Obama Tax Hike Exemption Card

The nice folks over at Americans for Tax Reform have produced for us the Obama Tax Hike Card.  I thought all of us out in politico land would want to get one before they run out. (jk obviously they can’t run out.)

It is a pretty fun gag they have come up with and they hammer the point home with some key Obama quotes:

“I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.”

–Candidate Barack Obama, Sept. 12, 2008

“If your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. I repeat: not one single dime.”

–President Barack Obama, Feb. 24, 2009

“The statement didn’t come with caveats.”

–Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs, April 15, 2009, when asked if the pledge applies to healthcare

The Chamber of Commerce & Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)

According to its website, the Chamber of Commerce’s mission statement is as follows:

“To advance human progress through an economic, political and social system based on individual freedom, incentive, initiative, opportunity, and responsibility.”

As such, you can understand my confusion when I read this by The Washington Examiner’s Timothy Carney:

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has issued its 2009 congressional scorecard, and once again, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Tex. — certainly one of the two most free-market politicians in Washington — gets the lowest score of any Republican.

Paul was one of a handful of GOP lawmakers not to win the Chamber’s “Spirit of Enterprise Award.” He scored only a 67%, bucking the Chamber on five votes, including:

• Paul opposed the “Solar Technology Roadmap Act,” which boosted subsidies for unprofitable solar energy technology.
• Paul opposed the “Travel Promotion Act,” which subsidizes the tourism industry with a new fee on international visitors.
• Paul opposed the largest spending bill in history, Obama’s $787 billion stimulus bill.

(Rep John Duncan, R-Tenn., tied Ron Paul with 67%. John McHugh, R-N.Y., scored a 40%, but he missed most of the year because he went off to the Obama administration.)

Growing up, I kept hearing about the great and powerful Chamber of Commerce, and how it was the defender of business. Being a naive conservative, I assumed “free market” and “pro-business” went together. Fortunately, the Chamber’s support of the bailout started my education, and Carney’s column last year about insurance companies- and, as such, the separation between “pro-business” and “pro-free markets” was the icing on the cake.

Going back to the Chamber’s mission statement, I would argue its ratings (and, related, some of its policy positions) violate the following portion of the statement: “advance human progress…based on individual freedom, incentive, initiative, opportunity, and responsibility.” Since when does supporting government bailouts, subsidies and other intrusions in the market increase human progress, individual freedom, initiative, opportunity and responsibility? (Hint: NEVER) One could argue incentive is helped by government intrusion, though obviously the Chamber and I disagree on where incentivizing should stop. Certainly, these sort of incentives violate the rest of the statement, and thus invalidate any defense of perverse government incentives.

Secondly, I would argue the Chamber is invalidating its very existence, which is to help businesses. Its site claims over 96% of the Chamber’s members are small businesses, with less than 100 employees. Since when does supporting items for big businesses (such as TARP) help those 96% of businesses that are too small to save?

Unfortunately, this is not the first time the Chamber has invalidated its mission or existence with its ratings. Last year, according to Carney (emphasis mine),

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., had the most conservative voting record in 2008 according to the American Conservative Union (ACU), and was a “taxpayer hero” according to the National Taxpayer’s Union (NTU), but the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says his 2008 record was less pro-business than Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton.
This year’s picture was less glaring, but it’s still more evidence that “pro-business” is not the same as “pro-freedom.” The U.S. Chamber is the former. Ron Paul, and the libertarian position, is the latter.

David Boaz at CATO says it best, in response to the rating (emphasis mine):

But to suggest that Paul is wrong to vote against business subsidies — or that DeMint was wrong to vote against Bush’s 2008 stimulus package and the $700 billion TARP bailout – certainly does illustrate how much difference there can be between “pro-business” and “pro-market.” Instead of “Spirit of Enterprise,” the Chamber should call these the “Spirit of Subsidy Awards.”

For what they’re worth, the Chamber’s House ratings can be seen here.

Thou Shalt Attend-Obama on Education

In his speech yesterday, President Obama championed the cause of institutionalized education and decried the tragedy inherent in not finishing Highschool.  “we know that we will need a highly educated workforce that is second to none. And we know that the success of every American will be tied more closely than ever before to the level of education that they achieve … Graduating from high school is an economic imperative …”  And, if you don’t complete highschool, you might as well give up on life, “high school dropouts are more likely to be teen parents, more likely to commit crime, more likely to rely on public assistance, more likely to lead shattered lives.  What’s more, they cost our economy hundreds of billions of dollars over the course of a lifetime in lower wages and higher public expenses.”  So, you see, highschool is kind of a big deal.  Because, of course, here in America, we require conformity.  Unless you want to end up a criminal, welfare receiving, teenage parent, you must do your thirteen years of mandatory time in school.  Unless, of course you’re one of the following individuals:

• Albert Einstein: Nobel Prize-winning physicist; “Time” magazine’s “Man of the Century” (20th century) (after dropping out of high school, he studied on his own and passed the entrance exam on his second try to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)

• John D. Rockefeller Sr.: Self-made billionaire American businessman-philanthropist; co-founder of “The Standard Oil Company;” history’s first recorded billionaire (dropped out of high school two months before graduation; took business courses for ten weeks at Folsom Mercantile College [a chain business school])

• Henry Ford: Self-made multimillionaire American businessman; assembly-line auto manufacturing pioneer;  founder of the “Ford Motor Company”

• Walt Disney: Oscar-winning American film/TV producer; animation and theme park pioneer; self-made multimillionaire founder and spokesperson of “The Walt Disney Studios/Company; “Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient; Congressional Gold Medal recipient; French Legion of Honor admittee/Medal recipient (received honorary high-school diploma from hometown high school at age 58)

• Abraham Lincoln: 16th President of the United States; (little formal education – Lincoln himself estimated approximately one year; home schooling/life experience; later earned a law degree through self study of books that he borrowed from friends)

• Carl Sandburg: Pulitzer Prize-winning American author (little formal education; later passed entrance exam to Lombard College and graduated)

• Diana, Princess of Wales

• George Burns: Oscar-winning actor/comedian (elementary school dropout)

• Dave Thomas: Self-made multimillionaire American businessman; founder-spokesperson of the “Wendy’s” fast-food restaurant chain (equivalency diploma)

• Martin Van Buren: 8th President of the United States (little formal education; began studying law at age 14 while an apprentice at a law firm, later became a lawyer)

• Andrew Carnegie: Self-made multimillionaire American businessman and philanthropist (elementary school dropout)

• John Chancellor: American television journalist; evening news anchorman

• “Colonel” Harlan Sanders: Self-made multimillionaire American businessman; founder-spokesperson of the “Kentucky Fried Chicken/KFC” fast-food restaurant chain (elementary school dropout; later earned a correspondence course law degree)

• Samuel L. Clemens (“Mark Twain”): Best-selling American author and humorist (elementary school dropout)

• Christopher Columbus: Italian explor er (little formal education; home schooling/life experience; went to sea in his youth)

• Davy Crockett: Early American frontiersman; U.S. Congressman (Tennessee Representative); died at the battle of the Alamo (little formal education – less than six months; home schooling/life experience)

• Charles Dickens: Best-selling British author (elementary school dropout)

• Joe DiMaggio: National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee; Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient

• Sir Francis Drake: British explorer; knighted in the United Kingdom (little formal education; home schooling/life experience; went to sea in his youth)

• George Eastman: Self-made multimillionaire American inventor; founder of the “Kodak” roll film camera, corporation, and chemical company

• Thomas Edison: Self-made multimillionaire, most famous and productive inventor of all time; invented the filament electric light bulb, phonograph, and motion picture camera; electrical power usage pioneer; Congressional Gold Medal recipient; knighted (France: bestowed the rank of Chevalier, (had no formal education – home schooled)

• Benjamin Franklin: American politician – diplomat – author – printer – publisher-scientist -inventor; co-author and co-signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence; one of the founders of The United States of America; face is pictured on the U.S. one-hundred dollar bill (little formal education [less than two years]; home schooling/life experience)

• Clark Gable: Oscar-winning actor

• George Gershwin: Oscar-nominated and most celebrated American songwriter-and classical composer; Congressional Gold Medal recipient

• Amadeo Peter Giannini: American-born founder of “Bank of America”

• Cary Grant: Oscar-winning actor

• W.T.Grant: Self-made multimillionaire American businessman; founder of the “W.T. Grant Company” department store chain

• H.L. Hunt: Self-made billionaire American oil industrialist (elementary school dropout)

• John Huston: Oscar-winning American film director-actor (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Maltese Falcon, The African Queen, etc.)

• Elton John: Oscar-winning songwriter-singer; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee; knighted by the United Kingdom

• Andrew Jackson: 7th President of the United States (no formal education; home schooling/life experience)

• John Paul Jones: Scottish-born American Revolutionary War U.S. navy commander; famous quote: “I have not yet begun to fight.” (little formal education; home schooling/life experience; went to sea in his youth)

• Henry J. Kaiser: Self-made multimillionaire American businessman; founder of “Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation,” “Kaiser Steel,” etc.

• Kirk Kerkorian: Self-made billionaire American businessman

• Ray Kroc: Self-made billionaire American businessman; founder of the “McDonald’s” fast-food restaurant chain

• Jerry Lewis: Actor-comedian-singer-entertainer-humanitarian; knighted (France: Chevalier [or Chev.] Jerry Lewis)

• John Major: British Prime Minister 1990-1997

• William Shakespeare: British playwright; best-selling British author

• George Bernard Shaw: Nobel Prize-winning Irish-born British playwright; best-selling author

• Frank Sinatra: Oscar-winning actor-singer; Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient; Congressional Gold Medal recipient

• John Philip Sousa: American composer-conductor (elementary school dropout)

• Zachary Taylor: 12th President of the United States (little formal education; home schooling/life experience)

• George Washington: 1st President of the United States; former general; Chairman of the Constitutional Convention; U.S. nickname: “The Father of Our Country”; face is pictured on the U.S. one dollar bill and twenty-five cent coin (quarter) (no formal education; home schooling/life experience; went to sea in his youth)

• William Faulkner: Nobel Prize-winning and Pulitzer Prize-winning American author; screenwriter (dropped out of high school in second year; later attended University of Mississippi but did not graduate)

• Herman Melville: Best-selling American author and writer of Moby Dick, arguably the greatest novel of all time.

• Liza Minnelli: Oscar-winning actress-singer

• Robert Mitchum: Oscar-nominated actor

• Claude Monet: French painter (elementary school dropout)

• Florence Nightingale: History’s most notable nurse; best-selling Italian-born British nursing book author (no formal education; home schooling/life experience)

• Thomas Paine: American Revolutionary War era political theorist; best-selling British-born American author; famous quote: “These are the times that try men’s souls.” (little formal education; home schooling/life experience)

• Millard Fillmore: 13th President of the United States (little formal education – six months; home schooling/life experience; studied law while serving as a legal clerk with a judge and law firm; later became a lawyer)

• Will Rogers: American author-humorist-lecturer-actor-entertainer; famous quote: “I never met a man I didn’t like.”

• Frederick Henry Royce: Self-made multimillionaire British businessman; co-founder-designer of the “Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Company”; knighted (United Kingdom: Sir Frederick Henry Royce) (elementary school dropout)

• Edmond Safra: Lebanese-born billionaire banker-philanthropist

• David Sarnoff: Russian-born American radio and television pioneer; given the title “Father of American Television” by the Television Broadcasters Association

• William Saroyan: Oscar-winning screenwriter; Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright

• Vidal Sassoon: Self-made multimillionaire British businessman; founder of “Vidal Sassoon” hairstyling salons, academies, and hair-care products

• Walt Whitman: Best-selling American poet (elementary school dropout)

• Orville & Wilbur Wright: Aviation pioneers; Congressional Gold Medal recipients

• Grover Cleveland: 22nd and 24th President of the United States; face is pictured on the one-thousand dollar bill, which is no longer printed; (dropped out of school to help family earn income; studied law while serving as a clerk at a law firm, later became a lawyer)

• Irving Berlin: Oscar-winning American songwriter-composer; film story writer; Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient; Congressional Gold Medal recipient

• H.G. Wells…….best-selling British author (dropped out to help family earn income; later returned and went on to college)

• Jim Clark……..self-made billionaire American businessman; founder of “Netscape”; first Internet billionaire (17, U.S. Navy)

• Jimmy Dean……….singer-songwriter-actor; self-made multimillionaire American businessman; founder of the “Jimmy Dean Foods” brand sausage business (16, U.S. Merchant Marines; 18, U.S. Air Force)

• Andrew Jackson……7th U.S. President; face is pictured on the U.S. twenty dollar bill (13, U.S. Continental Army; orphaned at 14; little formal education; home schooling/life experience; studied law in his late teens and became a lawyer)

• Leon Uris……….best-selling American author (Exodus, etc.) (17, U.S. Marines)

• Walter L. Smith…..former president of Florida A&M University (equivalency diploma, at age 23)

• W. Clement Stone….self-made multimillionaire (some sources indicate billionaire) American businessman-author; founder of “Success” magazine (elementary school dropout; later attended high-school night courses and then some college)

• Jack London…….best-selling American author (dropped out at 14 to work; later gained admission to the University of California; left after one semester)

• Arthur Ernest Morgan….American flood-control engineer; college president-author; appointed by President Roosevelt to be director of the Tennessee Valley Authority public works project (left high school after three years; later attended the University of Colorado for six weeks)

• Ray Charles………singer-pianist; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee

• Cher……Oscar-winning actress-singer

• Maurice Chevalier…. Oscar-winning actor-singer; French Legion of Honor inductee/Medal recipient (note: rank bestowed in 1938

• Pierce Brosnan……actor

• Ellen Burnstyn……Oscar-winning actress

• Raymond Burr…….actor

• Sammy Cahn………. Oscar-winning American songwriter-composer

• Michael Caine…….Oscar-winning actor; knighted (United Kingdom: Sir Michael Caine)

• Glen Campbell…….country music star

• Daniel Gilbert……Harvard University psychology professor (equivalency diploma)

• Dizzy Gillespie…..musician-composer (received honorary diploma from high school he attended)

• Patrick Henry…….American Revolutionary War era politician; Virginia’s first governor; famous quote: “Give me liberty, or give me death!” (little formal education; home schooling/life experience; later studied on his own and earned a law degree)

• Julie Andrews…….Oscar-winning actress-singer

• Louis Armstrong…..singer-musician

• Brooke Astor……..wealthy American socialite-philanthropist-author; Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient

• Pearl Bailey……..singer-actress; Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient

• Lucille Ball……..actress-comedienne-producer; Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient

• Bill Bartman……..self-made billionaire American businessman

• Count Basie………bandleader-pianist

• Jack Benny………. comedian-actor-violinist

• Humphrey Bogart…..Oscar-winning actor

• Philip Emeagwali….supercomputer scientist; one of the pioneers of the Internet (high-IQ high-school dropout; left school in native Nigeria due to war conditions and lack of tuition money; continued to study on his own and earned an equivalency diploma; later won a scholarship to Oregon College of Education in the United States; transferred after one year to Oregon State University)

• Danny Thomas……..actor-producer-humanitarian (actor: Make Room for Daddy/The Danny Thomas Show; co-producer: The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Andy Griffith Show, etc.); Congressional Gold Medal recipient

• Kemmons Wilson…….self-made multimillionaire American businessman; founder of the “Holiday Inn” hotel chain

• Kjell Inge Rokke…..self-made billionaire Norwegian businessman

• Anthony Quinn…….Oscar-winning actor

• Roy Rogers……….actor-singer-guitarist

• Mary Pickford……Oscar-winning actress; early Hollywood pioneer; co-founder of “United Artists Corporation” (little formal education [six months]; home schooling/life experience)

• Sydney Poitier…..Oscar-winning actor (elementary school dropout)

• Frederick “Freddy” Laker…. self-made multimillionaire British businessman; airline entrepreneur; knighted (United Kingdom: Sir Frederick [or Freddy] Laker)

• Tommy Lasorda…… baseball team manager; National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee

• David Lean………Oscar-winning British film director (Lawrence of Arabia, Dr .Zhivago, etc.); knighted (United Kingdom: Sir David Lean)

• Anton van Leeuwenhoek….Dutch microscope maker; world’s first microbiologist; discoverer of bacteria, blood cells, and sperm cells)

• Richard Branson…..self-made billionaire British businessman; founder of “Virgin Atlantic Airways,” “Virgin Records,” etc.; knighted (United Kingdom: Sir Richard Branson)

• Isaac Merrit Singer….American sewing machine inventor; self-made multimillionaire founder of “Singer Industries,” “I.M. Singer and Company,” etc. (elementary school dropout)

• Alfred E. Smith…..New York Governor; 1928 Democratic U.S. Presidential candidate (elementary school dropout)

• Charles Chaplin…..Oscar-winning actor-writer-director-producer; knighted (United Kingdom: Sir Charles [or Charlie] Chaplin) (elementary school dropout)

• Sean Connery……..Oscar-winning actor; knighted (United Kingdom: Sir Sean Connery)

• Jack Kent Cooke…..self-made billionaire Canadian-born American media businessman

• Noel Coward………Oscar-winning actor-director-producer-playwright-composer; knighted (United Kingdom: Sir Noel Coward) (elementary school dropout)

• Joan Crawford……. Oscar-winning actress; former dancer

• Charles E. Culpeper….self-made multimillionaire American businessman; early 1900s’ owner and head of “The Coca Cola Bottling Company”

• Robert De Niro……Oscar-winning actor-producer; knighted (France: Chevalier [Knight] of the Legion of Honor; Chevalier [or Chev.] Robert De Niro)

• Gerard Depardieu….Oscar-nominated actor; knighted (France: Chevalier [or Chev.] Gerard  Depardieu) (elementary school dropout)

• Richard Desmond…..self-made billionaire British publisher

• Thomas Dolby…….. musician-composer; music producer

• Joe Lewis……..self-made billionaire British businessman

• Carl Lindner…….self-made billionaire American businessman

• John Llewellyn…..U.S. Labor leader pioneer; for 40 years until his retirement, president of the United Mine Workers’ Union

• Marcus Loew……..self-made multimillionaire American businessman; early Hollywood pioneer; founder of the “Loews” movie-theater chain; co-founder of “MGM” studios (elementary school dropout)

• Mary Lyon………American women’s education pioneer; early American teacher; founder of Mount Holyoke College (America’s first women’s college)

• Sonny Bono………..singer-songwriter-actor; U.S. Congressman (California U.S. Representative)

• Duke Ellington……Oscar-nominated American composer-bandleader; Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient

• Ella Fitzgerald…..singer; Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient

• Aretha Franklin….singer; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee

• Horace Greeley…. American newspaper publisher-editor; U.S. Congressman; 1872 U.S. Presidential candidate; co-founder of the Republican party in the United States

• Thomas Haffa……self-made double-digit billionaire German media businessman

• J.R. Simplot…….self-made billionaire American agricultural businessman

• Robert Maxwell…..self-made billionaire British publisher

• Rod McKuen………best-selling American poet (elementary school dropout)

all of whom committed the unpardonable offense of abandoning, or never starting their highschool education.

*Source: www.education-reform.net

Dividing Lines-The Aftermath of Brown’s Stimulus Vote, Jeb Bush on Charlie Crist’s Socialist Policies

In an article published this morning, The Washington Post details the political backlash against Senator Scott Brown’s (R-MA) decision to vote for increased stimulus spending in the form of the ‘jobs bill’.

A month after being crowned the darling of national conservatives, Republican Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts is being branded “Benedict Brown” for siding with Democrats in favor of a jobs bill endorsed by the Obama administration.

However, according to the Post,

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky wasn’t particularly perturbed about Brown’s vote, saying his election last month has “made a huge, positive difference for us and for the whole legislative agenda.

In other news, Politico reports that Jeb Bush has openly condemned his successor, Florida Governor Charlie Crist, and his decision to support last year’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  A bold move, considering that Bush’s own brother was responsible for signing The Economic Stimulus Act of the previous year into law.  “”I know I’m supposed to be politically correct and I said I was neutral and all that,” Bush said, but added of Crist’s move: “I got a problem with that.” While the former governor called Crist “about the nicest guy I’ve ever met in politics,” Bush called Crist’s support for the stimulus bill a critical “mistake.””  Bush’s words provide a superb example of both diplomacy and leadership, and a sharp contrast to McConnell’s slippery appeal to party politics.

While some may question the significance of drawing fine lines in the political sand, it is nevertheless of the utmost importance that we stand firm on those principles necessary to our country’s success and survival.  Any and all votes for federal stimulus and subsidies, the expansion of federal social programs, and increases in federal regulation of private enterprises must be strongly opposed regardless of their source.

However, it is also important that we distinguish between sin and sinner.  Although All proponents of socialist legislation, whether Republican or Democrat–Scott Brown or Barack Obama–inhibit progress through their acts, there is no reason why we must question their intentions.  Nevertheless, playing nice does not require that we cease to play, but rather, that we play with grace and style.  Kindness is not Compromise.

What it Means To Be A Conservative

From Austin Russell:

At times, it can appear almost impossible to identify the fundamental philosophical precepts that define the Conservative—or, as it has come to be called by many popular news sources— the Tea-Party Movement. Many dismiss it as nothing more than a marketing gimmick employed by the Republican Party to turn public sentiment against the current administration. Indeed, some argue that the only ideal underlying the movement is outrage. Politico reported yesterday morning—without providing any direct quote—that Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) himself, a popular figure within the movement, suggested that “the GOP should be wary of aligning themselves too closely to protesters who can be unpredictable in their actions and messaging.” The obvious inference is that the Movement lacks a firm philosophical leg upon which to stand.  Additionally, The New York Times yesterday published a criticism of Governor Mitt Romney for his participation in the formation of the Massachussetes socialized healthcare program. It calls Romney “One of the most prominent supporters of the main ideas behind the health care plan passed by the Democratic Senate”—equivocating support for state government social programs with that of federal social programs in an attempt to demonstrate that “the [Republican] [P]arty’s voice has been dominated by people who make things up, and then condemn the rhetorical phantoms of their making.” While the article does not directly refer to the Conservative Movement, it does place Rush Limbaugh, Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Mitt Romney, and Governor Sarah Palin into the same philosophical camp, once more implying that there is no true difference between the Conservative Movement and the Republican Party. The reality, of course, is that nothing could be further from the truth.

Barack Obama’s ascendance to the presidency, combined with the Democratic takeover of Congress did not, as many suppose, signal a desire on the part of the American people to empower, much less to expand, the size of the federal government. Rather, the continued expansion of the federal government under President George Bush and the Republican Congress, despite campaign promises to the contrary, convinced voters that the Republican Party was, at the very least, dishonest. It was upon Democratic promises of responsibility, accountability and change upon which so many relied for their vote. After all, if the previous administration had practiced a policy favoring bigger government, would not a change from such require a policy favoring smaller government? Unfortunately, the reality was not, as many supposed, a choice between big and small, but rather, big and bigger. In an effort to understand and correct their mistake, Americans have taken it upon themselves to more narrowly define what it is they actually want. And what do they want? The answer is obvious: a smaller, less intrusive, cleaner and more efficient federal government.  That is why the latest Gallup poll found that an overwhelming majority (40%) of Americans identified their political ideology as conservative.

The new movement favors principles over individuals and values what politicians do over what they say or how they present themselves. In short, conservatives care most about what happens rather than who is in power. If Barack Obama were, today, to begin supporting the ideals of smaller government, and individual liberty—and not only in word, but in deed—there is no doubt that those same conservatives that now seek his political head would rally behind him in numbers greater than those following his election fourteen months ago.

George Will: ‘Vain Obama’

The Palin Ploy: My Respectful Dissent to “Another Dead Horse”

Yesterday my faithful compatriot rj bemoaned the fall from glory of another Republican.? I could actually feel his heart breaking in the tone of his voice.? Why wouldn’t it be?? The past eight months have been rough for Republicans all over this country.? Instead of recovery and a renewed invigoration, we have for the most part seen an weak and unorganized party with plenty of infighting to boot with the Frum led Neo-Cons attempt to take over the GOP while the Reaganauts favor a movement back to the roots of conservatism.

The recent escapades of the?Governor of the fine state of South Carolina and now the announcement of Sarah Palin stepping down as Governor of Alaska have added to the concern of the current statue of the Grand Old Party.? Members of the party of the “Rough Rider” and “The Liberator” are beginning to feel weak in a government dominated by Progressives and in all estimations have zero voice in the grand arena.

rj’s current concern of course is that of Palin’s supposed fall from grace.? That a potential unifier or at least fresh face in politics has given in and can no longer stomach the fierceness of the battle ground that is modern politics.

I respectfully dissent.

This is a Trojan Horse if I’ve ever seen one, my friend.? I am of the position that there is a presidential campaign announcement headed our way in 12-18 months.? Do not miss the forest for the trees here.? This is truly a cunning ploy of which the fall out is the act of storing ammunition and not the destruction of her political career as the elitist media would have you believe.? Her base is that of the disenfranchised, the down and out, the every man.? The individuals sick and tired of being told how they feel and what they should believe by the Washington Beltway elite.? Those individuals who crafted a false Palin under the McCain campaign and refused to define her as an intelligent leader, and allowed her to fall victim to painting her as a ditsy pretty face.

The salt of the earth Americans are growing sick and tired of the direction the country is going, and they have zero representation.? The Progressives do not represent these people, and neither do the Neo-Cons.? These are the people that care little if a candidate hales from Blue Blood Ivy League educated status.? They desire leadership that knows of their struggle, that has raised a family outside of towers of concrete, has sweated for their keep and watched it taken away by the invisible hand of government.? These individuals are slowly beginning to rise up against the machine as evidenced in the outpouring of movements like the Tea Parties across our country.

Palin will use the animosity towards her to further establish her base for a strong following when campaigning begins in just about 18 months time.? Because the animosity towards her by the elite will be associated as animosity towards the American Every Man.? This movement can be further established with smart and ambitious grass roots, Internet based social networking plan in the line of my.barackobama.com to impress upon individuals of communities that she represents their strong Goldwater-esque convictions.

If I’m wrong, then there is either a Huckabee style talk show on Fox News waiting on her post July 29th.? I can’t take credit for that prognostication.? That belongs to Ruth Ann Harnisch.? But my conjecture remains that there is a strong possibility that this exit is simply based on a desire to spend time with family prior to the roller coaster and to build ammunition for the fight.? This is more than reasonable.

The bottom line is this: Sarah Palin is standing on the precipice of either disappearing as a footnote of the McCain campaign or having made one of the most brilliant campaign moves in political history.

-nick