Another Big Idea from Newt

Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo and I will participate in a no holds barred dialogue on the issues facing this country on Feb 28 at Cooper Union in New York City. You can watch live at AmericanSolutions.com

Big New Ideas! That is what Newt will bring to the White House in Jan 2009.

We need someone like Newt who can bring back an honest, idea driven approach to American politics.

Thank you Mr. Speaker for making these valuable contributions to our Country. I truly appreciate your attention to find a new way to get things done.

http://www.americansolutions.com/

The GOP asked MY opinion, so I gave it to them.

I received an email today from the GOP introducing the new Chairman (& General Chairman). It included an invitation to "share your thoughts".

This is what I wrote...

Chairman Duncan & Senator Martinez,

I am glad you asked about our opinions. I hope many others write to you, so you can tell how the base really feels. My ideas as a Conservative are just as you mentioned above - getting back to the roots. We can accomplish this by broadcasting a true Conservative message to the people more often. We need to engage the general public in debate between the two cultures of Left vs. Right. We CAN win that battle if we sell ourselves as True Conservatives.

I am not just some part-time GOP guy. I truly believe in this stuff, heart and soul. I have the GOP elephant tattooed on my arm (right arm of course).

I have to be honest - I have lost faith in the party in recent years. We have just had the worst political year of my adult life, and I feel like the party leadership has let me down. I still volunteered in the last two elections - partially because I thought I needed to step up my efforts to account for the lack of leadership. We especially need better leadership on the media front. I want a more open communication with the American people. We can't win if we don't keep up with the game. I do respect the President for not caring about the political side of things, but his aloofness is causing the party to suffer great losses - which in turn is hindering the future of the Conservative movement. He let the Democrats walk all over us last year with false implications of corruption, and never once did the President go on TV to call them out for being just as corrupt, if not more. We just took it.

We need to do more Reagan-like end-arounds on the media. The President needs to stand up more often and say things as they really are. We cannot let the media frame the debate just because Bush doesn't think he needs to play the games. If he damages the movement any more than he already has - it might be 40 years before we can get things back under control. If Bush refuses to play along to help keep the party viable - we need to blanket the airwaves with surrogates.

We cannot get the true Conservative message out there with Non-Conservatives like McCain and Rudy. They are not Conservatives! If that is the best you can do in 2008 - we might as well pack it in and save the cash for 2010. The base will not go for them, no matter how many changes of heart they swear they have made. We will not believe them. I will not be able to support the party financially if a single dollar goes to either of these candidates.

I hope you take me seriously when I tell you that Newt is the savior of the party. If you have not already called him, you should pick up the phone today. Once the Democrats have had a few months to beat each other up - Newt should step in. I have heard doubts that Newt can win, but you have to remember that the American people have already forgotten 9/11. They surely won't be able to remember what happened in the 90s. The media will attack Newt like we have never seen, but if he stays on message he can win over the people. Imagine a debate between the smartest, most articulate Conservative we have, and Clinton or Obama. Newt would mop the floor with them. He is calm, cool and confident in his beliefs. He is the anti-Obama, and the anti-Clinton all rolled into one. He is a man of big ideas when we need big ideas most. He can sell Reagan/Friedman conservatism like no one else alive. Even if he ran and lost, he would force the American people to think long and hard about what kind of leadership they want and need.

The New Congress is Hard at Work

Congressman Bill Shuster (R - PA) - thought this was a good use of time in the United States House of Representatives to "honor" Dick Hoak. What did Dick Hoak do to deserve such a high honor? Did he help liberate Iraq? Was he a former President who died recently? Did he work on a panel to help fix Social Security?

No, he was a coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and all he did was resign! Hey Dick - congratulations on not working somewhere any more.

In addition to recognizing some guy who worked for the Steelers (Full Text: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r110:1:./temp/~r110VGJyLu), Congress also passed S. Res. 25, congratulating the University of Florida football team for winning the 2006 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Championship. And, S. Res. 26, commending the Appalachian State University football team for winning the 2006 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I-AA Football Championship.

If you really want to get upset - take a look at the Congressional Record. Every day is littered with useless, non-governmental speeches and meaningless resolutions.

I really don't care if your local football team won a game. If a bomb didn't blow up at the game, or some of the players stem cells weren't used for some illegal testing - I DO NOT CARE and neither should you. Yippee, you got the local folks name into the congressional record. Congratulations - I am sure the tailback for Appalachian State University reads the Congressional Record every day.

Glad things are so slow down there that they have time to fool around with junk like this all day.

Milton Friedman R.I.P.

I like to think of myself as an amateur economist, so the passing of the Great Milton Friedman was sad news indeed.

Milton Friedman was one of the greatest economic minds of all time. He can be credited with turning America away from Socialism and towards full blown Capitalism. He can certainly be credited with my personal fiscal Conservatism. If you are a Reagan-ite, by default you are also a Friedman-ite.

I remember reading Free to Choose in my late teens and having a light bulb go off in my head. Actually, it was more like a thousand light bulbs. It was all so simple, so right. It was like reading a user’s manual for the world. That was just how it was, no questions needed to be asked. They had explained it all in perfect detail.

I remember telling a coworker a few years back that Milton was #1 on my list of Top 10 favorite economists. He said he didn’t know which was weirder – that I knew 10 economists by name, or that I had them rank into a Top 10 list.

That same worn copy of Free to Choose will be required reading for my three sons, as I am sure it will for millions of other young minds for decades to come. I truly hope that today Milton Friedman is having a long talk about the power of a free market with Adam Smith (#2 on my list by the way).

A memo to all Moderate RINOs - don't get your hopes up!

Attn: RINOs
RE: Do not get your hopes up.
From: True Conservatives

You are not the future of the party. We lost because Republicans were not being Conservative enough, not the other way around. John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, etc will never get my votes in any primary or general election for that matter.

The election is a thing of the past. The next two years are not going to be a ton of fun, but we need to make the best of it. The true Conservatives need to start planning our take over now. Dust off the Reagan playbook, listen to Newt and get this party back on track.

If you are lucky enough to still have a G.O.P. representative – call them and let them know what you expect out of them. Do not settle for less than perfection.

Destroy Liberalism's Endorsed Candidates for Maple Grove, MN

Here is the list of candidates I think are our best bets. I of course was straight party on the races that have party affiliations. I do have the GOP Elephant tattooed on my arm (my RIGHT arm) after all.

The judges and local races were the tough ones. To come up with “endorsements” for these races I just searched for all of the candidates names on the internet, and tried to piece together as clear a picture as I could based on past decisions, group affiliations, their comments and endorsements they have received. Sometimes I decided against a candidate based on my distrust of the groups who endorsed them. I am not listing any races where the candidates are unopposed.

Here we go …..

Mark Kennedy – U.S. Senate
Jim Ramstad – U.S. Congress Dist 3
Tim Pawlenty – MN Governor
Warren Limmer – State Senate District 32
Kurt Zellers – State House 32 B – depending on your area
Joyce Peppin - State House 32 A – depending on your area
Mary Kiffmeyer – MN Sec of State
Patricia Anderson – State Auditor
Jeff Johnson – MN Attorney General
Rich Stanek – Hennepin Country Sheriff
Andy Luger – Hennepin Country Attorney – both are Dems, but Luger seems to have more GOP endorsers

Mark V. Steffenson - Maple Grove Mayor – I could not find any party affiliation on either candidate (Dorpat dropped out, but his name is still on the ballot). Steffenson seemed to have a more pro-business attitude.

Maple Grove City Council: vote for two
Phil Leith – former Maple Grove chairman for President Bush’s campaign
Phil Awker – has the endorsement of the Taxpayers League (If he passes David Strom’s test, he is OK with me.)

Barry Anderson - MN Supreme Court Associate Justice
Christopher J. Dietzen – Judge 11 MN Court of Appeals
Gordon W. Shumaker - Judge 12 MN Court of Appeals

Dee Rowe – Judge 44 4th District Court (Karasov had several labor endorsements, and some of the previous rulings I found seemed very illogical to me. Rowe does seem a little PC, but the lack of big Labor backing won out in this one.)
Kevin J. Kolosky – Judge 48 4th District Court

Transportation Amendment – Vote NO
Text of the amendment: "Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to dedicate revenue from a tax on the sale of new and used motor vehicles over a five-year period, so that after June 30, 2011, all of the revenue is dedicated at least 40 percent for public transit assistance and not more than 60 percent for highway purposes?”

* The amendment would dedicate MVET (Motor Vehicle Excise Tax) to transportation. MVET is a 6.5% tax applied to the purchase of any new or used car, from anyone, including a private party. Beware the wording on this one. It sounds OK on the surface, but I think the wording kind of hides some things.

* The wording of the bill says that the state would have to spend at least 40% of this tax revenue on public transit and no more than 60% on road construction. Notice it limits the amount that can be spent on road construction, but only gives a minimum on what can be spent on public transit. I think this leaves the door wide open for them to spend much more than 40% on light rail lines and buses (that are used by a much smaller amount of the population) and much less than 60% on the roads we actually need. I would be against this amendment even if it designated 100% to highway construction. I would much prefer the legislature was forced to prove a project's worth each and every time, rather than giving them a huge pile of money and artificial spending minimums & caps.

* The other aspect to consider is the fact that once this money is designated as transportation only money – the legislature is going to be out tax revenue in another area. We all know that they are not going to take that as a sign to spend less. They will have to find a way to replace the revenue, and keep the MVET revenue as well.

Air America filing for bankruptcy - moral and financial?

The free market will always win. A majority of the people didn't want Air America, so it failed. Likewise, a majority of the people do not want euro-liberalism so it too has failed.

The fact that I have NEVER heard of Ed Schultz and Stephanie Miller tells you how important they really are. Don't fret Coast to Coast is still on the air if you want to talk about how 9/11 was staged.

Welcome to the real world KOS fans!