Stories by Horatius
Posted at 9:06pm on Nov. 10, 2006 From the Mailbag: This Week
By Horatius
I received this email today from a good friend who is back from Iraq and learning himself an advanced degree before going back to fight in our nation’s war against terror. After a tough week of GOP losses, it provided a good hardy laugh.
Its amazing how well those voting machines worked this time. In fact I haven't heard about one controversy. Was any inner city group denied their right to vote? none? Wow, after all the controversy over the last, what 4 elections, suddenly the voting system is running better than my bowels after a bran muffin, some prunes, and a large coffee from dunkins... funny how that works.
Maybe I'm just tired, but that cracked me up. On a more discouraging note, he too expressed dismay about losing Rumsfeld. My guess is that as we observe our nation's veterans this weekend, he is not the only member of our armed forces who will.
Posted in Miscellanea — Comments (16)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 12:36am on Aug. 4, 2006 House Conservatives and You
By Horatius
Looking for another great opportunity to help real conservatives win political office? Visit the House Conservatives Fund and make a contribution. The HCF is the Republican Study Committee’s PAC that was re-launched under the leadership of Rep. Tom Feeney to offset the activism of the liberal Mainstreet Partnership.
The HCF serves a couple of purposes: (1) If you are a conservative facing an up-hill primary against the state’s party establishment, the HCF endorsement gives you instant credibility. It means that 100+ conservatives think you are good enough for them and want you apart of their team. The establishment then can’t label you as “fringe” just because you happened to be a Jeff Flake-Tom Coburn type in the state legislature. (2) The HCF will back certain candidates that the Club for Growth may not because of their focus solely on fiscal issues. The hope is that conservatives can unite beyond a single candidate that is both a social conservative and a fiscal conservative. However, given that resources are finite, the Club often has to help a candidate in one race who may be predominantly a fiscal guy while a predominantly values guy is on the ropes in another. The HCF spreads the love. (3) And finally, the HCF plays the long-term role of helping conservatives stick together when they get to Congress. A freshman conservative who wants to buck Leadership or a powerful committee chairman—and who can make the fundraising dry up—can be a little more confident that his friends at the RSC will make up the difference.
So give generously to Rightroots. Give generously to the Club for Growth. But save some cash and don’t forget the RSC. Mike Pence, Jeb Hensarling, Flake, Feeney and the rest are our friends in Congress, and they need our help. Give generously to the House Conservatives Fund.
Posted in Republicans — Comments (0)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 1:43am on Jul. 29, 2006 Minimum Wage-Death Tax Omnibus Passes
By Horatius
The House just passed the minimum wage hike/death tax reducation omnibus package by a vote of 230 to 180. 21 Republicans voted no. The Dems could not hold their people which allowed perhaps a few more Republicans to vote their conscience.
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Posted at 9:47pm on Jul. 28, 2006 The Last Late Night of a Republican Majority?
By Horatius
Tonight, the House will vote to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 per hour over three years. It will be attached to a permanent reduction in the death tax that falls short of full repeal but provides roughly $260 billion plus in tax relief over ten years. The package will also include a $5 billion new entitlement for Rick Santorum’s Reelection Campaign, ostensibly to fix an “Abandoned Mine Lands Fund". In short, the federal government will now be picking up the burden for cleaning up abandoned mines and paying the healthcare for retired coal workers. Not surprisingly, the Santorum piece blows through the budget. The Senate claims to have the votes to pass the omnibus bill next week so this is a question of what will become law.
Some conservatives may view this as a fair tradeoff. I do not. Raising the minimum wage means that people who have never had a job will have a harder time securing one. It will mean that many individuals in their first job will lose it. It will affect the very lowest in our society, and worse, those who actually want to climb upwards. Raising the minimum wage gums up the engine of the American dream, which of course, is freedom. It causes the cylinders not to fire. It is not something to be traded for tax cuts—as great and cherished as any pro-growth tax cuts undoubtedly are. Raising the minimum wage is something this Majority was put in place to oppose and never let see the light of day—no matter how many moderates “need” it for reelection. There are just some fundamental issues that House Republicans should stand for, and it is up to House Leadership to protect its members from having to choose between such fundamentals.
Now add in the $5 billion in new entitlement spending, the fact that it grossly violates the budget when the fiscal situation is already so damaged, and the idea that it is literally an attempt to throw hard-earned taxpayer dollars Senator Santorum’s way. Isn’t that an earmark to some extent? Isn’t that what Americans have repeatedly found so distasteful about the business of legislating in recent months? Isn’t that the mindset that Americans put this Majority in office to change?
Tonight’s vote will be party line. House Democrats are voting no. Republican arms will be twisted. Ultimately, House Leadership will pass their bill because about 30 moderates want to sacrifice their soul for a minimum wage hike, about 90 conservatives will inevitably grab too quickly for the tax relief, and most of the Republican majority could really care less. They just want to go home. There may be a few hardy GOP souls who vote no—but they will not be many. Tomorrow will tell us who they are. November 7th will tell us whether this is one of the last late nights of the Republican Majority.
Well, what do you think? Is this bill good for America? Would you vote for it? Watch the debate and decide. Consider this an open thread.
Update [2006-7-28 20:51:0 by Dales]: In the words of VodkaPundit... I need a drink. Good thing it is Friday.
Posted in Republicans — Comments (37)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 7:45pm on Jul. 27, 2006 Minimum Wage and the Motion to Adjourn
By Horatius
According to sources, enough GOP moderates in the House are threatening to vote with the Democrats against the motion to adjourn for the August recess unless Leadership schedules the minimum wage increase vote that Erick has been reporting about all day. That potentially bad news story is fueling the absolute (yet typical) panic within Leadership circles. The vote will likely be tomorrow.
Here is novel idea. Let them. Let the moderates vote against adjournment. It will ruin their vacations. Their wives will be pissed. And the American people will be better off for it.
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Posted at 8:04pm on Jul. 17, 2006 Davis Bill Passes...Barely
By Horatius
The Davis earmark just passed 242 to 120, receiving the necessary two-thirds vote of those present on a suspension bill--barely. The bill was carried largely by Democrats. Nice work Boehner.
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Posted at 7:50pm on Jul. 17, 2006 Stacking the Deck Against Conservatives
By Horatius
Just in case you thought that House Leadership and Chairman Davis play fair, consider this…The House votes on three bills tonight. The first and the last get fifteen minute votes. The middle bill—the Davis earmark coincidentally—is limited to only a five minute vote. Why does this matter? Because Davis spent all afternoon misinforming members that his bill merely provides oversight and no new funding. He writes:
H.R. 3496 is not about funding. In fact, H.R. 3496 authorizes no new funding. Instead, it is about the good use of funding. Congress has long recognized the national significance of the Metro system. The provisions of this bill will ensure our “Nation’s subway” is a model of efficiency and good performance, and I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
Not true. From the bill text: “The Secretary is authorized to make grants to the Transit Authority….There are authorized to be appropriated for grants under this section such sums as are made available to the Secretary of the Treasury.” Such language clearly indicates a new authorization since this authorization is not currently in existence. It is true that the Davis bill makes the amount of such funding contingent on the federal government generating money from OCS drilling (which incidentally has already been earmarked for other federal spending), but there is no doubt that the Davis bill does create a new program and directs federal largesse at the DC Metrorail.
Hensarling & Co. will have to talk fast to their colleagues to convince them of the facts in a five minute vote. Let’s hope they do.
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Posted at 5:35pm on Jun. 22, 2006 Message to Curt Weldon: Breathe
By Horatius
During consideration of a defense spending bill earlier in the week, Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA) went to the floor to defend an earmark which had become the target of an amendment by the conservative stalwart, Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ). With a member as smart and accomplished on defense issues as Weldon is, one might have expected a great exchange on the House floor over the merits of spending money on a perhaps much-needed defense item during a time when money is short and taxpayers are stretched. Well…that is not exactly what transpired.
Mr. Weldon ended up having a classic meltdown on the House floor, accusing his GOP colleague of stupidity and lacking in integrity. The diatribe—described as such because Weldon simply would not yield to Flake—was somewhat amusing if not for the fact that it shows how truly misguided much of the Republican Conference is on the issue of earmarks and spending. It exposes someone taking umbrage over even having to explain his earmark, and it is indicative of an ingrained arrogance that comes with power. Weldon’s comments are below the fold with my emphasis added to certain portions where CSPAN viewers would have recognized the heightened decibel level of a man yelling to a hushed and surprised chamber.