NRCC declares Arkansas a 2010 battleground

Many seem to think the GOP and conservatism are dead in the water after their dismal showing in last year’s elections, but Arkansas Democrats better prepare for a fight in 2010. Today, The Tolbert Report released the latest in a series of ads by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) letting voters in the conservative Southern state know their Democratic representatives in Congress aren’t really representative of their constituency.

The ad takes on Rep. Vic Snyder from Arkansas’ 2nd Congressional District for his vote to send $800,000 to what is practically a private airport for Rep. John Murtha (D-PA). The airport serves a mere 20 passengers a day, with flights serving only one airport–Dulles in Washington, DC. It seems difficult to imagine Arkansas voters would voluntarily offer so much of their hard-earned money to serve the radical Murtha, but Vic Snyder thought this a wise investment for his constituents.

That’s not all the NRCC points out. Most would agree that Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-AR) would never stand a chance of being elected if she were running in Arkansas. Though the embattled Pelosi has a 39% approval rating according to the latest CNN/Opinion Research poll, the ad notes Snyder votes with the forgetful lying congresswoman 97% of the time.

It’s hard to believe a majority of Arkansans would have knowingly elected Snyder had they known he was determined to be a Pelosi puppet.

Some may not consider it surprising the NRCC is challenging Arkansas Democrats, but the state didn’t really seem to matter to the GOP in 2008. Not one of the three Democratic representatives and one Senator who were up for re-election last year ran against a Republican challenger, not one. This was a terrible oversight on the GOP’s part, because every one of those four Democrats were challenged by third party candidates who all made decent showings in their respective races. Snyder’s Green Party challenger took more than 23% of the vote. There’s little doubt a Republican challenger would have had a far greater showing, and might have even defeated Congressman Snyder.

The NRCC seems destined not to repeat the mistake of 2008. It previously released an ad against Arkansas’ 1st District Congressman, Marion Berry, challenging his “Blue Dog” status by pointing out his recent votes on the Obama-Pelosi “Stimulus” plan and budget.

Arkansas may not have been on the GOP’s radar in recent years, but it is now. The Dems better be ready for a fight in 2010.

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See more NRCC ads

Make your voice heard!

Next month, 168 members will elect the next RNC Chairman, three members from each state.  At this critical point in the history of our party, a lot is riding on the outcome.  After the crushing defeat we suffered last month, we need a chairman who is open to new ideas but committed to the conservative ideals on which our party stands.

As we’ve seen in the last two election cycles, there seems to be a disconnect between the RNC and voters in our party.  In 2006, many conservative voters simply stayed home while the Democrats took control of the US House and Senate.  This year, many actually defected and chose to vote for Obama since our party seemed to have abandoned its conservative principles.  Of late, RNC strategy regarding the party base appears to have been based on the idea that we would choose the Republican candidate because it was the lesser of two evils.  While many of us obliged and stuck with the party for this reason, many others left or simply stayed home, which led to the disastrous results in November.

The 168 voting RNC members need to hear from you!  Choose Your Chairman is a website set up to make this easier than ever before.  You will find pictures of the 7 candidates and links to the websites of 6 where you can get to know the candidates.  Then simply indicate which candidate you’d like to see lead the party’s turnaround.  Using your zip code, the website will then contact your RNC voting representatives and let them know who you chose. 

It’s never been easier to make your voice heard, and this may be the most important time in the history of the Republican party that our voting members understand what voters think about the candidates.

So Choose Your Chairman who will preside over the resurgence of the GOP!

The Fallacy of Keynesian Economics

Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute does a great job explaining why Keynesian Economics can’t work.

Surely, even the dimmest of big government advocates can understand this.

Endorsement of Ken Blackwell for RNC Chair

I’ve held off publicly endorsing any of the candidates for RNC chair, but I believe now is the time for conservative Republicans to join forces and support Ken Blackwell.

Ken Blackwell

Yesterday, Mr. Blackwell published his plan to reinvigorate the GOP on his website.  Read the plan and you will see that Mr. Blackwell understands the need to completely overhaul strategic and tactical operations in the party.  He plans to implement a strategy of working closely with state RNC members and helping empower those members to engage and assist Republican activists county by county and precinct by precinct.  He will put more RNC funds in use at the county and precinct levels, thereby completely revamping the tactical operations of the RNC.

For too long, RNC strategy has been to focus on races it believed it could win.  We have to believe we can win every race.  In my home state of Arkansas, we didn’t even have a GOP candidate for the Senate seat of Blanche Lincoln, D-AR.  This is intolerable.  Senator Lincoln’s only challenger was Rebekah Kennedy, a Green Party candidate, who received 20% of the vote.  This in an extremely conservative state.  A Republican candidate would have had a real shot, but the RNC wrote this seat off.  This must change, we must make it our strategy to compete with the intent to win in every district, in every state.

Mr. Blackwell will host quarterly conference calls between himself and state RNC members to “stay in the loop.”  The divide that currently separates GOP voters and RNC leadership will be bridged.  This strategic change is designed to identify current needs of members at the state level and how the RNC can fill those needs.  With the support of the RNC, this will lead to more effective tactics at the local level.

Mr. Blackwell’s conservative principles are not in question.  Many think the crushing defeat in November indicates we must abandon conservativism to be competitive in the future.  They couldn’t be more wrong.  Our problems have arisen from not adhering to those principles in the past few years.  With Republicans in control of the White House and both Houses of Congress, we expanded government and spent money like drunken sailors.  Our GOP elected officials have pandered to liberals because there’s been a disconnect between the RNC leadership and voters who elect Republican candidates.

His columns, available at Townhall.com, are evidence of his deep-rooted conservative philosophy.  He recognizes, in his column GOP Strength Rests in Its Core Beliefs, that conservative values correspond to most Americans’ values.  Our problems do not stem from our message, but rather from our inability to communicate that message.

Mr. Blackwell has also endorsed Rebuild the Party‘s 10-point plan to bring the RNC into the 21st century–techologically.   He is participates on the social networking sites Rebuild the Party, Facebook, and Twitter, interacting with grassroots activists dedicated to a common goal–reinvigorating the Republican Party.

For these reasons, I will be contacting the Republican National Committee members in Arkansas to encourage them to vote for Ken Blackwell in the RNC Chairman’s race.

God Bless and Merry Christmas,

John Allison, III

Spotted: Little Piggy Gettelfinger 12-22-08

Little Piggy Gettelfinger was fulfilling his role on Fox Business News today, still whining about how unfair life is for his poor, mistreated organization. He whined about not being included in last minute talks with the White House and whined some more about how difficult the concessions will make things for the UAW.  He even goes so far today as to deny responsibility of either the UAW or management for the current predicament.  Now, he lays the entire blame on the current economic climate.

He may not realize that well run companies realize that periods of fortune are eventually followed by less fortunate times.  And I guess he doesn’t remember how close he came to not having his union subsidized by us, the U.S. taxpayers.

Had Bush remained true to our conservative principles, I can only imagine how Gettelfinger would be whining today. It just goes to show that you just can’t please a little piggy like this.

Bush (for God knows what reason) gave the Three Little Piggies $4 billion more than they last requested–and Little Piggy Gettelfinger is still whining! Oh woe is me, life is so unfair, I’m so mistreated, nobody loves me, nobody respects me, the sky is falling, etc., etc.,…

But, then at the end of pitching his fit he holds to the hope that Obama will be his Knight in Shining Armor. The valiant hero will ride in on a white horse and save the UAW from the torment visited upon it by the evil Bush Administration!

If anyone out there who calls themselves a conservative ever believed that pandering to the Democrats would further the cause of bipartisanship and bridge the divide that separates the jackasses from the elephants, this should be a wake up call. Bush gave them more than they asked for! $4 billion more, and now that the money is in the bank it’s back to politics as usual for the jackasses.

We will never gain favor with the Democrats. Not by pandering to them, not by opposing them. So why do we time and again abandon our principles in the vain hope that this time will be different? The only thing that will make them happy is our unconditional surrender. And even when they get it, they turn around and stab us in the back with it. Just like they’re doing now.

Conservatives cannot sell their philosophy to the party of jackasses, they’re not buying! We must sell it to the people. The rank and file Americans who share our conservative values. They’re out there, even in the deep blue states they’re out there. Christians, gun owners, limited government enthusiasts, and fiscal responsibility fans reside in every state of the union.

Gettelfinger’s persistent belly-aching about how he didn’t get enough from the President’s socialistic subsidies reinforces the importance of a return to our conservative roots. This seems obvious to most grassroots activists on Top Conservatives on Twitter and Rebuild the Party, two groups which sprung to life in the wake of last months defeat that are dedicated to reinvigorating the GOP. Somehow though, this idea seems lost on those who’ve led our party for the past several years.

Little Piggy Gettelfinger’s trough was just refilled with feed.  Though he hasn’t yet consumed it all, he’s already complaining that it isn’t enough.

Thanks again Mr. President.  This is precisely what we warned you would happen.

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Related Posts

UAW to taxpayers: $%^@ you!–Michelle Malkin

Another reason Mike Duncan should drop out

Here’s an article by a California RNC member pointing out one of the best reasons the current RNC Chair should step aside and give the GOP a chance to rejuvenate itself.

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Mike who?

by Shawn Steel at Politico

A friend of mine recently attended a “where do Republicans go from here?” session with a selected group of high-powered politicos — congressmen, legislators, donors, party leaders and activists — in the Republican citadel of Orange County, Calif. It was a group closely attuned to GOP politics.

As a test, one of the congressmen queried the group, “Who is the chairman of the Republican National Committee?” drawing blank expressions as attendees racked their brains. Only two could come up with the correct answer — Mike Duncan — and only because they had Googled it when the same question had crossed their minds earlier that day.

…(Read full article)

Fred Thompson: Ask not what your country can spend for you,…

…but what you can spend for your country.

If you’re one of those who believes all the government “experts” and politicians touting the bailouts and stimulus packages, you can learn something from this lecture by Sen. Fred Thompson.

If you’re like me and already believe the current and soon-to-be administrations’ policies are going to leave our children with a crushing debt that will be impossible for them to repay, you’ll enjoy the wit and sarcasm Thompson uses to present our argument.

The video is more than 8 minutes long, so you may want to let it load then come back and replay it.  But it’s well worth the wait.  Enjoy.

The only thing that’s ever going to get our economy back on track is for Americans to once again embrace the idea of personal responsibility.  If you screw up, you suffer the consequences.

To hear the politicians today, you’d think there’s chaos in the streets and people dropping dead like flies in a fumigated apartment.

If we’ll learn from the mistakes that brought us to this point, and commit ourselves to not repeating them, our economy will come back stronger than ever.  There’s no doubt it’s going to be painful for some, especially those who’ve grown accustomed to spending more than they earn.  But if we choose this path, our economy will be fundamentally sound, not a castle built on sand.

It’s really simple.  We either bear this burden now, or we push it down the road for our children to inherit.  Then the problem will be many times worse than it is.

Do we want our children to inherit an economy that can be toppled by the slightest breeze?  Or, do we want to leave them a solid foundation on which to build their future?

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Related Posts

The Generational Theft Act of 2009–Michelle Malkin

Mr. Duncan, It’s Time to Step Aside

By the time election day rolled around this year, it was well known the GOP wasn’t trying to maximize the number of races it would win, but instead trying to minimize the number of races it would lose.  Here’s a headline from June 9 of this year, GOP Official: If We Only Lose Eight Senate Seats, We Win.  Talk about setting yourself up for defeat.

The Republican Party Chairman, Mike Duncan, wants another shot even after the drumming the party took in November’s elections.  But does he deserve it?  Can the GOP recover under the same leader who served as helmsman through this past election cycle?

I believe the answer is no.

Chairman Duncan has served the Republican Party for 30+ years and we are grateful for his service, but it’s time to step aside. 

A growing movement of grassroots conservatives has sprung up since the election, alive with an energy that we never saw throughout this past election cycle.  Almost 7,000 have endorsed Rebuild the Party‘s plan to revive the GOP and almost 2,000 are active on the movement’s Ning social networking site–blogging, participating in discussion forums, and forming alliances of fellow grassroots activists, all in preparation for elections that will take place in two and four years.   This movement counts over 4,300 members in its group on the social networking site Facebook.

Another grassroots movement, Top Conservatives on Twitter, has sprung to life as well.  In a few short weeks, it has grown to more than 1,500 members.   This group has already begun to organize and implement Action Projects to promote conservative causes.  An internet campaign to stop the auto company bailout, an alliance formed with Ford Motor Company when it became clear Ford wasn’t asking for federal money, and a drive to enlist RNC members are just a few of the causes this group of activists have undertaken in the weeks since the election.

The rapid growth and impact of these movements demonstrate greatest weakness in the current RNC leadership.   It ignored or dismissed them almost entirely throughout the campaign.  These online activists weren’t utilized while Barack Obama was building an internet army to promote his message and distort ours.  We were routed in November, in part, because we failed to integrate 21st century communications in our strategy. 

The internet is a medium that can carry our conservative message cheaply and efficiently.  Now is not the time to trust in leaders who cannot or will not embrace the technology that makes our message available to 183 million adults who have access to the internet.  According to this  Harris Interactive poll and this Zogby poll, the internet is the MOST trusted source for news among Americans.  And the GOP failed to make use of this during the 2008 elections.

Now is the time to step aside Mr. Duncan, for the good of the party.

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Related Posts

Mike Duncan Utterly Unqualified to be Republican National Committee Chairman–Michael Patrick Leahy

Responses to “Mike Duncan Should Withdraw Candidacy from RNC Chair Race Immediately”

Mike Duncan Should Do the Honorable Thing–It’s Only Words

Mike Duncan is an Idiot–RedState

A guide to the RNC chairman race

By ALEXANDER BURNS at Politico

The six contenders for Republican National Committee chair are rolling out every gimmick, plan and endorsement in the hopes of gaining an edge — any edge — in the tight contest for the GOP’s top job.

…(Read full article)

How much did the “3 Little Piggies” make last year?

The 3 Little Piggies have ignored all the warning signs that pointed to the tanking of their

Three Little Piggies

industry for years.  While Ford was working to restructure and make their business model competitive in today’s market, GM and Chrysler along with the UAW were closing their eyes, crossing their fingers, and hoping things would magically turn themselves around before the money ran out.

Now, we see these “3 Little Piggies” groveling to Congress and the President for us–the American taxpayers to bail them out of the mess they’ve made for themselves.  You heard the story about these CEOs flying to Washington in separate private jets to panhandle, but you might not realize just how much these incompetent CEOs made last year. 

So let’s check that out.

General Motors Corp. CEO Rick Wagoner received compensation worth $15.7 million last year according to this USA Today article.  That was a 64% raise over the previous year for setting his company up for failure.  Even more amazing is GM stock has lost almost 90% of it’s value since its 2007 peak AND GM lost $2.5 billion that year.

Man, I wish they’d pay me millions to lose their money!

Chrysler is no longer a publicly owned company, and CEO Bob Nardelli’s compensation package seems to be a closely guarded secret.  According to this WSJ article, he’s not actually being compensated at the moment, but will receive compensation when/if he turns a profit for Cerebrus Capital Management which owns Chrysler LLC.  Of course, he probably doesn’t need a paycheck right now because he most likely still has plenty of the $210 million he received as a severance package when he left Home Depot, Inc. in 2007.

Anybody else having trouble feeling sorry for these guys?

That leaves us with the UAW leader Ron Gettelfinger.  Apparently, he made a much more modest salary of ~$150,000.  But, he represents the workers costing the Big 3 automakers ~$70 per hour.  Even though he’s sitting alongside the other 2 Little Piggies begging for the government to hand over taxpayers’ money, he doesn’t want to make concessions to get it.  Quite a few taxpayers who make far less than that would probably take issue with using their taxes to maintain that standard of living for UAW members.

If these Three Little Piggies’ groveling for your money makes you mad as Hell, call and/or email the White House and let them know you don’t want them bailed out with your money!

Email the White House at comments@whitehouse.gov .

White House phone numbers: 

Comments:      202-456-1111
Switchboard:  202-456-1414
FAX:                  202-456-2461