Conservatives confident federal gun measures will be scaled back
[FoxNews.com]
Associated Press
Published March 16, 2013
March 15, 2013: National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre gestures as he speaks at the 40th annual Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md. (AP)
OXON HILL, Md. – Conservatives are all but declaring victory on their defense of gun rights, exuding confidence as calls for aggressive controls in the wake of the Newtown elementary school massacre have given way to scaled-back expectations to firearm restrictions in Congress.
“They can call me crazy and whatever else they want, but NRA’s nearly 5 million members and America’s 100 million gun owners will not back down — not now, not ever,” an emboldened Wayne LaPierre, the CEO and executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, told conservatives gathered at an annual conference. He pointedly ignored President Barack Obama’s most restrictive proposals in his speech, using it instead to assail the one that has the potential of getting approved — a near-universal background check for gun owners.
American Crossroads: We need more Marco Rubios
[HumanEvents.com]
By: Steven Law
2/22/2013 12:04 PM
If there’s one thing all conservatives seem to agree on, it’s that we need more Marco Rubios, Rand Pauls and other high-caliber leaders who can fight for our principles in Washington and win others over to the cause.
However, you don’t get to change Washington unless you win elections, and you don’t win elections unless you have top-notch candidates like these. That’s why we helped launch the Conservative Victory Project: to identify and support the strongest, most competitive conservative leaders who can win elections and effectively advance our values in Congress.
In just the last three years, American Crossroads has become one of the largest advocates for movement conservative and Tea Party-backed leaders at the federal level. We stood proudly with Senators Marco Rubio, Rand Paul and Pat Toomey. We also got behind riskier bets like Sharron Angle and Richard Mourdock that many in the “establishment” wouldn’t touch. Regrettably, some of them blew opportunities we should have won.
Conservatives point out that many of our failed candidates were “establishment” retreads instead of Tea Party insurgents. They’re right. That just means we’ve got to get better at putting forward great candidates across the board.
No one benefits more from subpar Republican candidates than the Democratic party. So here’s something else all conservatives should agree on: we don’t want Harry Reid and left-wing Super PACs picking our nominees for us. Yet it’s happening with increasing frequency. In Missouri, Reid’s Super PAC tag-teamed with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Sen. McCaskill’s campaign to deliver the GOP nomination to Todd Akin, a champion of congressional earmarks who self-immolated within weeks.
How did they get away with it? Conservative groups splintered among several second-tier contenders, weakening the front-runner and paving the way for the Democrat-backed Akin. This should never be allowed to happen again.
Some conservatives also decry a “consultant-driven” political culture that exists just to enrich consultants. Right again. For years, consultants formed outside groups, taking a fundraising commission and a fat slice of the media buy. In contrast, American Crossroads doesn’t pay any fundraising commissions, and no board member, adviser or staffer gets a percentage of funds raised or media placement fees. Strict conflicts-of-interest policies prevent self-enriching side deals. Because we bid work and avoid sole-source contracts, we pay rock-bottom fees and push 96 cents of every dollar out the door for advocacy. We hope other groups have the same model and are as transparent about their policies on conflicts and consultant fees.
In the end, here’s how conservatives can nominate more Rubios and Cruzes and fewer election-losing clunkers: more rigorous candidate vetting (including assessment of fundraising ability and message discipline); more cooperation among conservative groups to try to build consensus instead of brutalizing primaries; and more resourceful recruiting when the presented options don’t look appealing. Will it work every time? Of course not. But if there’s one lesson we should take from 2012, it’s that we can all do better. Let’s get after it.
Steven Law is president and CEO of American Crossroads.
GOP Infighting, Tea Party ‘Purges’ Break Out over Fiscal Cliff
[Newsmax.com]
Tuesday, 04 Dec 2012 12:10 PM
- Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolinian with a following among small-government conservatives, lashed out at House Speaker John Boehner, saying his $2.2 trillion deficit plan would cost jobs and mushroom the debt.
- Two first-term Republican Tea Party stalwarts – Tim Huelskamp of Kansas and Justin Amash of Michigan – were removed by party leadership from the powerful budget committee in what Huelskamp called “a vindictive move.”
- A top House conservative, Jim Jordan of Ohio, was scheduled to unveil his own fiscal cliff plan on Tuesday but has backed off in the wake of Boehner’s offer to President Obama.
WashPost’s King Claims to See ‘Visceral Hatred’ from GOP, Obama Has to ‘Just Die’ to Please Krauthammmer
[Newbusters.org]
By Brad Wilmouth | September 07, 2012 | 23:09
Appearing as regular panel member on Friday’s Inside Washington on PBS, as he recounted former President Bill Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention, liberal Washington Post columnist Colby King claimed that “the amount of hate that the Republicans have for Barack Obama is just astounding,” calling it “raw, visceral hate.”
A bit later, after right-leaning panel member Charles Krauthammer offered criticism of Michelle Obama’s speech, King lambasted him for not giving the First Lady a pass from substantive analysis and ended up gratuitously suggesting that dying was the only thing President Obama and wife Michelle could do to make the conservative Krauthammer happy. King:
When it comes to the Obamas, for goodness sakes, they do nothing right. I’m prepared to just go ahead and accept that from you, Charles. They do nothing right. Maybe the thing that they could do that would make you happy, maybe they should just die.
Without teleprompter, Condoleezza Rice brings GOP faithful to their feet
[DailyCaller.com]
Follow Caroline May
Get Caroline May Feed 
TAMPA, Fla. — Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice rallied the GOP faithful at the Republican National Convention with a barn-burner speech Wednesday night.
The only speaker of the convention thus far to take the podium without the assistance of a teleprompter, Rice spoke of the challenges facing the country, both foreign and domestic, and the need for a leader.
Commencing with an anecdote about the events of Sept. 11, 2001, Rice transitioned to the economic crisis and turmoil abroad. She pointed out that around the world people ask “Where does America stand?” only to find that the answer is ambiguous. To Rice, the country is in need of leadership.
“I know too that there is a weariness I know there is a sense that we have carried these burdens long enough,” she said, noting that the country has no other choice by to be a leader, because “either nobody will lead and there will be chaos or someone else will who does not share our values. We do not have a choice. We cannot be reluctant to lead — and you cannot lead from behind.” Rice asserted that Romney and Ryan are the ones who can lead.
Ryan on tap to deliver ‘hard truths’ in VP nomination speech
[FoxNews.com]
Published August 29, 2012
If Chris Christie lit a fire under Republicans last night, it’s now up to Paul Ryan to provide the fuel to keep it burning for what promises to be a hard-fought two-month battle to win the White House.
The Republican vice presidential candidate is teed up Wednesday to deliver the “hard truths” Christie talked about in his rousing keynote address on opening night. While Christie is known as the GOP fighter, Ryan is the point-man for budget-balancing solutions the party claims to represent.
The Wisconsin congressman has been quietly preparing his speech for days. Members of Ryan’s staff contacted by Fox News earlier this week said they couldn’t say precisely how long it would be, but that he has “teased” some of the ideas in it before.
Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, is best known for his controversial plans to overhaul Medicare and the tax system. They are likely the kinds of “hard truths” Christie raised Tuesday night, as the New Jersey governor claimed Mitt Romney and Ryan would lead a “new era of truth-telling” in Washington.
RNC Chair Fires Back at Chris Matthews After Tense Exchange: Took Prize for ‘Biggest Jerk in the Room’
[TheBlaze.com]
Posted on August 27, 2012 at 4:13pm by 
Mike Opelka
Following this morning’s blow up by Chris Matthews during a segment with RNC Chair Reince Priebus on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Priebus spoke with a small group of reporters inside the Google Lounge at the convention center and offered his reaction, throwing out the term “biggest jerk.”
TheBlaze was on hand and asked the question, “Mr. Chairman, on Chris Matthews… when you went to commercial after the conflict with Chris Matthews, was there anything said between the two of you? Did you shake hands? Was there a hug?
Mr. Priebus answered the question fully for TheBlaze, and delivered one of the classic lines from the convention today:
“When someone wants to take the prize of being the biggest jerk in the room, he made the case for us.”
RNC Protester Arrested Carrying Machete
[Breitbart.com]
by Breitbart News – August 26, 2012
Police arrested a Tallahassee man protesting at the Republican National Convention for carrying a machete into the Event Zone.
According to authorities, Jason T. Wilson had a “full size” machete (pictured left) strapped to his leg at a Sunday protest.
When deputies approached Wilson, they said he continued to walk away despite orders to stop.
“When deputies caught up to Wilson, he advised he did not have to stop and that he was allowed to carry whatever he wanted,” HCSO spokesperson Larry McKinnon said.
When deputies attempted to physically stop him, Wilson allegedly began resisting arrest and was physically restrained.
The police have not connected Wilson to any particular organization or entity protesting at the RNC.
Although formally organized left-wing protesters promise “non-violent” tactics, they plan to disrupt businesses and not cooperate with police investigating other protesters who may damage property or harass private citizens. An anonymous individual threatened to “legitimately rape” conservative activists Brandon Darby and Lee Stranahan at the convention.
How to Defeat and Replace Obamacare Now
American Spectator
[Spectator.org]
The Right Prescription (Stop the Obama Tax Tidal Wave)
By Peter Ferrara on 7.5.12 @ 6:10AM
There is life after Roberts’ double cross and Obama’s latest flurry of lies.
Whether Left, Right, Independent, or Confused, no one who is not bought and paid for as part of the Obama political machine is going to like the Obama Double Cross of the American people on Obamacare. Before Obamacare was passed, Obama told the American people over and over, even on national TV, that the individual mandate was not a tax. After Obamacare was passed, Obama sent his lawyers into courts all over the country to argue that the individual mandate is constitutional precisely because it is a tax.
This is the top argument to feature now in discrediting Obama and Obamacare. No one likes a dishonest liar. Even worse when that dishonest liar is supposed to be our nation’s leader. When he sent his own lawyers into courts all over America to argue that the individual mandate is constitutional because it is a tax, he demonstrated that when he told the nation it was not a tax, he knew all along that was not true, and that he was planning all along to double cross the people he was supposed to be leading. That alone disqualifies him from serving as President. The majority of Americans who are still capable of thinking will recognize that we can’t have as our nation’s leader a dishonest double crosser.
Romney and his Republicans must now play in ads all over America the clips of Obama and his Democrats denying in dismissive terms that the individual mandate could in any way be considered a tax. Then they need to dramatize that after the Obamacrats had tricked the American people, they sent their lawyers into court to argue just the opposite, thinking that the American people are too stupid to realize they had been tricked.
Arizona debate preview: The stakes for the four candidates
When Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer parlayed the leverage that she had by threatening to move Arizona’s primary up and cause chaos in the primary calendar to get Arizona a nationally televised GOP debate, she ensured that all eyes would be on her state.
With Mitt Romney struggling in Michigan, Santorum challenging Romney’s front-runner status, Gingrich needing to climb back into the race and Paul being Paul, tonight’s debate will be critical in influencing not only the next three weeks in the GOP primary but perhaps being a determinative debate.
Here are the stakes for the four candidates going into the debate:
MSM Looks For Any Reason To Declare Tea Party Dead [Not gonna happen!]
[BigJournalism.com]
Huh? what does that mean?
She concludes, as many in the Activist Old Media have, that a Romney victory in Nevada is a defeat for the tea party.
My conclusion; the media is looking for any reason, any reason, to declare the tea party dead. Plus, a few recent polls show that Romney actually is getting tea party support.
The Super Bowl is a big game so that means the tea party is dead. There is snow in Denver, so the tea party is dead. As long as you say the tea party is dead, you have a spot on a panel with the Activist Old Media.
It just amazes the media that Mitt Romney can run away with a state like Nevada, with a prominent tea party contingent (albeit for the first time in the primaries; it’s too early to say it’s a trend), so they conclude the tea party must be dead.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Christie Endorses Romney Ahead of GOP Debate
[FoxNews.com]
Published October 11, 2011
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, just one week after definitively announcing he will not run for president in 2012, endorsed Mitt Romney for the job Tuesday afternoon.Christie, at a news conference in Hanover, N.H., described the endorsement as an “easy decision.” He cited Romney’s experience in the private and public sectors, saying he “brings the best of both” to the job.
“America cannot survive another four years of Barack Obama, and Mitt Romney’s the man we need to lead America and we need him now,” Christie said.
The announcement came just hours before the Republican candidates were set to gather for a debate nearby at Dartmouth College. In securing the support of Christie, Romney will have at his side a tough-talking governor who during his two years in office has built a reputation as a fiscal hawk not shy about taking on the public employee unions.
Blaze Exclusive Video: Rick Perry and Donald Trump Spotted Together in NYC — But Why?
[TheBlaze.com]
- Posted on September 14, 2011 at 7:52pm by
Jonathon M. Seidl
Is Donald Trump getting ready to endorse Rick Perry for president? Could a Perry/Trump pizza summit be just around the corner? Is Rick Perry courting Trump as a VP candidate?
Those are just some of the questions we’re asking after we spotted Perry and Trump walking out of Trump Towers early Wednesday evening in New York City. It’s unclear why the two were together and neither one (not surprisingly) responded to on-site questions about their meeting. But what is clear is that they were there — and so were we:
The Republican 2012 Field, In Order
FoxNews.com
Published September 05, 2011
The Republican 2012 Field, In OrderIt is 22 weeks until the Iowa caucuses – maybe as little as 17 weeks if claim jumpers in Florida and Arizona move up their primaries.
That’s a relative eternity in political time. Remember, at this point in the 2008 cycle, all of the smart money was on Hillary Clinton being the next president. One-term Senator Barack Obama was running what was mostly dismissed as a vanity campaign aimed at increasing his national name identification.
But, four or five months is how long it takes to set up a national campaign for president. The fear about John McCain’s August 2007 campaign collapse wasn’t that the voters had already made up their minds, but that he wouldn’t have enough time to build a campaign that could endure through a months-long nomination fight. He nearly didn’t.
Glenn Beck: Rick Perry’s “God moment” leads me to believe he’s the real deal
HotAir.com
Rick Perry roared into the presidential race to great acclaim, but he hasn’t exactly been without detractors. His entrance has inspired a rhetorical war about what it means to “vet” candidates and about whether conservatives should vet their own or leave it to the MSM to do that dirty work, as they undoubtedly will.
Multimedia powerhouse Glenn Beck weighed in on that debate this week, saying sources he trusts implicitly have convinced him Rick Perry had a come-to-Jesus moment at some point in his governorship and the problematic Perry of past years has given way to Rick “the Real Deal” Perry, a conservative’s conservative. The Right Scoop reports:
Rep. Maxine Waters: Tea Party Can Go ‘Straight to Hell’
Newsmax.com
Monday, 22 Aug 2011 12:05 PM
By T.M. Golub
Rep. Maxine Waters told an angry crowd of supporters over the weekend that the “Tea Party can go straight to hell,” a sure sign that Democrats are ratcheting up the rhetoric despite their frequent calls for civility in discourse.
The California Democrat last week told a Detroit crowd that she was frustrated with the Obama administration’s approach to the economy, urging voters to “unleash” her on the White House.
But at the forum in Inglewood, Calif., on Saturday, Waters directed her ire at the Tea Party.”I’m not afraid of anybody. This is a tough game. You can’t be intimidated. You can’t be frightened. And as far as I’m concerned, the Tea Party can go straight to hell,” she said.Video of her remarks was captured by the ABC affiliate in Los Angeles.Waters and other lawmakers at the event were faced with a series of questions from residents about what the government can do to fuel job creation.
© Newsmax. All rights reserved.
Read more on Newsmax.com: Maxine Waters: Tea Party Can Go ‘Straight to Hell’
Important: Do You Support Pres. Obama’s Re-Election? Vote Here Now!
Rasmussen: Perry Bounces to Double-Digit Lead
Newsmax.com
Tuesday, 16 Aug 2011 01:58 PM
By Andra Varin
Just days after Rick Perry formally entered the Republican presidential race, he holds a double-digit lead over Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released Tuesday.
The nationwide poll of 1,000 likely Republican voters, conducted on Monday, finds the Texas governor with 29 percent support. That’s well over the 18 percent who back Romney, previously the GOP front-runner to challenge President Barack Obama’s biggest challenger.
(more…)
Forget That. The Left Will Not Abandon Obama
BigGovernment.com
Posted Aug 5th 2011 at 9:27 am
We need to backup and take a moment to collect ourselves. While it is true we have a wounded president who appears all but finished as a one termer, it will not be from lack of support from the Left. I can certainly see the logic in assuming otherwise, however. After all, his presidency has been one big stinker. But if there is one thing that is utterly amazing to witness it is the limitless power of a child’s mind.
In the case when grown-ups possess a child’s mind they become trapped within it. Because grown-ups have things a child does not: Experience and years of living. In other words, liberals willfully reject reality for fantasy. They are irrational, emotional, prone to tantrums and cry out, “but that’s not fair!” when things do not go their way. For a child, that is his only defense against a world he does not understand and is ill-equipped to cope with. For an adult, it is a sickness.
Limbaugh Defends West in Feud With Wasserman Schultz
Newsmax.com
Friday, 22 Jul 2011 03:40 PM
By Tom O’Connell
“Debbie Blabbermouth Schultz is deranged, folks,” Limbaugh said. “She is typical of today’s American left. They are deranged. We face a delusional enemy.”
Limbaugh said Wasserman Schultz defied House floor decorum during a legislative debate when she called out West for his proposed Medicare cuts. West responded with a fiery email to the lawmaker that called her “vile, unprofessional and despicable,” told her to “shut the heck up,” and said she was “not a lady.” The email has been widely circulated, and both sides are using the volleys to raise money.
“So what did [Wasserman Schultz] do? She ran like a little crybaby to all these other left wing women of the Democrat party to help her out, and they start returning fire that West is the racist and West is the sexist and so forth,” Limbaugh said.
Conservatives Congregate at CPAC
FoxNews.com
Published February 10, 2011
The Conservative Political Action Conference, the annual confab of 10,000 conservatives held at one of Washington, D.C.’s top mega-hotels, kicked off Thursday for a three-day festival that is already full of surprises.
On the eve of CPAC, the American Conservative Union, the conference organizer, surprised many by announcing longtime chief David Keene had stepped down and would be replaced with Al Cardenas, former Florida Republican Party chairman.
The move is unlikely to stem the internecine conflict behind the scenes resulting from a boycott by social conservative groups protesting the inclusion of a gay Republican organization. Cardenas has said he’s going to continue with the “big tent” approach that led to the boycott from groups like the Family Research Council.
A Christian Business in the Left’s Crosshairs
Townhall.com
Here’s a modest proposal for liberals who say they support job creation: Stop smearing successful, law-abiding private companies whose values don’t comport with yours. I’m looking at you, New York Times.Chick-fil-A is an American success story. Founded by Georgian entrepreneur Truett Cathy in 1946, the family-owned chicken-sandwich chain is one of the country’s largest fast-food businesses. It employs some 50,000 workers across the country at 1,500 outlets in nearly 40 states and the District of Columbia. The company generates more than $2 billion in revenue and serves millions of happy customers with trademark Southern hospitality.
So, what’s the problem? Well, Chick-fil-A is run by devout Christians who believe in strong marriages, devoted families and the highest standards of character for their workers. The restaurant chain’s official corporate mission is to “glorify God” and “enrich the lives of everyone we touch.” The company’s community service initiatives, funded through its WinShape Foundation, support foster care, scholarship, summer camp and marriage enrichment programs. On Sunday, all Chick-fil-A stores close so workers can spend the day at worship and rest.
It Is Time to Fold up Congress’ Spending Circus
BigGovernment.com
Posted Jan 10th 2011 at 6:31 am
We all know it is difficult to teach an old dog new tricks, but apparently it is even more difficult to teach an old politician new ideas. They are still rearranging furniture in their office in preparation for this session, and the new batch of beltway babblers are acting more like Bozo the Clown than fiscal hawks. But government should not be conducted like a circus.
Raising the so-called debt ceiling will let the government continue to spend like clowns while they distract the people with their dazzling spending ability. The reality is that the spectacle has become somewhat nauseating for some and conservatives are saying that the show is over.
New Speaker of the House, John Boehner has indicated he is ready to lead the charge to immediately cut spending in an effort to avoid hitting the latest arbitrary debt ceiling. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner says that Congress has to vote to raise the debt ceiling or incur financial disaster when creditors to the US will no longer be willing to loan us money.
Analysts: 9.6% Jobless Puts GOP on Verge of Senate Takeover
Newsmax.com
By: David A. Patten
A perfect storm of economic reversals, including Friday’s news that August unemployment rose to 9.6 percent, has pushed Democrats to the brink of losing both the Senate and the House in the midterm elections, leading political analysts say.
For the first time, the nation’s top political analysts are agreeing that a complete GOP takeover of Congress is now plausible.
The University of Virginia’s Larry J. Sabato rocked the inside-the-Beltway crowd this week with his projection that Republicans now have a solid shot at capturing 50 seats in the Senate.
“The direction at this point is very clear,” Sabato tells Newsmax. “It is a Republican year. The primary reason is the weak economy, overwhelmingly so, in fact. And the economy isn’t going to turn around fast enough to erase GOP gains on Nov. 2.”
Sabato writes in his widely followed Crystal Ball report that Democrats’ self-proclaimed “Recovery Summer” has “become a term of derision.” He adds that most voters feel President Obama “has over-promised and under-delivered.”
Sabato, who once believed Republicans would score a net gain of at most seven seats in November, now says eight and possibly nine seats are realistic numbers.
Is there a conservative case for National Popular Vote?
HotAir.com
posted at 4:30 pm on August 15, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
printer-friendly
A few days ago, I got an invitation from my friend Laura Brod to discuss the National Popular Vote initiative. Laura served several terms in the Minnesota legislature, rising to assistant GOP leader in her last two sessions (majority, then minority), and she has organized and served conservatives for her entire public career. Given that, I was a little surprised to hear that Laura backed the NPV. The proposal gets a lot of mischaracterizations; it doesn’t bypass the Electoral College, for instance, and since it relies on states voluntarily deciding to change how they allocate their Electoral College votes, it doesn’t violate the Constitution, either. My skepticism rests mainly on my perception that an NPV arrangement would mainly serve the interests of high-population, mainly coastal states — and solve a problem that has only arisen twice in the preceding 134 years.
CWNews Posted Comments