Here’s Joe Repya’s latest.

May 22, 2007

Fellow Republican:

During my travels around the state I have had many of our grassroots activists ask me how we can convince the voters of Minnesota that we are committed to making a difference in public policy by electing strong candidates that support our Party, our values and our ideals. Many activists feel we need to renew our Party’s commitment by pledging to a Contract with Minnesota.

To build momentum for the Road to Victory in 2008, we need a clear game plan that will set our candidates apart from the opposition. As your Chairman, I will support a Contract with Minnesota for our Republican candidates. The Contract is anchored by the following:

·         Support of the Constitutions of the United States and Minnesota
·         Support of the six core principles of the Minnesota Republican Party
·         Support of a Personal Code of Ethics

The support of the Constitutions of the United States and Minnesota are necessary and the bedrock of any candidate wishing to serve the people of Minnesota.

Likewise, support of the six core principles of the Minnesota Republican Party is essential:

Less Government                                               Lower Taxes
Personal Responsibility                                     Individual Freedom
Stronger Families                                               A Strong National Defense

Finally, in an era of rampant political scandal and corruption, many feel it is time for Republican candidates to regain the moral high ground by embodying moral fortitude and high ethical standards through a Personal Code of Ethics. Republican candidates must demonstrate that election laws matter, rules are relevant, and the values and ideals of our Party can not be compromised. For too long Republicans in America have tolerated candidates and office holders who frequently sacrifice our values or routinely display poor ethical or moral judgment – and it has cost us elections. I will demand more from our leaders and our candidates.

As the original 1994 Contract with America highlighted: To restore accountability to politics and end the cycle of scandal and disgrace, we must take bold action to make the electorate proud again of the way free people govern themselves.

Let me know what your thoughts are on how we can improve our image and accountability.  Please contact me through my Web-site, www.gopjoe.org, or at 651-890-5237.

Respectfully,

Joe Repya

Our few remaining elected officials have stood tall in the Legislature and given Republicans something to be proud of. Even with the skeleton minorities that they had, they managed to keep the DFL from destroying this great state with oppressive tax and spending increases.

But the Republican party needs to be able to capitalize on that. The DFL will try to spin Republicans as obstructionists, and the party needs to be capable of showing voters statewide the stark difference between the dupicitous DFlers who ran on one thing and did another. Who stifled debate and railroaded bills through. Who abused their power and increased the burden of Government, or tried to, on every single Minnesotan.

Much like how Congressional Republicans were wrongly painted as part of a culture of corruption, Republicans in the state, in my opinion, were painted as not standing for anything. Too many caved on core principles. They didn’t give voters a reason to show up, resulting in the 59% turnout, the lowest in 12 years.

it is time for a fresh perspective and new leadership in the MNGOP. Someone who understand it isn’t about quotas and defense, but rather converting people to think and vote like us, and put the DFl on defense by having them explain why they hate taxpayers so much.

Voters need to be able to trust Republicans to be the party of limited Government and responsible spending, lower taxes, and better performance.

That person, in my opinion, is Joe Repya for Party Chair.

According to FOX9 news here in the Twin Cities, the State budget will be $35 billion dollars if Pawlenty signs it. That is more than the target of  a 10% increase set by Pawlenty. The bill is 500 pages long.

The radio news clips make it sound like Pawlenty may sign it.

This is nearly a $4 billion dollar increase in spending from the last bienium.

That’s too much!!!!!!

DFL Speaker of the House Margaret Kelliher is far from fair.

As chaos broke out on the House floor, with members shouting over one another, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher pushed through the tax bill at midnight, ignoring requests by Republican legislators to speak.

You just have to love how the people’s House fell into chaos under Kelliher’s dictator like rule. There is no room for dissent or debate under her rule.

RNC Chairman Sen. Mel Martinez unveils his 2008 election strategy for Republicans.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Republican National Committee Chairman Sen. Mel Martinez rejected the claim that the new immigration bill will anger conservatives and destroy the GOP’s chances to win in the 2008 election.

On CNN’s Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer Sunday, Martinez said immigration “could be the saving of the Republican Party, frankly. And to do nothing would be the wrong thing for the American people.” Martinez is optimistic that the controversial legislation will make it through Congress, and he is counting on President Bush “to get us over the finish line.”

RF Flashback:  Los Elephantes

Has anyone learned anything from the 2006 elections?

What’s next for Martinez? To do away with the Republicans pesky opposition to tax increases?

Chairman matter!

So you can all get an idea of my schedule, here’s a couple photos taken last night to show that even my dogs are tired of my non-stop schedule.

Even Milkbones couldn’t get them to budge.

Last night I awoke sometime in the wee hours suffering from the aftermath of a gas station frozen pizza that had likely been there since the Clinton administration. I’ll save the rest of the details, but while I was trying to get back to sleep, I was flipping through the channels and came across the replay of Meet the Press. Newt Gingrich was on with Sen. Chris Dodd (D CT) discussing the war on terror, focusing on Iraq.

I did not catch the entire exchange, but I was really quite amazed with Newt’s commentary on the broader war on terror and his ideas for actually winning it.

You can see the entire transcript here. I came into it on page two, and was awe struck with this exchange.

MR. GINGRICH: But notice, there are two things there. First of all, even if you accept that this is a civil war, people have won civil wars. I devoted three novels about winning the American Civil War. And the fact is, civil wars are hard. But we also—I just did a novel on Pearl Harbor and the Second World War. The Second World War was hard. Guadalcanal was hard. If we’d had today’s Congress during Guadalcanal, the number of people who had said beating the Japanese is too hard, let’s find a negotiated peace, would have been amazing.

SEN. DODD: I disagree with that.

MR. GINGRICH: But there’s a course—we are, we are in a worldwide war, and, and I’m going to use a word that seems to be unfashionable in Washington. We need to think about winning this worldwide war. We need to understand that every week that goes by there are more young people recruited into al-Qaeda and into, into the various Iranian terrorist organizations. We just saw a video of a 12-year-old in Pakistan beheading a man.

So let me start with this, because here’s what happened, and this is what, frankly, the Congress does to people. You have a freely elected democratic government in, in Colombia waging a campaign, but it’s, it’s a tough campaign. So the president of Colombia, democratically elected president, becomes persona non grata. Al Gore won’t even appear with him on the same stage because the tone of the government’s inappropriate, OK? So if we were to pull out of Iraq, and you suddenly had the chaos that Tim described, the next battle cry would be cut off the funding because the pro-American side would end up doing things that were “inappropriate.” And then you’d say well, if only somebody perfect were in charge with a perfect government.

Now, let me point out, this is a Democratic Congress, which has not passed a single one of Nancy Pelosi’s hundred day—hundred hour six items. Not a single one’s gone into law. It’s a Democratic Congress, which in its first four months has passed 26 bills, 12 of which are renaming federal buildings. And I think to set one standard for the Iraqi parliament and a totally lower standard for the American government after 225 years of practice is fundamentally flawed. Either we’re for our allies winning, we should do what it takes for our allies to win, we should actually be in the attitude of winning the war—which we did in less than four years in World War II—or we should recognize, after five and a half years from 9/11, we are, in fact, on a worldwide basis, slowly, gradually losing the fight against terrorism and the fight against dictatorship.

MR. RUSSERT: But specifically, how would you win the war in Iraq militarily?

And after Newt’s response to this, I wondered if some mysterious higher being made me crave a pizza last night and be too tired to go to a more proper location to buy one or get one delivered.

MR. GINGRICH: First of all, you, you would empower General Petraeus. You’d pass the supplemental immediately. You’d give him the money. Second, you would encourage the Iraqis to triple the size of their regular army. Third, you would, you would encourage the development of a, of a military tribunal system to lock people up the way Abraham Lincoln would’ve done it. Fourth, you would establish a nationwide ID card with biometrics so you can actually track everybody in the country. Fifth, you would make sure that the State Department actually staffed the embassy with people in favor of winning the war and you actually had your fully, fully equipped intelligence and economic development teams. Six, you would say to the Iranians, “If you don’t cut off everything you’re doing, we’ll begin to bring enormous pressure to bear with you,” if necessary, blockading the flow of gasoline into Iran, which has to import 40 percent of its gasoline because it only has one refinery in the entire country.

So I would take—I would lean forward and say to the world, “We are, by George, going to make sure that the allies of America and the forces of freedom win, and we are the most powerful nation in history, and we have more than enough assets to do this.” And we ought to do what it takes to win, not tolerate legislating defeat.

I think everyone should go plow through the rest of the debate/interview/whatever. Newt was really on fire.  I finally dozed off again, but the stuff Newt said really needs to be heard. We really do have to treat this as a global war, not one confined to borders. We’re the only ones engaged who actually consider Iraq a standalone war.

Wake up America! 

The Death tax is the fear of most family owned businesses. Your family works for decades to build a business. They fight tooth and nail against government regulation and taxation the whole way, and when there is a death, the benefactors end up having to sell the business in many cases just to pay off the Government.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R MN6) has a plan to deal with it, er ah, repeal it.

Woodbury, Minnesota, May 21 - Congresswoman Michele Bachmann joined her colleagues, Reps. Kenny Hulshof (R-MO) and Bud Cramer (D-AL), Thursday in introducing the bipartisan Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act of 2007, legislation to permanently eliminate the death tax.

This is a tax that hits close to home for me. My family owns a business that will be hit very hard by the death tax should it come back. We’ve spent 45 years making our business into one of the best in its industry in this state, if not the country. My Mother and Father built it from scratch, and every one of us in the family has poured blood, sweat, and tears into it.

The death tax is imposed by the federal government on property left to heirs in a will, such as a family owned business or farm. Under current law, the tax is scheduled to decline every year until 2010, when it will temporarily disappear. But unless Congress acts to make that permanent, the death tax will return in 2011, subjecting the hard work of many family owned businesses to a tax rate as high as 55%.

“Dying shouldn’t be a taxable event,” said Bachmann. “The death tax hits people at the worst possible time. Just as they’re dealing with the passing of a loved one, they have to settle with the IRS.”

Should the Death tax come back, and my siblings and I be forced to pay the Federal Government 50%+ we’d have one option, SELL. Unlike the aim of the Death Tax, grabbing money from the fat cat rich, my family does not have the millions in the bank that some in Washington think.

Aside from the issue of fundamental fairness, there are a host of economic and tax policy reasons why Congress should act to permanently repeal the federal death tax. To name a few:

• The death tax is a job killer. One study estimates that between 175,000 and 250,000 potential jobs are lost each year as a result of the death tax.
• The death tax is inefficient. Small businesses and family farms must divert resources from productive uses to engage in financial planning designed solely to avoid punitive taxation. These resources would be better used growing our economy.
• The death tax discourages savings and investment. The threat of a large tax discourages continued investment in a family business or farm operation. Not only is this a perverse incentive, it punishes a lifetime of success.

Prominent organizations representing the interests of small business and family farms, such as the American Farm Bureau Federation, Associated Builders and Contractors, the National Association of Manufacturers, have endorsed the bill, and similar legislation passed the House during the last Congress with bipartisan support.

“By repealing the death tax, we would allow the economy to create even more jobs, which would make all of us better off,” said Bachmann. “This bill is an important step toward increasing fairness in the tax code and promoting economic security for Minnesota families, farmers and business owners.”

Let’s hope Congress can learn from the mistakes made in the creation and extention of the Death Tax over the years. It is a job killer. My family employs more people and pays better than almost any of our competitors in our industry. We strive on excellence, not the bottom line. It has been very good to us and our many residents over the years, and with Congresswoman Bachmann’s help, it will be for years to come.

If not, hundreds and hundreds of Minnesotans will see the place the have proudly called home be changed for the worse. And my brothers and sisters will see our parents’ dream and vision crumble under the iron fist of the Government.

There’s a great piece in the Wa Po about how the GOP is falling further and further behind in the 21st Century battle ground for politics.

The key ‘graph which may explain it all.

But an underlying cause may be the nature of the Republican Party and its traditional discipline — the antithesis of the often chaotic, bottom-up, user-generated atmosphere of the Internet.

I’ve been pushing the point that Republicans need to learn to fight and deal with the internet and blogs. That is the future of politics. Sorry, but it is, like it or not, and well, you’re going to have to deal with it. We’re not going away and you cannot control everyone and everything.

Many conservatives find commeradery with talk radio and conservative blogs. We’re flocking to what we agree with, and going to the people saying what we want to hear. That should be a message to people in certain places. You cannot spin what we believe.

The internet is going to be crucial in 2008, and anyone running for office or a political party would be nuts to think what they did in the past is going to work this time around. The online landscape changes almost daily, and there is no one size fits all solution.

Oh, and posting press releases or family photos on a website is hardly an online presence. There’s more in my head, but well, I am not going to give it away.

Anyways, go read the whole thing.

Your DFL majority is the sham and a gimmick.

House Republicans Saturday afternoon (May 19) attempted to pass a late session transportation finance bill to avoid a possible “lights on” style bill.

House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, motioned to suspend House rules to bring forth the just-introduced legislation that contains $1.7 billion in highway bonding and $250 million in one-time money.

On the House floor, Seifert argued Democrats have taken a take-it-or-leave-it attitude to transportation funding this session.

Rep. Mary Liz Holberg, R-Lakeville, said the new legislation, which contains no tax increases, would be unlikely to be vetoed by the governor.

It’s not a perfect bill, Holberg said.

“(But) it’s more than a lights on bill,” she said.

Rep. Mary Liz Holberg, R-Lakeville, speaks on behalf of a House Republican transportation finance bill Saturday (May 19) afternoon on the House floor. The bill was tabled.

But House Transportation Finance Committee Chair Rep. Bernie Lieder, DFL-Crookston, criticized the bill for the use of one-time money — budget surplus dollars.

Lieder, in recent days, has spoken of having a “lights on” bill should the transportation finance bill vetoed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty not be overridden.

The veto bill contains a gas tax increase and other revenue raisers.

House Majority Leader Tony Sertich, DFL-Chisholm, took issue with Seifert’s use of the term compromise in his floor remarks.

“Saying ‘No’ is not compromise,” he said, referring to Pawlenty’s veto.

Sertich styled Seifert’s transportation bill “a sham and a gimmick.”

The House, on a 87 to 34 vote, tabled the legislation.

(Hmmm, aren’t there 44 Republicans?)

Anyways, Mr. Sertich, let me explain this to you. Roads & Highways are one time money. You build them, and do it right, and you won’t have to rebuild them for decades. Your DFL and RINO supported transportation bill had one single goal, raise taxes because you wasted all the money elsewhere on your pet projects and special interest handouts.

Don’t you dare try to argue that YOU are not running a sham and gimmick game of 5 card draw in the House. you and your liberal cronies want to make Government bigger, not better. You have abused the power given to you by voters, and words will not dig you out of the liberal hole y’all have dug. I’m calling your bluff, er ah, the House Republicans did.

Voters have memories. they will remember that at the end of the day, the DFL and RINOs tried to railroad (read light rail) billions and billions in new taxes upon them.

The House Republicans tried to pass a responsible transportation bill that would have solved problems with out destroying the state’s economy and ripped money from the middle-class families.

Shame on you Mr. Sertich. All you want to do is make Government bigger and more burdensome.

So which 68 House seats are the Republicans gonna win in 2008 to put the adults back in charge of the people’s House and um, money?

What a crappy week. Put in over 55 hours at work. Non-stop manual labor with no down time. Lunch break, try inhaling a bite in 15 minutes between things.  Throw in meetings almost every night, and that leaves for one tired AAA. So I was supposed to head to the cabin last night, but when i finally left work at about 7 last night (like almost every day this week) after starting at 7 AM, and I hadn’t even had a chance to pack up yet, and I had no strength to do it. Too much sod laid, too many fire hoses dragged, too my digging, lifting, and running around coordinating road crews, gas line replacement, and other things that just pop up in the course of the week. I like week ends, because they mean this week is over. Yeah!

Add to that, a sharp shooting pain in my lower back that makes simply moving a painful chore now, and I surrendered to crashing last night. I really have no clue what’s going on in the news, and I am far too tired to care. Some people may be pissed I didn’t post some things, but too bad. I’ve been too busy to even spend time with my dogs, so back the frack off.

And besides, some people think I suit the DFL’s agenda better than the GOP, so quite honestly, I could care less about blogging right now. The fact that some people think I do no good, pisses me off. Why is it that some people think they own the ….

What was once a mandatory passion is now a sore spot as some people don’t like the way I do it. I say frack them, but I am just getting tired of people thinking they can tell me how to be me. I’m finally getting to that point many people reach where you have too much going on, and you need to cut some things out. Well, since I have no real life, there’s no frills to cut there. Being active in politics, well, it sounds like the most appealing.

Quit poli-blogging, well, this week it has seriously crossed my mind. if no one appreciates it, why in the hell do I bust my ass doing it? I may be ready to walk away from it all and have a real normal life, since, after all, everything, all the political and blogging crap I do, is for free and I don’t get a dime to do it, and in fact, it ends up costing me a lot, money, time, and stress. It all feels like it is not worth it anymore. I think that is because it isn’t anymore.

So I am about to head out of town this morning to get the heck out of this goll darn town, but before I do I want to post this email from earlier this week from a person I know.

With all the buzz in the late days of the Minnesota Legislature’s 2007 session, it seems to me I have figured out a personal course to help the state’s fortunes. I’m switching parties at the next election and voting DFL.

Yessiree! I’m going to help Minnesota do what was suggested in an editorial in today’s paper, to cause the rich and almost rich to leave the state if they won’t pay more tax. It would help our transportation issues significantly if they took their businesses with them, as some have already done. Less business mean less people driving to work, which would allow our land of ten thousand lakes to be what it is most suited for; a state-wide retirement community. We’d still have hospitality and entertainment jobs, but workers would have to compete with retirees looking to stay active and supplement retirement incomes.

Our own experience teaches us that some folks won’t move, but will commute every other weekend to other states. Well, that’s better than to-from work here five days a week on highways that are underfunded and mortgaged to our children.

We’ll need to lower the state tax by 50% at least, to encourage wealthy folks to retire here and withdraw the 401k they accumulated working elsewhere.

Oh, and as for education, we’ll need less of it. You see, the reality would be that 21 year old graduates would have to look for jobs in other states. So, they may as well be educated by other states, as many are now anyway as a result of the high cost of state education.

My wife and I will finally be united in all things after 27 years of marriage. I just won’t mention that she’ll likely be retiring sooner than her plans.

Yes, I think the DFL has an excellent long term strategy! Who says they’re a disorganized party bent on self destruction? Maybe some of those newly elected legislators won’t be one termers after all.

A little snark, but a little truth in there about if the DFL & Big Government/Nanny State types gets its way. There will be no job grow in this state if spending continues to grow at or near double digit levels. I’m sorry, but as one of those who will be left behind to pay the bill, I can’t afford to pay for a better Minnesota. I can barely pay for a better AAA.

We need to make Government better, not bigger.

(What’s the best home remedy for a sore back? Seems like a muscle or nerve strain, not spine related.)

Anyways, as the tittle suggested this is a bunch of random crap. Lots of thoughts from over the course of the week. To sum it all up, I am tired of fighting an uphill battle to prove all is not well or things could be better, and I no longer have the time to do it. My ‘pay the bills’ job is going to be crazy for the entire Summer, and well, it deserves more of my attention than the GOP-blogging cause.

What I am going to do? I don’t know. I am tired, exhausted, just plain worked,  and I have learned not to make decisions when your mind is in this state. Honestly, I feel like I don’t want to do any of it anymore, but I think that is the emotions and exhaustion are speaking. Or maybe it is because of the way certain people treat me. I don’t know.

Some people I know look to me for inspiration, others with disdain. I guess maybe it is time for me to find some inspiration again. What will AAA do?  

Anyways, hopefully I can do some soul searching this weekend to see if it is even worth it anymore.

Have a good weekend,

AAA

PS: Don’t buy that ‘Planet’ biodegradable dishwasher detergent, it sucks tailpipe and may have busted my dishwasher. I hope to get back from the cabin early enough tomorrow to get a new one and install it. So I got that going for me.