How close is the POTUS race? Morris says it's tied!

Political consultant Dick Morris wrote a great piece on how Obama is blowing his lead and McCain is putting together the package to win. Read it here Why the race is tied

Craig Fry suddenly finds his voice!

Wow suddenly Craig Fry wants to come out of the wilderness and be a real representative! In a tribune article here, Fry wants to suddenly be concerned over the local VIM recycling plant in Elkhart.

Very noble of Craig Fry to take up the issue now that he has an opponent. Back in June 2007 the plant had a fire that made headlines because an employee was killed. Where was Craig Fry? IDEM had a hearing on the reconstruction of the plant in September 2007, where was Craig Fry? The Indiana Dept of Labor investigated VIM and issued fines in September 2007, where was Craig Fry? The Elkhart Zoning Board was involved with VIM in November 2007, again, where was Craig Fry? The State Fire Marshal got into the act in February of this year, threatened to close VIM, where was Craig Fry?

Craig Fry was quite on the issue. Craig Fry has been a quiet and unseen state representative for 20 years now. But now Dave Miller, former Elkhart Mayor is running against him. Now Fry decided he has to take on some easy targets and get some press coverage to look good.

Fry feels the need to get in the paper and show he has a backbone on issues now that his re-election is in jeopardy. I am sure we will see a number of issues pop up suddenly for Fry to get some positive exposure! Waiting until the heat is on to take action and be visible as a representative will not fly with the voters! Shame on you Craig Fry!

Back to basics... Barry Goldwater's Conscience of a Conservative

I recently picked up the essential book on the conservative movement, Conscience of a Conservative,and am certainly glad I did. Frequently when a book is old as this one we shrug off reading it, this is one that demands your attention. If you previously read this years ago go read it again. The latest version has a new foreword by George Will and a new afterword by Robert Kennedy, Jr.

Barry Goldwater is considered the father of the conservative moment and with good reason. He eloquently states his case for smaller government and less taxes. He takes a definitive stance on states rights and nearly fifty years ago he had the foresight to see the fallacy of the welfare state.

Goldwater defines the conservative stance as asking not if there is a problem but does Federal government have the constitutional authority to be involved in the answer. He strongly believes that we should adhere to the principles of the constitution specifically the 10th Amendment, "those powers no 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."

Staunch conservatives may be surprised to hear that Goldwater was pro-choice, supporting Roe V Wade. "A lot of so-called conservatives don't know what the work means," he told an interviewer in 1994. "They think I've turned liberal because I believe a woman has a right to an abortion. That's a decision that's up to the pregnant woman, not up to the pope or some do-gooders or the Religious Right."
A good look at his stance on the Soviet menace, reveals a lot about how we need to look at the war on terrorism. He had a no nonsense no compromise view that we needed to defeat the soviets not just detain them.

The GOP often invokes the name of Ronald Reagan as the great leader of the GOP, but apparently it is often forgotten that Reagen was a student of Goldwater. That in fact the efforts that Goldwater started in his 1964 presidential run actually culminated in 1980 with Reagan's win. Goldwater is the one who brought conservatives out of the boonies when the liberals were dominating politics.

I think its time the real conservatives start to rally and exhume Goldwater. We need to have more folks who are willing to stand up courageously and proclaim enough of expanding government lets get back to the constitution. Its time many so called conservatives read his book and find out what conservative really means.

The World Economy and "Chindia"

I just read Trudy Rubin's article, "waiting for a new conductor", and I learned a new word today.
Some experts predict by 2050 if not before we will be surpassed economically by both China and India, the new rise in those two economies has been named "Chindia." Given the obvious growth going on in Chindia and the damage congress does to our own financial market with high tax rates we need to really look at reforming our tax policies, and our business methods. There are a number of financial service companies that have chosen to headquarter in London rather than New York because of the less restrictive taxes and paperwork of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

We can have a booming economy if we unleash our entrepreneurs, and let them tackle problems in health, education, energy, conservation and other areas. People solve problems not government. I'm reading Newt Gingrich's "Real Change," and will post on it when I finish, but it looks great so far.

Turning the Triple Play

David Frum, over at the Republican Leadership Council hits it on the head with his article Turning the Triple Play. Frum outlines several ways we need to address or in some cases not address issues, including Iraq, health care, taxes and the middle class. A real foreign policy, tax cuts for a larger share of people, and stop alienating large groups all are ideas we need the GOP to take on. Follow Reagan's lead darn it!

The Billary Road to Republican Victory

Frank Rich, of the New York Times, has a great OP/ED piece on the Clintons and how if she would secure the nomination face a tough time against McCain. Good points on how lots of Billary problems are being kept off the radar until she gets the nomination. Then let the party start!!

No Substitute for Virtue Why conservatives should be open to John McCain.

Benjamin Storey & Jenna Silber Storey have an article over at the Daily Standard about Virtue and how conservatives must stop with the rigid ideology and look at what McCain is trying to do. I think it is something that we must take into consideration with all people no just John McCain.

Is the GOP the party of inclusiveness?

Is the GOP the party of inclusiveness? This is a great question in my opinion and one we need to get the party focused on.

Back in 1956 Eisenhower gave a speech where he stated, "The Republican Party is the Party of the Future be­cause it is the party that draws people together, not drives them apart. Our Party detests the technique of pitting group against group for cheap political advantage. Republicans view as a central principle of conduct-not just as a phrase on nickels and dimes that old motto of ours: "E pluribus Unum"-"Out of many one. "

Is this true today? The party was once referred to as the party of the big umbrella. The important part of the umbrella is the central core stick. Everything depends on that central core, the rest of the ribs that come from the central core give the party shape but if they are not connected to the central part they are not much use.

We cannot tolerate purging the party of people who we don't see as a "real republican." We cannot have litmus tests and survive as a party that wants to represent and serve the nation. Moderates and conservatives are both needed. One side or one group cannot dictate the terms of how the party operates. If we want to truly win elections we have to appeal to the great moderate center of the US population.

Moderates and conservatives need to be comfortable in our party. We will not survive without each other. Both sides have contributions to make and need to be respected. Not only to win elections but to govern, we need to realize that accomplishing good means accommodation and compromise. Politics should be the art of the possible, something that we do not seem to see today.

That does not mean we have to forgo discussions and disagreements. They should be lively and respectful! But we do need to find common ground if we are to succeed.

Indiana Voter ID Law a scam? I think not!

An opinion article by Cynthia Tucker, alluded to Republicans needing to cheat voters using the law to deny them right to vote. Before this law anyone could walk into a voting precinct say a name and be given a ballot. No checking was done at all. Now you have to show a valid federal, or state ID either a drivers license or a state ID. If you do not have one you can ask or will be given a provisional ballot which allows you to vote, however it will not be counted unless you show up at the Voter registration office within 10 days with proper ID.
So previously anyone could pick a name that they knew was unlikely to vote,(because we don't purge our voter lists, even if they are dead) and be given a ballot. Hard to prove because who would know? Even if it was suspect the authority in charge has no reason to check it because they are usually the party in power and the party benefiting from the bad votes.
I am still waiting for a serious effort from a newspaper checking on the voting records of dead people. I still cannot understand how any reasonable person would not think ID is a good thing. We check your ID for driving, for checks, sometimes for credit cards, and even movie rentals. So why would we not check the validity of voters?

I think the next big step would be to find a way to look into the other area of abuse the absentee ballot. There needs to be a better way to take care of these so there is reduced chance of fraud with them. After delivering them on the last election day to each polling place, I was amazed at how badly they are done. I delivered to about 12 polling places and saw 12 different ways that the ballots were received and checked in.

So far as I can see ID is a good thing and I hope the US Supreme court agrees.