OC Register in Brulte, Minorities, and the CA GOP

Romney caused the California GOP’s losses in 2012. All head and no heart, Romney never wanted to run. Instead, he helped drag down every Republican into defeat.

Romney highlighted the GOP’s “bland” problem, not their “brand” problem. The Republican Party must be brash and bold. For example, Republicans must lead now on school choice. Public sector union-cronyism is the state’s biggest foe, especially in public education. Republicans favor freedom and choice. With a school choice bill, Republicans can expose the bullying corruption of the Democratic Party and public sector unions.

The California GOP elected Jim Brulte as Chairman. Unlike Romney, Brulte is a campaigner and a gainer since high school. Brulte’s strategy to bring the California GOP out of debt is a good idea, his focus on grassroots campaigning is better, and his commitment to contesting every race, local or statewide, is essential. His drive will help the GOP thrive.

Republicans must do more than vote. They need to take note and tote their platform everywhere. Asians, Hispanics, and African-Americans are conservative, but someone needs to invite them into the “Big Tent”. Republicans are the “minority party” now. When leaders reach out to minorities, the GOP will regain the majority.

Bully Mayor Rahm Emmanuel Has Issues (God Help Him!)

"Never let a good crisis go to waste!" -- Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel.

Someone ought to whisper to Chicago mayor Rahn Emmanuel:

Shalom!

That's "peace" to you and me, of course.

The guy has this unutterable penchant to get in fights with everybody. He must have been picked on as a kid, although one person came forward and shared that he and his brother Ari had beat him up once. Maybe his life has been one crisis after another.

He was tapped to serve as President Obama's Chief of Staff. He liked to curse at people. He liked to pull people not just by the horns, but apparently by the nostrils or other unmentionable parts of the male anatomy. Who can forget the Washington shower fight with former New York Congressman Eric Massa, a legislator who had plenty of his own issues.

When one of the Daley clan opted not to run again for mayor of Chicago (eventually the most venal of political families gets tired of cops beating students or managing unmanageable corruption waste, I suppose), Rahm jumped at the opportunity to run the Windy City, and won.

To his merit, he has discussed legalizing pot, but he might want to consider smoking a joint or two to calm himself. He does have a city which sits in a state with one of the worst business climates and some of the highest taxes in the country. The entire state has the worst bond-rating now, worse than even California. It's hard to believe, but there you have it.

Whatever happened to taking things easy? Maybe the Blues Brothers can launch their own concert to bring back some money to the City by the Great Lake. They could claim that they are on a mission from God, and God knows, Mayor Rahm needs some divine intervention. At any rate, a growing number of Illinois residents are numb with frustration because of Chicago's too heavy influence in the statehouse.

Now he gets to pick fights with every interests, expect for the fights which serve the public interest. First, the teachers unions rolled out their strike, a crippling blow for the liberal mayor, since his President is one of the most sympathetic, and thus compromised, Presidents in modern history. The Taft-Hartley Acts passed under Democratic President Harry Truman, who more likely would be a Republican today for his respect for family and the rule of law. President Obama needed union votes to get elected, and the 2009 auto bailouts served as a heart-felt (and heartless) payout.

Then the CEO of Chik-fil-A announced his views about gay marriage. The uproar that followed led to gay activists painting "Tastes Like Hate" on the side of one fast-food chain. Of course, the conservative back-lash improved the company's stock and sales. Yet even then, liberal Rahm just could not resist threatening the company by refusing to grant the Chik-fil-A restaurant any future business licenses.

One cannot help but wonder: does Mayor have a heart of a lion or that of a chicken? Does he have the sense of statesmen, or the subtlety of a snake? Apparently, he does not have a commanding respect for the United States Constitution, a document which protects freedom of speech, and by extension prevents progressives from picking and choosing the views that corporate leaders may have, hold, and share with others.

Now, following the gun control debate which has exploded into the national discourse because of the Sandy Hook Massacre, Mayor Emmanuel has threatened to unleash the wrath of God against major banking firms if they do not disabuse themselves of their stock with major arms manufacturers. Those two firms, Bank of America and TD Bank Group, are based in Chicago, so the mayor thinks that he has a right to create a crisis (which he will also ensure does not go to waste).

There comes a point where people watching from the outside get tired of people on the inside using their power and bully pulpit to intimidate others, including members of corporate America. Enter US Senator from Texas Ted Cruz:

In light of the reception you have received in the Windy City, please know that Texas would certainly welcome more of your business and the jobs you create. Texans value jobs and value freedom and over 1000 people a day are moving to Texas (often from cities like Chicago), because Texas is where the jobs are.

If I can be of assistance in that regard, please do not hesitate to call.

Bullies never win, chants one character in a kids' book. If Emmanuel cannot get off his "Messiah complex", he may find himself with a city not only hemorrhaging debt, but also scaring national and international investment as well as jobs, from working class to white color.

Senator Cruz' smooth move reminds me of a more crude yet quiet successful move by little Laura Ingalls and her friends in an episode of "Little House on the Prairie." When the largest kid was proving to be a large problem for the school teacher, Ms. Wilder, all the kids ganged up on him after school and beat him up so that he would leave the teacher alone.

Instead of a group of kids, the other forty plus states with better credit and a better business climate will work in reverse, drawing away all power from the bully of Big Government, whose figurehead is Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel.

Bully Mayor Rahm Emmanuel has issues. God help him!

Pat McCrory's Success will Drive GOP Victory

Republicans did well in North Carolina in 2012. Obama surrogate Paul Begala admitted to CNN that President Obama had given up on the state by the summer’s end. For the first time in two decades, North Carolinians elected a Republican governor. Voters also rejected a gay marriage initiate by a two-to-one margin. Conservatism is alive and well in the Tar Heel state, even if the National Party’s “Achilles Heel” was revealed for all to exploit in 2012.

While the national GOP did terribly on November 6^th, the new Republican Governor, Pat McCrory, learned from missteps he had made running for governor in 2008. Unlike Romney, however, McCrory learned from his mistakes, aggressively campaigned, and won the governor’s seat. Columnist Byron York shared McCrory’s mistakes and his mission to make better on his record and win.

What happened to him in 2008 when he ran but lost?

McCrory commented:

"In '08, I got killed by the Obama ground machine," McCrory recalls. "We didn't even know it was happening. The amount of money Obama put on the ground was something we've never seen before in North Carolina."

The same “Obama machine” manifested again throughout the country, killing winnable races in Southern California as well as red-state Ohio and Indiana.

What did McCrory do about it? He did not do the “insane” thing of repeating the past mistakes, as the GOP National leaders did with Romney.

“He started earlier.”

Republicans campaign for the four months before the election, then go back to their private sector, limited government, individual liberty lives. For Democrats, politics is a 24-7 reality, a game that never ends. They do not just campaign, but they affect the culture of their battlegrounds during off-years. A never-ending ground game in swing states and some blue states might help the GOP. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker had a strong campaign game in place after 2010, which helped him to fight and best a recall effort in 2012. Romney needed to do the same thing in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

“He thought through his positions and the way he articulated them.”

Todd Akin of Missouri and Richard Mourdock of Indiana should have done the same thing. When asked about extending any abortion restrictions, if he would support any in the near future, McCrory said: None.” Just like that, McCrory solved the problem which had plagued the controversial candidates who lost easy elections. On other social issues, too, like “gay marriage”, the GOP needs to keep it short and simple, or remain the “Stupid” Party,  as Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal joshed his Republican peers. Unlike McCrory, Presidential Candidate Romney faced a harder task from the beginning because of the overwhelming number of debates that he attended and the streamlined and dragging procedure for allotting delegates. All of that sparring and debating delayed the process, which could have been over by February and given Romney a chance to define himself and regroup. Unfortunately, he pressed further to the right in order to win the nomination, but could not embrace his comfortable center to win back centrists or remain believable enough to the base.

“He built relationships with more people across the state. He worked harder.”

This part was missing from the GOP playbook. Republicans forget that Richard Nixon, who had lost by the slimmest of margins in 1960, did not stop campaigning. He made friends, pacified enemies, reached out to like-minded constituencies in the South over eight years. He planned a Southern Strategy ahead of time, but he also implemented it. He stepped away from a losing fight in 1964. Instead, he let Goldwater’s extremism pave the way for his glimmering and refreshing pragmatism in 1968. He articulated a message for the “Silent Majority”, while Romney insulted nearly half the country with his “47%” remark, followed by his bitter claim that President Obama won because he gave everyone gifts.

McCrory did not insult his voters, but stressed his experience to get the job done for his state, where high unemployment and stagnant growth were on every voter’s mind. He also bashed away at the previous Democratic governor’s abysmal record, while Romney practically “French-kissed” President Obama during the final foreign policy debate, followed by his non-presence during the summer and grounded ground game in Ohio.

How about the Hispanic vote? McCrory never said “Self-deport”, but he reached out to that community, like every voting bloc, with a message about “jobs and the economy.” He won 46% of the Latino vote, an impressive stat which rivals George W. Bush’s take of 44% in 2004. Romney only got 27%.

Today, McCrory is running on prosperity, not just austerity. Government for public works is a good government policy, public investment which will invigorate private enterprise. While a grand-daughter of President Dwight D. Eisenhower endorsed President Obama in 2008, McCrory endorsed Eisenhower’s highway system. Transportation is a hot issue. Republicans should say “We will build this (road, highway, bridge) so you can build that (business, entrepreneurship, profit-margin)”.

Wanting to win, learning from mistakes, and working hard to work for everybody: Governor Pat McCrory’s success will help the National Republican Party win again.

Republicans: "It's Pirate Time!"

I love Peggy Noonan.

Her Op-eds are refreshing. She is not afraid to talk tough to the GOP leaders, much of whom spend more time making money and then pressing their message on the base and the rest of the country, expecting them to believe it just because they put a lot of money behind it.

January 11, she told her conservative colleagues: "It's pirate time."

Stop playing by the rules, stop trying to be liked, stop expecting the Democrats to respect your right to share your views on things.

Stop playing from the Nelson Rockefeller "Mad Men" playbook, and ditch the Southern Strategy of the Nixon era.

A fifty-state offensive is needed.

It's time to have a good time.

Until recently, Republican leaders have been whining like a flimsy New York comedian: "Put I don't wanna be a pirate!"

This Jerry Seinfeld said to Kosmo Kramer when the lanky mooching neighbor suggested that Jerry put on his low-talking girlfriend's new "puffy shirt" and advertise it on national TV.

In a similar vein, not a dark one of intolerance, but a "stuffy shirt' based on starched ideas which do not play out anymore, of starched ideas based on making general statements without standing for anything, this stuffy shirt has hampered Republicans from making their case to the public. Minorities do not feel welcome, but they should feel at home in the Republican Party, where commitment to family values and individual liberty finds respect and recognition, as opposed to ruinous welfare policies which break up families and keep people in povery.

While Jerry refused to wear the "Puffy shirt", it's time of the Republican Party to put on "the puffy pirate shirt" and charge with force and moxie the empty lies of the statist, status quo liberals and Democratic Party.

The rugged, grass-roos approach is needed now, a winner-take-all bravado of punching back, of refusing to let the liberal lies of yesteryear go unchecked. It's time for the GOP to get a grip, take off the gloves, and fight back. There is nothing wrong with getting negative, as long as we are being truthful. There is nothing wrong with getting in peoples' faces, as long as we give them room to step back and reflect on the ruinous policies of our leaders.

Aye-Aye, Maties!

The Pittsburgh Pirates has just endorsed their first "all-minorities" line-up. Republicans are the minority in California, but with faith and in truth in what we believe, a grassroots coalition can rise from the bottom up and remind the voters, all of them, what the Democratic Party has represente:

The real pirates, who take away opporunity and wealth from the voters, and force people into wage and welfare slavery.

Hoist the skull-and-crossbones, GOP operatives. The young people in this state are looking for a fight, and they had the stodgy establishment, which today is represented by devoured flower-power professors who have spent their middling years boring students with empty statist liberalism.

It;s time to make the Democrats walk the plank.

Yo Ho Yo Ho -- GOP -- a pirate's life is for you!

Progressives' Favorite Word: "Rant"

Progressives promote one of the emptiest world views.

They believe in the perfectability of man because they believe in the mutability of human nature. They also believe that more government is good government.

They accept that man is basically good, even though he is a mixture of a fallen nature with a divine calling. This duality of man offends the sensibilities of most progressives, who believe that man is capable of nothing but good.

One more engaged in a progressive policy of state power, establishing safe cities with no gun violence. He supported a vegetarian diet. His public works projects employed millions, including a long-standing automobile highway. He also made sure that every person has his own car.

That "progressive" was Adolph Hitler, and he loved to "rant".

He wanted to make the state the end all and be all of mankind, but the evil of the hearts of men chooses winners and losers, and in a state-controlled world, the winners inevitably do terrible things to "losers", including ethnic and religious minorities which do not identify with the perfection of "man" as progressives define this perfection.

Man has eternity set within him. Human nature alone is rather powerless and inept. This greatness supercedes anything from the state.

The force of culture, the power of tradition, and the certainty of greater verities than oneself enable a man to be more than what he is.

Not through his own efforts, emotions, or skills, nor by his own will.

Not force, but faith, not works but words of faith. Not trying, but trust.

Risk is really a matter of a man not have security within himself.

This security cannot be created in the mind of one man.

These arguments may sound like "rants" to most progressives only because they do not want to discuss issues. They want to talk about identities.

For that reason, progressives will label "rant" to any argument which differs with their views of man, of human nature, or anything which touches on the proper, as in limited, role of government.

For all of their ranting, when will they acknowledge that their argument is wrong, and stop ranting at us with calls for  more government, more control, and more intervention into our lives?

Democrats Create "Happy Slaves" -- Republicans Support "Happy Freedmen"

They try to solve the problem of poverty, for instance, by keeping the poor alive; or, in the case of a very advanced school, by amusing the poor.

But this is not a solution: it is an aggravation of the difficulty. The proper aim is to try and reconstruct society on such a basis that poverty will be impossible. And the altruistic virtues have really prevented the carrying out of this aim. Just as the worst slave-owners were those who were kind to their slaves, and so prevented the horror of the system being realised by those who suffered from it, and understood by those who contemplated it, so, in the present state of things in England, the people who do most harm are the people who try to do most good; and at last we have had the spectacle of men who have really studied the problem and know the life – educated men who live in the East End – coming forward and imploring the community to restrain its altruistic impulses of charity, benevolence, and the like. They do so on the ground that such charity degrades and demoralises. They are perfectly right. Charity creates a multitude of sins. The Soul of Man Under Socialism, Oscar Wilde

From President Lyndon Baines Johnson to the present day, the "Welfare state" is making warfare on our country. The same welfare state which was supposed to help bring those from behind to the front has kept them in the "back of the bus", and the Democratic Party is responsible.

Democratic President Lyndon Baines "Great Society" Johnson said the following (yes, his own words):

"We'll have those niggers[ sic] voting Democratic for two hundred years."

Unlike Democrats, Republicans have favored free markets, free enterprise, and Freedmen since the Civil War, and long before that. Blacks entered the Republican Party because the Democrats remained "The White Man's Party" after the Civil War. Frederick Douglass was a Republican, for the record, as were many other African-American abolition activists.

Democrats create "Happy Slaves" -- Republicans then and now support "Happy Free men (and Freedmen, too)

The Democratic Party Establishment has never cared about African-Americans, or their plight. Long after urban blight led to "White flight", Democratic political machines took over in the same urban areas where African-Americans congregated after fleeing from "The Solid Democratic South". Republicans erred in not campaigning heavily in the inner cities, although Republican Congressman Jack Kemp attempted to rectify this tactical mistake with "Enterprise Zones" (Kemp also despised Pete Wilson's blunt move to curb illegal immigration through Prop 187)

Sadly, from the Democrats' urban take-over an "urban legend" has persisted among African-Americans that Republicans are "evil", and that they "want to put y'all back in chains." Shamefully enough, it was Democratic Vice President Joe Biden who said the above. Only black Republican Artur Davis had the courage to point out Biden's race-bating.The notion that Republicans are a group of white bigots with KKK robes in their closets is a overwhelming error of history, one which Democratic elites concocted and foisted upon voters.

The cult of dependence which has deprived all Americans of achieving life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness is part and parcel of the Democratic culture of "Vote for me, and I will give you something".

Of course, the cult of dependence was in place by Democrats long before, in the "Solid South" where "the Democracy" worked in league with the "Slavocracy" to keep African-Americans "in their place".

Slavery was an unparalleled evil in this country, and Africans were brought into this country under cruel circumstances. The same system of slavery then exists today, but in a more subtle form, and the causes for these differences originated in the same.

Cultural studies have shown that all "blacks" are not alike. A "black man" from Nigeria has different values and skills compared to a West  Indian, or even a Canadian (there is a significant African-Canadian community in the Newfoundland area.

The difference of culture among different "African" communities unfortunately sprouts from slavery conditions. West Indians  and African natives do not go on welfare, do not seek handouts in nearly the numbers found among African-Americans because they come from a culture where dependence of any kind was not possible. West Indian slaves had to grow their own food, had to engaged in business skills and develop these practices over time because there simply were not enough white people to control every facet of their lives. Unlike the West Indian slave masters, American slave masters went out of their way to keep their slaves completely dependent on them.

The same conditions are pervasive today, and the Democratic Party has supported these odious policies to this day.

In a way, the Democratic Party brass went out of their way to create "Happy slaves", which Oscar Wilde rightfully called them "the worst slave-owners". Today, the Democratic Party is doing the same thing as the Antebellum plantation owners of centuries past. Instead of "slavery", it's called "welfare".

Except for a "New Democrat" named Bill Clinton, who signed into law welfare reform, with the continual prodding of Republicans in Congress who nearly made Clinton irrelevant. There's no getting away from the truth of it -- Bill Clinton was more Republican than George W. Bush!


I would submit, however, that in creating "Happy Slaves", the Democratic Party leaders have impoverished a generation of people by preventing them from choosing their schools, their careers, or their way in life. They have taught minorities that they do not have the skill or the will or the thrill to make a killing out there. They have demagogued welfare recipients into believing that there are "lions in the streets" that will eat them up, that the world is a "scary place" where they cannot make it without a handout from  "Uncle Sam". And for the record, "Uncle Tom" was not a "Happy slave", but a strong  man who defended others from the cruelty of slavery. He probably would have been a Republican.

Of course, Democrats are content to push fear and anger instead of responsibility and prosperity. Responsibility does not mean "You're on your own", but rather responding to challenges with your ability, a power which every person can command in his or her life.  Creating made-up bad guys has been the Democratic playbook for too long, and instead of firing back at these lies, Republicans have hoped that free enterprise, free markets, and free discourse alone would solve the problem.

It's time to tell people the truth. It's time to hold Republicans like Colin Powell accountable for his own "dark vein of intolerance". Tim Scott, Artur David, Bobby Jindal, Nikki Haley, and a growing number of "minorities" are showing why the Republican Party should be the majority party for all Americans, no matter what their color.

Banning Toy Guns in Santa Monica

As an outcry against the mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, Santa Monica activists want to outlaw toy guns from city limits.

Let’s see if I have this in target. Following extensive gun play, little boys and girls who play “Cops and Robbers” or “Might Morphin’Power Rangers” may one day morph into career “Bonny and Clyde” criminals who shoot up their communities. In order for them to respect life and remain untainted from the gun culture which claims so many lives, they should be deprived from playing with toy guns.

Now, Congressman Henry Waxman’s plea to reinstate Senator Dianne Feinstein’s assault weapons ban was ill-conceived, but banning toy guns from Santa Monica makes Waxman, Feinstein, and even Maxine Waters sound like straight-shooting centrists.

Going after the guns will not prevent violence no instill a stable character in kids, who develop into stable and respectable young men and women. Their maturity has nothing to do with toy guns, but with who’s at home. Michelle Phillips, the founding member of a popular 1960s music group, should have reminded everyone: It’s about the “The Mamas and Papas” who raising the kids, not the games they play.

If encouraging good parenting and family values is too demanding, then I have a better suggestion: how about outlawing fun and games altogether? Why don’t we set up guard towers around every playground in the Santa Monica Bay? Anyone who plays “Freeze Tag” will hear the bark of a police officer (armed with a real gun) say “Freeze!”, followed by jail time.

Activists have told Baby Jesus to take a hike (I was surprised that they did not reinstate crucifixion as a means of parking enforcement). Plastic bags are no longer welcome in Santa Monica, either. Perhaps another freedom thinking fairness advocate will prevent people from breathing the air, since all of that respiration is a modern form of slavery for “Oxygen-Americans”who are tired of being oppressed.

After Santa Monica, only West Hollywood takes the top prize for such illiberal liberal fascism. You can make love in plain sight with anyone you want, but God forbid you should wear any fur. Or pack any (plastic) heat. 

Santa Monica activism has reached a new low for nanny-state interventionism.

Marco Rubio Leads on Immigration Reform

Marco Rubio is the face for the new GOP.

He is probably taking cues from Peggy Noonan, who suggested that the GOP break out their "pirate selves" and move on immigration reform before President Obama does.

Republicans need to have some fun, and George Will told them on the latest edition of "This Week" that they needed to move to the left of the Democrats in order to preempt President Obama from furthering his unjust chokehold on the Latino vote in this country.

Charles Krauthammer also suggested that Republicans needed to shift just a little bit on the immigration issue, but otherwise they merely needed to "do conservatism better".

A Pathway to Citizenship is one thing. Guest worker permits without imperiling the immigrant is appropriate. More importantly, though, the welfare state needs to be curbed considerably, otherwise men and women with citizenship but no job will end up on unemployment and welfare, which would be a worse fate than not granting them citizenship at all.

All in all, the Republicans are starting to get their act together.

Hopefully, House Leadership will find a way to bring together as many Republicans as possible for this measure. If the border enforcement provisions are strong enough, if the illegal immigrants have to earn their way into this country, as opposed to a blanket amnesty, the measure will bring in just enough votes so that a GOP majority will approve the bill.

Still, the best approach would be to bring troops home from Afghanistan, station them along the Southern voter, suppress the welfare state, then open the borders for legal immigration.

Seinfeld to End the Gridlock (A Festivus for the Rest of us)

Jack Neworth and I rarely agree on anything. He thinks the United States should control guns. I think that more guns control crime. He still hates Bush for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I think President Obama is Bush with more bombast, plus a lot of lift from the mainstream media. I think Congressman "Waxman the Taxman" is the worst, but almost everyone in Santa Monica chants “Long Live Henry Waxman!”

 

There are things that we do have in common. For one, we are both homo sapiens sapiens. We both live in the same Congressional district, the newly drawn (or gerrymandered!) 33^rd, which takes in my South Bay and his Santa Monica home all the way to Malibu and Agoura Hills. There is something else that we agree on: Seinfeld is one funny show. I still watch the reruns just before I go to sleep at night.

Neworth is a rare breed of liberal, someone who is willing to listen or read someone else’s opinions, even if he thinks they are outrageous or unbelievable. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that!) When he opened his recent column with a reference to Seinfeld, I could not help but share with him my favorite episode: “The Old Man”. In this episode, Jerry wants to play “good Samaritan” to an old grump named Sid Fields, who does nothing but curse and berate the comedian, only at the end to ask him: “Would you change my diaper?” followed by uproarious laughter. The old man has been playing Seinfeld for a fool the whole time.

I was thrilled and relieved when Neworth wrote back to me: “Hilarious! I have never seen this episode before!” Instead of bickering and arguing, we were laughing. ­­­­­A liberal and a conservative found some common ground. When I pitched to him the idea that perhaps Seinfeld can ease the gridlock in Washington -- what Seinfeld creator Larry David might call “Curb your Partisan Enthusiasm” of our current leaders -- Neworth was not so sure. Then again, the show about “Nothing” could be the perfect cure for a Congress which has done nothing for the last two years, and make us laugh in the process.

Perhaps we should send Kosmo Kramer to Congress, where he can stand on the floor of the House of Representatives and shout “Serenity Now!”Let’s just hope that he doesn’t wander into a room of computers, or a caucus of Republicans, for that matter. Maybe we could call in George Costanzo’s boss to the US Senate, New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, where he can “blooooooooooow them away” with his own self-involved, self-absorbed filibusters about chicken hot-dogs and why his wife forgot to pack him salami for lunch. I am certain that both sides of the aisle will move for cloture very quickly. One grating monologue, and filibuster reform would be on its way.

Currently, all we see in the news is a lot of Beltway bitterness and backbiting. Every time one politician tries to make peace, the other sides growls: “You can stuff your “sorrys” in a sack, mister!” And we all know what that means! Henry Waxman wasn’t my “pick” for Congress, but that does not make me an animal, does it? Maybe if I had sent him a second “Thank you”,he would not be so mad at me. Or perhaps he thinks that I am one of “The Devils! The Devils!” Perhaps if he and his spend-thrift colleagues went into a coma, --- like Elaine’s visiting Colombian priest after he wasscared by a devilishly painted Puddy after a hockey game -- then politicians would spend less time fighting and more time leaving us alone. 

Of course, I am not the first one to suggest that Washington politicians, especially the Republicans, need to have more fun. In a recent op-ed, former Reagan speech writer Peggy Noonan told her conservative colleagues : “It’s Pirate time.” Up until recently, the GOP Establishment has been whining:“But I don’t wanna be a pirate!”, just like Jerry Seinfeld, when Kramer’s low-talking girlfriend showcased her “puffy shirt” for him to wear on a morning talk show for all to see. (By the way, the GOP has a “stuffy shirt” problem: old white men with money, but what about a "Festivus for the rest of us"?)

 

Republicans want to cut spending. Why not call it “shrinkage”?Democrats want to grow government. Why not call them the “Bubble Boy Party"? Besides, everyone wants to make sure that someone is there to change grandpa’s diaper before he dies. Voters want the government to be there to care for “Nanna” and your“Uncle Leo”, too. (Jerry, Hello!)

 

If you think about it long enough, it starts to make sense. “We the People” are the “master of our domains”, and just because a Democrat or a Republican wins a local contest to represent us in Congress, that does not mean that they can put their hands anywhere they want to. They need to make the whole muffin of legislating work before they can start cutting the tops off of government waste, if you know what I mean.

"Brown or Whitman — they're both Arnold's third term."

Evaluating the legacy of California actor turned Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Time Magazine, the last comment from the columnist alleged:

"Brown or Whitman — they're both Arnold's third term."

Jerry Brown is in Arnold's third term, then.

People still liked Arnold, even though he did very little to fix the partisan gridlock of Sacramento politics. How many times did the legislature pass a late budget? How many times did the governor tell everyone in the state of the state address that the state's credit card was maxed out and that the bank was broke?

The media had an interesting love affair with Arnold, unlike with other Republicans. His media stardom and moderate views charmed some political elites, yet even then Warren Beatty decided that he had helped Schwarzenegger become a Democrat. Then again. Beatty has not been in any movies since 2001, and he was drunk while receiving the Golden Globe's lifetime achievement award.

Meg Whitman was the CEO for EBay. She spent millions during the primary and the general election,  but whatever business skills that she possessed, she was outmatch by a stiffened electorate, and the Romney-esquA distance of a corporate pol who did not connect with the working-class Average Joe.

Jerry Brown did not start running commercials until the summer of 2010, and he ended up winning the election by ten points. GOP needs grassroots, not McMansions.

If there is a US Attorney out there with life and bluster, then perhaps a government official with some skills can stand up and take on Brown in the next election. There are fewer candidates willing to run for office in California, in part because the Democratic stronghold is pushing out more potentially seasoned voters.

Then again, if a recall in 2003 gave one Republican candidate the edge to take on Sacramento, then perhaps another nudge against Brown will bring more voters to resist the power grabs of public sector unions and their puppet-mastered politicians.

Until then, without a doubt Jerry Brown is suffering through the similar elements which plagued "Arnold".

No More RINOs -- They Do Not Exist

The classic taunt among Democrats:

"The Republican Party needs to broaden its tent."

"The Republican Party needs to accept RINOS -- Republicans in Name Only."

RINO (Republican in Name Only)

Other terms have also suggested that the party needs to go easy on the social issues, that the party needs to be less-bigoted, to get rid of its "dark vein of intolerance", as moderate black Republican Colin Powell suggested on an episode of "Meet the Press".

The Republican Party does not need to broaden its tent. In fact, people have to stop taking their cues from the Mainstream Media, and start looking at the Party itself.

There is plenty of room in the Republican Party. There is plenty of room under the big GOP tent. There is plenty of room based on fundamental principles. Rather than litmus tests, a simple standard will enable men and women throughout the country number themselves with the GOP, no matter what their race, creed, or even their color.

Strangely enough, it was then California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who made the plea that there is plenty of room in the party. Not the best example based on his private conduct, granted, but his points should be taken into consideration for the future.

During the 2004 Republican National Convention, Schwarzenegger described how he became a Republican:

"Then I heard Nixon speak. He was talking about free enterprise, getting the government off your back, lowering the taxes and strengthening the military.Listening to Nixon speak was a breath of fresh air."

When Schwarzenegger found out that Nixon was a Republican, the Austrian immigrant declared:

"Then I am a Republican."

In the next part of his speech, he explained to the audience and the country that everyone is welcome to the Republican Party, no matter where they have come from. He reached out to immigrants, especially, a telling move which the Republican National Leaders need to heed once again.

Refuting the empty prattle about "RINO"s, Schwarzenegger set the simple standard that should define every person who wishes to join.

"You do not agree with every issue of this party." The first statement should be the standard on every Republican office. The idea of big tent is not a new one at all. The the former Governor delineated:

"How do you know if you are a Republican?

"If you believe that the government should be accountable to the people, not the people to the government. . .

"If you believe that a person should be treated as an individual, not as a member of an interest group. . .

"If you believe that your family knows how to spend your money better than the government does. . .

"If you believe that our educational system should be held accountable for the progress of our children, . . .

"If you believe that this country, and not the United Nations, is the best hope for democracy, then you are a Republican. . .

"If you believe that we must be fearless and relentless to terminate terrorism. . .

"Other ways you can tell you are a Republican. . .

"Your faith in free enterprise, your faith in the resources of the American people, faith in the US economy.

"Then you are a Republican."

Intriguing yet true, the Austrian-turned-American did not hammer the social issues, aside from the integrity and ingenuity of the family as opposed to the state. Limited government lends itself quite well to pro-life positions and pro-choice in the event of tragedy and trauma. Limited government can equally apply to the sanctity of marriage but also the essence of individual choice. Religious institutions and individual integrity can find their voice and place in a party which respects the individual as greater than the government, which champions free enterprise instead of government fiat.

The RINO dance must be put aside for good. Mike Castle and Michael Steele, Jim Leach and Richard Shelby, Christopher Shays and Christopher Buckley can coexist without turmoil and recriminations in the Republican Party.

Limited Government is still the standard. "Limited" does not mean "Limiting" nor "Limitless", both of which more properly define the Democratic Party. The desire of immigrants, the plight of minorities, cannot be answered with more state power at the expense of the person.

Power when used for good is not a bad thing, said former Massachusetts Republican US Senator Edward Brooke. The party can have a head and a heart.

If there is a RINO, it would be Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, who had the integrity to switch out of the GOP altogether and run for governor of his home state as an Independent. He did not stand for any of the issues listed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Even his moderate father John Chafee was more conservative, voting for welfare form and a balanced budget amendment while serving in the US Senate.

The term RINO belongs to the Democratic Party apparatus from this point on, or to those Republicans who choose to endorse Democrats instead of sitting by and saying nothing. Edward Brooke did not endorse Barry Goldwater, but he did not endorse the Democratic candidate, either.

As for those Republicans who endorse Democrats for whatever, reason, the party must open themselves up to their values and hear their voice. Party leaders should hold their members accountable, but not eject members easily over disputes on certain issues.
Faith and belief defining a glowing national optimism.

No more RINOs -- it's time stop letting the opposition define who enters and who leaves the GOP.

The GOP Needs a Real "Leader of the Pack"



With no leadership, with no vision, parties perish. Since 2008, the Republican Party has lacked unifying leadership. During the 2008 election, Arizona Senator John McCain was an also-ran who for months was running for office on a shoe-string. Senator McCain was one of many somber candidates, all of whom served as an unforeseen dress rehearsal for the weak Presidential candidates’field of in 2012. Huckabee was a populist hick to many pundits, or a venal, Southern version of Richard Nixon to others (including Washington Post columnist George Will). Fred Thompson was lazy, Giuliani was crazy, while Sam Brownback backed out early, the first of many Republicans to flip off Romney for his flip-flopping record. Tancredo and Ron Paul were the right-wing versions of Dennis Kucinich and Carol Moseley-Braun (laughably unwinnable). McCain the maverick ( or the moderate, depending on one’ convictions ) blasted Romney as “the real candidate of change”. McCain won the nomination, but he refused to reject the George W. Bush stigma until the very end (“Mr. Obama, I am not George W. Bush”).

Lacking a controlled visionary to embrace a vision which welcomes widespread interests, the 2008 GOP had nothing to bring down President Obama, who represented a new direction (in the wrong direction, of course). This divide remains in the Republican Party. Washington Republicans are “pro-business”while neglecting the “limited government” portion. George W. Bush started this divide, and his poor leadership was the first in a long-line of divided leaders who divvied their party’s power and distracted this country from recovery and prosperity.

There is no excuse for a lack of leadership in the Republican Party, but with Washington wanting one thing, and everyone else seeking something better, this split will grow into a gaping vacuum for Democrats to grab to their advantage. After six years of George W. Bush, the nation witnessed two wars long and lingering in the Middle East. Following intervention in the Schiavo case, followed by Medicare Part D, No Child Left Behind, and the Transcendent transportation bill, and even National populists like Pat Buchanan were whining in their winding Washington Post op-eds: “Who is W?” “Not My President” one rock group sang, with black T-shirts displaying their rejection. “W.” the standard bearer dragged down tough fights in 2006, like Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, who lost by double-digits in Catholic, conservative Pennsylvania. Ohio’s Senator Mike DeWine redefined himself as “independent”,but it was too late for him. K Street, Jack Abramoff, and Tom Foley’s follies with male pages made a bad GOP brand worse.

Despite these reasons, there is still no reason for no leadership for the Republican Party. Without a positive, unifying vision, the GOP had no choice but to become the Party of “No!” Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, whose grand stint on FOX is ending, was more bombast than ballast her party. The GOP needs an Alpha leader, not a Benji-like hound (like Karl “The Brain”Rove”) or an attack dog who barks but has no bite (Rush Limbaugh). Ronald Reagan was this leader, summed up in one word: optimism. On CNN's "State of the Union with Candy Crowley, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker opined once again about “optimism”. The Republican Party needs to be about growth and opportunity, options for the future, not just cuts for the present or reminiscence about the past. Three key characteristics will determine the new Republican leader: Relevant, optimistic, and courageous.

Along with Walker, Virginia Governor Bobby McDonnell,Saragota Springs, Utah mayor Mia Love, and former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez define the new face of the Republican Party: diverse, focused, outside of Washington looking in. They care about people, not just polls; they want to respond to people’s views, not just get their votes. They want to be inclusive, but they will not exclude their values, a principle which Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal re-asserted last week. These governors and conservative activists have channeled the grassroots spirit much needed but so lacking during the 2012 election. Their respect for unity respectfully preempted them from laying the blame for 2012 GOP failure where it belonged: Mitt Romney. A weak Presidential candidate who did not really want to run, Governor Romney did not fit “like a glove”. His “47%”comment more likely turned off Republican voters throughout the country, not just on-the-fence Independents and disaffected Democrats. Just as Bush soured the GOP brand in 2006 and 2008, a leader who really wasn’t did not lead anyone to the polls in 2012. The right leader for the center-right party must be just right to right this party and this nation back to recovery and prosperity.

Ronald Reagan unified an ideological coalition of national, social, and fiscal conservatives. In 1984, he swept forty-nine states, including New York and Massachusetts. Not with attacks, bitterness, or even fear, but with a vision of a better future, one which swathe end of Communism and the resurgence of the United States. The GOP needs this leadership: relevant, optimistic, and courageous. Not an attack dog, but a “Leader of the Pack” who will bring in the strays, the wounded, and even the mutts.

About RLN's "Patriotic Spin"

In attempting to diminish the “patriotic spin” of the 2013 Presidential inauguration, Random Lengths News editor James Preston Allen confused the basic principles of our nation and misrepresented President Obama’s rhetoric in contrast to the reality.

“We the People” does not appear in the Declaration of Independence, but in the United States Constitution, the unifying charter of our country, and a document for which President Obama and all other progressives have less respect. Then again, the confusion of language and legacy is to be expected from someone who claims that the “heart of the liberal democratic agenda” defines the true spirit of the United States Constitution. So fatuous and unsubstantiated a statement cannot go unchecked. “We the People” sought a more perfect union, not a Bigger Government; enumerated powers, not unlimited power; promoting the general welfare, not expanding the Welfare state.

Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office to President Obama on January 20. The portrait of Founding Father James Madison was overlooking both of them. One would expect“ The Father of the Constitution” either to roll his eyes or roll over in his grave. Beyonce may have lip-synced the National Anthem, but President Obama was lying through his teeth when he took the oath of office. If anything screams “false history”, it would be the mismatched representation versus reality between Obama’s oath of office and his host of actions while serving in office.

Instead of upholding the Constitution, Obama has held it in high disregard, from legislation outside the enumerated powers of the Constitution (Obamacare, Dodd-Frank) to his disdain for Congressional checks and balances. The “first black President” has issued 139 executive orders and has appointed 38 executive Czars.. Of course, the other “first black President” Bill Clinton signed executive orders and appointed Czars, as well as Bush II, but at least Clinton balanced budgets and enacted welfare reform, while Bush cut taxes.

President Obama has not "wrapped himself in the patriotism of the flag and God", as Allen alleges. Instead, the Constitution has been warped and tattered into a blackened rag of itself. “We the People” should not sit by in a Messianic trance because “hope and change” President Obama has done his own“un-patriot spin” on the Presidency, compromising both our liberty and security.

Christie, Time Magazine, and New Reflections

Governor Chris Christie covered the cover of Time Magazine quite well. It staved off some concerns that I and other supporters were starting to have.

Like the majority of New Jersey voters, I esteemed Christie’s brief show of bipartisanship with President Obama following Superstorm Sandy. I was thrilled that Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen invited him to a fundraiser. However, Christie’s vocal attack against the Washington Republicans  and his stunning rebuke of the NRA troubled me. Like many Republicans, I began to have my doubts about Governor Christie. Who did this guy thing he was, throwing his weight around at his fellow Republicans? How could this man complain about his own party when they have recently suffered some unexpected setbacks?

After reading Time’s cover story, I now believe that his ranting at the Republican Congress was smart politics, after all. Nothing brought that disorganized team together like criticizing all of them for failing to deliver on much-needed federal aid for storm-ravaged New Jersey. The House GOP lined up behind their leader and offered a slimmed-down package. New Jersey  citizens  got their aid while the Northeast  got more respect, and the GOP is getting its act together.

Christie has not backed off on his principles. He cuts taxes, cuts spending, and cuts through all the crap. “The answer is ‘No!’” still hangs on every door in his office. “You don’t have to do it” remains his answer for disgruntled workers. Like Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg,  I “like” Governor Christie all the more.

The Only Union that Really Counts: The Voters of the State of California

The Public Sector union elites have taken over Sacramento. Private sector unions with international pull are doing all sorts of bad things, too, including the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which stages protests in front of institutions where none of their employees work.

Unions has their place, they had their time, but that time is no longer with us. The economic recession has exposed the weakness of previous city and state leaders giving their public sector workers just about everything they ask for. Even police and fear received massive benefits following 9-11 so that they would be ready, willing, and revved up to serve their communities in the event of terrible troubles.

Unions do not represent their employees, anymore. They represent their own powerful inner hierarchical structures. Unions represent unions, and the needs of the employees no longer match, but rather they clash, with the interests of their reps.

UTLA nearly scuttled federal funds for the Los Angeles school district. Unions protect perverted teachers with arcane rules and regulations for disciplining or terminating teachers. John Deasy has begun to fight back, but his work is more than cut out for him.

Teachers unions deprive individual teachers of merit pay. The same unions also enable the districts to maintain the same power structures at the expense of the students and the parents. More than any other interest group, the teachers unions resist school choice and vouchers. Some of the union dues even pay for monthly propaganda, which "teaches" teachers that public schools are better than charter schools and private schools. Such assertions cannot be taken serious on any level.

From the prison guards union to the state and national teachers unions, collective bargaining units still bring together large sums of people to force legislators to give them larger sums of cash.

Numbers and intimidation still have a lot of power and force in California politics. Every one of my legislators, state assembly, state senate, and Congress, have received contributions from union interests. How anyone of them can claim to represent the voters who elected them should escape any rational explanation. Legislators represent unions, not people, and that is a breach of trust.

Our leaders should be beholden to only one union: the voters of the state of California.

Because the public and private sector unions compel such influence in Sacramento, they do not have to budge in order to negotiate. The same is certainly true for the SEIU, which sends representatives frequently to challenge leaders in the statehouse. Some of them bluntly dictate to our representatives to do what they want, or else they will pay the price at the next election.

Perhaps more people should think about forming their own organization, one which can counterbalance the broad power of unions, both public and private, in the state of California.

There is no reason why a dedicated group of Californians cannot form their own grassroots association and stand up to these unions. There are plenty of men and women who serve the public, yet they understand that the lavish contracts forced on city leaders is not sustainable. One retired Los Angeles Police Officer applauded Governor Walker's reforms

In a way, a union of  a looser dynamic already exists: The Voters of the State of California.

Unions pull together members because they withdraw their dues, whether they want to give them or not. They can then pull them into supporting their massive demonstrations, since most people have a difficult time standing up to the crowd, especially when that same crowd keeps taking your money year after year. Without the money, without the outreach, California voters  may find themselves at the mercy of collective bargaining units, whether in the public sector or in the health and service industries.With a commitment to reality, fiscal principles, and a glaring awareness and appreciation of the financial crises in California, citizens can unite against the public sector union lobby and adopt the same reforms which took Wisconsin from recession to recovery without more tax increases or layoffs.

Democrats vs.Republicans on Civil Rights

The Republican Party should stop running away from the cries of "racism" kicked off by the Democratic Party.

From the Civil War until the Wilson Presidency, the Democrats were "The White Man's Party". Franklin Delano Roosevelt held together an uneasy coalition of Northeastern Elites and Dixiecrats while also taking in the black vote because of the Great Depression.

More government has never been the answer to man's problems. Spending money on government programs which have no deadline, which have no expectations, maintain nothing but a culture of poverty for those who enter into welfare.

Men and women have so much to offer the world, but as long as government programs continue to make them feel inadequate and dependent, appealing to man's feelings instead of faith in being, having, and doing greater things, then they can never excel.

One of the biggest lies perpetrated by Democratic Party reps is that Republicans are racist bigots. It was Lyndon Baines Johnson who called black people  "N--ggers". It was Jessie Jackson who called New York CIty "Hymietown". Robert Byrd of West Virginia was a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, and he never repudiated his membership in the organization. Even though Democrats have swept the black vote monolithically, there are plenty of Black Republicans ought there who refuse to drink the "kool-aid", men and women who care about  faith and family, who want a President will take care of the nation's finances.

Star Parker is one success story, a woman who lived on welfare for years, living in a posh Venice apartment and went to the beach. When President Bill Clinton signed welfare reform into law, she lost the easy money, but she went on to found her own magazine. Recently, she ran for office against Laura Richardson in a heavily Democratic district. She did not win the race, but she won the hearts of many, and she impressed Republicans and Democrats alike that a black woman could also be a Republicans.

Democrats peddle dependence. Republicans rejoice in Independence.

Democrats rely on fear and hate to demonize their opponents. Republicans use the truth and the facts to the make their point.

Democrats want to tell minorities their place. Republicans want men and women to choose their own place.

Democrats use welfare to maintain control on people. Republicans respect the general welfare and want to control people as little as possible.

Democrats are putting black people in the back of the bus all over again, but this time more subtly with handouts which insult the capacities of individual citizens. Republicans want everyone to sit wherever they please on the bus. With proper free markets and the rule of law, Republicans also support black people owning the bus, if they so choose.

Republicans need to stop letting liberal media elites lie about them. Republicans have the record on civil rights. Republican ideas work, even if certain standard bearers do not always live up to those standards. The next Republican Presidential candidate must find ways and means to reach out to every voter, not only respecting the culture where they come from, but also recognizing the potential of every person, in their culture and through their character, to succeed.

"Saint" Patrick's Budget Proposals

"Governor Deval Patrick has outlined ambitious budget proposals for the 2013 fiscal year, one which will raise the state income tax by nearly one percent, the highest tax increase in state history. Apparently, the Democratic governor never met a tax increase he did not like. He wants to bring the income tax back to the same rate as Michael "Willy Horton" Dukakis, and he wants to remove itemized deductions.

Granted, he offers a balance with a sales tax cut, but that's only because he had raised that same tax five years ago. That's not a tax cut at all, but budget gimmicks. In one report, Patrick claimed that a tax increase will produce ongoing investments that will pay for the next generation. "Saint" Patrick's religious faith in tax increases ignores one glaring reality: rising tax rates do not necessarily lead to rising tax revenues. Projecting two billion dollars for the next fiscal year does not guarantee that the money will be there, especially if the residents who "look forward to" bearing the brunt of these higher taxes choose to leave the Bay State altogether. For him to propose raising taxes in one of the highest taxed states in the country, Patrick must assume that he is glowing with lucky charms, enough that every voter, every taxpayer will throw more of their dwindling cash into the "pot of gold" state coffers.

Recognizing that raising taxes is a tough move in a tough economy, Patrick acknowledges that he wants to lay out more spending with more taxes. One wonders whom he expects will offer up all this extra cash. Perhaps he wants to work miracles in the midst of Bay State voters, wow them with his power to make a whole mass of promises, and like a miracle worker meet every need for every resident.

Based on the Commonwealth's storied history, one would not expect to see a tax-and-spend culture in Massachusetts. The colony that was Ground Zero for the American Revolution. Tax-paying colonists rightly resented that the British Crown was taxing their time, energy, and patience with more levies. The Boston Tea Party of Indian-renegade colonists and tea-dumping fame, then and now, resisted this usurpation of their paycheck without proper representation in the British Parliament. They were Englishmen, they had rights, and they wanted them to be respected. Does Patrick want to take up the legacy of the fighting American rebels, or does he have in mind resurrecting the royal prerogative of British kings, who demanded more money whether the citizens, or subjects, cared or not.
Bay State voters should not sit idly by and let their state leaders take more of their money. Let's consider some of "Saint" Patrick's proposed tax hikes:

He wants to tax sodas. Is Patrick planning on running for Mayor of New York, too? Not just interested in raising revenue, Patrick wants to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking carbonated beverages. Perhaps "kool-aid" or "Irish coffee" would be a better choice, since whatever he's thinking must be a dissolute idea borne of whatever intoxicant he's been drinking.

Patrick also wants to tax candy. No one cares about the youth vote, would be the first reaction to this unique tax hike. Maybe he hopes to take a bite out of obesity, even though the engorged Beacon Hill statehouse should go on spending diet, instead. So much for Salem Witch trials and Halloween parties, other voters may wonder. Then again, Governor Patrick's tax proposals are all "Trick" and no "Treat", and there's nothing hallowed about any of it.

As many politician claim at the outset, Patrick seeks to invest more money in transportation. With tax hikes and corrupt one-party rule, more roads and better bridges will facilitate Massachusetts residents leaving the state, along with their potential tax dollars. Patrick wants to invest in education, but the same tax increases which will bankroll pensions and bureaucracy will have less of an impact on the classroom. Besides, what good is a diploma from high school or college when the state is driving jobs away faster than the real St. Patrick drove snakes out of Ireland?

"Saint" Patrick recites the same Democratic Holy Orders of "raise taxes" and "grow government." He ought to learn a lesson from another Irishman, a Democrat who sponsored lowering tax rates in order to bring in more revenue: John F. Kennedy. In his private life, the 35th President was hardly a saint, but his economic policies where holy, holy, holy.

Massachusetts will be voting for a new Governor in 2014, and Patrick is termed out. While the current governor chases liberal rainbows with tax increases and increased spending, the taxpayer's pot of gold gets smaller and loses its glimmer in the midst of gloomier business and budget projections. Let's hope that Bay State residents choose to hold their leaders accountable. Instead of voting for the same unholy hegemony of Democrats in the statehouse and the governor's mansion, Massachusetts voters can look toward a different faith, one in free markets and less government, and drive away the snakes of high taxes, corrupt politicians, and excessive government.

Conservatives New Unifying Enemy: Public Sector Unionism

From the 1950's until the 1980's, the conservative movement unified in part to check one looming enemy: Communism. William F. Buckley established "The National Review" in order to rescue respect for tradition, the submission of human nature, and the federalism of the Constitution from states' rights bigots and the John Birch Society. Buckley made conservatism academic, persuasive, and respectable.



When the Berlin Wall fell, when the USSR disbanded, when Communism was consigned once and for all to the ash-heap of history, the conservative movement lost a common enemy.

The end of one era gave way to the "Seinfeld" decade of the 1990's, which was a whole lot of nothing. Democrat Bill Clinton shifted to the center, proclaiming himself a "New Democrat", and the end of the era of "Big Government". With a strong Republican opposition in Congress for the first time in forty years, the 1990's witnessed welfare reform and a balanced budget, limited military exercises in the vulcanized Balkans.

The Republican Party held onto Congressional power throughout the 1990s until 2007, when similar accusations of internicine corruption brought down Republicans. For the first time in nearly two decades, Democrats came to power.

Why did the Republican brand go bland? Republicans turned into "Big Government", spending more money under Bush than under Clinton. A balanced budget in 1999 and 2000 turned into deficits every year. One-party Republican rule yielded two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, rapidly increased spending for the military, homeland security, and pork for all. The 2001 No Child Left Behind law has left plenty of children behind. The culture of test-taking may test the resolve of our society, whether students who excel at K-12 test-taking will excel in anything else. President Bush wanted to keep Florida quadriplegic Terry Schiavo alive, despite the wishes of her husband and the constraints of Federalism. The 2005 Transportation bill had the Bridge to Nowhere, and the Republican principles of fiscal conservative, limited government, and Constitutional rule were nowhere to be found.

Medicare Part D expanded subsidies for seniors, and the national debt. How much corporate welfare was tossed around during that time, as well, Big Farm (Agribusiness) and Big Pharma, and Big Army (military spending) exploded. Everyone loves tax cuts, but increased spending and easy credit fueled inflation and expanded investment bubbles. "Tax and spend" was replaced with "Spend and spend". Government infusing of debt-driven spending turns into a tax increase when the wealth of one's savings and earnings diminished as a result. Housing prices rose until the breaking point of Big Banks made Too Big began to fail. "We must suspend the rules of the free market in order to save it," said Bush. With this mixed message in one sentence, Bush explained why the Republican Party went from majority to minority. They believed in all the right things, but they did not do them. This division between sentiment and certainty plagues the GOP, since Democrats promise to spend more, and do so. Even though rational voters know that deficits and debt are wrong, they acknowledge that the Democrats were never betraying their core principles.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker
slays the Public Sector Union Goliath

Politics requires an enemy to drive the ambitions of leaders. Without communism, which represented the ideals of democratic-socialism drive to the extreme, the Republican Party had not direction, no reason to expound limited government as a cause, since there was no opposing cause to rail against.
Conservatives need a new enemy. For free markets and limited government to rejoice in resurgence, Republican leaders must adapt these adopted values as an attack against a common foe.

Conservatives want limited government. They need to portray the state as the enemy. Yet more people are receiving stipends, subsidies, and other salaries from the state. Conservatives need a populist message, but attacking Washington has not worked. The National government can spend money because it can print money. States have to balance their budgets, states face economic turmoil because they cannot paper over their problems. Washington takes to give, while state capitals have to work with what they have within their boundaries.

Conservatives care about getting government out of the lives of the people, and care about the rule of law and tradition as opposed to new rights, rules, and regulations advanced by the state.

What new enemy can unite conservatives in the same confrontational manner as Communism?

Public Sector Unionism.

Public Sector unions are the antithesis of limited government. More state workers result from growing bureaucracies, which are funded and staffed by public sector unions. The same interests which organize and collectively bargain take money from the workers' paychecks and funnel the money to candidates and causes which will keep the money flowing. Rhode Island is the most indebted nation in the union, one which has labored under one-party rule for over seventy years. The Pension obligations in Rhode Island are the most burdensome in the country. Even Democratic Treasure Gina Raimondo had no choice but to declare that everyone in Rhode Island, public and private, retired and working, will have to take a cut, or the state will have to cut everything to pay current pension obligations.

Public sector unions do not represent nor respect the individual citizen nor the people. In fact, they have a storied history and documented record of hurting working class individuals. Labor unions support minimum wage laws, which limits new workers' opportunities to find entry level employment. Unions use force to distort markets and trade. The ILWU celebrates "Bloody Thursday" every year, commemorating their hostile takeover of San Francisco, plus the scattered deaths of "scabs" outside of the Port of Los Angeles. One young student sounded like an indoctrinated drone, a born-hater of employers and shipping interests. I have spoken first hand with longshoremen who have been intimidated by their superiors because they vote for Republican candidates. Another employee, a Reagan Democrat, has grown disillusioned with the growing insolence of ILWU staff. Just three months, Port of LA clerks went on strike, hobbling national trade for a week.When the Aviation Safeguards Association broke away from the SEIU, they earned higher wages. Right-to-work states have lower unemployment. The Republican Party's Free market message  resonates with populist overtones.

Public sector unions resist reform and discourage change and choice. Teachers unions protect the worst teachers but refuse to promote the best. The teachers unions helped kill Prop 32, which would protect the paycheck and vote of every Californian working in the public sector. Democrats and Republicans (and one crucial independent named Bill Bloomfield) supported Prop 32. This unifying interest may be the catalyst for a long-awaited realignment in the political party structure. The SEIU is on record intimidating legislators. The Torrance Police Department broke up a protest a few years ago.

Public sector unions are losing power. Wisconsin governor Scott Walker passed Act 10, which prevented public sector unions from withdrawing dues from employees' checks, limited collective bargaining to wages, and opened up negotiations for school districts and city managers to contract out health care plans. The reforms worked so well, Walker's recall opponent Tom Barrett, the mayor of Milwaukee, used those reforms to save $21 million dollars. He could not argue against the reforms, but merely tagged Walker with "Rock Star of the Far Right". Walker beat the recall by a greater margin than his 2010 election.

Walker's reforms have inspired and played off other reforms. Michigan initiated Right to Work legislation, as did Indiana (which has also passed a statewide voucher program). These states are the models for a new and resurgent combative (not compassionate) conservatism.

The Public Sector Union Lobby is Public Enemy Number One, and the new Communism as losing foil to Conservatism and the Republican Party.