State of Conservatism – Page 135

A town hall about Maryland’s budget

Nick Loffer was there and he forwarded me this report:

Yesterday, Tuesday, December 1, 2009, may go down as one of the landmark days in AFP-Maryland’s still-young history. About 75 members traveled to Annapolis to participate in a public discussion about the upcoming legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly, featuring Speaker of the House Mike Busch and Senate President Mike Miller. When we arrived, some members were effectively barred from taking part in the discussion.

First, we were told we could not enter because the room was full, even though there were clearly empty seats in the Joint Hearing Room. Then we were told that all questions would have to be submitted in writing to a panel that would decide which ones would be asked. Many of our questions went unasked and unanswered. Only after the event ended were some of our members allowed to personally address Speaker Busch. Of the questions that were asked, Speaker Busch and President Miller were clueless when it came to jobs, taxes and the budget (my commentary is in parenthesis).

When asked about how they plan to help small businesses create jobs, Speaker Busch said there was nothing the General Assembly could do – they had already done everything possible. (With record unemployment, I find that incredibly hard to believe)

When asked about taxes, President Miller said that taxes are “the dues we pay to live in a society.” (I would love for President Miller to find that phrase in the Constitution)

When asked about the impending $2 billion budget deficit, neither Busch nor Miller would take responsibility – and instead blamed the lack of revenue on slots! No coherent plans on how to solve the budget were revealed. (I would like to refer these guys back to 2007 when they jammed the largest tax increase in Maryland history down our throats. Afterward, they both proclaimed that the structural deficit was “solved”)

We learned two important lessons yesterday that will guide us as we make plans to bring common sense to Annapolis.

First, we witnessed the lengths Maryland’s liberal political elite will go to avoid face-to-face questioning and dissent. Rather than engage taxpayers in an open and honest discussion – as they and promised to do last night — Miller and Busch hid behind a pre-selected panel. They decided at the last minute that the only open and honest discussions they were interested in could only take place with people who agree with them.

Think for a minute of what these leaders are going to do when the session starts and they see us every day, in every hearing, talking to every legislator, about every spending and tax priority.

The second thing we saw last night was the power of the people. Members of AFP-Maryland are hard-working people, tax paying mothers, fathers, and entrepreneurs. We took time away from our families to travel to Annapolis last night to let the elite liberals in charge of Maryland know that the days of out of control spending and ever higher taxes must end. They succeeded in shutting us down last night – but this is only the beginning! We must continue to our trips to Annapolis and let the politicians know we are not going away until they clean up their act. Remember, we have the power. In 2006, these folks were voted into office. In 2010, we can vote them out!

You can watch highlights of the town hall meeting on our YouTube page.

Thanks, Nick. Now it’s my turn.

And you were expecting something else?

The Democrats have held the General Assembly not for a term, not for a decade or even a century, but since the Civil War! They didn’t get where they were by listening to the people so much as from giving them goodies from the treasury, and that’s not going to stop anytime soon if they’re left in charge.

As I noted in today’s earlier post, whoever is elected Governor will get control of the state’s purse strings because that’s part of the Governor’s job description (unlike most other states and our Congress, where their legislature does the job.) So in a way, asking the General Assembly about taxation and the budget is barking up the wrong tree.

I say that not to discourage public input – as it was, the conduct of Speaker Busch and Senate President Miller appears to have been deplorable – but to note that there’s not a lot they can do with the budget because, sure enough, Governor O’Malley will submit another bloated one and dare the General Assembly (in an election year) to make unpopular cuts. Even Governor Ehrlich’s last budget was significantly higher than the previous three.

The only way they’re going to listen in Annapolis will be if enough recalcitrant legislators find themselves out of a job, and that can’t occur until about midway through the FY11 budget cycle. Those same people who stacked the deck in the town hall, though, will have their own special interests throwing their two cents into the discussion (more like thousands of dollars) and that can’t be discounted either.

Lowering taxes sounds like a good idea, but the longer-term goal for AFP and those who agree with them should be to educate the public on the benefits of limited government, convincing them to shake their complacency and take the leap across the chasm of doubt instilled in them by government dependence. Once the majority of voters are convinced about that it’s much easier to make the General Assembly work for us and not the moneyed special interests currently running the not-so-Free State into the ground.

TEA Party film debuts tomorrow

I don’t know if I have a cameo in this or not, but TEA Party: The Documentary Film makes its premiere tomorrow in Washington, D.C. With all of the videotaping going on during that historic day, the film certainly will be interesting. I can guarantee this because I saw a half-hour preview last week online as did about 5,000 others who took time of their mid-afternoon to do so.

But the documentary doesn’t just contain footage from that Saturday as it follows several protagonists through their stories and recounts why they became involved.

Just on a local level it’s clear that the TEA Party movement has borne fruit as hundreds of citizens are becoming more politically involved. I think it’s great – the liberals and elites, not so much.

Here’s a suggestion for the AFP or Wicomico County Republican Club folks – it might not be a bad idea to devote a meeting to a showing of the DVD (in looking this up the documentary runs about 105 minutes, so it would make for a short AFP meeting or a longish WCRC one) with a discussion afterward.

In 2009 most of us, except those in isolated pockets of the country like portions of New York and California, could only complain about the reach and scope of the federal government through TEA Parties. But in 2010 the rubber meets the road and everyone in America legally registered to vote will have an opportunity to have his or her voice heard. Yesterday was the time for complaint; today is the time for action.

Having this history of the movement can serve as a reminder of what happens when like-minded patriots band together, and it’s worth repeating the message as often as necessary. The fight has just begun!

Does Newt have the jobs solution?

We’re coming into a slow news period, so it’s time for some thought provocation as we glide into the Thanksgiving holiday (not to mention Christmas and New Years’ Day right on its heels.) A lot of people are writing off the remainder of 2009 as a lost cause and looking forward to 2010.

Newt Gingrich didn’t have all that great of a year politically because he’s best known for backing one of the most liberal Republican Congressional hopefuls to come down the pike in some time. Yet he still has a few conservative thoughts from time to time and this six point plan for job creation seems like a pretty good expression of right-wing orthodoxy:

To get our economy back on track and to create jobs now, we must fundamentally shift power from politicians to small business, from lobbyists to entrepreneurs, and from bureaucrats to investors.

Here is our proposal to do just that:

Cut the Payroll Tax by 50% for Two Years. Every single working American pays the payroll tax. In this economy, many people may not get a pay raise, but this would give every working American a take home pay raise, immediately. This would also free up cash for every employer, immediately.

Incentives for Small Business Investment. Allow small businesses to expense 100% of new equipment purchases each year to help them invest in new, more productive technologies.

Abolish Taxes on Capital Gains. If we want to compete with China and have most productive factories in the world, the best jobs, and the highest take home pay, we should match China’s capital gains rate of zero. This would dramatically increase investment in America.

Reduce the Corporate Tax Rate. When you combine state and federal taxes, America has the highest corporate tax structure in the world. We believe that by matching the Irish corporate tax rate of 12.5%, America would be the most desirable economy in the world to open a factory, create a new job, and develop a new product.

Abolish the Death Tax. If we want to be pro-work, pro-savings, and pro-family, we should not punish, but instead reward people who have worked, saved and created wealth all their life.

Reduce Spending and Reform Government in order to Balance the Budget. While Newt Gingrich was speaker federal spending rose by an average of 2.9% a year, the lowest increase since Calvin Coolidge in the 1920’s. We can apply the same principles that worked from 1995 to 1998 and create a balanced budget with a smaller government with lower spending, lower interest rates, and less debt.

My impressions on these point by point:

Why only two years? The only reason I’d take two years is to allow time to a shift to a consumption-based taxation system, where payroll taxes would be cut 100 percent. I do understand the intent but don’t see a reason to have an arbitrary time limit because, like we saw with “cash for clunkers,” we’d have an artificial spike in economic activity in months 18-24 of the tax break and a crash after it expires. As a compromise measure, though, this would be acceptable step to me.
Since I don’t own a small business where I have to expense equipment I can’t say just how good of an idea this is. Context (such as how businesses are taxed now) would be helpful.
This to me is the biggest winner of the bunch! Why should saving and investment be penalized? I know the class envy crowd will call this a tax cut for the rich but I’m certainly not rich and eliminating the capital gains tax would put a little additional money in my pocket too. At a time where private-sector investment would give the economy a wonderful shot in the arm (and perhaps reverse the trend toward higher unemployment) the government has no such thing as a fair share.
As a non-expert in the field of business taxation, what Newt proposes sounds good as an interim step. But if a consumption tax works why tax business income? In truth, there is no such thing as a tax business pays – it gets passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices. Lowering prices and, in turn, making American products more competitive in a global marketplace are important secondary benefits in either case.
When Benjamin Franklin said that the certainties in life are death and taxes, I don’t think he was thinking about this combo meal. One can exist without the other, and there’s no use punishing a grieving family with enough assets to qualify for the death tax – indeed, it is long past time to eliminate the death tax.
What I find most interesting about this statement is that during the time period Gingrich cites we had a Republican Congress (with Gingrich as Speaker) making the budget for a Democrat (President Clinton). In terms of fiscal conservatism this worked out well because Congress makes the budget and wasn’t going to allow new entitlements under a Democrat’s watch. Granted, there were items we shouldn’t have compromised on but this lesson is important because once the GOP got into full power (2001-06) they seemed to forget about fiscal restraint because President Bush was a big-government “conservative.” This set the GOP back light-years with conservatives – it’s a division which still exists and hampers Republican efforts to take back government.

One criticism I’ve had about Newt Gingrich since his days as Speaker is that he’s gotten a little too enamored with government as a solution, particularly at the federal level. Among the levels of government (federal, state, and local) the federal government is the most likely to use a sledgehammer to exterminate an ant, dictating one-size-fits-all solutions to its inferiors while taking a large cut of the money it at once confiscates and returns to John Q. Public.

In the private sector, one of the best things you can say to a bargain hunter is, “I can get it for you wholesale.” There’s a quest to cut out the middleman, and to me Fedzilla is the greatest example of a middleman who adds little to no value to the product. (Of course, what’s really sad is when money is filtered through both the federal and state levels, leaving crumbs to the local government.) While Newt is justifiably proud of his efforts to achieve a balanced budget, increasing the federal budget 2.9% a year was still way too excessive.

It’s all grist for the mill I suppose, since the chances of any of Newt’s action items actually being adopted by a President and Congress hellbent on fattening the public sector to a more obscene level than the plumpest Thanksgiving turkey matches the chances of the turkey’s survival past the holidays.

RNC proposal: it’s all about the principle

At the next RNC annual meeting in January there could be a resolution introduced to address the Scozzafava problem, defined as throwing party support behind a candidate better suited to be a Democrat philosophically.

According to the Washington Post, James Bopp, Jr. of Indiana is introducing this draft resolution, the “Proposed RNC Resolution on Reagan’s Unity Principle for Support of Candidates”, and expects candidates to be agreeable to at least 8 of the 10 – the “80 percent” rule espoused by Ronald Reagan. Here are the ten issues in question:

We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama’s “stimulus” bill;
We support market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run healthcare;
We support market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation;
We support workers’ right to secret ballot by opposing card check;
We support legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants;
We support victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges;
We support containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat;
We support retention of the Defense of Marriage Act;
We support protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing, denial of health care and government funding of abortion; and
We support the right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership.

Well, I guess I can get money from the RNC because I support at least the minimum eight (actually to one extent or another I can go 10 for 10.) To me, this is a no-brainer.

But the supporting members who signed the resolution hail mostly from flyover country, which leads me to believe that if the elitists, who elected to financially support a candidate like Dede Scozzafava in the mistaken belief that creating a “big tent” means expanding the tent to cover any and all political beliefs as long as the candidate carries an “R” after their name, have the majority of the 168 votes they’ll somehow make sure this never sees the light of day. This resolution is for those of us who believe the size of the philosophical tent is limited and it’s our job to draw the voters there, winning them over by convincing them that maximizing freedom – as opposed to having the nanny state allow them crumbs at the whim of their dictates – is to their benefit. Come on, we’re only talking about how Reagan won, that’s all. The guy carried 49 states!

Last January’s RNC meeting was interesting because of the Chair race, so this year it’s all about the issues. But in the end, that’s truly what elections come down to in most cases so establishing a baseline for support (sort of a Contract With America but one based on overall principles and not actual legislation) seems to me a solid game plan to build a groundswell of support for GOP candidates. Try as the partisan media of the alphabet networks might, the poor economy can easily be tied to the party in power, and that’s not the GOP.

Perhaps the inside-the-Beltway crowd doesn’t like the idea of a litmus test, but we tried it your way the last several years and the results were found wanting. Why have a party if it’s not about principles?

Letting loose the attack dogs

You know, for someone who the loony left dares the Republicans to nominate in 2012 because she’s perceived to be the weakest candidate, they sure are running scared of Sarah Palin! This comes from Mitch Stewart at Organizing Against America, the Obama/DNC front group:

Right now, Sarah Palin is on a highly publicized, nationwide book tour, attacking President Obama and his plan for health reform at every turn.

It’s dangerous. Remember, this is the person who coined the term “Death Panels” — and opened the flood gates for months of false attacks by special interests and partisan extremists.

Whatever lie comes next will be widely covered by the media, then constantly echoed by right-wing attack groups and others who are trying to defeat reform.

As we approach the final sprint on health reform, we can’t afford more deception and delay. We need to be ready for anything — and have the resources to respond with ads, events, and calls to Congress when the attacks come.

(snip out blatant financial appeal #1)

Earlier this month, Palin publicly said that she hopes health reform will be “dead on arrival.” And since then, she’s been working fiercely toward that goal.

On Tuesday, Palin went on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show where she outrageously — and falsely — suggested that Americans could “face jail time as punishment” if they don’t buy insurance.

Palin has many more interviews scheduled on Hannity and other conservative shows in the next few weeks, with more platforms to go after the President. As soon as she does, the rest of our opponents will likely parrot those attacks.

We need to be prepared. And we’re counting on you help. Can you chip in $5 or more?

I’d rather chip in the $15 on Amazon and buy Sarah Palin’s book myself.

But there are a couple points which need to be made. Perhaps it’s true that you don’t “face jail time as punishment” under President Obama’s plan, but the problem is we don’t know just what his plan is! (By the way, the jail time would come from the tax law, not necessarily from this bill.)

The second and more important point is that President Obama has his own bully pulpit, yet has not been successful in convincing a overwhelming portion of the population of the benefits of his program. So he has to go into attack mode against an opponent who obviously is figured as a potential 2012 rival – an opponent with tremendous personal popularity. I haven’t gotten e-mails from Mitch Stewart attempting to trash Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, Mike Huckabee, or Mitt Romney by name.

All I know is that Mitch gave me my laugh for the day and I thought I’d share the idiocy. Oh, one more question: why do they need to ask for money when Obama has his own personal stash? That’s where the women in Detroit thought the stimulus money was coming from.

Friday night videos episode 14

Yes, I survived the Friday the 13th episode 13 that ran 31:13. I make no predictions about this episode aside from it being enjoyable for me to put together and (hopefully) for you to watch.

I’m going to start with this one, which is even set to music – shades of the original FNV – but I picked it out because some of the photos in the montage look awfully familiar to me.

Thanks to Julie at Right Coast Girl for that one.

But here’s what we’re up against: Andrew Stern of the Service Employees International Union, a.k.a. “purple shirts.”

ACORN “made mistakes”? Well, I think we made One Big Ass Mistake, America. Let’s hope Sen. Jeff Sessions is right and health care is DOA in the Senate. This is from the Washington News Observer too.

Otherwise, we may just be swallowed up by the nanny state. I’ve enjoyed the videos from this group but only recently noticed I could embed them, so the Center for Individual Freedom makes its FNV debut.

Would you put up a dollar to have Al Gore debate Lord Monckton on global warming? The Competitive Enterprise Institute put up $500 and asks others to chip in. It’s funny to me and makes a great point.

We know that Lord Monckton would lay a smackdown to Al Gore so your dollar is pretty safe in your wallet.

As most people are also aware, putting together a small number of dollars enables you to buy Sarah Palin’s book. This video came out about this time last year, but I wanted to bring it back because it shows many thousands do like and admire Sarah Palin, despite the critics who delight in skewering her.

Because next weekend is Thanksgiving weekend, I will probably skip FNV. I leave you with the immortal words of fictional WKRP owner Arthur Carlson: “As God is my witness…I thought turkeys could fly.”

This bird is flying the coop, at least until episode 15.

Perspective on the MDGOP

As most of my faithful readers know, last weekend marked the occurrence of our most recent state convention. During that convention, the state party adopted a “compromise” voting system solely for this convention and elected a new state chairman, Audrey Scott. Oddly enough, Wicomico County’s delegation had the distinction of being the only county to vote against both proposals, which otherwise carried by huge margins.

I’m not going to say that I speak for the entire local body because I don’t – we all have our reasons for making the decisions we do. Perhaps we have seven people who simply don’t “go along to get along” but I happen to think there’s underlying reasons for our stance as the establishment’s thorn in the side.

It seems to me that Wicomico County looks upon itself as the guardian of the interests of smaller counties, especially those on the Eastern Shore, and their role in the Maryland Republican Party. For the entire term I’ve been on, our county’s delegation has been in the forefront of trying to bring about change in the party by replacing the three Vice Chairs with regional chairs (including one reserved for the Eastern Shore) and scrapping the LCD voting system which marginalized small counties and propped up larger counties, enabling one such county to practically outvote the entire Shore delegation by itself. Having a “one man, one vote” system would at least enable the Shore to have more of a voice and a role in determining the direction of affairs.

With the old system, we had little say in what went on. It was revealed to us by one office-seeker that Eastern Shore delegations needed little more than a cursory visit during a recent convention with a contested officer race because that person needed to secure votes from the larger counties to win. Our tiny share of the vote wasn’t going to make a difference.

As currently constituted, the nine Eastern Shore county delegations would make up 71 of a possible 267 votes at the next convention, assuming all voters are present or represented by proxy. (Cecil and Talbot are at nine apiece; Dorchester, Somerset, Caroline, and Kent have seven members; and Wicomico and Worcester will expand from seven to nine prior to next spring – an action voted on as part of this most recent convention.) Thus, we have 26.6% of the voting strength. But the so-called “compromise” measure diluted our strength to 20.4% of voting power.

Perhaps what irked us the most about the events which transpired is that we had put up similar proposals in previous conventions only to be shouted down and ridiculed by larger counties who liked the status quo. Only when it was determined by careful reading of the rules that we need not use the old LCD voting method did the I-95 corridor counties suddenly come begging for the “compromise” solution.

But the compromise didn’t really accrue to the benefit of small counties and I suspect after careful consideration they may find they were snookered by the larger counties. And, since “one man one vote” is the default voting method, perhaps it’s time to get a little bit better deal next time around! Maybe an agreement to install that regional chairs thing is worth the price paid in giving up a slice of our power – since 226 people were represented by vote or by proxy this time around, getting the Eastern Shore and any one Western Maryland county to vote as a bloc effectively kills any compromise because a rule change requires a 2/3 majority. Any number of horse trades become possible once we figure out that we can have our say! Of course, that would also take vigilance from those on the Rules Committee to make sure the “compromise” voting method is indeed not carried over but reconsidered next time, as promised.

Just grist for the mill.

Now, on to Audrey Scott. My take on her is that she didn’t poll well with us because of a perception she’s part of the establishment, and it was that faction which ousted Jim Pelura – a chairman we liked and admired – from the party’s top position. It’s possible she can win us over, but in mending fences it seems to me that she should come down and meet with us at the first opportunity (Audrey, if you’re reading this we meet the first Monday each month.)

I was personally called by both Audrey Scott and opponent Daniel Vovak, so I got to listen to both pitches. Scott also called into our Central Committee meeting last Monday, although the Skype and local computer only allowed an audio connection which faded in and out.

Obviously Audrey Scott has a lot of work to do with raising money, and the parade started by Mike Collins of Anne Arundel County was a good start. But some high rollers seemingly weren’t playing ball with Jim Pelura yet are happy to help out Audrey Scott, which to me raises a red flag whether they are contributing because they agree with our philosophy or simply to buy a little bit of influence. I’m certainly not naive enough to believe that money plays no part in political decisions but, unless there’s been a change in philosophy eminating from the top, we Republicans are standing for the same principles under Audrey Scott as we did under Jim Pelura – I know my mind hasn’t been changed, I’m still conservative. So are we selling out for the almighty buck? I certainly hope not!

Maybe the county I help to represent has a little bit of Missouri in it – we need to be shown that things will be made better for our interests before we jump on board the bandwagon. It will be interesting to see who offers their services as part of the expanded Central Committee and who decides to stay on after next year’s election. The crop I came in with made up over half the Central Committee and the expansion brings even more turnover unless one of those I helped to replace decides to come back.

There’s a lot we can do to help the state party as a whole, yet the perception we small counties exist as the red-headed stepchildren of the Maryland Republican Party leads to actions like skipping conventions or not sending money into the state party coffers. Obviously it’s detrimental to our cause as a whole but we have to be assured we can get out of the party all that we put into it. We don’t ask for much, just as fair of a shake from the new Chair as we received from the last.

Friday night videos episode 13

Having the 13th installment of this series on Friday the 13th might just be pressing my luck. That and taking a week away gives me a larger number of videos to feature. Maybe I’ll feature 13? You’ll just have to see.

Let’s start with the inspirational. Earlier this week we celebrated two holidays of sorts. On Monday Germans (and others around the world) celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Just think, kids who are entering college now have no memory of a time when the Germans were separated (and few would remember there being both an East Germany and West Germany aside from reading that in history books.)

On Wednesday, Americans paused to remember our nation’s veterans. This is a short but fitting tribute from a group who actually supports the military.

Speaking of Republicans, I wanted to showcase their big health care shindig by what was really said instead of some sign a non-affiliated group chose to display. Here are two of the speakers who happen to be two of my favorite members of Congress: Michele Bachmann and Mike Pence.

While I’m busy getting the lefties all pissed off, why not add Rep. Joe “you lie” Wilson to the mix? He says passing Obamacare will cost 1.6 million jobs, and I don’t think he’s lying.

Then we have a number of other perspectives – I presume this is the trailer and teaser for a longer series of videos.

But this may be the mother of all protest films. Who knows, I may have a cameo in this one since I was there.

The hat tip for that goes to Bob McCarty. Guess I owe him for not using one of his videos this week.

Shifting gears, the health care debate may be over for the moment but the thug politics continues on – at least if you believe this account.

This one is a little different and focuses on education, or the lack thereof. In some respects, the thug politics is played out on a slightly different field.

Lastly, I chose this video simply because it’s Friday the 13th – but it has a good message.

Sorry, just 10 videos this week. But as always this was fun to put together and next week promises to be just as entertaining. (Just fewer health care items, probably.)

It’s spooky to mention though that if you add up all the running times, the videos go 31:13. Cue the Twilight Zone music and out…

Term limits: the next litmus test?

I got this the other day in praise of Senator Jim DeMint’s introduction of legislation calling for Congressional term limits. If there can be a limit on presidential terms (22nd Amendment) I think this ought to be the 28th. From U.S. Term Limits:

U.S. Term Limits President Philip Blumel today praised Senator Jim DeMint’s proposed amendment to the Constitution imposing 6-year and 12-year terms on Representatives and Senators as “an historic opportunity to bring an end to an era of oppressive political oligarchy that threatens the very fabric of representative government.”

Blumel urged Americans nationwide to support what he said was a “non-partisan, widely popular proposal.” He said the term limits amendment “would bring an end to the aura of insularity that prevails in Washington today, ushering in a new era of citizen legislators.”

According to DeMint’s proposed amendment, which is cosponsored by Senators Tom Coburn, Kay Bailey Hutchinson and Sam Brownback, U.S. Representatives would be limited to three, two-year terms, and Senators two, six-year terms.

Said DeMint, “Term limits will increase legislative turnover, expand the field of candidates who run for office, and instill transparency and accountability in our public officials,” saying that the power of incumbency had created “an almost insurmountable advantage for Washington politicians.”

Blumel agreed, pointing out that, according to the Globe and Mail, the incumbency advantage for Representatives running for re-election is 96 percent. For Senators, 88 percent. “Barring death, indictment or the rare retirement, the incumbent reelection rate approaches 100 percent,” Blumel said.

“The Constitution is needed to rein in the powers of members of Congress, and the perfect place to start is term limits,” Blumel added.

“Today, the U.S. has the longest serving members in Congress in its history. And as a result of these out-of-touch career politicians, the fiscal house is on the brink of ruin,” said Blumel, “The national debt has never been larger nor the electorate more discontented with Congress.”

A recent Pulse Opinion Research poll that found that 83 percent of likely voters believe that elected officials should have their terms of office limited, including 86 percent of Republicans, 77 percent of Democrats, and 87 percent of Independents.

“Support for term limits is at an all-time high. And it’s no wonder. There is no accountability,” Blumel explained. “The reason the nation is faced with such irresponsible politicians is because the ballot box has become increasingly ineffective at getting rid of incumbents in gerrymandered-Congressional districts.”

“But with Congressional term limits, Washington could be cleaned up with new generations of politicians who are closer to the people. They will spend less time getting re-elected and more time attending to the work of the American people. Therefore, all Americans and every member of Congress should support amending the Constitution to include term limits for members of Congress,” Blumel concluded.

It’s widely conceded that, in this Congress, term limits are going nowhere. While it’s not necessarily a partisan issue, most of those who have made Congress their life’s work by having careers spanning 20, 30, or more years are Democrats who hail from safe districts or states. Obviously the argument is that those residents like their representation, but as the release points out the electorate as a whole is disgusted with the doings on Capitol Hill.

Another aspect of the question concerns pensions. It’s my understanding that full pensions for Congress do not kick in until 18 to 20 years’ service. Perhaps a sweetener for compromise would be to allow pensions to vest after a shorter time period in exchange for those currently in office leaving sooner.

When he was running for Congress last year, I asked Andy Harris about whether he would term-limit himself and the reply was 12 years is long enough to be in any office to get things done. Sure enough, by running in 2010 he’s ending his 12-year tenure in the Maryland Senate. Whether Frank Kratovil plans on making the same sort of promise is unknown, but in the recent call for fiscal conservatism from TEA Partiers and others interested in limiting the size and reach of government there is room for a litmus test on whether they’re interested in truly serving the people or enriching themselves by being career politicians.

Another point made by the release is about the gerrymandering of districts. Next week I have a post which will explain the sinister intent of some to disenfranchise conservative voters – be on the watch for it.

One step closer to losing more freedom

Well, we tried as best we could but the bad guys prevailed 220-215.

Not that I didn’t expect Pelosicare to pass, but what pisses me off is they got the fig leaf of bipartisanship because of one Republican voting “yes” – Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao of Louisiana, a freshman who replaced former Rep. William “Cold Cash” Jefferson. I presume he comes from an extremely Democrat district, but still that’s pretty inexcusable.

None of Delmarva’s representatives voted for final passage of H.R. 3962 as Castle, Kratovil, and Nye all voted no. However, only Castle voted for the motion to recommit, which would have killed the bill. Castle was also the only one on Delmarva to vote for the Stupak Amendment, which made abortion funding almost completely illegal. So Kratovil and Nye will have some explaining to do to pro-life residents of their districts.

So now the fight moves to the Senate, with their first hurdle being to secure cloture or finding some shady manner of getting around that requirement. Again, with 60 votes against them there the GOP need have only stood back and watched Democrats write their political suicide note but now that stain of “bipartisan” support is indelibly etched upon this bill.

In all, it’s apparent that Congress doesn’t listen to the people anymore. But we figured that from the start.

Notable quotables from the ’emergency House call’

I knew I would have a long pictorial post yesterday so I omitted a lot of the quotes I thought were notable.

In opening the program, Rep. Tom Price of Georgia (who also spoke at the 9-12 rally) called H.R. 3962 “legislative malpractice.”

The program began after Price, serving as master of ceremonies, spoke. Before beginning the Pledge of Allegiance. Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri referred to the Pledge as something which “drives liberals crazy.”

Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota was one of three featured speakers. She had several good lines.

Referring to the gathering she helped organize, she exclaimed, “You came! And you came to your House!”

Being on Capitol Hill: “You stand with us on the hallowed ground of freedom…we are the privileged generation.”

While Republicans are the minority, “your voice of persuasion is unlimited.”

Even Jon Voight called Bachmann “a true American patriot.”

Actor John Ratzenberger called the Democratic leadership “Woodstock Democrats” as opposed to earlier party members like Tip O’Neill and John F. Kennedy, and noted that it was the National Guard who came to help build the Woodstock stage, even as most of the attendees didn’t support the military.

Rep. Scott Garrett of New Jersey called the crowd “awe-inspiring” and reminded us the first passage of the Hippocratic oath is to “do no harm” – yet the bill does serious harm.

“There is no greater fight than the fight for freedom,” Rep. John Shadegg of Arizona reminded us, “and with your help, freedom will win.”

Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner of Ohio was more direct: “Your voice is critical today…(Pelosicare) is the greatest threat to freedom I’ve seen in my 19 years in D.C.”

Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia: “Your efforts to stop this bill are being heard loud and clear.”

Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra pointed out the Constitution and Declaration of Independence were 39 pages combined, while the Pelosicare bill was over 2,000 pages: 39 pages to grant freedom and 2,000 to take it away.

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council: H.R. 3962 is “radical social policy dressed up in a hospital gown…and we all know that a hospital gown doesn’t cover everything.” Perkins blasted the “radical anti-life agenda” of the bill and called it a “bailout for the abortion industry.”

Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee (who also spoke at 9-12) called the bill “bad medicine” and wanted the GOP to be known as the “party of know.”

Texas Rep. Mike Burgess told the crowd they “have to keep being heard this weekend” and categorized this gathering as a “booster shot” after the outcry in August and September.

Congress is “on a collision course with freedom” if they pass this bill, said Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina.

Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina was a crowd favorite. He pointed out that H.R. 3400 is the GOP alternate plan. By the way, it’s only 230 pages.

Since he’s running for Governor of his home state, Rep. Zach Wamp of Tennessee is aware of H.R. 3962 and its possible affect on states. He called this “the mother of all unfunded mandates.”

Finally, Rep. Paul Fleming of Louisiana, sponsor of an unsuccessful resolution to remove the exemption Congress will enjoy from any health care fill, told the crowd that he “underestimated the arrogance” of Congressional Democrats when he arrived earlier this year.

I’m saving the best for last. According to the latest whip count (updated at 9:45 this morning) in The Hill, Frank Kratovil is a “firm no.” This jibes with what I was told by those who met with Kratovil after Thursday’s rally, so obviously either Nancy Pelosi didn’t put enough sweetener in the bill to buy his vote (like was done on cap-and-tax) or Kratovil is fearing for his electoral life given the sentiment of the district outside the limited confines of those who contribute to Progressive Delmarva. Maybe those folks can see about a Green Party challenger to Kratovil.

So let me be the first to congratulate and appreciate Frank’s vote. However, he’s certainly not out of the electoral woods by any stretch of the imagination, nor are we assured of victory. Remember, Nancy can sacrifice a goodly number of votes and still pass this over unified GOP opposition.

Finally, a little video. I skipped my usual FNV for the week, but here are three videos I took at the event.

This man was encouraging protestors to have a good old-fashioned sit-in at Nancy Pelosi’s office.

And we were having fun calling out Nancy Pelosi.

Best of all was getting to hear Mark Levin off the radio.

I tell you, it was a fun day. But to be honest I liked the 9-12 rally better because it didn’t seem to be as self-serving politically. Had they limited the speakers to maybe 6 to 8 and the program to an hour, I think it would have been more effective as far as the main goal of engaging recalcitrant Congressmen. Given the extremely long security lines, I’m certain a number of people who stuck around to hear the entire program probably didn’t stay to engage their representative, particularly if they had to return home on a bus.

But as long as we win on this bill, it can serve as a template for further activism in the future – even for those on the other side. Perhaps this is the end of political complacency – at least I hope so.

Update: From USA Today (h/t Michelle Malkin):

“After months of thoroughly reviewing legislative proposals and speaking with constituents and stakeholders, I am not satisfied that this bill before us is a sustainable solution,” said Rep. Frank Kratovil, D-Md. Alert readers will remember that he was the congressman hung in effigy during the height of the August town hall meeting uproar.

Maybe it wasn’t the most appropriate means of expressing opposition, but looks like it worked!

Observations on the ’emergency House call’

Yesterday I was in Washington, D.C. because Michele Bachmann asked me to be. But I wasn’t the only one there.

And this was just the crowd when we made it there at 11 o'clock, an hour before the rally was slated to begin.

Luckily it was a pleasant November day, but those of us gathered had a purpose – to defend our liberty.

I just liked the shot with the sun shining through the flag.

Tomorrow the House is slated to vote on the Pelosicare bill, better known as H.R. 3962.

I took this photo in the office of Rep. Glenn Thompson, the Congressman I interviewed earlier this week. I guess he better get cracking on reading this!

So tens of thousands of us decided to pay a visit to OUR House and set these people straight. Does this look like Astroturf to you?

I took this shot looking back toward the Washington Monument.

This was taken from the back of the crowd looking toward the Capitol.

And they were freedom-loving Americans.

Passing the American flag overhead gave me an opportunity to take this shot with the Capitol dome in the background.

But unlike a true TEA Party, there was more of a partisan flavor to this event. Not to say that most Republicans aren’t in agreement that Pelosicare is a bad idea, but they certainly take some of the blame for passing other bad bills in the recent past. Here’s one Congressman gladhanding the crowd on my end of the Capitol steps.

I don't know who this is off the top of my head, but he was playing politics.

As the program began, the GOP representatives formed the backdrop for each speaker.

It may be difficult to see in the center of the picture, but the neatly-arranged rows of well-dressed people were the House's Republican caucus.

But the presentation, which featured luminaries like Jon Voight, John Ratzenberger, and crowd favorite Mark Levin, was truly the draw to get people to Washington. Their assignment after the show was over was to visit their representatives on D.C. turf. Most of them heeded that advice.

A line of people waited to get through security at one of the entrances of the Cannon House Office Building.

And a good number of them came just to see our favorite Blue Dog Congressman, Frank Kratovil.

It's a touch blurry with no flash, but you can tell the hallway was full of people urging Frank Kratovil to just say 'no' to Pelosicare.

In truth, most of these people only got to speak to Kratovil’s staff because the House was still in session and voting. Apparently Frank has heard the District and would vote against the bill. He really should heed the advice on this lady’s sign.

Advice for the Blue Dogs.

I’m throwing this shot in because a lot of people wanted to see Levin speak and I happen to agree with this guy’s sign.

I can just see the ProgDel folks calling this guy a 'raaaaaaacist!' I assume the sign refers to President Obama and not Mark Levin.

Yet the mainstream media doesn’t seem to get it yet. Check out where this CBS News reporter set up shop.

I took this shot from the bus as we were arriving at the protest. Hey, come on over where the news is!!

The vote is slated for tomorrow, but storm clouds are gathering over the Capital. This powerful storm has an ETA of November 2, 2010.

As we were leaving, the clouds were gathering and lent themselves to a dramatic shot of the Capitol.