Obama's economic plan - eek!

President-elect Obama has announced that he is going to spend billions and billions of dollars for the so-called economic stimulus package that will be launched in January.

He is still sticking to his plan to raise taxes for people making over $250,000. He just hasn't decided if he wants to let the current tax cuts expire or if he wants to raise them now.

Let's see - higher taxes, admittedly steep deficit spending. Isn't that how Franklin Roosevelt made the 1930s Depression great? With all those wealthy people in Congress, you'd think at least some of them knew what truly makes the economy tick.

Bill Richardson: Political Chameleon

It looks like New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is going to be tapped as President-elect Obama's commerce secretary. This is only the latest in a long line of completely unrelated jobs that Richardson has held in government.

The New Mexico Democrat has been Secretary of Energy, U.N. Ambassador, a member of the House, a presidential aspirant, is currently a governor, and soon, apparently, Secretary of Commerce. An impressive list, but it's a bit unfocused for my taste and it begs the question: Is Richardson actually skilled at anything other than holding jobs in government?

Election Postmortem Discussion

At the November monthly Young Republican meeting the floor was open to the members to discuss their thoughts on why the Republicans faired so poorly in the 2008 election and what needs to be done to get back in the saddle. Club President Lynn Krogh presided over the discussion. Among the thoughts brought to bear on our losses were:

Difficulty moving against the anti-Republican tide

Getting off message/Forgetting our principles

Running a national campaign that could not be adapted to regional concerns

No deep bench of leaders/Lack of party building at local, state, and national level

Didn't pursue swing voters

Sarah Palin not ready for the national stage/mishandled by campaign

Economic crisis

Thoughts about what we need to do going forward included:

clear & consistent communications

sticking to conservative principles

developing online social and action networks

focusing on issues that concern voters (i.e. environment, jobs)

We encourage you to join the discussion and let us know your thoughts. Constructive debate will help us develop the ideas needed to rebuild and reshape the Republican Party and provide positive solutions for the challenges confronting our city, our state, and our nation.

The Political Attack on Joe the Plumber

When Barack Obama told Samuel Wurzelbacher, a.k.a. Joe the Plumber, that he wanted to "spread the wealth around a little," he gave voters a sneak peek at his plans for America and our capitalist system. After that, Joe the Plumber became an American celebrity, a symbol used by Republicans to demonstrate the harm Obama will bring to our economy. Wurzelbacher also became a target for character assassination by the Democrats.

Wurzelbacher's records were poured over by the Ohio state Department of Job and Family Services. Allow me to point out what you can already guess is true - the head of the agency, Helen Jones-Kelley, was an Obama supporter. She has been suspended for a month without pay, but Governor Ted Strickland has refused to fire her (Yeah, he's a donkey, too).

An Inspector General's report found that the search was improper and politically motivated, though Jones-Kelley maintains it was not, which is laugh-out-loud funny.

There have been more suspensions meted out to Fred Williams, assistant director of the Department of Jobs and Family Services, and Doug Thompson, the department's deputy director of child support.

These Obama foot soldiers who deliberately used valuable government resources to attack an ordinary citizen and invade their privacy will soon be back to work.

Clinton as Secretary of State

Roll Call's reporting that Senator Clinton will be accepting President-Elect Obama's offer to be his Secretary of State. This is certainly an interesting choice and one the media's been fixated on for a week now.

And one, as late as last night, I believed to be a big old media power play. Guess I owe Matt Hindin, Saul Farber and co. a few bucks.

That said, how excited do you get to think that she'll be leaving her post as NY's junior Senator?!?! Who does the Governor choose?

Early Voting in SAXBY's Favor?

Last night at our meeting, you heard from Campaign Chairman Matt Hindin about Senator Saxby Chambliss' campaign runoff. It's looking like Saxby is doing pretty well... Check out what the Atlanta Journal Constitution is saying.
It seems that 74.8% of early voters have been white, while only 22.3% have been African-American. This may not bode well for Senator Chambliss' opponent, Atlanta Democrat Jim Martin. In comparison, African American turnout was 35% in the General Election.

To date, slightly over 101,000 voters have come back and compare that to almost 2,000,000 who early voted in the general election. There's still a week of early voting left, but it's a short week because of Thanksgiving.

You can follow the process:
http://frontloading.blogspot.com/2008/11/georgia-senate-runoff-early-voting-day.html
or here:
http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/earlyvotingstats08_runoff.htm

www.Saxby.org

Hanging Chad's in MN

The WSJ today outlines some of the shady attempts by the Franken campaign to turn the revote in their favor: Al Franken's Minnesota – More postelection funny business.

Anti-War Left Unhappy with Obama Already

The anti-war movement that invested so much of its demonstration time in getting Barack Obama elected are now upset with the president-elect because he seems to be populating his national security team with people who supported the move to topple Saddam Hussein and are generally, well, national security oriented.

They wonder how he could drift so far away from what he promised them. I'm betting that as the president-elect is being briefed on the true state of national security issues, he is starting to realize just how stupid an immediate unilateral withdrawal from Iraq truly is. As he becomes acclimated to facts that the media won't report and his far left supporters simply refuse to believe, Obama will have to be careful about which promises he intends to keep. His best bet will be to jettison the kooks early.

Auto CEOs Take Private Jets to Beg Congress for $$

If you want to play the role of the pauper in asking Congress to give you $25 billion in taxpayer money to bail out your pathetically run automobile manufacturing company, then don't fly to Washington in a private jet. That just looks bad no matter how you slice it.

Have You Heard? Lawsuit's the Word!

Got the following in my email just a few moments ago... sems to be gaining a little traction, but a brief google news search yielded nothing

The Honorable Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer
United States Supreme Court
One First Street, NE
Washington, D.C. 20543

Dear Honorable Associate Justice Breyer:

I am writing to ask you to uphold our Constitution by verifying the eligibility of Barack Obama to be President of the United States. There is much speculation and the only way for the country to feel secure that he is eligible is for you to settle this matter.

Please request Barack Obama to present his birth certificate to the courts for verification.
Please also request any citizenship papers showing he acquired United States citizenship when he moved from Indonesia back to Hawaii.

State lawsuits have been filed in WA, FL, NC, CO, CA, OH, CT, GA, TX and MI. Related lawsuits in HI, US District. There are Supreme Court lawsuits in PA and NJ. Obama has yet to release birth certificate or citizenship documents (as well as others).

Thank you for your honorable service to our country and for upholding our constitution in these trying times.

Sincerely,

Even Europe Doesn't Want to be Like Europe

Liberals embrace what Samuel Huntington referred to as a cosmopolitan view of American identity - meaning that we would be better off if we were more like Europe in terms of how we structure our tax base (eat the rich) and how much government interference we allow in our markets (a lot). President-elect Obama comes from the cosmopolitan school of thought.

This logic doesn't hold up, though, because now it is becoming apparent that even the Europeans don't want to be like Europe anymore, economically speaking. So why the heck should we embrace what they are tossing away? Steven Malanga points out that other nations around the world are starting to recognize the benefits of lower, simpler tax systems and smarter regulation. The downside is that it took Western Europe several decades to get wise and their not quite there yet. How long will it take American liberals to recognize they are simply flat out wrong about economic policy?

Bankruptcy as the Natural Order of Things

Those who believe that the federal government (in reality, the taxpayers) should bail out the moribund so-called Big Three automakers would do well to read this article by Andrew Grossman at The Heritage Foundation. Rather than rally around the typical "Workers-of-the-World-Unite" rhetoric about all the potential lost jobs and about how General Motors is an American institution (since when are liberals nostalgic about American history?), we need to recognize the situation for what it is and act accordingly.

Here is just one of the tidbits to be gleaned from Grossman's article:

Chapter 11, however, is usually used to reorga nize a business that, but for insolvency, is poten tially profitable. It embodies the recognition that, in some cases, creditors fare better when a business continues as a going concern rather than being liquidated. These businesses are likely to be able to pay off more of their debts if they are reorganized to address their problems instead of being picked apart by creditors. What they need is breathing room from the threat of debt collection and broad power to rearrange their operations. The Big Three, though they could stand to shed some assets, surely fall into this category.

How Far Will Obama Mania Go?

Pretty darn far, actually. DVDs, YouTube videos, books, magazines, commemorative coins. This guy is going over bigger than the Beatles, and John Lennon had to admit they were bigger than Jesus, so you can just imagine the star power that our president-elect holds right now.

Howard Kurtz, one of the few unwaveringly objective columnists at the Washington Post, has an interesting take on the Obama media machine. He's just about the only columnist so far that I've seen who has attempted to put all the madness in perspective.

WSJ - Why Bankruptcy Is the Best Option for GM

Michael Levine explains in today's WSJ why GM is better served by bankruptcy than a bailout.

Last week, Thomas L. Friedman in his New York Times column “How to Fix a Flat”, makes the case for restrictions that need to be placed on GM if a government bailout is made.

Special Edition of G. Gordon Liddy Show on Ayn Rand

From the Ayn Rand Institute:

"RadioAmerica’s G. Gordon Liddy is devoting a special broadcast of his nationally syndicated three-hour talk radio show to Ayn Rand, her philosophy, and understanding the current state of events through the lens of Objectivism.

The broadcast will air live on Monday, November 17, 2008, beginning at 10 AM, Eastern Standard Time.

The Ayn Rand Center’s Yaron Brook, Onkar Ghate, Elan Journo, Thomas Bowden and Eric Daniels will be the exclusive guests for this extended broadcast. They will discuss the financial crisis, Bush’s claimed defense of capitalism, today’s challenges to free speech, and the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other topics.

The broadcast will air on 200 radio stations across the country as well as on XM satellite radio (on a delayed basis). Live streaming audio will be available at the RadioAmerica Web site.

G. Gordon Liddy encourages call-in questions from listeners across the country."

Linguistic Gymnastics

There was an interesting bit in last week's Weekly Standard by Senior Editor Andrew Ferguson that cleverly illustrated President-elect Obama's rhetorical skills. The whole article is worth your time, but this bit here was what stuck with me:

In his stump speech, Obama pretended that every major political disagreement was merely the consequence of a false choice. "When it comes to health care," he said, "we don't have to choose between a government-run health care system and the unaffordable one we have now." But of course nobody--really, nobody--thinks those are the only alternatives in the health care debate. "When it comes to jobs," he said, "the choice in this election is not between putting up a wall around America or allowing every job to disappear overseas." Who says it is? "When it comes to giving every child a world-class education," he said, "the choice is not between more money and more reform."

This is more than rhetorical license. By positioning himself as the third way between two absurd alternatives that no one favors, Obama has persuaded voters of his reasonableness and moderation; and thus of his ability to get things done.

Language is the single most powerful tool of the Left, and Obama wields it like a Sith Lord wields a lightsaber. Be very wary not just of what he says, but how he says it. Cloaked within his words, within his phrases, is the key to his power and his popularity. He loves to talk, and anyone who loves to talk will eventually be tripped up by their own loquaciousness.

Bush: Path to Growth is Free Markets and Free People

It's a shame that no one is paying much attention to President Bush anymore. Watching a lame duck attempt to assert their relevancy can be painful to watch. But he gave a great speech here in Gotham just this past week about the state of the world economy and what the future holds in store. The speech, ahead of a highly trumpeted gathering of the world's economic powers to discuss the current economic crisis, should be one for the books. However, since we cannot count on the Obamedia to report on the speech with the contextual credit it deserves, I am passing along this link to its text.

Here are some worthy excerpts:

All these steps require decisive actions from governments around the world. At the same time, we must recognize that government intervention is not a cure-all. For example, some blame the crisis on insufficient regulation of the American mortgage market. But many European countries had much more extensive regulations and still experienced problems almost identical to our own....There is a clear lesson: Our aim should not be more government - it should be smarter government.

Free market capitalism is far more than an economic theory. It is the engine of social mobility - the highway to the American Dream.... [I]t is what transformed America from a rugged frontier to the greatest economic power in history - a nation that gave the world the steamboat and the airplane, the computer and the CAT scan, the Internet and the I-Pod.

Meanwhile, nations that have pursued other models have experienced devastating results. Soviet communism starved millions, bankrupted an empire, and collapsed as decisively as the Berlin Wall. Cuba, once known for its vast fields of cane, is now forced to ration sugar. And while Iran sits atop giant oil reserves, its people cannot put enough gasoline in their cars.

The record is unmistakable: If you seek economic growth, if you seek opportunity, if you seek social justice and human dignity, the free market system is the way.

Can I get an Amen?

The RNC takes on the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act

From Findlaw:
(U.S. Dist. Ct., D.C.) - The Republican National Committee, along with several state and local republican parties, filed a complaint alleging that portions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 violate the First Amendment as applied to certain planned funding initiatives. They claim that the ban on all national political party solicitation and use of "soft money" (money raised outside of federal amount and source regulation), and the ban on state and local parties using soft money for federal election purposes, are unconstitutional as applied to national and state level funding initiatives which are not directly related to the campaign of a particular federal candidate. Read more

This story is definitely worth following.
Stay tuned...

Some Good News from the Architect

Leave it to a political numbers cruncher like Karl Rove to make some real sense out of the 2008 election results. As many of us who weren't swept up in the Obama wave have already suspected, there is not as much behind the Democratic victory as his minions in the press would have us believe. Sure, Republicans took a beating, and perhaps it was deserved, but we are far from finished. It was in today's Wall Street Journal, so do yourself a favor and take a look.

Small Tent Democrats

Say what you want about the Republican Party and the so-called outsized influence of the Religious Right, but the modern GOP is more ideologically diverse than the Democratic Party could ever hope to be. Submitted for your approval, as Rod Serling might say, is this little case study about just what happens to Democrats who drift off the reservation.

John Dingell and Joe Lieberman will never be mistaken for Republicans at a picnic. Just the same, their stances in defense of business and national security, respectively, embrace just the common sense style of governing that Republicans aspire to on our best days. As a result of exhibiting this common sense approach, Dingell and Lieberman have drawn the ire of a Donkey leadership that has no time for those who do not march to the party tune, with I think is The Internationale but don't quote me.

The treatment of Dingell and Lieberman is a good lesson for all of those who voted for change in Washington. Change you will assuredly get, but not the change you could possibly believe would take place.

Supreme Court Saves the Navy

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of sonar by the U.S. Navy in training exercises in the case of Winter v. National Resources Defense Council. Environmentalists more concerned about marine safety than national security believed that whales were harmed by the sonar use, although that argument, like most environmental arguments, is debatable at best. Imagine how our sailors might have been harmed if they were not allowed to execute these exercises and had to go into battle without proper training. Of course that line of thinking would require recognition of the opposite viewpoint, not a trait many greenies possess.

Some Changes to Change.Gov

The taxpayer funded online Obama campaign tool also known as the Obama-Biden Transition Web site received a little publicized overhaul Monday.

The grocery list of agenda items that Obama was going to use as his basis to change America into a country completely unrecognizable to supporters of a traditional constitutional republic has been removed. Now there is only a lonley 100-word statement that paints a vague picture of what Barack and Joe have in mind for the next four years.

Why the change to Change, you ask? Maybe they realized early that they have bitten off more than they can chew. Maybe now it is starting to becoming clear to Obama just how much different governing is from campaigning.

New York State YR Chair in the Legislative Gazette

As always, the Young Republicans have the right message! Let's get this party back on the right track.

The Future of Guantanamo

President-Elect Obama plans to close Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, at his earliest opportunity. This is not so simple a task. What do you do with those awaiting trial? Under what court system can you try them? If you plan on bringing them stateside (Dumb, dumb, dumb), then how will you guarantee security while they await trial? Et cetera and so on.

There are more legal issues than I can comprehend, but I do know that we need to remember 2 very important things about this situation:

1. The detainees are not U.S. citizens, they are in fact enemy combatants who wish us all dead and have actively tried to carry out that wish.
2. We are at war. This should not be treated like some protracted episode of "Law & Order."

NYYRC, Inc. in the NY Times

Check it out folks... Spreading our message of rebuilding, thru the Grey Lady!

The Obama Money Machine Rolls On

Apparently raising over to $600,000,000 during the campaign for the presidency. was not enough for Obama. Now he is asking for donations to help his transition into the White House.

As noted yesterday, taxpayers are already paying for Obama's tricked out transition Web site. Taxpayers pay for the transition itself as well. Furthermore, we don't yet know how much of that $600,000,000 is left over from his White House purchase. Can't he use any of that money? How much more donating does he need?

If Obama is so shameless about asking for money from his supporters to pad his smooth move into the White House, you can just imagine what his tax policy is going to look like.

The Presidential Transition Web site

Just so you can keep all the BS straight on BO:

http://change.gov

It looks like all they did was lift the content from the Barack Obama campaign site and put it here. The difference? Now the taxpayers are paying the webmaster.

Letter from the NYYRC President

Dear Fellow Young Republicans,

First and foremost, I want to take a moment to thank you. You took vast amounts of your precious personal time to make calls, walk the streets and donate money to Senator McCain and Governor Palin, as well as for our YR candidates: Bill Buran, John Chromczak, and Saul Farber. Once again I thank you.

More importantly, I need you to know that your efforts were not in vain. Let’s look at the numbers: the New York Young Republican Club had 12 members in August of 2001. Today we have close to 800. In the heart of liberal New York City, we’re the oldest, largest and most active Young Republican Club in the nation.

We had 3 YRs run for office, and in a not-so-friendly Republican year they held their own, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund very difficult campaigns to give New Yorkers a choice on the ballot. I salute them for their tireless effort and for putting themselves out there.

But the fight isn’t over, the political war has just begun and I’m not talking Democrats vs. Republicans. I’m talking our fight for survival in New York State. We face the challenge of a lifetime, right here in New York. The loss of the Presidential Election, the New York State Senate Majority, and our Republican stronghold in Staten Island are just a few reasons why we need to come together.

Friends, we look to the future and you are a part of that future -- A future that we must begin, today, together.

The NYYRC is steadfast in its commitment to our party, our ideals, and our values. I ask you today to make a commitment to our party. Make a commitment to not allow this country to remain a “one party-in-power” system. Make a commitment to be a larger part of the organization that’s going to hold the Democrats' feet to the fire and keep them honest over the next 2-4 years, statewide and nationally. Make a commitment to the New York Young Republican Club. Become a member, become a committee member, just get more involved in anyway you can. The only way to fix a broken system is to get in and get your hands dirty.

It’s like what the great Vince Lombardi said, “Individual commitment to a group effort -- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” And as you know, that man knew a little something about winning.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are here, we are NOT going away without a fight and I know that in order to get back to winning, we need to get back to basics. We need to get back to the days of Ronald Reagan, where a big tent, an open mind, and personal and fiscal responsibility were the cornerstones of the Grand Old Party. Now is the time to get involved.

Thank You

Lynn Krogh

President – NYYRC, Inc.

Landslide? What Landslide?

This is what a REAL landslide looks like!
a mere 13 electoral votes in 1984....

What becomes of the Obama Legions?

What will happen to all those folks who have spent their time and energy stumping for Barack Obama?

There are two answers to this question, both are humorous, telling, and despite the source of the second item, true.


Obama campaign workers angry over unpaid wages

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

And they all thought we were in for a change. Seems like the same old world to me.

Obama Not Paying Campaign Workers??

Looks like the Dems haven't changed their ways that much....
Obama's campaign workers in Indy are looking for their money.

AND, when they got paid, it wasn't what they thought it would be. Join the club folks... when Obama starts taking more money out of your checks to "spread the wealth" I hope we're all protesting together.
A snippet:

Eventually people did start getting paid, but some said they were missing hours and told to fill in paperwork making their claim and that eventually they would get a check in the mail.

"Still that's not right. I'm disappointed. I'm glad for the president, but I'm disappointed in this system," said Diane Jefferson, temporary campaign worker.
"It should have been $480. It's $230," said Imani Sankofa.

"They gave us $10 an hour. So we added it. I added up all the hours so it was supposed to be at least $120. All I get is $90," said Charles Martin.

"I worked nine hours a day for 4 days and got paid half of what I should have earned," said Randall Waldon.

Arent' the Democrats the the party of the middle and poor classes?

Election Returns Party

Join us to celebrate victory for the GOP locally and nationally.

7:00 PM, Tuesday, November 4
3 W. 51st St.
New York, NY

Free for Members, $35 for Non-Members (includes 2009 membership)

Beer, Wine and Food will be served.

The event is filling up, so RSVP as soon as possible to: rsvp@nyyrc.com

Media contact: pr@nyyrc.com