By: Chuck Muth
Citizen Outreach

ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK

“Last week, President Obama announced that he will send 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan to fight al Qaeda and its Taliban allies. . . . Yet inexplicably, at the same time he announced the new troop deployments, President Obama also announced that these troops would begin leaving Afghanistan in July 2011. This sends a dangerous message to both our enemies and our allies that we are not committed to victory.”

– Congressman Tom Price, Chairman, Republican Study Committee

COLD AS ICE

“There continues to be a particular challenge for the president, and it is an affection gap. It is not hard to respect this president, not hard to want to listen to his views and weigh his arguments. It is a challenge, however, to feel warmly toward him. This matters politically because Americans like to feel affection for their presidents, and are more likely to forgive them for policy differences when they do.

“There’s the stony, cool temperament, and also something new. The White House lately seems very fancy. When you think of them now, it’s all tuxedoes, gowns and Hollywood. There’s a certain a metallic glamour. But metal is cold. . . . When they like, you they forgive you a lot. Mr. Obama needs to make them smile. He doesn’t. He leaves them cool as he is.”

– Columnist Peggy Noonan

BIRDS OF A FEATHER STAND TOGETHER

“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid isn’t backing down from controversial remarks comparing Republican opponents of the Democratic health care bill to defenders of slavery, Jim Crow and the disenfranchisement of women. And his fellow Democrats apparently stand with him: Democratic Conference Secretary Patty Murray said on Tuesday there was no criticism of the remarks within the caucus and no discussion of Mr. Reid apologizing.”

– John Fund, Political Diary, 12/10/09

IN OTHER WORDS, SHE’S CLUELESS

“Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) told CNSNews.com she would leave it up to the ‘constitutional lawyers’ to explain exactly where Congress gets the constitutional authority to force Americans to buy health insurance, the central mandate in both the Senate and House health care bills.”

– CNS News, 12/11/09

SANTA: THE FASCIST YEARS

“Stuffed inside the omnibus spending package the Senate will be taking up this weekend is a cornucopia of 4,752 earmarks totaling almost $4 billion. My favorite is $30,000 for the ‘Woodstock Film Festival,’ whose entries this year include ‘Santa: The Fascist Years,’ a film that ‘uncovers and explores Santa’s flirtation with politics and greed.’ Altogether, the omnibus bill has a price tag of $450 billion, up 12% over last year’s bill, even as inflation is non-existent and family budgets dropped by three percentage points last year.”

– John Fund, Political Diary, 12/11/09

A SILVER LINING AROUND THE RECESSION

“But there may be a silver lining in all this financial pain. For most married Americans, the Great Recession seems to be solidifying, not eroding, the marital bond. The divorce rate is actually falling. It declined to 16.9 divorces per 1,000 married women in 2008 from 17.5 divorces in 2007 (a 3% drop), after rising from 16.4 divorces per 1,000 married women in 2005 (a 7% increase).”

– Columnist W. Bradford Wilcox

THE DEATH TAX THAT WOULDN’T DIE

“In less than three weeks, the hated death tax is scheduled to expire—with the rate falling from 45% to zero for 2010. Then the tax will be resurrected in 2011 at a rate of 55%. This bizarre policy dates back to 2001 when Democrats wouldn’t let President Bush permanently kill the death tax, so Republicans bet that if the tax were eliminated for one year, it would never come back.

“Well, the moment of truth has arrived, and House Democrats recently voted 234-199 to cancel the 2010 repeal and hold the rate permanently at 45% with a $3.5 million exemption. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid now wants to do the same. But to suspend the Senate’s health-care debate and turn to the estate tax, he needs 60 votes. All Republicans and some Democrats are saying no.”

– Wall Street Journal editorial, 12/11/09

IS JOHN MCCAIN SLIPPING IN ARIZONA?

“In that piece about Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) shift to the right in the Obama era, Jonathan Martin and Manu Raju mention that the senator is at least theoretically preparing for a 2010 primary battle against former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.), an ultra-conservative who went down in the 2006 Democratic wave. Not only have we seen polls that show Hayworth performing well, we have some evidence that McCain is less beloved in Arizona than he once was.

“In 2000, McCain was locked in a functionally two-way battle for the GOP presidential nomination with George W. Bush. By Feb. 22, when Arizona held its primary, it was clear that Bush would win the nomination. McCain scored 60 percent of the vote anyway, a 24-point landslide over Bush, carrying every county, and carrying all but one, Graham County, with a majority.

“In 2008, Arizona held its primary on Feb. 5, and McCain was moving ahead of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in the race for the GOP nomination, but most voters went to the polls thinking Romney had a chance to win if events broke his way. McCain won Arizona, but only with 47 percent of the vote, beating Romney by about 13 points. Romney carried three of Arizona’s 15 counties. McCain only won a majority in three counties: Coconino, Gila, and La Paz.

“What does it mean? It’s open for debate, but it certainly suggests that McCain has a more conservative electorate to deal with these. Both Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee performed better in their home states than McCain performed in Arizona.”

– David Weigel, The Washington Independent, 12/11/09

MUTH’S TRUTHS

Those who remember our good friend, good conservative and former Arizona Congressman J.D. Hayworth know he got the royal shaft back in 2006 when he lost his re-election bid after false accusations were made against him surrounding the Jack Abramoff scandal. Since that time, J.D. has been completely vindicated, but it cost him a bundle in attorney’s fees to clear his name.

J.D. continues to “spread the conservative gospel” as a radio talk-show host in Phoenix, but is also mulling a possible Republican primary challenge next year against Sen. John McCain – whose time, in my opinion, came and went long ago.

But before J.D. can even remotely consider such a campaign, he needs to pay off his legal bill from that BS Department of Justice investigation.

Whether J.D. runs against McCain or not, he’s a staunch conservative who has earned our support by fighting for what we all believe day in and day out. So before you spend all of your Christmas dough this season, please take a minute and read the details of J.D.’s case and consider making a small donation to help pay off his legal bills HERE at the Freedom in Truth Trust website.

And maybe, just maybe, Santa will bring us a new, conservative U.S. Senator in Arizona next year!

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

“Every invasion of the plain rights of the citizen has a lawyer behind it. If all lawyers were hanged tomorrow, and their bones sold to a mah jong factory, we’d all be freer and safer, and our taxes would be reduced by almost a half.”

– H.L. Mencken

By: Chuck Muth
Nevada News and Views

TODAY’S NN&V HEADLINES

• Black Thursday for Clark County GOP (Chuck Muth) – The Clark County Republican Party suffered a severe blood-letting at an emergency late-night Executive Board meeting on Thursday which ended up in mass resignations.
• Rory Reid Slams Gibbons as “Worst Governor in America” (Sean Whaley/Nevada News Bureau) – Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rory Reid called Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons “the worst governor in America” in an email sent yesterday to supporters seeking contributions for his campaign next year.
• Nutcase left presses its case; Republicans contemplate their navels (Rep. John Shadegg) – For opponents of socialism this week was typically – albeit disgustingly – frustrating.
• The Teacher’s Union That Stole Christmas (Warner Todd Huston) – The Weekly Standard has an excellent new article in its latest issue that reports on the discouraging story of the Washington D.C. teachers union that is rushing headlong toward destroying the successful and popular federally-funded D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP).
• Special Holiday Report from New Nevada GOP Chief (Chris Comfort) – As your Chairman, the vision of making the Republican Party safe for all of you who believe in a constitutional republic is my sole and enduring goal. Together, we will build a durable organization and I am happy to report to you, personally, that this objective is being met every day since taking office.
• Double-Digit Decline in October Gaming Win Called Disappointing (Sean Whaley/Nevada News Bureau) – Nevada gaming revenues declined significantly again in October after two months of what was hoped to be the beginnings of a turnaround in the state’s biggest industry.
• Unemployment Benefits Extension to Arrive By Saturday (Sean Whaley/Nevada News Bureau) – More than 6,000 Nevadans who have exhausted their unemployment benefits can expect to receive their first payment of the recently passed TIER III extension by this Saturday afternoon, weeks ahead of schedule, Gov. Jim Gibbons announced today.

Click here to read these stories at the Nevada News & Views site!

SURVEY SAYS!

Will the Republican Party in Nevada be able to get its act together in time for next November’s elections?

• Absolutely. Piece of cake.
• Yeah, right. In your dreams.
• There’s a Republican Party in Nevada?

To cast your vote in today’s online survey, click here!

MUTHS TRUTHS

In a Nevada Newsmakers interview this week, Sen. Bill Raggio (R-Reno) said: “I think divisive primaries are hurting the Republican Party. We ought to be encouraging unity in the party instead of extremism trying to rip it apart.”

Really?

By now, we all know how Sen. Raggio has a tendency to talk out of both sides of his mouth; guaranteeing in the 2008 GOP primary campaign that he wouldn’t support raising taxes in the 2009 legislative session only to then engineer behind the scenes more than a billion dollars worth of tax hikes on Nevada’s families and small businesses.

So it will come as no surprise that Sen. Raggio is actually guilty of doing exactly what he accuses the “extremists” of doing as far as Republican primaries are concerned.

You see, early during the last legislative session, conservative Assemblyman Ty Cobb – who signed and honored the Taxpayer Protection Pledge by opposing and voting against any and all efforts to increase taxes – let it be known that he was going to run for the state Senate seat being vacated in 2010 by moderate, tax-hiking Sen. Randolph Townsend (R-Reno) who is term-limited.

So what did Sen. Raggio do?

He recruited a government employee, Ben Kieckhefer – who has no prior electoral experience and has said he won’t sign the Taxpayer Protection Plege – to run against Cobb in the Republican primary next year.

According to Sen. Raggio, an “extremist” is apparently any Republican who doesn’t believe in raising taxes in the middle of this recession. In reality, fiscal conservatives are in the mainsteam or public opinion. The extremists who are ripping the GOP apart are liberal Republicans such as Sen. Raggio who are working feverishly to keep conservative Republicans out of office.

If Sen. Raggio really desires party unity, as he claims, he’d resign immediately and turn his seat over to Sharron Angle who he defeated last year under false pretenses, while simultaneously encouraging young Mr. Kieckhefer not to quit his day job at Government, Inc. and drop out of this divisive senate race.

That would allow the party to get back to its roots and coalesce around fiscally conservative principles and candidates.

Don’t hold your breath.

OTHER NEWS & VIEWS

• A Washington insider magazine says Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nevada) isn’t doing enough to whore himself out as a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. Dennis Myers of Reno News & Views has the details.
• Oscar yes, or Oscar no for governor? Only Jon Ralston knows for sure. Or not.
• Columnist Vin Suprynowicz notes that Nevada Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio said this week that layoffs of state employees should be a “last resort” in trying to balance the budget. “And we still wonder why the Republican Party does such a lame-ass job drawing voters to a supposedly ‘smaller government’ alternative in the Silver State?” Vin asks. Read the rest HERE
• You Might Be a RINO If…

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

“The one thing that struck me (in his televised interview on Nevada Newsmakers this week) was when (Sen. Bill Raggio) said those opposed to his tax hikes have ‘extremist positions.’ Thus Bill is accusing himself of having ‘extremist positions’ because those supporting his recall have the same position he did during the election (in 2008). One thing that is extremist is the overuse of the word extremist in politics. If we charged politicians and TV talking heads $10 for every time they used the word extremist we could balance the budget.” – Dana Allen, organizer of the Raggio recall effort in Reno