Redstate

Posted at 8:05am on Jun. 18, 2008 MI Morning Commentary: MI Dems Abuse Power...Lansing Press Corps Complacent

By saul anuzis

MORNING UPDATE: 

139 Days until Election Day

June 18, 2008

MORNING UPDATE:

HOUSE DEMOCRATS CONTINUE TO ABUSE THEIR POWER...in over 350 specific cases, the state House Democrats have refused to consider Republican amendments and requests for record roll call votes. An unbelievable abuse of power...and the press just stands by??? So no reforms...no cuts...no debate...just Democrat power grab and partisan legislation.

Posted in Democrats | MI GOP | Michigan | Republicans | Saul Anuzis | State Politics — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 6:38am on Jun. 18, 2008 How Republicans Can Win the Energy Debate in Congress

Let's Have an Old-Fashioned Filibuster

By Bluey

My fellow contributors at RedState have had no shortage of posts the past few days on the need to drill for oil. The message is finally resonating on Capitol Hill, where House Minority Whip Roy Blunt is producing a daily gas chart and Senate Republican leaders are beginning to talk tough.

These are positive developments, but rhetoric alone will not solve our energy problems. That requires leadership and action, two things that are hard to come by in Congress.

Fortunately for the GOP, oil drilling appears to be something everyone can agree on. Republicans who don't always see eye to eye -- Sens. Ted Stevens (Alaska) and Tom Coburn (Okla.) come to mind -- are in sync when it comes to this. The party's nominee, Sen. John McCain, gave his colleagues a big boost this week with an endorsement for offshore drilling.

While McCain's energy position is far from perfect -- ANWR remains off limits for him -- Republicans can't let that slow them down. They should take this fight to the Democrats at every opportunity. And they can begin by shutting down the Senate if Democrats refuse to allow offshore drilling.

I'm talking about an old-fashioned filibuster. I know it won't be like "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," but why not make a spectacle of it? The next time Majority Leader Harry Reid tries to do something, call his bluff.

There's a reason Newt Gingrich has collected nearly 900,000 names for his petition calling for more drilling. Americans are tired of inaction. Forcing a showdown on Capitol Hill is the best move Senate Republicans could make. Not only would it bolster the party in the short term, but it would also give GOP leaders some backbone for future fights.

Posted in Congress | Congress | Energy | filibuster | oil | Republicans — Comments (26)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 8:18am on Jun. 17, 2008 MI Morning Commentary: Obama's Motown Mojo?...Watch New Web Ad...Gore Endorses Obama in Detroit (oh the irony)

By saul anuzis

MORNING UPDATE: 

140 Days
until Election Day

June 17, 2008

MORNING UPDATE:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEWT GINGRICH....all our best to a great
American.  Thanks for all you do!

WEB AD GETS
NATIONAL ATTENTION....our "home grown" web ad about Obama FINALLY
finding Michigan was mentioned and linked to by several national
media outlets.  This ad was produced by out "in house"
communications staff!  Way to go MRP!!!

GRAND RAPIDS...DETROIT AND MANY PLACES IN BETWEEN...as we responded
to Barack Obama's statements and visit to Michigan. We're SO glad
he finally found us. 

Posted in Al Gore | Anuzis | Barack Obama | Detroit | Michigan | Republicans | Saul Anuzis | State Politics — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:57am on Jun. 14, 2008 *Ahem*

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Kevin Drum says that "filling the amendment tree"--a method by which Senate floor leaders got to control the content of amendments to a bill and locked their opponents out of offering what those floor leaders considered objectionable amendments to the bill--fell out of favor as a Senate practice "until the mid-90s, when Bob Dole rediscovered it and made it into a standard tool of GOP governance."

Um . . . no:

Robert Byrd, the crafty and theatrical chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has been at the center of the fight over President Clinton's proposal to spend $16.3 billion to stimulate the economy this year.

As floor manager for the Clinton legislation, Byrd has confronted hostile Republicans and reluctant Democrats with moves that confirmed his reputation as a master of parliamentary finagling and oratory.

His rhetoric has entertained, but his tactics have infuriated minority Republicans who are threatening to delay Clinton's bill with a filibuster.

Almost single-handedly, Byrd has used his detailed knowledge of the Senate rules to shepherd Clinton's economic-stimulus package through the mine-filled territory of the Senate. Using Senate rules to do a maneuver called "filling up the amendment tree," Byrd has all but precluded major modifications to Clinton's $16 billion package.

(Emphasis mine.) This fight occurred in 1993, during Clinton's first year and preceded Dole's use of amendment tree-filling--by Drum's own account, since Dole didn't start using the tactic himself "until the mid-90s"--and it was this tactic, employed in the fight over the Clinton stimulus package, that prompted Senate Republicans to successfully filibuster the package and kill it in the Senate. Anyone who has read Bob Woodward's The Agenda is aware of this. According to Woodward, when Byrd finished enthusiastically telling Clinton about his parliamentary scheme to pass the stimulus package, Clinton responded not by decrying the fact that the Byrd tactic "prevents anyone else from offering amendments," but by saying approvingly "Thank you Mr. Chairman. Let's pass the bill."

On another matter, Drum contends that "the Senate's decline began long ago, and mostly under Republican rule" because "[t]he GOP has perfected the art of filibustering, withholding consent, abusing the markup procedure, and just generally obstructing virtually everything that comes before the Senate, regardless of how important it is. The normal give-and-take of legislative compromise isn't in their playbook these days." Indeed. How dare the Republicans argue against and take a stand against Democratic agenda items they find objectionable? You would almost think that the GOP was an opposition party, or something.

Posted in Congress | Democrats | Obstructionism | Republicans — Comments (2)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 5:28pm on Jun. 11, 2008 Conservatives Complain GOP's Earmark Plan Doesn't Go Far Enough

Act Now, Not Later

By Bluey

As House Republicans unveiled their economic agenda today, conservatives expressed disappointment that it does nothing to address earmark reform now and instead calls for an "immediate moratorium" in the future. The document was drafted to lay out the GOP's agenda in January 2009 if Republicans reclaim control of the House.

Earmark critics, however, say that view is completely unrealistic. They think a total ban on earmarks must be instituted today because the chances of Republicans taking back the House are slim. "We need to lead by example and differentiate ourselves," a conservative staffer told me. "The economic agenda today will allow earmarks this year and the next if Republicans do not win the House. No fundamental change from the status quo."

The struggle over earmarks is reflected in the differing views of two GOP leaders: Republican Study Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.) and Policy Chairman Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.). The Hill reported the conflict earlier this week with Hensarling demanding action now and McCotter opposed to a "one-size-fits-all ban." In a memo released this afternoon, Hensarling reiterated his support for a ban. He could press the issue by bringing it to a conference-wide vote.

As I reported on RedState last night, the GOP's economic agenda includes many conservative proposals, including a flat tax, free-market health care, entitlement reform, balanced budget and energy production. Yet earmarks remain a sticking point despite Minority Leader John Boehner's attempt to reach a consensus.

Conservatives don't dispute the laudable policy goals included as part of the economic agenda -- many developed by the Republican Study Committee. But that's no excuse to take a pass on earmark reform today. Although it remains a divisive issue for Republicans, Hensarling should keep fighting for a ban on pork-barrel projects. Boehner faces no easy task bringing the GOP together, but he should view this as an opportunity for the GOP to distinguish itself from Democrats in advance of November's elections.

Posted in Congress | Congress | Earmarks | Jeb Hensarling | Republicans — Comments (6)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:45pm on Jun. 10, 2008 House GOP's Bold Economic Agenda

Earmark Moratorium, Flat Tax Among Policy Goals

By Bluey

House Republicans will unveil their economic agenda tomorrow with proposals to end earmarks, simplify the tax code and increase energy production. The GOP's agenda should excite conservatives, who will recognize many of the policy goals as long-sought objectives.

For the past 18 months in the minority, Republicans have struggled to unify around a specific set of policy goals. Their economic agenda comes one month after they promoted an "American Families Agenda." Two other policy plans will be unveiled in the coming months.

The centerpiece of the economic agenda is spending and tax reform. The proposal calls for an "immediate moratorium on congressional earmarks," which constitutes remarkable progress for House Republicans. The GOP was unable to arrive at that goal earlier this year following its retreat. But after pressure from Republican Study Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.), conservatives apparently won over Boehner, who has long opposed pork-barrel projects. (Note: Although this plan would impose a moratorium on future earmarks, conservatives are still insisting on one this year.)

On tax reform, Republicans are proposing a "two-tier flat tax system that can be filed on one page," a bold move that moves beyond tinkering with the existing tax code. While it certainly won't satisfy FairTax supporters, it differs drastically from anything Democrats have proposed. Americans will be dealt the largest tax increase in history if liberals have their way in Congress.

Other goals that are noteworthy include:

• Passing entitlement reform that addresses the problems facing Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
• Balancing the federal budget by 2012 without raising taxes.
• Prohibiting federal spending from growing faster than the economy.
• Extending the current welfare work requirements to food stamps and housing.
• Making portability a central component of health care reform.

Posted in Congress | Congress | Earmarks | Energy | Flat Tax | Republicans | Spending — Comments (49)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 11:01am on Jun. 7, 2008 The Age of Scrutiny.

Welcome to the Fishbowl.

By Moe Lane

Let us start with this clip:

...which is undoubtedly going to be brought up quite often, in light of Senator Clinton's anticipated concession speech tonight. As Ed Morrissey noted: "Has Obama become safely complex since February?"

The problem for Hillary is that these statements stick because they have a great deal of truth in them. The RNC has a library of these comments ready for ads in the fall. Every time she hits the road for Obama, the Republicans will remind voters of Hillary’s real opinions of Barack Obama. She’ll either have to say she was lying then or come up with ridiculous rationales to pretend that Obama has overcome these gaping liabilities — and with Obama making gaffe after gaffe, those rationales will look very weak.

But that's not actually what this post is about. This post is about what Neal Stephenson called "the Age of Scrutiny," back in 1995.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Democrats | John McCain | Republicans — Comments (13)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:27am on May 14, 2008 Elections

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Another Tuesday, another Presidential primary. And in shocking news, Hillary Clinton announces that she is not going to get out of the Presidential race just yet. Her campaign communications director, Howard Wolfson, got on CNN this evening and insisted that the magic number for delegates is 2,209--and yes, that is the number that you get if you include Florida and Michigan in the mix. We are obviously going to go to June 3rd and perhaps longer if the Clintons believe that they have any chance whatsoever of winning the nomination--or at least going on long enough to ensure that they are able to extract concessions or even set up Barack Obama for a defeat in the fall, thus opening the way for Hillary Clinton to capture the nomination in 2012.

Meanwhile, it isn't as if Republicans don't have problems. There is no denying it anymore--if it could even be denied in the run-up to tonight; Republicans have serious problems with the brand identity. Yes, I know that there are six months left until the election but what else needs to occur for the GOP to realize that it has a very serious problem on its hands? There have been any number of indications concerning a Republican image problem and nothing has been done to ameliorate matters. Either Republican leaders get on the ball very quickly, or the GOP is headed for yet another round of epic Congressional losses.

This is all obvious, I know. But apparently, the Republican Congressional leadership class has still not caught on.

Posted in 2008 | Democrats | Republicans — Comments (75)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:42pm on May 7, 2008 California Republicans open primaries

By Neil Stevens

I was sitting here, reading my sample ballot for the June primary election here in California, and noticed something startling. It says here that nonpartisan voters may request a ballot for any of the following parties: Democratic Party, Republican Party, American Independent Party. This is a change. In the past, independents could only vote in the Democratic and AI primaries.

Clearly, the California Republican Party has changed the policy. I assume this happened at the last convention in San Francisco, during which my attention was focused on the platform fight.

This is disappointing to me. As things stand, conservative stalwarts in the party do the state a great service by leveraging their Constitutional prerogatives and limiting the tax-and-spend desires of the Democratic majority. If we allow ourselves to be watered down by 'independents,' then we could destroy that, and the Democrats would be able to run amok raising taxes, supermajority requirement or no.

I, for one, personally prefer we go back to having truly closed primaries. Even if "moderating" on spending, taxes, and culture would net us a few more seats, it could cost us what limited success we do have in Sacramento.

Posted in California | open primaries | primaries | Republicans | State Politics — Comments (12) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:25am on May 7, 2008 Sobering Article @ the Politico

By Martin A. Knight

The silver lining around this cloud is that our people in Congress have been made aware of the seriousness of our situation now - six months out - instead of a few weeks before Election Day as it happened in 2006.

Thankfully, this time the Turn Out! Turn Out!! Turn Out!!!™ delusion that masked the approaching disaster then is dead and buried.

... in a closed-door session at the Capitol, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told members that the NRCC doesn’t have enough cash to "save them" in November if they don’t raise enough money or run strong campaigns themselves.

Posted at 10:26pm on May 4, 2008 Let's Start Calling Them "McCainocrats"

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

The New York Times came out yesterday with an article discussing the purported tendencies of what we are led to believe are legions of Republicans ready to jump across party lines to support Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama not just during the primary contest, but in the general election once one of them captures the Democratic Presidential nomination.

Some context follows:

1. CBS News reports that in a general election fight, McCain gets 18% of Democrats against Obama and 12% against Clinton.  By contrast, Obama and Clinton take 11% and 10% of Republicans respectively.
   
2. In the Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll, we find that McCain gets 22% of Democrats against Obama and 15% against Clinton. Meanwhile, Obama and Clinton take 13% and 6% of Republicans respectively.
   
3. See also this.

Maybe it is high time for the New York Times to run a piece on the "McCainocrats" and the danger that they pose to the Democratic Party. You know, to justify that whole "reality-based community" appellation for once.

Posted in 2008 | Democrats | John McCain | Party Identification | Republicans — Comments (63)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 11:50am on Apr. 11, 2008 Republican Online Activists: Stand Up and Be Counted

By Adam C

Compared to the online activism on the left, Republicans lack woefully in many capacities. No one person can change this overall difference in online activism, but here are some basic things you can do to make sure Republicans are standing up and being counted in the online competitions. Note that Tech President keeps track of facebook friends, myspace friends, web traffic and other indicators of online activity. Without costing you a dime, you can help Sen. McCain and Republicans show they exist online by doing the following:

Posted in 2008 | Facebook | MySpace | Online Activism | Republicans — Comments (8) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:05pm on Mar. 13, 2008 Pointing Out That Not Supporting Candidates In Hostile Territory Is NOT How To Build A Majority Party ...

By Martin A. Knight

This comment on eabo-clipper's "Mr. Ogonowski Goes To Washington" diary is one of those bits of political conventional wisdom that I think, in the long run, turn out to be not so wise. A good thing I will say about it though, is that it gave me the impetus to diary something that's been on my mind for a while; getting back on offense.

Please, [NRSC Chairman, Senator John] Ensign ... no. The NRSC can't afford to dump money here. Ogonowski lost in the most conservative district of Massachusetts ...

With all due respect, I think this attitude needs to go.

Read on ...

Posted in Archived | expansion | hostile territory | ogonowski | Republicans — Comments (55) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:51am on Mar. 7, 2008 Money = Enthusiasm

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Part of the political narrative this campaign season has been the argument that the vast sums of money raised by the remaining Presidential candidates is indicative of the enthusiasm Democrats feel for the upcoming election cycle. I suppose that there is some truth to that claim but I find it a little bit harder to believe--especially after reading this--that Republicans suffer from a lack of enthusiasm so pronounced as to make them uncompetitive in the election.

The Democrats can claim that they haven't structured their party to raise and keep a large financial reserve, but the ability Republicans have to amass cash--and President Bush and Vice President Cheney will have their roles in amassing a whole lot more--means that they will be able to coordinate with and assist John McCain's candidacy quite effectively.

To be sure, Democrats will catch up when their party selects a nominee. But that could take a while, from what I hear. And by the time it happens, any increase in the party's coffers may be offset by the decrease in the coffers of the eventual nominee since gobs of money doubtlessly had to be spent to defeat the eventual nominee's remaining rival.

Posted in 2008 | Democrats | Mother's Milk | Republicans — Comments (1)/ Email this page » / Read More »