The Silent Growth of The Republican Party

The Miller County Republican Committee had the regular monthly meeting on the 12th of this month. From information that I have received and conversations that I’ve overheard, it appears that most of these groups, Republican and Democrat alike, have few regular members present during non-election years or after an election. So, you can imagine it was very surprising to see a large gathering at this Chili dinner / meeting. While it is true that elections for officers was being held, it should also be noted that the committee affirmed ten new members. Consequently, I attended another meeting afterwards and apologized for being late stating that I was “at the Republican meeting” held before. After that meeting a man pulled me aside and asked, “Are you Republican?” After confirming that I was, he responded by saying that he thought he was the only Republican in Miller County. Hopefully, next month this man will become #11 since the general election.

The lesson here is simple, don’t count the Republican Party out. The Democrats haven’t even taken control of the White House yet and our party is silently growing. We’re going to continue to shake hands, smile, and enjoy the fellowship of like-minded people while we present America with an alternative to a tax and spend socialistic form of governing.

Republican Leading by Example

Often House Representatives try to set examples. They vote a certain way, play the political speech game, and generally show that they are one of the “good guys” or “good gals” there in Washington to make a difference. All of them seem to want to promote “change” as the old key word. I say “old key word” because contrary to current, popular beliefs, Obama was not the first person to promise change in Washington. At least one new member of the house is instituting change in his life that reflects the cutbacks many Americans are forced to make. Naturally, several other representatives were quick to add they had been doing the same thing for years, but it seems odd that CNN would focus on a freshman representative.

Jason Chaffetz come from Utah and is a new member of the House of Representatives. He was born in 1967, has a wife and three kids, holds a B.A. from Brigham Young, and has worked and built a business prior to being elected to the HouseAbout Chaffetz. He knows what tightening the belt is all about and making ends meet. His big stir so far in the House, he doesn’t rent an apartment in Washington. He doesn’t own a second home in Washington. He doesn’t have a fancy condo in Washington. He has an office there. It’s that simple, he has an office and he stays at his office. His office serves as his Washington headquarters, but more importantly it serves as his home. When the article hit CNN.com (article link), several other representatives quickly stated that Chaffetz was not the first person to do this. I’m sure he’s not; he’s just the one that CNN.com decided to write an article about.

Chaffetz seems like a normal person and the article goes on to note that he has three kids to raise, car payments, and a mortgage to pay, so he is trying to save money. The article goes on to quote Chaffetz as giving larger meaning to his office / living space when he says, “We are now $10 trillion in debt. $10 trillion. Those are expenses that have to be paid at some point.” I’d like to commend Jason Chaffetz for taking the initiative to set an example of simple cutting back. Maybe he can convince other members of the House that large salaries and other perks they enjoy could be reduced to help with that $10 trillion also. So far, Chaffetz has started his freshmen term setting a good example; let’s see what else this young Republican from Utah can do for America in the coming years.

TGOP Poll Results

The polls are closed. Over the past few months I have ran a couple of polls here on Texarkana GOP. While I’ve had very few votes, I realize that the site is still new and exist in a time when the words Grand Old Party (GOP) and Republican are not the most popular to hear. Nonetheless, I ran the polls hoping to trigger some interest in two subjects.

The first subject was “What is the greatest obstacle for the Republican Party now?” Four possible answers were given and happily I can report that the answer, “The Grand Old Party is simply on its way out I’m afraid” got no votes at all. At least this is a good sign among readers who decided to vote. “Getting past the Bush years” gained 1 vote and seemed to show some support for our current President. It was almost a tie between “Renewing young people’s interest in the party” (6 votes) and “Bringing up new people for office” (5 votes). I believe the results are accurate. The two top issues for the Republican Party must be gaining young people’s interest and getting new people in office. Hopefully party leaders will listen and promote those young people. We need some “regular” people to step forward, run for office, and win with the backing of the party. By regular, I mean we need people who are either on their way up, or have had to pull themselves up from the bottom. Consider the Democrats two top burning stars, Bill Clinton and Obama. Clinton started as a son of a single mother, poor and basically “just a good old boy” and rose through education and politics. Obama started much the same way. He was the son of a single mother, raised by his grandparents in what could be called poor to middle class and rose through education and politics. America relates to these kinds of people. America does not relate to rich people using their money to run for office, or well to do people taking a little stab at politics. Consider for a moment why Palin was so popular with Democrats and Republicans. She rose from a middle class family to city council member, mayor and then governor. She built a business from the ground up with her husband. That is the American dream and that is why the Clintons, Obamas, and Palins of the world will always be at the forefront in politics with the American people. Our Party must find young people and become the party of the people again.

The second subject was “Who will be the next ‘Reagan’ for the party”. I only offered two named choices with the third option to e-mail me your choice. There were no e-mails about this poll and Palin won hands down with six votes to Jindale’s one vote. I believe the reason for this refers back to my paragraph above. Mrs. Palin is one of those Republicans that comes from the right background and the right mindset to lead the party forward. I also believe there is little known about Jindale. Hopefully, more people will start writing about the great leaders like Jindale and Palin within the party and promote them toward our future.

Navy Honors Republican George H.W. Bush With Carrier Namesake

A new aircraft carrier has joined the United States Fleet of ships. Today, the Navy launched the USS George H.W. Bush. The honor has been bestowed upon several former Presidents, many of them from our party. I thought it might be good to look back at some of the things that the man, George H.W. Bush, did for our country.

Most people tend to think of George as the 41st President who was defeated during his run for a second term as President by Bill Clinton. He has also been associated with the famous “read my lips” statement in regards to no new taxes. Unfortunately, he was later forced into a corner where he signed a bill that in fact placed new taxes on the American people. This was viewed by Republicans and Independents as a broken promise, but more importantly it was a stray away from the Republican platform for lower taxes. George was sadly seen has finally breaking away from his former boss, the beloved Reagan. That break opened the door for Clinton and Perot to run serious campaigns against the man who was seen by the country as Reagan’s torchbearer. Despite all this, many Americans fail to remember all the good President Bush did both as President and prior to being President. Here’s a brief list:

He was the youngest naval aviator in U.S. history
He participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea
He served as Chairman of the Republican Party for Harris County, Texas
He was the first Republican to represent Houston
He was the ambassador to the United Nations
He was Chairman of the Republican National Committee
He was the Director of Central Intelligence
He was Vice President under Ronald Reagan
As President he saw the fall of the Berlin Wall
As President saw the fall of the Soviet Union
Signed the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
Increased spending on education
Reauthorized the Clean Air Act
Persian Gulf War to free Kuwait
Holds Honorary Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II (1 of 3 Presidents)
Worked for relief of Hurricane Katrina and Indian Ocean Tsunami

The above is just a partial list of accomplishments of President Bush as found at Wikipedia Site

It is fitting that a new aircraft carrier would be named after a man who has accomplished so much prior to his presidency, during and after. We can be proud as a nation of a new ship to defend America; however, we can further be proud as Republicans of a man who has contributed so much to our country.

Tax and Spend Days are Coming!

During the Revolutionary War with England, Paul Revere was accredited with sounding the warning to the Minutemen that the British were coming. Here I’m sounding a similar cry to the American Public. “Tax Increases are coming. The tax increases are coming”. Fortunately, I don’t need to ride out on a horse and hope that my voice is loud enough for everyone asleep to hear me. Instead, I have the great freedom of speech and the wonderful access of the Internet to announce this. Mark these words today, most likely in 2009, 2010 and at least the first session of 2011 you will likely see the tax increases. If you don’t during those years and the Democrats maintain control of both houses and the White House in 2012, then you will most definitely see the largest tax increase in recent history in 2012.

As a recent character on the big screen chided, “Why so serious?” I am very serious about this. Consider the following:
1. Democrats control each branch of government at this time. Control gives them the cushion to raise taxes now and hope the American public adjusts to the changes before the next election process.
2. If the Democrats hold the White House for 2012, then Mr. Obama will be on his second term and the bottom line is no President has to worry about re-election after winning a second term. Do you bad stuff early in the second term and you can still go out popular by the end of office.
3. Democrats rode the wave of “Change” in their victories of 2008. While change is good sometimes, the bottom line is change cost money. The American people will pay for the change in the form of tax increases.
4. Historically, Democrats have held strong ties to big government while Republicans have wanted smaller government. Sorry Democrats, that’s just a fact that goes back to Lincoln. The record shows it.
5. Health care increases, housing increases, and the other great increases promised by Mr. Obama will take money. See number three.

Either a year from now or at minimum within the next two years, look back at this blog and see if it corresponds to the fact that your taxes will increase. Hey, there’s always the chance I’m wrong. I don’t have a crystal ball telling me what is going to happen. All I have is just the simple fact that the Democrats are in control and they have a firm history that has proved they tax and spend. There is an old saying that “History repeats itself”. Maybe we’ll be lucky and the Republicans still holding seats and seeking future seats will be able to fight for us again someday soon.