The Top 4 Things Congressional Republicans Must Do in 2010 – Part II

The 2010 elections represent an enormous opportunity for Congressional Republicans.  As I pointed out in Part I of this series,  The Lessons of ’66 and ’94 Loom Over the Democrats, the average loss for the President’s Party, when the President’s approval rating is below 50%, is 40+ House seats. The past, however, is no guarantee of the future – just a possible guide.  If Republicans are to realize the full potential of this election, they will need to overhaul their recent election strategies.

The Top 4 changes they should employ are:

4.  Oppose.  It has long been said that the first duty of the opposition is to oppose.  Given that the outset of 2010 will be dominated by the health care bill which will then give way to a pork barrel “jobs” (read government jobs) bill and then on to cap and trade, immigration/amnesty and then taxes – Congressional Republicans will have ample opportunity to oppose the Democrats’ bad policies.  More than merely oppose them, however, the magnitude of the “Change” being pushed by the Democrats requires the Congressional Republicans to demonstrate valor and determination in defeating those measures as if the Constitution depended upon it – because it does.

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Tags: Congressional Republicans, Contract with America, Facebook, midterm elections, new media
Posted Jan 19th 2010 at 5:38 am in Congress, Featured Story, Politics, State Politics | 61334139 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/tdelbeccaro/2010/01/19/the-top-4-things-congressional-republicans-must-do-in-2010-part-ii/The+Top+4+Things+Congressional+Republicans+Must+Do+in+2010+-+Part+II2010-01-19+13%3A38%3A56Thomas+Del+Beccaro

Pork Report, December 10, 2009: Muskrat Love Edition

Martini bar, puppet shows, and research on the sex drive of rats among the recipients of federal stimulus funding

All aboard the stimulus gravy train! $54 million of stimulus funds for a California “wine train” and $2.2 million for a golf course being threatened with closure

Congressional Republicans trumpeting their efforts to rein in federal spending have tucked thousands of pet projects costing more than $1 billion in the $446.8 billion omnibus appropriations bill expected to be passed this week

$500,000 National Science Foundation grant studies how people use Facebook

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Tags: Earmarks, Facebook, federal stimulus spending, federal waste, Juan de Fuca Festival
Posted Dec 10th 2009 at 4:29 pm in Pork Report | 4440225 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/porkreport/2009/12/10/pork-report-december-10-2009-muskrat-love-edition/Pork+Report%2C+December+10%2C+2009%3A+Muskrat+Love+Edition2009-12-10+23%3A29%3A26The+Pork+Report

Twitter Invites Zealous Bureaucrats to Regulate its Service

By including Democrat candidates for California elected offices as recommended users and omitting Republicans until only recently, Twitter has drawn the attention of those in government interested in opening the door to state or federal regulation of online campaign activity, including social networking sites.

Twitter’s announcement that it intends to do away with its suggested user list is a good idea, at least as it applies to candidates.  Through a system where corporate executives chose which individuals, including candidates, were recommended, the company put itself in the position of appearing to provide something of value to some candidates over others.  It should be no surprise that zealous bureaucrats might seize the opportunity to use this as an excuse to regulate the company’s product.

The notion that some government bureaucracy is going to be able to keep up with, let alone regulate, campaign activities online defies reality.

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Tags: California Fair Political Practices Commission, campaign disclosure, campaign finance laws, Facebook, in-kind contribution
Posted Nov 18th 2009 at 3:31 pm in State Politics, Technology | 3276639 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/rnehring/2009/11/18/twitter-invites-zealous-bureaucrats-to-regulate-its-service/Twitter+Invites+Zealous+Bureaucrats+to+Regulate+its+Service2009-11-18+22%3A31%3A31Ron+Nehring

The Pork Report: October 14, 2009

Taxpayers foot the bill for office items lost or stolen by members of Congress

Half-a-million dollar NSF stimulus grant pays to search for alternatives to Facebook

Stimulus funds pay to create an online database of bugs

Stimulus funds to pay for talking buses in Ohio; Human voices to replace beeping sounds that alert pedestrians of approaching buses

Congressmen successfully pressure the Food and Drug Administration to approve medical device manufactured by campaign contributor

Spending bills stalled by decision of Appropriations Committees to withhold government reports from the public and other members of Congress

Political ‘scientists’ lobby to keep millions of dollars in federal science grants

Congress will spend more than $100 million to put sand on beaches

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Tags: Appropriations Committee, bug database, Earmarks, Facebook, Food and Drug Administration
Posted Oct 14th 2009 at 3:00 pm in Congress, News, Politics | 1651027 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/porkreport/2009/10/14/the-pork-report-october-14-2009/The+Pork+Report%3A+October+14%2C+20092009-10-14+22%3A00%3A30The+Pork+Report

The Pork Report: October 8, 2009

From the great folks at Sen. Tom Coburn’s office:

Political scientists lobbying Congress for federal subsidies

The National Science Foundation spends about $8 million annually to support political science research

Research sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Air Force attempts to predict individuals’ political affiliation based on Facebook profiles

Congress earmarks $3 million to a company owned by Goldman Sachs and two private equity funds

Congress raids the military’s maintenance budget to pay for $5 million earmark for digital scrapbooks

The Federal Aviation Administration has spent more than $270 million in federal stimulus grants on projects that scored poorly on the agency’s own national priority rating system

Department of Homeland Security steers nearly $1 million in federal funding, typically distributed to fire departments, to ACORN

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Tags: ACORN, Congress, Department of Homeland Security, digital scrapbooks, earmark
Posted Oct 8th 2009 at 12:46 pm in Congress, Politics | 1455813 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/porkreport/2009/10/08/the-pork-report-october-8-2009/The+Pork+Report%3A+October+8%2C+20092009-10-08+19%3A46%3A35The+Pork+Report

The Party of “No Ideas” Vs The Party of Failed Ideas – The Fight Between Conservatives and the Media on Health Reform

A friend of mine on Facebook recently wrote the following about an article on the life of the late Irving Kristol:

“Once upon a time, not too many years ago, the Republican Party was the party of ideas. Would even its staunchest supporters say so today? I think not. The sole substance of the Republican Party today is opposition to whatever the Democrats are for, period.”

Were it true, it would be damning.  Thankfully it’s not.

My friend, a former White House high-ranking employee in both the Reagan and Bush 41 administrations, grew angry, very angry, about the direction of the Republican Party under President Bush 43, something upon which I agree with him.  But, unlike him, I prefer to stay and fight for what’s right within the party I agree with most, not abandon it. He grew so angry that he voted for Obama in 2008.  Now, I don’t claim to know how any human being works internally, but I don’t understand how someone who claims to be a conservative could make that sort of switch. Simply because your side didn’t live up to their ideals doesn’t mean, to my mind, that  you switch to the side that advocates explicitly the opposite point of view.

But that’s neither here nor there. My friend, and everyone else, is free to vote for whomever they want, for whatever reason they want.  What I take issue with his the common mantra of the Left, echoed by my friend, that Republicans are out of ideas and Democrats are a fountain new ones.

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Tags: Barack Obama, Bruce Bartlett, Canada, Ed Schutz, Facebook
Posted Oct 6th 2009 at 6:00 am in Congress, Featured Story, Healthcare, Politics | 1264660 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/dhunter/2009/10/06/the-party-of-no-ideas-vs-the-party-of-failed-ideas-the-fight-between-conservatives-and-the-media-on-health-reform/The+Party+of+%E2%80%9CNo+Ideas%E2%80%9D+Vs+The+Party+of+Failed+Ideas+-+The+Fight+Between+Conservatives+and+the+Media+on+Health+Reform2009-10-06+13%3A00%3A38Derek+Hunter

Help Wanted: Tweet for ACORN

According to an ad today in the Washington Post, ACORN Chief Organizer Bertha Lewis is looking for a “social media organizer” to take to the Web and do some damage control on the Twitter front. Duties include:

Helping to create or upgrade a presence for Bertha Lewis, ACORNs Chief Organizer, on various social media, including: Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc.

Establishing a presence for ACORNs campaigns for example campaigns to stop foreclosures and to fight for immigrants rights on various social networking websites.

Developing new and innovative methods for the use of social networking technologies, including video, to enhance community organizing.

Isn’t the left supposed to the standard bearer for social media? Have the tides turned?

H/T Charlie Spiering at the Washington Examiner

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Tags: Bertha Lewis, Facebook, MySpace, social media, Twitter
Posted Sep 22nd 2009 at 12:45 pm in ACORN, Culture | 673441 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/cmoody/2009/09/22/help-wanted-tweet-for-acorn/Help+Wanted%3A+Tweet+for+ACORN2009-09-22+19%3A45%3A12Chris+Moody