Shovel-ready jobs for Republicans

George Will was the keynote speaker Thursday evening at the CPAC Convention. Mr. Will is a "Washington Insider" and conservatives out in the heartland of America often don't agree with him, myself included, but his speech was entertaining and at times, profound. Mr. Will concluded his comments Thursday with the analogy that Mr. Obama's policies and proposals are like sand pouring in around us, perhaps faster than we can keep it shoveled away.  He noted there is much work to be done between now and the elections in November 2010.  There is much sand to move and ground to cover in order to oust liberals and RINO's and replace them with true conservatives in Congress.  Mr. Will likened the work to 'shovel ready' jobs in keeping with the president's promise a year ago when he pushed for passage of his Stimulus Bill.

There are, indeed, shovel ready jobs for each concerned Colorado conservative voter.  We are a fortunate state, in that we have the caucus system.  We can gather with our neighbors in our precincts and discuss the issues and the candidates.  We can exchange knowledge and information we've gained through researching the candidates and attending debates between them.  We have an opportunity to select the best persons for the job openings in Colorado politics. 

We will not find the perfect fit for each job, but we have a duty to choose as carefully as possible and most importantly, we are duty bound to participate.  Once our primaries are over, Coloradoans must take up our shovels and begin the Big Dig out of stifling, smothering government spending, waste and intrusion into our lives before it quietly robs us of our freedoms and liberties and further bankrupts the futures of generations to come. 

This is Colorado!  Grab your shovel and help dig for 'gold'.  Be a part of the caucus process.  Contact your county GOP office and find out who your Precinct Leader is and where your precinct caucus meeting will be held.  A group of concerned citizens in El Paso County have obtained lists of registered GOP voters in each precinct and will walk neighborhoods between now and the March caucus, encouraging their fellow Republicans to come out and be a part of this great opportunity.   The GOP brand has faltered in recent years.  We can reverse that by reaching out to our neighbors and letting them know we are proud to stand with our party in Colorado and are committed to working hard to elect the best candidates.  The more people come together to work toward the common causes and support our candidates, the more the timid members of our party will feel better about standing with us.   We'll see a resurgence of the conservative movement and a return of Colorado to its "RED" status.

Is Tea Party movement still pure?

One year ago, Rick Santelli lit the fire on the idea that fed-up Americans should host a tea party. Santelli suggested he and others at the Chicago Board of Trade should host a Tea Party on the banks of the Chicago River on the Fourth of July.  Santelli was typically shredded by the media.  Afterall, the president had only been in office a month!  How could anyone in America have questions or concerns.  He promised change and a fundamental remaking of America and voters had bought it.  Santelli was maligned, but something happened. A month into the "Fundamental Changing of America" administration, the Middle began to close.  Conservative Democrats and Independents started to peel away the veil and questioned whether or not they had been misled.  Within weeks, Americans of all political persuasions started gathering in city parks, on court house steps, community centers and private homes.  Conservatives quickly dropped the "I TOLD you so!" attitude and Americans came together.  As the backgrounds and political opinions of Obama's Cabinet and Czars became knowledge and as spending spiraled beyond imagination, the gap began to close.

There is jockeying now for the hearts, minds and votes of the Tea Party movement.  Even the media speaks with newly gained respect toward the group they once trashed, lied about and called every name in the book.  Pundits that once claimed only hacks for health insurance companies were showing up at townhall's and tea parties now admit there just might be something to this whole concept of average Americans actually taking back their government.gathered in parks and town halls and court house lawns, holding up homemade signs, waving flags and doing their best to send a loud and clear message to governments of all levels that we are, T.axed E.nough A.lready.  Of course, any disagreement with government and spending eventually lands at the feet of the president, so the media loyalists rallied around the White House and did their utmost to discredit the 'angry mobs'.  Seeing that no respect was to be had and the intended message was ignored, patriots gathered steam, planned more parties and increased their numbers.  The more names they were called, the more vocal and visible they became. 

As April 15, 2010, approaches thousands of parties will take place but this time, Washington and the cable networks will be listening.  Instead of labeling participants with despicable names or claiming them to be hacks hired by health insurance companies to ride buses and hold up signs, those that take time off work or school, brave all kinds of weather and show up at their local party will be held in a bit higher regard.

The Tea Party movement has now captured the nation's attention.  With a clear majority of Americans considering themselves to be conservatives, the numbers grow as more and more people watch the decline of our nation on so many levels.   As with every movement, there are activists that organize and plan and facilitate, but this particular movement will survive only if the grass roots Americans that had the courage to show up at that first party continue to stand up for America.

Let's hope the movement remains true to its original purpose and intent.  There is much debate as to what exactly is the movement, where does it go from here, will it evolve into a Third Party in our system?  Those that have self-appointed themselves into leadership positions in the movement, like to dangle the carrot of a growing block of voters before both the GOP and the Democrats.   They claim no allegiance to any party, only to a set of conservative values and allegiance to those politicians intent on reform. 

There are rumors of the movement being infiltrated with liberals, progressives and anti-GOP independents.  Their purpose is to create as much malcontent with the Republican Party as possible and to split votes to the extent that  Team Obama/Reid/Pelosi remain in power.  The Democrats and the media did their best but the movement prevailed.  Conservative voices are winning elections and public figures such as Sarah Palin continue to draw huge crowds in spite of the media claiming otherwise and reporting poor polling numbers for Mrs. Palin.  They can't beat the movement, so is the next tactic to join it and thus destroy it?

The majority of the nation wants to clean up the many messes in our governmental systems--local, state and federal.  We should be wary of expecting perfection from any candidate and assuming there is one person out there that has a platform that totally lines up with every voter.  The Tea Party movement created interest and every day Americans can see that their voice can be heard and they do actually have an impact.   We must realize that Republican conservative candidates are our best choice if we are to impact spending, borrowing, debt, national security, jobs creation, taxation, the preservation of personal freedoms and liberties, reforms in health care costs and education.  The Democrat platform will entice us to believe that more spending, more Stimulus plans and more big government is the answer.  There is no such creature today as a fiscally conservative Democrat.  Don't be fooled into believing that both parties will somehow meld together into the hopes and dreams of the Tea Party movement. 

Last April 15th, Americans drew a line in the sand.   Before we cross that line, we need to be sure the candidates we vote into office are going to do the will of the people.

Sign the Mount Vernon Statement

By John Andrews "We recommit ourselves to the ideas of the American Founding. Through the Constitution, the Founders created an enduring framework of limited government based on the rule of law." So begins the Mount Vernon Statement, an important and timely declaration of principles issued on Feb. 17 by the heads of 16 major conservative organizations. Originating with intellectual leaders on the Right, rather than elected officials and candidates, the statement sets a baseline for thinking patriots in weighing the claims we'll hear from politicians as this 2010 year of decision moves toward election day. If Republicans bring out a new version of the 1994 Contract with America in their hopes for a November sweep against Obama and the Democrats, its worthiness can be measured against this declaration.

The full text is below, taken from their website at TheMountVernonDeclaration.com. By clicking to that site you can also add your name as a signer of the declaration, which I have proudly done.

This manifesto is a worthy descendant from Bill Buckley's famous Sharon Statement of half a century ago, as Greg Schaller points out at '76 Blog. The Sharon Statement and YAF, the Young Americans for Freedom movement which it launched, were formative for me and so many other young conservatives in the turbulent 1960s. Let's hope for an equally profound, powerful, and positive impact from the Mount Vernon Declaration. Here it is...

Constitutional Conservatism: A Statement for the 21st Century

We recommit ourselves to the ideas of the American Founding. Through the Constitution, the Founders created an enduring framework of limited government based on the rule of law. They sought to secure national independence, provide for economic opportunity, establish true religious liberty and maintain a flourishing society of republican self-government.

These principles define us as a country and inspire us as a people. They are responsible for a prosperous, just nation unlike any other in the world. They are our highest achievements, serving not only as powerful beacons to all who strive for freedom and seek self-government, but as warnings to tyrants and despots everywhere.

Each one of these founding ideas is presently under sustained attack. In recent decades, America’s principles have been undermined and redefined in our culture, our universities and our politics. The selfevident truths of 1776 have been supplanted by the notion that no such truths exist. The federal government today ignores the limits of the Constitution, which is increasingly dismissed as obsolete and irrelevant.

Some insist that America must change, cast off the old and put on the new. But where would this lead — forward or backward, up or down? Isn’t this idea of change an empty promise or even a dangerous deception?

The change we urgently need, a change consistent with the American ideal, is not movement away from but toward our founding principles. At this important time, we need a restatement of Constitutional conservatism grounded in the priceless principle of ordered liberty articulated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

The conservatism of the Declaration asserts self-evident truths based on the laws of nature and nature’s God. It defends life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It traces authority to the consent of the governed. It recognizes man’s self-interest but also his capacity for virtue.

The conservatism of the Constitution limits government’s powers but ensures that government performs its proper job effectively. It refines popular will through the filter of representation. It provides checks and balances through the several branches of government and a federal republic.

A Constitutional conservatism unites all conservatives through the natural fusion provided by American principles. It reminds economic conservatives that morality is essential to limited government, social conservatives that unlimited government is a threat to moral self-government, and national security conservatives that energetic but responsible government is the key to America’s safety and leadership role in the world.

A Constitutional conservatism based on first principles provides the framework for a consistent and meaningful policy agenda.

It applies the principle of limited government based on the rule of law to every proposal.

It honors the central place of individual liberty in American politics and life.

It encourages free enterprise, the individual entrepreneur, and economic reforms grounded in market solutions.

It supports America’s national interest in advancing freedom and opposing tyranny in the world and prudently considers what we can and should do to that end.

It informs conservatism’s firm defense of family, neighborhood, community, and faith.

If we are to succeed in the critical political and policy battles ahead, we must be certain of our purpose.

We must begin by retaking and resolutely defending the high ground of America’s founding principles.

February 17, 2010

Edwin Meese, former U.S. Attorney General under President Reagan

Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America

Edwin Feulner, Jr., president of the Heritage Foundation

Lee Edwards, Distinguished Fellow in Conservative Thought at the Heritage Foundation, was present at the Sharon Statement signing.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council

Becky Norton Dunlop, president of the Council for National Policy

Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center

Alfred Regnery, publisher of the American Spectator

David Keene, president of the American Conservative Union

David McIntosh, co-founder of the Federalist Society

T. Kenneth Cribb, former domestic policy adviser to President Reagan

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform

William Wilson, President, Americans for Limited Government

Elaine Donnelly, Center for Military Readiness

Richard Viguerie, Chairman, ConservativeHQ.com

Kenneth Blackwell, Coalition for a Conservative Majority

Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring

Kathryn J. Lopez, National Review

02/14/2010: Kaminky, Dunn and Sharf

7:30PM: Kaminsky, Dunn and Sharf

02/14/2010: Senator Greg Brophy

7PM Guest: State Senator Greg Brophy