Posted on 09/07/2006 6:40:23 PM PDT by seanmerc
New Survey: Challenge for GOP Leaders is Motivating the Base Posted by Bobby Eberle September 7, 2006 at 6:39 am
We are now in the home stretch of the 2006 mid-term elections. Pundits will say that it’s a tough year for Republicans, and they are right. Much needs to be done in these next two months, and one of the key challenges for GOP leaders is to motivate a grassroots base of activists who are keeping their wallets closed and feeling less inclined to help with get out the vote efforts.
With over 2,500 responses received in less than 24 hours to the latest GOPUSA Grassroots Survey, the mood of grassroots conservatives is not good. Frustration with Congress and the overall lack of progress on major issues such as immigration and spending have caused many Republican activists to simply throw up their hands and say, “What is the point?”
When asked to describe their feelings about Republican prospects for success in the 2006 elections, 61% are either somewhat or very worried. This is the highest mark so far this year. Back in March, 50% were either somewhat or very worried. When asked the same question in June, 53% indicated they were either somewhat or very worried.
The worry and frustration have translated into activists less inclined to give money to the Party. When asked to characterize their financial contributions to the Republican Party this year compared to the last election cycle, 72% said they are somewhat or very likely to give less in 2006. 28% said they would give more.
The contribution results are even more interesting when looking at political philosophy. Of the respondents who consider themselves to be “very conservative” (1571), 73% said they would be contributing less money to the Republican Party. Of the respondents who consider themselves to be “somewhat conservative” (789), 67% said they would be contributing less money to the Republican Party.
Shifting the focus from money to time, GOPUSA asked members of its Grassroots Survey Team whether they will be participating in get-out-the-vote efforts such as phone banks or helping put out yard signs. Overall, 55% of respondents said they were somewhat or very likely to participate. Members of the survey team and GOPUSA subscribers in general tend to be grassroots activists, so this number should serve as a wake-up call.
In addition, when asked to compare their efforts in this election cycle to the previous election cycle, 50% said they are somewhat or very likely to participate less in 2006. Among “strong conservative” respondents, that number was 51%, and among “somewhat conservative” respondents, the number was 47%.
As far as voting in November, 99% of respondents indicated they are somewhat or very likely to vote. 95% of respondents also said they are somewhat or very likely to encourage friends, family, and associates to vote.
From this information, it appears that grassroots conservatives will still be turning out to the polls this November. What is less certain is whether these activists will be motivated enough to put in the extra hours doing what it takes to get Republicans elected: the grassroots, get-out-the-vote programs that have given Republicans the edge.
GOP leaders need to read the writing on the wall. They need to motivate the grassroots for November and beyond. Note to these leaders… there is no better motivator than constructing a conservative legislative agenda and working to get it passed.
I think the dimocRATS will motivate the GOP base and then some. They are starting out by trying to stop the 9/11 series. In their minds only the dimocRATS can have free speech.
Looks like they are listening to you.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1697403/posts
House GOP crafting new border security bill
AP on Yahoo ^ | 9/7/06 | Suzanne Gamboa - ap
Posted on 09/07/2006 6:04:11 PM CDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - House Republicans are crafting new bills to crack down on illegal immigrants, nailing the coffin shut for now on broader legislation that would give many illegal immigrants legal status.
If the bills are approved, Republicans can go into midterm elections Nov. 7 saying they took action on illegal immigration. At the same time, they can appease conservatives who oppose giving illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship, which some have called amnesty.
"Our borders are a sieve and we are at war and we certainly need to act like we are at war. We need to close our borders," House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., told reporters Thursday.
House leaders will preside over a meeting next week where Republican committee chairmen will propose border security measures based on what they learned from field hearings they conducted over the past month, Hastert said.
"It won't be the whole 95 tons of what we've tried to work between the House and Senate, but we will try to get some things done," he said.
Some possible ideas include voter identification cards and safer Social Security cards, he said.
The package also will include some immigration spending added to pending defense and homeland security appropriations bills. Congressional leaders want to get those bills to President Bush this month before adjourning to campaign for the November elections.
Senate Majority Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said Wednesday it would be "next to impossible" to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill by the end of the month.
The House package would also need Senate approval. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (news, bio, voting record), R-Texas, said Congress has already been improving border security.
"I think it would be a huge lost opportunity if we don't try to create a system going forward that allows people to come into our country legally," Hutchison said. She has proposed an immigration bill with Rep. Mike Pence (news, bio, voting record), R-Ind., that calls for a guest worker program.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., a chief architect of the Senate bill, said the House plan for more legislation "has more to do with solving a political problem for Republicans than solving our immigration problem."
Kennedy joined thousands of people who rallied on the National Mall to push for a comprehensive immigration bill. The crowd chanted "Si Se Puede," which translates to "Yes, it can be done." But some were skeptical it could be done soon.
"If we go back to the civil rights movement, people had to march for years and years to get something," said Jaime Castillo, chairman of the National Capital Immigration Council.
Flor Hernandez, 25, of Alexandria, Va., said she is already looking to the future. She is the daughter of immigrants from El Salvador.
"I'm here to support my next generation and to make sure we are going to vote," she said.
The House passed an enforcement-only immigration bill last December that would build 700 miles of fences on the border, require employers to verify workers are legal and subject to felony prosecution illegal immigrants and the people who help them.
The bill triggered massive street demonstrations last spring by immigrants and their advocates that helped build support for the Senate's broader immigration bill.
In June, the Senate passed a bill supported by Bush that would let a majority of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in the United States remain in the country and eventually earn U.S. citizenship. It also would create a new guest worker program and toughen border security.
With elections looming, House Republicans balked at negotiating a compromise, instead holding dozens of hearings in July and August to criticize the Senate bill.
___
Associated Press writer Natasha Metzler contributed to this report
I can only hope the Dems believe this cr-p. Oh please, say it's so.
I can't wait to see the Dems faces on the day after the election. Man are they going to be long. Guiness should be out taking measurments. There's going to be some records set.
BS.
You people need to quit trying to convince the rest of us that things are so bad.
Already too late. Conservatives are responding to the results of the last few years of a non conservative agenda. You cant fix that 2 months before election.
I disagree.
They need to run ads about the ages of the Scotus justices and the likelihood that they'll need to be replaced.
Do you want Ted Kennedy to decide who gets to be a Supreme Court Justice?
Vote for Ted by staying home on Nov 7.
More from the "let's voter the Dems into power--THAT will get us a conservative agenda!" crowd.
"Frustration with Congress and the overall lack of progress on major issues such as immigration and spending..."
Bush is harming his party and the country by insisting on amnesty, and by not getting anything passed in time for this election.
Spending is several factors, one of which is cost of war, national security, etc.
But it looks like he considers himself just one of many who will take positions on immigration.
So in the elections we have 435 separate districts, to consider immigration. And 33 Senate seats.
Hopefully the Republican candidates in most districts will take strong immigration stands, and do well for that reason.
I believe later in the game, GWB will come to many states again to campaign for the candidates and fire up the base even more...
Thanks for the link to sanity. The MSM line is nothing but the obvious psy. ops. campaign by the dems.
I don't believe for a microsecond that Ted would pick significantly different than
.
.
.
.Rudy
Perhaps ONE of them might one time answer this question.
Why they think firing the ONLY people who have been consistently tough about Border Enforcement (US House GOP) in order to put the Congress in the hands of Democrats (who will vote all most 100% against it) is such a "brilliant" political move for Conservatives? Are they really naieve to think a glass 60% full of their program is worse then one will be filled 100% with everything they loath by Democrats? You know, the same Democrats who fillibustered to block any of the US House Republicans enforcement measure being put in the Senate bill?
HERE is a list of what Bush and the GOP have got done.
Abortion & Traditional Values
1. Banned Partial Birth Abortion — by far the most significant roll-back of abortion on demand since Roe v. Wade.
2. Reversed Clinton's move to strike Reagan's anti-abortion Mexico Policy.
> 3. By Executive Order (EO), reversed Clinton's policy of not requiring parental consent for abortions under the Medical Privacy Act.
4. By EO, prohibited federal funds for international family planning groups that provide abortions and related services.
5. Upheld the ban on abortions at military hospitals.
6. Made $33 million available for abstinence education programs in 2004.
7. Supports the Defense of Marriage Act — and a Constitutional amendment saying marriage is between one man and one woman.
8. Requires states to conduct criminal background checks on prospective foster and adoptive parents.
9. Requires districts to let students transfer out of dangerous schools.
10. Requires schools to have a zero-tolerance policy for classroom disruption (reintroducing discipline into classrooms).
11. Signed the Teacher Protection Act, which protects teachers from lawsuits related to student discipline.
12. Expanded the role of faith-based and community organizations in after-school programs.
Budget, Taxes & Economy
1. Signed two income tax cuts, one of which was the largest dollar-value tax cut in world history.
2. Supports permanent elimination of the death tax.
3. Turned around an inherited economy that was in recession, and deeply shocked as a result of the 9/11 attacks.
4. Is seeking legislation to amend the Constitution to give the president line-item veto authority.
5. In process of permanently eliminating IRS marriage penalty.
6. Increased small business incentives to expand and to hire new people.
7. Initiated discussion on privatizing Social Security and individual investment accounts.
8. Killed Clinton's "ergonomic" rules that OSHA was about to implement; rules would have shut down every home business in America.
9. Passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to account as a result of corporate scandals.
10. Reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains.
11. Signed trade promotion authority.
12. Reduced and is working to ultimately eliminate the estate tax for family farms and ranches.
13. Fight Europe's ban on importing biotech crops from the United States.
14. Exempt food from unilateral trade sanctions and embargoes.
15. Provided $20 million to states to help people with disabilities work from home.
16. Created a fund to encourage technologies that help the disabled.
17. Increased the annual contribution limit on Education IRA's from $500 to $2,000 per child.
18. Make permanent the $5,000 adoption tax credit and provide $1 billion over five years to increase the credit to $10,000.
19. Grant a complete tax exemption for prepaid or college tuition savings plans. 20. Reduced H1B visas from a high of 195,000 per year to 66,000 per year.
Character & Conduct as President
1. Changed the tone in the White House, restoring HONOR and DIGNITY to the presidency. \
2. Has reintroduced the mention of God and faith into public discourse.
3. Handled himself with enormous courage, dignity, grace, determination, and leadership in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 hijackings and anthrax attacks. He almost single-handedly held this country together during those searing days:
* Just three days after the attacks, in his address at the National Cathedral, the President reassured the nation when he said: "War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder. This nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others. It will end in a way, and at an hour, of our choosing."
* On Friday, September 14, 2001, President Bush visited Ground Zero. Standing on a crushed and burned fire engine atop the smoldering pile at Ground Zero, he put his arm around a retired firefighter who had volunteered to help, and began speaking to the crowd. Rescue workers shouted that they could not hear him. Someone handed him a small American flag and bullhorn. The President spontaneously shouted: "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon." The crowd roared with cheers and chants of "USA! USA! USA!" Then he raised that American flag and rallied a nation:
Education & Employment Training
1. Signed the No Child Left Behind Act, delivering the most dramatic education reforms in a generation (challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations). The very liberal California Teachers union is currently running radio ads against the accountability provisions of this Act.
2. Announced "Jobs for the 21st Century," a comprehensive plan to better prepare workers for jobs in the new millennium by strengthening post-secondary education and job training, and by improving high school education.
3. Is working to provide vouchers to low-income students in persistently failing schools to help with costs of attending private schools. (Blocked in the Senate.)
4. Requires annual reading and math tests in grades three through eight.
5. Requires states to participate in the National Assessment of Education Progress, or an equivalent program, to establish a national benchmark for academic performance.
6. Requires school-by-school accountability report cards.
7. Established a $2.4 billion fund to help states implement teacher accountability systems.
8. Increased funding for the Troops-to-Teachers program, which recruits former military personnel to to become teachers.
Environment & Energy
1. Killed the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty.
2. Submitted a comprehensive Energy Plan (awaits Congressional action). The plan works to develop cleaner technology, produce more natural gas here at home, make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy, improve national grid, etc.
3. Established a $10 million grant program to promote private conservation initiatives.
4. Significantly eased field-testing controls of genetically engineered crops.
5. Changed parts of the Forestry Management Act to allow necessary cleanup of the national forests in order to reduce fire danger.
6. Part of national forests cleanup: Restricted judicial challenges (based on the Endangered Species Act and other challenges), and removed the need for an Environmental Impact Statement before removing fuels/logging to reduce fire danger.
7. Killed Clinton's CO2 rules that were choking off all of the electricity surplus to California.
8. Provided matching grants for state programs that help private landowners protect rare species.
Defense & Foreign Policy
1. Successfully executed two wars in the aftermath of 9/11/01: Afghanistan and Iraq. 50 million people who had lived under tyrannical regimes now live in freedom.
2. Saddam Hussein is now in prison. His two murderous sons are dead. All but a handful of the regime's senior members were killed or captured.
3. Leader by leader and member by member, al Qaida is being hunted down in dozens of countries around the world. Of the senior al Qaida leaders, operational managers, and key facilitators the U.S. Government has been tracking, nearly two-thirds have been taken into custody or killed. The detentions or deaths of senior al Qaida leaders, including Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, the mastermind of 9/11, and Muhammad Atef, Osama bin Laden's second-in-command until his death in late 2001, have been important in the War on Terror.
4. Disarmed Libya of its chemical, nuclear and biological WMD's without bribes or bloodshed.
5. Continues to execute the War On Terror, getting worldwide cooperation to track funds/terrorists. Has cut off much of the terrorists' funding, and captured or killed many key leaders of the al Qaeda network.
6. Initiated a comprehensive review of our military, which was completed just prior to 9/11/01, and which accurately reported that ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE capabilities were critical in the 21st Century.
7. Killed the old US/Soviet Union ABM Treaty that was preventing the U.S. from deploying our ABM defenses.
8. Has been one of the strongest, if not THE strongest friend Israel has ever hand in the U.S. presidency.
9. Part of the coalition for an Israeli/Palestinian "Roadmap to Peace," along with Great Britain, Russia and the EU.
10. Pushed through THREE raises for our military. Increased military pay by more than $1 billion a year.
11. Signed the LARGEST nuclear arms reduction in world history with Russia.
12. Started withdrawing our troops from Bosnia, and has announced withdrawal of our troops from Germany and the Korean DMZ.
13. Prohibited putting U.S. troops under U.N. command.
14. Paid back UN dues only in return for reforms and reduction of U.S. share of the costs.
15. Earmarked at least 20 percent of the Defense procurement budget for next-generation weaponry.
16. Increased defense research and development spending by at least $20 billion from fiscal 2002 to 2006.
17. Ordered a comprehensive review of military weapons and strategy.
18. Ordered a review of overseas deployments.
19. Ordered renovation of military housing. The military has already upgraded about 10 percent of its inventory and expects to modernize 76,000 additional homes this year.
20. Is working to tighten restrictions on military-technology exports. 21. Brought back our EP-3 intel plane and crew from China without any bribes or bloodshed.
21. Pushed thru Congress the 1st Military Death benefit raise in decades. Rasied the grant for survivors of military personal killed in the line of duty from a pitful $10,000 to over $100,000. Globalization & Internationalism
1. Challenged the United Nations to live up to their responsibilities and not become another League of Nations (in other words, showed the UN to be completely irrelevant).
2. Killed U.S. involvement in the International Criminal Court.
3. Told the United Nations we weren't interested in their plans for gun control (i.e., the International Ban on Small Arms Trafficking Treaty).
* 4. The only President since the founding of the UN to essentially tell that organization it is irrelevant. He said: "The conduct of the Iraqi regime is a threat to the authority of the United Nations, and a threat to peace. Iraq has answered a decade of UN demands with a decade of defiance. All the world now faces a test, and the United Nations a difficult and defining moment. Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced, or cast aside without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?" We all know the outcome and the answer.
5. Told the Congress and the world, "America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country."
Government Reform
1. Improved government efficiency by putting hundreds of thousands of jobs put up for bid. This weakens public-sector unions and cuts undeserved pay raises.
2. Initiated review of all federal agencies with the goal of eliminating federal jobs (completed September 2003) in an effort to reduce the size of the federal government while increasing private sector jobs.
3. Led the most extensive reorganization the Federal bureaucracy in over 50 years: After 9/11, condensed 20+ overlapping agencies and their intelligence sectors into one agency, the Department of Homeland Security.
* 4. Ordered each agency to draft a five-year plan to restructure itself, with fewer managers.
5. Converted federal service contracts to performance-based contracts wherever possible so that the contractor has measurable performance goals.
Health
1. Strengthen the National Health Service Corps to put more physicians in the neediest areas, and make its scholarship funds tax-free.
2. Double the research budget of the National Institutes of Health.
3. Signed Medicare Reform, which includes: * A 10-year privatization option. * Prescription drug benefits: Prior to this reform, Medicare paid for extended hospital stays for ulcer surgery, for example, at a cost of about $28,000 per patient. Yet Medicare would not pay for the drugs that eliminate the cause of most ulcers, drugs that cost about $500 a year. Now, drug coverage under Medicare will allow seniors to replace more expensive surgeries and hospitalizations with less expensive prescription medicine. * More health care choices: As President Bush stated, "…when seniors have the ability to make choices, health care plans within Medicare will have to compete for their business by offering higher quality service [at lower cost]. For the seniors of America, more choices and more control will mean better health care. These are the kinds of health care options we give to the members of Congress and federal employees. What's good for members of Congress is also good for seniors.
* New Health Savings Accounts: Effective January 1, 2004, Americans can set aside up to $4,500 every year, tax free, to save for medical expenses. Depending on your tax bracket, that means you'll save between 10 to 35 percent on any costs covered by money in your account. Every year, the money not spent would stay in the account and gain interest tax-free, just like an IRA. These accounts will be good for small business owners, and employees. More businesses can focus on covering workers for major medical problems, such as hospitalization for an injury or illness. At the same time, employees and their families will use these accounts to cover doctors visits, or lab tests, or other smaller costs. Some employers will contribute to employee health accounts. This will help more American families get the health care they need at the price they can afford.
Homeland Security, Border Enforcement & Immigration
1. *See Government Reform above. Under President Bush's leadership, America has made an unprecedented commitment to homeland security.
2. Has CONSTRUCTION in process on the first 10 ABM silos in Alaska so that America will have a defense against North Korean nukes. Has ordered national and theater ballistic missile defenses to be deployed by 2004.
3. Announced a 9.7% increase in government-wide homeland security funding in his FY 2005 budget, nearly tripling the FY 2001 levels (excluding the Department of Defense and Project BioShield).
4. Before DHS was created, there were inspectors from three different agencies of the Federal Government and Border Patrol officers protecting our borders. Through DHS, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) now consolidates all border activities into a single agency to create "one face at the border." This not only better secures the borders of the United States, but it also eliminates many of the inefficiencies that occurred under the old system. With over 18,000 CBP inspectors and 11,000 Border Patrol agents, CBP has 29,000 uniformed officers on our borders.
5. The Border Patrol is continuing installation of monitoring devices along the borders to detect illegal activity.
6. Launched Operation Tarmac to investigate businesses and workers in the secure areas of domestic airports and ensure immigration law compliance. Since 9/11, DHS has audited 3,640 businesses, examined 259,037 employee records, arrested 1,030 unauthorized workers, and participated in the criminal indictment of 774 individuals.
7. Since September 11, 2001, the Coast Guard has conducted more than 124,000 port security patrols, 13,000 air patrols, boarded more than 92,000 vessels, interdicted over 14,000 individuals attempting to enter the United States illegally, and created and maintained more than 90 Maritime Security Zones.
8. Announced the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), an internet-based system that is improving America's ability to track and monitor foreign students and exchange visitors. Over 870,000 students are registered in SEVIS. Of 285 completed field investigations, 71 aliens were arrested.
9. This week, the US-VISIT program began to digitally collect biometric identifiers to record the entry and exit of aliens who travel into the U.S on a visa. Together with the standard information, this new program will confirm compliance with visa and immigration policies.
10. Eliminated INS bureaucratic redundancies and lack of accountability. 11. Split the Immigration and Naturalization Service into two agencies: one to protect the border and interior, the other to deal with naturalization.
12. Signed the workplace verification bill to prevent hiring of illegal aliens.
13. Established a six-month deadline for processing immigration applications.
14. Information regarding nearly 100% of all containerized cargo is carefully screened by DHS before it arrives in the United States. Higher risk shipments are physically inspected for terrorist weapons and contraband prior to being released from the port of entry. Advanced technologies are being deployed to identify warning signs of chemical, biological, or radiological attacks. Since September 11, 2001, hundreds of thousands of first responders across America have been trained to recognize and respond to the effects of a WMD attack.
Judiciary & Tort Reform
1. Is urging federal liability reform to eliminate frivolous lawsuits.
2. Killed the liberal ABA's unconstitutional role in vetting federal judges. The Senate is supposed to advise and consent, not the ABA.
3. Is nominating strong, conservative judges to the judiciary.
4. Supports class action reform bill which limits lawyer fees so that more settlement money goes to victims.
Politics
1. His leadership resulted in Republican gains in the House and Senate, solidifying Republican control of both houses of Congress and the presidency.
2. Signed an EO enforcing the Supreme Court's Beck decision regarding union dues being used for political campaigns against individual's wishes.
3.Has prosecuted 527 corrupt Union bosses in an effort to reform the rampant corruption in the Labor Unions.
Second Amendment
1. Ordered Attorney General Ashcroft to formally notify the Supreme Court that the OFFICIAL U.S. government position on the 2nd Amendment is that it supports INDIVIDUAL rights to own firearms, and is NOT a Leftist-imagined "collective" right.
2. Signed TWO bills into law that arm our pilots with handguns in the cockpit.
3. Currently pushing for full immunity from lawsuits for our national gun manufacturers. 4. *See Globalization & Internationalism.
Traditional Values, Compassion & Volunteerism
1. Endorses and promotes "The Responsibility Era." President Bush often speaks of the necessity of personal responsibility and civic volunteerism. He said, "In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take responsibility for the decisions they make in life. My hope is to change the culture from one that has said, if it feels good, do it; if you've got a problem, blame somebody else — to one in which every single American understands that he or she is responsible for the decisions that you make; you're responsible for loving your children with all your heart and all your soul; you're responsible for being involved with the quality of the education of your children; you're responsible for making sure the community in which you live is safe; you're responsible for loving your neighbor, just like you would like to be loved yourself."
2. Started the USA Freedom Corps, the most comprehensive clearinghouse of volunteer opportunities ever offered. For the first time in history, Americans can enter geographic information about where they want to get involved, such as state or zip code, as well as areas of interest ranging from education to the environment, and they can access volunteer opportunities offered by more than 50,000 organizations across the country and around the world.
3. Established the The White House Office and the Centers for the Faith-Based and Community Initiative — located in seven Federal agencies. The faith-based initiative supports the essential work of these important organizations. The goal is to make sure that grassroots leaders can compete on an equal footing for federal dollars, receive greater private support, and face fewer bureaucratic barriers. Work focuses on at-risk youth, ex-offenders, the homeless and hungry, substance abusers, those with HIV/AIDS, and welfare-to-work families.
4. The White House released a guidebook fully describing the Administration's belief that faith-based groups have a Constitutionally-protected right to maintain their religious identity through hiring — even when Federal funds are involved.
5. Issued an EO implementing the Supreme Court's Olmstead ruling, which requires moving disabled people from institutions to community-based facilities when possible.
6. Increased funding for low-interest loan programs to help people with disabilities purchase devices to assist them.
7. Revised the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 8 rent subsidies to disabled people, permitting them to use up to a year's worth of vouchers to finance down payments on homes. HUD has started pilot programs in 11 states.
8. Committed US funds to purchase medicine for millions of men, women and children now suffering with AIDS in Africa.
9. Heeding the words of our own Declaration of Independence, the president laid out the non-negotiable demands of human dignity for all people everywhere. On January 29, 2002, he said, "No nation owns these aspirations, and no nation is exempt from them. We have no intention of imposing our culture. But America will always stand firm for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity." As stated by the President, they are a virtual manifesto of conservative principles:
* Equal Justice
* Freedom of Speech
* Limited Government Power
* Private Property Rights
* Religious Tolerance
* Respect for Women
* Rule of Law List authored by Freeper Southack
Just what I was thinking.
There must have been a LOT of Bush bucks sent back in those GOP donation envelopes.
Easy. Show the base you intend to ENFORCE IMMIGRATION LAWS CURRENTLY IN EFFECT and the base will turn out.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't what's stated in the article the norm for the most part for an off year election?
All I'm waiting for is a candidate, a REPUBLICAN candidate.
************Snip*********************
I see. So we should just forget holding elections because the push polls put out by activist groups are "reality" and there is no reason to vote since their polls all ready show 60 days in advance what will happen.
Gee wonder how accurate this forecast will be if the House passes the bill listed below and the Democrats filibuster it in the Senate? Or if let it pass and Bush signs it in October?
But that right. These sorts of threads are not about fact and reason. They are just a chance for self affirmation by the Doom and Gloom crowd. Simply a case of repeat after Mike Savage This-is-what-I-feel-so-this-is-what-is-real and tune out all that pesky data that contradicts those angst filled feelings.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1697403/posts
House GOP crafting new border security bill
AP on Yahoo ^ | 9/7/06 | Suzanne Gamboa - ap Posted on
09/07/2006 6:04:11 PM CDT by NormsRevenge WASHINGTON - House Republicans are crafting new bills to crack down on illegal immigrants, nailing the coffin shut for now on broader legislation that would give many illegal immigrants legal status. If the bills are approved, Republicans can go into midterm elections Nov. 7 saying they took action on illegal immigration. At the same time, they can appease conservatives who oppose giving illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship, which some have called amnesty. "Our borders are a sieve and we are at war and we certainly need to act like we are at war. We need to close our borders," House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., told reporters Thursday.
House leaders will preside over a meeting next week where Republican committee chairmen will propose border security measures based on what they learned from field hearings they conducted over the past month, Hastert said. "It won't be the whole 95 tons of what we've tried to work between the House and Senate, but we will try to get some things done," he said. Some possible ideas include voter identification cards and safer Social Security cards, he said. The package also will include some immigration spending added to pending defense and homeland security appropriations bills.
Congressional leaders want to get those bills to President Bush this month before adjourning to campaign for the November elections. Senate Majority Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said Wednesday it would be "next to impossible" to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill by the end of the month.
The House package would also need Senate approval. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (news, bio, voting record), R-Texas, said Congress has already been improving border security. "I think it would be a huge lost opportunity if we don't try to create a system going forward that allows people to come into our country legally," Hutchison said. She has proposed an immigration bill with Rep. Mike Pence (news, bio, voting record), R-Ind., that calls for a guest worker program. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., a chief architect of the Senate bill, said the House plan for more legislation "has more to do with solving a political problem for Republicans than solving our immigration problem."
Kennedy joined thousands of people who rallied on the National Mall to push for a comprehensive immigration bill. The crowd chanted "Si Se Puede," which translates to "Yes, it can be done." But some were skeptical it could be done soon. "If we go back to the civil rights movement, people had to march for years and years to get something," said Jaime Castillo, chairman of the National Capital Immigration Council. Flor Hernandez, 25, of Alexandria, Va., said she is already looking to the future. She is the daughter of immigrants from El Salvador. "I'm here to support my next generation and to make sure we are going to vote," she said.
The House passed an enforcement-only immigration bill last December that would build 700 miles of fences on the border, require employers to verify workers are legal and subject to felony prosecution illegal immigrants and the people who help them. The bill triggered massive street demonstrations last spring by immigrants and their advocates that helped build support for the Senate's broader immigration bill.
In June, the Senate passed a bill supported by Bush that would let a majority of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in the United States remain in the country and eventually earn U.S. citizenship. It also would create a new guest worker program and toughen border security. With elections looming, House Republicans balked at negotiating a compromise, instead holding dozens of hearings in July and August to criticize the Senate bill. ___
Associated Press writer Natasha Metzler contributed to this report.
"Do you want Ted Kennedy to decide who gets to be a Supreme Court Justice?"
But wouldn't the Democrats need 60 Senators? That's, supposedly, what Republicans need to get a SCOTUS candidate confirmed when they're in power.
Allow me to explain the logic as I see it--then you can tell me what part you disagree with.
As long as the GOP is in power, it's going to shift leftward. The Democrats shift leftward whether or not they're not power. If the GOP keeps shifting leftward, we're doomed. If you have a way to shift the GOP to the right while they're still in power I'd love to hear it, but I don't see one.
If the only way to shift the GOP back to the right is to have them lose at least some of their power for two years, then the question isn't if the GOP should momentarily lose power, but when they should. I would suggest that the further left things shift before the GOP loses power, the more dangerous that will be.
Further, I would posit that there are some liberals in the GOP leadership who seek to use the threat of the Democrats as a means of discouraging people from giving the Republicans the discipline they so sorely need. These people don't want the Democrats to really lose power, because without the Democrats as a bogey-man they'd have no reason to exist.
There is nothing to fix ... except your belief in what ever the MSM tells you.
Here is the real scoop on Republican turn out.
Look how stupid you are. Do you think Ted Kennedy speaking today to the Illegal Mexicans in DC is going to do better.
There is a huge majority of Democrats in favor of unlimited immigration, total amnesty, and accelerated Citizenship.
There is a huge majority of Democrats in favore of more government spending. They will not try to prevent huge increased in spending.
There is a huge majority of Democrats who favor surrendering in the war on terror.
All those out of work and defeated Republican politicians will just end up with fantastic high paying jobs as lobbyists or better yet as a high paid government bureaucrat in one of those new democrat passed programs.
Most of those GWB achievements will mean nothing in 50 years if the illegals are givened amnesty and they bring in their immdediate families. Low taxes means nothing if working wages are depressed, schools and hospitals overwelm causing local/state taxes to soar in place of lower fed taxes. More important these illegals become voters and vote Democrat thus diplacing the courts, the legislature and eventually the Presidency with third world socialism.
We are AT WAR. YOU may think it a fine thing to turn over power to a bunch of liberals who disagree with that fact; you may think it a fine thing to have a President impeached while our soldiers are fighting people who will be emboldened by such an impeachment; you may think it perfectly acceptable to allow the Democrats to weaken the WOT; you may think everything will just fall into place and we will magically have an ultra-conservative majority from 2008 onward if we only let the Democrats win this time.
You are the same people who gave us Pat Buchanan and Ross Perot, who gave us eight years of Bill Clinton, eight years of weakening our defense, eight years of nothing while AL Qaeda was born.
I'll just say 'No thanks" to more of you people and your "pure conservatism" which gave us eight years of the most gawdawful Administration and 9-11. I will stick with a party that has given us Alito, Roberts, tax cuts and a strengthened defense.
You go right ahead and wait for your perfect conservative (the precedence for which is, I suppose, Ronald Reagan, one of my favorite people ever yet who gave us expanded government and an Amnesty bill signed into law). Meanwhile, the rest of us will support our soldiers, our defense, and our very existence while you people pout.
I hope that the GOP does not just assume that all Republicans will just automatically vote for any RINO or open border cheerleader, even if they are Republican party members.
Gee here is another one. Think anything like this would get done in a Democrat Congress?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1697506/posts
Triumph for Transparency in Government (Pork Transparency Bill Passes in Senate)
VOLPAC ^ | September 7, 2006 | Sen. Bill Frist, M.D.
Posted on 09/07/2006 8:52:39 PM CDT by burzum
Tonight I’m proud to report that the Senate unanimously passed S. 2590, the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.
The passage of this legislation is a triumph for transparency in government, for fiscal discipline, and for the bipartisan citizen journalism of the blogosphere.
Without the efforts of ordinary Americans empowered by the Internet, including many hardworking members of the iFrist Volunteers, this legislation might easily have been successfully obstructed. Instead, the unprecedented synergy between online grassroots activists and Senate leadership provides a new model for participatory democracy in action.
I look forward to reconciling S. 2590 with its counterpart in the House and delivering this deserving legislation to the desk of President Bush for his signature.
The Democrats are, in their arrogance and blind evil, in the process of self-destructing. It's sad the GOP hasn't done more to motivate votes FOR themselves, but the Dems are showing how reprehensible they truly are.
Chris Matthews will drown in his own spittle.
Republicans didn't resort to an unconstitutional filibuster on Clinton's nominees; they won't resort to an unconstitutional filibuster if and when they're in the minority and a Democrat pres. sends nominees to the Senate.
I have all the motivation I need in the pictures on my wall of my 6 grandchildren. I don't want the Democrat Party controlling Americas security. So, I will pull the lever for every R on the ballot, RINO, liberal Republican and conservative (my pubbie of choice) alike.
With the party realignment that begain in 1964 the Democratic party has no DINOs. They are pretty much all liberals.
On the other had the transistion of north eastern liberals from the Republican party to the Democratic party has taken longer. It is a good thing otherwise the Democrats would control both houses of congress.
But some Republicans demand just that. It is something Democrats never did. If the south had conservative Democrats even ones that campainged for George W. Bush (Zell Miller) the Democrats never tried to throw him out of the Democratci party.
That is until recently. Now they are trying to throw Joe Lieberman out of the Democratic party.
The Karl Rove plan is quite simple. Don't try to please the fringers. They are all over the place here on FR. But the Republicans just don't need them. Doing what they want will cost far more votes than they are worth.
That is like the balances budget issue. Senator Mitchell was crowing about that as an issue. And Bob Dole told him that if the balanced budget did for the Democrats what it did for the Republicans they wouldn't win an election in 40 years.
The facts are the Republicans need to energize their base. Some people on FR make the mistake of thinking they are part of the base.. when they are not.
To: XXXXX
Disrespecting the president by referring to him as "Jorge" is a personal insult to me and every other member of this forum that supports him and I see it as a disruptive tactic of a common DU troll. When you post like a DU troll, don't be surprised when you get banned like a DU troll.
25 posted on 08/27/2006 11:35:51 PM EDT by Jim Robinson
Why didn't you report the post?
Stop posting that graphic!
Thanks. I always like seing your summary.
"Let Karl Rove try to win an election without us."
He can go back, hat in hand, to La Raza. Wonder how many "Republicans" he'll find there...
* Equal Justice
* Freedom of Speech - McCain-Feingold
* Limited Government Power - expansion of the welfare state
* Private Property Rights - no amicus brief filed in support of Kelo in the New London case.
* Respect for Women
* Rule of Law List - Except immigration law.
Pretty mixed list, that.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, San Fran leftwing liberal Democrat.
Anyone conservative or even remotely so needs to think of this like a high-level threat to America's economic and national security and a threat to our culture as well.
GOOD LINK, THANKS: "Many Democrats may hate the war in Iraq and itch to dump the president, but a new GOP survey shows that Republican base voters stand ready to jam the November polls to return their team to Congress. A three-page-survey memo obtained by Washington Whispers reveals that despite reports of some dissatisfaction with the economy, the war, and President Bush, 81 percent of Republican voters are "almost certain" to vote and an additional 14 percent say they are "very likely." It goes without saying that they'll vote Republican: By a margin of 84 percent to 6 percent, they will pull the GOP toggle switch in the voting booth. And here is something you don't hear very often: 88 percent of Republicans approve of how the prez is handling his job. What's it all mean? Analysts say that GOP voters are ready to dig in and play defense against the charges Democrats are tossing at Republican candidates.
The memo also helps to define what issues work for Republican candidates. The survey--officially tilted "Base Mobilization Survey Finds and Conclusions"--divided the issues into foreign and domestic. On the foreign side, it's all terrorism and war with polling that finds GOP voters back the war, worry about Democratic attacks on the fight against terrorism, and think the Patriot Act, moves to tighten the border, and even telephone surveillance are good things. And the"
"
But wouldn't the Democrats need 60 Senators? "
Nope. We are too polite to be power-mongering hypocrites like the Democrats are. we said filibusters are wrong except in extreme cases and wouldnt do them on say a liberal judge. ... even though sometimes I wish we were. :-)
"Most of those GWB achievements will mean nothing in 50 years if the illegals are givened amnesty and they bring in their immdediate families."
Amnesty *WILL HAPPEN* if the House go Democrat and the Democrat makes big gains this year. Democrats are almost all FOR amnesty, GOP candidates are almost all against it.
If Shays, Weldon and Santorum are defeated, GOP votes against amensty will be replaced by Democrat votes for amnesty.
Amnesty *WILL NOT* happen if the GOP stays strong in the House.
If you care about stopping illegal immigration, need to do vote straight ticket GOP ...
Broken-glass time, Republicans! Save the Congress!
GOOD LIST OF BUSH ACCOMPLISHMENTS - HARD TO ABSORB
That is excactly what he is going to do.. Except it is not "try" it is "WILL".
There has always been a fringe group on the right that is really insignificant if most of the Republican base turns out. They were the vaunted Buchanan Brigade in 2000.They didn't amount to a warm pitcher of spit.
The Rove strategy is to focus the race nationally on the war on terror. Cut and Run vs Over There instead of Over Here.
But on a secondary level it is to target anti abortion and supreme court justice voters. The third level are voters who oppose gay rights and the general decline in morals. The fourth level are people who don't like to have the media dictate to them. It is a growing segment.
It surprised many Republicans especially in the House at how small the anti illegal immigration vote is. They were told it was a big issue. But when most Repubicans went home all they heard from was people wanting cheap labor. When they came back after recess, they were looking at the results from the Hastert grass roots efforts to gin up support for the anti illegal immigration stand.. and it just wasn't there.
There are people in the Republican party who are for illegal immigration. There are people who are very vocal and very opposed Those opposed simply say, don't support us and we will not vote for you. The pro immigrations people don't put out ultimatums. So the congressman knows he can't please both sides so the asks.... where can I get enough votes to replace those I have lost on the immigration issue. When they find a group they can please they go with that group.
You see if there are two groups, one for a thing, and one against it ... the one that supports the candidate wins.
Two things can happen. If the Republican wins he did not need your vote. If the Democrat wins the next Republican to run will decide he needs to pick up votes from the Democrats. That means he goes more liberal.
With holding votes just insures that your position never gets passed. It is just a fact of life, that right wing Repubicans rarely learn.
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