Via GreenEyeShade (Rep. John Campbell’s blog)

As CQ reported yesterday, just three months after taking the majority, Democrats are going to amend the very budget rules they created to promote fiscal responsibility.  The Democrats say they are amending these rules to keep Republicans from being able to amend bills, I think they are doing it to spend more money.  Either way, Americans are getting a raw deal.

Click here to read the story or read excerpts below:

Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer said Tuesday that during the upcoming two-week recess he will craft changes in the pay-as-you-go spending rules adopted in January (H Res 6) so that the GOP can no longer blindside the majority with broad and politically loaded motions to redraft legislation….

The GOP has made 19 motions to recommit bills, and has been successful six times. They might have added a seventh to that string, but a bill providing for a vote in the House for the District of Columbia (HR 1433) was withdrawn from floor debate to avoid a vote on a Republican motion regarding gun laws….

Democratic leaders said the bill will return to the floor in April, after new House rules have been adopted….

“The majority should try to figure out how to debate bills rather than further minimize procedures available to the minority,” said Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo.…

“No matter how they do it, they’d be eroding at least decades of germaneness precedents and rolling back the minority’s ability to offer motions to recommit,” one Republican aide said.

I hope voters are aware of the absolute disregard for decency that the Democrats have, not to mention the hypocrisy. They ran on the message of working together in the Red Districts that gave Pelosi the gavel. Now she’s using that gavel to work the remaining Republicans, that is work them into the hallway and shadows so they can’t derail the liberal tax and spend train, not to mention throwing a wrench in the special interest election payback machine.

Let’s just hope Republicans can utilize this in 2008, so that Pelosi’s reign as Speaker is short lived.

Gary of Let Freedom Ring has a nice post about Joe Repya’s enterance into the MNGOP Chair’s race.

Col. Joe is a man with a fire in his belly & a history of achieving whatever he sets his mind to. Col. Joe is a man who understands the value of grassroots activism. Col. Joe is a man who’ll work hard to rebuild the GOP team. Col. Joe will credit that team in victory instead of blaming others in defeat. Can we say those things about Ron Carey? I think not.

Go read the whole thing.

The eloquent Gary at the blog formerly known as Kennedyvmachine, has found what might be the final nail John McCain drove into his own coffin known as his Presidential aspirations back in 2001.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was close to leaving the Republican Party in 2001, weeks before then-Sen. Jim Jeffords (Vt.) famously announced his decision to become an Independent, according to former Democratic lawmakers who say they were involved in the discussions.
In interviews with The Hill this month, former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and ex-Rep. Tom Downey (D-N.Y.) said there were nearly two months of talks with the maverick lawmaker following an approach by John Weaver, McCain’s chief political strategist.
Democrats had contacted Jeffords and then-Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) in the early months of 2001 about switching parties, but in McCain’s case, they said, it was McCain’s top strategist who came to them.

At the end of their March 31, 2001 lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Bethesda, Md., Downey said Weaver asked why Democrats hadn’t asked McCain to switch parties.
Downey, a well-connected lobbyist, said he was stunned.
“You’re really wondering?” Downey said he told Weaver. “What do you mean you’re wondering?”

“Well, if the right people asked him,” Weaver said, according to Downey, adding that he responded, “The calls will be made. Who do you want?” (Source: The Hill)

See why some of us are a little worried about this guy leading the Republican party? I’m guess here, but would this have anything to do with being rejected by conservatives in the 2000 primaries?

Gary sums it up well.

This revelation will have many in the GOP asking the obvious question: ‘you mean he didn’t abandon the party?’

The US House Democrats lead by SOTH Nancy Pelosi passed the largest tax increase in American history today on their way out the door for recess. By a vote of 216 to 210, the bill narrowly passed. 15 Democrats didn’t even vote for this bill.

Hats off to the Minnesota Republicans, all 3 of them voted for fiscal sanity and against this job killing tax increase. Reps. Kline (MN2) Ramstad(MN3) & Bachmann (MN6) thank you for trying to stop the Democrats from passing a $400 billion dollar tax increase on Americans.

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (MN 6) released the following:

(Washington, D.C.) - The House voted today to allow the largest tax increase
in history 216-210.  The proposal would allow the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003
to expire, raising taxes $392.5 billion over 5 years.  Congresswoman Michele
Bachmann voted against the fiscally irresponsible proposal and released the
following statement:

“As a former federal tax attorney, small-business owner and mother of five,
I know that higher taxes and increased government spending is not the path
to continued economic success.  Instead of proposing a massive tax increase
of $392.5 billion, Washington should be learning to live within a budget
just like Minnesota families and small business owners.

“Under the current proposal, nearly 2 million Minnesotans would see their
taxes rise and more than 480,000 business owners in Minnesota would have
less money to invest in equipment, hire new employees or offer health
benefits for current employees.

“Washington doesn’t have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem.
That’s why I have been leading the effort for the American Taxpayer Bill of
Rights, which is guided by four principles:

1.    Taxpayers have a right to have a federal government that does not
grow beyond their ability to pay for it.
2.    Taxpayers have a right to receive back each dollar that they entrust
to the government for their retirement.
3.    Taxpayers have a right to expect the government to balance the
budget without having their taxes raised.
4.    Taxpayers have a right to a simple, fair tax code that they can
understand.

“Over the last 42 months our nation has seen unprecedented economic growth
with the creation of 7.6 million new jobs.  I am committed to making sure
that Congress spends taxpayer dollars wisely and continues to pass policies
that will promote, not stifle, job creation and competitiveness.”

Bestill my heart, there is hope for members of Congress. Some of them like Bachmann understand that revenue, also known as your tax dollars, doesn’t just grow on trees. Not only that, but she’s someone who understand that for every increase in the tax burden, there’s a decrease in the amount of money people have.

Derek aka Chief  from Freedom Dogs aka SD45 Senate Candidate in 2006, takes note of Joe Repya’s entrance into the MNGOP chairman’s race.

I got to know Joe on the Iraq sign crusade at the same time I got to know Rob Hewitt. One thing for certain, he is a man who knows how to get things done and I admire his tireless campaigning, and his strength of conviction standing up for his country, to the press and to the anti-military masses. And although he disagrees with Rob and I on the GOP presidential candidate, I understand that is a different issue that we can come together on later. I for one think he will make a great leader for the MNGOP.

Good post, go check out the whole thing.

Leo also weighs in with Repya’s appearance on a St. Cloud radio show.

Via Politico

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said, however, that the painful lessons of 2006 have yet to be learned. “I don’t think there has yet been a full appreciation for what just happened” in the November elections, Pawlenty said. “There remains an element of denial about the message that was just sent and the reality we face.”

Who is Pawlenty trying to educate? His fellow office holding Republicans, or those of us who still believe conservative means what we think it does and should at least be attempted at the ballot box and not abandoned to polling results?

Honestly, this one needs explaining on Governor Pawlenty’s part. 

Note: “The era of small government is over” & “Universal health care” should be a goal. Just asking what he is saying.

Please take the new RF poll!
– >

Here’s an interesting developement in the new Democraticly controlled Congress. Sen. Diane Feinstein has been caught with her hand in the taxpayer’s cookie jar. Via Captain Ed.

The new Congress has barely made it past its start before a new face has been put on lobbyist influence. Dianne Feinstein, the senior Senator from California, has resigned her leadership position on a subcommittee which put billions of dollars into her family’s business

Now I thought Democrats were going to clean up the culture of corruption in Washington. And isn’t our own rookie Senator Klobuchar supposed to be some grand stalwart of ethics? I wonder if the two lady Democrats have had a chance to sit and talk about this?

Here’s a dramatazation of how that may have taken place behind the closed doors.

A-Klo: Hey, Diane, so how’s your husband?

DF: Even more loaded!

A-Klo: Jeez, its only 10AM.

DF: Oh, no. I mean we’re even more filthy rich.

A-Klo: I know, you’re a California Democrat, aren’t you all loaded?

DF: Yeah, but I just got his companies another billion dollars in no-bid contracts through my powerful position as a committee chair.

A-Klo: Aren’t we against that sort of thing? I could have sworn that was in the campaign manual Chuck Schumer had sent me last Summer so I knew how to sound just like all you other Democrats.

DF: Oh honey. That was just for the campaign. We had no plans of actually doing any of that stuff.

A-Klo: I didn’t think so. I mean how would Democrats stay in seats for decades if they didn’t dish out the pork for their special interest friends, not to mention funnel a few bucks our own way for a nice nest egg.

DF: I knew you were going to fit right in in Washington.

A-Klo: But I was really hoping to be able to use the line stand by your pork again.

DF: Oh honey, we’ll figure some other way out to blame Republicans for the inherent problems with having membersw of Congress that have been in office longer than most Americans have been alive.

A-Klo: Do you think I’ll be here as long as the other Democrats? I mean I’d love to be doing this for the next 30 years, so I never have to get a real job again.

DF: We’ll get you a nice Committee chair after your reelection, and you’ll be set for life.

A-Klo: I sure hope its on the Ag Committee.

DF: Why?

A-Klo: Just think of the millions of dollars I could funnel to ethanol subsidies so the refineries will line my campaign coffers.

DF: That should be billions.

A-Klo: I just love Washington.

(Sorry, I was up late being yelled at and called names by someone. I need to go have another cup of coffee before I post anything else. )

The PiPress did a story on Joe Repya and sought the excuses talking points input of Ron Carey as well.

GI Joe wants to become GOP Joe.

Joe Repya, of Eagan, a former U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who came out of retirement in 2004 to volunteer for duty in Iraq, said Wednesday he will run for chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party this spring.

“I came back from two years of military service in early October to a Republican Party in Minnesota that is probably the most demoralized and factionalized that I’ve seen in the years I’ve lived here,” Repya said. “It is in dire need of dynamic, exciting new leadership, and I can provide that.”

Repya will challenge state GOP Chairman Ron Carey, a Shoreview businessman and 35-year Republican activist, for the leadership post at a June 9 state party central committee meeting.

Carey, first elected in 2005, said he will seek a second term and has lined up support from a “who’s who” of local party officers and local, state and national elected officials.

They neglected to add he had been an elected state-wide Republican leader for 8 full years before he became Chair. He was term limited out of the Secretary/Treasurer’s position, and was a late entry into the 2005 race. He was pulled in by a few people who were very upset with Pawlenty, who realized Bill Pulkrabek’s coup was working, but they needed someone a bit more polished to take over from Eibensteiner.

Asked why he’s running against Carey, Repya replied: “I come from a military background where you’re responsible for everything your unit does or does not do in combat. Last fall, Ron Carey lost 20 seats in the (Minnesota) House and six in the Senate. If he were in the military, he would be reassigned to a new position.”

Carey said it’s silly to blame him for the Iraq war and other national trends that contributed to Republican losses in the fall. He said he is building the party at the grass roots and has it moving in the right direction.

So as you can see, once Carey is challenged, he falls right back into blame shifting mode. I know Carey’s friends, just can’t stand the thought of Carey actually being a failure, but come on folks, do you really believe that Carey had absolutely nothing to do with the results? If HE didn’t how can HE save the world?

Do Carey and his supporters really believe that great conservatives like Brian LeClair and Phil Krinkie lost because of Iraq and Foley? If you think that was the problem, I have this bridge in Brooklyn you may be interested in.

It is that attitude that the MNGOP can’t live with. I don’t understand how a party who threw the last chair out the window because of losing House seats and allowing the Governor to stray on a few core conservative issues that upset the grassroots base, can overlook the same problems this time. Hello! Repeat!

If we can’t even admit that we have SERIOUS morale issues, and openly admit as to why, the MNGOP will not get its groove back for years. The demoralized grassroots last year is what people like me identify as the real reason it was as bad as it was. Iraq and Foley played into that, but there were so many local issues that kept our volunteers and voters at home. Just under 4000 votes could have kept control of the Minnesota House could have kept it in GOP hands. The eye was off the prize, and the priorities were askew.

Things didn’t have to be as bad as it was. Believe me, I know that the results couldn’t have been completely reversed, but did it really have to be as bad as it was? I firmly believe it didn’t.

When I started this little crusade of mine, people said well who’s the alternative? Well, here’s one. Are we about to see the attacks on Repya begin? Or will we just see more excuses and blame shifting?

Anyways, go read the rest of the PiPress story.

I also encourage EVERYONE to revisit the 2005 Campaign for Chair. Especially Ron Carey’s portion of the Chairman speeches. (click to listen) Seriously ask yourself if Carey came close to doing what he said he would. You can find more about the 2005 race in the RF archives. (Scroll back to mid June.

Serious question:

Is there anyone in the Democratic party that has noticed that the louder the Democratic party screams cut and run, the more brazen Iran’s Amerjinedan gets?

Amerjiterdanidaninan? (Oh yeah, I could care less. When he can spell Aplikowski, we’ll talk.)

Just curious to know if the Democrats are intentionally ignoring the saber rattling of Iran and the official government’s spitting mirror image reenactment of a terrorist insurgent hostage situation that we’ve seen carried out in Iraq and Afghanistan repeatedly, with the cover-up assist of the MSM in order to mandate an immediate retreat from Iraq before the American public wakes up to the fact that we cannot cut and run from Iraq because it is in fact a major component in the global war against terror, of which Iran is the key player in instigating and fueling many and most, if not all of the terrorist hot zones and insurgencies across the globe, because Iran is in fact waging war on the western world hrough battles in other nations against the US and its interests, but we’re just too darn stupid to learn from the same exact mistakes that led to September 11th, because it would end up helping Bush and the Republicans by acknowledging they were right all along and everything the Democrats have been saying are complete and total lies.
(Run on sentence acknowledged)

Once again, the American Legion is standing up for the troops, because the Democrats in Congress are trying to pull the rug out from under their boots.

Washington, DC (March 28, 2007) - The National Commander of The American Legion criticized an amendment narrowly passed by the U.S. Senate that would add a timeline of withdrawal to an Iraq spending bill.

“You don’t have to be a military strategist to understand the advantage a withdrawal date gives to the enemy,” Paul A. Morin said. “First the House passed a blueprint for disaster and now the Senate passes a recipe for surrender.”

Morin called on the president to honor his promise to veto legislation that includes timetables to withdraw from Iraq. “The American Legion supports the troops. You cannot support the troops if you want them to cut and run. Congress authorized Operation Iraqi Freedom, now it needs to let the troops finish the job.”

Morin pointed out that Congress cut off funding in Vietnam, even though the troops won every military battle. “Let’s not repeat the mistakes of the past. The American people need to support the troops and their commander in chief, even if Congress won’t.”

The Senate voted 50-48 for the provision containing the withdraw requirement, which was supported by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV. Reid did not seem willing to compromise with the White House, saying that he is “not anxious to strip anything out of the bill.”

Morin added that the United States has only one commander in chief. “The American people did not elect 535 legislators to be armchair generals. It is outrageous that Congress would leave our troops on the battlefield without the funding that they need. It’s time for the president to veto this surrender bill and for Congress to pass a serious war-funding bill, which would provide the money without the micro-management. I call on my fellow Legionnaires to let their senators and representatives know where we stand on this war.” (American Legion)

Sen. Nrom Coleman (R MN) voted to remove the recipe for surrender provision. Unfortunately the Surrenderers by Committee won the day, and it is going to be up to the Commander in Chief to support the troops, because they are under attack from the halls of Congress.