Posted on 07/11/2006 6:12:14 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Open Letter to the GOP by Alan Caruba Posted Jul 11, 2006
I recently received a direct mail notice from Ken Mehlman, Chairman of the Republican National Committee saying that, Our records show we have not yet received your 2006 Republican National Committee membership contribution.
One assumes a lot of these notices have been mailed to folks like myself who have decided not to financially support the GOP this year. They wont miss my donation because its always small.
Its not that I wont vote the Republican ticket in November. I probably will, but thats because the Democrats in my State have made such a botch of its affairs I cant imagine encouraging that with my vote. But I will not send the RNC any money. I will not renew my membership. Not now at least.
According to the notice, my membership and contribution is urgently needed to support President Bush and give Republican candidates the resources they need to run effective campaigns and win. But in most respects I dont support President Bush any more because, for one thing, he has never vetoed a single spending bill conjured up by the Republican controlled Congress.
We have a huge national debt and, frankly, that kind of thing worries me, particularly when Ken Mehlman tells me that, Our message of lower taxes, fiscal responsibility, and commonsense reform wins elections. What fiscal responsibility? And what reforms?
The alleged reform of the educational system via the No Child Left Behind legislation is the creation of the most liberal legislator in Congress, Sen. Teddy Kennedy, and extended a previous piece of legislation imposing a federally controlled system from coast to coast. This is a terrible idea that does little other than to expand the size and reach of the federal government. NCLB has done nothing to improve the quality of education in America. It has degraded education into an endless series of tests around a rigid curriculum.
Why, having been in control of Congress since 1995, has the Republican Party been unable to muster enough majority votes to open ANWR to the extraction of oil? Why cant the Republicans end the ban on offshore exploration for the massive quantities of oil and natural gas that we need to reduce our dependence on Middle Eastern and other energy resource producers? The recent House vote to end the ban is likely to be resisted and defeated in the Senate.
Why is the Environmental Protection Agency permitted to create and enforce an endless variety of restrictions and mandates that, among other things, increases the cost of gasoline to Americans and afflicts the farmers and ranchers who provide our food? This nation and the world have suffered greatly from the ban on DDT and on methyl bromide, an essential pesticide used in U.S. agriculture.
Why did the President nominate an avowed environmentalist, Henry Paulson, as the new Secretary of the Treasury? What was he thinking when he nominated Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court?
Why hasnt the GOP been more zealous to rid the U.S.A. Patriot Act of some of its more noxious elements that intrude on the privacy of Americans and run contrary to the safeguards of Constitution?
Why has the Bush administration, under the Project Safe Neighborhoods program, attempted to federalize the possession of a handgun by a felon? Surely there are enough state laws to address this.
Why, in fact, have the Bush administration and the GOP pursued programs that would expand federal police powers beyond that which the Constitution would permit? I take very seriously the Tenth Amendment which says The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people
Individual rights and privacy seem to be the last and least concern of the Republican Party these days. The expansion and intrusive powers of the federal government seem to be its first priority. Birth, end of life, and gender issues are personal issues. Both Republicans and Democrats need to respect that and leave such matters to the States as the Tenth Amendment requires.
Why has the President consistently refused to address the problem of the massive flow of illegal aliens from across our southern border and, at the same time, advocated what everyone knows is an amnesty proposal few Americans want?
And, of course, there is the issue of Iraq. An estimated trillion or more dollars has been allocated to free the Iraqi people and establish a functioning, modern government there. I have supported that effort, but my patience has its limits. There are some small signs of change in the Middle East, but the dead hand of Islam may yet succeed in defeating the hope of connecting it to the rest of the world and the twenty-first century.
These are a few examples of the failure of the Republican Party to fulfill the expectations of myself and others who have supported it in the past. It bares less and less resemblance to anything that once passed for Republican values and none to its famed Contract with America.
If you have delayed your membership because you feel the RNC has let you down -- let me know. I need to hear from you.
Well, respectfully, Mr. Mehlman, you are hearing from me and, apparently, a lot of other former and reluctant contributors. What you hear in November may be even worse news.
Mr. Caruba writes a weekly column, "Warning Signs," posted on the Internet site of the National Anxiety Center.
So, what do you see on the horizon: a repeat of 1974, 1982, 1990, or 1998? or just what?
I got one of those in the mail. I'm concerned that the RNC is running out of the time it needs to prove it knows what it is doing. I'll contribute to individuals, but not to the party at this point.
A warning from Robert D.S. Novak:
Republicans surely seem to need some birdies to keep Senate seats in 2006. Rick Santorum remains far behind in Pennsylvania. Conrad Burns is in trouble in Montana. Jim Talent trails in Missouri. Mike DeWine is threatened by a noxious Republican atmosphere in Ohio. Lincoln Chafee is endangered in Democratic Rhode Island. Jon Kyl faces a surprisingly tough race in Arizona. Despite excellent candidates in Minnesota and Washington state, no Republican challenging for a Democratic-held Senate seat is in the lead. Thus, a six-seat takeover capturing the Senate is possible.
This is of special concern for Republicans because the third of Senate seats contested in 2006 is more favorable to their party than what will follow. The long-term outlook troubles Graham, who sees a bleak Republican future north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins in Maine and Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania may be the last Republican senators from their states. The rising Hispanic-American population not only has transformed California into a Democratic state; freshman Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar looks like the new political face of Colorado, and Arizona is no longer safe for Kyl conservatives.
I do not believe that Santorum and Burns can be salvaged, but I hope Talent may survive (doubtful in doubtful MO).
Get the ILLEGAL ALIENS out of my country anf I will donate again.
The Republican Party is out of touch with its base. Period. And it isn't the fault of the base. Like the author, I'll vote for the best candidate (99% of the time Republican), but Mehlman isn't getting my money until the Repubs start to deliver. We have the White House and both houses of Congress - and their production to date is minimal. No excuses, Ken.
My money and volunteer time instead goes to my local (R) candidates whose principles and records track conservactive. I think strong conservative candidates can win. RINO's have the most to lose.
Typo apology: "conservactive" = conservative.
President Bush could have deal with illegals better. Right?
Now think what a Teddy Kennedy and friends would do with the same issue.
Kennedy would swing the gates open -- and hand out social security payments to illegals as they crossed over. Bush could have done better on immigration, but his worst is better than we'd ever get from a dems.
I sent them a Bush Peso also. Are they getting the message though?
Actually, Pres. Bush signed on to Kennedy's plan and is endorsing exactly what you say Kennedy wants to do. I'm a Texan, voted for him twice. But he supported Specter (RINO) over a true conservative, and has marched with the liberals. I'm sorry. I'll support my local Reps, but not the national party.
From Polipundit this morning:
Reid Kennedy Bill Is Closet Racism
Last week, I read that Hotel Lobbyists had testified before Specters Senate Judiciary Committee field hearing in Philadelphia on June 6, 2006:
The majority of my staffs time, effort and our departments budget are spent directly on the recruitment and hiring process to fill the approximately 45 job openings typically posted between our various operations on our weekly job opportunity lists, Rossi said in prepared testimony. These openings result in an employee reporting to work knowing that he will be understaffed by 10-12 percent on any given day. This is incredibly frustrating for both employee and employer. For both it means more work, longer hours, increased workplace injuries, increased guests complaints and the list goes on.
The full testimony can be found here and you will find no mention of trying to fill jobs by increasing wages.
Two days after that testimony, we find that many Americans are available to fill those jobs:
According to the most recent state-by-state comparison issued by the U.S. Census Bureau, 49.6 percent of black teens in Indiana were unemployed in 2004, compared with 38.9 percent nationally. White teen unemployment in the state was at 18.3 percent, according to the study that gauged joblessness among teens 14 and older who were actively seeking work.
Until every American that is seeking work has work, there is no reason as national policy to import guest workers. I would implore Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to speak out for all Americans, of every color, that need and are seeking work.
North American Union: Deconstructing the U.S.
North American Union: Coup d'état American Style
It was in today Front Page and is not only fodder for anger management enrollment but reflects very poorly on Pubs (for NOT informing us of this) as well as Dims.
Check it out.
"THE SENATE GUTS LOCAL IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT" http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23292 Thanks,
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1663518/posts?page=1
The media, the politicians, and the intelligentsia may all be overwhelmingly on the opposite side but the people will prevail. That is how bilingual education was defeated at the polls in California and why the amnesty bill is now dead in the United States Senate. Make no mistake about it. The elites always think they know better, that the public's views are just mindless stereotypes or ugly prejudices.
No small part of the outrage over the immigration issue came from people's sense that their intelligence was being insulted by those they elected.
Three cheers for the Federal Government. END SARCASM:
Your Government @ Work - 3
A man was allowed to board a plane to Atlanta from Houston after all of the following:
a man with a Middle Eastern name and a ticket for a Delta Airlines flight to Atlanta shook his head when screeners asked if he had a laptop computer in his baggage, but an X-ray machine operator detected a laptop.
A search of the mans baggage revealed a clock with a 9-volt battery taped to it and a copy of the Quran, the report said. A screener examined the mans shoes and determined that the entire soles of both shoes were gutted out. No explosive material was detected, the report states.
A police officer was summoned and questioned the man, examined his identification, shoes and the clock, then cleared him for travel, according to the report. A TSA screener disagreed with the officer, saying the shoes had been tampered with and there were all the components of (a bomb) except the explosive itself, the report says.
The TSA issued a statement saying its screeners acted in accordance with their training and protocols.
chron
Wow Im getting warm and fuzzies all over thinking about the TSAs 6 billion a year operation and all the great training and protocols in place. Apparently we do in fact need rocket scientists at the airports. I wonder if anyone will be smart enough to check this guy out if and when he leaves Atlanta on a flight.
You are describing the President's plan to a tee.
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