Restoring Honor Video

On August 28, there will be a rally in Washington DC, not to protest, but to help restore honor to our nation and to honor our men and women in uniform. Here is a wonderful video expressing the spirit of the event. It will give you goosebumps. The video was put together by Seth Adam Smith and Erin Tallon. Smith has done a lot of very well done video work, and Tallon is the lead organizer of the Central Illinois 912 Project. You can see more of Smith's work here.

Obamacare's Effect on Families with Special Needs

The National Review Online has a sobering piece about the effects of Obamacare on the families of children with special needs. Despite claims to the contrary by the Obama administration and the Democrats in Congress, Obamacare does have forms of "death panels", carries a price tag of over a trillion dollars, does not reduce the deficit, and uses taxpayer money to cover abortions. This NRO piece highlights an additional horrific component of Obamacare--its negative impact on special needs patients and families. The NRO piece references Americans for Tax Reform which notes that there is a "Special Needs Tax" in Obamacare:

The “Special Needs Kids Tax” takes effect Jan. 1, 2011: This provision of Obamacare imposes a cap on flexible spending accounts (FSAs) of $2500 (Currently, there is no federal government limit). There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children. There are thousands of families with special needs children in the United States, and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education. Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington, D.C. (National Child Research Center) can easily exceed $14,000 per year. Under tax rules, FSA dollars can be used to pay for this type of special needs education. (Page 1999/Sec. 9005/$14 billion)

Flexible spending accounts allow families to set aside their own money, tax free, for specific purposes such as paying for education for children with special needs. So, in spite of the fact that the Obama administration is a proponent of using taxpayer dollars to fund abortions, it is not allowable for families to use more than $2,500 of their own money, tax free, for their own children's education. In realms of decency and justice, such policies would not be enacted. Unfortunately, the current administration does not act in such decent and just realms. Governor Palin warned of this nearly a year ago. The Obama administration is advised by people do not value all life equally, such as White House adviser and brother to Obama's chief of staff, Ezekiel Emanuel. As Governor Palin noted in her "death panel" Facebook post:

The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

Health care by definition involves life and death decisions. Human rights and human dignity must be at the center of any health care discussion.

Rep. Michele Bachmann highlighted the Orwellian thinking of the president’s health care advisor, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, the brother of the White House chief of staff, in a floor speech to the House of Representatives. I commend her for being a voice for the most precious members of our society, our children and our seniors.

Rather than standing for the dignity and preciousness of all life, Dr. Emanuel is a proponent of the "complete lives system". This system takes into consideration an individual's age, prognosis, and contributions to society to determine their receipt of health care. In an article published in the medical journal, Lancet, Dr. Emanuel writes:

The complete lives system also considers prognosis, since its aim is to achieve complete lives. A young person with a poor prognosis has had few life-years but lacks the potential to live a complete life. Considering prognosis forestalls the concern that disproportionately large amounts of resources will be directed to young people with poor prognoses.42 When the worst-off can benefit only slightly while better-off people could benefit greatly,allocating to the better-off is often justifiable. (emphasis mine)

Lacks the potential to live a complete life? Says who? Who has a right to determine the completeness of one's life? How can it be that third parties decide such allocations of health care resources? With such individuals advising the White House, policies that prove to be restrictive and punitive to families with children with special needs are no surprise, but they are nonetheless heart breaking. Unfortunately, this is not the only Obama administration official who looks at health care through a rationing lens. As Governor Palin tweeted a few weeks ago regarding an Obama appointee:

Press Corps-pls do your job as Obama sneaks in Berwick appt;pls cover his mission:socialized healthcare&rationing based on"quality of life"

Governor Palin was referring to Dr. Donald Berwick, President Obama's appointee to head up Medicare and Medicaid. Berwick was appointed by President Obama using a recess appointment, but President Obama has since re-submitted his appointment to the Senate. However, things have been slow moving to get a confirmation hearing scheduled, even too slow for the Washington Post. Aside from that issue, Berwick has made some controversial statements in support for Britain's National Health System (NHS) and National Institute for Clinical Health Excellence (NICE):



In this clip, Berwick praises the British system, trashes the American system, and calls for a healthcare system that redistributes wealth. As Investor's Business Daily highlights, this National Health System that Berwick praises is undergoing some cuts:

* Restrictions on some of the most basic and common operations,including hip and knee replacements, cataract surgery and orthodontic procedures.

* The closure of nursing homes for the elderly.

* A reduction in acute hospital beds, including those for the mentally ill, with targets to discourage GPs from sending patients to hospitals and reduce the number of people using accident and emergency departments.

* Tighter rationing of NHS funding for IVF treatment,and for surgery for obesity.

The IBD piece also notes, "[i]f that’s a portent of things to come in the U.S. under ObamaCare, then a lot of people are going to owe apologies to Sarah Palin." Governor Palin has been sounding the warning bell regarding the negative impacts that both Obama administration officials and Obama administration policies would have on the special needs community and the nation at large. Governor Palin realizes that the sanctity of life issue is not solely an abortion issue, it is one that extends to the sanctity of all life, no matter the age or circumstance.

(H/T Jimr3, Chicago's Conservative, Pat, and Mel)

Cross posted here and here.

Sarah Palin: A Year on the Road Less Traveled

It is July 26th, 2010. Governor Palin is in Wasilla with her family, having just returned from a fishing trip in Dillingham. She has just been informed that a fortieth frivolous ethics complaint has been filed against her for talking with reporters at an Anchorage 5K race about her best selling book that had been released just in the Spring. Things are still moving forward with the transcontinental gas pipeline, and after a fierce battle with the obstructionist Alaska legislature, a prudent FY2011 budget has been passed.

On the national political front, President Obama and Vice President Biden are hitting up the links (again) trying to decide if the administration should meet with the head of BP more than 3 months following a massive oil spill in the Gulf. The administration had passed its first major piece of "reform" legislation --a government take over of health care--during the Fall of 2009 in spite of the protest of a sincere, bold, but somewhat faceless group of Tea Party Patriots. President Obama is on near cruise control with his agenda, with few prominent, outspoken, well known critics of his administration.

In June, Tom Campbell defeated Carly Fiorina and Chuck DeVore for the GOP nod in Califorina. Nikki Haley had recently returned to the South Carolina legislature as an up-and-coming reformer who had a strong showing in the primary for governor, but didn't have quite enough to make it over the top.

Such may have been the visage of the Alaskan and American political scene had Governor Palin not stepped aside from the governor's office and handed the reins over to Governor Parnell a year ago today. As Governor Palin stated when she made that famous, surprising announcement on July 3, 2009, she had no intention of running for a second term, nor did she want to waste countless hours of staff time and hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer monies fighting the ridiculousness of unfounded lawsuits. So she did what many considered a career-ending move; she resigned. Governor Palin no longer wanted to be relegated to spending the majority of her time battling dozens of baseless, frivolous ethics charges, which were not productive for her state. She instead knew she could fight for Alaskans and Americans outside of office, and she knew the man who would fill her place would govern with the same agenda as she had.

When Governor Palin announced she was stepping aside from the governor's office on on July 3, 2009, she said:

Political operatives descended on Alaska last August, digging for dirt. The ethics law I championed became their weapon of choice. Over the past nine months I’ve been accused of all sorts of frivolous ethics violations – such as holding a fish in a photograph, wearing a jacket with a logo on it, and answering reporters’ questions.

Every one – all 15 of the ethics complaints have been dismissed. We’ve won! But it hasn’t been cheap - the State has wasted THOUSANDS of hours of YOUR time and shelled out some two million of YOUR dollars to respond to “opposition research” – that’s money NOT going to fund teachers or troopers – or safer roads. And this political absurdity, the “politics of personal destruction” … Todd and I are looking at more than half a million dollars in legal bills in order to set the record straight. And what about the people who offer up these silly accusations? It doesn’t cost them a dime so they’re not going to stop draining public resources – spending other peoples’ money in their game

....

My choice is to take a stand and effect change – not hit our heads against the wall and watch valuable state time and money, millions of your dollars, go down the drain in this new environment. Rather, we know we can effect positive change outside government at this moment in time, on another scale, and actually make a difference for our priorities – and so we will, for Alaskans and for Americans.

A year later, Governor Palin's message and intentions have not changed. In an interview with the Daily Caller last week, she said:

The media incentivized political opponents to file false ethics charges and expensive, wasteful, frivolous lawsuits against me, my family and my staff, in an obvious attempt to destroy us.

I said, ‘Enough. Political adversaries and their political friends in the media will not destroy my State, my administration, nor my family. Enough.’ I knew if I didn’t play their game any longer, they could not win. I would not retreat, I would instead reload, and I would fight for what is right from a different plane.

Governor Palin knew that for the sake of her state, her country, her family, and her political voice, it would be best if she stepped aside from the governorship. She said it in July of 2009, and she said it in July of 2010. Her tune has not changed. It is hard to delve into alternative history, but one has to wonder how the political landscape would appear if Sarah Palin were still governor of Alaska. I don't think it would be too far from the aforementioned scenario. She would have made progress on the pipeline (as is being done anyway) and would have continued to battle with legislators to ensure a modest budget was passed and state sovereignty was upheld. President Obama would be gliding through his first term tone deaf to the voices of the American people. The Tea Party movement would still be strong and vocal, but it would not have such a powerful voice, nor widespread coverage, had Governor Palin remained in office. The health care reform bill, stymied enormously by two words and a pair of quotation marks from the Governor, would likely have passed in the Fall of 2009, rather than the Spring of 2010. Aside from Governor Palin, there have been few voices that have consistently, boldly, and unabashedly spoken against the overreach and tone deafness of the federal government, the reckless spending, the negative impact of cap and tax, the mismanagement of the oil spill, and the enemy-centric foreign policy of the Obama administration. Had Sarah Palin remained governor of Alaska, she could not be speaking in such a way without an ethics complaint being levied against her. Stepping aside from office allowed her to speak more boldly and fearlessly.

She likely could not have been a vocal supporter of candidates for office without outcries and ethics complaints from the anklebiters, and no one knows about the power of a Palin endorsement better than two fellow mama grizzlies -- Carly Fiorina and Nikki Haley. Both of these women are definitely strong candidates in their own right, but without the endorsement of Governor Palin they may not have received the necessary visibility and campaign funding to put them over the top. The same could be said of other candidates, such as Susana Martinez. Governor Palin's endorsements are helping to pave the way for many Constitutional commonsense conservatives to victory in November.

When Governor Palin uttered the words "I never thought that I, nor anyone else, needs a title to do this -- to make a difference, to help people" in her signature display of self-confident humility during her resignation speech, it was unknown just how powerful her voice and how widespread her influence would be. Sarah Palin, without the official title of current governor, has been a voice for everyday Americans, speaking against progressivism, standing for the principles of our Constitution, and supporting those candidates who stand for those conservative principles. The anklebiters and the Left may have thought temporarily that they had won a great victory, but time has most definitely proven otherwise. Governor Palin is not a conventional politician; she is an unconventional leader. As C4P noted following her resignation announcement, Robert Frost's words were true then, and they are true now:

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

Governor Palin's Farewell Address - July 26 2009

Cross posted here and here.

Michele Bachmann Forms Tea Party Caucus

Michele Bachmann has started a Tea Party caucus in the US House. Bachmann says:

“No, I don’t see it that way,” Bachmann, of Minnesota, told The Daily Caller when asked if she envisioned the caucus offering a conservative counterpoint to the GOP establishment. “I think it’s really just complementary. … Usually the purposes of the caucuses are to promote an idea or issue — whether it’s the shellfish caucus, the potato caucus, the missile defense caucus. It’s members of Congress who are interested in an idea and they want to promote it. Well, this is no different.”

The idea is for the caucus to bring in “real people from various walks of life” to speak to its members about issues resonating within the Tea Party movement. “Usually we invite experts in,” Bachmann said of other caucuses in the House. “Well, these are experts in just being regular Americans,” she said.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Mike Pence, John Carter, Pete Sessions, Todd Tiahart (who Palin is endorsing for Senate), Dan Burton, Paul Broun, and Cliff Sterns have already joined the caucus. Bachmann has also invited Speaker Pelosi to join the caucus, but no word if she has intentions of joining (read with sarcasm). The Daily Caller piece linked above also reports that Palin endorsee, Rand Paul, is planning on starting the same caucus in the Senate if he is elected.

Cross posted here.

Governor Romney's "Women Problem" and Political Expediency

(From Draw for Truth)

An article by Steve Koranacki at Salon.com (H/T Tammy Bruce) highlights that recent disparaging remarks by anonymous Romney staffers are not the first time that Governor Romney has taken issue with female political cohorts:

Oh boy, here we go again. Mitt Romney has his eyes on a major political office -- if only that damned woman would get out of the way!

Romney, of course, is running for president in 2012, and has been from the moment he used a comically red meat-laden CPAC speech to depart from the 2008 GOP race. And his prospects, at least for the Republican nomination, aren't bad: He's the next-in-line guy, he'll have plenty of cash, and there just aren't that many other options.

But then there's Sarah Palin. She may ultimately decide not to run, but this past week brought fresh evidence -- in the form of her suddenly ramped-up and professionalized national political organization -- that she's serious about it.

The article later goes on to discuss Romney's races against Janet Jeghelian for the GOP Senate nod in the 1994 election, the GOP gubernatorial nod in the 2002 election, Jane Swift, and the 2002 general election against Democratic nominee, Shannon O' Brien. Koranacki discusses the race against Jeghelian:

Romney first went toe-to-toe with a woman in the spring of 1994, when, as an executive at Bain Capital, he jumped into the race for the Republican nomination to oppose Ted Kennedy. The early front-runner for the nod was a woman: Janet Jeghelian, a former Boston talk-radio host who entered the contest with far more name recognition than Romney. But at the state convention, Romney -- aided by the state GOP establishment -- helped ensure that she wouldn't even receive a spot on the primary ballot. (emphasis mine)

Koranacki later goes on to discuss the 2002 race against incumbent, Jane Swift:

But the Jeghelian incident had nothing on the events of March 2002. That's when Romney, his image boosted by the just-completed Winter Olympics (which he'd organized), returned from Utah to Massachusetts intent on running for governor. The only problem was that the job was already filled by a Republican -- a female Republican, Jane Swift, who had spent the last year swearing up and down that she planned to run in '02. Romney himself had publicly pledged fealty to Swift the previous year.

But Romney was done pretending to be her friend. Again aided by the state GOP establishment, he engineered a coup. One by one, prominent state Republicans stepped forward to call for Swift's exit -- and the anointment of Romney as her replacement on the fall ticket. He cut her legs out from under her, and within days Swift -- the state's first female governor and the first governor in the country to give birth while in office -- dropped out of the race, forced to pretend that "family obligations" would keep her from running. (emphasis mine)

You can read the rest of the article here.

Governor Romney, on multiple occasions, has used the GOP establishment for the the sake of his personal political expediency. The difference between the examples Koranacki presents and now? Governor Romney and Governor Palin are not currently political opponents. In fact, as 2010 is a prime opportunity for conservatives to make gains in both houses of Congress and in state houses across the country, Palin aides have suggested that Romney do what Governor Palin is doing--focus on those elections:

“It shocks me that anyone would try to do that,” the aide said. “You’d think we’d all be working together toward a common goal — that being 2010 — and that should be the focus right now. Those who try to claim the mantle of Reagan would be good to follow one of his most sacred tenets.”
...

“What she’s trying to do is turn the tide on the Obama-Pelosi-Reid agenda. …She’s stated publicly that her goal is to turn the tide on Obama’s agenda starting in 2010,” the aide added. “We need to all come together in what should be a great year for us in November.”

...

“She’s not a finger-in-the-wind kind of leader. She supporting candidates who share her common sense values,” the aide said. “When you have a team of consultants and strategists that big it’s hard to control.”

Governor Palin is not a finger-in-the wind kind of leader, but Governor Romney is a finger-in-the-wind kind of politician. Following the devastating oil spill in the Gulf, Governor Palin responded quickly and on multiple occasions, offering suggestions and constructive criticism to the Obama administration. What did Governor Romney do? He waited 50 days to make a statement about the spill.

Regarding the 2010 elections, more often than not, Governor Romney bases his endorsements on what is personally politically expedient. While Romney did endorse Nikki Haley in the South Carolina GOP gubernatorial primary before Governor Palin did, it was Governor Palin's endorsement who helped Haley surge into the lead, and it was Governor Palin who first offered her support for Nikki Haley against the barrage of sexist attacks against her campaign while Governor Romney responded later that he stood "four square" with Haley. Governor Palin endorsed the GOP nominee for governor of New Mexico, Susana Martinez, two weeks prior to the primary election while Romney waited to endorse Martinez until the day following her primary victory. Bold leadership on the part of Romney, huh?

Additionally, as a thinly veiled knock at Palin, a Romney spokesperson stated earlier in the 2010 primary election season, " [e]ndorsements are nice, but Governor Romney understands that money wins elections". It should be noted that Governor Romney also has set up a system of state based PACs that allow PACs associated with him to donated more than Governor Palin can with a single nationally based PAC. This spokesperson has obviously overlooked the fact that the power of a Palin endorsement often means that more Americans donate directly to these Palin endorsed candidates themselves, as has been recently touted by Michele Bachmann and Clint Didier.

The year is 2010, and very important Congressional and gubernatorial elections are on the horizon. Now is not the time for disparaging comments aimed at potential political opponents, as Governor Palin realizes and emphasizes. November is coming--November 2010, not November 2012. The political opponent are the progressives in Washington D.C., and as Governor Palin recognizes, the goal is to stop the Obama-Pelosi-Reid agenda. It's time to get serious, Governor Romney.

Cross posted here and here.

Illinois Statewide Races

There are no conservatives serving Illinois in any statewide seats. 2010 is the time to change that. The following are brief overviews of conservatives running for statewide office.

Governor: Bill Brady : Here is Brady's vision for Illinois:

• Contribution limits. Capping individual campaign contributions at $4,800 for a primary-general election cycle and prohibiting union and corporate contributions.


• Term limits. Ending control of the General Assembly by a powerful few.


• Fair representation. Taking the job of redrawing legislative district boundaries away from politicians and giving it to the bipartisan state Board of Elections using a computer program.


• School reform. Transforming the State Board of Education into a smaller agency that reports directly to the governor – ensuring that money goes to benefit students in classrooms, not the bureaucracy.


• Living within our means. Restoring fiscal discipline and balancing the budget without raising taxes on Illinois families.

And bold change to create jobs and protect our children’s future:

• Building a jobs-creating environment. Real lawsuit abuse reform, job creation tax credits and elimination of excessive, job-killing taxes and fees on business.

• Living within our means. Restoring fiscal discipline and balancing the budget without raising taxes on Illinois families.


• School reform. Transforming the State Board of Education into a smaller agency that reports directly to the governor – ensuring that money goes to benefit students in classrooms, not the bureaucracy.

Lieutenant Governor: Jason Plummer- Plummer is a 27 year old vice president of a lumber company in southern Illinois and serves as a Navy Reservist.

Attorney General: Steve Kim- Kim, an immigrant from South Korea, vows to protect small businesses, the elderly, and children with special needs as Attorney General.



Secretary of State: Robert Enriquez -Enriquez is a native of Honduras who served in the Marines. As secretary of state, he wants audit the Secretary of State's budget and place it online, be transparent about Office, reduce waste and costs to pass on as a rollback for Illinois drivers, and promises to serve only two terms. Current Secretary of State, Jesse White, has served 3 terms.

Comptroller: Judy Baar Topinka-Topinka has served as a state representative, state senator, and as state treasurer. Topinka is running to bring government transparency, taxpayer advocacy, and constituent service to the treasurer's office.

Treasurer: Dan Rutherford- Rutherford currently serves in the state senate and promises to close unnecessary satellite treasury offices throughout the state, to help decrease that state's $13 billion deficit.

Cross posted here.

The Seriousness of Governor Palin

Earlier today Governor Palin tweeted the following:

We'll smother under Obama's fantasy world if his agenda to "fundamentally transform America" goes forth. Please read http://bit.ly/blIjjP

The link the Governor references is a piece by Charles Krauthammer in which he warns Republicans to not "underestimate President Obama" on what he desires to achieve in the coming months and years. Krauthammer discusses four major "accomplishments" of President Obama's administration thus far: the health care "reform" bill, the financial "reform" bill, the"stimulus" bill, and massive budgets and subsequent increased deficits. Krauthammer warns of what Obama hopes to accomplish in his "next act", like energy, education, and immigration reforms.

The "achievements" of President Obama's "first act" are things against which Governor Palin has been vocal. Prior to stepping aside from the Alaska governor's office, Governor Palin spoke out against the stimulus bill, even when the Alaska legislature pushed back and eventually overturned her veto. Governor Palin has repeatedly spoken out against the health care "reform" bill. In fact, Governor Palin has been rather prescient about this administration's health care reform intentions regarding rationing of care specifically. Governor Palin wrote in her now famous "death panel" Facebook post:

The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

Time has proven Governor Palin correct. Former Obama economic adviser, Peter Orzsag, admitted that the health care reform bill would favor quality and efficiency of care at the the cost of quantity of care (aka rationing). President Obama's recess appointment for the head of Medicare and Medicaid, Donald Berwick, had high praise for the NHS, the health care system in Britain where rationing occurs, and Berwick has even called for redistribution of wealth via health care.

Governor Palin often speaks against the "immoral" spending of the federal government and the "generational theft" that is occurring with accrued deficits. She recognizes that increased national debt makes America more beholden to foreign countries. Additionally, Governor Palin has called out the Obama administration on the "crony capitalism" that is pervasive in so-called financial reform.

Governor Palin has been a leader in sounding the warning bell against future initiatives that the Obama administration desires to pass in their "second act", such as energy and immigration reforms. Governor Palin has addressed the "snake oil science" of global warming and the negative impact of "cap and tax" on multiple occasions. Governor Palin has spoken for a secured southern border as the first step to true immigration reform.

As Governor Palin warns in her tweet and as she has mentioned on several occasions, President Obama's desire is to fundamentally transform this nation. Despite the fact that staffers for other Republicans have questioned the "seriousness" of Governor Palin and pundits, whom the Governor reads, have asked her to leave the room, Governor Palin has quite seriously and consistently sounded the warning bell to stop the transformation of this nation and to prevent Obama's "fantasy world" from coming to fruition.

Tools for Pro-Palin blogging

I was blessed with the opportunity to speak on the topic of blogging at the first Conservatives 4 Palin meetup last weekend. One of the ways that we can support Governor Palin and the conservative movement is through blogging. I simply wanted to lay out some practical ways to begin blogging for the Governor, the conservative movement, and our country.

A lot of political blogs use either Blogger or Wordpress. Each platform has its advantages. From my personal experience, Blogger is a little bit more user friendly. However, Wordpress is a little more aesthetically pleasing, and you can ban "trolls" who leave unacceptable comments, which will happen if you write supporting the Governor. If you are concerned you won't be able to start and maintain a blog, do not fear. You can do it! Here is a tutorial for using Blogger and a tutorial for using Wordpress. Both formats provide a step-by-step method of starting a blog, and actually writing a blog post is very similar to writing an email.

With a blog, you can write about anything. However, if you are looking for a way to support Governor Palin and the conservative movement through blogging, here are a few ideas, but be creative and try whatever you feel may be effective.

• Fact Checking and Fisking- The media often misrepresents Governor Palin's record and statements. Governor Palin has often said she has our back. Blogging to support Governor Palin and correct the record is a way for us to have her back. Fisking is a blogging term that means taking apart an argument presented by the main stream media or pundit.
  This can also entail doing the job of critical analyzing the Obama administration, something that the mainstream media often fails to do. Highlighting the ineptness of liberals allows the conservative alternative to be seen more clearly.
• Expanding upon Governor Palin's policy positions-This could mean breaking down what Governor Palin said in a media appearance or a Facebook post and simply expanding upon what she said by using her previous statements or other sources. Here is an example.
• Compare Governor Palin's policy positions to those of President Obama. Obviously, the contrasts are pretty stark, but putting them side-by-side helps illuminate these difference further. Here is an example regarding how Governor Palin and President Obama differ on handling the oil spill and energy independence.
• Personal Narratives- Over the past year or so especially, people have had the opportunity to hear the Governor speak or have meet her at a book signing or the like. Sharing your personal experience is a unique way to articulate about the Governor's sincerity and intelligence.
  
• Cut-and-paste- As long as an article or Facebook post is properly linked or attributed, sharing a well written piece about the Governor or a Facebook post from the Governor is a way to further spread the message.
  

If you are looking for good resources for Pro-Palin blogging, look no further than the Governor's Facebook page, which provides a good overview of her policy positions. If you are in need of information regarding her gubernatorial record, check out the archives of her Alaska governor's site. Additionally, with the assistance of many others, I put together a two sheet overview of the Governor's gubernatorial accomplishments. Feel free to post the link and/ or print out copies to hand out.

There are a variety of ways to use other forms of new media.The American Majority has a nice overview of using some such components of new media (Twitter, Facebook etc) to support conservatism. See here (H/T Peter S.) If you wish to use twitter, which is further described at the American Majority link, here is a mechanism to "auto-tweet" your blog posts. You can also link your blog to other pro-Palin blogs using Palintwibe and Blogs4Palin.

I hope these can be useful resources that you can use to get started with Pro-Palin blogging. Governor Palin has our back. Let's show her in every possible way that we have hers.

Cross posted here.

Mama Grizzlies Roar! -UPDATED!

Last night, Governor Palin posted a SarahPAC video on her Facebook page. I have to say it is extremely well done. Watching this campaign-feel video, you have to wonder why the idiots in the McCain campaign didn't use Governor Palin in their 2008 campaign ads?! With this message, it can be effectively argued that Governor Palin is helping to lock up the "mom" vote specifically and the female vote in general for 2010 elections and, Lord willing, for herself in 2012.



UPDATE: How does a mama grizzly react when her cubs are endangered? See here.

UPDATE II: Here is a good take on the "mama grizzly" from Michelle Malkin.

Governor Palin's Year of Health Care Rationing Prescience

This past December, Politifact called Governor Palin's "death panel" Facebook post "the political lie of the year". While those of us who understood Governor Palin's statement in context knew full well that she was stating the truth about rationing of care that would occur under a more socialized system of healthcare, based upon the kinds of people President Obama has placed in his administration, it should be quite clear that rationing is a means to the ends of his version "health care reform".

Last night, following the recess appointment of Dr. Don Berwick to head up Medicare and Medicad. Governor Palin tweeted:

Press Corps-pls do your job as Obama sneaks in Berwick appt;pls cover his mission:socialized healthcare&rationing based on"quality of life"

As citizen journalists, let's take a look at Berwick, shall we? In May, I wrote a post for our local 912 Project that partly focused on Berwick:

On April 19th, President Obama nominated Dr. Donald Berwick to be the administrator for the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services. Berwick has expressed support for the the National Health Service, the United Kingdom's government-run healthcare system that has the UK lagging on breast care survival, heart attack mortality, and life expectancy compared to even other European countries with socialized medicine. You can hear his support for the the NHS in the video below of a 2008 speech in the United Kingdom:

Berwick has additionally expressed support for the UK's National Institute for Clinical Health Excellence (NICE), the entity that determines the "clinical effectiveness" of various procedures and treatments and whether or not a patient should receive such treatment and other standards regarding care. In essence, NICE determines the quantity of care that a patient receives based upon the incurred cost. In the clip above, Berwick favors for UK healthcare system over that of the United States' system as it is now.

Hmm, rationing of care? Support for an entity like NICE? Death panels, anyone? Of course this is not the first Obama administration official to espouse this mindset. Last summer, Governor Palin and Congresswoman Bachmann called out President Obama' s health care adviser, Zeke Emanuel:

The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

Health care by definition involves life and death decisions. Human rights and human dignity must be at the center of any health care discussion.

Rep. Michele Bachmann highlighted the Orwellian thinking of the president’s health care advisor, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, the brother of the White House chief of staff, in a floor speech to the House of Representatives. I commend her for being a voice for the most precious members of our society, our children and our seniors.

Both the man who advises the President on health care and the man charged with the duty of overseeing entitlement health care programs that provide for millions of Americans are strong supporters of rationing. It's quite obvious that perhaps in addition to spreading around the wealth, President Obama wants to spread around the health. In addition to these men, former White House economic adviser, Peter Orszag, has said, " the only real solution…is to move toward a healthcare system that is based upon quality and efficiency — not upon quantity.” If a healthcare system is not based upon quantity, then it means that the number of patients who can be treated is limited, rationing. While quality and efficiency are noble goals--you want to make sure that people are well treated and not overtreated--these cannot be goals that take precedence over ensuring that people are actually treated at all.

So nearly a year after the Facebook post heard 'round the world, it's become even more apparent that Governor Palin was extremely prescient about the means to justify President Obama's health care reform ends: rationing. The biggest political lie now? Those claims that Governor Palin lied about death panel!

Cross posted here and here.

Get Rid of the Silly Signs!

My future husband, ur, I mean Congressman, Aaron Schock, came out today saying very much what I've been thinking since the passage of the "stimulus" package nearly a year and a half ago--those "stimulus" road signs that I pass on a daily basis are ridiculous. Why spend money on such things? The cost of those signs are $20 million nationwide and $650,000 in Illinois. Yes, this is drop in the federal government's overflowing budgetary bucket, but does that mean that it needs to be spent? No! While even some conservatives make a stink when liberals look to trim the fat in minor areas rather than make larger cuts elsewhere, such cuts are indeed needed. Yes, we need get entitlements and the debt under control, but smaller cuts and reduction of stupid wasteful spending are needed as well. There's no need for signs to say that a project is funded by an unsuccessful piece of legislation. There's no need for chunks of money to go to silly earmarks or other forms of frivolous, unnecessary spending.

Personally, I think that federal funding for highway development and repair is justified and necessary. Building roads is one of the duties given to Congress by the Section 8 of Constitution. However, there's no need for unnecessary spending to advertise such projects. They might as well have a sign that says, " Look! Unemployment is higher than it would have been had we not passed the 'stimulus'" bill.

You can vote for Schock's call to end funding of these signs as an amendment to be brought before the House.

Independence Day: From Subjects to Citizens

A recent discovery by preservationists at the Library of Congress has shown an interesting piece of history within the one of the pivotal documents of America's founding. When Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence, it was organized into 5 parts:"the introduction, the preamble, the indictment of George III, the denunciation of the British people, and the conclusion." In the section indicting King George, Jefferson delineated a list of grievances that many colonists had against the King. One such indictment was of "treasonable insurrections". In the Declaration itself, here is how that section reads (note: original spelling is used):

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. (emphasis mine)

However, as the preservationists have recently discovered through use of high tech devices, Jefferson had changed one word in that section in the transcription of this document that was truly indicative of how the Founders viewed the tyranny of King George. The workers at the Library of Congress discovered that although the document refers to "our fellow citizens" in the aforementioned section, Thomas Jefferson modified this section which originally referred to our fellow subjects. The Founders and early American patriots did not wish to be viewed as subjects to a King whom they had a long list of grievances against. They wished to be seen as citizens who had liberty, not subjects who were under tyranny.

When we simply look at what distinguishes "subjects" from "citizens", we can see what a declaration of independence truly means. A citizen is one who is under the protection of a governing body, while a subject is one under the control of a governing body. Jefferson and the other Founders saw that, because of they had become subject to tyranny, forced to fight against their fellow citizens, obstructing justice, imposing taxes, and a whole slew of other injustices and constraints to liberty, they had been relegated to subjects, and that in order to seen as they truly were, citizens, Jefferson and the other signers of the document needed to declare their independence.



The bravery, boldness, and foresight of these brave men and the providence of God allow us today to live in freedom. Some shared their vision; some gave their wisdom; and some even gave their lives. The sacrifice of many has given liberty to so many more. Freedom is not free, but we have every reason to celebrate the blessings that we have as Americans. John Adams even foresaw that this Declaration would be celebrated. Let us heed his words as we celebrate independence (note: original spelling is used):

I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. -- I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. -- Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.

Cross posted here.

Governor Palin: A Year as a Titleless American

It's July 3rd, 2010. Governor Palin is in Wasilla with her family making plans for the Independence Day holiday. She has just been informed that a 40th frivolous ethics complaint has been filed against her for talking with reporters at an Anchorage 5K race about her best selling book that was released just in the Spring. Things are still moving forward with the transcontinental gas pipeline, and after a fierce battle with the obstructionist Alaskan legislature, a prudent FY2011 budget has been passed.

On the national political front, President Obama and VP Biden are hitting up the links trying to decide if the administration should meet with the head of BP more than 2 months following a massive oil spill. The administration had passed its first major piece of "reform" legislation --a government take over of health care--during the Fall of 2009 in spite of the protest of a sincere,bold, but somewhat faceless group of Tea Party Patriots. President Obama is on near cruise control with his agenda, with few prominent, outspoken, well known critics of his administration. Tom Campbell had recently defeated Carly Fiorina and Chuck DeVore for the GOP nod in Califorina. Nikki Haley had recently returned to the South Carolina legislature as an up-and-coming reformer who had a strong showing in the primary for governor, but didn't have quite enough to make it over the top.

Such may have been the Alaskan and American political scene had Governor Palin not stepped aside from the governor's office. As Governor Palin stated when she made that famous, shocking announcement a year ago, she had no intention of running for a second term, nor did she want to waste countless hours of staff time and hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer monies fighting the ridiculousness of unfounded lawsuits, so she resigned. She no longer wanted to be relegated to spending the majority of her time battling dozens of baseless frivolous ethics charges which was not productive for her state. She instead knew she could fight for Alaskans and Americans outside of office, and she knew the man who would fill her place would follow the same agenda as she had.

It's hard to delve into alternative history, but one has to wonder how the political landscape would appear if Sarah Palin was still the governor of Alaska. I don't think it would be too far from the aforementioned scenario. She would have made progress on the pipeline (as is being done anyway) and would have continued to battle with legislators to ensure a modest budget was passed. President Obama would be gliding through his first term tone deaf to the voices of the American people. The tea party would still be strong and vocal, but it would not have such a powerful voice, nor widespread coverage, had Governor Palin still been in office. The health care reform bill, stymied enormously by two words and a pair of quotation marks from the Governor, would likely have passed in the Fall of 2009, rather than the Spring of 2010. Aside from Governor Palin, there has not been a voice that has consistently, boldly, and unabashedly spoken against the overreach of the federal government, the reckless spending, and enemy centric foreign policy of the Obama administration. Had Sarah Palin remained governor of Alaska, she could not speak in such a way without an ethics complaint being levied at her. She likely could not have been a vocal supporter of candidates for office, and no one knows about the power of a Palin endorsement better than two fellow mama grizzlies-- Carly Fiorina and Nikki Haley. Both of these women are definitely strong candidates in their own right, but without the endorsement of Governor Palin, they may not have received the visibility and campaign funds to put them over the top. The same could be said of many other candidates.

When Governor Palin uttered the words, " I never thought that I, nor anyone else, needs a title to do this--to make a difference, to help people" just one year ago, in her signature display of self-confident humility, she likely did not know just how great her influence would be. Sarah Palin, without the official title of current governor, has been a voice for everyday Americans, speaking against progressivism, speaking for the principles of our Constitution and supporting those candidates who stand for those conservative principles. The anklebiters and the Left may have thought temporarily that they had won a great victory, but time has most definitely proven otherwise. What do we have left to say but thank you?



Cross posted here and here.

Ignorance of the Left on Full Display

If you listened to the media, you would think that those of us who support Governor Palin were ignorant and uninformed. However, often the converse is true. There's a disconnect between reality and misconception. The misconception is that conservatives, especially those of the Palin variety, are stupid, uneducated blind followers. The misconception is that the anti-Palin crowd are sophisticated, intelligent, and open minded. What does reality show us though? Take a look at this video of anti-Palin protesters:




Fabulous, huh? Let's take a look point-by-point. The Left prides itself on its intellectualism, yet it seems in spite of such superior intellect, their vocabulary, on display in this clip, is rather small and largely consisting of four letter words. Second, the chant of these buffoons is quite enlightening, "eat the rich!". Yes, that will solve poverty in America and cure all societal ills! Why didn't we think of that before?! The Left tries to turn everything into class warfare. However, as we've seen with the bloated budgets circulating throughout Washington and state houses, the true "rich" are not wealthy Americans, but a government who has become intent on gorging itself on other people's money, rich or not. We have a progressive income tax system that falls on the back of the rich. The effects of capital gains and business taxes fall largely on the rich. However, taxes don't just fall on the rich. With the talk of value added taxes and cap and tax legislation, taxes will fall on all consumers. Regardless of what your view is on smoking, the Left, the supposed champion of the little guy, is a big proponent of a regressive (falling largely on the poor) tax on cigarettes. What do these taxes go to? Massive entitlement programs, supposed government "stimulus" programs, bailouts, and earmarks. The true culpable "rich" are those in Washington who have feasted upon the American taxpayer to feed their insatiable appetite.

Lastly, what does this video show? The Left's misunderstanding of what makes America exception. One man in the video states that he "hates the Constitution", and he's a Communist. For someone who hates the Constitution, he certainly did his fair share of exercising his first amendment rights. As we've seen with the SCOTUS confirmation hearings this week, the US Senate is poised to confirm a justice who sees the Constitution as a living document, yet does not see an unborn child as living, even to the point to altering medical information in order to support partial birth abortion. We have a president in office who sees the Constitution as a "charter of negative liberties"--one that tells the government what it can't do. Do we see a pattern here? Disdain for our Constitution, while freely exercising one of the rights vested in that document, is truly a double standard, but hey, if it wasn't for double standards, some on the Left wouldn't have standards.

Cross posted here and here.