my party:

• Strong grassroots organization for a vibrant party across Harris County
• Solid conservative principles with a positive message to all voters
• Solutions for Party finances and fundraising to support needed programs

It is time for a real change, Harris County Republicans. We must demand it.

I endorse Paul F. Simpson for Harris County Republican Party Chairman. I encourage you to do the same.

Five Republican Women Can Stop the Reid/Obama Agenda

"If you want something said, ask a man.  If you want something done, ask a woman." That is a quote from Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of Great Britain.  It is said that the 2012 elections will not be about a war on women, but a war led by women. I agree. Do you understand that the Tea Party and the 2010 elections were propelled by conservative women? Do you understand that any Republican party in any state is run on the grassroots level by Republican women? If not, wake up. That is the reality on the ground.

Five Republican women are running for the U.S. Senate this election year and they would stop the of do-nothing, class warfare loving, re-elect Barack Obama at all costs agenda of Harry Reid and Barack Obama. It is time for Republicans to lead the Senate again.

Here is the video from ShePAC featuring the five women:



Heather Wilson, Deb Fischer, Linda McMahon, Linda Lingle, Sarah Steelman are all needed in the U.S. Senate to fight for Republican philosophy and help turn this country's dire economic straits around.

Ladies, we have a country to save.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Why the Liberal Left Fears Ann Romney

It was yet another example of the political left's war on women. On conservative women. For the political left, feminism of the past decades is dead and they are struggling to find strong rhetoric to fill the void to pander for votes. Now, according to the desperate, it is a-ok to go nasty against the likely GOP nominee's wife on national television to try to score points for President Obama. Never mind that the convention to announce and introduce the nominee is not until August.

The reason the silly remarks about Ann Romney uttered by DNC surrogate Hilary Rosen are important is that it shines a light on the arrogance of the political left. There is a faction that is so steeped in the mommy wars of the past decades that, to them, the thought that millions of women would be offended by Rosen's mouth doesn't even enter a discussion. Plus Rosen makes the mistake that only conservative women make the choice to be stay at home moms and homemakers.

As a former stay at home mom, I can tell you that not all of us were conservative women. Not all of us were voting Republican. I'm here to burst that bubble. I was in the company of liberals.

Here's the thing - it is common courtesy that the wife of politicians are given some space. Typically they are not dragged into the fray until the campaign is in full swing and a wife says something questionable in a stump speech - you know, like when Michelle Obama said she had never "really" been proud of America until Barack ran for President of the United States. That kind of thing. But, since Obama has little to run on and his legacy legislation - Obamacare - is so very unpopular, what Team Obama has to do is paint Mitt Romney as some out of touch, rich, white guy trapped in the 1950's with his traditional family. Plus, he's a Mormon.

There is little for Barack Obama to run on besides traditional class warfare waged by Democrats in an election year. Division, not unity, is the battle plan. We are watching the last futile grasps towards 1960's liberalism as exhibited by the presidency of Barack Obama. It has been an utter failure.

See, it was not ok to question Barack and Michelle Obama's religious affiliation with a church that boasted black liberation theology as the core of its worship but the Mormon religion and the Romney's faith is game. There will be stories that Ann Romney had no choice but to stay home because of her faith.

The religious dynamic of the Romneys' Leave It To Beaver lifestyle has been largely lost on the partisans making hay out of the latest flare-up in the mommy wars, which was sparked by a Democratic strategist charging that Ann "has never actually worked a day in her life." But while much of the debate has centered on class — with liberals casting full-time motherhood as a luxury for the rich, and conservatives hoping working-class women will identify with her — the fact is that even if Mitt were a middle-class schoolteacher, there's a good chance Ann still would have foregone a career.

That's because for many Latter-day Saint women, staying at home to raise children is less a lifestyle choice than religious one — a divinely-appreciated sacrifice that brings with it blessings, empowerment, and spiritual prestige.

It has become standard campaign speak to pander to women as a block of voters.

To pretend that Democrats do not engage in manipulative talk about a war on women is all but to admit that, in politics, words aren’t always meant to have meaning. Their value is in voter mobilization. In this case, the assumption behind the words is that women are wedded to legal abortion and to a government bureaucracy that mandates insurance coverage of contraception, sterilization, and even abortion-inducing drugs. The assumption is insulting, and it caught up to Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections, when, for the first time since the metric has been tracked (1982), they failed to win a majority of women’s votes.

In a perverse way, Rosen’s ridiculous claim about the “war on women” being a GOP delusion gave some credence to her subsequent apology to Ann Romney for insulting not just the wife of the presumptive Republican nominee but all women who have ever chosen to work in the home, raising children.

She didn’t really mean it! It was just another tool to scare women into voting Democrat in November! Don’t hold me to my words. They are but a means to an end. As the president now infamously winked on the international stage: After the election, there will be more “flexibility,” words can have their meanings again, and they’ll let us know what the agenda really is.

Funny, I don't recall Rosen belittling Teresa Heinz Kerry as a woman who "never had a real job" in her life. I do, however, remember Heinz Kerry trying to make that claim about Laura Bush who, in fact, was a former public elementary school teacher and librarian with a masters degree.

The choice to stay at home to be a full time caregiver and homemaker is not one for only the wealthy. This choice is made by middle class women every day. I know. I was one of those women.

The narrative of class warfare fails to capture the votes of Independents in elections because it fails miserably in its goal - to divide those voters along ideological lines. The fact is, most Americans respect successful people and strive to be successful in their working lives, too. The thought that only wealthy women stay home, out of the "working" world, is an outdated and false thought. Women do what is best for their families and millions of women stay home, at least for a while, to raise their own children.

The choice is most often an economic one - if the women has a job that pays less than is practical to cover the cost of child care, that woman will stay home until her children are older. The choice can be a lifestyle choice, as was in my case. My husband travels extensively for work and his schedule is not predictable. It made sense for one parent to be the constant parent at home with our son, to be a way for his sense of security and stability. We made the adjustments of living on one income and all that that entails.

Liberal women stuck in the wars of the past fail to be very progressive themselves. Using the fact that a woman chose to stay home with her children as a way of criticizing her husband is bizarre. Let's remember why Rosen waded into this territory - Mitt Romney said that Ann Romney advises him that women are most concerned about the economy and the lack of jobs available in our country. Liberals don't want the economy to be the issue in this campaign because their candidate - President Obama - will lose that argument.

Would Rosen prefer that Mitt Romney not have a real partner in his wife? Is that what feminists have been fighting for all these years? I consider myself a feminist and I have always been a full partner in my marriage. Feminism is defined as: the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men. Clear enough, right? Choice for all women.

Women are usually the ones making the financial decisions in the home. Major appliances, which repair services to use, home security, even the very neighborhood in which to live are all decisions usually made predominantly by women. Women purchase the groceries, clothing, home decor, personal care items, and so on as every day chores. Women talk to each other and give recommendations and advice to each other when needs arise. This is not breaking news.

Hilary Rosen did one thing that was quite unexpected, I am certain. She united conservatives behind Mitt Romney on behalf of their support for Ann Romney. Ann Romney is a huge asset to Mitt Romney. She is personable, warm, and not afraid to stand up and speak on behalf of her husband. She is the former First Lady of Massachusetts so she is experienced in speaking to voters. Why wouldn't she have her ear to the ground with voters on what concerns them most?

Ann Romney is strong. She not only raised five sons and supported her husband's very successful personal career both in business and in politics, she also is a breast cancer survivor and lives with MS. She is a happy warrior. She is no shrinking violet. The liberal left does not quite know how to handle that.

I like Ann Romney a lot.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Sen Cornyn on Buffett Rule Vote

In advance of today’s vote on President Obama’s Buffett Tax, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, released the following video and statement highlighting how President Obama’s economy has given Americans anything but ‘a fair shot:’

“President Obama’s Buffett Tax will create zero jobs, do nothing to lower the price of gas, and has no chance of passing.

“This country deserves a President who will create, not shrink, opportunities for Americans and empower, not punish, them as they strive to reach the American Dream.”

Friday, April 13, 2012

Tx Senate Debate Features Top Four Candidates

Friday night brought a live, televised debate featuring the top four contenders for the U.S. Senate seat open due to a retiring Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Lt. Gov David Dewhurst, former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, former Tx Solicitor General Ted Cruz and former ESPN broadcaster Craig James made up the candidate roster. It was touted as a Belo Debate.

Dallas-based Belo Corp. announced today that its Texas television stations in Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio are set to broadcast a live, televised debate among candidates for the Texas Republican U.S. Senate nomination next month.

John McCaa of WFAA-TV (Dallas-Fort Worth) will moderate a panel of journalists including: Sarah Forgany, KENS-TV (San Antonio); Greg Hurst, KHOU-TV (Houston); Tyler Sieswerda, KVUE-TV (Austin); and senior political writer Wayne Slater of The Dallas Morning News.

The Belo Debate will be streamed on the newspaper’s website, www.dallasnews.com, as well as on the host television stations’ associated websites and Belo’s statewide cable news channel, TXCN. Additionally, all radio stations across Texas will be given the opportunity to air the debate. Belo will also make the broadcast available in Spanish to television stations in all markets. PBS stations in Belo markets may air the debate on a tape-delayed basis.

Frankly, the questioners were obviously of the liberal persuasion and pushing the standard Democratic talking points. Slater was particularly obnoxious - rudely interrupting before answers could be given and demanding that the candidates do that stupid hand raising thing for responses. Fortunately, Ted Cruz immediately said the candidates wouldn't play that game. None did.

The one woman on the panel insisted on using her questioning time on the issues of birth control and on religious objections to social policy. Instead of asking serious policy questions that the voter is concerned with - perhaps national security or education or the exploding federal deficit would have been germane choices.

Tom Leppert was strong in painting Dewhurst as a career politician and Cruz as a lawyer. He didn't, however, go into James' sports career. Leppert was touting his business experience, as the economy is the most important issue to voters. Then he was asked about his involvement with Washington Mutual as it went into financial dire straits during the government bailout phase. He had to do a bit of dancing about that subject.

As is his habit, Ted Cruz brought his attacks to Dewhurst. He pointed to the expansion of state government during the Dewhurst years and that Dewhurst hasn't cut excess government spending and programs. Also, Dewhurst's contributions from lobbyists was brought under scrutiny.

Craig James is a newbie to seeking political office and it shows at times with some of his rather naive answers. He told one questioner that he has "absolutely nothing" in which he agrees with Barack Obama. Really? Nothing? That is beyond silly. He tried to attack Ted Cruz on not endorsing Rick Santorum - of whom Craig describes as the "true" conservative in the presidential race - as he did. Frankly, I thought it was not the best idea to be endorsing a presidential candidate as one runs for the Senate but that was his choice. James made it clear that social issues are front and center for his candidacy so that would be his big tie with Santorum.

Ted Cruz is my choice of candidate in this race. Full disclosure - I have endorsed Cruz in this race and blog for his campaign as a "blogger for Cruz". I think he will be a consistent fighter in Washington for fiscally conservative legislation and persuade others to listen to conservative constituents. I also think he can work with the other side of the aisle to move the conservative agenda forward.

Cruz has solid debate skills. He has the experience of arguing before the Supreme Court of the United States and he has a winning record. That counts in a deliberative body like the U.S. Senate.

The Texas primary is May 29, 2012.

Hilary Rosen Slams Ann Romney for Being a Stay at Home Mom

Here is what launched the latest round in the war on women: Democrat strategist Hilary Rosen declared that Ann Romney can’t possibly know a thing about the economy because she hasn’t worked a day in her life.

Here's what Rosen said on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees": "What you have is Mitt Romney running around the country saying, well, you know, my wife tells me that what women really care about are economic issues. And when I listen to my wife, that's what I'm hearing. Guess what, his wife has actually never worked a day in her life. She's never really dealt with the kinds of economic issues that a majority of the women in this country are facing."

Here is what Peggy Noonan said about Rosen's mega faux pas:
What is the biggest gift Romney has been given this year by the Democratic party? Hilary Rosen's ill thought, ill-spoken, snotty remark that Ann Romney "never worked a day in her life."

Ann Romney raised five children with a husband who sometimes traveled. A mother of five will be suffering from exhaustion, not laziness, and certainly not a lack of engagement in the realities and stresses of life. Where do the Democrats get these spokesmen who are so unsympathetic, so narrow in their vision and understanding of women's lives? What are they launching, a war on women?

As reported by the Washington Examiner, "In 2008, Rosen derided Republican attacks against Michelle Obama as an example as "stupid strategy."

"You know essentially, you've taken on sort of the most sympathetic person in the candidate's realm, the wife, who is taking care of the children, supporting the husband, doing everything she can because she loves him," Rosen said on Anderson Cooper 360 according to a CNN transcript from May 19, 2008.

"Michelle Obama is a pretty terrific woman I have to say, and I think that attacking her is a dumb strategy on the Republican's part," Rosen added.

The nasty and downright stupid attack on Ann Romney prompted her to turn to the Twitterverse. Ann Romney is now on Twitter and winning the argument. Her handle: @AnnDRomney and I suggest you follow her. She is not one to remain silent and she is no wallflower. The Democrats are afraid of her, in case you didn't already understand that fact.

Mrs. Romney tweeted, as her first tweet: “I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work.”

What woman in America doesn't understand that?

The irony is that the buzz was that Rosen was sent out to soften up the shrill and nasty rhetoric coming out of the mouth of the DNC Chairwoman, Rep Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, (D-FL). Talk about a miserable failure in messaging. Not only did Rosen hit at the standard class warfare message from the Democrats - Ann Romney is the wife of a wealthy, successful business man - but also that Ann Romney made the choice to stay at home and raise a family and run a household instead of working outside the home. Wow. Talk about tone deaf.

What about the liberal women who are stay at home moms or just working from home? Are they lesser citizens, too? Are their voices not to be heard? It is a mistake to think that the only women choosing to stay at home with children and family obligations are conservative women.

Ann Romney is an educated and opinionated woman. She is an adviser to her husband. There is no breaking news here. As a former First Lady of the State of Massachusetts, she is no stranger to the world of politics. If the Democrats were counting on Ann Romney being a shrinking wallflower, not standing up for her life choices and for her husband's run for President, the Democrats are mistaken.

Ann Romney is a breast cancer survivor and battles MS while leading a life of public service to her country and holding dear her position of matriarch within her own family. She is a strong, conservative woman. Most of all, she is a fighter.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Rick Santelli Explains the Buffett Rule

Rick Santelli explains the Buffett Rule:



As any serious person will say, the Buffett Rule doesn't do anything but provoke more of Team Obama's class warfare campaigning for the November election. If millionaires and billionaires want to do as the Buffett Rule advocates - taking more of their money - then all they have to do is write an extra check to the IRS. It is perfectly legal to do so.

The fact is this - the millionaires like Mitt Romney, whom Team Obama would like you to bare your teeth at every time this pandering is spoken - are already taxed twice on their income and will be taxed a third time of the same money upon death. The money is taxed when it is initially earned, when investment dividends come in, and then in the death (estate) tax. Isn't this "fair" enough for Democrats like Barack Obama?

Obama says he doesn't need tax breaks now that he's a wealthy man - thanks to the American voter and those who purchase his book (like the State Dept to be divvied out as gifts). So, has he sent a little extra to the IRS in his tax return?

It's been said before - Warren Buffett pays at a lesser tax rate than his highly compensated personal secretary because his income is from investments. Also, if this were truly a serious proposal moved forward by Buffett, why is he still taking advantage of said tax breaks himself? If he is so consumed by liberal guilt at being financially successful, where is his voluntary contribution? Hmm?

Barack Obama arrogantly stands before his adoring campaign rally audiences and preaches about fairness. Who is he to define the word? Since when does the government pick winners and losers based on financial success? Our is a progressive tax system, with approximately 43% of Americans not paying federal income tax. Is that fair? Are they not taking advantage of the same tax breaks as everyone else?

As the Santelli video shows, the Buffett Rule would be a drop in the bucket to be put towards our national deficit. It is election year pandering by an increasingly desperate campaign. Without real success to run on, Team Obama has little other than class warfare in their political rhetoric.

The Buffett Rule is scheduled for a vote next week in the U.S. Senate. Everyone knows it will not pass. This is just a show vote so that the Democrats can campaign on the no votes from Republicans. Let them. Americans know what is going on with the economy. Americans strive to be successful themselves. Americans do not like class warfare.  The time will come soon enough for the voters to deliver that message to Barack Obama.

Barack Obama - he made it worse.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Texas County & District Conventions Begin April 14, 2012

A reminder from the Republican Party of Texas:

Starting this Saturday, April 14th, Texas Republicans will begin assembling in various counties across the state to conduct County & District Republican Conventions. The process will also continue next Saturday, April 21st, for counties which have chosen to hold their conventions on that date.

The Republican Party of Texas has created a website with a full list of county-by-county information, where you can go to learn the date, time and location of your local Republican convention, as well as finding the answers to Frequently Asked Questions and other information about the GOP Convention Process in 2012.

convention.texasgop.org


Due to the redistricting lawsuit and rescheduled Texas Primary Election, the RPT has built this website as a way for Republicans to quickly gain information on how to activate and participate within the party's convention process and the ways in which the process has changed to handle this year's unique challenges and calendar. The website contains helpful links such as:

•Find Your Convention - a database to find county specific information on your local convention.
•New for 2012 - a thorough explanation on the changes to this year's convention process.
•FAQ - for those who are new to our conventions.
•Downloads - a helpful page with links to RPT rules, platform, forms and infographics.

One of the important changes in 2012 is that Republican precinct conventions have been made optional and left to the discretion of county Republican executive committees. This option has been decided on a county-by-county basis, and the State Party has constructed a full database of county information on the website for Republicans to quickly find information on their local process. If your County is holding precinct conventions, you must be nominated as a delegate out of your precinct conventions in order to move on to the next step of County & District Conventions. In most cases, counties following this option are holding the precinct conventions immediately prior to the County & District Convention.

For those who are new to the process, the purposes of these conventions are to choose delegates and alternates to the Republican Party of Texas State Convention, and to consider resolutions or statements on policy issues to send to the State Convention for eventual inclusion in the state and national Party platform.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Santorum Suspends GOP Presidential Primary Campaign

Former PA Senator Rick Santorum suspended his bid to be the Republican candidate for President Tuesday. He made a valiant effort and even when he barely squeaked by to get the nod to participate in early debates, he pressed on. He moved his family to Iowa and proudly boasted that he visited each and every one of that state's counties.

Despite the commitment to Iowa, to strive for gravatas, he lost the Iowa Straw Poll last summer to Michele Bachmann.

I've made no effort to disguise my thoughts on Rick Santorum. I never warmed up to him. He was a hard worker, yes, but he wasn't a good candidate. He's not very likable, unless you drink his evangelical style of the Catholic faith and far right social conservatism. The voters in his home state of Pennsylvania - where he no longer lives, he lives in Virginia - soundly rejected him in his last attempt of re-election to the U.S. Senate by an historic 18%. He risked losing Pennsylvania to Romney in the primary race and he knew it, as the polling shows Romney closing in on him as the primary nears.

While there is no doubt of his commitment to his family, clearly he had a conflict in campaigning around the country as his very young daughter battles a terminal disease. His wife, Karen, and his older children were usually at his side on the trail and on stage. They didn't appear as props but as a supportive family.

The problem with Rick Santorum was that he was a loose cannon. He frequently veered way off message and made several headlines that created controversy of his own making. He sometimes appeared arrogant in his own opinions of social values and would not be able to expand out much farther than his social conservative base.

He was whiny when he lost to Romney, complaining that he didn't have Romney's money. He complained that Romney was a negative campaigner. Well, so was he. Santorum even took to holding an Etch-A-Sketch at recent campaign events to mock Romney. That is not taking the high road.

Voters aren't looking for a whiner and complainer. We already have one of those in the White House. The current whiner-in-chief has a really big campaign war chest to use in this re-election season. How would Santorum fight that?

So, congratulations to Rick Santorum for a hard fought battle and leaving before he had to in disgrace. We can all wish him well and hold his ill 3 year old in our thoughts. He can go back to lobbying and making speeches to retire his campaign debts. He has a large family to care for and educate.

Monday, April 09, 2012

RNC Uses Obama Against Obama

The RNC is out with a new video ad which uses the comparison of 2008 Obama campaign quotes with those of his 2012 campaign quotes. Then, 2008 candidate Obama promoted hope and change. Vacuous nonsensical political slogans, but the willing voters fell for the shtick. Now, some seem to be snapping out of it.

"Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters." - Barack Obama, 2008.



Reality bites.

Sunday, April 08, 2012

Gov Mary Fallin Delivers GOP Weekly Address on Energy

In the Weekly Republican Address, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin says the energy crisis facing America isn't caused by a lack of energy resources, but rather stems from a lack of leadership that starts "at the top" with the President. "America remains dependent on foreign oil from unstable and anti-Western regimes, and yet the President is blocking the pipeline that would transport oil to the United States from our neighbor and ally—Canada," she says. "Millions of Americans remain out of work, but President Obama continues to propose job-killing tax hikes and obstruct the basic energy infrastructure projects that would lead to the creation of thousands of new jobs, not to mention more revenue in state budgets."

Gov Fallin said that Oklahomans were surprised by some of the claims President Obama was taking credit for in his speech. She called them "outrageous".

I Finished in the Top 25 Political Mom Bloggers Contest

The Top 25 Political Moms contest over at Circle of Moms has come and gone again and this year, my second in contention, I am happy to say I finished in the Top 25. I'd like to thank those who took the time to click the website and vote for me. You'll notice the nifty badge in my sidebar on this blog site now.

Zilla has a terrific post about the winners, listing all of the conservative moms that made the Top 25 and others who didn't. You may notice that it is a list of 20 conservative women blogging that made the Top 25. Unlike in the contest last year, where liberal women bloggers dominated - though a conservative woman actually won and then was disqualified due to a judgement made by the contest judges - it is good to see that the thought that conservative women are leading the political world is again verified. For far too long, the opinion promoted by those in the media is that conservative women are lesser forces to be reckoned with than liberal women. You know, we are told how progressive liberal women are. How smart they are. How strong and successful they are.

Those days are long gone. The myths of the progressive left are shattering. I think we have Barack Obama to thank for that. His failing administration is the last gasp of the far left liberal ideology in the world of American politics. It is not who we are as a nation.

Despite the talking points in the media and in Democratic politics, America is still a center-right nation.

Thanks again to those who voted and participated in this contest. Yes, it's a vanity thing and a way for the website to push traffic to its site. It's still fun to win though. I hope you will continue to support conservative women as the opportunity arises.

Liberal dominance no more.

Saturday, April 07, 2012

Santorum Backers Demand Texas Rule Change in Delegate Distribution

The Santorum bitter clingers are out in force in Texas. Make no mistake about it - deny it they may, but the movement to demand a rules change from the RNC to make the primary into a winner take all delegate distribution instead of the proportional distribution in place. Due to the DOJ's deliberate stalling of the Texas primary, we are now voting on May 29 - the day after Memorial Day - instead of on Super Tuesday, as is the tradition.

Here is an interesting little screed by a declared Santorum supporter who is claiming it really isn't about supporting Santorum, but of giving Texas a bigger voice in candidate selection. Yeah, right.

Also, in today's email inbox arrived this from the Chairman of Harris County Republican Party:

Texas' Role in Choosing the President

We in Texas know that we are a significant force in national conservative politics. After all, we have the largest Republican congressional delegation of any state, and ours is a conservative delegation!

We also have 155 delegates at stake in the presidential primary - that's more than the famous first five primary states combined (Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida, and Nevada). Those five states are considered to have set the tone for the entire presidential race, but Texas has not spoken yet - and we can speak with a louder voice and with more impact than all of those states!

Under our winner-take-all system, our 155 delegates have a significant impact on any presidential race. But this year, the Republican National Committee was poised to penalize Texas for holding our primary in March (as we always do) by imposing on us a proportional delegate count, so the Republican Party of Texas moved away from our normal presidential procedure. But then the federal courts got involved and delayed the Texas primary until May. So Texas now has an opportunity to regain its unified voice by going back to a winner-take-all primary.

Contrary to what you may have heard from the national media, the race for the Republican presidential nominee is far from over. After all, only 37% of delegates have been assigned so far; and the media has been completely wrong on the number of delegates that separate Romney from the others (particularly the oft-repeated Associated Press count) - the actual count shows the gap to be much narrower than claimed.

Texas can therefore have a clear and powerful voice in selecting a conservative Republican nominee for president by moving back to a winner-take-all system. All it takes is for the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) to call a meeting and make the rule change before the Texas primary vote. Please contact your SREC member and ask them to convene and make that change; and also contact the Republican Party of Texas and let them know that you want to see Texas regain its national voice.

Please act on this as quickly as possible - Texas, as the biggest conservative state in the country, should be allowed to speak with the loudest voice!! Thanks for all you do to keep Texas a conservative state!

God bless!

David Barton (former Vice Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, 1997-2006; National Delegate 2008, 2004, 2000, 1996)

Paul Bettencourt (Former Treasurer, Republican Party of Texas, Former Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector)

Kelly Shackelford (National Attorney; National Platform Committee member 2008, 2004, 2000)

Michael Quinn Sullivan (President, Empower Texans*)

*For identification purposes only

Sincerely,
Jared Woodfill
Chairman, Harris County Republican Party
The Santorum campaign believes - or wants supporters to believe - that they are closer to Romney's count than publicized results show and that they can flip non-committed delegates to their camp. It's a fantasy from a desperate campaign trying to raise enough money to stay in the fight until the August GOP convention.

The Santorum campaign believes the delegate race is far closer than what is being portrayed by the media and campaign of GOP front runner Mitt Romney, according to a memo obtained by CNN. But top Republicans say Santorum's characterization of the race represents more wishful thinking than actual progress in the hunt for delegates.

In the memo, Santorum's delegate strategist John Yob says that a number of considerations nor currently factored in media projections show Santorum trailing Romney 571 delegates to 342 delegates. But CNN's current projection shows Romney with 657 and Santorum with 273.

This is all a distraction that the GOP does not need. Any honest broker in the truth knows that Romney will be the GOP candidate to go up against Obama in November. We all may not have chosen him as our first choice but that is the reality of the race. It is time to take the fight to Obama, as he has begun in full force against the GOP and Romney. Polling shows that the GOP has suffered in support from the extended primary nastiness between the candidates.

We can agree that Romney has benefited from the primary battle. He is a stronger debater and candidate. Ann Romney will be a huge asset to the campaign, too.

For the record, I have not endorsed any candidate in the GOP presidential primary. I have no dog in this fight. I do, however, have a huge desire to get Barack Obama out of the Oval Office and usher in a GOP replacement.

It is unlikely that the RNC would approve a change at this stage of the primary for Texas.

The Republican National Committee would have to approve the last-ditch move to change the delegate selection process because of the late date of the request, officials say. And an RNC official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that would be highly unlikely. The change might also require approval from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Texas has a total of 155 delegates. Of that, 152 are awarded to the candidates based on the primary vote. Another three are "superdelegates" — party honchos who can vote for the candidate of their choice. It takes 1,144 delegates to win the party's presidential nomination.

Several members of the State Republican Executive Committee are pushing the party to hold an emergency meeting to consider the rules change to go to a winner-take-all GOP primary in Texas. If 15 of the 62 members ask for a meeting, party chairman Steve Munisteri will honor the request and hold one, GOP spokesman Chris Elam said.

It is time to focus and gather together to defeat Barack Obama in November.

Friday, April 06, 2012

Meet Ann Romney

Meet Ann Romney.



The Democrats fear her in the November election. She is one class act.

RNC Chairmen Release Good Friday Message

Under the leadership of Chairman Reince Priebus and Co-Chairman Sharon Day, fundraising for the RNC has completely turned the corner and outdoing the Democrats. I had the pleasure of meeting Sharon Day in South Carolina earlier this year at a private function and she is a force to be reckoned with. We can be proud of this leadership team.

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus and Co-Chairman Sharon Day released the following Good Friday message:

"On Good Friday, we pause from our work and the business of the day to reflect on what truly matters: God's grace and forgiveness and the selfless act that forever changed the world," said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.

"With heads bowed and hearts stilled, we turn our thoughts to the Cross and Christ's sacrifice for humankind. Today, Christians around the world mark his passion and death. And through it all, we meditate on those most universal of human values--peace, grace, and love."

"We know that the joy of Easter will follow the pain of Good Friday. Today, though somber, is an important reminder that even in the darkest hour, there are better days ahead," said RNC Co-Chairman Sharon Day. "It is my prayer that Holy Week has been a blessing to the faithful and a time of introspection and renewal."

Democrats Do Not Speak for Republican Women

Smart Girl Politics Action launches "They Don't Speak for Us" asking women to put the conversation back on real issues important to women. Women are forced everyday to make sacrifices and its time that we put pressure on Congress and this Administration to stop playing games and get back to work for the American people.



On Good Friday, the White House is holding a conference on economic issues and women. On Good Friday. What an odd choice of days.

US President Barack Obama hosts a forum Friday on women and the economy, as aides warn of a "devastating" impact on the key voting bloc if the Supreme Court overturns his health care law.

The White House said the forum would "examine the ways in which the administration has worked to ensure women's economic security and create jobs for women, through all stages of life."

It's re-election time for President Obama. He is clearly worried about the "womens vote" and is doing what Democrats always do - pander to different groups of voters instead of bringing everyone together and dealing with issues like the economy as a national issue that concerns everyone.

Team Obama is using the distraction of a bogus claim - that Republicans are waging a "war on women". It is standard Democratic operating procedure in an election to claim that Republicans don't support women and ignores the fact that conservative women are leading the fight against this administration's intrusion into the lives of families across the country. The Tea Party movement, for example, is clearly led by fiscally conservative women. Team Obama knows it cannot win this election on the issues and on the record of Barack Obama. The record is dismal and now they are sweating out the Supreme Court decision on Obamacare, the signature legislation of Barack Obama's time in the White House.

Republican women are not afraid. Republican women are not silently allowing the Democrats to frame the issues concerning American families and American women, in particular. Gone are those days. Republican women are in the trenches and fighting for all Americans.

Republican women are not distracted.

Instead of orchestrating a distraction like contraception and birth control paid for by insurance companies, if Barack Obama truly was interested in bettering the lives of American women he would be working night and day on the real issues - energy policy, national unemployment, rising grocery prices, creeping inflation, public schools, and so on. Those are American family issues. Those are American issues.

Barack Obama is a community organizer. Community organizers divide, they do not unite. Barack Obama has been the most divisive president in recent memory. It is time for him to go.

Tell Barack Obama to stop using women as political pawns. Tell Barack Obama to stop the cheap political games.

Republican women demand better.

Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Obama Reveals the Presidential Campaign is On

On Tuesday, political writer and commentator Charles Krauthammer said after the speech delivered by President Obama on the economy, "The general election started today."

This is apparent after the speeches given this week by President Obama. He takes aim at Rep Paul Ryan's budget and at Mitt Romney, the GOP primary front runner. For instance, there is this jewel from the president to the AP reporters luncheon gathering in Washington, D.C. : "It’s a Trojan horse. Disguised as deficit reduction plan, it's really an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country,” Republicans are radical. Well, fiscal conservatism is a radically different approach to governance for Barack Obama.

On Tuesday, President Obama also said in a lunch with AP reporters, "The Republican budget, and the philosophy it represents is 'antithetical to our entire history as a land of opportunity and upward mobility for everyone who’s willing to work for it'... It’s nothing but thinly veiled social Darwinism." The entire history of our nation? Social Darwinism? Wow. The ugly rhetoric is on overload mode from the speech writing team. What happened to the new tone we were suppose to all be a part of in politics?

The Wall Street Journal tore apart the ugly speech delivered by a campaigning Barack Obama before his very, very friendly audience - his cheerleaders in the media.

Did you hear about the GOP's red-in-tooth-and-claw plan for Medicare? Grandma and Gramps are going to be drafted for the Hunger Games.

Mr. Obama has been working Mediscare for the last year, but he is also debuting some new material, each layer thicker than the last. Modern Republicans are so radical that they oppose research and care for Alzheimer's, cancer, AIDS, autism and Down Syndrome, even as they want to deny education and food to children and their mothers. They want to pave over Yellowstone and backfill the Grand Canyon. But few tourists could get there anyway, because Republicans plan to shut down air traffic control too.

Because Republicans have criticized the Administration's torrent of costly new rules across the entire economy, therefore they favor returning to a state of regulatory nature, with no rules at all. Because Republicans oppose high-speed rail, therefore they would have opposed industrialization in the 19th century. They do plan to build a wayback machine to the Gilded Age, however, by handing a $150,000 check to every American millionaire, a million-dollar check to every billionaire, and a billion-dollar check to every trillionaire.

"This is not conjecture," Mr. Obama said. "I am not exaggerating. These are facts." Lest you think we exaggerate, read the transcript.

The list of untrue things that Mr. Obama wants Americans to believe is evidently so long that Mr. Obama associated himself with Republicans, albeit mostly dead Republicans like Lincoln and Eisenhower. For the first time we can recall, Mr. Obama even praised George W. Bush, of all people, because his predecessor created a new entitlement for prescription drugs. He also said Newt Gingrich showed how smart he was when he called Mr. Ryan's budget "radical" and "right-wing social engineering" last year.

All of this is a political fable carefully constructed to erase the record of the last three years and blame every current anxiety on a GOP House that has been in office for all of 14 months. The President claims to have "eliminated dozens of programs that weren't working," but the savings from these eliminations amount to less than 0.1% of the budget, or less than $100 million.

And, when Barack Obama says he is not exaggerating, you know that is exactly what he is doing. If it were not for straw men, the man would be rendered mute.

The man is on a roll. Two days, two speeches delivered against perceived conservative opposition to his agenda. First the Supreme Court and then the Ryan budget.

The last two days have revealed Mr. Obama at his least appealing—and least Presidential—first warning the Supreme Court not to dare overturn his health-care law, and now demonizing the motives of his political opposition. It is a long, long way from his "there's no red America, there's no blue America" stuff of 2004, much less the inspiration of 2008.

He sounds like a very petty, small man. Not the leader of the free world.

For another excellent analysis of the Tuesday speech, go HERE.

Tuesday, April 03, 2012

POTUS Takes Preemptive Strike at SCOTUS

Calling them "unelected officials", Monday President Obama took a preemptive potshot at the justices on the Supreme Court over what may be the demise of Obamacare. The legacy legislation of the Obama administration will most likely not survive in tact in the Supreme Court and President Obama is facing a political embarrassment in this election year - his final political election.

Maybe he forgot that he appointed two of those "unelected officials". Or maybe the man touted as a "Constitutional scholar" forgot that the judiciary is the third branch of our government and on equal footing with the Executive and Legislative branches.

And, he did it in front of the President of Mexico and Prime Minister of Canada during a press conference. Classy. They must have both had a hearty private laugh about that one.

The Constitutional scholar-in-chief said that should the Supreme Court overturn Obamacare, it would be an "unprecedented" move. Um, no, Professor Obama.

“Ultimately, I’m confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress,” the president said.

Going back to Marbury vs Madison and concept of judicial review, overturning Obamacare, would, in fact, not be unprecedented at all.

After all, the Supreme Court has been overturning laws — which necessarily have been passed by a majority of a democratically elected Congress — since 1803’s Marbury v. Madison decision. By this count citing the Government Printing Office, the court declared 158 acts of Congress unconstitutional between 1789 and 2002, which works out to one about every 16 months. Which strikes me as “precedented.”

And for Obama now whining that any overturning by the Supreme Court would have to be due to "activist" judges, there is this:

Now, let’s look at a relevant law the Supreme Court previously overturned — the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, voided in the United States v. Lopez decision in 1995 (which also concerned the Commerce Clause and which was cited by the plaintiffs in their challenge to Obamacare). That act was part of the broader Crime Control Act of 1990, which was so strongly supported that it passed the Senate by a voice vote and the House by a vote of 313-1
.

That action was taken in a liberal leaning Supreme Court. So, again, no new precedent would be taken. Shouldn't a Constitutional scholar know this stuff?

And, if the ruling comes down with a 5-4 ruling, wouldn't both sides be blamed equally, if the complaint is that ideology was behind the vote?

Campaigning Obama Bashes Big Oil in Swing States

Currently running in five battleground states: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia is an ad by Team Obama which is an attempt to smear Mitt Romney as the candidate in bed with "Big Oil". Here's the problem for Team Obama - they are clueless on how the average American thinks of the oil and gas production crisis in this country. The average American thinks oil and gas production is a good thing. And, who does the majority of oil and gas production domestically? Yes. Big Oil.

The 30-second spot re-inforces a message President Barack Obama has been making in speeches: that under his tenure, domestic oil production is at an 8-year high and "Big Oil" is bankrolling Republicans because he wants to end their tax breaks and bolster renewable energy programs.

The announcer says in the spot, "In all these fights, Mitt Romney's stood with Big Oil-- for their tax breaks, attacking higher mileage standards and renewables."

What Obama doesn't mention when he brags that production is up - it is only up (marginally) on private land. It is still down on public (the land he has say-so over) land and in the Gulf of Mexico, where there is still a permitorium. Permits are still be slow-walked and red tape is strangling small producers out of business.

And, Barack Obama the hypocrite emerges: did he forget all the money that oil giant BP gave to his campaigns?

During his time in the Senate and while running for president, Obama received a total of $77,051 from the oil giant and is the top recipient of BP PAC and individual money over the past 20 years, according to financial disclosure records.

The GOP has a little video response to Obama playing politics with energy policy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_rFYbQJBTg&feature=player_profilepage

So, while Obama continues to pick energy industry winners and losers - heavily prejudiced toward the 'green' energy firms - the taxpayers money continues to be thrown down a rabbit hole. Just Monday another solar energy company that benefited from generous taxpayer funding declared bankruptcy.

All of the above approach to energy production means oil and gas production, too. Hyper liberal ideology is not energy policy. Americans deserve better.

Monday, April 02, 2012

An Interview with Ted Cruz for U.S. Senate with Fox 26 in Houston

Ted Cruz, candidate for U.S. Senate, gave an interview to the local Fox affliate Monday in Houston.





"You're quite an overachiever". Pretty much sums it up.

One.Org Promotes PEPFAR Program

Have you seen this video by One.org? They have a petition up calling for the reversal of the budget cuts to the life-saving AIDS program PEPFAR and fulfill our commitments to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Today, over 6.6 million people are on life-saving treatment and nearly 350,000 babies have been born HIV-free



Former President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush made great progress with the program and it deserves to be funded.