Posted on 03/19/2002 6:48:44 AM PST by PhiKapMom
J.C. Watts, Jr. sent the following strategy memo to all Republicans in the House of Representatives.
Please consider forwarding this email to your friends and family and encourage them to sign up for email updates:
http://www.jcwatts.com/WattsTeam/emailupdates/
MEMORANDUM
FROM: J.C. Watts, Jr., Chairman, House Republican Conference
TO: House Republican Colleagues
RE: Communications Outlook
DATE: March 18, 2002
The declaration by the Federal Reserve chairman that the economy is beginning to recover is good news for the American people and bad news for Democrat leaders in Congress, who were counting on a bad economy to help their political fortunes. Tax relief has proven yet again that more money in the hands of consumers means more jobs and a better economy. And the disarray among Democrats in Congress means we have an opportunity to move forward with an agenda to create jobs, further our progress on the economy and help the Bush Administration and our military win the war on terrorism.
Democrats are offering partisanship instead of solutions. The party that once said “there is nothing to fear but fear itself” now has nothing to offer but fear itself. They are reduced to scaring senior citizens, demagoguery on Enron and playing a class warfare game on taxes and welfare reform – all while doing nothing to help the poor or the economy.
Democrats are tripping over their own message. The party of fiscal un-discipline has been accusing President Bush and Republicans for busting the budget and raiding Social Security, yet Senate Budget Chairman Conrad recently acknowledged he cannot pass a budget without spending Social Security. On the war on terrorism, Senate Majority Leader Daschle and other key Democrats have pressed for an exit strategy in Afghanistan, only to be contradicted by Senators Lieberman and Biden. And we have all seen the embarrassing blunders coming from Senate Democrats on the funding of our military efforts. Thankfully, the American public is on the side of our armed forces.
Democrats versus Democrats. There is a multi-tiered conflict going on among national Democrat leaders. No one leader speaks for the party, and confusion has never been greater. Allow me to point out some observations of competing individuals as I see them:
· Gephardt versus Daschle
· Pelosi versus Dingell
· Pelosi versus Frost
Now let’s take a look at all of the Democrats who will be focused on 2004 instead of 2002:
· Gephardt for president
· Daschle for president
· Lieberman for president
· Kerry for president
· Edwards for president
· Frost for Democrat leader
· Pelosi for Democrat leader
LOTS OF OPPORTUNITIES
While the Democrat leadership tries to figure out how to score partisan points, we need to ask ourselves an important question: Are we prepared to seize the moment to strengthen America?
Let’s put this situation in context. Democrats lack ideas for solving America’s toughest challenges, they have no leader and they are fighting with each other. Republicans have great ideas, great leadership in the White House and our unity in the House of Representatives has resulted in numerous accomplishments.
We need to be BOLD, AGGRESSIVE and FOCUSED. In the next 100 days, we will be considering a number of issues that will define us this year. As I shared with you at the retreat, virtually every issue we discuss should address one of three silos: 1) jobs and economic security 2) homeland security and 3) security for children and education.
Budget. We need to talk about how our budget helps people. And we need to call the Democrats on their actions and inactions. Will the Democrats raise taxes? Do the Democrats want to cut defense spending during the war on terrorism? Remember: if the debate on the budget is over budget minutia, then we will lose our advantage. If the debate on the budget is over jobs, the economy and winning the war on terrorism, then we will win the debate. We cannot allow ourselves to be sidetracked.
Welfare. On welfare reform, Republicans need to get serious about personalizing the debate. The welfare reform law was one of the greatest accomplishments Republicans have made since taking majority control of Congress. Let’s take credit for it as we seek to improve it. Find success stories from your districts. Be bold. Highlight your constituents who have gotten off welfare. Democrats are going to look for every excuse to chip away at the progress we have made. We need to be able to defuse their arguments before they’re even made.
Taxes/Economy. I don’t need to remind you that April 15th is right around the corner. The amount of taxes one pays each year is in sharp focus over the next month – and Republicans have consistently been recognized as the party of fairer and lower taxes. In the meantime, Republicans need to communicate a powerful message to Americans across the country. The economic recovery is a sign of resilience by our constituents. Dollars in the pockets of Americans means more jobs for neighbors and more hope for the world. It took courage and foresight to enact an aggressive tax relief package last year, and thanks to President Bush and Republicans in Congress, the recession was milder than expected and we are on the road to recovery. Now we must work to make our tax relief law permanent.
Our work is not done. In addition to the above challenges, we need to get our energy bill made law so America is less dependent on foreign oil. We need to pass prescription drug coverage and stand by our commitment to senior citizens – who have supported us. Congress must reform the pension system so retirement security is strengthened and people know that their retirement will be there when they need it. And recent events have underscored the importance of restructuring the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). The House will soon take up legislation to address this issue. I sincerely hope the majority leader of the Senate will not let INS reform languish on his to-do list.
Always on offense. Republicans need to stay focused, stay together and stay on offense. While the Democrat leadership continues to play partisan games, we must run with the ball as a team. If Republicans stay on message and communicate the benefits of our positive agenda for the American people, we will win the debate and strengthen America.
Thanks!
I agree with you...we MUST give every ounce of our time, energy and $$$ that we possibly can to the effort to crush Democrats in November. There is much at stake.
Regards...EV
Thanks for those comments and just wanted to repeat them.
This is a TERRIFIC letter. Short, sweet, and it nails the points one by one. I am doing my part in North Carolina by helping to keep the Clinton clone, Erskine Bolwes from infesting our other seat in the US Senate.
Congressman Billybob
Rice-Watts in 2008!
He is responsible for getting funding for the National Storms Prediction Center upgrade with the National Weather Service here in Norman to get new facilities, state of the art equipment, and merge with the University of Oklahoma metereorology center. This will help everyone in America get advance warning for approaching storms. Without J.C.'s leadership, I am not sure that this would be happening but yet you hear very little about it unless you live right here in Norman. J.C. does so much that never makes the national press and yet it affects all Americans.
Does make you wonder why the liberal press is mostly silent on Congressman Watts!
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