WCRC meeting – November 2007

Consider this as part one of two, because I have pictures but I decided to download them tomorrow with another group I’ll be taking in Hebron. Thus two late nights in a row for me. I’m also starting with an Election Calendar update, as I found out this evening Andy will be on Bill Reddish’s radio show tomorrow morning, the usual 7:40 a.m. slot on WICO-AM 1320.

Tonight’s meeting drew pretty much a full house and they mostly came to hear the odds-on favorite for the First District Congressional seat, State Senator Andy Harris. We did start with the usual procedures of reciting the Lord’s Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance along with October’s meeting minutes and a treasurer’s report, but all of that was dispensed with rather quickly and we got to our featured guest.

Unless you’ve been under a rock for the last six months (or not read monoblogue in that time period), you pretty much know the background on the candidate – Dr. Harris has been a State Senator representing Baltimore and Harford counties for the last 9 years. He’s a practicing anesthesiologist at Johns Hopkins and as a reservist served stateside during Desert Shield/Storm treating those wounded who were evacuated from the theatre.

Tonight he spoke to the 45 or so present regarding a campaign where he noted “reasonable people can disagree” as he does strongly with incumbent Congressman Wayne Gilchrest on a number of issues, citing a “different vision.”

He first noted, though, that the GOP has to be the “party of ideas” and they failed at that mission in 2006. The reason we were wiped out, he surmised, was that we “stopped acting like Republicans” and that the voters decided that, if they wanted professional spenders, they may as well just vote for the real deal in Democrats. In fact, Harris opined that we should not only make the 2001/03 Bush tax cuts permanent, but go further in finding ways to relieve the tax burden. On the other side of the equation, the GOP “(has) to be the party to say ‘no’ to new spending” as well. Andy also blasted Gilchrest for signing a pledge in July vowing to be a fiscal conservative yet turning around and voting to override a Bush spending bill veto, on a bill Harris claimed had “2,000 earmarks.”

Another key difference Andy pointed out was on the subject of illegal immigration. Harris noted that illegals now “expect” benefits, as opposed to his immigrant parents who had to sign a waiver about receiving government benefits. Citing that he was dead set against amnesty, Andy stated that this nation had to based on a rule of law and that illegals were lawbreakers from the moment they crossed the border unlawfully. While Gilchrest was supporting amnesty bills in Congress, Harris added, in Annapolis Andy was co-sponsoring a REAL ID act in Maryland to comply with the upcoming federal guidelines. Harris termed himself a “leader against illegal immigration” who “(doesn’t) mind being obstructionist” on the subject.

This led Harris into a discussion about the Long War, which has “replaced” the Cold War except that, instead of ducking and covering under his desk as a schoolboy because of the fear of a Soviet atomic bomb, we face the real threat of terrorist attack as evidenced by 9/11. The “war has to be won”, he intoned, and Andy hammered Wayne Gilchrest for a “dangerous mistake in judgment” in his voting with the Democrats on the matter. “Surrender,” he added, “was not an option.” Unlike Desert Storm, which he conceded was about oil, this war is based on religious beliefs not compatible with ours.

Harris also spoke briefly about three other subjects before answering questions. One was questioning the wisdom of a vote he claimed Gilchrest made against removing the Pledge of Allegiance from court review, in response to the 2005 ruling made by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that ruled the Pledge unconstitutional because of the phrase “under God.” He also chided Gilchrest about voting for the Brady Bill.

Andy also remarked about comments that have been made about a Democrat taking over the seat should he win the primary. He disdained the theory, claiming that this district was specifically set up as a GOP district by the Glendening administration – all of the conservative areas from Baltimore east were placed in the 1st District, including a number of voters who had sent Republicans like Bob Ehrlich to Congress previously.

At this point Andy took a number of questions on various topics:

  • North American Union – it “should never occur”, adding that he had a speaking engagement with the Eagle Forum upcoming in December.
  • Relations with Israel – they were “one of our few true friends” and hope events in Annapolis worked out well for them.
  • He reaffirmed that he’s pro-life and pro-traditional marriage.
  • Gun control – Harris supports a “shall-issue” law with reciprocity between states.
  • Price of oil – Andy rattled off a list of our main suppliers that were unfriendly to our interests and thought ANWR in particular should be opened up to exploration. Oil rigs, he added, were “ugly but necessary.”
  • REAL ID – The feds were “foot-dragging” on regulations, but Harris had sponsored a bill to require voters have a photo ID.
  • English should be the official language of Maryland.
  • Mass mailings, such as the several Wayne Gilchrest has issued of late, should be eliminated as a part of the franking privilege. It was intended for responses to questions and comments by constituents, not for full-color brochures. It was another “part of incumbent protection” enacted by Congress.
  • The Gilchrest LCV endorsement – Harris pointed out that the Maryland League of Conservation Voters had endorsed solely Democrats in their statewide picks, and that he believed in “common-sense environmentalism.” Further, Harris would welcome a debate with Gilchrest on just environmental issues and felt that people on the Eastern Shore would be attuned to his views after the debate ended.
  • Term limits would “do us well.” Twelve years is enough.
  • We needed a “return to principles” in this country, such as respect for the military and selecting better justices for the Supreme Court.

There was one other issue Harris raised during the talk. Apparently Wayne Gilchrest had put out a mailing claiming that Harris was a tax raiser because he has voted for a number of local tax increases that were sponsored by his GOP cohorts at the behest of counties that were not chartered. According to state law, non-chartered counties have to come to the General Assembly to raise their taxes, and he simply was deferring to the members of the General Assembly who hailed from those counties requesting increases.

Overall, Harris got a pretty positive response from those who came, but we did have a little bit of other business to take care of. Dr. John Bartkovich gave the county’s Central Committee report, which noted to those present the upcoming fall convention and our Lincoln Day dinner slated for February 9, 2008.

We also got the rundown about other upcoming events such as our Christmas Party on December 9th and our next scheduled meeting (January 28, 2008 with speaker and fellow Congressional hopeful Joe Arminio) from club president George Ossman. In February we’ll elect new officers and volunteers were solicited for a nominating committee. (Here’s some help – I’ll run for my office again.) We’re also trying to get a speaker for that meeting to talk about what we can do and not do as far as campaign financing through the club, so that may be a contentious one. At that point we’ll know who our Congressional nominee is and likely who the GOP standard-bearer for President will be.

First things first, though. As I noted we take December off for meeting and we’ll reconvene Monday, January 28, 2008 with guest Congressional aspirant Joe Arminio.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.

4 thoughts on “WCRC meeting – November 2007”

  1. National Review Online (http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ODI3NWI5ZmM2ZWQ5OTc4NTlkZGQ2MmE1NzE2MjYzYzE=) had an interview with the Club for Growth’s President Pat Toomey today and he had this to say about the race:

    “If there is one Republican who must be shown the door, it is Representative Wayne Gilchrest (Md., 1). Representing the conservative First Congressional District in Maryland, Rep. Gilchrest is one of the most economically liberal Republicans in Congress, ranking 212th on the Club for Growth’s 2006 scorecard.

    “His anti-growth votes read like a ‘RINO of the Year’ award. He recently broke his anti-tax pledge, not once, but twice, voting for the Farm Bill, including a tax hike on foreign companies, and for a tax hike on oil companies. He feels no compunction about wasting taxpayer dollars, whether he’s voting for mohair and Viagra subsidies or against every anti-pork amendment (for which he was present) in 2007 and 2006. In a blow to political free speech, Gilchrest supported McCain-Feingold and the so-called 527 Reform Bill last year. Of course, there’s his vote to increase the minimum wage and his vote against an amendment restricting eminent domain abuse — and well, I could go on for a long time.

    “In contrast, his opponent, Maryland State Senator Andy Harris, has a long record of fighting for taxpayers at the local level, leading the fight against the Wal-Mart Tax Bill in the Maryland State Senate and sponsoring repeal of the Maryland inheritance tax. Harris has successfully ousted a Republican incumbent before, has been endorsed by former Maryland Republican Governor Bob Ehrlich, and is outraising Gilchrest. A Harris victory in the February primary will be a decisive victory for the conservative movement.”

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