Archive for the ‘congress’ Category

I haven’t touched the Eleanor Holmes Norton scandal…

Posted: September 18, 2010 by datechguy in congress, politics
Tags: , , , , ,

…for a couple of reasons.

1. I personally think the rules as written are a bit weird, If I make a call from this room but not that room it is legal or illegal. I understand the principle but I think it’s a question of having a lawyer smart enough to define the hoops. It’s not the location but the selling of favors that matter.

2. The idea of a congressman hitting up lobbyists for money is about as shocking as the concept that John Kerry & John Edwards combined spend more on their hair a year then I do on clothes (including Fedoras).

3. I actually disagree with this statement at Big Government

The call could be examined to see if it breaks House ethics rules, and could not come at a worse time for Democrats trying to maintain their majority in the House and Senate in November midterm elections. Ethics violations by Republicans helped get Democrats elected in the last two election cycles when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed to “drain the swamp.”

I actually think this is the absolute best time for the Democrats to let every crooked deal and unethical thing dump out. This election cycle is lost, and not just lost, SPECTACULARLY lost. The MSM is pinning their Nov 2nd storyline on hopes of Senate victories in Delaware and Alaska two states who’s combined have the same amount of seats in the house as Rhode Island. and have less combined representation in congress that Connecticut.

If you are going to lose anyway make it big, that way any pickup in 2012 can be spun as a “return to moderation”.

But I guess if it’s your seat in danger it’s hard to see the big picture.

I personally think a less restrictive but more open set of rules would be best. As long as the people who vote you in know what you are doing and who you are getting the dough from I don’t have an issue.

Keith Lepor Renee Ellmers and the age of the citizen congressman

Posted: September 14, 2010 by datechguy in congress, elections, examiner columns, politics, tea parties
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

My latest for Examiner.com deals with the idea of non career politicians running for office this year, a snippet:

He (Keith Lepor) mentioned how one of the hosts at WTKK 96.9 Michelle McPhee scolded him saying that he had not “done his time” in the legislature or the school committee or local politics, he didn’t climb the ladder that takes you to the halls of congress.

It looks like Michelle is going to be very disappointed this year. Over and over I have met people whose background has nothing to do with politics.

Expect to see more of this beyond ma-9 and Nc-2 as the professional political class gets challenged.

You can find out more about Keith Lepor and Renee Ellmers at their respective sites. Both are very worthy of your support.

Update: Much to my surprise Keith lost his primary oh well.

Twice in one day Allahpundit blows it.

Posted: September 14, 2010 by datechguy in congress, elections, politics, tea parties
Tags: , , , , , ,

For the second time in one day I take exception to something Allahpundit says:

Let’s look at that exit question again:

Exit question for O’Donnell supporters: Assuming she wins tonight and falls, say, 10 points behind Coons, how long should the NRSC funnel money into Delaware for her knowing that dollars lost there can be spent on other races nationwide? To the bitter end, right?

Tell me what was the maximum number of points Scott Brown was down here in Massachusetts? At what point should we have just given up? Where would we be today if we did? Doesn’t anyone remember the political climate just 18 months ago?

When will some conservatives understand that winning involves hard work and persuasion, not just putting a finger to the wind and hoping to catch the breeze.

Sticking a finger in the eye of the tea party guarantees a fight for the soul of the party in 2012 and if the tea party loses that fight there will be a 3rd party and the republicans will not only be done but deserve to be done. This is what I’ve gotten from every tea party supporter I’ve talked to and I talked to hundreds from dozens of states.

Understand this, conservatives don’t support republicans because they love the letter R, they support republicans because they want conservative values to be advanced. if the republicans are unwilling to do this, or if conservatives are unwilling to fight for them, why are you even bothering?

Guys a chance like this comes maybe once every other generation, lets not blow it.

Update: Gateway pundit quotes Rush (without whom republican majorities are a pipe dream)

Rush Limbaugh was right… “They would prefer to have somebody like Mike Castle elected, who is not even as good as McCain. What good is that going to do the conservative movement?”
If only they fought this hard and nasty against the Obama-Pelosi regime.

Guys if you want to know why the national party’s coffers are empty, this is why.

I take exception to this post by Allah Pundit at HotAir on the Del Senate race

Posted: September 14, 2010 by datechguy in blogs, congress, elections, internet/free speech, politics, tea parties
Tags: , , ,

Not because he supports Castle over O’Donnell, that’s just us disagreeing. And the headline is a whole lot better than the Huff Po version (kudos to Allah there). I take exception to this:

When the press comes to them the day after the election demanding to know why “the tea party” would hand a rubber-stamp Senate seat to Barack Obama,…

and later

She’ll probably get a bump and be within single digits after winning the primary, but once the Democrats’ negative ads roll out and the local press really goes to work, it may settle at an eight to 10 point lead.

Now make sure you read the context, he provides plenty and some of his analysis is pretty good but I have two issues with this stuff.

#1. The idea that an O’Donnell can’t win or is causing the GOP to forfeit the seat is not only foolish but harmful. O’Donnell couldn’t win the Del primary until she suddenly could. You win elections by…trying to win elections. You advance the conservative narrative by supporting candidates that support the conservative narrative, some guy on the radio named Limbaugh keeps saying that but we all know that he is just a flash in pan.

#2. If the liberal challenger on the democratic side was so impressive why did he not have a prayer against Castle? Why aren’t we hitting this guy instead of going on about how invincible he is? That is a self fulfilling prophecy.

This is the type of thing that loses races. If the race is lost in Delaware is won’t be because of O’Donnell’s it will be due to the GOP elevating her opponent while tearing her down. This will cost the GOP votes and cash from conservatives.

I do want to back him however on this statement, and those of us who support O’Donnell’s candidacy need to take this next section to heart:

(I know, I know: Chris Christie, Jim Geraghty, John McCormack, Patterico, Jay Cost, Guy Benson, Dan McLaughlin, the Powerline guys, Ace and his co-bloggers, me, and every other righty who’s grudgingly supporting Castle were only pretending to be sympathetic to the tea party before.)

These guys just happen to be wrong this time, they are not foes of the republican party, or the tea party and don’t spent their free time in clandestine puppy kicking clubs hidden under subway stations (Although Ace does bar-tend there on the side).

I will be very happy to have each one of them as an ally on the other 94% of the issues that we agree on and you should too.

Older Entries
Newer Entries