Republican reactions to Obamacare predictable

Some would-be Republican members of the House and Senate have already weighed in on the passage of Obamacare, making certain the issue won’t rest until after November.

(for more go to my Examiner.com page)

By the way, if you want to cut out the middleman and know when I post articles to Examiner.com you can subscribe to my posts and an e-mail alert will be sent to you. Just go here and look for the “subscribe” button to the right of my name. I don’t know who has the most subscribers in Baltimore or in the politics subsector but I want to acquire that distinction.

HSM head pleased with immigration progress

In calling this year’s General Assembly session, “so far, so good,” Brad Botwin, director of the advocacy group Help Save Maryland, explained that, among other things, his group “was not getting beat up at the hearings” by those who favor expanded immigration and amnesty for illegals already here. Instead, he noticed an uptick in support, especially in the African-American community, and that more people on his side were taking the time to come to Annapolis and testify. By comparison, opponents had become “tame…rather mild” in their criticism.

His group has gained prominence in recent years as a bulwark against Maryland’s perceived status as a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants, and their supporters will be busy testifying in Annapolis today on behalf of a number of House bills – these bills include proposals to better enforce federal immigration law and allow the state to check the immigration status of prisoners and parolees.

(More on my Examiner.com page…)

How beatable is Rudy Cane?

As an adjunct to my last post, I wanted to share some information I looked up on the Maryland Board of Elections website.

While we tend to think Democrats are invincible, particularly in a majority-minority district like District 37A was drawn out to be, here are the facts.

In 2006 Rudy Cane ran unopposed in the general election. More’s the pity because he only won his primary with 68.7% of the vote.

And in 2002 Cane only won with 56.5% of the vote. Granted, this was the year Bob Ehrlich won election and a point when President Bush was riding high in the approval polls. For Cane, this was a decline from when he won the district with 63% of the vote in 1998.

Before that, Cane was beaten in a three-way race in 1994, the last time Republicans held the seat. In that election, Don Hughes won with 41% of the vote, beating Cane’s 40 percent. The difference was an independent candidate by the name of Lemuel Chester, who garnered 19% of the vote and carried the Dorchester County portion handily. Cane lost by 20 votes out of nearly 7,000 cast! (Oddly enough, Hughes only served that one term and chose not to run again – a true citizen legislator.)

The demographics aren’t as bad as one might think, since development has placed the district into a situation where it may not be a “majority-minority” district anymore. So with the right message and hard work, Bob McCarroll can win.

Democrats talked boastfully last year about making Maryland a “10-0” state, with Democrats occupying all the Congressional and Senate seats in Washington. Methinks this is the year we can make it a solid Republican Eastern Shore by ending the political careers of Rudy Cane (12 years), Norm Conway (24 years), and Jim Mathias (4 years but ambitious enough to run for the Maryland Senate to replace Lowell Stoltzfus.) It can be done, let’s do it!

WCRC meeting – March 2010

Despite the fact there was no flag in the room and our secretary was away on personal business (among other oddities) the Wicomico County Republican Club persevered and gathered once again to celebrate our party – and perhaps lick a few wounds from the health care fight. We did give our customary recitation of the Lord’s Prayer and pledged in the general direction of the courthouse, where certainly a flag would be handy.

Perhaps the recently completed health care fight still left a little bit of acrimony in the crowd, and it began with the treasurer’s report. There was some discussion about changing banks after the group received word of a couple fees we found objectionable, but we will allow the bank to present its case before moving our money.

The contentiousness died down so that our guest speaker could begin his campaign pitch.

Bob McCarroll told us one reason he was running because “no one has stepped up” in District 37A over the last eight years; indeed Delegate Rudy Cane was unopposed by a Republican in 2006. (He did dispatch his Democratic primary opponent with 68.7% of the vote but didn’t carry the small part of the district in Dorchester County.) However, the key reason he was running was his four year old daughter – he was “worried about her future in this area and county.” Areas of particular concern were deficit spending and education, where McCarroll spoke in favor of vouchers (so money could follow the child and allow parental choice) as well as the state “get(ting) off teacher’s backs” and cutting a “top-heavy” administrative system.

In fact, a main theme of Bob’s presentation was the concept of government getting off our backs. For business, that took the form of cutting onerous taxation, including the “millionaire’s tax.” For farmers, it was slicing the amount of environmental regulations, as McCarroll opined that farmers could be better stewards of the land than some Annapolis bureaucrat. The same goes for those making their living on the waterways, like fisherman and watermen. In all, noted Bob, “Maryland has more restrictions than New York,” where he grew up.

On the Obamacare “debacle” McCarroll thought it best that Maryland make an attempt to opt out of the mandates as much as possible.

One question about vouchers asked about the input the state would have in private schools if vouchers were made available, and Bob said that we’d have to trust the legislators – he’d propose a “hands-off” policy. In that same vein, another questioner asked why we couldn’t have a 50-50 split between funding vouchers and public schools, where half the parents’ tax burden would stay with the public schools. But then schools wouldn’t “step up their game.” McCarroll also favors an elected school board.

Another questioner asked about the “minority component” of the district and what would be most appealing to them. Bob saw taxes and educational restructuring as the key issues which would bring in black voters.

On another query, McCarroll saw a line-item veto as “a good idea.”

But perhaps his best answer was on how he could appeal to small businesses. Besides cutting taxes, Bob related his contemplation of starting a small business of his own, but backing off when he “couldn’t get a straight answer” from the state. It was time to “streamline regulations” and exempt Maryland from some of the more onerous federal restrictions.

After McCarroll concluded, we got the Lower Shore Young Republican report from Dustin Mills. The state convention was still in planning stages, but they were looking forward to being hosts. However, the food drive planned for later this month was being pushed back to a date in May. That and the convention also affected planning for another hog roast and fundraiser similar to that they held last year.

But in better news Dustin informed us there would be a meeting in Worcester County for the first time as the LSYR club wished to expand its geographic reach.

Bob Miller again appealed for Salisbury Festival volunteers to both man the WCRC booth and make brownies. The Salisbury Festival is held April 23 and 24 in downtown Salisbury.

Dr. John Bartkovich was pleased that Bob McCarroll was running and commented, “we need more people to step up.” Exciting upcoming events for Wicomico Republicans were the Lincoln Day Dinner April 3rd featuring Bob and Kendal Ehrlich, a town hall meeting with state Chair Audrey Scott on April 5th, and the Spring Republican Convention April 30 and May 1 in Ocean City at the Princess Royale. We also drafted a letter endorsing the idea of an elected school board and asked County Council to consider the idea.

After dealing with a financial question which involved some discussion, we made one other key decision: henceforth our meetings will begin a half-hour earlier, with social time at 6:30 and gavel at 7:00.

This means our first 7 p.m. meeting will be April 26. At this time, we haven’t secured a speaker. Our May meeting has U.S. Senate candidate Carmen Amedori slated, with probably a host of local candidates getting their turn over the summer.

Maryland’s two ‘no’ votes

It wasn’t unexpected, but Maryland’s House delegation split 6-2 on the issue of health care reform legislation dubbed by some as “Obamacare.” Roscoe Bartlett of the Sixth District joined all of his GOP counterparts in voting against the bill, and Frank Kratovil voted with 33 other Democrats in his opposition. In neither case was this a complete surprise.

But in looking ahead to the November election we find an interesting variation of reaction on the issue from the respective districts. In Bartlett’s case, only one of the two leading Democrats vying for the Sixth District nomination even mentions health care as an issue on his site. Andrew Duck favors “universal access to healthcare” but Casey Clark doesn’t even bring health care up as an issue. Perhaps that’s a nod to the unpopularity of the reform package in Bartlett’s district.

The more intriguing case is Kratovil’s. In 2008 Frank ran for office on a platform which noted, “Universal health care…means universal.” His statement said in part, “Universal coverage cannot be achieved until we accept the premise that every adult and child must be insured. If elected to Congress, I will support and advocate for true universal coverage and will provide leadership in forging consensus on a policy that provides such coverage without harming employers.”

(More on my Examiner.com page…)

Ambition or safety for Congress?

While we can never assume the contentious issue of health care reform will be completely solved by this edition of Congress, indications are that it will be off the table by the time they go on spring break later this month. President Obama even held up departure on his Asian trip in expectation of having a health care bill on his desk by then.

Yet when Congress moved with lightning speed in the early months of 2009 it looked like the Democrats’ ambitious agenda would be wrapped up, tied with a bow, and presented to the President as a gift to the American people in time for last Christmas. Truth is, the agonizingly slow debate over Obamacare threw a wrench into the plans Democrats in Congress had for cap-and-trade, which in turn halted progress on the immigration fix promised by President Obama during his campaign.

Last year Democrats had their hopes up for a quick resolution to these issues as the second session of Congress traditionally is a time for members, particularly in the House, to play it a little more safe and avoid controversial issues which could spell trouble for their re-election chances. Instead, the question then becomes whether Congress will try and take the safe route when they return in mid-April.

Because Democratic leadership in Congress is already wildly unpopular thanks to their aggressive tactics of dubious legality in trying to get Obamacare passed, they likely will put the pedal to the metal and attempt to ramrod their agenda through before November. We could even get a Christmas surprise from the lame duck Democrats when they come back to wrap up their affairs after the fall recess, especially if the elections spell the end of their majority in the House.

House Democrats are already frustrated because they’ve done the hard work on some of President Obama’s pet projects like cap-and-trade only to see their efforts fizzle in the Senate. Senators now face a backlog of over 300 bills passed by the House which haven’t cleared the Senate, and the process is always fraught with the potential of requiring a conference committee to hammer out differences between legislation passed by the separate bodies. We already see what damage has been done to Congress’s reputation by not going to a conference on health care reform.

In having large majorities in both the House and Senate allied by party with the President, the last thing one would have expected would be a tag of a “do-nothing Congress.” But perhaps the most memorable thing about the Pelosi-Reid led 111th Congress was just how quickly it lost support among the people because it focused on the wrong things – in an economic situation which cried out for common-sense measures to create more private-sector jobs and stabilize the financial situation, Congress instead focused on changing a health care delivery system looked on favorably by a large percentage of the people.

This antagonistic attitude has spawned the largest protest movement in forty years, with millions taking to the streets demanding a smaller, more fiscally responsible government. But in a time where the best option would be doing more than just providing temporary fixes to the economic situation – such as the one-month unemployment extension which got Senator Jim Bunning up in arms because it wasn’t being paid for – it appears Congress is going to continue with an agenda the American people have soured on.

It’s an agenda which could spell doom for vulnerable Democrats in November, and April may be the last chance to change course.

Book review: What Sex Is A Republican?: Stories from the Front Lines in American Politics and How You Can Change The Way Things Are, by Terri McCormick, M.A.

Perhaps Terri McCormick didn’t have those who became politically attuned thanks to their local TEA Parties in mind when she started to write her book, but it comes at an opportune time for those who would like to expand their newly-minted political involvement into a bid for seeking elective office.

While TEA Parties weren’t being contemplated yet in the early 1990’s, Terri McCormick was leading a grassroots effort of her own. After becoming involved in her children’s school, Terri worked for change within the system but was stymied by the powerful teacher’s unions. She was forced to build a broad coalition and take her fight to the statewide level – through her leadership the state’s legislature finally adopted the necessary reforms and allowed the formation of charter schools.

At times, What Sex Is A Republican? does read like a how-to textbook for would-be politicians, including a short summary of bullet points after each chapter. It’s a method of giving some of the nuts-and-bolts of campaigning from a woman who has been there: after spearheading the drive leading to charter schools and educational reform in Wisconsin, Terri McCormick ran for and won a seat in Wisconsin’s state legislature in 2000.

But even more telling in the story is McCormick’s heavy emphasis on the political gamesmanship once a candidate wins office and arrives ready to serve constituents. Her book talks at length about the treatment she encountered while in the Wisconsin House, couching the dealing and backbiting she witnessed in Machiavellian terms.

And while she decries the “vertical silo” of radical partisanship exhibited by many in both parties, her most bitter venom comes at the expense of what Terri calls “front row politicians,” the party leadership which controls how the legislative game is played. Those who have that sort of political power determine which bills are moved, which amendments are added, and even select the staffers who work with their inferiors, who are relegated to the back benches.

Yet the political shenanigans didn’t stop there. In 2006 McCormick opted to leave the Wisconsin legislature to make a bid for Congress, only to find out after she’d made the decision that she was not the “chosen” candidate in the race and that Beltway Republicans had already decided to back her opponent. Terri noted during a campaign appearance afterward that, “I am running for the Eighth Congressional District against George W. Bush.”

In writing What Sex Is A Republican?, Terri McCormick manages to reinforce practically every stereotype of the person we’ve come to expect as a career politician: arrogant, vainglorious among his peers, and exhibiting an insatiable lust for power. Sadly, she also correctly points out that most regular folks are drummed out of the political business because they just have too many morals to get along in such a system.

Still, McCormick obviously believes that, despite its faults, there is a place for good people in our political system. Moreover, she feels that, with the assistance of a populist campaign built upward from the grassroots, it is possible for people who want to be there for the right reasons to run and win despite today’s political climate. While her book could have been tightened up a little bit, Terri McCormick’s case for convincing a would-be candidate he or she can make a difference is strong and those who aspire to political office, particularly women, may well find this a helpful guide to read and follow.

Perhaps Terri McCormick didn’t have those who became politically attuned thanks to their local TEA Parties in mind when she started to write her book, but it comes at an opportune time for those who would like to expand their newly-minted political involvement into a bid for seeking elective office.

*****

Disclosure: I was asked by The Cadence Group to review the book and they sent it along to me to do so.

Friday night videos episode 26

Doing this real time tonight, so let’s see what I have. Three guesses what the main subject is, first two don’t count.

Then again, perhaps I can deem this post already done – isn’t that what the House wants to do?

And here’s the epitome of sleaze part two, courtesy of the National Republican Congressional Committee:

And if that weren’t enough, the GOP came up with sleaze part three on the part of Democrats:

Finally, a voice of sanity: Indiana Congressman Mike Pence.

There are other things going on, though. This is an admirable effort by the Sunlight Foundation to bring government back into the open.

And this last one is just for inspiration for my friends heading up to Washington, D.C. tomorrow morning. I already had plans for the day, but I’ll be there in spirit.

It’s a good way to close this 26th edition of FNV. Well, actually a good way to close it out would be to announce they’ve dropped Obamacare and Ava Aston was coming here. Maybe by next time.

The Maryland marriage controversy

When Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler opined that Maryland should recognize the same-sex marriages of couples wed in the District of Columbia, he overturned precedent set in 2004 by former AG Joseph Curran and ignored a 1973 state law recognizing marriage solely between one man and one woman. Delegate Don Dwyer quickly denounced Gansler’s ruling and announced a bid to impeach the Attorney General.

While Dwyer is no stranger to impeachment proceedings over same-sex marriage, attempting to remove Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge M. Brooke Murdock for her ruling declaring the state law unconstitutional, he’s noncommittal thus far on whether he’ll include Governor O’Malley in his impeachment crusade as O’Malley publicly backed Gansler Wednesday.

(More on my Examiner.com page…)

Time IS running out…

This comes to me from Americans for Prosperity:

With the crucial House health care vote most likely coming in 72 hours, I’m asking you to take a new step.

Go to NovemberIsComing.com and sign a new petition – which tells your member of Congress that if he or she votes YES on the health care takeover, you will vote NO on them in November.

Please send your message right now. 

November Ad

We’ve got to make sure in these potential final hours before the House vote that every member of Congress knows that tens of thousands of folks back home will vote NO on the Congressman if he or she votes YES on taking away our health care rights.

Every single member of the House of Representatives is up for election this November. 

They need to know that if they ram this health care takeover through – with all the dirty deals, all the big spending and new debt, all the new government bureaucracy, all the parliamentary tricks – then Americans will vote them out in November. 

This NovemberIsComing.com petition is the clearest way to send this vital message.

Let’s keep up the pressure!  We are winning with the American people. 

With the crucial House health care vote most likely coming in 72 hours, I’m asking you to take a new step.

Go to NovemberIsComing.com and sign a new petition – which tells your member of Congress that if he or she votes YES on the health care takeover, you will vote NO on them in November.

Please send your message right now. 

November Ad

We’ve got to make sure in these potential final hours before the House vote that every member of Congress knows that tens of thousands of folks back home will vote NO on the Congressman if he or she votes YES on taking away our health care rights.

Every single member of the House of Representatives is up for election this November. 

They need to know that if they ram this health care takeover through – with all the dirty deals, all the big spending and new debt, all the new government bureaucracy, all the parliamentary tricks – then Americans will vote them out in November. 

This NovemberIsComing.com petition is the clearest way to send this vital message.

Let’s keep up the pressure!  We are winning with the American people.

Yes they are, as polling continues to suggest the pro-Obamacare side is on the wrong end of public sentiment.

Of course, I know those on the Left will say it’s simply because our side is lying to the American people. But when time after time what they’ve said had been proven false, the people aren’t going to stand anymore. Perhaps they prefer the evil they know (insurance companies) to the one they also know (government.) After all, it’s a fact that government insurance denies more claims than any private insurance company, which is a complaint the Left makes about them. (Metric 12 on Page 3 here. And the source is the AMA, who’s supporting Obamacare.)

There’s also a bus trip to Washington (once again) sponsored by the local AFP chapter.

We have a bus leaving from Salisbury on Saturday Morning!! Details to follow!! We just HAVE to fill it!

Please call Ken Nichols ASAP at 410-726-2546 if you think you’d like to go with us.

You know, I find it interesting that I never hear from the Organizing For Against America knuckleheads about any of their rallies and such. It’s not the easiest site to stomach sometimes (you have to wince at the tortured logic and lack of common sense), but I do read Progressive Delmarva regularly and they don’t seem to promote that sort of activism. Perhaps they sense deep down they are on the wrong side of this.

MDGOP townhall meeting April 5th

 

Take Back Washington and Annapolis Town Hall Meeting

 

Monday, April 5th


6:30pm

Doors Open at 6:15pm

 

Wicomico County Youth & Civic Center

Danang Room

500 Glen Avenue

Salisbury, MD

This event is free and open to the public. If you plan to attend please email

Kim Jorns at kjorns@mdgop.org

 

Democrat Leadership in both Annapolis and Washington continue to tune out the people of Maryland. Frustrations are growing!

 

Join us for the opportunity to discuss the current state of Maryland and the Nation with
Audrey Scott, Chairman of the Maryland Republican Party.

 

Chairman Scott will discuss what the MDGOP is doing to put a stop to one-party rule in Annapolis and Washington and she will
LISTEN to your ideas, needs and concerns.

 

We hope you will join us for this open dialogue!

 

 

Authority: Maryland Republican Party, R. Christopher Rosenthal, Treasurer. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.

**********

Of course, I plan on being there to cover the event, which is one of several being planned statewide that week.

A tax increase may be in the bag

As of the first of the year, shoppers in Washington, D.C. were forced to drop an extra nickel into the till for each paper or plastic bag they used when going to the store. Store owners collected a share of the tax, but the true intent of the proceeds was a fund to help clean up the Anacostia River.

While the ban has caused some confusion among District shoppers, what truly matters to their local government is the estimated $3.5 million in revenue created by the new tax. With dollar signs in their eyes, some Maryland legislators in both the House of Delegates and the Senate want to get in on the taxation action with proceeds going (of course) to the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays 2010 Trust Fund. The fiscal note with these bills posits a possible windfall to the state of $7.8 million based on a number of assumptions – very tempting when this is a fee easily buried within the overall cost of grocery shopping.

(continued on my Examiner.com page…)