The Conservative Revolution

Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) is leading the charge to lift the congressional moratorium on offshore drilling. As David Freddoso of National Review Online notes,

“On September 30 — two months from today — the ban on fossil-fuel drilling off America’s Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and in the oil-shale fields of the West will expire. Democrats, who control both houses of Congress, must pass an appropriations bill extending the bans.”

This means that the moratorium can only continue this year if the Democrats decide to add it to appropriations legislation.

This is not something that the American people are going to support this year, given the rising costs of fuel. President Bush has said some positive things about increasing our domestic exploration, and has lifted the presidential moratorium against offshore drilling. Hopefully congressional Republicans have the fortitude to take this issue to the American people.

Liberals in Congress want to continue to block attempts to increase our domestic supply of oil and gas, while conservatives want to begin the process of lowering prices. In the words of Dick Armey, it is time to DRILL DRILL DRILL.

It’s about time. Senator Stevens (R-AK) represents everything that is wrong with politicians. He is a corrupt, self-righteous politician who uses his influence and taxpayer money to enrich himself.

This indictment (and hopefully conviction) is good for the American people, and it’s good for the Republican Party, which needs a house cleaning. Here is the report from Reuters.

The U.S. Justice Department has scheduled a news conference for 1:20 p.m. to make an announcement “regarding a significant criminal matter.” The official said the news conference would announce the criminal charges against Stevens that have been returned by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C.

Senator Obama is a tax and spend liberal. There is no doubt about that. He supports raising the capital gains tax even though he admits that it will not increase government revenue. He argues that raising this tax is merely an issue of “fairness.” He does not seem to care about the harmful economic impact of raising such taxes.

Consistent with his redistributionist tendencies, Obama also wants to raise the payroll tax on Social Security for anyone making over $250,000. Here is a good critique of that policy from Lawrence Lindsey:

“Obama’s plans would provide a powerful incentive for the highest-earning Americans to work less, invest less and contribute less to the economy.”

This would fundamentally change the purpose of Social Security. It was never meant to be a welfare program based on a progressive taxation scheme. It was only meant to provide income to retirees with money from current workers.

The federal government doesn’t need more revenue, it needs to cut spending and lower tax rates. Otherwise, if Obama gets his way and pushes through massive new spending on things like health care or universal pre-school, he will have to substantially increase taxes on everyone to pay for it.

With the economy slowly moving along, the worst thing we could do is increase taxes and spending, and cause capital to flee our shores. Let’s hope the American people realize this before they sign on to Obamania.

David Bossie from the group Citizens United is running ads for his brand new movie on Barack Obama. He previously made a film about Hillary Clinton that is now less useful, given her exit from the presidential race. But don’t be surprised if it becomes relevant again in four years.

In the meantime, Bossie and Citizens United are focusing their efforts on educating the public about the real Barack Obama. And in a few weeks his movie will be complemented by the upcoming book by three young authors called Who is The Real Barack Obama? This book is authored by Francisco Gonzalez, Steve Bierfeldt and yours truly. In the book we seek to point out that Barack Obama is just another politician, not an agent of systematic change. And he has a far left voting record on everything from economic issues to national security to social issues. If you are interested in purchasing the book when it comes out, check in at our facebook group here. In the meantime, enjoy the trailer for Hype: The Obama Effect, by Citizens United.

A friend and former classmate of mine at The Institute of World Politics is taking on corrupt Rep. John Murtha in Pennsylvania’s 12th congressional district. Bill Russell is a former Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army, a reservist and a veteran of both Iraq wars. He attended the same church as me in Franconia, VA before he moved to Pennsylvania to take Murtha on. If you have an extra $15, 20 or 50 bucks lying around, consider donating it to Bill’s campaign.

Because he is on duty now, he can’t campaign until September 1st. So his campaign manager, family, friends and volunteers are doing the heavy lifting for now. Bill is a conservative who stands for God, family and country, and he needs your help to take on one of the most corrupt politicians in the Congress. Readers of this blog know that I don’t often endorse candidates, because that is not my primary focus, but this is one candidate whom I know, trust and respect. He deserves our support. Please do what you can to ensure that Bill beats John Murtha in November’s election.

Here is a message from his campaign manager:

As The Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire blog reports, Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty is going to kick off with a bang in Minnesota in a few weeks, right alongside the Republican National Convention. The attendance is expected to be huge, which is why the organizers had to change the venue to accommodate for all those who want to attend.

Paul’s Rally for the Republic is not meant to disrupt the Republican convention, but rather to remind Republicans that they should stand for limited government, the Constitution and individual liberty. The Campaign for Liberty is the spin-off from Ron Paul’s presidential campaign, in which he raised a ton of money and garnered the support of thousands of hardcore activists. Now, Paul will focus on supporting candidates that share his conservative views. This should make for an interesting time during the Republican convention.

Human Events has a wonderful piece up about Lt. Matthew Vandegrift, the Marine that has been honored by the decision of his local community to name a new high school after him. Lt. Vandegrift is a role model for all young Americans, and I am happy to report that the school district in Leander, TX will stick to their guns and honor this Marine as they should. Here is an excerpt from the story.

In a fitting act, the Leander School district in Texas voted unanimously to name their new high school, opening in 2010, to honor him. They have chosen to honor what most parents hope to see in the children they send out into the world: loyalty, honor, bravery and determination.

Read the entire article here.

The support coming from around the country for this effort has been phenomenal! Thanks to everyone that called, emailed or faxed the school board to let them know that naming Leander ISD’s next high school after Lt. Vandegrift is an honorable thing to do. I have been quite impressed with your rapid work on this effort.

Here are some friendly blog posts from Gathering of Eagles and Pat Dollard. And here is a posting on Free Republic.

One of my friends wrote a piece about the story, and hopefully it will be published in the next few days. In the meantime, you should all know that the school board has received hundreds of communications from folks around the country. I doubt that the small group of protesters will be able to derail this from happening.

A school district near Austin, TX wants to name a new high school there Vandegrift High School after a fallen Marine who graduated in 1999. He was killed in Iraq serving his country, and the local school board voted to name a new high school after him. This is a great gesture of appreciation. But unfortunately some lunatic leftists are protesting this decision. Please contact the Leander ISD to let them know you support their decision, despite what a vocal, anti-American minority of fringe activists think.

Call the school district at 512-434-5000. Fax a letter to them at 512-434-5398.

Email them:

don.mccall@leanderisd.org
don.hisle@leanderisd.org
elizabeth.frey@leanderisd.org
grace.jordan@leanderisd.org
russell.bundy@leanderisd.org
will.streit@leanderisd.org
jim.sneeringer@leanderisd.org
Superintendent@leanderisd.org

The local school board is scheduled to discuss the matter again Thursday evening. The resolution originally passed unanimously. Please support this school board and encourage them to honor this fallen hero. Also, sign this guest book to express your support for the family in this difficult time.

UPDATE: Many of you have written the school board and superintendent. Thanks!

Here is the response I got from the Superintendent.

Mr. Steinhauser,

Bret Champion

While The New Yorker’s cartoon depiction of Barack and Michelle Obama as radical terrorists is making lots of news, the interesting article inside the magazine on his rise in politics seems to be getting little attention. But this is one of the best articles I’ve read about Obama, and all voters should be familiar with its content.

The theme of the 18 page article by Ryan Lizza entitled, “Making It: How Chicago Shaped Obama“, is that Obama is a very practical politician not afraid to do what it takes to win. Lizza recounts the story of Obama using technicalities to bump his primary opponents off the ballot in his race for the Illinois Senate. Lizza writes, “he was able to remove not just Palmer’s name from the ballot but the name of every other opponent as well.” This doesn’t sound like “a new style of politics” but like the rough and tumble Chicago politics that Obama was engaged in for the last few years.

The article also provides further evidence of the relationship between Obama and Tony Rezko, who raised 10% of Obama’s funds for his first campaign. Lizza notes that Rezko and Obama dined together often and even vacationed together. This is in stark contrast to Obama’s assertion that he was not closely linked with the corrupt real estate developer.

Then there is the story about Obama’s near fight with another state senator on the floor. The senator involved says that Obama told him “I’m going to kick your ass!” Again, this doesn’t really seem like the politics of “change” or “hope.”

The best quote from the entire piece is the following:

“Perhaps the greatest misconception about Barack Obama is that he is some sort of anti-establishment revolutionary. Rather, every stage of his political career has been marked by an eagerness to accommodate himself to existing institutions rather than tear them down or replace them.”

The open question is whether independent voters will see Obama for what he is: just another power-seeking politician, rather than the political messiah that some of his younger, more idealistic supporters think he is. We may have an answer to this question on November 4th.