Category Archives: MOGOP

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Obama went to Texas this week. He went for another fundraiser. He had no intention to visit the border—and didn’t over the protests of his own party members, such as Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-TX.

http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Perry.Hannity.pngGovernor Rick Perry met Obama on the tarmac of Austin’s airport to ask Obama to go with him to the border. “He flies in a big airplane. It’s only 350 miles to the border,” Perry said in an interview with Shawn Hannity last night. Perry and Obama did meet to discuss the border, a meeting that resulted in Obama’s presser yesterday that said nothing and continued to blame Republicans for the border crisis.

Obama wants billions to ‘fix’ the border. He doesn’t need more billions; he can do that immediately by ordering the DoD to secure the border. In fact, Obama has a duty to do so. But he won’t. Instead he’ll dither as usual and do nothing while the problem compounds itself. The crisis is nearing the boiling point from Texas to California. Obama could not care less.

What will happen next? No one knows…except that it won’t, while Obama remains in office, get any better.

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There is a bill floating in the Senate that Dems hope with give them some creds with Second Amendment activists. The bill has a lot of good changes in it…and a poison pill for anyone who votes for it.

EDITORIAL: No free pass on gun rights for red-state Democrats

Republicans must deny endangered incumbents a phony vote

By THE WASHINGTON TIMES, Wednesday, July 9, 2014

If Democrats regain a majority in the House and retain the Senate, the first order of business after a tragic shooting — any shooting will do — would be to enact strict gun control. Everyone knows it, and that’s a problem for Democratic senators trying to keep their seats in states where people aren’t afraid of guns.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid let Sen. Kay R. Hagan, a Democrat with an uphill re-election struggle in North Carolina, bring up her Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act, which would actually make several useful changes in the law. It would modernize licensing for duck hunting and encourage the use of federal land for fishing, hunting and target shooting. It would even allow hunters who legally shoot a polar bear in Canada to bring the pelt back home to the United States.

But, as always with democrats, it’s a sham.

In 2012, Sen. Jon Tester, Montana Democrat, was fighting for survival and pushed such legislation to shore up his pro-gun credentials. After he won re-election, Mr. Tester joined the liberals in his caucus to support President Obama’s actual gun-control agenda. Mr. Tester voted for the “background check” requirement that the federal government track sales of firearms between friends and family, inevitably creating a national registry. It came within a handful of votes of passage.

Several tough, realistic Republicans aren’t eager to give endangered Democrats an undeserved break and insist on adding language to reveal which senators actually believe in the Second Amendment and which only pose as believers.

A number of GOP Senators want to add some amendments to the bill. Senator Reid won’t allow any. He wants a simple ‘hunting-friendly’ bill to help those Senators in danger of being booted out of office.

When the bill comes up for a vote Thursday, senators won’t be allowed to freely amend the bill. If the measure clears the Senate, House Republicans must resist the temptation to pass the bill as is to put it on Mr. Obama’s desk. It’s so rare that a bill gets past Mr. Reid’s legislative blockade that it would be hard to scold Republicans for taking the poisoned bait.

Voters deserve to know where their representatives really stand on gun control, so House Speaker John A. Boehner should encourage the addition of genuine pro-gun amendments that would doom its chances for Senate concurrence. Better to allow a positive but mostly symbolic bill to die than to give Mrs. Hagan and her colleagues a trophy to fool their constituents.

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Missouri GOP Party Chairman, Ed Martin, has been watching the Mississippi fiasco and he isn’t pleased. This week, he has called for an investigation into Mississippi’s primary and that of Halley Barbour.

MOGOP — ‘Missouri GOP head seeks party probe of Mississippi ads alleging racism,’ The Washington Post: “The head of the Missouri Republican Party on Tuesday asked Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus to appoint a task force to investigate what he called “racially divisive ads and robocalls” critical of state Sen. Chris McDaniel in the Republican runoff for U.S. Senate in Mississippi, marking the latest instance of lingering intra-party discord following Sen. Thad Cochran’s narrow victory over McDaniel last month. Missouri GOP Chairman Ed Martin e-mailed letters to Priebus and RNC members Tuesday afternoon expressing concerns over ads reported by Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper that sought to link McDaniel to a Ku Klux Klan ally, suggested that the tea party has “racist” ideas and warned that a vote for McDaniel could mean losing food stamps and other government programs. Martin’s concerns came a day after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) slammed the “D.C. machine” for “racially charged false attacks” against McDaniel. And they arrived as McDaniel’s campaign was gearing up to challenge the results of the election, which were certified. Martin, who said he was neutral during the primary and runoff, said his concern is that Republican National Committee member Henry Barbour could be partially responsible for the ads. The Daily Mail report suggested that Barbour, who ran a pro-Cochran super PAC, could have ties to the group that ran the ads, Citizens for Progress. The group has no record at the Federal Election Commission. …

Martin asked Priebus to “appoint a special committee of RNC members to investigate this matter and report to us at our August 7th Members meeting before the August 8th general RNC meeting.” Martin said in a telephone interview that he already had received a response from one RNC member volunteering to join the special committee.” — The Washington Post, PoliticMO.

I’m glad to see I’m not the only Missouri Republican who is concerned about the RNSC’s actions in that mess in Mississippi. There is potentially another RNSC fiasco brewing next door in Kansas and that’s too close to home to ignore.

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System Failure! No Post Today

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A severe thunderstorm rolled through last night—high winds and rain up to 4″ per hour. The National Weather Service sent a small streams and urban flooding alert earlier in the evening.

Around 2:00am, we lost power. It was out for at least two hours. When I came downstairs this morning, all my servers were powered down. Two were on UPS systems, two were not. All the servers survived. My keyboard however, one I’ve used since the 1990s, a Compaq industrial, high volume keyboard, one we used for my former employer’s call centers, didn’t respond. I finally got it up and running.

It’s on to 10:30am. Everything seems to be working once again. but it’s too late for a normal blog post. Instead I’ll direct you to a  link that documents all the GOP Senators who donated to the Thad Cochran campaign. MIssouri’s Roy Blunt in among the contributors as are both Kansas Senators, Roberts and Moran.

Here is the list of contributors and their donations:

Thad Cochran’s Senate Enablers

July 03, 2014

GOP Senate Contributions to Cochran
Senator — Amount Given — Phone Number

Roy Blunt (R-MO) — $15,000 — (202) 224-5721

Jerry Moran (R-KS) — $10,000 — (202) 224-6521

Pat Roberts (R-KS) — $5,000 — (202) 224-4774

You can see the entire list by following the link above. Here is another column on the same subject and provides some additional background on the story.

Donor Controversies Hit ‘Mississippi Conservatives’

By – 7.8.14

The headline in the New York Times over the weekend was straightforward: “Unease in G.O.P. Over Mississippi Tea Party Anger”:

The stormy aftermath of Mississippi’s Republican Senate runoff has sent Tea Party conservatives around the country to the ramparts, raising the prospect of a prolonged battle that holds the potential to depress conservative turnout in November in Mississippi — and possibly beyond.

Well, there’s an understatement. Just last night Texas Senator Ted Cruz was on Mark Levin’s show talking about “the D.C. machine” running “false attacks” that were “racially charged” and demanding that allegations of criminal conduct — one man reportedly told Charles C. Johnson that Cochran paid him to buy votes — be “vigorously investigated.” There should be “unease” in the Republican Party, as more and more of the base becomes aware of just how cynical GOP leadership has become, and as the curtain continues to be pulled up on all the shenanigans in Mississippi.

At the story’s center is the Mississippi Conservatives PAC, which is on the receiving end of furious charges of race-baiting against insurgent candidate Chris McDaniel and the Tea Party as a whole. But an even bigger problem comes from evidence that the group calling itself Mississippi Conservatives was anything but, illustrating in stunning detail how the establishments and donors of the Republican and Democratic parties intermingle.

The column continues at the American Spectator website. You can read it here.

I don’t expect anymore power outages. At least, not today. I’m thankful there was no lasting damage, just some small fixes. Y’all have a great day and drop back tomorrow.

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Followup

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It didn’t take long for Missouri Democrats to take retribution against Representative Keith English (D-Florissant.) English was the sole democrat vote needed to override Democrat Governor Jay Nixon’s veto of the Tax Cut Bill (SB509.)

Yesterday, the day following English’s veto-busting vote, he received a letter from House Democratic Leader Jake Hummel removing him from his committee assignments. Some insiders claim it was a symbolic gesture because none of English’s committees will be meeting for the remainder of this legislative term.

It is remarkable to observe the differences between democrats and the ‘pubs. English was disciplined by being removed from his committee assignments for a critical vote against the demands of his party. Last September, Senators Dempsey and Richard, reversed their votes on similar bills during the veto session, voting to uphold Nixon’s vetos. Their change of votes, from for-the-bill to against-the-bill, occurred after they accompanied Nixon on a taxpayer-paid junket to Europe. Nothing happened to those two. English, however, lost his committee assignment.

English’s decision to vote for the tax cuts, some $620 million when the cuts are activated, was not a recent occurrence.

“English was a special guest at a private reception for Republican lawmakers on Tuesday night. He told members that he wanted to vote in favor of the bill when it was first brought up in the House, but that he was urged by Republican leadership to hold off until the override vote in an attempt to avoid pressure from Democrats, including the governor.” — PoliticMO Newsletter, May 8, 2014

I haven’t examined English’s voting record. I would not be surprised that he has sided with the ‘Pubs in the past.

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HB 1439, the Second Amendment Preservation Act, is hung up in committee in the House. It had passed in the House on April 12th on a vote of 114 to 41. It went to the Senate and passed there on a vote of 23 to 8. However, (isn’t there always a ‘however?) the Senate made some changes to the bill. Those changes required a confirming vote in the House. That vote has not yet happened.

Why?

There was a provision in the House version that was changed in the Senate; a change some House members demand be reinstated. If the House changes the Senate version, we are in another series of ping-pong from House to Senate and time is running out.

I’m coming to believe we will not pass HB1439. Some insiders who have watched this bill closely from the beginning believe it was designed to fail, that it contained a poison-pill or two.

It is not a good bill. It is a hodge-podge of components that should rightly have been proposed and voted upon individually instead of being collected into a monstrous Congress-style conglomeration of components. One reason why this bill is bad is that if it is passed and is enacted, we, the CCW holders in the state, would lose reciprocity with a number of states…maybe half of those states who currently recognize our permits.

HB1439 lowers the age for a CCW permit from 21 to 19. That would make our CCW permits incompatible with those states whose lowest age is 21 for a CCW holder.

Our neighbor, Kansas, is one whose minimum age for a CCW permit is 21. Think for a moment of the consequences if we lost reciprocity with Kansas! I live within ten miles of the Kansas/Missouri border. I travel to Kansas several times a week. I used to work in Kansas. Imagine not being able to legally carry in Kansas and all the burdens that would ensue!

There are other issues in HB1439 that can cause issues, too. For me, I won’t cry if it fails to pass. Yes, there are provisions in it I would dearly love to see enacted—open carry for one (although I would probably not carry openly myself. I do believe, however, that we should have the option. Kansas will have Open Carry in a few months.)

If HB1439 fails this year, we must learn from our mistakes. I believe it is a strategic mistake to roll all the firearm/CCW/2nd Amendment items into one bill. Yes, it may be a convenience for those sitting in Jeff City, but it has great dangers as we are seeing now with HB1439.

Personally, I’m going to meet with my Senator and Representative and urge them to fight to change how we organize any future bills for firearm and 2nd Amendment rights. One bill for each item. If an issue cannot stand alone on its own virtue, perhaps it shouldn’t be passed? When we have an omnibus-style bill, like we’ve attempted to pass in the last two years and have failed, there will always be one issue or another that will/could stop its passage. Let’s chalk this idea of attempting to pass a large complex bill under the “Lessons Learned” column and vow not to repeat it.

 

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Turning up the heat…on the Washington Establishment

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I’ve been hitting the GOP establishment hard these last few months. It’s not a change in my views. I’ve always distrusted the GOP establishment, especially in the persons of John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and Mitch McConnell.

After the fiasco at the 2012 convention where the establishment rammed through rules to maintain their primacy, the outsiders, those representing the base, rebelled. We’re seeing, now, some of the results from that rebellion.

Locally, one piece of that rebellion was the ousting of David Cole by Ed Martin as the Missouri GOP Chair. David Cole ignored his base and relied on a covey of county chairs to keep his position. The aftermath of the 2012 election removed many of those entrenched in state politics—including David Cole.

With changes in place within the GOP across the country, the focus, now, is the Washington establishment. Their attempts to maintain control over the state organizations is failing as shown in the article below.

The Conservatives

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  August 5th, 2013 at 09:02 PM

The old Buckley Rule is that we should back the most conservative candidate who can win the general election.

What I find more and more is that the NRSC and others declare the person most committed to the status quo the most conservative and work to convince the rest of us that the others are too far right to get elected.

What I have decided is that the Buckley Rule is a stupid rule because it is not a rule, but a saying jackasses use to crap on candidates they don’t like. They did not think Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Rand Paul, Pat Toomey and many others in the Senate and House were electable.

While they would point out, similarly, a list of conservatives who did not win, I’d say that’s the point. Views on electability differ and I don’t think you or I should take anyone else’s word for it. We should see for ourselves.

RedState’s rule is simple. We back the conservative in the primary and the Republican in the general. If fortune smiles, we wind up beating the squish in the primary and winning the general. It does not always work out that way, but often it does. There are a lot of Republican incumbents who suck. They are neither kings, nor princes, nor dukes. They do not get to dwell in the seat until they themselves decide to vacate the seat. The people are allowed to boot them out of the seat.

…

…I see no reason to advance on the Democrats with men and women little better than the Democrats they seek to replace. The guy from the NRSC at the RedState Gathering posited that no Republican should ever run against any incumbent Republican. In fact, he said the NRSC would do all it could to defend every incumbent against every Republican challenger and, taking it a step further, insisted that if they had to spend all their money foolishly on primaries and run out of money in the general elections and lose, it’d be conservatives to blame, not the NRSC for not knowing when to fold. The NRSC has become an organization committed to incumbent protection, not actually winning.

…

We Republicans who value our principles should not give free rides to any incumbent solely by virtue of their incumbency. We conservatives should relish the opportunity to become scalp collectors. If the NRSC goes broke defending incumbents that Republicans in states seek to replace with better candidates, I am more than willing to help them go broke. And neither I nor you are alone in that willingness.

I attended a meeting last night with a member of Ed Martin’s organization. It’s not the first meeting I have attended. Unlike his predecessor, David Cole, Ed Martin is extending a hand to grassroots organizations and Tea Partiers. He’s asking for input and for feedback how the state party can be revitalized.

He’s getting an earful.

I don’t know how much Ed Martin will accept and use the criticism he’s receiving about the flaws in the state organization. Some of that feedback will hurt.

An unspoken question was how strong was the movement toward a third party in Missouri. I’m not talking about a shift to the Libertarian Party. The consensus with everyone I’ve spoken with is that the LP platform is still at odds with the vast majority of conservatives. At best, their pull is still in single digits of conservatives.

That does not mean that a new party could not arise. A new party is, for now, unlikely. Why? Because Ed Martin is attempting to bring the disaffected conservatives back into the GOP fold. I hope he’s successful.

The exchange between Bobby Jindal with an NRSC rep at the RedState Gathering is indicative that the establishment is starting to worry as well. That’s good…and bad. It would be good if the Washington establishment saw the writing on the wall and began to accommodate change within the national party.

If the Washington establishment chooses to use their clout to maintain themselves in power, they will fail…and that failure will bring great damage to the country. But, we must remember, the Washington establishment is not there for the betterment of the country, nor to maintain and advance conservative principles, not to elect and support conservatives. They are there to maintain their personal positions as members of The Ruling Class.

We can no longer accept a Washington party aristocracy. One way or another, revolution within the GOP is coming.

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Call-in Campaign to Override Nixon’s Vetos

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This post is a continuation from yesterday and last week. It should rightly be titled, Lead by the Unwilling and the Fearful, Part II.

After yesterday’s post, I continued to have an exchange with a Jeff City staffer. He provided some additional information why Tim Jones, Speaker of the Missouri House, is unlikely to bring the tax cut veto override to the floor—the pols in Jeff City claim they are receiving no or very few calls in support of the veto override!

Him: Mike, if you ever go hunting, you know there are two basic rules on target selection:

1.) Make sure you have a clean line of sight;
2.) Don’t hunt what you can’t kill–make sure you have enough ammo to take down your target.

Right now, there isn’t enough ammo. And the bad part is (and I speak from experience because I work in the Capitol) is that 95% of the offices are getting ZERO calls from constituents and only a few emails on the subject. The reps aren’t changing their positions because they’re not getting any contact telling them to.

…

Right now, the only voices on the issue are the people who want to keep the status quo. I can tell you for a fact that Jones wants to get this done, but he also knows that he needs the members onboard. If he pushes the vote, he makes reps take a vote that is potentially dangerous in a political sense, and he knows that it will fail. That doesn’t help out the conservative agenda in any way–it’s seppuku without any reason. Do you think it helps out the conservative agenda to have that vote fail AND have it be partially or fully responsible for Democrats regaining 5 or 10 seats?

I can understand his and his boss’s position, although I vehemently oppose it. He’s a staffer for a Rep on the eastern side of the state. That eastern district abounds democrat controlled districts and his district is likely to have the conservative majorities we on the western side of Missouri possess.

But, even if we do lose five to ten house seats, we’ll still have a majority. Our majority in the House is more than a handful of seats. Of course, his boss is concerned about losing HIS seat. That can be a motivator but it does speak volumes about his political courage. His override vote could be turned around to get support from voters, not lose support.

But again, I say they are taking counsel of their fears. Instead of being afraid of democrats, they should be in fear of their ‘Pub constituents.

According to the staffer above, he made the rounds of some ‘Pub Reps and they say they’ve received few calls, 5 at most, In support of the veto overrides. Many have received no override calls through the summer. You can bet your house they are getting calls and visits from the dems, union reps, and teacher’s union official AGAINST the override.

If you, like me, want Nixon’s vetos overridden, call your Representative and Senator. If you can, visit them in support of the veto overrides. In addition, attend the rallies planned for 9:00AM and 12:00 noon on September 11, 2013 in Jeff City. The first rally is to support the override of HB436, The 2nd Amendment Preservation Act. That rally is followed at noon by the rally to override Nixon’s veto of the tax cut bill.

If you can’t attend because it is a work day and you can’t get off, CALL your representatives! Write them in support of the veto overrides—snail mail. E-mails seem to be ignored so personal communications is extremely important.

If you don’t know the phone number of your Representative, here is a link to the House website that contains the Representative’s contact numbers.

http://www.house.mo.gov/member.aspx

Call! Now! Be counted and force those cowardly Reps to be YOUR representatives. Make them understand their longevity in Jeff City is dependent on them obeying YOU, not the dems and their union sycophants.

And when you have finished calling, hangup and hand the phone to your spouse and have them call. Include your voting age children—have them call as well. The more calls, the greater the pressure on those waffling ‘Pubs to do the right thing.

It’s up to us.

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Friday Follies for June 21, 2013

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I was going to make a FB post yesterday and was distracted. It’s a little thing, personal only to me and my sister. Yesterday was my father’s birthday. If he were still alive, he would be 111.

Happy birthday, Dad.

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An item was disclosed this week about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that appears to violate the Constitution’s 4th Amendment.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. — 4th Amendment to the US Constitution.

It now appears that FISA modified part of the 4th Amendment.

Authorized by Section 702 of the amended Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the program did away with the traditional individual warrant for each foreign suspect whose communications would be collected in the United States. In its place, the FISA court, which oversees domestic surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes and whose proceedings are secret, would certify the government’s procedures to target people overseas and ensure citizens’ privacy. — The Washington Post.

Instead of individual warrants as required by the 4th Amendment, NSA was given a blanket certificate—a hunting and fishing license, so to speak, that allowed them to search anyone, everyone, whether hard evidence for probable cause existed, or not.

A comment posted on the Washington Post article above said, “I’m beginning to think the FISA court was set-up by the executive branch to rubber stamp all executive branch demands. The world’s most secret self-licking ice cream cone.” (Panhandle Willy, 6/20/2013 8:03 PM CDT)

 

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Today is the anniversary of the ratification of the US Constitution. It received its 9th approving vote 225 years ago today by New Hampshire.

On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the document, and it was subsequently agreed that government under the U.S. Constitution would begin on March 4, 1789. — www.history.com

Virginia and New York followed New Hampshire later in June but New Hampshire’s vote was sufficient to actually getting the new government running.

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The Tea Party was out in force, yesterday, with a rally in Washington DC to protest the actions of the IRS. A number of Congressmen attended as well, Sens. Mike Lee (Utah), Rand Paul (Ky.), Ted Cruz (Texas), Reps. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) and Dave Camp (Mich.). The question now is whether any of our Missouri Senators and Representatives were there?

I’ve not seen any of the Missouri delegation post about their presence at the rally. I’ve asked Vicky Hartzler and Jason Smith that question but I’ve received no answers yet.

We must remember those absences when the primaries come next year and candidates want Tea Party endorsements.

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Unsatisfied with the bureaucrats in your state and federal government? That makes you a terrorist says a Tennessee bureaucrat.

Unsatisfied with the quality of your water and eager to let the government know about it?

You might be a terrorist, according to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

“We take water quality very seriously. Very, very seriously,” deputy director of TDEC’s Division of Water Resources Sherwin Smith told a baffled and outraged audience in Maury County, Tennessee. “But you need to make sure that when you make water quality complaints you have a basis, because federally, if there’s no water quality issues, that can be considered under Homeland Security an act of terrorism.”

Audience members saw the official’s answer as a means of deterring complaints from the public, according to a report in The Tennessean. — The Daily Caller.

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A Thursday post without a title

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I considered using, “Cowards!” and “Twisting in the Wind,” as possible titles but I decided against either. Sometimes ‘Pubs just can’t take reality and those titles would be misunderstood, although highly accurate.

It’s been nearly a week since Akin stuck his foot in his mouth all the way to his knee. The initial cry of the ‘Pubs of, “Unclean! Unclean!” have subsided to…silence. The deadline for Akin to quietly walk away has passed. It will now take a concerted act by the Missouri ‘Pub Central Committee, and a court order, to remove Akin so I’m told.

I doubt that will happen. The Missouri Central Committee hasn’t the guts to take that action. No, they’d rather do nothing and possibly lose the election to McCaskill rather than offend…someone, anyone.

They haven’t the guts to remove Akin. They haven’t the guts to give the finger to the dems and support Akin so they’ll do nothing and lose to McCaskill.

It makes me wanna puke.

I’ve said in earlier posts. If the ‘Pubs continue as they have, the party will go the way of the Whigs.  The example above in the last two paragraphs is proof of that statement.

Would Akin be a better Senator for Missouri and the country than McCaskill? Yes, regardless of Akin’s mistakes. Would McCaskill be a worse Senator for Missouri and the country than Akin? Again, yes.

“But, but, we’ll lose the independents if we back Akin,” they claim. So? We don’t have them anyway. We’ll never have them and setting aside our core principles as conservatives is no way to gain votes.  It’s makes the ‘Pubs no better than the dems.

Acts of gutlessness, such as this, is why the Tea Party emerged.  The Tea Party still exists, don’t doubt that. If the ‘Pubs ignore that support, the Tea Party will leave the ‘Pubs and look for other avenues of politics. The Republican Party will wither.

It’s time for the ‘Pubs to act as adults and make a decision and announce that decision loudly and clearly. Either remove Akin now, or fully back him. Then, come what may, the party can at least show some backbone.

We can no longer tolerate spineless wimps like Boehner and McConnell. Act, ‘Pubs, or get out of the way for another party who will.

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