ledeagenda.com

As reported in the Statesman:

The House voted 51-15 Wednesday to simplify Idaho elections after a late-session deal revived a bill that failed last month in a Senate committee.

The bill would limit most elections to May and November beginning in 2011. Public schools could schedule levy and bond elections on alternative dates in March and August.

The Legislature would provide $4.1 million annually to pay for elections, as well as $1.5 million extra to help counties buy new voting equipment. The previous, failed measure included just $3.1 million in funding and required schools to pay for elections on alternative dates, something to which senators objected.

Idaho Republicans, in particular, contend the state’s current system, under which as many as 450 elections can be held on multiple dates, creates “stealth” votes at obscure polling places with few taxpayers even knowing something is on the ballot.

Libertarian and constitutionalist Republicans haven’t gotten much of this session- more regulations, more taxes and an increasing dominance to the size, scope and authority of State government.

However, the Election Date Reform bill has the power to implement the most significant changes to empower the voter in quite some time. No more will school districts be able to hide their bond elections on obscure dates, no more will unknown tax districts be able to hide from the public. True accountability to the taxpayers begins with standardized election dates.

But we need to get the Senate to sign off on this bill first. They are planning to head home this week, the House has already done so.

Click Here to get your Senator’s phone number. It’s too late to write or email. You must call. If you’re one of the lucky ones who has your Senator’s cell phone number, send them a text message. Don’t rant, just say Pass the Election Date Reform bill please.

Remember- the Founders intended for all Government to be answerable to the people, we must make sure that our tax elections are consistent with the principle of transparency that they set out for us.

So a RINO comes out of the closet. I hope more of them do. Perhaps they can take John McCain and Arnold with them.

After all, Specter only serves as a reminder for the Libertarian and constitutionalist wing of the Republican party that the GOP has wandered dangerously off course from it’s stance as the “limited government and smaller taxation” party. One needs to look no further than John McCain’s suspension of his miserably failed Presidential bid to vote in favor of the bailouts as anecdotal evidence.

We can wallow in despair at the tempest in Washington realizing that Congress in now effectively controlled by socialist-nationalists. We can mourn the loss of representation and accountability to the Constitution. We can go about making self-fulfilling prophecy’s of doom and gloom. But do we need to?

First,  we need to admit that it is we who failed; we need to admit it is we who enacted the legislation that Barrack Obama, POTUS, will now use to garner unprecedented Executive control over the nation. Second, we need to repent, for liberty and freedom are given to us by God. And third, we need to saddle up and fight as if our nation’s very survival depends on our ideas, because it does.

I would like to submit to the most ardent and staunch Republicans that a new grassroots campaign is now sweeping the nation and that the Republican party really has only two choices: take it or leave it. I would like to submit to the Republican party that in the wake of the Ron Paul’s failed Presidential bid, in the wake of the banker bailouts, in the wake of the massive nationalization of our economy a new political movement has been born.

Liberty. Freedom. Adherence by Congress to the constitutional limitations placed on it. These are the ideals people are speaking of now. These are the values people will vote for.

There really isn’t an option here: The Republican party has hit bottom. We have lost the House, the Senate and the  Presidency. We have less than half of State Governorships. We are missing key fund-raising goals. For the Republican Party to return to a  party with any significant national power we will have to admit that we have failed, and failed miserably.

But the path ahead need not be hard-fought or gained through further compromise. A brushfire of Liberty has been birthed, the Republican party needs to merely claim it as it’s own. One needs to look no further than the Tax Day Tea Party protests, the Campaign for Liberty or our Founding Documents to restore legitimacy to the party of Reagan, the party of Lincoln.

It’s really that simple. No more reaching out to moderates, no more targeting everyone but the conservative voter. You either legitimately seek to shrink government, taxes and regulations or your lose all status as a national party. After all, waiting in the wings of failure by the Republican party lies the Libertarian Party, who proudly proclaims their main principals at the header of their own website: smaller government, lower taxes, more freedom.

We Republicans certainly could use a little more of that.

Our Children will be forced to pay homage to The President, the country under HR1388, the “Serve America Act”. 

From Redstate.com:

And here are just a few of the lowlights in the legislation:

1. The bill will substantially increase the size and reach of an existing federal government program;
2. The bill will burden taxpayers with more than 5 billion tax dollars at a time when we should be cutting back, not spending more;
3. The bill will steer funding and volunteers for public service away from churches, individuals, neighbors, and others who would like to lend a helping hand and toward organizations selected by bureaucrats;
4. The bill is full of vague language and has insufficient safeguards to prevent left-wing special interest groups from using tax dollars to advance their agenda in the name of “community service;”
5. The bill risks politicizing charity and community service by funneling funds and volunteers toward the preferred organizations picked by ideologues;
6. The first 25% of this bill is really education legislation, and should be in an education bill at the state level; and
7. The bill will compound the disincentives created by new limits on federal tax deductions for charitable giving, thereby decreasing the role of families, churches and other local organizations in their communities.

When you look at the details – one realizes that it’s far worse than even that… more along the lines of full-scale indoctrination camps toward Statism. The legislation will, in many circumstances, force our children to participate in charitable activity as part of school – and that activity may well be chosen by or approved by a bureaucrat. The bill causes a federally chartered, Washington-based institution to, essentially, pick priorities and winners and losers in the charitable universe – undoubtedly putting many charities at a significant disadvantage…

None of this even considers the lack of Constitutional basis for such a massive federal intervention into local charities and volunteerism… but when does that ever stop anyone in Washington? And when coupled with the soon-to-be-reduced lower tax deductions for charities, the Obama-Democrat machine is massively shifting the focus of charity from the individual to the State.

As usual, your typical group of unprincipled, spineless Republicans is supporting it – and it’s hard not to forecast swelling numbers given the total eclipse of fortitude among Senate Republicans and the lack of direction from their leadership. Already co-sponsoring the Senate companion (S.277) are Senators Gregg, McCain, Hatch, Cochran, Wicker (MS pork alert!!), and Snowe. And Senator Isakson waxed on about its virtues on the Senate Floor just yesterday… hardly surprising, unfortunately.

This is compulsory national service, a clear advancement of the state and an attempt to legalize politically correct attitudes in free-market service transactions. This isn’t fear-mongering, this bill WILL scrub charities for the goals of societal engineers at the State. Our children will be left will no choice but to succumb to the brainwashing or risk destroying their educational foundation. This bill will all but certainly usher in a thought-police state to narrow us to the social goals mandated by Washington.

The Compulsory National Service is also clearly unconstitutional. Even if parents have to fight the fight, we will win.

This bill is just yet another reason why I consider myself a Libertarian, for as long as the McCain, Rudy, and Arnold types still have a place in the party, our slim ability to block Obama’s socialist legislation in the U.S. Senate is doomed.

He started off by arguing that the Republican party needs to modify its positions to market itself to inner-city hip-hop youths, then goes on a self-destructing attack on Rush Limbaugh and releases a badly written RFP showing just how out-of-touch the GOP is on technology issues. And now this….

From AOL News Political Machine:

If this GQ article is quoting him accurately, Michael Steele has just admitted he is, by definition, pro-choice.

Are you saying you think women have the right to choose abortion?
Yeah. I mean, again, I think that’s an individual choice.

You do?
Yeah. Absolutely.

… Then, he goes on to sort of backtrack from that, essentially making an argument that it is, in fact, not an individual choice, but a state’s choice:

Are you saying you don’t want to overturn Roe v. Wade?
I think Roe v. Wade-as a legal matter, Roe v. Wade was a wrongly decided matter.

Okay, but if you overturn Roe v. Wade, how do women have the choice you just said they should have?
The states should make that choice. That’s what the choice is. The individual choice rests in the states. Let them decide.

Do pro-choicers have a place in the Republican Party?
Absolutely! I’m not sure if it is more concerning that Steele is pro-choice — or that he is unsure of his position on the Life issue.

This is relevant because during the campaign, Steele’s Pro-Life credentials came under question (from bloggers like me) for his service as co-chair of the Republican Leadership Council, a pro-choice group affiliated with Christine Todd Whitman. Steele’s line was essentially that he is a “Pro-Life Roman Catholic Conservative” …

Michael Steele needs to go. Period.

The Republican Party base is sick to death of this reach-out-to-everyone-but-the-conservative-base bull crap. You either want to shrink government, lower taxes and demand personal responsibility or you don’t. We don’t need this pandering to supposed moderates [Democrats] by compromising our core values.

Listen up GOP- you think you had fundraising troubles with McCain? Keep this clown at the helm for another year or two and see how many conservatives you have left.

If you want to appease the abortion lobby and the the inner-city community organizers, be my guest. Just don’t expect me to donate my time, labor or money. The Heartland doesn’t listen to Fifty-Cent.

From Redstate.com:

First things first.

GROW A DAMN SPINE WILL YOU PLEASE!!!!!

I am not trying to be disrespectful to either of you two gentlemen and we appreciate your hard work of course but may I offer some of what I feel to be some helpful criticism and some good advice as a humble private citizen.

For the love of God will you please stand up for the party and stop running from your own base.

I am speaking specifically of the way that both of you have seemed to run away from what Rush Limbaugh said about wanting Barack Obama’s socialist policies to fail.
I watched your recent responses on T.V. regarding his statement and it seemed that you two could not get away from the man fast enough.
The next time some stupid reporter asks you what you think of what Rush Limbaugh said about Barack Obama you look that guy in straight in the eye and say this:

“Rush Limbaugh is an American citizen and he is entitled to say whatever he wants about Barack Obama.”
Then ask the reporter if they have a problem with free speech.
Next, when they ask you if you agree with what he said you tell that reporter this:

“I promise to support Barack Obama just as much if not more than the way that Barack Obama,Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi and for that matter the entire Democratic party has supported George Bush over the last few years.”

Then you ask that reporter if he has a problem with that.
Since most reporters seem to love to put their own opinion into every story the report they should jump at the chance.
Try it just once.Turn the tables on them and ask them a question.
Ask them who they voted for.
Ask them what party they belong to.
Ask them if they earn more than $250,000 a year.
Ask them what they think of George Bush or if they voted for Bill Clinton.
Ask them what they think about abortion.

Any one of those questions will have them reeling back and stuttering instantly and I doubt they will answer it.
Ah…but their reaction will answer your question and all who are watching will see it laid bare.
Get in their face.Push back.You are not being interrogated for Pete’s sake.
Don’t worry about being polite with them.
Secretly they hate your guts and you need to realize that.
You will never get a fair shake from them so don’t worry about ruffling their feathers a little.
Put them in their place.They are nothing more than candy ass T.V. models working for the DNC.
Make them look like a fool once in a while.
How could it hurt?

I also have noticed that when they ask you and other Republicans certain questions that you do not have a good answer ready and start backtracking away form core principles of the party.

For example :”Tax cuts for the rich”
Let’s face it.Pundits know that they can tag you with that question at any time and you have no response and they make you look silly.

Try saying this.
“Of course I support tax cuts for the rich you jackass.Who do you think puts people to work in this country….?The poor?“
Then ask them if someone wants a good job should they turn to a wealthy man or go to a public housing project and which may be more fruitful.
Wealthy people put this country to work.Poor people do not.
Why are you ashamed to admit that?
Whenever you tax the rich even higher you are killing a job somewhere.
Now you simply turn back to the pundit or reporter and ask them if they support putting somebody out of work.
Ask them who will spend that money better and put it into the private sector faster and more efficiently.
The federal govt. or a private businessman?
You guys need to realize that small business owners work very hard for their money and you need to protect them from the govt.
Will you please stick up for them with a little vigor?
One small businessman can put 30 people to work with good jobs but if those “wealthy” or “rich” people get over taxed by the govt. someone is going to be unemployed.

Remember this.
EVERYBODY wants to be rich.
We all do.What’s so bad about that?This is America.It’s the land of opportunity and the land of the free.It’s not the land of the free lunch.
Why are you so ashamed to stick up for rich people?
What is so great about being poor?
Being poor sucks.
Keep in mind that the person asking you about “tax cuts for the rich” is no doubt a millionaire themself or will soon be.
T.V. people make big bucks and it is the height of hypocrisy for them to be criticizing the rich as if they aren’t themselves or rub elbows with them all day long.
You want to keep in mind that the senior leadership of the DNC are ALL MILLIONAIRES!!!!
Some many times over.

Here is another little tidbit I think may be helpful.
Stop worrying about every little thing that might offend somebody.
It’s a false premise.Those people aren’t really offended but merely pretend to be to push you into a corner.
Nobody offends more people than a liberal.If you’re a Christian or pro-life,in the military or a Republican,if you like Christmas or traditional American customs and cultures or supported George Bush it will be a liberal that will attack you without shame.
When has it ever cost them?
Barack Obama spent twenty years in a church that makes a KKK rally look like a Scout jamboree.Harry Reid said the war in Iraq was lost.John Kerry called the troops stupid.John Mutha called his own constituents rednecks.Their whole damn party tried to tank the war in Iraq just for political gain.They disgust me.
Don’t worry about it.
Liberal offense is just a tactic that they use to corner you and make you backtrack.
Be ready for it and stop apologizing .
It’s embarrassing when I have to watch you guys always apologizing.Tell someone to shut up once in a while.
Stand up be proud of who you are and your party and do not let some stupid reporter get the best of you on camera.

Let me tell you a little about myself.
I work very hard and own my own home.I want to keep every penny I can and I don’t like to give it to the govt. so they can just give it away like I am an open ATM machine.
In 2000 and 2004 I gave George Bush and the GOP hundreds and hundreds of dollars.
In 2006 after watching John McCain and Lindsey Graham basically call me a bigot because I didn’t want to open the border to Mexico and make millions of illegals instant citizens my generosity came to an end.
I don’t think I was the only one.
The GOP has betrayed it’s core.
It’s true.
You guys need to get with the program and stop picking my pocket.
My point is that the GOP shouldn’t just assume that they have my support,my money or my vote all locked up.
You don’t.
The next time I gave money was when John McCain nominated Sarah Palin for V.P.
I sent $100 that very night.I voted for McCain but I was holding my nose when I did.
The guy wasn’t floating my boat if you get my drift.
Definitely not my first choice.

Just recently I received a fundraising letter from Sen. Jim DeMint.
I sent it back empty except for a note that I enclosed that basically said “When you show me something worth paying for I will send some money but If you wish to be a RINO then I can have a Democrat for free.”
I did.
I’m not joking.

This is my point.
I am a Republican of the Ronald Reagan party.I loved the Gingrich revolution and the Contract with America.I am proud of my country and support our troops and their mission.I want our borders secure and my taxes low.
I am not embarrassed by Sarah Palin.I adore the woman and was very disappointed in the way she was left hanging by her own party.
Whatever happened to guts and chivalry…?
You guys dropped the ball.
The GOP owes her a huge apology.

Remember this.
Anytime that the GOP moves closer the the DNC my wallet closes just a little bit tighter.
I do not want bi-partisanship if it means surrender to the likes of Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and the rest of that band of thieves.
I will not support anyone who wishes to support them either.

You need to decide which party you work for if you want my vote or my money.
RINO’s get ZERO!!!!

Thank you and have a good day.

Sad as it is, I think we may be witnessing the death of the Republican Party. I do not think the coalition of big-business, libertarians and conservatives will be able to hold together much longer. I know, for me, the line in the sand was the nomination John McCain. I will not tolerate RINO’s anymore. I will vote third-party if I have too, I will not be coerced into voting against my principals.

From CNN.com:

(CNN) — On Monday, Congressional Republican leaders put out a list of what they call wasteful provisions in the Senate version of the nearly $900 billion stimulus bill that is being debated:
• $2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Department of Energy defunded last year because it said the project was inefficient.

• A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.

• $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program.

• $88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship).

• $448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.

• $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters.

• $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.

• $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD’s.

• $1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs.

• $125 million for the Washington sewer system.

• $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities.

• $1 billion for the 2010 Census, which has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion.

• $75 million for “smoking cessation activities.”

• $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges.

• $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI.

• $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.

• $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.

• $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas.

• $6 billion to turn federal buildings into “green” buildings.

• $500 million for state and local fire stations.

• $650 million for wildland fire management on forest service lands.

• $1.2 billion for “youth activities,” including youth summer job programs.

• $88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service.

• $412 million for CDC buildings and property.

• $500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities in Bethesda, Maryland.

• $160 million for “paid volunteers” at the Corporation for National and Community Service.

• $5.5 million for “energy efficiency initiatives” at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration.

• $850 million for Amtrak.

• $100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint.

• $75 million to construct a “security training” facility for State Department Security officers when they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies.

• $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems.

• $200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations.

Apparently spending ourselves into oblivion is the solution for the depression caused by spending ourselves into oblivion. Wonderful.

Redstate.com alerts us:

After weeks of obnoxiously promoting his support for a taxpayer-funded automaker bailout, Rep. Thad McCotter (R-Mich.) voted for the bill last night. Erick has already explained why McCotter is just plain wrong and Michelle Malkin points out the hypocrisy, but I want to take it a step further.

McCotter was reelected chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee last month. Why is the No. 4 ranking Republican serving as the leading crusader for the automaker bailout? Does this not send the wrong message for a party trying to get back to the principles of limited government and fiscal responsibility? For the past several weeks, McCotter has aggressively campaigned for the bailout’s passage — even launching an online petition on his congressional website. As a Detroit native and Michigan congressman, it’s not surprising that he feels an affinity for the Big Three.

But when McCotter was elected Republican Policy Chairman, he became more than just your average congressman. He’s a member of the Republican leadership — and his actions are more meaningful than most other members. If he strays on important votes, it becomes much harder the GOP whip operation to impose discipline on other members.

If this vote is a sign of things to come, Republican Leader John Boehner is in for a rocky road in the 111th Congress. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

It is because of positions like this that the Libertarian party can now rightly claim itself to be the legitimate heir to the ideals of limited government, smaller taxation and personal responsibility. It is because of Republicans like Rep. McCotter that conservatives, constitutionalists and libertarians are leaving the party in droves. The Reagan Coalition will not work if all that is left is the neoconservative Republicans.

Redstate notes: We can still stop this- call your Senator at 202-224-3121 and urge him to vote no.

I will take it a step further: No matter the outcome of this bill Rep. McCotter needs to resign or be otherwise removed from the GOP Policy Committee.  It is quite simply unacceptable for any Republican, who claims to represent limited government, smaller taxation and personal responsibility, to support taxpayer funded bailouts of any private sector company.

There can be no compromise on this, very soon we will only have 41 votes in the Senate to block objectionable legislation. The GOP cannot afford McCain, McCotter, Rudy or Arnold. We cannot afford RINO’s in the party when even one defection vote could give the Democrats enough votes to push their agenda through.

If the GOP will not clean it’s idealogical house then our slim ray of hope with the 41 Republican senators will be meaningless. If conservatives can help steer McCotter out of this important policy position it would set us up nicely for the GOP Chairmanship election to be held in late January. The GOP cannot afford another “reach out to moderates” compromiser.

The GOP must take strong decisive action to make sure that in at least the key leadership and policy position that Republican ideals are being represented. It is because we have failed to do this that we lost our edge in recruiting, fundraising, polling and most importantly, the elections themselves.

Wake up people- there is no Democratic rule anymore. Voting for your representatives is meaningless. Government will do whatever it wants, no matter what the people or our representatives say.  I am coming to the conclusion that challanging the constitutional authority of government may be the only way to stop the insanity. I am furious, livid and pist off that despite being voted down, the Treasury Secretary thinks he has the authority to dole out loans to the automakers anyway.

By the grace of God it appears that the nation will be spared a filibuster proof majority in the United States Senate. Senator Chambliss appears to be headed for victory in the Georgia Senate runoff. The Republican party should be able to hold 41 seats, preventing the needed 60 Democratic votes to stifle any dissent on proposed legislation.

Mind you, we still are a nation that has much to fear. Pelosi, Reid and Obama now control the fate, destiny and direction of the guideship of liberty. If the Republicans have spent like drunken sailors over the last eight years, it now appears that the U.S.S. Constitution is to be headed without a crew to man it. Will the Captain return to pilot this vessel through the storm?

There will be calls for Republicans to unite with this win. We will be told that we have the power to stop an unchecked Democratic agenda. And, that much is true, the Republicans will be able to muster filibusters as needed for key pieces of legislation that need to be stopped. However, filibusters are really only good as an option of last resort and certainly cannot be used to oppose the vast majority of the Democratic control.

But I want to make some more sobering thoughts in light of these calls to unite the 41 Republican senators. My main observation is this: it will only be worth our efforts to rebuild the Republican brand and be a stalwart force against a unchecked a unchecked liberal agenda if the Republican party can present a clear, concise and opposing direction to the options presented by Pelosi, Reid and Obama.

The ONLY way that the 41 Republicans will be meaningful in the United States Senate is if they consistently vote for limited government, smaller taxes and personal freedoms.

I want to make it plainly clear: the time for Republicans to compromise their ideals to “work with” the Democrats is over.

As much as I like the Terminator movies, we cannot afford the Arnold/Rudy/McCain branch of the Republican party anymore. The socially progressive, economically liberal branch of the Republican party would have us vote with the 58 Democrats and Joe Lieberman (technically an Independent) nearly one hundred percent of the time.

This will be contrary to what the MSM will tell us. The liberal media will be more than happy to fan on about how the Republicans lost because the public and rejected their ideals and that its time to moderate and “embrace change”. The lie they will tell you is that the way for the Republican party to move forward is to continue to drift away from its constitutional principals of limited government, smaller taxes and personal freedoms.

In reality, Obama voters, according to a survey reported on Newsbusters, don’t know “The Messiah’s” policy positions. Conservative voters do, and they also know John McCain’s. I propose this: had the left not infiltrated the Republican primary to nominate McCain for the nominee and we had run a real conservative the results would have been much, much closer to the 50/50 split we have seen in the last two elections.

Had we run a real conservative championing limited government, not suspending his campaign for government bailout votes, we would not have had to rely on a paltry $86 million in public financing. We could of very easily competed with Obama’s $600 million dollars in broken campaign promises and illegal foreign donors had we nominated a Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee or Mitt Romney.

But we didn’t. Because we have let the moderates, the Republicans-In-Name-Only run the party for far too long. Let’s call a sheep and sheep and a wolf and wolf. The term moderate, as used by the media, really can be interpreted as, “how often do you vote with the liberal agenda”.

In other words- Saxby Chambliss’s win is only significant if we embrace his own call to return to our roots:

Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, whose re-election on Tuesday stopped Democrats from winning a potentially filibuster-proof majority in the next Senate, said today that the lesson for Republicans from his triumph is to return to Ronald Reagan’s basics.

“And that is Republicans stand for smaller government, fiscal responsibility, more individual rights and freedoms, and lower taxes. And we’ve got to get back to those fundamentals,” Chambliss said on Fox News Channel. “That’s what we talked about on the campaign trail and, obviously, it resonated with our constituents here.”

I am embracing Senator Chambliss’s call. Now let us be on guard for the media assault on the direction of our party, we know full well that it will come.