Congress vs. The People

With the loss of some incumbents in this year’s primary and the squeakers by some of the other incumbents, it is important to understand how the influence over these races is handled by the incumbents in office. It is said in politics that the hardest thing to do is beat an incumbent so I thought I might shine some light on this. There are three basic advantages the incumbents have; the ability to keep their campaign accounts open, send out free mailers while in office, and the biggest advantage is to have congressional campaign committees to work for them.

Firstly, each congressman can go ahead and keep campaign fundraising and create the traditional “War Chest.” That means that during their term of service a congressman can continue to fundraise for the upcoming election while their opponents will be limited to only fundraising after the date they can file their appropriate state paperwork for office. Not really fair, but hey, it’s the incumbents making those rules.

Secondly, each congressman can continue to send out mailers to their constituency via their congressional “updates” which are essentially propaganda packets similar to the mailers you will be getting from them during the election with one exception…..they don’t make harsh mention of their opponents. By the way, these aren’t free; they’re usually paid for with tax money (Your Money) and/or possibly with that aforementioned War Chest we talked about.

Lastly, the one that really cries of the cronyism we all confess to despise, congressional campaign committees. Both the senate and the House have them as do both parties as well. These committees are supposed to help each party build majorities in their respective chamber; however, in recent times they have become an incumbent protection syndicate. Money is raised by these entities and rather than sit out of the primaries, as they should, these committees use their money and influence to protect their incumbent brethren.

A few weeks ago in the race for the 7^th Congressional District of Virginia, incumbent Eric Cantor, who also serves as the House Majority Leader, was beaten by a political novice in the form of College Professor named Dave Brat. Following his defeat by a Republican in the Republican Primary, the House GOP Congressional Committee’s leaders said that had they known Cantor was in jeopardy they would have offered more support in the primary – WHAT!!!!!

Sounds crazy……But that’s the norm.

Let’s look at two other recent cases for examples of this self-protectionism.

In 2011, with redistricting up for debate and legal action in Texas, there was much confusion over who would run in which district. In the newly drawn Texas 35^th District, Democrat Joaquin Castro was preparing to run for office; however, Rep. Steve Israel, leader of the DCCC, or the House Democratic Campaign Committee, said they would support sitting Representative Lloyd Doggett who had also been drawn into that new District. Israel said, “We have a theocracy at the DCCC that we support sitting incumbents, across the board, in every case, we support sitting incumbents.” It’s okay, Joaquin just ran for office in another District where the Democrat incumbent was retiring – Problem Solved.

Before you think I am going off against the Democrats, let me provide another example in order to show you that this is not a “Democrat vs. Republican” issue, but it’s an “us against the entrenched incumbents” sort of issue. Just this last week we saw the same sort of protectionist agenda in the case of Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran. Following a pretty healthy, or unhealthy, loss to State Senator Chris McDaniel in the Mississippi GOP Primary and the aforementioned loss of Eric Cantor in Virginia, the National Republican Senatorial Committee injected the Cochran Campaign with fundraisers and influence in order to secure a victory for a career politician who first went to Washington in 1973 – think about that! That’s a lot of protection!!

In the last few years most people, Democrat and Republican, have been clamoring for the replacement of congressmen all over the United States, BUT HOW? There has been a small amount of incumbents beat in the last few years, but not enough to force the change America needs. Now I’m not saying they all need to be removed (maybe 90%), but there does need to be some serious change in order for America to progress forward. Unfortunately, with incumbents holding the aces with War Chests, Free Mailers, and Campaign Committees in their pockets, there doesn’t seem like much for the rest of us to do.

BUT THERE IS!

We must let these cats out of the bag. Question our Congressman, both at the state and national level. Be active in the political scene. Years ago it was said politics was one of those subjects a person didn’t bring up in civilized conversation – NOT ANYMORE! If you’re comfortable with the direction of where your state and country are headed then do nothing. But if you believe things must change then all of us, each and every one of us, Republican or Democrat, must step forward and make our voices heard. Sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes it requires you to step out of your comfort box. But unless you are comfortable with mediocrity, and possibly losing the very country we hold dear, then we must all stand and make a difference.

Remember, Congress is counting on you not getting involved!!

Batter Up!

Bill

Context on the Use of Quotes Please…why DEMOCRATS Hate the Truth!!

In the last month or so since the tragedy in Newtown, Ct., I have seen a quote from President Eisenhower posted all over the web by those who like to call themselves Liberals, Progressives, and/or Democrats ( I think I got all the polite ones in there anyway). But let’s take a closer look at this and the hypocrisy of using this statement out of context.

On September 23, 1957, President Eisenhower gave a speech which included the following Quote that has suddenly become an out-of-context masterpiece used by the Left for their ridiculous attempt to place new limits on the 2^nd amendment.

 

Here’s the story of where this statement comes from.

In 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Brown v. Board of Education and declared laws establishing school segregation to be unconstitutional. So the school board of Little Rock, Arkansas, working along with local NAACP, labored to come up with a plan to peacefully organize the implementation of integrating the schools starting with Little Rock Central High School. As part of that plan nine black students were selected for the initial class by the local NAACP based on their outstanding academic and attendance records.

The nine students, who became known as the “Little Rock Nine” were admitted to start school and scheduled to start in September of 1957. On September 4, 1957, the students attempted to enter the school but were met by troops of the Arkansas National Guard sent out to stop the students by Governor Orval Faubus, a DEMOCRAT.

Over the next few weeks the Little Rock School Board, the NAACP, and Republican President Dwight Eisenhower tried in vain to reason with the Governor and the DEMOCRAT-controlled Legislature of Arkansas; but there was no reasoning with these bigots. On September 24, 1957, as a result of Faubus’s insolence and at the request of the Mayor of Little Rock, the President was forced to mobilize the 101^st Airborne to escort the Little Rock Nine to school and also to federalize the entire Arkansas National Guard in order to take them out of the control of the DEMOCRATS in Arkansas.

On the afternoon of September 23, 1957, President Eisenhower met with Governor Faubus to try and talk some sense with the Governor in hopes of averting the situation; however, that attempt failed. As a result, President Eisenhower preceded his difficult decision with a public statement explaining why these highly unusual actions would have to be taken to enforce the Supreme Court’s Decision and protect the Civil Rights of these nine students from being threatened by bigoted DEMOCRATS.  And as part of the statement and by way of a warning to other states and other DEMOCRATS contemplating the same action; the President used the above referenced quote as a sort of warning about the stupidity of not following the anti-segregation decision of the Supreme Court.

Of course there is so much more to this and the entirety of the Civil Rights issues. The DEMOCRATS take so much credit for Lyndon Johnson’s signature on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but the southern DEMOCRATS never speak of the obstructions caused by their actions throughout the civil rights process. LBJ is given credit for signing acts that are effectively the same pieces of legislation he helped blocked as the Senate Majority Leader in the 1950’s. But let’s not muddy up the water with facts, after all, they just get in the DEMCORATS way!!

Whenever you’re ready!!

Bill

Will the Dems ever get it?

November 2nd was a great day to be a Republican. The conservative nature of Americans won the day and you would think the Liberals would have gotten the hint – Maybe Not. I look at the last month since the election and I realize just how delusional our liberal friends are. You would figure that the poor example set by the Republicans prior to this year and the slaughter the Democrats faced November 2nd would be an eye-opener for the Democrats, but I guess not. Let’s look at the situation as it stands now.

1. Nancy Pelosi is still the leader of the House Democrats after leading them to their worst defeat in History and their lowest number of members ever.
2. Charlie Rangel will apparently retain his membership on the House Ways and Means Committee even after his censure for failure to pay his taxes.
3. Democrats lead the defeat of the anti-earmark legislation (Yes there were some Republicans who voted with the Democrats and they will be addressed).
4. President Obama said the election results were a result of the Democrats inability to make their plans and accomplishments easier for the American public to understand, not because the majority of Americans disapproved of their “accomplishments.”
5. Milam County Democrats said the election results in Milam County did not accurately reflect the wishes of Milam County residents. Guess that’s why four local Republicans were the first to win election since Reconstruction and why state and federal Republican candidates on the ballot won Milam County by an average of nearly 60%.

Yeah, I’m not sure what it will take for the Democrats to finally get it, but I hope they stay their current course. Now it’s up to the Republicans to make sure they keep true to their conservative values and beliefs by not repeating the mistakes of their predecessors.

Genuinely Happy,
Bill

Slow Down Harry!

So Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada) says that all the contrary talk about the senate healthcare plan is reminiscent of past obstructionism to civil rights legislation. Normally I would not even begin to entertain Harry and his usual quips of unqualified remarks made in haste to cover his rear; however, this time he leveled the criticism at the Republicans. Well, let us help Harry and do just a little check on the facts.

First, Abraham Lincoln is credited with freeing the slaves and guess what, he was…Brace Yourself… a Republican! SHHHHH, don’t tell Harry, he’s on a roll.

Second, when the great liberal leader Franklin Roosevelt had his chance to advance civil rights did he? He had 13 years to do something and only in his last few years with the persistence of his wife and other influential leaders did he even do anything. Oh there were bills, but with a heavy hand from the congressional legislators, nothing was done. Plus, Roosevelt’s reliance on southern legislators and governors for support of his social agenda made it easy for FDR not to back civil rights legislation. Job security over what is right – sounds like modern day Washington.

Now for the Third Strike! In 1964, Democrat President Lyndon Johnson was championing civil rights, who was it that blocked the legislation in the senate? You guessed it, the Democrats who stopped cloture by voting 44 out of 67 democrats to stifle the legislation.

Now, I am not saying that the Democrats of today would have voted the same way they did back then. What I am saying is that Harry has got to get a better handle on himself. I know he’s under the gun and the big man came down to see them Sunday, but come on, at least give us a better analogy than this, especially when Harry is in the party that was the obstruction of his analogy.

Slow Down Harry - Later,
Bill