Democrat Rick Perry Chaired Gore Effort In Texas

Why did Texas Governor Rick Perry back Al Gore for president in 1988?
Well, to begin with Perry was a Democrat in 1988. He didn't join the Republican Party till later.
You got that right: In 1988 while Ronald Reagan was president, Rick Perry was a Democrat,
But Perry tells people that when he was for Gore this "was Al Gore before he invented the Internet and got to be Mr. Global Warming.”
Not quite true. In fact, when he attempted to get the Democrat nomination in 1988 Gore was already off and running on the global warming crusade.
Perry was elected to the Texas House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1984. And in '88 Rick Perry chaired the Gore campaign in Texas.
Then, in '89 Perry switched parties and became a Republican.
One has to wonder: Would Rick Perry be a Republican today if Al Gore had actually captured the Democratic nomination in 1988 and gone on to win the presidency?
We can only guess . . . 
BTW: Perry received no huge mandate from Texas voters in the 2006 gubernatorial election but bested his standing in 2010. In the 2006 election he garnered only 39% of the total vote in a multi-candidate field. Perry became only the third governor in state history to have been elected by a plurality of less than 40 percent of votes cast. In 2010 he got 55% of the vote (not exactly a landslide in Republican-dominated Texas) and that came only after a tough primary challenge from within his own party.
During a Republican gubernatorial debate in January 2010, when asked if he would commit to serving out his term if re-elected, he replied that "the place hasn't been made yet" where he would rather serve than the governor of Texas. In December 2010 (about eight months ago) when asked if he was a "definite maybe" to run for President in 2012, he replied, "a definite no, brother".
But all that has changed now.

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Buyer's Remorse: 'I Should Have Picked Hillary'

Yet another person comes forward expressing buyer's remorse.
Here's what Bill McClellan has to say in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

I was splashing around in Lake Michigan last week when the realization hit me like a wave — I was wrong about Barack Obama. I should have voted for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary three years ago.

Click here to read more.

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House Passes Boehner Plan; Harry, Barry Balk

House Republicans voted tonight in favor a debt ceiling plan put forward by House Speaker John Boehner.
The proposal received the support of 218 members, while 210 members voted against the measure. No Democrats voted for the measure. The bill would cut $917 billion in government spending over ten years and would require the passage of a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution before raising the debt ceiling for a second time in February.
Several times already Republicans have produced and approved bills to cut spending, attack the deficit and raise the debt ceiling.
The Democrats have approved NOTHING. In fact, they've never come forward with a plan.
But now the ball's in the Democrats' court.
Hurry, Harry! Don't tarry, Barry! It's your move.

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Kean: United NJ GOP Won't Fall For Dem Budget Tricks

New Jersey Senate Republican Leader Sen. Tom Kean, Jr. on Democrat Attempts to Saddle Taxpayers With Nearly $900 Million in Additional Spending
Sen. Kean's remarks as delivered as delivered to the media this morning, July 11, 2011:

We are here for one reason and one reason only- the Democratic Majority saw more value in passing a political, election-year budget that was illegal and unbalanced from the minute it was introduced than in negotiating a budget with the Governor and Legislative Republicans.

And so today's override votes are really worse than political theater- they're offensive. They had the chance do to this properly by negotiating a budget- and they deliberately chose not to.

In our books, when you pass a budget that is nearly $1 billion out of balance, you lose the moral grounds to gripe and complain about what the Governor had to cut to make the books balance.

And when you post a board list that spends more money than the little surplus we have for a rainy day, that's outright irresponsible.

Today's override session isn't about public policy- it's about glossy "gotcha" mailers and TV ads for the fall campaign.

So we are here to tell you that a united Republican caucus is not going to fall for the Majority's political games.

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God Bless America - And The Legacy Of Ronald Reagan

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Capozzi Vows Fair Outcome; You Can Help!

Hear is a special message from Philadelphia 2nd District Council Candidate Barbara Capozzi:

DEAR LOYAL SUPPORTERS,  

The Second Council primary race is 'too close to call' with only a handful of votes separating me from my main opponent. The final results are not in yet and all legal measures will be taken to ensure that the Second Council District has the honest representation that it so deeply deserves. I am extremely proud of the honest, clean campaign that we and our many supporters waged. Your hard work and efforts have been truly inspirational during these last final moments before the decision is aired.

We are optimistic for a positive outcome, and have hired two attorneys to oversee the final vote count process including absentee ballot count. The final results may not be decided for at least another week. We are collecting information regarding any observations of irregularities at the polls. Please send an email of details, time, place and description of any abnormal activity you experienced in the 2nd District to bc@capozziforcouncil.com.

We are asking for your help to raise funds to see the campaign through to victory. We vow to continue to ensure a fair election process for the people of the Second District. Please consider donating online for the very last time, to see this through to a win!

Thank you for your support as always, and let's win this thing!

Barbara Capozzi 

We urge all of you to please join in the effort to help Barbara at this critical time. Click on the donate link above and/or e-mail Barbara (through the link above) with reports of any irregularities or abnormal activities that you or others may have witnessed. For the sake of our democracy and assurance of a fair outcome to this election, please enlist friends and neighbors now. Help Barbara in her effort to make democracy work!

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Philly GOP Hopeful Sends Salvo Into Enemy Camps

Philadelphia Republican mayoral candidate John Featherman has produced one of the most clever web ads we've seen in quite some time.
And here's the scary part -- in addition to being quite funny (in a sadly realistic way) it also makes a number of important points based on real stories right out of the headlines.
After nearly 60 years of iron-fisted one party rule, you'd think Philadelphians would wake up. You'd think they'd be tired of party hacks, nepotism, ineptitude, union thugs, scandal, waste, mismanagement and corruption. And you'd think the regular Republican organization in the city would show some muscle -- that they would do something, anything. 
But, no.
The Dems keep following the corrupt city machine and the Republican organization keeps cooperating and accepting the crumbs from the fat cat Dem table.
Give Featherman this much credit: At least he has the guts to speak out and try to make a race of it.
And, he certainly knows how to get our attention.
This is truly refreshing. Bravo!

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Democrat Rep: GOP Out To 'Kill Women'

The Democrat Party's effort to craft the budget debate around "women's health" (abortion, etc.) is a shameless and disgraceful ploy.
Here's the bottom line: The Democrats would rather shut down the government than stop government funding for Planned Parenthood which performs more than a quarter of a million abortions every year.
But that's not what the Democrats want you to know.
They want to talk in generalities about "women's health". They want to have you embrace the ridiculous notion that the Republican Party actually wants to "kill women."
Nonsense!

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McCaskill Owed Back Taxes On Plane

Missouri's Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill is facing one helluva fight for re-election next year.
And now she's handed her opponent a potent issue.
All this is quite typical of liberals (especially those high-flying liberals who have $$$ to burn). They want to raise your taxes but they don't necessarily want to pay their own, if they can avoid it.
Anyway, here an excerpt from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill's airplane has caused her more political turbulence, as she acknowledged she may owe more than $287,000 in back taxes on the private aircraft.
McCaskill has already written an $88,000 personal check to the U.S. Treasury Department to reimburse money from her Senate office account used to fly the plane around Missouri, including one flight that was political in nature.
On Monday, she arranged a conference call with reporters to announce that her personal liability may be even greater. McCaskill said she had sent a check to the St. Louis County Department of Revenue for $287,273 to cover four years' worth of personal property taxes, plus interest and penalties.
"This was a mistake," McCaskill said. "It should have been reported in Missouri. It should have been paid in Missouri."

Click here for more on this story.

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How To Answer Liberal 'Interrogations'

Liberals always seem to want to interrogate conservatives -- but on liberals' terms.
They seem to want to put us "on the stand" as if we have committed some crime. Then they get to ask loaded questions and control the subject. Don't let them do it.
It's no crime to embrace common-sense conservative beliefs. 
Here's what I told one liberal who tried this on me recently:

Let's get this straight: I am not under oath; I'm not on the stand and I'm not here to be interrogated by you or anyone else. Interrogation is a form of control, nothing more. THAT is a classic tactic.
Now, in one month Obama has racked up a bigger debt than George W. Bush did in a whole year. The mounting federal debt is robbing us of our freedom and liberty and threatens to enslave our nation. It will certainly deprive our children and grandchildren of options they might otherwise have had. The shaky state of the dollar (related to the deficit) is also cause for concern. If you don't understand that debt that grows out of proportion to the GDP threatens our future then you're missing a very simple, practical point: When we work for our own money instead of insisting on handouts; when we are able to keep more of what we earn; when we practice economic common sense and avoid going into debt, we have more options, more freedom, more opportunities. When we become indebted (either personally or collectively) we close doors to those options or opportunities.
And being indebted to CHINA? Well, that IS scary.
Bigger and bigger government. Growing debt. More government regulation. A burgeoning and bloated federal work force committed to more and more bureaucracy -- this is not the path to freedom and liberty.
Personal responsibility -- rugged individualism -- that's what made America great. The common sense of hard-working, ordinary Americans made us the greatest country on earth. Reagan, again: "Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves."
As we face growing and alarming challenges, I wonder if Obama and the Democrats realize this. I wonder if they even see it. I wonder if they believe in American exceptionalism. I know that I do. And I pray -- yes, PRAY -- that future generations do as well.

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Egypt Races Towards Elections. Should They Put On The Breaks?

Ten days to a new constitution. Six months until elections are held. And pledges from the Muslim Brotherhood that they will not field a presidential candidate.

Egypt's military is moving at breakneck speed to meet the demands of the people for a new democracy. But is it too fast? And is the Muslim Brotherhood's reticence to have a presidential candidate to alleviate fears or a shrewd political move? From The Washington Post:

Some democracy advocates, however, have questioned whether Egypt is moving too fast in implementing the demands of the protesters, noting that it first needs to set up credible political parties, voting laws and other basic campaign rules.

In announcing the transition plan, Egypt's Supreme Military Council opened the door to political participation by the Muslim Brotherhood, a fundamentalist movement that has long stirred unease in Washington because of its religious ideology.

The generals appointed a Brotherhood member to a panel of legal experts charged with rewriting the constitution. Meanwhile, the once-banned movement said it would form a political party for the first time to compete in legislative elections.

Mubarak regarded the Brotherhood as an enemy of the state and prohibited it from organizing a formal political wing during his nearly 30 years in power.

Although Egypt's military leadership has long treated the Brotherhood warily and considered it a threat to the secular establishment, the generals have indicated that they are coming to terms with the idea of the movement becoming active in politics.

The Brotherhood says it is committed to nonviolence and democratic principles, but many critics contend that the group's real intention is to work gradually to establish a government based on religious law. Officially, the U.S. government has long shunned the Brotherhood for that reason, although American officials have engaged in back-channel talks with Egyptian members of the movement over the years.

Cognizant of doubts about its intentions, the Brotherhood has pledged not to field a candidate in Egypt's next presidential election, saying it does not want to give the impression that it is seeking control of the country.

It is not clear precisely when that election will be held. The Supreme Military Council's statement Tuesday said it intends to hand over power within six months "to a civilian authority and a president elected in a peaceful and free manner that expresses the views of the people." The council, which is governing Egypt under martial law, did not specify a calendar for the elections.

Still, the Tuesday announcement marks the most specific indication yet of the military's intentions. Previously, the generals had said that they wanted to step aside in six months but had held out the possibility of ruling until elections could be staged at an indefinite date in the future.

Read the whole article here.

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Mubarak Steps Down, Real Chance of Democracy in Egypt

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down, placing control of the country in the hands of the military. Their trip down the road to Democracy has begun.

But while Mubarak's ouster took a little over two weeks, achieving a viable Democracy will take much longer. The military must listen to the people and give up control willingly when the time comes. Legitimate political parties must be formed. A new constitution must be created. In no uncertain terms, Egypt must carefully craft this democracy amidst a turbulent climate in the Middle East.

We wish Egypt luck and watch with hopeful eyes.

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