The Republican Leadership has to get it right this time

Rumblings of fear can be heard even over at the Huffington Post today on the potential for the GOP to make huge headway in taking back the reins of the country. Citing the growing discontent of the electorate at the Democrats 'experiment' with our economy, our social programs and our jobs, the writers nonetheless curb their hand wringing with the solace that the Republican Party is unable to find a way to get it's message out. They are right (pun intended). Stridency does work to some extent, with the Glenn Becks and various radio personalities revving up sentiment and getting their messages out. Unfortunately, these are the people that many believe are in charge of the party.

We need the calmer, level headed point men to be the face of the party, men and women who exude a sure and confident belief that they can get the country back on track after the attemtped derailment by the socialists now in charge. Of course they cannot call them socialists, just like the o cannot say he support euthanasia.

We all know that the o did not win by his stellar performance. He was placed in office by masterful manipulators, funded by most likely another state (opinion). Unthinkable cash placed him in the highest offices, as he was teleprompted by some of the best handlers in the world. Social platforms that turned out the young vote, rhetoric delivered that was energizing and carefully refined to feed the public what it wanted to hear, with no vetting by the media.

Now that America has had the great O, it is time to settle down. The afterglow is waning, and it is time to go back to being the grown up. Our leaders must show calm confidence to an electorate that has been shaken. The need a strong point of reference to focus the scattered energy. Sarah captured the need for plain talk. Not perfect, but a perfect example of the need for people to connect and believe that their leaders are not as disconnected as the president and his cronies are proving themselves to be. As they continue to shoot themselves in the foot, we need to quietly keep the gun loaded. The supply line needs to be established quickly with solid men and women who can use logic and humor to prove they can lead, not punish the nation, into future prosperity.

Barney Frank… Enough said huh? Well, not really, the ramblings of this man today at his press conference only compounds my confusion as to how he remains to be a person of influence in our federal government.

Barney Frank became the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee in 2007 when the Democrats took control of the House. Now that may seem innocent enough, after all Mr. Frank is a Harvard Law School Graduate and in Washington we know that means everything, but in 2003, while the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, Frank opposed a Bush administration proposal for transferring oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from Congress and the Department of Housing and Urban Affairs Development to a new agency that would be created within the Treasury Department. The proposal reflected the administration's belief that Congress "neither has the tools, nor the stature" for adequate oversight. Frank stated, "These two entities...are not facing any kind of financial crisis.... The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing."

A few more tidbits on Mr. Frank’s resume in congress…

In 2006, Frank was one of three Representatives to oppose the Respect for America's Fallen Hero's Act, which restricted protests at soldiers' funerals.

Frank has a 100% rating from NARL. He voted against the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act and against the criminalization of the transportation of minors across state lines by non-family members to circumvent local abortion laws.

In March 2008, Frank proposed the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2008 (HR 5843), which would decriminalize small amounts of the drug.

Barney Frank’s guidance and influence has been a main contributor to the current financial mess our mortgage industry is in and this congress continues to allow him a pulpit to spew his inane ideas to those who will listen.

Barney Frank is one of the top respected democrats in Congress… should it really be tough to turn this thing around??

Healthcare Reform, the beginning of the end?

As news trickles out begrudingly to the unwashed masses, the new world leaders are becoming more visible for their total disconnect from what makes us human. Ezekial Emmanuel, Rahm (the chief of staffs) brother is tapped as the presidents potential Medical Czar, the clarification of the character of this administration becomes more clear. Quotations from previous articles, published by respected journals such a the Lancet provide an insight into the thought processes that terrify me, and should anyone who has respect for the sanctity of the individual, not matter their physical condition. It is part of what makes us American, and what this administration continues to miss.
Emanuel, however, believes that "communitarianism" should guide decisions on who gets care. He says medical care should be reserved for the non-disabled, not given to those "who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens . . . An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia" (Hastings Center Report, Nov.-Dec. '96).
"Unlike allocation by sex or race, allocation by age is not invidious discrimination; every person lives through different life stages rather than being a single age. Even if 25-year-olds receive priority over 65-year-olds, everyone who is 65 years now was previously 25 years" (Lancet, Jan. 31). The bills being rushed through Congress will be paid for largely by a $500 billion-plus cut in Medicare over 10 years.
Dr. David Blumenthal, another key Obama adviser, agrees. He recommends slowing medical innovation to control health spending. Blumenthal has long advocated government health-spending controls, though he concedes they're "associated with longer waits" and "reduced availability of new and expensive treatments and devices" (New England Journal of Medicine, March 8, 2001). But he calls it "debatable" whether the timely care Americans get is worth the cost. (Ask a cancer patient, and you'll get a different answer. Delay lowers your chances of survival.) Obama appointed Blumenthal as national coordinator of health-information technology, a job that involves making sure doctors obey electronically deivered guidelines about what care the government deems appropriate and cost effective
In a Nov. 16, 2008, Health Care Watch column, Emanuel explained how business should be done: "Every favor to a constituency should be linked to support for the health-care reform agenda. If the automakers want a bailout, then they and their suppliers have to agree to support and lobby for the administration's health-reform effort."
Many of the quotations on this page were taken from an article in the New York Post, authored by Betsy McCaughey who is the founder of the Committee to Reduce Infec tion Deaths and a former New York lieutenant governor
I spent the day with friends to celebrate the 97th birthday of my greatest supporter. She is in a wheelchair, wears a hearing aid, and is otherwise terribly healthy. Ten years ago, after a horrendous car accident which took the life of her driver, she was in the ICU for a week. They told me she would not live, I carry POA, and said she would. Her incredible strength, humor and tenacity anchor me and those of us who were with her today. Who in hell is Ezekial, Obama, anyone, to tell me, that her life force is not worthy of their consideration?
Do we begin the slippery slope to dehumanizing us all if we accept this?

God Bless Those Who Serve and Those Who Gave All...

This weekend the bodies of three honored military soldiers will be laid to rest. These soldiers were serving the country they loved and honored and were true patriots.

Freedom is something that many take for granted. We go about our daily lives and don’t have to worry about bombs and mortars dropping in our neighborhoods, or secret police sweeping into our homes in the night to carry us off to some political prison for voicing our opinions. Freedom is a wonderful thing and it should be defended to the end.

Take a moment now, tomorrow, sometime, and think about the brave men and women who have served in the past, who are serving now, and those who will answer the call to service in the future.

I have known many veterans from many different times in our history, I am a veteran, I have a daughter serving today as you read this, and I have known many who have not served and would not ever serve. Each of us has reasons why we do things in this life, to each their own.

I hold a special place in my thoughts and prayers for anyone and everyone who has ever worn the uniform, braved the loneliness of that first flight out to a far away, unknown place, alone and a little scared for what lies ahead. I have also met very few people who have served who did not become better people for having served. It is an experience that few can relate to if they did not serve themselves. It takes a special courage to serve and put ones life on the line for the love of freedom and to protect those who we love.

I would also remind everyone that there are nefarious outlaws in this world who would do us all harm, bomb our schools and malls, poison our waters and destroy the freedom that we love. September 11, 2001 has become too faded a memory for many and we need to remember that the fight for freedom is not one we want to have to fight on our shores. There can be no compromise to the relentless fight that needs to be taken to the ones that would do us harm and those serving this cause are truly patriots and heroes.


Save a moment in your thoughts and prayers for the young soldiers who gave all in the name of defending our freedom and liberty and may God Bless them and their families.

Bar None

Will we seize the moment?

This is the time in history to rediscover the body of the ideology we as conservatives call the platform of the Republican Party. How high on moral ground do we dare climb while defending fellow conservatives who have crossed this line of morality which we defend? It’s time to re-evaluate our goals and define the path with which we plan to move into the future.

It’s easy to maintain the obvious and usual in our platform, pro-life, pro-family, fiscal responsibility, and smaller government, all which we can recite from memory. But what defines us as progressive reformists that will resonate with not only the majority, but the minority as well?

The time is now to define a platform with a not only a strong moral lining, but also provides direction defined by the needs of our nation now and moving into the future.

There is no doubt that the majority of Americans are starving for great leadership. It hasn’t been more obvious in recent memory than now that a well defined, well organized party will energize the voters in this country if the message is clear and positive. The American public will be looking for a clear message that the best of times are ahead of us and that the road to economic prosperity is through lower taxes, less spending, and fiscal responsibility within the government.

This economic recession is the opportunity for the Republican Party to stand up and be heard. The democrats are in charge of this mess, they own it and recovery will be slow at best. We will have plunged deeper into debt than at any time in our history as a nation and Americans will be looking for new leadership in the future who can provide hope and offer responsible plans to restore this country to its position of prosperity and envy of those around world.

As a party we have sacrificed all too often, we have condoned the inappropriate behaviors and brushed aside the utter malefaction of some we elect to high office and proceed to offer ourselves as the party of morality and family values. We have come to define ourselves and our party in terms of the things that we oppose, instead of clearly defining ourselves in terms of the things we believe to be right, honest, and best for our country.

I have heard the outcry to do whatever it takes to get our party elected and back in the majority. The fact remains that if this is the party with which we rally and regain control with, we truly won’t be any better off as a nation than we are right now. Those who believe that our platform should allow the compromise of our core values are compromising the future of our party and that of our country. Any platform not built on a strong foundation will fail in the long run. They may achieve moderate success but it will inevitably be temporary and fail to provide a base with which a democracy can survive and flourish.

In the last presidential election this country chose the only candidate who provided a glimmer of hope that things in Washington would change in the future. This candidate is in the process of proving that his is the party of politics as usual in Washington and ultimately more of the same.

As Republicans we have the opportunity of a lifetime at hand. We can seize this opportunity to rebuild our party from within, lay the foundation of our party on a platform that defines us for the things that we believe to be in the best interest of our country and our future. We need to recruit candidates, organize ourselves, and begin a grass roots movement to rebuild our party from within. If we don’t, I don’t see how we can expect the American public to hear our message, let alone believe in it.

The ultimate question remains…. Will we seize the moment?

Dusting off old candidates...?

The pendulum of politics has swung left, as far left as we have seen in generations. The spending and government dependency being crafted by the current presidential administration is unlike anything this country has seen since the boondoggle called the new deal.

Franklin D. Roosevelt presented his plan for economic recovery to the masses as a means to rebuild the American infrastructure and put people to work in a time when there was very little work. Today we call this ‘stimulus funding.’ We prop up corporations like GM and declare that ‘we’ cannot ‘afford’ to allow them to fail. ‘We’ are now getting exactly what we asked for right? The new deal failed miserably and the economic policies of the administration today will fail as well.

As Republicans we have an opportunity. We have an opportunity to recast ourselves as the party of the people. We are the people who cherish freedom, liberty, and respect the constitution as scribed by our founding fathers. It will never cease to amaze me that the founding fathers of our country, and there are many who do not get the credit that they are due, we so brilliant in construction of a free country. This was done in a time that travel was difficult, getting together as a political group involved great sacrifice to family and farm, and yet these sacrifices were made in the name of something great. Most helped shape our constitution and form a government, then went quietly back to their farms and families without fanfare.

As history tells us, our political landscape changes over time and the pendulum is as far left as it can go right now. We need to gear up and be ready for the swing back in the right direction. We can dig up our candidates of old and dust them off to march in parades and kiss babies, or we can take this opportunity to recruit our party back to greatness. I find it impossible to believe that we are so thin of right thinking people in this district that we cannot offer the voters a ‘great’ candidate. If we are in fact so thin of our base in this district, we indeed have a large hill to climb.

I don’t believe that we are thin of right thinking folks in this district. In fact, I believe that we are in the majority and in recent past the all too silent majority. Our message has not resonated with the majority and for this we have failed and given way to the left.

Gore Vidal once said,” Democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates.” Our platform has not been defined in a way that the voters in this district can attach hope that things will change if our candidate is elected. The silent campaign slogan has been, “ If elected, I will go to St. Paul and vote the party line, fall in line with the senior members of my party, bash the opposing party at every corner, and allow nothing to be accomplished as long as I hold the office!.” This campaign strategy knows no party line. Of course I am being facetious, no candidate in their right mind would actually utter those words out loud, but that is the message that the voters are hearing.

We have an opportunity to speak our message loud and clear. There has never been a better time to define ourselves as the party who represents the people, the individual, the small business owner, and the farmer, while assuring the downtrodden that there will be a helping hand available when needed. The people of this district are listening and we need to speak to them.

We will miss the opportunity of a generation if we don’t make these next elections great and elect candidates worthy of those who founded our great country and this great state. Dusting off old candidates who have made politics a career is a bad plan, more of the same old same sends a bad message to the voters and will only ensure that the strangle hold currently known as a DFL majority remains in St. Paul.

My 2 cents worth...

Chisago County Parade

Everyone loves a parade, right? As one fellow volunteer noted, thank goodness for global warming, it was the coolest parade in years! Passing out stickers for Sean Nienow, many of the people on the chairs and sidewalks throughout the route asked the question "which party?" We were comparing responses at the end, and found that 'conservative' was very well accepted, and even Republican, in the heart of the DFL! We can only hope that the mass insanity which helped to elect the current regime is subsiding.
In Minnesota, when you drive on the ice, our learned elders taught us to drive slowly..that speed creates a wave that can come back and crack the ice, sinking you and your vehicle. Let us hope that the Democratic party feels the repercussions of the speed in which they are driving our country into an icy hole, and the wave comes back to sink their plans of a socialistic society for all but their ruling caste.

Who Represents this District?

I have searched the legislative record high and low for accomplishments achieved by out local elected representatives in this district. Mr. Kalin and Mr. Olseen have left virtually no distinct impression in St. Paul as to having helped in any way. As a constituent of this district, I expect my representatives to not only represent this district, but contribute in plans that will keep our state on the path to a brighter future.

Both of our elected representatives went to St. Paul this past session and received their marching orders from the DFL leadership. I could not find one distinction that either of these two gentlemen represented our district in any manner other than listed as our elected officials in the state register. In fact, I’m not sure that I can even say that it appeared as though they actually represented the constituents of this district at all.

The DFL majority had a plan this session and it was very obvious. The plan wasn’t to attempt to repair the financial situation at the capital, it was to throw together a budget that included tax increases and massive increases in spending. They sent that bill to the governor expecting that he would veto it and they would have their cannons filled with fodder for the next election cycle. Fortunately our governor decided to use the power given to him and fix the budget presented. Right, wrong, or indifferent, he did what needed to be done and in doing so proved himself to be a great leader.

Our legislators in this district played along with this DFL game of cat and mouse and marched right in step with the DFL majority that has created the over taxing and overspending situation that this state has found itself in. Businesses are fleeing this state as quickly as they can, jobs are gone, fuel taxes are being piled on, real estate taxes are out of control, and our legislators have made no contributions to attempt to bring this budget into reality.

How can the voters in this district sit by and allow this to continue? It’s my contention that the voters in this district are ready to support candidates with fresh ideas, ideas that will provide a bright economic future for our district and for our state. In the next election cycle, let us provide candidates that will aggressively push for reform in St. Paul, not be afraid to be heard at the capital, regardless of party line or pressure from those so entrenched in the leadership in the halls of our capital. It is my true belief that a single voice in politics can be heard if it is the voice of reason and it is truly the voice that represents the people.

We have a golden opportunity in this next election cycle, we can find candidates who are truly electable as representatives of the people, by the people, for the people, or we can promote candidates who list their primary occupation as ‘legislators.’

DFL "Blame Game"

The DFL legislators are engaged state-wide, media-wide in their typical "blame game" tactic following their absolutely abysmal failure in the recent past legislative session.



They failed miserably as statesmen and lawmakers - and that clearly includes our own Jeremy Kalin and our own Rick Olseen as Representative and Senator respectively - in their principal duty as legislators which is to produce a balanced budget for the State.



For months - really through the entire Session - the DFL squabbled and argued and lied and deceived and came up with unconscionable proposals that the Governor simply had to veto to protect the taxpaying public.



And then, the DFLers and their local mistaken minions attempt to mask their own failure and gross incompetence by focusing "blame" on the Governor for carrying out gubernatorial responsibilities that are clearly and legally his to "unallot" portions of the proposed budget.



The Governor was/is obliged to do what the LEGISLATURE FAILED TO DO - namely have a budget in balance. And this he has done legally, constitutionally, necessarily through the "unallotment process."



There can be no blame legitimately ascribed or assigned to the Governor for doing what the process absolutely obligated him to do. The legislature did not balance the budget so the Governor had to do it - let that fact sink in folks!



The Governor was not "mean" or "unfair" or "illegal" in his actions. Bylaw and by state constitution the budget had to be balanced. There are two entities that can accomplish that: 1) the LEGISLATURE or 2) the GOVERNOR by the unallotment process.



The legislature failed whereupon the Governor acted! That is how it works!

Health Care Reform...

Arizona is on the right track on this. Republican Arizona Rep. Nancy Barto, chair of the House Health and Human Service Committee, has authored a bill, HCR2014, “The Healthcare Freedom Act, which will be placed on the Nov. 10 ballot in Arizona as a referendum.

If voters approve it, “The Healthcare Freedom Act” would, among other things, forbid any law that compels anyone “to participate in any health care system.” It would also allow patients to pay directly for health care services, and for doctors to receive such payments. (Such “topping off” is forbidden in some single-payer systems.) The amendment would also state that health insurance purchases could not be prohibited.

The amendment, then, nails a stake through the heart of two essential elements of a universal, single-payer system: Everybody in the system, and nobody outside the system. It also effectively forbids a Hawaii-style play-or-pay mandate on employers or a Massachusetts-style requirement that individuals obtain coverage. In a press release, Barto claimed that the act would “prevent citizens from being compelled to join a government-run health care system” and “guarantee the right to purchase private health insurance.”

During this last session, Sen. David Hann, R-Eden Prairie sponsored S.F.1281 and S.F. 325, while Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Delano, was the lead sponsor of H.F. 171, which would, among other things, forbid any law that “restricts a person’s freedom of choice of private health care systems or private health plans.” None of these plans made it out of committee but there is an interest in Minnesota to protect states rights and keep federalism from becoming total socialism.

I commend these two legislators for their courage to stand up and speak for what is right. This is the right track for our state now and in the future. This federal government purple gorilla is growing larger and becoming more invasive in the rights of individual states and our individual freedoms. If we allow the federal government to completely take over governing our every act, why in the world would we even have separate states?

The trampling of our rights to govern ourselves at the state level and our individual rights and freedoms as citizens of this free nation can only be likened to the forming of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics.

Those in power would have you believe that everyone deserves to have a home, a car, health care, but the simple fact is that in a free world, you deserve what you are willing to work for and that is it. Nothing is free and those willing sit around and do nothing, should get nothing.

“From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.” If you are comfortable with these words of Karl Marx, then God help our democracy because he also said “ Democracy is the road to socialism.”

House Cleaning...

It is time for the Republican Party to stand up to itself from within. If we are going to convince the American voters that we stand for liberty and family values, we need to clean up our act.

If the best we can endorse are candidates such as Mark Sanford, Larry Craig, John Ensign, Mark Foley… well, you get the idea, the list goes on and on, how do we dare ask the voters to embrace us as the party of family values?

I realize that there is ample representation among conservatives that don’t deserve to be lumped in with these dregs and it is my belief that there are plenty more in our base to fill leadership positions across the board who can refrain from soliciting prostitutes, having extramarital affairs, and sex in airport bathrooms. We need to renounce these worthless hypocrites for what they are. They do not stand for the values that we as conservatives strive to protect. There is no place to defend anyone who crosses the line of morality and those crossing that line should be cast out immediately.

We as conservatives need to aggressively start at the top of our own party, nationally and locally, and clean house once and for all. We need to establish a code of conduct that has no room for compromise. Then and only then can we ask for the trust of the taxpaying voter to lead them out of this economic turmoil.

Tyranny Vs. Liberty

The next election cycle in this state is going to prove to be more important than in recent history. The record deficit due to the local and national economic situation has left our state government in poor condition from an economic perspective as we all are aware. My compliments and thanks to Gov. Pawlenty for defending the taxpayers and using the powers of his elected office to make some tough decisions and work through the budget as best as could be expected.

The current legislature has failed us all as constituents, they failed to forward a reasonable balanced budget as required and would have increased taxes across the board for us all if left to their desires.

It is time that we as the conservatives in this state unite. Governor Pawlenty is not going to be there to avert disaster next time and the economic situation in this country and in this state suggest strongly that there will in fact be a next time to state budget crisis.

We as conservatives need to speak out loud and clear, we stand for liberty, personal freedom, fiscal responsibility, respect for law, and traditional family values. Every one of these values is under attack from the left in this country and in this state. The core principles on which this country was founded are under attack and there is an obvious attempt to kill democracy as it was intended by our founders. The current administration at the federal level, and the DFL majority in St. Paul is convinced that bigger, more controlling government is what the people desire.

We are approaching a tyrannical level in government and we need to remind the people that we as conservatives stand for liberty, the kind of liberty that stands up to tyranny and protects individual freedom. The freedom and liberty that we enjoy in this country is unlike any other in the world.

As conservatives we have a responsibility to move away from this ‘center’ we have found ourselves embracing. We need to refrain from compromising the core principles that our party was founded on and embrace the ideology of conservatism. I am convinced that the majority in our country, our state, and our district will rally with us to take back our freedoms from the tyranny that has grasped control in our governments.

We cannot afford complacency, our time to act is now or we risk losing every bit of freedom that has been granted to us by our founders and by the men and women who have given their lives to protect.

After all, We are Party of the American Dream.