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Posted on 05/29/2009 7:41:58 AM PDT by Bokababe
Frustrated with Gov. Mark Sanford's refusal to accept $700 million in federal stimulus dollars and his opposition to the state budget, S.C. Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell addressed the governor in an open letter this month, writing, "Time and again, you have failed to address problems in a constructive manner and proactively work with the Legislature to find solutions."
Noting Sanford's constant opposition to the Republican-dominated state legislature, McConnell added, "While the attacks you have launched may have been intended to build your national image as a reformer, in the final analysis, the work of a true reformer is measured not by words or TV ads or by press releases, but by what he or she has been able to accomplish."
(Excerpt) Read more at campaignforliberty.com ...
That pretty much says it all.
Ping!
Mark Sanford ping!
Consider the example of New Mexico's own "Dr. No," former Republican Gov. Gary "Veto" Johnson, who earned his nickname for vetoing 750 bills from 1995 to 2003, more than all the vetoes of the other 49 governors combined. Johnson also cut the growth of his state's government in half, privatized half of the state's prisons, reduced state employees by 1,000, oversaw the longest period without a tax increase in the state's history, and left office with a budget surplus. No doubt, New Mexico leaders wanted to spend as much money as South Carolina's legislature or any other state government. But Johnson constantly said "no," and was able to do some good.
Johnson is reported to be considering a run for the presidency in 2012. Does anyone think he could beat Obama?
Ping!
Running against Obama in 2012 is an ugly job, but someone has to do it. I think that much will depend on what happens over the next several years to determine if anyone can beat Obama.
I found this while researching Johnson -- it's Johnson's rules of good government.
To this day, Johnson carries with him his "Seven Principles of Good Government":
1. Become reality driven. Don’t kid yourself or others. Find out what’s what and base your decisions and actions on that.
2. Always be honest and tell the truth. It’s extremely difficult to do any damage to anybody when you are willing to tell the truth–regardless of the consequences.
3. Always do what’s right and fair. Remember, the more you actually accomplish, the louder your critics become. You’ve got to learn to ignore your critics. You’ve got to continue to do what you think is right. You’ve got to maintain your integrity.
4. Determine your goal, develop a plan to reach that goal, and then act. Don’t procrastinate.
5. Make sure everybody who ought to know what you’re doing knows what you’re doing. Communicate.
6. Don’t hesitate to deliver bad news. There is always time to salvage things. There is always time to fix things. Henry Kissinger said that anything that can be revealed eventually should be revealed immediately.
7. Last, be willing to do whatever it takes to get your job done. If you’ve got a job that you don’t love enough to do what it takes to get your job done, then quit and get one that you do love, and then make a difference.[11]
Not a bad record at all.
Of course you are right. Much can happen in four years.
But could a small-l libertarian such as Johnson even get the Republican nomination? From what I see, the GOP is moving in the opposite direction, imitating the Democrats to achieve electoral success.
Johnson himself has dropped out of sight since he left office in 2003. The Republican party seems unaware that he ever existed. (His opposition to the war on drugs undoubtedly has not endeared him to the GOP.)
Right now the statists appear to be winning.
A very good record. So why don't more GOP politicians do the same?
Imagine a Republican who decides to run for governor of California on a platform of vetoes, tax relief, program cuts, and privatization. Would GOP party leaders support his candidacy?
Well, see, there’s the problem. And, it’s not just in California, or the coast, but everywhere. Here in SD, we have a former GOP SDL Senate Majority leader talking about running for governor, and he has nothing but a constant record of spending, taxing, and nanny-statism, but the establishment is behind him. Why? I have no idea. The party wonks have got to be removed, replaced, re-engineered.
Interesting that you say that, because my take is that libertarian Republicans like Mark Sanford, and others, have never been in a stronger position since the days of Barry Goldwater!
For years, small-government Republicans were virtually ignored and unknown. Ron Paul (like Barry Goldwater before him) has changed all of that. RP was ignored and insulted by the Party, most noticeably at the RNC last year & could never get support for any legislation in Congress -- until now. RP's Audit the Fed bill has 180 sponsors from both sides of the aisle. Why? Because for the first time in years, Congress is actually afraid of us, afraid of what we might do and we might think of them if they didn't support this "transparency" that was even promised by Obama!
The only thing that the statist Republicans have on their side is special interest money, and the ability to exploit fear -- and they know it. This is why statist Republicans have tried to exploit the aspirations of the Christian Right for a domestic agenda, while never really giving them anything -- not outlawing abortion, not closing our borders, not championing heterosexual marriage, etc -- but they are sure that as long as they waive the flag enough, the Christian Right won't notice this betrayal & will still keep voting for them.
The statists have exploited our fears of attack and fears of losing our culture, meanwhile doing things that put us more in harms way and that erode our culture even further.
The statists may still be stronger than the libertarians in the Republican Party, but the libertarians are gaining ground while the statists are losing ground. Statists couldn't win the last presidential election or the Congress for the people, so they have already started in a "loser" position. And they are losing more people every day who've woken up to realize that statist Republicans and statists Democrats are more on the same team (McCain & Obama) than not -- and that "team" is united in wishing to steal from us to give to their globalist masters!
It doesn’t matter how many bills are vetoed if there are enough opposition votes to over-turn.
The CA GOP leaders Party leaders are RINO trash and everyone knows it. It's so obvious that Mark Meckler, organizer of the Sacramento Tea Party identified GOP chair Ron Nehring in the audience and then proceeded to publicly humiliate him. It wasn't the last time Nehring has been called out, there was an interview a couple of weeks ago where someone did something similar to him.
No one respects the CA GOP Party leaderhip, not even Republicans. Problem is that we really don't have anyone good to run, that I know of.
Sanford ‘tweeted’ this link earlier today. It’s worth watching if you haven’t seen it.
http://tinyurl.com/luntzsanford
I know Gary Johnson. I am supporting him. He is running. He can win.
Unfortunately, he doesn't have a party.
Unless the vetoer is an actual leader. Then it doesn't matter.
Unfortunately, we haven't seen a leader in decades.
Do you know how one might contact him?
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