create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.
All heartland baby. By the way as I write this I am in Guangzhou (Canton) and it is freaking hot as hell. I am sweating myself into a raisin. The next time I write, I’ll be in Vietnam giving us unique hits, that’s just how I roll.
FINAL UPDATE: I talked to Grassel and he has assured me everything was done to the letter of the law and as I have dug into this more I believe it to be the case. There were lawyers involved and everything was cleared through public channels, it was just ill-wording on some people’s behalf. It was run of the mill political stuff and I applaud Jake Grassel for his quick and open response, it is that kind of things that can move the dialogue forward. So this blog at least counts Grassel on this issue on the right side of the right!
————-OLD CONTENT————————
Well folks, the rabbit hole gets deeper.
The following comment was made by someone whose IP tracks back to the Minnesota GOP HQ:
I just wanted to clear something up. Michael Davidson and Alexander are claiming that what they gather from IRS reports is that Minnesota received some $32,000 in block grant money that was sent to our state leadership as reimbursements for expenses.
In actuality we did not receive one dime in block grant money from the CRNC. Actually, we were quite successful in raising our own funds and as chair Jake Grassel raised over $132,000 of hard money. Because McCain’s crappy campaign finance reform our state exec board were advised by counsel to either spend hundreds of man hours and tens of thousands of dollars filing with the IRS or to send the money to the CRNC, we decided to send all of our money to the CRNC and be reimbursed for state grassroots operations through the money that we had raised.
We did not receive any money raised by the CRNC only that money of which we raised for ourselves. Our Chairman worked diligently to raise money to fuel our operations that grew our organization to over 10,000 members. If you have any questions for him, I’m sure that he would be more than happy to answer them in person as he has always been open and honest with us.
Comment by MNCR Exec. — 4/27/2005
Now I had originally said that this transaction, if true, was probably legal as it was a gift from donors through a non-affiliated to a 527, kinda shady but not illegal. HOWEVER, the below seems to indicate that the MNCRs are a subsidiary of the Minnesota GOP, which would make the funneling they did IF TRUE illegal. Now let’s not all jump out here calling for blood, but I do believe we need some answers. Though sadly I doubt we’ll get them.
NOTE: I am not claiming there IS a connection simply that it looks at least probable, which is why we could use some answers.
So let’s start getting some answers…
Jake Grassel listed as a staffer of the MN GOP as the CR Chair
UPDATE: Jake Grassel has offered to answer all the questions so we”ll have this sorted out soon, and I suspect there was no legal wrong doing, but still good to shed some more sunshine on operations.
I spent most of this lovely evening watching the Nationals lose to the Phillies. It was disappointing but what really killed me was what was happening just a few seats in front of me. An all American family with three kids, mom, and dad, with one major problem. While the father watched the game the wife chatted on her phone almost the enitre time, and the three kids played VIDEO GAMES!!!!! This is a baseball game and they let the kids bring handheld VIDEOGAMES!!!! The outrage!
No, not me. I’m posting this link reluctantly, because I’m really not a fan of gimicks. Or “Sex and the City” for that matter, which this girl is apparently enamored of. Anyway, I post it because the article in the Syracuse Post-Standard about the woman in question indicated that she is the founder of the Wells College Republicans. Wells is an uber-liberal, uber-feminist, and until last year exclusively female college in picturesque Aurora, NY. It’s pretty amazing that these young women tried to found a CR chapter.
The Front Page article scans sort of oddly, partly because the author quotes herself in the third person. All in all, fairly interesting. And maybe someone here can fix her up.
Canada has never really had a problem with granting jihadists asylum, so long as it’s a short stay. When it gets down to it, and someone literally needs asylum at the risk of life and limb, Canada becomes as hard hearted as, well, one might wish the U.S. were. Of course, reading the last paragraph, one feels the man brought it on himself.
This article from the Wall Street Journal shows why we don’t need to change the tax code, we need to burn it. The fairtax is the best way to go. Why is it that Sen. Isakson has not signed on to this bill this year? We need men to say what they mean and mean what they say.
Who Pays What
Even the most ardent class warriors have no choice but to concede that the U.S. income tax code is steeply progressive — that is, that it soaks the rich. You know the numbers: The richest 1% of all Americans pay 33.7% of all federal income taxes, even after the Bush tax cuts, while the bottom 50% of earners pay a mere 3.6% share.
But wait, our friends on the left quickly add, what about the payroll tax? Low-income folks pay the full 12.4% FICA tax on all of their income, while that levy is not applied this year on income above $90,000 (a level that rises each year with inflation). Thus, we are told, the U.S. tax system really isn’t very progressive and the government would be well advised to raise taxes further.
Well, not so fast, Robin Hoods. An IRS study by a trio of tax wonks shows that, even after including Social Security taxes, the overall tax burden grew more progressive from 1979 to 1999. And while that burden became a tad less progressive after the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, the rich and upper middle class continued to pay far and away the bulk of U.S. taxes.
Click to continue »
I think the message from Congressional Democrats to young workers is reading pretty loud and clear: $@#% you!
I know, I know, so what else is new right? This time though our neighbor to the south Mexico has failed to tyrannically lock up socialist Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on trumped up charges. While we might want to applaud justice being done and the mayor retaining his freedom we might also want to think about what this means for the good ‘ole US of A. The people of Mexico will elect this man when elections roll around in that country and another Hugo Chavez/Lula De Silva/Fidel Castro will arise in Latin America, only this time on our border. With so much going on in the world today can we really afford a die-hard socialist across the Rio Grande? Something to think about. Hat-tip: The Corner (again).
From the Corner, a story of the struggles young women go through as DC interns. Interesting story, but I only post it because the intern in question, one Abbie Finfrock, is a major hottie. I obviously missed the point of the article.
Yesterday, Lien Chan, chairman of the Goumingdang (KMT) of Taiwan, aka the Nationalist Part of China set foot on the mainland for the first time since his family moved to the island in 1945. The KMT is the minority party in Taiwan at the moment, but has reached out to the CCP recently due to the tensions that have flared up over the Anti-Secession Law that China recently passed.
This is quite simply a marvelous thing to watch. There was a time when even telephone calls between the CCP and the KMT were unheard of, but today two leaders of the Chinese world can sit in the same room and shake hands. I call that progress. Xinhua has the story.
NOTE: Casey is running against Santorum and polls have him beating Rick by 14 pts. Rick may not be perfect but he’s the best ally we have on many social issues, so let’s make sure he stays in the Senate.
Well can this get weirder… Obviously this is a blow to the Gourley folks, but I must say even as a Davidson supporter I am curious as to what exactly went down here. Were promises made? Were arms twisted? I don’t know but I think more questions need to be asked. An official with the Davidson campaign stated that the state Chair of Florida has not been offered a spot in exchange for Florida’s votes and there was no quid-pro-quo. I mean overriding the vote of the Fed seems a bit shady to me and I would like a better explanation than this.
Fellow College Republicans,
A good friend once told me, “Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to high sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.”
Michael Davidson has done that. Michael is the right choice for Florida. He is the best choice for the CRNC.
The College Republicans of Florida had previously issued an endorsement. The move proved premature. Careful revision of both candidates and their platforms reveals that Michael Davidson is the clear choice. Michael has impressive experience and a more exciting vision for YourCRNC.
Michael’s work at the University of California – Berkeley and with the California College Republicans distinguishes him as a leader of unique talent and ability. Using the lessons he acquired while at Berkeley, Michael transformed the California federation. He increased funding by 10,000%, carried the Republican message to over 70 campuses, all the while empowering each individual chapter and cutting down on bureaucratic, wasteful spending at the state level. It is a feat I can only hope to replicate here in Florida.
Michael will bring the same initiative and energy when elected Chairman of the CRNC. Both candidates promise increased regional coordination and boast an impressive technology plan. Michael was the first in this race to focus on regional integration. The CCR website is ample proof of promises made being promises kept. Both candidates pledge increased funding for the states. Again, let the record speak for itself. Florida received $0 from the CRNC in 2004 under Gourley’s watch as CRNC Treasurer. I’d expect no more just because of a change in title. YourCRNC keeps money at the state level where it is most needed and best spent. Only Michael has done it, only Michael can do it. The decision was deliberated, our final choice clear: Michael Davidson for CRNC Chairman.
The change in Florida’s endorsement should not be seen as ambivalence but as open, honest engagement of both candidates. Now that we have reached an agreement and the majority is unified, we are prepared to focus on the business of running a state federation. We look forward to working with Michael next year.
Besides, who better than Florida to say, “We actually voted for Paul Gourley…before we voted against him.”
Thomas Jardon
Chairman, College Republicans of Florida
crflorida@gmail.com
Need to have a “conservative” bash a conservative cause, want a “conservative” to call conservative bigots, really sick of conservatives who believe in that terrible three letter word “God” then give a call to Andrew Sullivan. His most recent New Republic article is another hatchet job.
He has some good points about some RINOs and folks in leadership selling out to corporations and other causes, but his incessant ramblings about “fundamentalists” is just so mindbogglingly stupid. As Alarming News pointed out someone needs to pull his token conservative standing, as Sullivan is no conservative.
These shirts are available here, and were developed by Fr Brice Sibley, a very cool priest.
First of all, I had no idea this was at all still legal. If you sign up for it, and you get arrested by ANC secret police, please don’t yell at me.
Anyway, William Weld, the former governor of Massachusetts and one of the biggest RINO hacks who ever hacked, has been
tagged as a possible sacrificial lamb next year. The big question is, does he run against unstoppable Eliot Spitzer for governor, or against the unstoppable Hillary Clinton for the Senate.
In all seriousness, aside from the fact that Weld would be the suckiest Republican who ever sucked in either of those offices, his victory would also deprive conservatives of innumerable fund raising opportunities.
Well after dire predictions of a near apocalypse along the US-Mexican border due to the presence of the Minute Man Project it seems that all has not turned out as the crazy liberals predicted. All in all, there were few complaints concerning the force of volunteers that patrolled the border “doing the job the Federal government won’t.”
Hopefully this is a clear signal to the Republicans that immigration reform is an issue that resonates with the voters, but I doubt it…
All the secularists in Europe better look out…
Vatican analysts say his choice of the name Benedict — after the 6th century patron saint of Europe — signals that his focus will be on a continent where Church concerns about secularization, atheism and materialism have been uppermost.
And it looks like the days of calling for an end to evangelism and instead a focus on “getting along” has clearly passed this Pope by:
“The Church is by its very nature missionary, its first task is evangelization,” he said. “At the start of the third millennium, the Church feels with renewed vigor that the missionary mandate from Christ is more current than ever.”
I’ve gone back and forth between the Catholic Church and conservative protestantism, but I have little doubt that if the Pope acts like he’s been speaking there will be a greater common ground between the two.
The key players in the US House and Senate move to tighten trade with China, hat-tip: Dawn’s Early Light
L’Ombre de l’Olivier offers his explanation of the recent turmoil in North East Asia. It blames the 1895 European intervention in the Sino-Japanese brokered peace treaty for Japan’s caustic nationalism of the 20th century. Interesting.
Japundit explains why this recent apology by PM Koizumi for Japan’s war crimes isn’t going to satisfy the Chinese, just like the previous 17 didn’t.
What would have been the lead story out of China last week (were it not for the Japan riots) and will be this week, is the arrival of the Taiwan People’s First Party (PFP) secretary-general Chin Chin-sheng. The intensity of the rhetoric between the island and the mainland is usually a good indication of the high level of progress that is happening in the backroom negotiations.
The amount of money that would be lost if China’s relationship between Taiwan or Japan worsened is staggering. This has not been lost on Bo Xilai, the Chinese Minster of Commerce. Economic growth is vital for the CCP to maintain domestic stability and so economic ties to Japan, Taiwan, and most importantly America will trump all other issues.
Regardless of how you view Newt Gingrich, this is an excellent article detailing the plight of the conservative movement and of the Republican party.
Conservative elected officials increasingly find themselves caught between two impulses: the revolutionary ideas that brought them into power and the need to explain and defend the institutions they inherited. And the longer these good men and women stay in office, the more likely they will be to defend the very bureaucracies and policies against which they once campaigned. The goal to transform government will be gradually overwhelmed by contentment with merely presiding over it.
So in 2005, in the wake of another in a string of electoral victories, the conservative movement faces a choice:
Is conservatism a grassroots movement dedicated to the transformation of government into an institution capable of meeting the challenges of the 21st century within the values of smaller government, lower taxes, stronger national security, greater individual freedom and strengthening American civilization as a unique “Creator endowed” system of human liberty?
Or, is conservatism a national and state capital-focused system of defending whatever compromise with the old order of liberal, big government is required in order to keep people we support in office?
Click to continue »