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Wednesday 25 June 2008 Democrats Insist Upon Need to Confiscate More Money from Californians At least Assembly Speaker Karen Bass is honest about the Democrats' desire to confiscate more of Californians' money by raising fees, taxes, and whatever else they can think of and get away with. Drew Carey Defends Free Trade on Reason.TV Cleveland, Ohio-born comedian and ex-Marine Drew Carey continues leading the charge at Reason TV. This episode nicely combats economic demagoguery and calmly puts criticism of NAFTA in perspective. Monday 23 June 2008 Slimmer Governments Do Better An opinion piece in the WSJ concludes: "Today's policy makers should take note of how tax cuts and the pruning of inefficient government programs can stimulate sluggish economies." Keeping Up With Tom Campbell Tom Campbell is a hard man to keep up with. But we at the SPARC Blog do our best. We wish Tom the best always, and now with his visiting professorship in Orange county. Hugh Hewitt teaches here as well. Blizzard of New Fees To Balance State Budget Of course! That's the ticket. Whatever happened to adult discipline, in this case old-fashioned fiscal restraint? California State Senate Republican Caucus Website on the State Budget This website gives a very good perspective. Teach for America Heartening.
Persistent, Ubiquitous Political Grassroots Work Essential for Victory Or to have "political efficacy" as my high school civics teacher put it. Nothing new under the sun. And the Democratic Party is not being complacent about their grassroots efforts. Which is why we all need to be out there as often as we can. Obama's Inexperience Continues To Result in Poor Judgement Another great column by Tom Tom Del Beccaro at Political Vanguard. Similarly, The Wall Street Journal comments on "the three stages of Obama: Defend, disassociate and regret". California Runs Out of Money "There's not enough money there to fund next year," California Senate leader Don Perata is quoted in The Sacramento Bee. So there is no alternative but to raise taxes. It is a pity that he is being termed out of office this year. What was that line from The Razor's Edge? "He will not be missed." Only here without any irony whatsoever. It makes such perfect sense for him to run for a position on the Board of Equalization. Wednesday 11 June 2008 Republican Women Nominated for State Legislature and Congress in 2008 Congratulations and Godspeed to SPARC members Conchita Applegate, Joyce Stoer Cordi, and Annalisa Yenne. Please give them your support.Club for Growth Critiques 35-Year Representative Don Young Pat Toomey is unequivocal: "If Republicans want to start winning again they need to return to the principles of fiscal responsibility and limited government that won them control of Congress in 1994. This is no easy task. But the GOP can start by showing Mr. Young the door." The Surge: A Military History Kudos for the Iraqi leader from the author of this forthcoming book, Kimberley Kagan, and her husband Frederick Kagan, son of Yale Professor of History Donald Kagan. Tuesday 10 June 2008 Grassroots Fun at Los Altos Farmers Market The Grassroots Energy Team reports that they got lots of positive comments and attention last Thursday at their table at the Los Altos Farmers Market. They plan on being out there every Thursday through the summer, from 3:30 until around 6:30, registering Republicans and handing out McCain material, as well as information on other races, so if you are interested in joining the fun, please contact us. The Case for How McCain Will Win in November Fascinating strategy briefing on the McCain campaign site. Takes about 10 minutes to view. Equally fascinating is the latest at Political Vanguard. Resolving the California Budget Crisis The Mercury News reports that Californians prefer spending cuts to new taxes. This message will be reinforced at Wednesday's California Taxpayer Action Day. And an interesting story in The Sacramento Bee on Schwarzenegger's economic point man. More on this from Schwarzenegger's Blog from last month. Pelosi Refuses to Allow a Vote on the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement This is no way to treat a country and an ally that needs all the support it can get. "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refuses to allow a vote on the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement because she says that President Álvaro Uribe has not done enough to quell political violence in this country, particularly against unionists. In large numbers, Colombians challenge that assertion." Another great update from Colombia from Mary Anastasia O'Grady. This column was surely written before this astonishing announcement. We'll just have to see how it plays out. More on Chavez's Astonishing U-Turn The Economist makes an effort to explain what's going on. The DYNAMIC Nature of Economic Reality We should check back on this bold prediction. A good bet though. Sunday 8 June 2008 McCain's Speech in New Orleans, June 3, 2008 on the Need for the Right Change On his Political Vanguard website CRP Vice Chair Tom Del Beccaro tells us why he considers it the best speech McCain’s ever given. Why and How We Have Fought for 2400 Years Finally finished listening to the podcast from a great Memorial Day Hugh Hewitt show, a 3-part interview with Victor Davis Hanson, originally recorded in 2004 but a great cultural/military review of 2400 years of history up to the present. Definitely recommended for the reliably clear-eyed views of VDH and the usual great questions from Hugh Hewitt. Lessons from Lincoln for the Party of Lincoln According to Karl Rove there is no substitute for organization. Certainly SPARC is trying to do its part. Principle Beats Pork in California Great column by John Fund in the WSJ on Tom McClintock's victory in the Republican primary race in the 4th Congressional District. Taxpayer Alert: Threat of Sales Tax on Services Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, especially towards those who love to raise taxes by any means that they can get away with. Michelle Steel documents the danger of a new sales tax on her website at the Board of Equalization. What's worse, this new sales tax appears to be precisely what Judy Chu, Chair of the BOE, wants to do. Restraining spending is not an option in her view. Field Poll Shows Proposition 13 Still Popular All sorts of problems and challenges are blamed on it (unjustly), yet the poll indicates the proposition might still pass today. San Mateo County Republican Party Website off the Internet? Anyone have any information on this? Is it being corrected? San Mateo County Election Results Interesting election results from San Mateo county. Slightly over half of all registered voters are registered Democratic. The number of voters registered as Republican is 45% of the number for Democratic, thus less than 23% of all registered voters. Republican turnout as a percentage was slightly lower than Democratic turnout. Hanging Out with Republicans in Hollywood If you'll be in Hollywood around July 13, feel free to hang out with the local Republicans, a very fun group, at their legendary yearly BBQ. It Never Pays to Not Walk Your Talk Credibility is always valuable, and on free trade we have room for improvement by doing ourselves what we ask of others. |