February 6, 2012

Rural Americans Solution Group forum on job-killing EPA regulations

Rep. Frank Lucas (OK), Rep. Sam Graves (MO), and Rep. Doc Hastings (WA), co-chairs of the Rural America Solutions Group, will host a forum to discuss Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations and initiatives that are hindering job creation and economic expansion in America’s rural communities.  The forum, entitled “The EPA’s Assault on Rural America: How New Regulations and Proposed Legislation are Stifling Job Creation and Economic Growth,” will take place tomorrow at 2 p.m. EST.

The Co-Chairs will lead a panel discussion on a range of EPA proposals and related legislation, including carbon dioxide restrictions, the Clean Water Act, farm dust regulations, hydraulic fracturing and more.  Experts from across the country have been invited to Washington, D.C. to discuss how these EPA regulations are impacting the livelihoods of farmers, ranchers and small businesses throughout rural America.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and other GOPers started the group in April of 2009 which will focus on job creation and economic opportunities in rural areas. From the announcement, via Speaker Boehner:

“Families, small businesses, and farmers in rural areas are struggling and this group will work to provide positive solutions to help farming and agricultural communities across the nation hit hard by this recession,” said Boehner. “My district contains the two largest agricultural counties in Ohio and since my election in 1990, I’ve remained committed to fighting on behalf of families, farmers and small business owners in rural areas. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the coming weeks to develop solutions that will ease the strain on rural America.”

Members of the group are:

  • Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) – Co-Chair
  • Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) – Co-Chair
  • Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) – Co-Chair
  • Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT)
  • Rep. Henry Brown (R-SC)
  • Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)
  • Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX
  • Rep. Steve King (R-IA)
  • Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA)
  • Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)
  • Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)
  • Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA)
  • Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL)
  • Rep. George Radonovich (R-CA)
  • Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN)
  • Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE)

“As a farmer and a small businessman, I know the importance of rural America to our country. No matter where you live, we all want the same things- good-paying jobs, a solid education and access to quality healthcare,” said Small Business Committee Ranking Republican Sam Graves (R-MO). “However the solutions to those problems in rural America are unique. I am excited to begin our work on finding solutions.”

One can watch it live, on Wednesday Sept. 29 at 2pm here.

Ohio Afro-American group advocating “protest” by withholding Ohio gubernatorial vote

Ohio Republican and Democratic leadership: are you listening???

This writer has run across an interesting website in Ohio, “BlackOut 2010.” From their homepage:

BlackOut2010.org are concerned citizens, business owners and community activists throughout the State of Ohio, whom are no longer willing to innocently and without value offer our votes up to the Democratic Party on all levels without a meaningful response. We are not prepared to register as Republicans, however, we will give the opposition an opportunity to hear our concerns and act on them.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Fred Harris, former Warren, Ohio safety services director at length about the movement. It boils down to one single focus: neither the Republican or Democratic leadership in the state of Ohio are listening to the needs and pleas of the Afro-American citizens in the state. Both Mahoning and Trumbull counties in northeast Ohio in particular have been plagued with massive unemployment which is imposing untold burdens on the communities and citizens. Mr. Harris stated to me Trumbull county had the highest job loss in one month of the whole nation. These areas have a large population of Afro-Americans who are desperate for work since the steel industry left the area years ago and people are struggling during these tough economic times to put food on their tables and make ends meet.

Afro-Americans are typically 85% Democrats and in this election year Mr. Harris states there is a “lethargy” about going to the polls for fears their votes will go unnoticed and their pleas for assistance will be unheard. A true constitutionalist, Mr. Harris believes the citizens’ most powerful tool is their “vote.” So for this election cycle he and his organization are traveling the state of Ohio advocating a “protest” not only by Afro-Americans, but by any dissatisfied citizens of the state, by withholding their gubernatorial vote only. Since the governor is the highest ranking elected official in any state the logic is this will send a clear message to state leadership in Ohio the status quo is untenable and needs to be changed quickly. Mr. Harris made it abundantly clear his movement is in no way advocating staying home and not going to the polls. On the contrary, he stated, every person in the state should be voting but it is only the gubernatorial vote which is being asked to be withheld.

I questioned Mr. Harris if he had been in contact with any Democratic or Republican leadership or candidates with regards to this “protest.” I was told both Chris Redfern, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party and Governor Ted Strickland are aware of the organization’s stance and both declared to him this would harm President Obama in the election. However, Mr. Harris was adamant, speaking directly to me:

At this time this is not about President  Obama or any other candidate at the federal level. In 2012 we will address the issue at the federal level. However, my people are hurting and right now we need to focus on the needs of the Afro-Americans in the state of Ohio. And the only way that can be done is to get the attention of those in the state of Ohio who can help us whether it be the Democrats or the Republicans. The Tea Party movement has helped to make us not necessarily either Republicans, Democrats or Independents, but Americans. Therefore, whomever is elected as governor this election cycle, whether it be John Kasich or Governor Strickland, we will invite them to come to our communities to hold Town Halls where we will voice our concerns and needs. However, at this point we believe our only way to get the attention we deserve is by withholding our gubernatorial votes.

Mr. Harris told me he has also talked with Rob Portman, Ohio candidate for US Senate face to face and has addressed his concerns to Mr. Portman telling Mr. Portman “if you can help us, then we’ll talk to you.”

Mr. Harris and I also discussed House Bill 584 (Minority Set-Aside Legislation)

The purpose of the Bill was to ensure minority business participation in the bidding process relating to the contracts awarded by the State of Ohio. Specifically, the bill mandated the following:

  • Establish a minority development loan program;
  • Provide construction contract bonds for minority businesses unable to obtain them from private sources;
  • Set aside 5% of state construction contracts and 15% [emphasis mine] of procurement contracts for minority businesses;
  • Require 7 to 10 percent of every state construction contract be awarded to minority subcontractors and material-men; and
  • Require all state and local procurement contracts to contain anti-discrimination clauses, and to make an appropriation.

Mr. Harris tells me scorecards for this legislation have fallen well below the mandated 15% and overseers of this legislation need to make sure the percentages climb. Here is the MBE/EDGE Scorecard from the Ohio Dept. of Administrative Services, Equal Opportunity Division which does indicate most state agencies have fallen short of what is required under #584.  As one can see the majority of agencies are in the “yellow” caution area with only several in the “green” area” and many in the “red” area.

Also discussed was the Stimulus (ARRA) Law. Mr. Harris believes the $12 billion in funds sent to Ohio should not have gone directly to the governor’s office, where he/she can control where the money flows. Instead he believes the dollars should have gone to county commissions which could have better ascertained where the dollars were best spent.

Here’s an article from WFMJ.online in Warren Ohio about the organization.

Governor Strickland. John Kasich. Chris Redfern. Kevin Dewine (OH RNC) are you listening??

BlackOut 2010 hopes that you are.

Crossposted at Red State

You thought we just had to deal with OFA? Enter “ActBlue”

One of the things ActBlue does for Democrats is lower the barriers to entry in politics. By enabling talented candidates to link up with donor communities that are interested in supporting them, we ensure that they get the cash they need to run even if they haven’t spent years cultivating connections in the political world. And while all that work is largely invisible to the average voter, it means that when they step into the ballot box on primary day, they have a wider selection of candidates to choose from than they would otherwise.

Recognize the face in this video? Most of you I am sure do. For those of you who don’t it is none other than the ultra-lib/progressive founder of Daily Kos, Markos Moulitsas. And I recognize those orange blow-up chairs in the background so he was speaking from NetRoots 2010 in Vegas in July of this year and the quote above is from him.

This video was found on ActBlue. The number one on-line fundraising tool for Democrats. They have now surpassed $150 million in on-line contributions since 2004 and are fundraising fast. They are up over $2 million more since I checked the site a couple of months ago.

And you guys thought OFA was a threat.

Pretty impressive, wouldn’t you say? And they don’t act alone. ActBlue is partnering with Kos. They are partnering with the ultra-progressive cell phone company CREDO which has given more than $65 million to progressive causes. CREDO by the way is a product of Working Assets which was founded by none other than Drummond Pike, is on the list of “Election Protection” members which helped a GOTV effort for Obama in 2008 and is also a charter member of Marxist/McChesney’s Save the Internet.

ActBlue is also partnering with Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC). Acording to PCCC’s mission statement:

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) works to elect bold progressive candidates to federal office and to help those candidates and their campaigns save money, work smarter, and win more often. We also advocate for bold leadership on the most important and pressing causes.

ActBlue has a candidate directory which can be pulled up by state.  Under each candidate’s name you can see who or what group is raising funds for them and how much they have raised. I didn’t count how many candidates are involved but they are not just Congressional candidates but governors and other statewide candidates. And ultra/liberal progressive Stupak 11 member, Marcy Kaptur, of Toledo, my city is on the Ohio list. What do you know. Now let me be perfectly clear. A candidate must agree and set up an account to be a “member” here and fundraise.

Now let’s move on a bit. Take a look at the  the Secretary of State project. For those of you who are not aware,

The SOS Project, or the Secretary of State Project, is an independent 527 political organization founded in July 2006 under the premise of advancing ‘election protection’ measures. Members believe that the only way in which to accomplish such a goal is to devote all efforts and resources toward helping get Democrats elected to the offices of Secretary of State in selected swing, or battleground, states, specifically those whose margin of victory in the 2004 presidential election contest was 120,000 votes or less.

The SoS Project was formed largely from the Democracy Alliance which is a group of mega-wealthy individuals whose long term objective is to raise upwards of $200 million for progressive organizations. Among the members of the Democracy Alliance are George Soros, Drummond Pike, Norman Lear, Rob Reiner, SEIU and Rob Glaser. Both Glaser’s Glaser Progress Foundation and Democracy Alliance were 2008 donors to Marxist/McChesney’s Free Press “lets take over all the media and the internet” think tank.  At the DNC 2008 national convention in Denver Soros gave the go-ahead for the Democracy Alliance to be a grantee of the Secretary of State Project. Because the Secretary of State Project is set up as a 527 organization it can accept unlimited donations and does not have to disclose the donors until after an election cycle.

Now that you have the above paragraph and its info burned into your brain let’s take a look at the Secretary of State Project website home page. I’m even going to give you a screen shot.

Bowen SOS

Well what do you know. Who do we have on the right hand side here? None other than, you guessed it: ActBlue. And as you can see by the donor list here, Soros himself gave $10,000 to the SoS Project in 2008 and so did ActBlue in both 2006 and 2008.

My algebra teacher taught me if a=c, and b=c, then a=b. So what I have deduced from all the above is every candidate who fundraises under the brim of ActBlue is involved with George Soros. Maybe by two degrees of separation at the most.

This writer isn’t going to make any bets whether or not all of these candidates are aware of this.

Comments?

Crossposted at RedState

RightChange.com offers a fun, on-line tool for targeting liberal candidates

Want to find out about the candidates and how they voted in a “fun way” with animation? Then go to RightChange.com where the group has launched 48 microsites which target liberal candidates in 39 House races and 9 Senate races. The common theme: a vote for this person is a vote for “failed leadership.” Each site also includes a checklist of the candidate’s voting record that’s lock-step with the “Obama-Pelosi-Reid” agenda and a link to voter registration in that state.

There is a blog feature, a national debt clock and a “countdown to vote” widget. Each targeted candidate comes with his/her own 1950’s horror movie themed ad. Targeted candidates include Russ Carnahan (D-MO), Jason Altmire and Tim Holdren of Pennsylvania. A quote from the campaign area of the site:

RightChange engages Americans through informed, fact-based content delivered in a creative format and through multimedia platforms to allow viewers to develop their own conclusions about the most critical economic and national security policies of our day. RightChange cuts through the political spin by using politicians’ own words, votes and actions to hold them accountable.

The home page of the site contains an animated video depicting Nancy Pelosi as a 50-ft giant headed monster. According to the Wall Street Journal RightChange raised $6.7 million during the 2008 election cycle and has already raised $650 thousand for the 2010 election cycle.

The group will continue to post candidates and will eventually be adding contests where they believe GOP candidates are not getting enough air-time.

GOP releases “Pledge to America” agenda

From the “Pledge”:

“America is more than a country.

America is an idea – an idea that free people can govern themselves, that government’s powers are derived from the consent of the governed, that each of us is endowed by their Creator with the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. America is the belief that any man or woman can – given economic, political, and religious liberty – advance themselves, their families, and the common good.

America is an inspiration to those who yearn to be free and have the ability and the dignity to determine their own destiny.

Whenever the agenda of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to institute a new governing agenda and set a different course.

These first principles were proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, enshrined in the Constitution, and have endured through hard sacrifice and commitment by generations of Americans.

In a self-governing society, the only bulwark against the power of the state is the consent of the governed, and regarding the policies of the current government, the governed do not consent.

An unchecked executive, a compliant legislature, and an overreaching judiciary have combined to thwart the will of the people and overturn their votes and their values, striking down longstanding laws and institutions and scorning the deepest beliefs of the American people.

An arrogant and out-of-touch government of self-appointed elites makes decisions, issues mandates, and enacts laws without accepting or requesting the input of the many.

Rising joblessness, crushing debt, and a polarizing political environment are fraying the bonds among our people and blurring our sense of national purpose.

Like free peoples of the past, our citizens refuse to accommodate a government that believes it can replace the will of the people with its own. The American people are speaking out, demanding that we realign our country’s compass with its founding principles and apply those principles to solve our common problems for the common good.

The need for urgent action to repair our economy and reclaim our government for the people cannot be overstated.

With this document, we pledge to dedicate ourselves to the task of reconnecting our highest aspirations to the permanent truths of our founding by keeping faith with the values our nation was founded on, the principles we stand for, and the priorities of our people. This is our Pledge to America.

We pledge to honor the Constitution as constructed by its framers and honor the original intent of those precepts that have been consistently ignored – particularly the Tenth Amendment, which grants that all powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

We pledge to advance policies that promote greater liberty, wider opportunity, a robust defense, and national economic prosperity.

We pledge to honor families, traditional marriage, life, and the private and faith-based organizations that form the core of our American values.

We pledge to make government more transparent in its actions, careful in its stewardship, and honest in its dealings.

We pledge to uphold the purpose and promise of a better America, knowing that to whom much is given, much is expected and that the blessings of our liberty buoy the hopes of mankind.

We make this pledge bearing true faith and allegiance to the people we represent, and we invite fellow citizens and patriots to join us in forming a new governing agenda for America.”

Here is Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) discussing the document on Fox and Friends today.

Excerpts from the video above:

“A Pledge to America is going to lay out our agenda for what we’d like to see this congress right now do to get spending under control, to get this economy moving again, to protect our nation, to battle against the massive expansion of government that’s been under way, and to get us back to the ideals and the values of the broad mainstream of the American people.”

On How the American People Drove this Governing Agenda:

“I think that the Tea Party movement and the people who’ve attended town hall meetings over the last year-and-a-half have sent a deafening message to Washington, D.C. that enough is enough. They want to see us get back to the practice of fiscal responsibility, personal responsibility and government reform. They want to see us get government spending under control and get this economy moving again, and they want to see us do all of that in a way that’s grounded in the freedom and limited government traditions of this country. So yes, this is a big, big hat tip to all the American people that are standing up and saying we can do better.”

On the Importance of Social Issues in A Pledge to America:

“First and foremost what they’re going to see in the Pledge to America today, which was not in the original Contract with America, is a statement about the sanctity of life and a statement about traditional marriage. And I think that’s an important accomplishment for everyone in this country that cherishes the common values of our country.

“I think it was important that Republicans make an affirmative statement in favor of traditional marriage in the Pledge to America. We’ve done that. But don’t miss the fact too, that in the Pledge to America today the American people will see that Republicans are prepared to commit to deny all public funding for abortion at home and abroad. And we will work to make that a government-wide ban. And so, different from the original Contract with America – yes, we deal with spending, with jobs, with government reform, with security – but we also make a strong affirmation to the broad mainstream traditional values that really make this country great.”

And for those of you who wish to read the entire document her is the link.