Rush the Kool-Aid Man and Indiana's Short Session

I've got a couple things on my mind tonight so this might be all over the place, but here goes. Rush Limbaugh constantly states that he doesn't get involved in primary endorsements, but lately he has done his share of bashing all but two Republican candidates. That sounds an awful lot like and endorsement to me. His argument goes like this - Everyone wants change and the Republicans say the era of Reagan is over. Rush says it isn't over unless we nominate Huckabee or McCain. Then the party will be split and broken forever. I say Bull - oney! How is Rudy more conservative than Mike Huckabee? Rudy is pro gay marriage, pro abortion rights, pro gun control along with a personal history that looks suspiciously Clintonesque. Now Romney looks more conservative than Rudy, but then who isn't? Oh yeah, McCain isn't. Mitt has a history of flipping on issues more than others. Let's not fool ourselves about this man's faith either. Talk about splitting a party. Maybe it shouldn't be an issue, but it is. Rush has made up his mind and has finally let the cat out. He doesn't like middle America, evangelical conservatives. You are smart enough to make up your own mind - aren't you?

Now to Indiana's short legislative session. You see there is no budget to pass this time around and, oh yeah, it is an election year so the good folks take off early to campaign. All the talk has been about property taxes. There is another very important issue that desperately needs your action. SJR 7 is in committee and needs to pass, or a resolution has to be established, for the marriage amendment to appear on the fall ballot. This needs to happen this fall. Presidential elections bring voter turnout up and that will help this cause. Call your representative and tell them to push SJR 7 through, now! This is too important to put on the back burner. I'm sure they can work on two things at once.

Has Conservatism Come To This?

We hear it all the time - The Republican Party is at a crossroads. There is talk of a new party being formed. Controlling interests want to take the party in different directions. Where did it all go wrong. The Republican Party - the party of Lincoln and Reagan - is a mere shadow of its former self. The contract with America that ushered Newt Gingrich and the Republican majority into power in congress in the mid 1990's has vanished. It used to be personal responsibility, lower taxes through smaller government, peace through strength and a return to the moral gravity that founded this country and kept it on track. Now it's earmarks and the largest government since the Great Society. It's breaking from the party to withhold money from the troops. It's limiting free speech by so called campaign finance reform. It's open borders and closed markets. These days it is difficult to tell the difference between McCain and Bill Richardson. At least Richardson has balanced a budget! Let's face it people, none of the candidates on the right are truly right. They all have issues that do not line up with traditional conservative values. Does that mean we split the party or refuse to vote because there are issues? We can't afford that. The alternative is even worse. The grassroots campaign has begun. Just like the summer of 2007 when we crashed the switchboard on the Hill, we need to let these candidates know what we expect. We need to find qualified people to run for office. We need to reclaim the conservative platform before it vanishes. The alarm clock is going off, don't hit the snooze button.

A Definition of Insanity - Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again and Expecting Different Results!

Case in point are the fine citizens and government of New Albany. Now I won't include all of them, but those that voted to put Doug England back at the helm may fit the definition. Mayor Doug promised that he wouldn't need to hire anyone for economic development because he could handle it himself. Then after he was elected, he decided that just maybe a friend of his was a better economic developer than himself, so he announced the hiring of Carl Malyz. His title will be deputy Mayor and head honcho of developing the economy. His salary for both of these important jobs is a mere $85,000 a year for four years. A small price to pay for his expertise in this area. Well it's only about $10,000 more than the mayor himself will make. Then there is an assistant economic developer yet to be named that will only pull about $60,000 taxpayer dollars out of the treasury. Did Mr. England really get voted out a few years ago or is my memory failing? Now the mayor says he will retain the former mayor James Garner for a month as a sewer advisor. You know, just to bring the new mayor up to speed. It will only cost $6000 for the month. Mr. Garner didn't know much about the sewers during his four years as mayor, but that shouldn't matter to the good citizens. What's $150,000 in the fisrt couple of weeks in office? After all, it's not his money! It is all business as usual in this sleepy river town that has even my liberal friends wondering when it will wake up.

Barack can bag it up and that aint Good

by Daniel Short

Barack Obama has a unique chance on Tuesday to put the Democrat Presidential race out of reach. He is polling up over double digits against Hillary and the lead is growing everyday. He definitely has the big "MO" on his side and here is how I see things coming down. First, Obama wins New Hampshire by 14, heads south and eats up South Carolina and Florida. Hillary's contributions start to dry up and the prose of Barack continues to ooze change to the American left. How can Barack win so big in New Hampshire? Over 40% of voters are independents and can choose which party they will vote for in the primary right before they enter the booth. A lot of independents have polled for McCain, but will choose to rock the boat by making a statement for Obama. I fear that what is left is an even stronger Barack with enough money to ride it out.

This all has great implications on the Republican side of things. If the Democrats rally around Obama this early and the right struggles through super Tuesday without a true leader, valuable time will be lost. National polls show Rudy and Huckabee tied at 19%, Romney at 17%, McCain at 15% and Thompson at 14%. This is a dangerous scenario for the GOP.

Now let's remember that Bill lost the first five states in 1992 before going on to take the nomination and the White House. So maybe Hillary can drag it out long enough to slow the "O" train. Will Hillary take the VP job. Oh you betcha she will. If she doesn't, that's it for her. If she does, she still becomes the first woman to hold that office and will be 69 years old in eight years. That is three years younger than McCain is now. An Obama/Clinton ticket will probably wrap it up, unless we see a McCain/Lieberman ticket. Then there is Mayor Bloomberg! OK let's not get ahead of ourselves! Whew

When we said anyone but Hillary, we didn't exactly have Barack Obama in mind.

Resoltion for Big Government - Go on a Diet

by Daniel Short

Just like the rest of America, our government has bloated to proportions beyond anything our founders could have possibly imagined. The fattening up is not just at the federal level either. Local governments scarf up every crumb of taxpayer funds to fuel programs and initiatives that have no business anywhere near an inefficient machine like government bureaucracy. The federal government should not be interfering in markets where unscrupulous lenders target overspending consumers and both sides get what they deserve. Tax money to bail out the big vinyl boxes(as my friend over at the brewery calls them) is in my opinion illegal. Jefferson County Kentucky voters finally got one right by defeating the so called library tax by overwhelming margins. ENOUGH is ENOUGH. Locally we push for downtown renewal by issuing bonds for new buildings - firehouses and Y's - while neglecting the roads in the industrial parks that generate the funding. Sidewalks in New Albany our an ankle sprain just waiting to happen. Incentives to lure business downtown is fabulous, but using tax dollars to finance it is another animal altogether. Let's get back letting government do its job and the free markets doing theirs. Free markets always do things more efficiently and governments always try to maintain control over it. Now I wonder if that twenty sixth environmental study is complete on the east end bridge location? Happy Motoring Hoosiers!

My Christmas Wish List

by Daniel Short

Merry Christmas to you all - that's right, I said MERRY CHRISTMAS! If that offends you, you are obviously on the wrong blog. I heard that Barbara Walters questioned the Christmas card that she received from the White House because it contained a Bible verse. She wondered aloud if Jews and Muslims received the same card? The last time I checked, Christmas was a Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Christ. Barbara, I don't think Jews or Muslims celebrate unless they own a retail outlet and the sales are brisk. This is still a country based on Christian values and traditions - even if it is fading before our eyes. Lighten up Walters.

Now for my wishes!

My wish for Mike Sodrel - Lots and lots of campaign contributions to help get that message out. The do nothing congress finally did something. They once again intruded upon our freedoms to make choices for ourselves and our families by mandating higher costs for transportation and likely less safe vehicles by upping the mileage standards. Hey Congress, cars already exist that get 35 miles per gallon - we can buy them if we want to, not because we have to. Call me Mike, I have some great ideas for this upcoming fight.

My wish for Mike Huckabee - Thick Skin. Welcome to the lead Mr. Huckabee, where everyone will shoot you in the back. Take joy in the barbs for they will sharpen your skills for your Fall 08 showdown with the Clinton attack dogs. Chin up, chest out, running shoes on!

My wish for all you middle America conservatives - Stamina! We know who we are, we know what we stand for, we know we are the spine of this nation - we are the real America. Be relentless - tell everyone you know what is important in this election. Do not let up, even if it looks promising for the right. Let's renew our commitment to changing America for the better, from local to national. We formed it, now let's take it back.
Jeff Foxworthy made this comment on the CMA show this year about folks like us, "we get up and go to work, we get up and go to church and we get up and go to war if we are asked to." AMEN

Merry Christmas to you all and to all good 2008.

Will the real Conservative please stand up?

by Daniel Short

Congratulations to Mitt Romney on pulling off a very tricky speech on religion. The speech writer is great. He should be employed by our next president. Now to the content - Romney wants us all to put his religion aside and focus on his ideas. Now we all know that this speech was put out there for one reason - Mike Huckabee! It seems that the evangelical wing has rallied behind Huckabee and pushed him to a national lead in some polls. Romney saw no choice but to explain the foundations of his faith and try to recapture the number he has lost. It comes down to these two for conservative Christians. We don't have to settle for a man that created a sanctuary city, marched in gay pride parades and has lived his private life so thoughtless that his children are estranged from him. Romney claims that his religion is based on Jesus Christ as savior and that is what matters most. I tend to agree. More important though is the evangelical movement making their voices heard. We are not the toothless, gun rack, snake handling crowd. We are bright, deep seated in our faith and now we are loud. We know what we want in a candidate and are not going to settle for a middle of the road RINO. Maybe the third party should be called the Conservative party!