GOP Governors want a Kinder, Gentler Party

From Politics Daily,
Melinda Henneberger,
Editor in Chief


AUSTIN – Here's what I did not hear at the annual confab of Republican governors held here this week: The words socialist, extremist, or government takeover. With the focus on jobs, jobs and jobs, the only red meat was the Texas barbecue. And by design, there was no Obama-bashing.

The surest sign that leaders of the post-George W. Bush, post-Karl Rove GOP really might feel as optimistic as their talking points sound is that they are not only moving away from the last decade's focus on wedge issues and personal attacks, but are explicitly repudiating them. Rhetorically, at least, they have ditched the whole Rove approach – that the party with the angriest base will have the greater turnout, and thus will win. They see independent voters as the way to win in 2010.

"When Bush became president,'' Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said from the podium, "there was a hardening of partisanship" that worked in the Republicans' favor in '02 and '04, but against them in '06 and '08. He spoke approvingly of voters moving now towards a post-partisan moment in which "people will say 'I vote for the woman, not the party.' ''
Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle followed up on that politically correct happy talk: "I hope it does go in a direction where people can work together,'' she said, and ended the session with a pacific "Aloha!''

Barbour cautioned Republican candidates to refrain from attacking the president, period: "People want the president to succeed; good Lord, they want the country to succeed, and particularly the first African-American president has a lot of goodwill. . . . We need to be careful, we need to treat the president respectfully, we need to make this about policies, not personal. . . . This is a guy people like.''

Asked later whether he meant to suggest that tea-party rhetoric was hurting his party with the independent voters it needs to win, he said no: "I'm talking about winning candidates being prudent at what they talk about.'' In the recent gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia, it was the losing Democratic candidates who were relentlessly negative. Barbour called Virginia's Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell a "master'' at the new model of candidate he'd like to recruit more of: "He never got off on personalities, and winning candidates don't; they're not shrill, they're not accusatory.''

So, is the party moving away from a focus on social issues like gay marriage and abortion?
Barbour said that smart politicians talk about whatever is on the minds of voters, and right now that's not social but economic issues.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said that even when social issues are broached, they should be discussed in a way that's "thoughtful, civil, respectful and a tone that's not condescending.''
It's not surprising that party leaders said they like their chances in '10, when 37 gubernatorial and 37 Senate races will be on the ballot. But Barbour went so far as to predict a 1994-style Republican blowout next year: "I was chairman of the party 16 years ago when we were similarly situated'' – having just won gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia in 1993, a year into a new Democratic administration and energized by the victories of Christie Todd Whitman and George Allen. The two moments are a lot alike, he said – only "this feels better.''

GOD Bless our Veterans

It is the veteran, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the veteran, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the veteran, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the veteran, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the veteran, like you, who salutes the flag, who served under the flag, and whose coffin will be draped by the flag.

GOD Bless our Veterans!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

To all past and present Marines and members of the Marine Corps family, happy 234 years of service to our great country.

The Marine Corps dates from 10 November 1775, the day the Continental Congress authorized the formation of two battations of Marines.

The first Marine recruiting rendezvous opened at Tun's Tavern in Philadelphia, which is considered the birth place of the Marine Corps.

By early 1776, before the Declaration of Independence was signed, the Marines were ready to take the fight to the enemy and 234 Marines sailed from Philadelphia in Continential Navy warships. The mission was to take a British fort in the Bahamas and capture large supplies of munitions for General Washington's army and on 3 March 1776, for the first time in American History, the Marines had landed and the situation was well in hand.

Since the birth of the Corps, as the Marines's Hymm says,

"We have fought in every clime and place
Where we could take a gun.
In the snow of far-off northern lands
And in sunny trobic scenes,
You will find us always on the job-
The United States Marines."

And so to my brother and sister Marines, we few who have earned the title of Marine, as the end of our hymm proclaims, I offer this toast on our Corps birthday.

"Here's health to you and to our Corps
Which we our proud to serve;
In many a strife we've fought for life
And never lost our nerve.
If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven's scenes,
They will find the streets are guarded
By United States Marines."

Semper Fidelis

Bob Haran,
USMC 1968-71

Once a Marine, always a Marine

"The Axis of Idiots"

"The Axis of Idiots"

By J. D. Pendry,

Retired Sergeant Major,

United States Marine Corp




Jimmy Carter, you are the father of the Islamic Nazi movement. You threw the Shah under the bus, welcomed the Ayatollah home, and then lacked the spine to confront the terrorists when they took our embassy and our people hostage. You're the "runner-in-chief."

Bill Clinton, you played ring around the Lewinsky while the terrorists were at war with us. You got us into a fight with them in Somalia and then you ran from it. Your weak-willed responses to the USS Cole and the First Trade Center Bombing and Our Embassy Bombings emboldened the killers.. Each time you failed to respond adequately, they grew bolder, until 9/11/2001.

John Kerry, dishonesty is your most prominent attribute. You lied about American Soldiers in Vietnam. Your military service, like your life, is more
fiction than fact. You've accused our military of terrorizing women and children in Iraq. You called Iraq the wrong war, wrong place, wrong time, and the same words you used to describe Vietnam. You're a fake! You want to run from Iraqand abandon the Iraqis to murderers just as you did to the Vietnamese. Iraq, like Vietnam, is another war that you were for, before you were against it.

John Murtha, you said our military was broken.. You said we can't win militarily in Iraq. You accused United States Marines of cold-blooded murder without proof and said we should redeploy to Okinawa. Okinawa, John? And the Democrats call you their military expert! Are you sure you didn't suffer a traumatic brain injury while you were off building your war hero resume? You're a sad, pitiable, corrupt, and washed up old fool. You're not a Marine, sir.. You wouldn't amount to a good pimple on a real Marine's ass. You're a phony and a disgrace. Run away, John.

Dick Durbin, you accused our Soldiers at Guantanamo of being Nazis, tenders of Soviet style gulags and as bad as the regime of Pol Pot, who murdered two million of his own people after your party abandoned Southeast Asia to the Communists. Now you want to abandon the Iraqis to the same fate. History was not a good teacher for you, was it? Lord help us! See Dick run.

Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Carl Levine, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Russ Feingold, Pat Leahy, Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer, the Hollywood Leftist morons, et al, ad nauseam: Every time you stand in front of television cameras and broadcast to the Islamic Nazis that we went to war because our President lied, that the war is wrong and our Soldiers are torturers, that we should leave Iraq, you give the Islamic butchers - the same ones that tortured and mutilated American Soldiers - cause to think that we'll run away again, and all they have to do is hang on a little longer.. It is inevitable that we, the infidels, will have to defeat the Islamic jihadists. Better to do it now on their turf, than later on ours after they have gained both strength and momentum.

American news media, the New York Times particularly: Each time you publish stories about national defense secrets and our intelligence gathering methods, you become one united with the sub-human pieces of camel dung that torture and mutilate the bodies of American Soldiers. You can't strike up the courage to publish cartoons, but you can help Al Qaeda destroy my country. Actually, you are more dangerous to us than Al Qaeda is. Think about that each time you face Mecca to admire your Pulitzer.

You are America's 'AXIS OF IDIOTS.' Your Collective Stupidity will destroy us. Self-serving politics and terrorist-abetting news scoops are more important to you than our national security or the lives of innocent civilians and Soldiers. It bothers you that defending ourselves gets in the way of your elitist sport of politics and your ignorant editorializing. There is as much blood on your hands as is on the hands of murdering terrorists. Don't ever doubt that. Your frolics will only serve to extend this war as they extended Vietnam. If you want our Soldiers home as you claim, knock off the crap and try supporting your country ahead of supporting your silly political aims and aiding our enemies.

Yes, I'm questioning your patriotism. Your loyalty ends with self. I'm also questioning why you're stealing air that decent Americans could be breathing. You don't deserve the protection of our men and women in uniform. You need to run away from this war, this country. Leave the war to the people who have the will to see it through and the country to people who are willing to defend it.

Our country has two enemies: Those who want to destroy us from the outside and those who attempt it from within.

Semper Fi,
J. D. Pendry - Sergeant Major, USMC, Retired



This is a savvy man. He has nailed it down pretty good. Too bad it won't do any good. There won't be 1 in 10 that receive it who will forward it.

It's Official, Brewer is Running

November 5, 2009,
Phoenix, AZ
By Bob Haran

Early today Arizona Governor Jan Brewer submitted the initial paperwork with the Secretary of State to run for election in her own right as Governor.

Brewer inherited the Governor's office in January when former Governor Janet Napolitano, a Democrat, resigned in order to become U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security in the Obama administration.

The duties and responsibilities of the office of Governor were not the only things Brewer inherited from Napolitano. Brewer said that she inherited a budget deficit created from years of overspending and living beyond our means.

To reduce spending and manage the budget Brewer and the Republican controlled Legislature made the largest spending cuts in Arizona history, around $1 billion.

Brewer admitted that some of those cuts were not easy to make but also said that, "tough times call for a tough leader."

In August Governor Brewer and the Republican leadership of the Arizona Legislature reached an agreement which was praised by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) as an alternative to tax, spend, and tax again. Designed to entice more employers and high-income taxpayers to Arizona and to stimulate the economy by putting more money in the hands of consumers, instead of trying to tax their way out of a huge budget deficit, Arizona would grow its way out by repealing the hated business property tax, reducing the state corporate income tax rate from 6.97% to 4.86%, and in addition, cutting all personal income tax rates by 6.6%. In exchange for the tax cuts the legislature would allow the voters to decide if they were willing to temporarily pay an extra one cent on the dollar in sales tax for two years and a half cent for a third year.

The WSJ article pointed out that economic studies have shown that states have more jobs and higher income growth when they tax consumption rather than savings, investment and business profits.

The tax and spend Democrats called the agreement a tax giveaway to big business and voted as a block against it. The package past however in the Republican controlled House but ran into trouble in the Republican controlled Senate when two extremist, anti-government senators, Pam Gorman of LD 6 and Ron Gould of LD 3, broke ranks with the Republican party and voted with the Democrats against the sales tax referral to the voters, defeating it by one vote, thereby killing the agreement and forcing the governor to veto the tax cuts. Later Gorman resigned as Senate Majority Whip, citing philosophical differences with the Republican Caucus and went on a mid-west vacation.

Jan Brewer is a conservative Republican from Glendale who was first elected to the Arizona House in 1982 and to the Arizona Senate in 1986 were she also served as Majority Whip for two terms. In 1996 she was elected to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and went on to become Chairman of the Board.

First elected to statewide office in 2002 as Arizona Secretary of State and re-elected in 2006. Brewer has been a Republican Precinct Committeemen since 1970 and has always been a stalwart, hard working Republican who has never lost an election.

After taking office as governor, Brewer told the Arizona Daily Star; "First I was worried, then I was concerned, and now I'm just angry to see what has happened and the irresponsible management that has led us to the brink of bankruptcy."

It seems that Napolitano knew when to abandon a ship in trouble, thankfully Brewer is made of sterner stuff and will not abandon ship because Brewer has the Right Stuff.

Bob Haran,
American Conservative Republican

Bob Burns, "Let the Voters Decide"

Burns on budget: We’re out of gimmicks and time
November 3, 2009 by azsenaterepublicans

In today’s Arizona Republic, Senate President Bob Burns says let voters decide what they’re willing to do to help our state recover:

Your state government is in trouble. The money we collect in taxes and fees from you, your neighbors and your employers has declined sharply during this economic crisis. The money the state spends to educate our children, provide healthcare and welfare benefits and public safety services, is far outpacing the money we’re taking in.

The latest estimate of our current budget deficit is $2 billion. There are really four major components to that number. The first is that plummeting revenue that caused last year’s budget to fall short by $500 million. That’s money we already spent. Whether we like it or not, we will have to find the revenue for it in FY 2010.

Another factor affecting the deficit is the aftermath of the governor vetoing significant parts of the budget package the Legislature sent her last summer – the Department of Economic Security (welfare) and K-12 education budgets, and the bill containing budget provisions relating to taxation and revenue. That added another $500 million to the deficit.

The remaining $1 billion of the $2 billion deficit stems from a number of projections that are considered highly likely: that our tax revenues will continue to fall ($700 million) and that demand for healthcare for the poor will grow and other provisions of the FY 2010 budget will not generate the savings we had hoped for ($300 million).

Meanwhile, the overall public message to the Legislature has continued to be “Don’t raise taxes and don’t cut spending.” The previous governor, despite clear signs of economic stress and dropping revenues, insisted on significant increases in spending. While I think we should have been much more aggressive in our effort to control or decrease spending, the fact of the matter is that we are essentially budgeting the same spending level as when the recession began.

To maintain a general fund budget of about $10 billion over the last few years of this recession, your state government – Republicans and Democrats alike – have depleted our savings, delayed payments, swept funds from other accounts, used one-time federal stimulus dollars, and gone deeper into debt. Our projected ongoing revenues are only $6.4 billion, meaning the budget has a structural deficit of $3.6 billion that will plague us in the future until we enact permanent solutions.

Now we’ve hit the wall on short-term budget maneuvers and gimmicks. Those options are no longer available. We will have to cut spending or increase taxes, or both. There is very little else of substance we can do at this point.

Many of you know that I have a reputation as a fiscal conservative from my many years as chair of the appropriations committees in both the House and Senate. When it comes to making decisions on how to spend taxpayer dollars, I have always seen my role as that of a gatekeeper, not a gift-giver.

Over the years I have come to the opinion that many people tend to exaggerate the restrictions on the Legislature’s legal authority to reduce spending. Nevertheless, there are real limits that come in various forms: federal, constitutional, judicial, and electoral.

We need to act decisively, and time is not on our side. It won’t be long before state employees won’t be able to cash their paychecks. This insolvency of state government will affect more of you than you might think.

I surprised many people when I announced earlier this year my support for putting a one-cent sales tax increase on the ballot. Do not misunderstand me. The revenue generated from such a tax increase (less than $900 million in current economic conditions) will not entirely solve the problem. I also recognize the distinct possibility that voters may reject any such proposal. In either case, I will continue to advocate for more reductions in state spending to balance the budget.

I will support putting the referral to a vote in the Legislature whenever and as many times as we need to in order to get the question to the voters. But I will not be supportive of higher state spending as a price to get those votes.

We have lost enough precious time already. The question needs to be asked: Are you willing to pay, in addition to your current tax burdens, another penny on the dollar in sales tax in order to provide more revenue for your government? There may not be an official declaration that Arizona is in a state of emergency, but in my view, we’re in one.