WCRC meeting – June 2009

After a month off because our normal meeting date fell on Memorial Day, the Wicomico County Republican Club reconvened this evening with our first announced candidate for 2010 to address the group.

As always, we took care of club business first with a couple twists. After the Lord’s Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance, club Secretary Dave Parker gave us a summary of April’s meeting and we received a quick rundown of income and expenses in the absence of our treasurer. Despite the slight departure from normal, the 30 or so attending didn’t mind.

Mark Biehl began the report process by discussing the recent doings of the Lower Shore Young Republicans. Their recent barbeque fundraiser “turned out really well” and they will have 2 of 12 Maryland delegates to the national YR convention later this year. Their next meeting will be on Friday, July 10th at a location to be announced.

The other report from the Central Committee was deferred because county Chair Dr. John Bartkovich was running slightly late. Instead, we moved ahead on the agenda to hear our speaker, United States Senate candidate Jim Rutledge.

U.S. Senate candidate Jim Rutledge looks over his notes one last time before speaking to the Wicomico County Republican Club, June 22, 2009.Rutledge started by recounting his family history rooted in working occupations such as farmer, veterinarian, and coal miner – it all “taught him (the value of) hard work from being a young, young child.” When Jim decided not to follow his father’s footsteps into the veterinary field he decided instead to practice law, where he’s made his career for over 20 years.

Expressing the thought that we “need leadership in this party, this state, and this Senate…to speak the truth” to what is happening in our nation, Rutledge went into some of what he considered “pressing issues.”

First and foremost was health care, which he termed was “really ‘rationcare'”. From discussing the subject with those in the know about the history of various systems around the world, Jim told us that for minor incidents socialized medicine was “okay” – if you have a cold or a minor emergency they can fix you right up. But once that minor ailment becomes something like blowing out a knee, that’s when the dreaded “waiting list” comes into play. Need an MRI? Prepare to wait awhile. And if you have a terminal illness, you may never be placed on the waiting list to begin with. Rutledge pointed out that members of Canada’s Parliament aren’t shy about crossing the border for treatment because they can afford to do so, unlike many of their constituents.

Instead, Rutledge emphasized the ideas of portability of health insurance and making sure that decisions on health care remain in the realm of the physician and patient, not from some Washington bureaucrat. There is “no need for government to get into markets…(it’s a) poor manager.”

Jim also expressed what he called a forgotten aspect of the health care issue – jobs. “(J)obs cannot be overlooked” as a health care issue because most people have their health care because of the job they hold. The aspirant used this as a bridge to move to his next point, the freedoms we have. “America isn’t “just like everyone else”, he noted.

I hope this book isn't a prop, although I have a more pocket-size copy I can give him.First among these freedoms is economic freedom. Jim used the example of a toothpick factory run by the government only to burn the toothpicks as his example of saying “creating jobs is not the same as government making work.” Rather, “job creation comes from living human beings” who have ideas for progress and doing things better. This would be encouraged by a better tax policy, including eliminating the “destructive” capital gains and inheritance taxes. “Ideas matter and people create their ideas.”

Jim asked, “where’s the capital on Main Street? It’s being taxed.” Cutting taxes and addressing burdensome regulations was the key to job creation. Instead, it seemed like current policy was to borrow and spend our way out of the problem, which is “not going to happen” according to Rutledge.

Turning to foreign policy, Rutledge told those assembled the Senate was “all about foreign policy” as opposed to the House. We need to “put U.S. citizens first”, comparing the $175 million we were spending to help rebuild Gaza to the amount that would be needed to repair an ailing Baltimore sewage plant spewing pollution into Chesapeake Bay – which should be the priority? Jim asserted that we need to establish a fundamental principle that “freedom is not guaranteed by self-government” and there should be set standards a country needs to comply to in order to receive foreign aid.

One criticism Rutledge levied on the Obama Administration was their willingness to promote the idea that Islamic law is equal to our Constitution. Rutledge begged to differ, even citing a Maryland Court of Appeals case where the Constitution was found to trump Islamic law in a divorce case. In our country, there are rights guaranteed that are not addressed in Islamic law.

Jim also briefly touched on the issues of self-defense, where he stressed that it’s a “fundamental component of natural rights” and that he would protect the Second Amendment), and illegal immigration, which Jim noted was “dishonoring” legal citizenship. He pointed out that the 14th Amendment gave states no right to “dabble” in citizenship through items like being a “sanctuary” state.

Jim Rutledge (center) discusses a point as his campaign manager (right) looks on.In summary, Jim called his campaign the opportunity to make a “historic choice” between himself and a career politician. He was someone who didn’t need the Senate seat but wanted it in order to allow Marylanders to “live free” rather than be deprived of their rights as his opponent was doing. It was a “campaign for freedom” and despite the odds against his success, he recalled that some in his family had beaten similar odds to survive a prison ship during the Revolutionary War and the D-Day invasion of Normandy and subsequent European campaign in World War II – so this wasn’t exactly Valley Forge.

There was an opportunity to ask questions, and a couple in the audience asked good ones. Tort reform came up first, and Jim noted that it was just one large group of trial lawyers that he didn’t belong to (American Trial Lawyers Association) that seemed to be the main obstacle. However, he cautioned that there needed to be more competition in the malpractice insurance industry as well, not a monopoly as some areas seem to have.

He was then asked what could be done to bring jobs to Maryland. The idea wasn’t just to bring jobs to Maryland, Rutledge noted, but to bring jobs back to America.

In response to a final comment from those gathered, Jim stated that he’s not heard from the GOP brass regarding his run – “Michael Steele doesn’t call me,” quipped Rutledge. He figured this was because he “wasn’t out to please the party bosses” and pledged not to be a career politican. (I asked him “two terms?” and he said yes. I think 12 years is plenty.)

I have my reaction to some of what Jim said, but allow me to finish recounting the meeting. County Chair Dr. John Bartkovich had arrived as Jim was speaking and gave the Central Committee report.

He announced that we have Tawes Crab feast tickets available [readers can contact me – ttownjotes (at) yahoo.com if interested], asked the club to split the cost of a table at the upcoming Wicomico Farm and Home Show in August (to which there was no objection), and that we would again have a presence at the Autumn Wine Festival in October.

John also talked about getting candidates for both 2010 and more immediately for a vacancy on the Wicomico County Board of Education due to the early resignation of member Brian Kilgore.

Other business included a reminder of one of the club’s main fundraisers, the Wicomico County Republican Club Crab Feast (coming in September) and a somewhat gloomy voter registration report from Woody Willing.

Our final speaker was somewhat reluctant to add his two cents, but local Americans for Prosperity head Joe Collins was introduced and made some brief if somewhat controversial remarks about the GOP. I’ll add my thoughts on that too. (Yes, this will be a long post. Oh well.)

First of all, while I enjoyed hearing from Jim Rutledge, I’m interested in having a couple questions I didn’t have the chance to ask answered. I didn’t see the answers on his website either.

One is regarding health care. Jim spoke about portability, but where does he stand on the concept that everyone must have health insurance? Obviously the bleeding-heart Mikulski crowd thinks they need to be the national nannies and that everyone should have insurance, like it or not.

The other question which stuck out in my mind was what seems to be a isolationist foreign policy view. While they seem to have become forgotten, I’m getting mixed signals on whether Rutledge thinks we need to fight Islamic terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan or work on more of a “fortress America” strategy.

While it may rankle the Maryland GOP establishment, I also noticed on Jim’s calendar a speaking appearance at Salisbury’s Tea Party on July 4th. It brings me to what Joe Collins pointed out in his remarks – a perception that those Republican faithful are “part of the problem.” I presume it’s because we’re an extension of the national GOP.

Let me take off my Central Committee hat here, as I generally do on this site anyway. Obviously I can’t speak for everyone in the room, but most of those people are the ones who give of their time to try and elect Republican candidates. And while there are exceptions (*cough*Page Elmore*cough*), GOP candidates from here tend to vote in a fiscally and socially conservative manner in Annapolis. Unfortunately, we do run into the brick wall of that majority of Senators and Delegates who hail from some of the bluest areas of the country (and get a lot of help from a couple local Delegates – yes you, Cane, Conway, and Mathias…you’re the unindicted co-conspirators of this state’s push toward liberal lunacy.)

Believe me, as a member of the state party, I’m frustrated too. We seem to have a lack of direction from our elected representatives at times because they think they should run the party as opposed to the grassroots (that would be us.) Witness the constant backbiting of state Party Chair Dr. James Pelura from “establishment” Republicans. Let me tell you folks something – you had your guy in for four years. He lost the Governor’s chair and put the party deeply into debt. That’s leadership we can do without.

I know this is enough for two posts, but it was quite a meeting. I’m hoping to have more content from the meeting in a few days, as well as reaction from both Rutledge and Joe Collins regarding their remarks.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.

11 thoughts on “WCRC meeting – June 2009”

  1. Good report. It was a pretty decent meeting. I’m glad that Joe and Julie showed up. Their comments point to a real problem for our party. Fiscal conservatives like them and the AFP members are the GOP base. If we have trouble convincing them to vote Republican, our party has real trouble. The skepticism we saw about the GOP from them shows that we have a lot of work to do, both on our image as well as in changing the direction of the party.

    I think that part of the problem is that the national GOP’s actions that have betrayed our principles also tars our image. The national GOP is full of big-spenders but I don’t really think that label applies to most of our Wicomico Republican officials. But, since we’re all Republicans, the actions of Mitch McConnel and George Bush make Joe Holloway and Rich Colburn look bad. It’s unfortunate, but it’s our reality and we have to find a way to overcome it or live with it.

    BTW, I like the new picture format.

  2. You hit the nail on the head as I see it. Unfortunately, while the GOP was in charge in Congress all we heard about was the corruption and pork projects – naturally all that talk has died down now that Pelosi runs the place (even though the overspending is many times more rampant). There’s been a group of about half to 2/3 of the Republicans who are truly fiscal conservatives while the rest use the label but when push comes to shove re-election is more important than fiscally conservative principles. The same goes for the GOP members of the General Assembly because not every Republican will oppose the budget – only about half or less.

    As for the picture format, I just decided to try something a little different and intersperse the text and pictures by inserting the photos at a smaller size. They still convey the subject just fine.

  3. To be fair, when the GOP was running Congress there was a lot of bad news to report. And when a party which has a platform that calls for fiscal responsibility instead increases federal spending at a higher rate than did Lyndon Johnson, that’s news. I don’t think we should blame the media for our woes — the Republican members of Congress and George Bush are the ones who created this problem. The Medicare prescription druge entitlement program, huge increases in federal spending, the No Child Left Behind Act, a curtailment of our civil liberties — these all happened because Republicans in DC enacted them. And Duke Cunningham, Tom Delay, and Jack Abramoff aren’t figments of the media’s imagination. The disdain many feel for the national GOP is completely understandable and shared, to a large extent, by me.

    However, there is a national party and there is a local party. The Wicomico County Republican County Council members didn’t raise taxes, spend like drunken sailors, or take bribes. They have done, on the whole, a pretty good job. Could they do better? Sure, but they are far superior to their Democratic counterparts. The local party officials and local policy is the important thing to focus on in my mind. We have far greater influence over that than we do on national issues.

  4. Health Care: My health care policies are in alignment with those promoted by the Heritage Foundation, and I do not believe it is wise or sensible to try to force people to be insured.

    Foreign Policy: I am not an isolationist. Foreign aid has become irresponsible and unaffordable. USA must not allow the UN to dictate our foreign or domestic policy. Military action should be backed by formal declarations of War. The USA should support France and Germany in their desire to keep Turkey out of the EU.

    Thank you.

  5. You’re welcome. I sort of suspected that was where you were heading but wanted to verify you weren’t way over in the Ron Paul “fortress America” camp. I do like the concept of tying foreign aid to the amount of cooperation and compliance we receive from the nation, and I haven’t seen a wole lot from the nascent Palestinian state.

    We appreciate your coming down and look forward to seeing you again at the Tea Party. I wonder if the local loony Left will savage you for speaking there as much as they did Andy Harris for speaking at the first one on April 15th.

  6. Points well taken. However, while this is no excuse, the more conservative members of Congress (particularly the House) probably had a LOT of pressure put on them by the national GOP to not vote against the titular head of the party, President George W. Bush.

    There are a number of faults I could find in the state and national Republican Party, and perhaps it won’t be my political home forever if they continue to drift too far to the left. But locally they are fairly conservative and it amuses me to no end to see Democrats like Frank Kratovil, Jim Mathias, and Norm Conway bend over backwards to portray themselves as conservative when their actual voting record suggests otherwise. Yet the GOP shies away from the label!

  7. It was an good time meeting up with the WCRC last night. As always, it’s an adventure when AFP is in “da house.” The Grand Old Party is one of a big tent mentality, or it should be, and in my limited view, many in the GOP have abandoned that ideal. Frankly, this is why I was drawn to take a leadership position with the local AFP and why so many local citizens have joined with Joe and I to shake things up a bit.

    For too long, it’s been business as usual and hardworking folks have relied on someone else to represent them. After all that is why we “hire” politicians. These days there is a vacuum on all sides of the political arena. There is a very real opportunity for the GOP to open up, reach out to people, to include them, and to lead them. Unfortunately, as I mentioned last night. The local Wicomico County Central committee has been unavailable. I have tried to attend their meetings that was posted on their outdated website, only to show up and find no one there. This is shameful. What a incredible waste of an opportunity. What an incredible waste of some wonderful most talented people. Our country needs us more then ever, in my lifetime.

    I know what Joe said was probably not popular in that room, but I hope somebody anybody took it to heart. Jim Rutledge is a breath of fresh air to the Maryland GOP. As co-chair of AFP I can not endorse him but as a private citizen, I can, and I do. I hope the party won’t play the odds game because the only other choice we have now is the same old same reckless spending and socialism agenda of Mikulski. That, my friends is no choice. I hope the WCRC takes the comments with the passion and concern, they were intended.

    Julie

  8. Let me address one aspect of your comment straight away…the Wicomico County Republican Central Committee meets the first Monday of each month and certainly we’re not trying to shut anyone out. You may have happened to hit a month we didn’t meet because I think we skipped a meeting in May since it would have fallen immediately after our state convention.

    As Dr. Bartkovich noted last night, the Republican Party locally is always looking for political candidates, and my personal preference is for those who don’t want to make politics a lifetime avocation (I know I don’t!) But I happen to also agree with President Eisenhower when he said (I’m paraphrasing here) that politics should be the part-time job of anyone who cares about our nation. I’m pleased to see your passion and look forward to seeing you all at the July 4th Tea Party, even if I happen to be the only local Republican elected official there (I somehow doubt it, but hopefully I won’t be in for a rude surprise if no other ones show up.)

    Whether your opinion was popular or not, in many ways it was valid. Personally I’m glad Jim Rutledge has already stepped up to challenge Senator Mikulski – I wish some of the other well-known Republicans would make their 2010 intentions known as well!

  9. Yes, I’m sure of that Michael. It’s just that I attempted to go to the WCRCC meeting two months in a row, as promoted by the web site, which hadn’t been updated in months. March and April to be exact. It didn’t seem very welcoming to me at the time and I gave up after that. I’ve mentioned to a few folks at the Central Committee and I’m sure it’s been corrected, but at the time it was very frustrating and sorta symtomatic of some of the issues we’ve been discussing. Thanks so much for the venue! I’m ooking forward to seeing you on the 4th.

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