Madison Project

Representative Scott Garrett Grills OMB Director on 2013 Budget

This is an amazing clip of Judge Napolitano. I have never seen anyone speak so truthfully to what we as the American taxpayers are up against. We have been betrayed by both political parties.

A stricter Voter ID law passed the Virginia Senate by one vote on Monday. As always, interesting to see the Left screaming, “Pay not attention to that man behind the curtain!“

If there is any doubt in your mind that Members of Congress view your money as Monopoly money that they can use as they see fit, doubt no longer. $1M means nothing to them anymore. It is, by the way, endemic to both sides of the aisle. So while we are told there is a vast difference between the current iterations of both major parties in American politics, there really isn’t. The size and scope of government grows everyday. Government spending continues to spiral out of control as our national debt grows (and grows and grows. . . .).

There is a vast difference, however, between us, the American taxpayers, and Members of Congress. My brother Ned has aptly called them the Ruling Class. It is a title that can be used in other arenas as well (education, business, etc.). While our taxes continue to rise, we are told by the Ruling Class that they can trust us to use our tax dollars wisely. Let’s just all agree that sham is over.

Which is why I love the article the Washington Post ran yesterday on Congressional earmarks. Let me give you the lowlights of it.

*A Republican Senator earmarking $100M for renovation near his commercial office building.

*A Congressman from Georgia earmarking $6.3M to replenish the beach near his island vacation cottage (really?).

*33 Members of Congress steering more than $300M in earmarks towards dozens of public projects that are within 2 miles of properties they own.

There is a reason the approval rating for Congress is at an all time low. I wonder if we’ll ever be able to restore any confidence in Congress. Obviously, one of the ways of doing this is increased transparency. The other is a reinvigorated electorate that clearly sends a message to its individual Members of Congress: “We sent you there. We expect you to do certain things and if you don’t, we’ll send someone else.”

In today’s Politico, conservative stalwart Jim DeMint was quoted as saying, “It would be fun to have a real convention, wouldn’t it?”

I couldn’t agree more. Many point to 1976 and the Ford/Reagan convention as a cautionary tale as Ford went on to lose to the man who will go down in history as the worst American President ever, Jimmy Carter. What they want to gloss over is that, yes, Carter won. And four years later we got Ronald Reagan, a man who will go down as one of the greatest American President’s ever. Will a brokered convention be ugly? Yes. Will it be worth it? Yes.

I think too, the question in peoples’ minds is: Can we survive four more years of Barack Obama? If we hold the House, win the Senate and replace Mitch McConnell and his “leadership” team, then the answer is yes.

I confess, I am amazed at how many people, good people, feel obligated to pick a horse in this Republican Presidential Primary and then die for said horse. And shoot everyone else who disagrees with them along the way. We’re not just talking in the foot, either.

This is all well and good because this is politics in America. It is a combination of policy and bloodsport.

However, given the crap sandwich Republicans and conservatives are looking at with this field, the level of intensity confuses me. Is it really worth blowing up Newt supporters on behalf of Mitt? Is is worth kneecapping folks on behalf of Rick Santorum or gunning down Mitt supporters on behalf of Newt? All three of these men have proven track records in politics. There are very few bright spots in them. Very few.

Yet right now the seeds of dissension are being sown in fields that we will need to produce this fall if we are to hold the House and win the Senate. The very people who will need to work together this fall to win tight Senate races are engaged in visceral disagreements that I do not see being repaired. I know politics has a short shelf life and the American voters are known to have political amnesia, but we are at a point where the schism is deep and getting deeper by the day.

The chips will fall where they will in the Presidential race and when they do, folks can get ginned up for the winner to go against Obama. But let’s not kid ourselves that any one of the three mentioned above is some paragon of conservatism who will ride to save the day or consistently fight for our ideals. Not one of them is a hill worth dying on. Beating Barack Obama will be come this summer and fall and it will be that which will be worth fighting for, not the eventual Republican candidate.

A great clip from Fox and Friends, highlighting Charlie Sykes’ (a friend) new book, A Nation of Moochers.

Iowa State Representative Peter Cownie writes in the Des Moine Register today that property taxes have risen by 68% in Iowa since 2001. 68%?! Where, I wonder, is the breaking point? And I have to think that Iowa is not the only state that has seen property taxes rise so dramatically over the last decade.

This race just got interesting.

There are a lot of reasons we are headed towards a brokered convention in the Republican Presidential Primary. I think we are moving past the parlor game stage into the gray zone, ie it just might happen.

I could start with Ron Paul and his REALLY good grassroots infrastructure that is going to snatch up even more delegates in caucus states. Or the fact that Mitt Romney REALLY wants this one. It’s his last shot at becoming President and he has a lot of money to play with.

Then there are the major donors behind Gingrich and Santorum’s Super PACs.

Many view this as the “ugly” side of politics, but money is the mother’s milk of it. The more you have of it, the better campaign infrastructure you have and the deeper you can drive your message (or beat your opponent to death).

So when I see the #8 wealthiest man in America, Sheldon Adelson, drop another $5M into Newt’s Super PAC (well, technically, the donation is under his wife’s name), I know one thing is certain-Newt is going deep into this primary season and being that well funded, he is certain to pick up a lot of delegates. Even Santorum is going deep because of major donors giving hefty sums to his Super PAC. The deeper you go into a primary season without a clear cut winner, the more parity there will be in the delegate count.

Which could make for a very interesting Republican Convention this summer.