Beyond Illegal Immigration: An Agenda for the GOP

Elections refresh and cleanse our political system. They ratify or overturn the policies of public officials. In the same stroke, they flush out of office those who stray too much from the will of the people.

Among those candidates and parties that don’t fare well, elections force introspection and reform.

While Republicans enjoyed some notable successes in Arizona in 2008, we were not nationally what we would term the “prevailing party.” And so it’s appropriate for the GOP to check and update its inventory of ideas and policies while the losses of last year still sting.

Illegal immigration rightly will continue to be a dominant issue in Arizona politics for years to come. Crime and illegal immigration finally are down in Maricopa County – a great success for our community that seemed impossible only a short time ago. Much remains to be done on this front, which means I’ll still draw plenty of protests and cross words and do my part to provide fodder for the newspaper industry.

Yet Arizonans will insist that Republicans be about more than one issue. They are right to do so. I believe Republicans must articulate a new and cogent list of priorities for the people of our state and nation. The issues below take account of our times and are predicated on strong and forthright leadership.

FROM CRIME TO CEO PAY

Put public safety first. Violent drug cartels have made the U.S.-Mexican border one of the most dangerous population zones on Earth. While moving beyond a narrow focus on immigration and addressing a full agenda of public issues, Republicans must remain a party well known for its seriousness in protecting our homes and our borders from criminal offenders.

Pursue free but fair markets. The recent economic crisis, painful though it is, offers an opportunity for reform and accountability. Government officials must enforce our laws to protect citizens from fraud and predatory lending. Republicans should heed public complaints about the ridiculous bonuses given certain CEOs and not dismiss them as Democratic rhetoric.

It’s legitimate to ask whether corporate boards of directors have become so insulated from regular shareholder oversight that executive compensation has become a “good ol’ boys” racket.

As the government props up banks and indentures future generations of Americans with colossal federal deficit spending, we should insist at a minimum that henceforth, banks and lending institutions possess enough capital to properly underwrite their loans. In turn, banks shouldn’t be pressured into lending to questionable applicants out of either runaway short-term greed or fear of drawing civil-rights lawsuits.

A VISION FOR EDUCATION

Our public schools, for all their problems, are a great national institution that must be strengthened and preserved. I am the product of them, as are my wife and children. Still, parents who desire a different way of raising their children – one with a different pedagogical or spiritual focus – shouldn’t be corralled into them.

To enact choice in education while nurturing our public schools requires that we find a way to recognize and reward fully the many great teachers in our public schools. By the same measure, the small number of teachers who fill too much of their class time with movies and casual “bull sessions” should be identified and held to higher standards. Establishing an external process for spot-checking or auditing classroom performance is one possible fix.

Schools must be a safe haven for children. Teachers and school employees who exploit their positions to have sexual relations with school children must be dealt with harshly.

Our public universities should be robust and properly endowed. In return, they also should be centers of unfettered inquiry and tolerance, not redoubts of political correctness in which certain viewpoints are penalized in classroom discussions or faculty hiring decisions.

PROTECTING OUR ENVIRONMENT

The Valley should not accept as inevitable the air pollution levels that blanket our beautiful mountain ranges and desert environs. Confronting the special interests responsible for this blight will take guts and tenacity, not unlike what’s been required for the fight against illegal immigration. But as we’ve seen, progress can be had for the price of serious political leadership.

So, too, can we protect endangered species under federal and state law so that we might ensure a healthy bio-diversity and the survival of plant and animal life for future generations. This can be achieved while upholding private property rights, so long as we are willing to compensate properly for the environment we deserve.

TRUE EQUALITY

President Barack Obama was one of my classmates at Harvard Law School (my career has been a political odyssey commencing with sharing a seminar with him to serving proudly today alongside America’s toughest sheriff). I join all decent Americans in taking pride in the election of our first African-American president.

Republicans likewise have tapped Michael Steele as the first black chairman of the Republican National Committee. These advances underscore the need to end government policies that require or countenance preferences based on race or other immutable characteristics.

My family is an example of what the future holds. My wife is Mexican-American, my four children of Hispanic descent. Should my children be able to take advantage of racial preferences in applying for jobs, contracts or college admissions? I think not. Ultimately they will have to make this choice for themselves. But the fact that this question is being asked is a sign of just how much civil-rights victories and demographic changes have eroded the rationale for existing affirmative-action policies.

As Arizona and America become increasingly diverse – as our nation looks more and more like my family, something I personally look forward to-such policies will become less defensible. Republicans should be at the forefront of urging a sunset to these well-intentioned but increasingly outmoded practices. We are now a nation strong enough to trust in individual merit.

NO TOLERANCE FOR PUBLIC CORRUPTION

Human nature being what it is, politicians of all parties and persuasions are going to violate laws and be corrupted by power. As it has turned out, it’s been my unsought duty to investigate and prosecute more members of my own political party than of others. When Republicans are duly charged with crimes, their fellow Republicans must resist the temptation to circle the wagons around their friends and professional colleagues. We must make it clear that while no party is unblemished by corruption, the GOP shall be known as the party that won’t tolerate, facilitate or apologize for it once it comes to light.

In his book “Theodore Roosevelt on Leadership,” James Strock (a Valley resident) notes that at one point while he was a New York City police commissioner, Roosevelt lamented there was not a single politician or newspaper in the city that supported him. His complaint is of lasting value. We profit by reminding ourselves that leadership is often a lonely endeavor, the fruits of which take years to reap; and in the meantime integrity and principle must be their own reward. Republicans should remember this as they fashion an agenda that, while consulting public sentiment, cannot aspire to universal favor and still remain meaningful. Such disagreements, after all, are why we have political parties.

And yet these big issues transcend parties. We must hope that in time, they call forth leaders willing to do the same.

Arizona Tea Party

All over the US, Americans who prefer low taxes, less government intrusion, and maximum personal liberties are having “Tea Parties,” a political juggernaut launched by the rant of CNBC personality Rick Santelli from the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade last Thursday morning.  Arizona will be no exception, and the Arizona chapter of Americans For Prosperity is behind the local effort.  See the AFP website for details on time and location.  The #dontgo movement is strongly involved with tea parties all over the country, and in Arizona, we strongly support AFP’s efforts.  Come out and let your voice be heard!

9000 Reasons To Vote Against Obama’s Spending Bill

WASHINGTON – Yesterday, Congressman John Shadegg (R-AZ) released the following statement about Congressional Democrats’ $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill:

“Everyone across the country is cutting back. They are saving every dime they can, doing with less, and prioritizing their budgets.  Everyone, that is, except Congress.

 

“On the heels of the largest spending bill in our history, House Democrats are now supporting a $410 billion dollar appropriations bill – a nearly 10% increase over 2008.

“How many Americans do you know that are increasing their spending 10 percent in this economy?

“Outside of this chamber, not many.

“In fact, there are 9,000 reasons to vote against this spending bill – 9,000 earmarks slipped and crammed into this pork-stuffed nightmare.  There’s so much lard in here it’s glistening.  A chunk of it for every pet project and political interest you could imagine.

“Last night, President Obama bragged about this claim that there were no earmarks in his stimulus bill – and yet he’s silent today as he prepares to put his signature on 9,000 earmarks.

“But then again, the President also held a fiscal responsibility summit at the White House days after signing into law one of the most fiscally irresponsible bills in history.

“And President Obama has said he’s not a fan of big government – while simultaneously making it the centerpiece of his administration.

“These mixed messages may be confusing, but they do not confuse my conscience: I cannot and will not support such an egregious waste of taxpayer money.”

Reagan Republicanism: A 21st Century Opportunity

Is “Reaganism” dead?  There have been plenty of pundits who suggest that Republicans “move beyond” Reagan and come up with “fresh” ideas to capture voter’s imagination.  They point to the success of The One (Barack Obama) and say that we can’t continue to trot out the same, tired policy initiatives.

They’re wrong.  Reaganism is timeless, because it is based on the principles of our Founding Fathers, who based much of their principles on concepts dating back as much as 2,000 to 3,000+ years (think Moses of the Old Testament, and Plato, Socrates and Aristotle).  The principles of a representative, limited government are exactly what we need to be championing as conservatives today.

You want hope?  This is Ronald Reagan in 1981, as the nation dealt with a massive economic crisis:

It is no coincidence that our present troubles parallel and are proportionate to the intervention and intrusion in our lives that result from unnecessary and excessive growth of government. It is time for us to realize that we are too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams. We are not, as some would have us believe, doomed to an inevitable decline. I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing. So, with all the creative energy at our command, let us begin an era of national renewal. Let us renew our determination, our courage, and our strength. And let us renew our faith and our hope.

 

You want change?  This is Ronald Reagan in 1967:

“Government is the people’s business, and every man, woman and child becomes a shareholder with the first penny of tax paid. With all the profound wording of the Constitution, probably the most meaningful words are the first three: ‘We, the People.’ Those of us here today who have been elected to constitutional office or legislative position are in that three-word phrase. We are of the people, chosen by them to see that no permanent structure of government ever encroaches on freedom or assumes a power beyond that freely granted by the people. We stand between the taxpayer and the tax spender.”

 

Conservatism is about hope and change.  Conservatives have historically been the most optimistic of political animals, believing in individual ingenuity, self reliance, self discipline and free-markets.  Liberals don’t trust people to make their own decisions and believe that Government knows better how to run their lives than they do.  That’s not hope and change, that’s pessimism and servitude.

So what can we do, as conservatives, to move the country forward again, to find a winning message that will appeal to the masses?  We must return to the principles of freedom, free-markets, responsibility and hard work.  We must educate our neighbors about the history of this country, how we became the greatest nation on earth.  We must help people recognize that salvation does not come from more government, it comes from freedom.

Many will say that we have already lost the fight.  That it is too hard to convince enough people to care about the cause of freedom.  Reagan had an answer to that complaint:

“Don’t give up your ideals.  Don’t compromise.  Don’t turn to expediency.  And don’t…having seen the inner workings of the watch, don’t get cynical…. Don’t get cynical, because look at yourselves and what you are willing to do, and recognize that there are millions and millions of Americans out there who want what you want, who want it to be that way, who want it to be a shining city on a hill.”

            Yes, it is hard to defend freedom.  But many of us have never had to put our life in harm’s way to do so like so many millions of brave men and women have done for the last 235 years.  If we don’t work to defend freedom, to educate people, to voice a call to action, who will?

            Now is the time for us to renew ourselves in demonstrating that Republicans stand for real people. That the policies of less government intrusion, free-markets and personal responsibility are what made us the greatest nation on earth, and that we must ignite those passions again with millions of Americans so that we may remain “the shining city on a hill.”

The Spending Ratchet

Former British Prime Minister used to talk about the “ratchet effect” in British politics of the post-war era whereby when the Left would gain power and implement leftist policies and then the Right would gain power but would only slow the growth of, never reverse, that leftward drive.

Right now, as Arizona’s fiscal plight deepens, we are seeing the battlelines being drawn along the lines of a “spending ratchet” where no matter which party holds the governorship spending must be maintained

As Arizona Republic columnist Robert Robb points out, over the past five years the State of Arizona’s budget grew 56% or an average rate of 10% per year.  This spending binge, taking advantage of the large gushers of revenue from the housing bubble, was far beyond the demands of population growth and inflation.

Now tax revenue has plummeted to the point where JLBC is forecasting that we may not return to the revenue levels of Fiscal Year 2007 until some time in 2012.  Measured as a percentage of the budget, Arizona has one of the largest state budget deficits in the nation. The Legislature just finished closing a budget gap of $1.6 billion this year and did so by not only refusing to raise taxes but also by  foregoing the budget gimmicks and other trickery performed by the Napolitano Administration.  Now the real fun begins.

Next year’s state budget is estimated to be in the hole by $3 billion.  Even with money kicked in by a proposed federal stimulus package, state lawmakers are looking at the possibility of cutting more than $1 billion worth of spending. Even with cuts that large, with several years of economic turmoil left to go, Robb estimates that would leave the budget at an 18% growth rate over the past 6 years.  Not great but fiscally prudent and hardly a one-way ticket to the Third World that some have predicted.

However even that modest level of spending is not good enough for some people.  Today Robb’s own paper printed an unsigned editorial in which after listing a small sample of the effect of the latest budget cuts, what I have called showing how cuts “kill children, puppies, and kittens,”  the editorial states:

… And as a last resort – if the only other option is gutting essential functions and jeopardizing Arizona’s future – the list should include the T-word. Re-examining tax breaks. Deferring the rollout of tax cuts. Revamping and broadening the tax system.

“Broadening the tax system” and “reexamining tax breaks” are code for tax hikes.  Over the past few weeks, the Republic and its columnists have dedicated a lot of column inches to covering university student demonstrations at the Capitol and stories of people who would be affected by the cuts. Hardly a word is said about what life was like for these taxpayer-funded constituencies before the previous governor’s unsustainable spending spree.  No instead the story is instead that every public dollar is too precious to be cut; if the spending cannot be maintained at current revenue then taxes must be raised.

The spending ratchet only works one way, for greater spending, the amount of current tax revenues be darned

Over the next few months as Arizona lawmakers and Governor Brewer hammer together a budget, we should see a debate go on between those who wish to reduce spending to a more sustainable level and those who would rather tax to keep spending like it was the gusher days of yesteryear.  The difference between the two camps is that one will claim the calm mantle of fiscal sobriety while the other, will demonize its opponents

Expect to see more “killing children and puppies” stories by both the media and the constituencies it favors…  anything to keep the spending ratchet going its way.

The New GOP: Global Conservatism Needs a BiBi Gun

By Gayle Plato-Besley

 

In our Global World Politic, and President Obama’s Brave New World, all eyes look to POTUS for The Word.  Just as candidate John McCain’s political ad told us, Obama is the biggest celebrity in the world. If only Mr. McCain had been as savvy and as hip as his great ads; we would have had a different President to be angry with about his compromising liberalism.  But then, while McCain’s staffers were somewhat hip with an ear on a track of the times, candidate Obama’s team saw their guy in a totally different light.  Barack Obama is the deus ex machina in the story.  Obama is the surprising and unexpected event that drops in from nowhere to resolve the unresolvable.  He’s the Greek God from above to save the twisted characters from death or worse—damnation.

 

Yet, any good writer will tell you that gods dropping in from on high just won’t cut it.  It’s Bobby Ewing coming back to life in TV cliffhanger Dallas, or the dreamstate that let’s us wake up and not be in the Hell we were a few minutes ago. It’s a parallel universe where Spock has a beard. 

 
But our POTUS is not a run of the mill liberal ‘God from the Machine’.  Obama’s people and the ultra-radical shift to socialism come with the early frost.  The globe may be quite hot for Barack, as he sings “Kumbaya” on Arab television. Yet, what will happen when the cameras go off, the campaign promises blow up, and the President is not invited over for tea and crumpets?  Will he and his Secretary, Ms. Hillary, become Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand, singing “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers?” 

 

Barack Obama Is KUMBAYA

  “Kumbaya” has controversial roots, with stories of some African spiritual as its origin.  But truth be known, the song comes more from the 1920’s and 30’s American folk church-based spirituals– much like the radical socialism of America came from the union movements of the early 20^th century.  Joan Baez resurrected and recorded it in 1962.  It became an anthem of the Civil Rights Movement.  Yet the song is more about being poor and wanting God to come to the lowly; it has been mishandled as a symbolic olive branch from some phony African root.  Either way though, Barack Obama’s handlers can use the theme deftly.  Right now, he is the God from the Machine.

 

 Brave New World?

I’ve noticed the fervor amongst Republicans for the RNC chairmanship- our choice of Michael Steele.  The story of his election was a top headline: conservatives are looking for our God to fall in from Heaven.  I think this is dangerous as we are modeling our attractions after the Obama machine. As Obama comes across as not only naïve regarding international relations, he seems a tool of the past.  His team is Clintonized, including his chief of staff chatting up the likes of Paul Begala and George Stephanopoulos every day.  It literally sends a tingly feeling down one’s leg, no?   

 

We also see with this first round on Capitol Hill, how his precious jewels of the crown are securely in the palms of Nancy Pelosi.  He isn’t even running his own show. Obama’s historical perspectives of American policy regarding Arab interests are just false.  He sounds like a pseudo-intellectual who talks in cocktail party-lite, informational sound bites.  He has a 30-second twitter, a text message-like working definition of a lot of issues.  Beyond that, he’ll have to get back to ya.

 

 Michael Steele is a great choice for the party coach, but he is not a savior quarterback with a Hail Mary pass.  Get off the celebrity bandwagon, and let’s see the GOP be a team again with a strong offense and killer defense.Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu.  Now, I know, I’ve gushed before; I am on the record for him.  But he is a winner and soon a reality, and a force to be reckoned with. Why am I on this kick again? What does an Israeli have to do with the American Conservative Movement anyway?

But at this moment in time, with Globally Organized Politics, not the Grand Ol Party, the true push, who is the conservative quarterback?  It’s Likud Party leader and soon-to-be Prime Minister of Israel,

 
Benjamin Netanyahu (nicknamed BiBi by many Israelis) is the ONLY true conservative with the global relevance, clear conviction, excellent communication skills, military experience, extreme smarts with an Ivy league education, and compelling character to bring the world wide conservative agenda to the front page again.  He is the quarterback, waiting to play.  On February 10, 2009, Israel will elect a new leader and he’s the one.

 

The Bibi Gun

As our President is sending open love notes to Iran, Netanyahu concisely defines his plan:  Israel will not allow a nuclear Iran.  No questions and with total conviction, BiBi knows from where he sits.  He was the Prime Minister before; he knows of military trenches and lost a brother in war. Yet he went to MIT and Harvard.  He lived in the United States and likes Deniro films. He’s on Facebook and YouTube; he’s handsome and intense.   He’s certain and defined with no wavering over his first job- to protect his people.  

He’s conservative politically for a reason- he staunchly believes in freedom and sees the future of his people possibly disappearing.  Netanyahu speculated about dire terrorism in New York, namely a suitcase nuclear bomb from Islamic extremists being set off in the World Trade Center: in his book from 1995: (click photo for picture of book)

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But also know that there is organized Islamic hatred and Internet-based fever surrounding this man.  Many project that he and some Jewish power hold concocted 9/11.  There is a true desire to see him gone.  American republicans better do more than watch him.  We need him to be understood, heard, and heard again.  Our GOP teams need to read his books, watch him on TV, and learn from his tutelage.  He’s right and he’s outspoken.  BiBi doesn’t need to look for his jewels as he wants no crown.  He wants the honor of his free-willed people.  He knows his people are at risk and remembers how history played out for the Jews; back when “Kumbaya” was just a plea for God to come in.

 

The GOP needs a global conservative.  Michael Steele and the republican Americans will benefit from sidestepping Barack Obama.  Treat him as if he was not even in the room as he is treating all history of diplomacy and freedom in this country.  Do not go to Hillary Clinton or George Mitchell for political dealings.  Go beyond these bit players to the man with the true calling. 

 

If Benjamin Netanyahu wins again, Conservatism will have an international face and the muscle to move the mount of liberal radicalism, and terrorist extremism back to the Dark Ages where it all belongs.  

 

Video of Netanyahu with Glenn Beck:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FybNMFCCBx4