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calendar   Tuesday - May 06, 2008

Is Newt’s Plan 2 little 2 late?

I got this in my email this morning, as I’m sure many of you did:

My Plea to Republicans: It’s Time for Real Change to Avoid Real Disaster
by Newt Gingrich (more by this author)
Posted 05/06/2008 ET
Updated 05/06/2008 ET

The Republican loss in the special election for Louisiana’s Sixth Congressional District last Saturday should be a sharp wake up call for Republicans: Either Congressional Republicans are going to chart a bold course of real change or they are going to suffer decisive losses this November.  The facts are clear and compelling. Saturday’s loss was in a district that President Bush carried by 19 percentage points in 2004 and that the Republicans have held since 1975.  This defeat follows on the loss of Speaker Hastert’s seat in Illinois. That seat had been held by a Republican for 76 years with the single exception of the 1974 Watergate election when the Democrats held it for one term. That same seat had been carried by President Bush 55-44% in 2004.


Two GOP Losses That Validate a National Pattern

These two special elections validate a national polling pattern that is bad news for Republicans. According to a New York Times/CBS Poll, Americans disapprove of the President’s job performance by 63 to 28 (and he has been below 40% job approval since December 2006, the longest such period for any president in the history of polling).  A separate New York Times/CBS Poll shows that a full 81 percent of Americans believe the economy is on the wrong track. The current generic ballot for Congress according to the NY Times/CBS poll is 50 to 32 in favor of the Democrats. That is an 18-point margin, reminiscent of the depths of the Watergate disaster.


Congressional Republicans Can’t Take Comfort in McCain’s Poll Numbers

Senator McCain is currently running ahead of the Republican congressional ballot by about 16 percentage points. But there are two reasons that this extraordinary personal achievement should not comfort congressional Republicans.

First, McCain’s lead is a sign of the gap between the McCain brand of independence and the GOP brand. No regular Republican would be tying or slightly beating the Democratic candidates in this atmosphere. It is a sign of how much McCain is a non-traditional Republican that he is sustaining his personal popularity despite his party’s collapse.

Second, there is a grave danger for the McCain campaign that if the generic ballot stays at only 32 % for the GOP it will ultimately outweigh McCain’s personal appeal and drag his candidacy into defeat.


The Anti-Obama, Anti-Wright, and Anti-Clinton GOP Model Has Been Tested—And It Failed

The Republican brand has been so badly damaged that if Republicans try to run an anti-Obama, anti- Reverend Wright, or (if Senator Clinton wins), anti-Clinton campaign, they are simply going to fail.
This model has already been tested with disastrous results. In 2006, there were six incumbent Republican Senators who had plenty of money, the advantage of incumbency, and traditionally successful consultants. But the voters in all six states had adopted a simple position: “Not you.” No matter what the GOP Senators attacked their opponents with, the voters shrugged off the attacks and returned to, “Not you.” The danger for House and Senate Republicans in 2008 is that the voters will say, “Not the Republicans.”


Republicans Have Lost the Advantage on Every Single-Issue Poll

A February Washington Post poll shows that Republicans have lost the advantage to the Democrats on which party can handle an issue better—on every single topic.  Americans now believe that Democrats can handle the deficit better (52 to 31), taxes better (48 to 40) and even terrorism better (44 to 37). This is a catastrophic collapse of trust in Republicans built up over three generations on the deficit, two generations on taxes, and two generations on national security.


House Republicans Should Call an Emergency, Members-Only Conference

Faced with these election results, the House Republicans should hold an emergency members-only meeting. At the meeting, they should pose this stark choice: Real change or certain defeat. If a majority of the House Republicans vote for real change, they should instruct Republican Leader John Boehner and his team to come back with a new plan by the Wednesday before the Memorial Day recess. This plan should involve real change in legislative, communications, and campaign strategy and involve immediate, real action, including a complete overhaul of the Congressional Campaign Committee. The House Republican Conference would then vote for the plan or insist on its revision.

If a majority of the House Republicans are opposed to acting then the minority who are activists should establish a parallel organization dedicated to real change. This group should focus its energies on creating the changes necessary to survive despite a conference with a minority mindset that accepts defeat rather than fights for real change (which is what we had when I entered Congress in 1978).



Nine Acts of Real Change That Could Restore the GOP Brand

Here are nine acts of real change that would begin to rebuild the American people’s confidence that Republicans share their values, understand their worries, and are prepared to act instead of just talk. The Republicans in Congress could get a start on all nine this week if they had the will to do so.





What Is at Stake
No Republicans should kid themselves. It’s time to face up to a stark choice.  Without change we could face a catastrophic election this fall.  Without change the Republican Party in the House could revert to the permanent minority status it had from 1930 to 1994.  Without change, the majorities of Americans who support the Republican principle of smaller, more efficient, smarter and fairer government will be in for a rude awakening.  It’s time for real change to avoid a real disaster.


The “May Day Massacre”: Can Liberals Govern in a Global Economy?

Despite the poor outlook for conservatives in our elections this November, there is encouraging news from across the Atlantic. The conservative wave sweeping Europe hit England last week when the liberal Labor Party suffered its worst local election results in 40 years.

Boris Johnson became the first Conservative Party member elected mayor of London when he defeated Labour candidate “Red” Ken Livingstone. In contests for more than 4,000 local seats across England, Conservatives captured 44 percent of the vote, compared to 25 percent for the Liberal Democrats and just 24 percent for Labour.

This Conservative victory in England comes on the heels of a history-making rout of the Communists and the Greens in parliamentary elections Italy two weeks ago. And the Italian results follow center-right victories in France (Sarkozy) and Germany (Merkel). The countries of so-called “old” Europe are turning away from the liberal high tax, big government policies that have crippled their economies and are turning toward pro-growth, pro-competitive center-right solutions.

All of which raises the question: Can the Left successfully govern in a modern, global economy? The voters of Europe seem to be saying no.



Your friend,
image
Newt Gingrich

I like Newt. He’s smart, well spoken, and pretty much fearless. And it’s always so much fun to watch him bitch-slap Alan Colmes around whenever he appears on Fox’s Hannity & Colmes show. Human Events dot Com sends out these Letters From Newt every week or so, and they all follow a similar format: Gloom & Doom, followed by I Have Some Ideas, followed by But There Is Hope. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It gets your attention and makes for a good read. But I’m wondering if what Mr. G. is proposing here isn’t much more than a suggestion to pick the low hanging fruit a day before the whole crop spoils. This letter tastes like a wake up call for GOP politicians to Make It Look Like You’re Doing Something when what we really need is politicians who are actually Doing Something. Better yet, we need politicians who are Doing The Right Thing, Always.

Repeal the Gas Tax for the summer: Well, WTH, why not? Federal revenues are already much higher than projections, so why not scale them back a bit? But it’s low hanging fruit. Why not eliminate federal tax on fuels forever?

Redirect the oil being put into the national petroleum reserve onto the open market: This one you have to look at very carefully. He is not saying we should empty the national reserve, only stop putting more in for the time being. Putting more oil on the US market will ease the supply a tiny bit, which will keep the prices from escalating so fast. Is there enough oil going into the national reserve so that a redirection would cause a “glut” on the national market, enough to drop prices? I don’t know, but every gallon helps, right? But this is also low hanging fruit. The bold move would be to overturn idiotic enviromental laws - easy to do if you label the ‘gas crisis’ a National Emergency - and get some drilling and pipeline building going. Yes it would make for a big old fight in DC. So what? You want to push it to the limit? Put the question to the American people in November as a national referendum. But spend the summer battling it out in Congress, and whip your press monkeys into getting the word out - the right word - each and every day. That’s a lot of work, but it’s work that needs to be done. DO IT. More nukes, more drilling, more refineries. Toss the greenies a sop or two and fund a wind farm and a solar farm somewhere. That’s money down the hole, but in the grand scheme of things it won’t amount to much. Add the Exploit Our Resources plank to the GOP platform and nail it down good and hard.

Introduce a new bill to replace another new bill: Um, whatever. Isn’t this how Washington works anyway? Maybe Newt’s bill is better than the Warner-Lieberman bill. Duh, how can it not be, seeing who the authors of the other one are? But if you just substitute one dreary bit of paper for another, nobody is going to notice. Get the word out, get the word out, get the word out. Most people don’t have a clue about which bill says what, and even those of us that make the effort to look them up have a hard time reading them. GovSpeak is a very hard language for outsiders to understand.

Establish and earmark moritorium for one year: One year? Geez Louise, talk about low hanging fruit; this apple is sitting on the ground already. How about Eliminate Earmarks Forever? How about Total Transparency For Earmarks? How about changing the culture in DC from all the reps trying to steal as much of the pie as they can to hand it over to their lobbying masters, to a much better and far more patriotic culture of sweating bullets trying to figure out the right thing to do, then doing it, and getting rid of all the bullshit?

Overhaul the Census: Ok, why not? This $1.3 billion failure to develop a handheld computer is an embarassment, when every mid-size or larger store in America already has such devices for taking inventory. And what is the census if not an inventory of the citizens? I’d bet the solution could be as simple as a single piece of paper with some bar codes on it that reflect race, age, income bracket or whatever the Census folks feel the need to collect. And old Newt is missing the point here I think. Just who would be using that hand held computer if not the 600,000 temporary workers who will be executing the Census? Um, duh? Or did I misunderstand this one? But it does point out the fact that even the more obscure branches of the government are spending huge amounts of money, often to no avail. We’re not getting that $1.3 billion back. It’s already been spent on a fruitless (sorry) attempt to re-invent the wheel. Again.

Fix the FAA air traffic control system: Um, sure. But I think Newt has put on his rusty armor, saddled up old Rozinante, and is aiming at the local air powered grain grinders. Updating the ancient air control computers has been an issue for, what, 20 years now? Would GPS work? Yes but. What happens if a plane’s transponder fails? What about the little planes or the older ones that don’t have GPS? How is this going to identify and track enemy aircraft, or hijacked aircraft that have turned their transponders off, like on 9-11? What’s wrong with actual radar? The military has radar systems that can track and analyze incoming mortar rounds, and a mortar round is about the size of a loaf of bread. Surely that level of tech could be scaled up and integrated to make a much better system? And honestly, what’s wrong with having a few thousand air traffic controllers, at least as backup for the computer system? I want them around, especially if Microsoft has a hand in any new software design. Blue Screen of Death and a forced reboot is not acceptable here, not ever. But this is another Newt example of a relatively small scale fix of another often overlooked part of the overwhelming octopus of government. It’s an expensive fix too, but some kind of overhaul is desperately needed. I think that’s his point: DO SOMETHING. And let the people know you’re doing it.

Declare English the national language: Hey Newt, national referndum time again. But it will pass with at least 85% of the vote. Get the word out, especially about the cost savings. And they’ll be legion.

Protect the Worker’s Right to a secret ballot: Huh? What? Oh, I remember. This is the bit about people in a business voting on whether they want a union or not, right? And the Dems are in bed with the unions (what else is new?) who want such a vote out in the open. Low hanging fruit. Secret ballot will always sell to the American people, but you have to get the right word out: look how the Dems want to take away even more of your privacy, what would the next Presidential election be like if they got their way on this one? Again, it’s his call to Congress to Look Like You’re Doing Something Right. But it’s a call that’s really needed. This bunch hasn’t got a damned thing done it seems, and they’ve got the lowest approval rating of any Congress ever. Lowest. Ever. Half the approval rating that Bush has. Half!! Both sides of the aisle.

Remind Americans That Judges Matter: Well, no shir shitlock. But there’s a problem here. The Dems have been blocking judicial nominations for 7 1/2 years now, and now you want to do something about it? Yes, it’s a good idea. But finally doing it now, right at the edge of the electional abyss, might just backfire. The time to do it was Day 1 and every day since then. And get the word out that you were doing so. Funny how the Dems could block these nominations even back in 2002 when the GOP had majorities in both Houses and held the Oval Office. If you shout about this now people will only be reminded of how bloody spineless and useless this crowd has been for the past nearly 8 years. It’s a great idea, but you’re going to have to take your licks on this one, because up to now y’all get a great big FAIL for your efforts.

Without change, the majorities of Americans who support the Republican principle of smaller, more efficient, smarter and fairer government will be in for a rude awakening.

Newt, we’re awake and we’ve been awake. And after watching your buddies turn into pork covered fat ass Socialists for these past years we’re feeling very rude.  You’ve got an uphill battle here, trying to get this crew to turn over a new leaf in a believable way. Hell, you need to turn over the whole damn tree. And to do that you’ll have to uproot it. Seeing as how your main man McCain, who now HAS to be seen as the voice of the party, is perceived as little more than an angry mainstream Democrat at best, you’re going to have to do more than come up with a handful of milksop ideas that make it look like the GOP folks are getting things done. Because most of us are having a damn hard time even believing that they’re even Republicans. And an even harder time believing that they’re at all effective.

My advice is to vote them all out at the primary level. Get rid of every incumbent GOP Congressweasel and Senacritter and vote for the new guy IF he’s running on a real Conservative platform. And if your party is merely backing the incumbent because they’re the incumbent, then that chump is going to be out in the cold. Sorry. But most of us don’t see a difference any more between the RINOS in office who act like Democrats, and the Democrats vying to replace them. Too Little Too Late Newt. Maybe we’re cutting off our nose to spite our face, but the current “leadership” has got to go. You’ve had two full years since the 2006 debacle to figure this out and I don’t see that happening. So buh bye. It’s really hard to believe the Dems could be any worse, though they will be. So it’s downhill either way, which is why an unknown empty suit named Obama is doing so well with his empty message of Change. Because ANYTHING seems to be better than what your cronies have given us. ANYTHING. Picking a couple apples out of the mud and calling yourselves farmers isn’t going to wash. Real Change, Smart Change, Real Fast, Right Now. Or else you’re all history.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 05/06/2008 at 09:23 AM   
Filed Under: • Republicans •  
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:
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