EDITOR’S NOTE – THE STATE CRA HAS ENDORSED JOHN MCCAIN – THE REPUBLICAN NOMINEE FOR PRESIDENT. WE TOLERATE DISSENT AS SOME IN THE CRA REFUSE TO ACCEPT SOME GOP NOMINEES FOR OFFICE. HOWEVER, THE BELOW POST IS BY A MEMBER OF THE PLACER CRA AND IS NOT AN ENDORSEMENT OF BOB BARR OR ANY OTHER MARGINAL CANDIDATE BY THE PLACER CRA.

THE BY-LAWS OF THE CRA ARE CLEAR ON THIS ISSUE.

Full link

“Democrats may be blasting Sarah Palin as a doctrinaire conservative, and Republicans may be embracing her for the same reason, but her husband and oldest son are independents.

Todd Palin, husband of the Alaska governor, hasn’t been affiliated with a party since he first registered to vote while he was in his early 20s, in 1989 — the year after he married Sarah Palin. And Track Palin, their 19-year-old son, registered as undeclared when he became eligible to vote last year.

Track Palin has yet to vote, according to the Division of Elections, while Bristol Palin, his 17-year-old sister, is not yet eligible to vote.”

So, I guess you “conservatives” now supporting the McCain ticket have got to ask yourselves, did McCain really do a good job in his background checking.

Sure, Gov. Palin is a plain speaking, hard nosed, Governor, but does being a “hockey mom” and having 5 kids really make you a good leader? Will taking on your kids PTA members going to qualify you to sit with the heads of state in North Korea, Russia and China? Condie Rice was basically laughed out of Europe as her role as Secretary of State and she’s a force to rekon with. What happens when Gov. Palin’s youngest kid gets sick in the middle of a major crisis, is she going to file for parental leave? Or will her union card carrying, oil drilling operator husband play nanny for the next 4-8 years? And what’s with the names of those kids, they sound more like the names of Jerry Brown’s kids than a “good family woman’s.”

All we hear from Sean Hannity and the other talking heads who read from the RNC talking points is that her experience is at the same level or better than Obamas. Does that really matter? Is that what they believe is going to get a solid Conservative voter to vote for McCain, a life long moderate who not only considered having a pro-abortion Governor on his ticket, but also a pro-abortion Democrat. McCain went so far (as I outlined in a previous post) as to change the GOP platform. He wanted to soften the party’s stand on border control and doesn’t want off shore drilling. Do you really believe Gov Palin will have any influence over stubborn McCain in trying to drill in ANWR?

We’ll see how well this plays out for McCain, but I would have rather seen a senior level statesperson with a solid conservative voting record fill out this ticket. But I don’t believe it would have convinced me to vote for McCain over Bob Barr, who does have a very good voting record on Second Amendment rights, illegal immigration, civil liberties and lower taxes.

Here we go again. McCain’s moderate political views are showing up again, and not too soon. Only 5 days until the RNC Convention and McCain is already showing his true colors. For those of us on the Conservative side of the GOP isle, we knew this all along. The RNC caved on some very important issues so that McCain can feel comfortable with the platform. What about those of us who like the platform and are in this party because of it? If McCain doesn’t like the party platform than I suggest McCain find a different party. I’m not quite sure why he’s a Republican anyway. First George W. Bush let’s the Neocons take over the party and now McCain has pulled the GOP all the way to the middle of the isle. Just as the Democratic Party left many blue collar, pro-American voters over the past 40 year, I feel the GOP is leaving, or has left, many of us Conservatives out in the cold. I may have to find a new party.

“Republicans are putting John McCain’s campaign priorities above some of their pet issues, including drilling for oil in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and denying citizenship to the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants.

“The panel turned back a move to deny citizenship to U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants.”

“The platform acknowledges a human role in increased carbon emissions…”

“Committee member Trey Grayson of Kentucky called the document “the greenest platform we’ve ever had.”

Wow, I feel like this is the Democrat platform. I think my party has left me already…

Full article

Gotta question a guy’s ability to relate to the common man when he doesn’t know how many homes he has. It’s probably a good problem to have, but not when you want to be President. Did the Reps really nominate this guy with Fred Thompson as an alternative? Wow.

“John McCain may have created his own housing crisis. Hours after a report that the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting didn’t know how many homes he and his multimillionaire wife own, Democratic rival Barack Obama launched a national TV ad and a series of campaign stops aimed at portraying McCain as wealthy and out of touch.”

Full Link

It seems as though our conservative African American friends are more racist than they are loyal to their own political ideaology.

“Black conservative talk show host Armstrong Williams has never voted for a Democrat for president. That could change this year with Barack Obama as the Democratic Party’s nominee.”

“Among black conservatives,” Williams said, “they tell me privately, it would be very hard to vote against him in November.”

“J.C. Watts, a former Oklahoma congressman who once was part of the GOP House leadership, said he’s thinking of voting for Obama. Watts said he’s still a Republican, but he criticizes his party for neglecting the black community. Black Republicans, he said, have to concede that while they might not agree with Democrats on issues, at least that party reaches out to them.”

“Likewise, retired Gen. Colin Powell, who became the country’s first black secretary of state under President George W. Bush, said both candidates are qualified and that he will not necessarily vote for the Republican.”

I guess it’s more about race than doing the right thing. Very sad. Just another thing that’s wrong with politics and our GOP leadership.

LINK

A lot of news this week on the political front. We had two huge wins on Tuesday, and today The Wall Street Journal published an article I wrote about the need to defeat Alaska Congressman Don Young in the upcoming Republican primary.

As I wrote in the Journal, “The reason for the endorsement is simple. [Lt. Gov. Sean] Parnell is a solid conservative who led the fight for lower taxes and spending in the state legislature, and joined Gov. Sarah Palin in pushing for reform in the state. The man he is hoping to replace isn’t economically conservative in the least. Mr. Young is actually a poster child for what has gone wrong with the Republican Party in Washington.

“Over his 35 years in Congress, Mr. Young made himself into the most powerful Republican on the House Transportation Committee. But instead of using his power to steer Republicans down a principled, conservative track, he helped derail the GOP train in 2006.

“Mr. Young spends taxpayer money so wastefully he could make a liberal Democrat blush. As chairman of the Transportation Committee (from 2001 to 2007), Mr. Young was directly responsible for one of the biggest boondoggles of the Republican majority – the 2005 highway bill. With a price tag of $296 billion, the highway bill contained a record 6,371 pork projects.

“One of those projects was the $223 million Bridge to Nowhere, inserted by Mr. Young. The notorious bridge was meant to connect the city of Ketchikan, Alaska – population 8,000 – to an airport on Gravina Island – population 50. Instead, it came to symbolize Republican excess, and helped cost the GOP its majority.”

You can read the rest of the article below. For those of you who can’t wait to donate to Sean’s campaign to defeat Young, you can do that by clicking here.

This is one of our toughest yet most important political campaigns ever, and if we win, it would mark the second time this year that Club members beat an incumbent in a GOP primary, which I believe would be an unprecedented feat for any PAC.

A Super Tuesday

We got some great news earlier this week from Tuesday night’s primaries. The Politico newspaper reported (and Rush Limbaugh read on air yesterday) that the “Club for Growth had a big night Tuesday, as the two candidates it endorsed and funded prevailed in hotly contested Republican primaries in New Mexico and California.”

Rep. Steve Pearce (NM-Sen) edged out Rep. Heather Wilson 51% to 49% and Tom McClintock (CA-04) won by a surprisingly large margin, 54% to 39%, despite former Rep. Doug Ose spending over $3.25 million of his own money in attack ads.

Thank you to all the Club members who made these wins possible. The Club for Growth PAC bundled $275,000 from Club members for Steve Pearce in his primary race and over $200,000 for Tom McClintock in his primary race, and spent nearly $100,000 on TV and radio ads.

The Club PAC’s last four races, all wins, cost over $800,000 in TV and radio ads and other independent expenditures that were crucial to the victories. If you’d like to help refill the PAC’s war chest, please click here to donate.

Rush on the Club

Before I continue on Pearce and McClintock, here’s an excerpt of what Rush Limbaugh said yesterday about the two victories. (You can listen to the whole segment here.)

“One of the things I have suggested is focusing a lot on the future. These are cycles. We can rebuild. The conservative movement can triumph once again. It’s going to have to start locally, supporting state and local conservatives in their quest, getting to know who they are, supporting them, voting for them, giving them confidence to keep going. The Club for Growth, a conservative group, had a big night Tuesday. Two candidates it endorsed and funded prevailed in hotly contested Republican primaries in New Mexico and California. This is how it’s done. . .

“So this is the future. These are new roots being planted, and these are the kind of things that are going to have to happen all across the country along with other things in order to bring about this rebirth of conservative—and it isn’t going to be that hard, and it isn’t going to take that long.”

We appreciate the plug Rush, which brought a flood of new members to our website yesterday.

Rep. Steve Pearce is a strong economic conservative who has faithfully honored his pledge to oppose tax increases throughout his time in Congress. Wilson had one of the worst economic records of any Republican and sided with Democrats on key budget issues such as spending bills vetoed by President Bush.

McClintock is revered among California activists for being a limited government superstar in the State Legislature. He has long fought for lower taxes and opposed wasteful government spending even when it meant taking on members of his own party. During his years in Congress, Ose often sided with the big spending Republicans.

Now, Rep. Pearce will face New Mexico Rep. Tom Udall in the general election. Udall is an inveterate liberal who has voted for tax increases and increased government spending, receiving a 0% on the Club for Growth’s RePORK Card. No doubt, Udall would continue this tax-and-spend tradition if elected to the Senate.

McClintock faces off against Democrat Charlie Brown, who is no friend of economic conservatives and nearly beat retiring Rep. John Doolittle in 2006.

One final note. Club members who often visit our website may have noticed that our PAC endorsed Harri Anne Smith earlier this year in Alabama’s second congressional district, an open Republican seat. But we never sent any emails or letters asking you to donate to her campaign and our PAC also did not run any ads there. We held back because after the endorsement we were not impressed with how she was running her campaign. She managed to make the runoff and we are taking another look at her chances. Clearly she is the best candidate on our issues, but we also have an obligation to our members to see that they get a good bang for their candidate donation bucks.

Have a great weekend!

Best Regards,
Pat

Patrick J. Toomey
President, Club for Growth
2001 L Street, NW, Ste 600
Washington, DC 20036
PH: 202-955-5500

If you ever want to remove email address information from your membership to the Club for Growth, just click here.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121270989481150353.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries

OPINION

Don Young Embodies What’s Wrong With the GOP
By PAT TOOMEY
June 6, 2008; Page A13

Today, the Club for Growth Political Action Committee endorses Alaska Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell in his bid to unseat Republican Rep. Don Young in the state’s August primary.

The reason for the endorsement is simple. Mr. Parnell is a solid conservative who led the fight for lower taxes and spending in the state legislature, and joined Gov. Sarah Palin in pushing for reform in the state. The man he is hoping to replace isn’t economically conservative in the least. Mr. Young is actually a poster child for what has gone wrong with the Republican Party in Washington.

Over his 35 years in Congress, Mr. Young made himself into the most powerful Republican on the House Transportation Committee. But instead of using his power to steer Republicans down a principled, conservative track, he helped derail the GOP train in 2006.

Mr. Young spends taxpayer money so wastefully he could make a liberal Democrat blush. As chairman of the Transportation Committee (from 2001 to 2007), Mr. Young was directly responsible for one of the biggest boondoggles of the Republican majority – the 2005 highway bill. With a price tag of $296 billion, the highway bill contained a record 6,371 pork projects.

One of those projects was the $223 million Bridge to Nowhere, inserted by Mr. Young. The notorious bridge was meant to connect the city of Ketchikan, Alaska – population 8,000 – to an airport on Gravina Island – population 50. Instead, it came to symbolize Republican excess, and helped cost the GOP its majority.

But the bridge isn’t Mr. Young’s only earmark to draw negative attention. It seems the veteran lawmaker inserted a $10 million earmark into the 2006 transportation bill for a road project in Florida.

Of course, Florida is not exactly next door to Alaska, so more than a few people have wondered why Mr. Young pushed to fund the pork-barrel project. Among those inquiring into the matter is the Justice Department, which is looking at the fact that a Florida real estate developer, Daniel J. Aronoff, who stands to benefit from the federal earmark, has raised some $40,000 for Mr. Young’s campaign coffers.

It’s not just on spending that Mr. Young abandons Republican principles. Recently, he has joined with Democrats in voting to increase the minimum wage, increase income taxes on top earners, and to pass a bloated farm bill. Mr. Young also voted for “card check,” which would allow unions to organize without holding secret ballot elections.

He has a history of voting against important free-trade agreements and, just a couple of weeks ago, proposed a $1 per-gallon tax increase on gasoline. He must not have had to fill up at the pump lately.

During his time in Congress, Mr. Young has come to represent the worst of a Republican Party that became too comfortable in power. In 1995, a Republican majority passed a budget that actually cut spending. Today, only 40 Republicans out of 248 GOP senators and representatives have sworn off earmarks, despite overwhelming support for earmark reform among the party’s base and the general public.

Just 12 years ago, the Republican Caucus, including Mr. Young, voted for a bill to phase out farm subsidies. Three weeks ago, Mr. Young and many of those same members voted for a farm bill that exemplifies everything the GOP once stood against. Somewhere between then and now, many congressional Republicans abandoned their former commitment to limited government, fiscal discipline and economic freedom.

There is no question that the Republican Party is in trouble. Faced with staggering losses in 2006 and what might be an even worse election cycle this year, GOP congressmen are finally acknowledging the dismal state of the Republican brand. What are they doing about it?

Not much. The reason is that Mr. Young and many other members are not willing to change. They don’t want to give up their pork projects, their subsidies and their favorite big-government programs. And those members with the temerity to challenge the broken system are berated as disloyal and threatened.

“Those who bite me will be bitten back,” Mr. Young warned New Jersey’s Republican Rep. Scott Garrett last July. Mr. Garrett had tried to remove a $34 million earmark inserted into an appropriations bill by Mr. Young.

The Alaska primary represents a crossroads for Republicans. Will party leaders line up behind Mr. Young, even as the Justice Department is looking into his earmarks? Or will they tell him they cannot support a member who has flagrantly disrespected taxpayers and abandoned Republican principles?

If Republicans want to start winning again they need to return to the principles of fiscal responsibility and limited government that won them control of Congress in 1994. This is no easy task. But the GOP can start by showing Mr. Young the door.

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This is great news to those of us on the right who can’t stand voting for McCain in any election!

“Former US congressman Bob Barr on Monday announced plans to run for president on the Libertarian Party’s ticket, in a move some analysts say could hurt Republican presumptive nominee John McCain.
“My name is Bob Barr and I’m a candidate for the presidency of the United States of America,” said the former Republican lawmaker, who played a key role in the congressional impeachment of former president Bill Clinton.

Barr said he was running because there was not “currently or anywhere on the horizon” any candidate who understood the principles of fiscal conservatism and basic principles on which he said America was founded.”

ARTICLE LINK

It comes as a surprise to absolutely no one that the liberal Sacramento Bee would throw its endorsement for the 4th Congressional District seat to equally liberal candidate Doug Ose. We suppose the Bee can use the same editorial when it endorses Democrat Charlie Brown in November.

Ose is spinning madly away from his liberal record, and now is adopting the mantra of everyone who abandons their principles, describing himself as “the guy who gets things done.” In fact, Ose openly mocks McClintock’s record of championing conservative causes. As a member of the Republican majority in Congress, Ose and his like-minded colleagues abandoned core Republican principles to “get things done” and thereby handed control of Congress to the Democrats. Ose has been consistent on one issue over the years; he hates conservatives, and has labeled conservatives as extremists.

Here’s what Ose has really done: Votes for pork barrel spending, higher taxes, billions in new spending and social security for illegal immigrants. Ose voted against traditional marriage, voted for sanctuary cities, social security for illegal aliens and voted for several egregious earmarks including money to study Asian prostitutes in San Francisco. Ose even voted against the unborn victims of violence act 5 times! Here are some of the grades Ose received for his efforts: 58% rating by the National Taxpayers’ Union, (one of the worst scores for any Republican in Congress) a 55% rating from the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a “C” from Americans for Better Immigration, an “F” from the Gun Owners of America, a “D” from the National Rifle Association, and a 32% rating from the National Right to Life Committee.

In Contrast, Tom McClintock has opposed liberal positions and received perfect scores from the California Pro-Life Council, the National Rifle Association, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, the California Taxpayers Association and the California Chamber of Commerce. Here are some of the organizations supporting Tom McClintock:

The California Republican Assembly.
The Eagle Forum.
The National Right to Life Committee.
The NRA.
Gun Owners of America.
The Club for Growth.
The National Taxpayer’s Union.
Immigration Watchdogs like Congressman Tom Tancredo and Minuteman Civil Defense co-founder Chris Simcox.
The Placer County Republican Party.
Conservative stalwarts like Assemblymen Ted Gaines, Rick Keene and Senator Sam Aanestad.

It’s really a simple choice; choose Tom McClintock and you know you are getting a real conservative with a track record of controlling government spending, cutting taxes and securing our border.

Placer County Republican Party
Bill George
Spokesperson

Introducing Luis Buhler – CRP Vice Chairman San Francisco.

His priorities seem to be recruiting a primary opponent for Elsie Gufler. Elsie is a legal immigrant that decided to file for the hopeless 9th Congressional District in 2006 and again in 2008.

You’d think in an area that is less than 20% Republican, he’d be out trying to win converts and leading the minority Conservative and Moderate alike. Instead Bulher has chosen to label us and fight us instead of the Democrats. Nice.

Buhler decided he had enough of that and got someone to re-register from the Green Party to the GOP to run against her. The idea here is that Gufler gets to be a delegate to the State CRP convention for being the nominee – Buhler decided that having a Conservative delegate from his backyard was enough of a problem that he got a member of the Green Party to Register GOP and get on the ballot against Gufler. (This is not exactly winning a convert)

My Friend Angela Azevedo from the Sacramento County RA Chapter weighed in…

In a time when elected officials are calling for all Republicans to “come together”, a new blow has been dealt by one of the CRP’s executive members, Luis Buhler. Mr. Buhler has called the conservative wing of the Republican Party the “EXCREMENT” of the CRP. This information was provided to me today at the CA Eagle Forum Education Conference by AD19 candidate Elsie Gufler. Mr. Buhler has ignored the fact the Mrs. Gufler is running for the 2nd time for this seat which is a termed-out seat, and at the last minute put a candidate in to run against Elsie. Elsie also said the San Mateo County RP has announced it is bankrupt.

The opponent identifed to run against Elsie is a 21st Century Republican. They get to be called centurians, we who hold to core values and conservative principles and believe it is our God-given responsibility to hold our elected officials accountable are called “EXCREMENT”.

Mr. Buhler should be called to apologize for his rude and vile name calling. This is just further evidence that it is not the conservatives who are causing the divisiveness within the party, it is the other side. And as long as we sit quietly and continue to take this abuse, we will be blamed for the woes of the Republican party.

In Southern California – Scott Folkens, a CRA member has also drawn a primary opponent while several districts in LA County go uncontested.

Proof that the CRP Moderates view Conservatives as the Enemy, not the Dems. If they did, they’d leave districts with a Republican sacrificial lamb alone and concentrate on fielding opponents in all districts.

Is the Kool-Aid pitcher being raised in honor of the Placer GOP Central Committee? It is, probably by the Placer County luminary receiving the ceremonial Jug.

This one should be ornate with leaves from the Guyana jungle.

The Kool-Aid award is being awarded to a man who was proud of getting 33% of the vote in the 2006 Congressional Primary. A man proud of being a registered Republican who stood with a cadre of Democrat activists to launch his campaign… and a man who has taken up the Placer County Republican Central Committee as his latest cause – Mike Holmes.

Excerpted from the Auburn Journal

I hope this doesn’t get construed as a battle between RINOS (so-called Republicans In Name Only) versus the Neocons, Holmes said, adding that it’s time the local GOP organization returned to Ronald Reagan’s Big Tent idea.

No doubt Reagan, whose famed 11th Commandment insisted that Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican, probably wouldn’t have liked the idea of a central committee endorsing one party member over another in a primary…

There are a couple of problems here – as I stated before… the folks on the Central Committee are Conservatives. NeoCons are the kind of Republicans that run right in elections and then spend like drunken sailors once in office. (kind of like Ose)

Ronald Reagan was very much in favor of pre-primary endorsements and said so many times at CRP and CRA functions.

As to the 11th Commandment – Doug Ose and his support of Democrats for office / Mike Holmes and his refusal to endorse Doolittle after losing to him in 2006 ought to get you saying hmmm… but, Holmes earns the Kool-Aid award for the following:

So then we wind up with just enough people volunteering so that there’s no election, or worse, where there are not enough candidates, and the central committee winds up appointing their friends, he said.

What I’m trying to suggest is that we get enough people to run so that there’s a real election. Without a vote, central committee members don’t have that gravity of having been voted in by their peers, Holmes added.

This kind of sounds like Al Gore whining over the legitimacy of the election.

Maybe Mike’s Brother Jim is going to be illegitimate because he is unopposed for Supervisor?

If the Placer County Republican Central Committee was so illegitimate and was just a bunch of “Neo-Con” wackos.. why does Mike Holmes care about who they endorse?

For whining about the 11th Commandment and then attacking 27 of the hardest-working volunteers in Placer County… and for not being honest about your real gripe with the Central Committee (not endorsing “RINO” Doug Ose)...

You have earned the venerable pitcher of Purple Kool-Aid! (that would be Republican Red mixed with Democrat Blue)

Mike Holmes, this Jug’s for you!

Below is a comment I left on the column that I am linking…

Column

Jim – I will address only the issue you raise about the Placer GOP Committee’s endorsement being divisive.

The elected officials in this county have all endorsed – well most of them. The members of the GOP Committee are themselves elected, so it is consistent that they should be able to endorse as well.

In your effort to write your column to show the committee as divided, you omitted the previous motion to supress was defeated by a count of 4-21. This means that there were 21 votes to support – actually 22 if you include Ken Campbell who had to leave early. the final vote of 17-8 was because 4 people had an issue with there being no notice – not because they didn’t support Rico.

the opinion of the committee was that Doug Ose’s views are inconsistent with the voters that elected the committee members to their offices. Ose is pro-choice, F rated by Gun owners of America, voted against the defense of marriage amendment and has voted for open borders.

Further, in your column… you blame Tom Hudson for the loss of GOP Registrations further underlining your bias against the Central Committee. The loss of Registrations has more to do with the State GOP having no money for a registration program and the poor performance of Governor Arnold than anything you lay at Hudson’s feet.

The Central Committee would not be doing its’ job if it was acquiescent with everything the leaders of the GOP are doing - including supporting a congressional candidate like Doug Ose who is scarcely different than Charlie Brown.

The New York Times lands a bombshell on McCain today. Interesting to note they’ve sat on this story for quite some time and decided to release this after McCain has pretty much wrapped up the GOP Presidential Nomination. This is what conservatives have been saying all along, McCain is not the guy we want representing our party or in the White House. Anyone now doubt the liberal media bias?

New York Time article

From that rag: “A female lobbyist had been turning up with him at fund-raisers, visiting his offices and accompanying him on a client’s corporate jet. Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself — instructing staff members to block the woman’s access, privately warning her away and repeatedly confronting him, several people involved in the campaign said on the condition of anonymity.”

Good grief what has happened to our party? Any student of history will recognize the value of the two party system; this primary race demonstrates that the system is only a safe-guard and not a solution. The safeguard has likely failed us, leaving our country with the worst two candidates in the history of our nation.

We can still hold out hope that the remaining states realize McCain is an unacceptable candidate. This is not likely, but consider the delegate math. McCain needs roughly 37% of the remaining un-pledged delegates, this includes non-committed delegates from states that have already held their primaries. That’s a bigger chunk of the vote than he’s been getting in most contested states. We still have time for voters to wake up to the threat of a McCain candidacy. There is little hope for Romney or Huckabee to wrap up the vote prior to the convention, but it isn’t too late to take out McCain.

Should McCain win the nomination what is a principled conservative to do? McCain is a much bigger threat to conservatism than any liberal Democrat, but is it ethical to vote for somebody that is still an enemy to what you believe? Some conservative talking heads preach that we need to vote for McCain for no other reason than the courts, which only raises more concerns with McCain. I predict that should we be so unfortunate to see McCain elected, he will lecture us on why we need justices with moderate political views that believe the constitution is a living document.

The one compelling reason I’ve heard for voting for McCain is his age. If he were to bring on a true conservative as VP, we could hope his current diet of donuts and more donuts would relieve us of his leadership in short time. I’m predicting moderate Republican Governor Charlie Christ of Florida will be the VP nominee, so this won’t be an issue.

One last thought:
Placer County has a reputation of being a conservative area, but if we look at returns for the last few elections, this area is not actually very conservative. For example: in 2006 only 53% of Placer County voters supported parents having the right to know when a school takes their 12 year old daughter to have an abortion, Placer County’s only supervisor with a reputation of being conservative has endorsed a liberal candidate for congress, and yesterday McCain won here.

Perhaps the leftists in our party are correct: If the Republican Party is to remain viable, we need to accept the liberal ideas of the democrats and abandon the principles of Ronald Reagan.

World Net Daily – Posted: January 17, 2008

With a divided GOP field going into South Carolina, voters have a chance to make the Second Amendment an issue in this election. And they should.
South Carolina holds a distinctive place in our presidential nominating process. As the first in the South primary, its focus on faith, family values, military service and American traditions makes it one of the most conservative states in the country.

Anyone who’s ever campaigned in South Carolina will tell you that it’s worlds apart from many other parts of the country. And while Second Amendment rights are a sizeable factor in many states’ elections, in South Carolina you cannot win a general election if you’re seen as hostile to firearm freedoms.

That’s in general elections. In the GOP primary, you don’t even want to show your face in a crowd of Republicans if you aren’t ready to protect their gun rights.

Both Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson have a perfect record for supporting Second Amendment rights. They’ve both talked about that in South Carolina and should make an issue of this latest development.

Is anyone listening? To all the Romney bandwagon jumpers…Where’s Mitt’s name here???

Mitt Romney really must take this opportunity to explain exactly where he stands on the Second Amendment. He angered gun owners in December by endorsing and promising to sign into law the Clinton gun ban and the Brady Bill on “Meet the Press.”Those were two of the worst anti-gun laws in American history. He should forcefully take a stand on this Justice Department brief, and while he’s at it he (Romney) should retract his support for these anti-gun laws.

-The writer of this article is the immediate past president of the NRA and a longtime member of the NRA Board of Directors.

The number one issue for Republicans in this race should be judges, based on John McCain’s past and current positions Republicans CANNOT trust him:

Global Warming, Affirmative Action, the International Criminal Court, Guantanomo, Tax-cuts, McCain-Feingold, the Gang of 14, Amnesty(or Z-Visa if you don’t like that word), Christian leaders are “agents of intolerance”. McCain has not admitted to being wrong on any of these issues, with the exception of an apology to Christians for attacking Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson as “agents of intolerance.” I’m sure the apology was as sincere as any of his other straight talk.

As a person who believes in repentance and forgiveness I should comment on why these issues prevent me from EVER supporting John McCain. I believe that a man can repent and be forgiven, but that doesn’t exempt him from facing consequences.

I will not vote for someone who has cheated on their wife, period. McCain cheated on his wife with a beautiful 25 year old with enough family money to launch his political career.

Believe what you want about his supposed straight talk. I am grateful to him for his service to our country, but I would never vote for him.

Measure E – Dry Creek School Bond – NO
This is a fiscally-irresponsible $67.3 million school bond for the Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District in the Roseville area. This District has adequate funding and their revenues are growing rapidly, so they have no business asking taxpayers take on additional debt.

Measure F – South Placer Fire “Tax” – NO
UPDATED 1/3/2008
Measure F – Spending Limit Exemption for the South Placer Fire Protection District – NO
This ballot measure would exempt the South Placer Fire Protection District from the Gann Spending Limit. District officials insist that this measure will not lead to future parcel tax increases or benefit assessments, and no such taxes and fees have been proposed by staff or by the District’s Board of Directors. However, this measure would allow the District to continue to spend more than the California Constitution would otherwise allow and we oppose it on that basis.

Measure G – Loomis School Bond – NO
This is a fiscally-irresponsible $17.7 million school bond for the Loomis Union School District . This well-funded District needs to prioritize its spending, rather than demanding higher taxes every year.

Measure H -Clover Valley Development in Rocklin YESFor many years, environmental wackos and “no-growthers” have opposed every plan to develop the privately-owned land in Clover Valley, which has been slated for development for a generation. The Rocklin City Council finally approved a dramatically scaled-back development plan, with widespread community support, but leftist radicals gathered signatures to force it onto the ballot. If this measure fails, the land owners will either demand full payment for the private land that they have not be allowed to development (which would be astronomically expensive and un-affordable for a small city like Rocklin) OR they will take back all the compromises and build a much larger development that the environmental wackos will hate even more. For the sake of private property rights, voters need to support Measure H.

Measure J – Rocklin Park Tax Increase – No
This is an unnecessary and unfair parcel tax that the proponents have tried to disguise as the mere continuation of an existing tax that was about to expire. In fact, this measure would increase the expiring tax by 50% from $30 per parcel to $45 per parcel (regardless of size, value, or benefits received), then increase the tax every single year to adjust for inflation. In a small city whose budget has doubled in five years, the proponents are pretending that the only way they can fund parks is to increase taxes, despite the fact that most city residents already pay enormous Mello-Roos bonds and developer fees to pay for these same parks.

Could the unflappable Ron Paul have drank the Earmark Kool-Aid!?

Or, maybe Ron Paul was trying to help his district?

I wonder what Ken Campbell would say about this??? Would he make a front page story saying he could no longer support the patron saint of small government any longer?

The SHOCKING TRUTH about Ron Paul selling out LINKED here…

Huckabee shows again he’s soft on the illegal alien issue. Tancredo was the clear winner here by avoiding this debate altogether. I wish the rest of these guys stayed home as well. The voting/political process is starting to become a real joke in this country.

“It looked like a hostage take. ... [The candidates] were trying to say, ‘You should go home,’ without saying, ‘I hate you,’” said Frank Sharry, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, which favors combining tough border enforcement with an onerous legalization path for those already in the United States.

“But he clearly has developed a case of Romney-itis, the affliction that causes a top-tier Republican to turn from centrist to conservative to avoid political punishment by the party’s base.”

“During the forum, Huckabee called for a “reasonable window of time,” for an illegal immigrant to return home and get at the back of the line to legally reenter the United States.”

Article

And the “voters” backing Hillary actually are backing her due to Bill himself. Wow, I didn’t think people were that stupid. With this recent development and with the subprime mess, I’m going to have to rethink my position.

NY TIMES 12/10/07
G.O.P. Voters Are Uninspired by Candidates

“Three weeks before the Iowa caucuses, Republicans voters across the country appear uninspired by their field of presidential candidates, with a vast majority saying they have not made a final decision about who to support, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.”

“None of the Republican candidates is viewed favorably by even half of the Republican electorate, the poll found. In a sign of the fluidity of the race, one candidate who had barely registered in early polls several months ago, Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, is now locked in a tight contest nationally with Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York and Mitt Romney of Massachusetts.”

The poll found that former President Bill Clinton could be an effective campaign weapon for his wife. Forty-four percent of Democrats said Mr. Clinton’s involvement would make them more likely to support Mrs. Clinton.”

I got this and it went to my SPAM folder… I almost smoked it out of my system but I was caught by the headline…

“You’re invited to a CRP Holiday Celebration”

From the party that brought you defeat snatched from the jaws of victory a “HOLIDAY PARTY” – because we just have to avoid the contraversial issues… avoidance right into alienating your religious base.

If we use the CRP’s mentality – maybe people named Christian should change their name to “Congregational”.

I guess the CRP enjoys being a minority, millions of debt and a Governor that is killing the party because they are too scared to properly identify a holiday – It is soooo simple guys, try leading for a change! (Try endorsing John Doolittle for re-election because he is innocent, worthy and leaders take the right path, not the easy path…)

Below is the text of the E-mail I received…

California Republican Party invites you to our Holiday Open House Wednesday, December 12th, 2007 4:00pm to 7:00pm

CRP Burbank Headquarters
The Ronald Reagan California Republican Center
1903 W. Magnolia Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91506
818-841-5210 Phone
818-841-6668 Fax
www.cagop.org
Free to Attend
Please Drop By And Enjoy Some Holiday Cheer With Your Fellow Republicans

It is called traditional values! Christmas!!! Traditional values such as…

If the Republican Party doesn’t stand up for life, who will!

If the Republican Party doesn’t stand up for marriage and the family, who will!

The Republican Party is so afraid of its’ shadow that they have ignored the backlash the last few years over the media extermination of anything resembling Christmas.

This seems like a simple issue – Merry Christmas vs Happy Holidays… but the moderates that have taken control of the CRP and many national GOP cornerstones know what the score is. The avenue to no moral accountability is paved by neutralizing the political party that most religious people affiliate themselves with.

While I give the Jug O’ Kenny to the CRP, it is a little more serious than political satire what has happened to the spine of those in leadership in the GOP.

This Thanksgiving, as with all Thanksgivings we should reflect on what we are thankful for.

I am thankful that another election cycle has given me clarity about why we do what we do in the Placer CRA. We are reminded of the excellent leadership of our Congressman and the integrity we have in standing by him.

I am thankful that opportunism has only consumed precious few of our ranks and in the end a good man will be vindicated.

I am thankful to be celebrating my second Thanksgiving as a married man. My wife is wonderful and incredible. She has gotten quite a baptism by fire into politics. She has been an absolute rock by my side.

I am thankful for having a successful business that continues to grow.

I am thankful that my entire family is close by.

I am thankful that my true friends both personal and political continue to stay as such.

I am thankful that I live in the USA, the greatest country on God’s Green Earth.

Thank you for reading this blog… also be thankful that there are a lot of new items coming soon:

1) an expose’ into some of the players in this election cycle

2) follow-up stories into the slew of taxes we are opposing in ballot arguments

3) follow-up stories into the ballot measures that are coming onto the ballot

“They’re looking for some backbone,” said DeLay, who also chimed in on the 2008 election. He said the Republican party is “going to get our clocks cleaned in 2008” and unequivocally said that “Hillary [Clinton] will be the next president.”

DeLay told Yeas & Nays that Republicans in Congress are “looking for something to believe in” and “they’re not getting it out of this Republican leadership. … The leadership just isn’t getting it.”

Article

As I’ve stated since the first day Arnie declared to run for Gov and set the recall in overdrive, he continues to be an asset for the CA GOP.

“Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has become the most prolific campaign fundraiser in California history, taking in more than $125 million for his various political committees, according to an Associated Press review of fundraising records.”

“In doing so, he has surpassed Gray Davis, the governor he ousted four years ago in a recall election that focused in large part on Davis’ seemingly incessant fundraising.”

$125.8 million

“Thompson emphasized his support for conservative judges and his ‘100 percent pro-life voting record’ as part of his none too subtle message that he is a ‘consistent conservative.’”

This is great news for the GOP. We can’t afford to lose the White House or allow some “acceptable alterative” to run against Hillary. We need to beat her with someone we can respect as President and can lead us in these perilous times.

“If the GOP nominates an abortion rights supporter and has the issue ‘effectively taken off the table,’ many religious Christian voters may not vote Republican in 2008.”

Read the full article.

Rico Oller is not running for Assembly, I wrote that weeks ago and Rico is telling everyone.He is telling everyone at the same time as he is telling everyone he will not run against John Doolittle. Rico still polls exceptionally well, like Tim Leslie and their endorsements are incredibly valuable and still with John Doolittle. (And with Dan Logue)

Roseville City Councilmember John Allard has been working the phone non-stop for the last several weeks, he has discovered that John Doolittle’s base is not only solid… most are Annoyed and some are livid over what is being done to John Doolittle. (media smear / Eric Kerry-Egland’s campaign, etc…) Most of the animosity is directed at Ted Gaines.

This confirmed my conversations with a lot of the same people. There are many looking for a new Assemblymember in the 4th.

Eric Hogue is also making tons of calls – he is super serious about running as well.

Both Hogue and Allard are committed Evangelical Christians. Allard worked for Tim Leslie for 12 years, Hogue was on a political talk radio circuit for 6. Hogue has a name ID advantage on Allard, Allard has an insider advantage on Hogue. If one of them commits to running weather or not Ted backs down from running against Doolittle, this will get very interesting.

Notice how you have heard little from Ted Gaines lately? One could construe it as either Ted trying to wait the storm out, or that he is reconsidering. It is not too late for Gaines to get out, but he is going to have to do it soon. www.DontDraftTed.com recently hit the radar screens of local media and capitol insider reports.

Prediction – John Doolittle will file his re-election papers within one week of the filing opening. In fact, I am willing to bet anyone a steak dinner on that fact.

In addition, the only people talking about Eric Kerry-Egland outside of myself are bunch of his brave anonymous commenters. Egland, why didn’t you run for a School Board… the Roseville City School Board has two extremely liberal Democrats on it! The Roseville Joint Union High School District is run by the teacher’s union – we could have used the help! What’s sad is EGLAND would have won running away!

In the 3rd Assembly which covers a slice of Placer, Sue Horne showing weakness started to attack Dan Logue a couple of weeks ago. I had a bombshell laid in my lap a couple of days ago that I posted right here on the Placer CRA Blog.

Also posted today is a sampling of Horne supporter’s comments who have descended on the blog. I also interspersed some comments of my own in the post.

The response was incredible and I was interviewed for a story with the Nevada County Union newspaper which should hit tomorrow.

It is way too early for all this activity – but this is fun stuff for us junkies!!!

The Donald: Time for Bush to go into hiding

I don’t agree that Bush is the worst president in history, as The Donald does in this article, but I do believe the Republican nominee, if they want to be elected, needs to either have a very tight Iraq war exit strategy, or needs to promise a full pull out. We’re on the verge of not only losing the White House, but further losing both Houses of Congress.

No matter your thoughts on the war, we’re fighting people who will never like us and we’re helping people who have never experienced freedom. With freedom comes responsibility and I would argue people in the US don’t even have enough sense or responsibility to be truly free. Many Americans who love freedom and are very patriotic feel losing more American lives to experiment with giving freedom to the Middle East may not be worth it now. If the president were really serious about the war on terror and national security, he would seal up the borders immediately and beef up the budget for border security. His actions don’t reflect this.

I just heard that Linda Ackerman, the wife of Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman, is running for National Committeewoman (she is running for the seat on the Republican National Committee currently held by conservative stalwart Barbara Alby). I don’t know Linda personally and she may be a very competent person, but I have some concerns about her candidacy.

Her husband Dick Ackerman is already on the California
Republican Party Board of Directors. Does it make sense to have another member of the Ackerman family on the Board? There are already complaints that the California Republican Party is too beholden to Legislative leaders, instead of activists, donors, and volunteers. People complained about Doug and Linda Boyd both being on the executive committee at the same time, why would the Ackermans be any different?

Linda Ackerman is from Newport Beach, well inside the Orange Curtain. It seems like half the Board of Directors and half the candidates are from Orange County (“the Placer County of Southern California”). Orange County is the home of Disneyland, but I wonder how many CRP board members they really need to have? The Party spends millions of dollars on targeted races (almost never in N. CA), so it concerns me the level of control Orange County posesses already. (incidently, Placer has none currently)

The National Committeewoman post is a leadership position and I have not seen Linda Ackerman be a Republican leader so far. This is not an entry-level position and there is no time for on-the-job training. Mrs. Ackerman might be the next Margaret Thatcher for all I know, but it would be a good idea for her to test her skills by serving a term or two as a Party Officer or Central Committee member before running for the second highest Party office in California! (only the Chairman is more powerful) California only gets three votes on the RNC, so we need to pick demonstrated leaders.

Again, I admit that I do not know Linda. I would raise similar objections if the “Orange County Mafia” had put up the name of any other Legislative spouse from Orange County, so this is not a personal attack against Linda.

However, based on recent experience, (remember what was done to Tom Del Beacrro?, Barbara Alby?) Linda needs a very thick skin because the personal attacks are sure to come from others with their own agendas.

3 1/2 years of investigations, no indictment

Your house gets raided and files relating to the associate that got you into this investigation in the first place are left behind. Of course, your young daughter is terrorized during the whole ordeal and no one cares.

You are a Republican Congressman and three of your colleagues resigned in disgrace, two of whom went to jail, so therefore you are presumed guilty.

And so it goes, instead of idealogical attacks which had never worked in the past… the tactics change to throwing it through the fan and alleging corruption. John Doolittle did the same thing we do in my office, pay relatives for consulting… that’s the worst of it.

Jack Abramoff took down Bob Ney, Duke Cunningham and Tom DeLay. All three of them went down within a year of discovery, but not John Doolittle. You have to ask yourself that question to be intellectually honest. (Don’t tell me it is because John Doolittle is so powerful, Ney and DeLay were at the highest level of GOP leadership when they went down.)

Larry Craig was forced out of office in a week after being exposed for being a pervert. Mark Foley was forced out of office several weeks after it was revealed that he was out of control sexually.

John Doolittle is still in office.

Could it be that John is innocent? Could it be because the government has egg on its’ face over this investigation and they refuse to exonerate John because they will look bad?

“If the glove don’t fit, you must acquit”...

The sad fact is reading the bee commentary and the hyperbolae of Eric Kerry-Egland for example, it looks like other people’s ambitions are at work to deny John Doolittle due process. (after 3 1/2 years no less)

The fact that the media has so much power that they can take down a congressman by simply attaching his name to every negative Republican story is absurd. Even more absurd is when Republicans contribute by skewering that congressman before he has had his day in court.

(This was posted first on another blog, then copied here)

It should be obvious to anyone that knows Placer Politics that Ted Gaines is his own man and is not John Doolittle Junior.

Of course since Mark Williams is just interested in stirring the pot for ratings, he attacks a man he dosen’t even know… Ted Gaines.

Mark Williams is supporting Eric Kerry-Egland for Congress. (Did you know Kerry-Egland served in Iraq?)

Ted has not declared to run for congress, and as an insider in Placer County (I sit on the local GOP Central Committee) I can tell you with authority that Williams is dead wrong about any ‘cabal’.

Mark Williams should never be considered a credible source on anything as he has gone insane with hatred for Governor Arnold. There is a difference between hatred of a man and vehement disagreement with his policies. Mark thinks everyone in the GOP is in league with Arnold Schwarzenegger. (even though our own committee has adopted multiple resolutions against his policies and opposed every one of his candidates for California GOP office)

Mark Williams has attacked pretty much everyone in Placer politics at some point, this leads one to the conclusion that Williams uses some sort of alternate reality to construct his opinions.Koolaid5b

I would like to re-introduce “Kenny” the mascot of the absurd in Placer politics, Kenny is the mascot of the weekly Kool-Aid award. The Kool-Aid award is reserved for the absurd, such as Mark Williams rantings about some secret cabal to keep the 4th congressional seat away from Eric Kerry-Egland. (who Williams will have to re-register to vote for)

The Kool-Aid award goes to Mark Williams, for thinking that Eric Kerry-Egland is the savior of CD4 for the GOP. This jug’s for you, Mark!

Did you watch MSNBC the other night? (8/2/2007)

Eric Egland was on National TV talking about his ‘charitable’ organization, correct?

Wrong. On national TV, he was brought on as a panelist representing “The Troops Need You”(or whatever the name of it is this week)...

I have seen so many e-mails including pictures of the aforementioned candidate with President Bush, I hardly knew they were for a charitable site dedicated to helping the troops.

Mr. Egland confirmed this by giving his campaign site address on national TV. I know hardly anyone watches MSNBC, but there needs to be some accountability here.

In Eric (Kerry-)Egland’s own words… (remember Kerry-Egland served in Iraq, that’s why he is running for office)

“I have seen first hand how failures in congressional ethics and leadership have corrupted our government and made our troops, our economy, and our nation more vulnerable.”

Ethics!? Try obeying camapign finance law Mr. Egland!

The Sacramento Bee has continued its’ yellow journalism.

And good ole’ Henry Waxman has decided to launch an investigation into John Doolittle for hosting Town Hall meetings about Meth Labs and usage in Northern California.

Jeez, how low will Democrats stoop to win an election? They ran on a platform of spending and border control in 2006. Nope… nothing there.

2007 is Earmarks ‘r us year

2007 is Sacramento Bee continues the propaganda barrage.

A fairer question to ask is, “Is Henry Waxman a supporter of Meth production and distribution?” Why else would he try to hinder the congressman’s attempts to address this issue.

Waxman studies possible political use of drug office – This is the Article

The Facts:

The Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, John Walters, frequently travels to areas that are affected by illegal drug use, doing events with Democrats and Republicans. But here is the kicker – that is not who visited Congressman Doolittle’s district in April of 2006. It was Mary Ann Solberg, Deputy Director for the Office of National Drug Control Policy and McGregor Scott , United States attorney for the Eastern District of California.

The events were part of the Doolittle supported “Meth Prevention Week” and Doolittle was acting as a member of the bi-partisan Congressional Caucus to Fight and Control Methamphetamine. Related Articles: “Rep. Doolittle Supports meth prevention week” – The Union , Sat. April 8, 2006 &” Doolittle in town to talk on meth” – The Union Tues. April 11, 2006.

The next day in Butte County , about 30 county, city and state officials joined Sheriff Perry Reniff, Rep. John T. Doolittle and Deputy Director Mary Ann Solberg again for another discussion on the fight against meth. It is wrong to politicize a serious issue of this nature, which clearly had bi-partisan and strong community support. Related Article: “Sheriff hosts roundtable talk on meth with John Doolittle and national expert” – Mercury Register, April 13, 2006.

We frequently hold community forums on important issues and, unfortunately, drug use is a serious problem in parts of our district. Congressman Doolittle has been working to fight the use of illegal drugs, particularly methamphetamine, for years now, and having Deputy Director Solberg assist us in that effort was a useful exercise for local law enforcement in two areas that are particularly affected by drug use. This is an issue that is extremely important to the Congressman. The fact that we have a Republican administration and that we have a Republican congressman should not prevent these communities from receiving assistance from our government.