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RepublicanGazette
Friday, November 9, 2007
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Having Fun
With Mojo
Bill - keep her under control!
Bill Clinton please.... Mojo here..... Sure, I'll hold..... Bill? What's up, brother? China? It was great! You were right, they sure do love U.S. politicians! And that restaurant you recommended was great! Hey, when I got back home, I saw all the coverage about Hillary's comment about giving drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. What? You told her not to say that? Then why.... Huh? Oh. She got nervous, huh? Yeah, I heard her try to flip flop on it. But no one's buying it. Listen, Bill, it's gonna be hard enough for me to campaign with her, but when she says things like... What? OK. I'll trust you, brother. Just remember what I told you -- when she comes into my state, no talk about abortion, guns, gays or immigration, ok? What? That's not my problem! Maybe she can talk about health care! Just remember, West Virginia isn't New York! ----
Mark Coyle
memorial info
Donations in memory of Mark Coyle may be made out to American Funds College America 529 Plan, FBO Samantha Coyle, Account #82438921, and sent to Lisa Coyle Rowe, 9 Whitman Court, Teaneck, NJ 07666.
Recently, Del Nancy Guthrie (D-Kanawha) has made a few comments regarding her views on free market policies. She is under the misconception that free market policies do not work. She is wrong; the free market is working nationally, but their benefits come to a screeching halt at the West Virginia border. She says that wages are down, we are losing the manufacturing industry, we in violation of the US Constitution’s Commerce Clause, and that we need more government intervention in order to fix this “crisis”. She is wrong on all four counts. In fact, according to the National Bureau for Labor and Statistics, “More Than 8.1 Million Jobs Created Since August 2003 In Longest Continuous Months Of Job Growth On Record”.They went on to say, “110,000 jobs created in September. September 2007 is the 49th consecutive month of job growth, setting a new record for the longest uninterrupted expansion of the U.S. labor market” and thanks to an $8.3 billion reduction in the trade deficit, our exports and Gross Domestic Product have grown 14.8 percent and 3.8 percent respectively. And as far as the Commerce Clause in the U.S. Constitution and the rights of government to regulate International Commerce, it does that already through the Department of Commerce and the International Trade Administration. Their roles are to improve economic conditions, promote growth and trade with foreign states. The government further regulates trade by imposing customs, import/export taxes. The federal government also sets quotas. It states the amount of trade that is permissible with other countries.The only crisis here is that we are not seeing this growth within the boarders of the Mountain State . The changes needed for West Virginia to become a thriving and prosperous state, begin with our legislature. Our businesses need a free-market environment in order to thrive; unfortunately, I do not think that a legislature where Delegate Guthrie’s point of view prevails will enact the prescribed reform. The reason that we are losing the manufacturing base in our state is because of the poor business climate - just ask the owners of Weirton Steel and Fenton Glass. When you add the costs of regressive taxes and the worst legal climate of the 50 states, businesses simply smother and close their doors resulting more lost jobs.How are businesses expected to have capital to invest to improve their facilities, add more jobs, and raise wages if they are taxed so heavily on profit, on their inventory, and on the machinery and equipment which are necessities in order to make their product? More taxes are not needed, instead we need a repeal of the Business and Occupational Tax, a repeal in the Business and Franchise Tax, and a repeal in taxes on inventory, machinery, and equipment. In addition to our atrocious tax policies, our legal climate leaves much to be desired for in regards to attracting any form of business. How do you expect a business to come to WV and invest when they know the vulnerabilities that await them the first day they open the door? Businesses simply do not trust our judicial system to be fair and balanced.
Our pro-plaintiff judicial system drives up the cost of liability and workers’ compensation insurance. Both high priced liabilities reduce our wages, and they threaten the survival of our employers. We do not need more government “protectionism” advocated by Delegate Guthrie. We need to abolish Joint and Several liability to replace it with straight liability. The only people that should be forced to pay for damages done are those that are directly responsible for the actions that harm the victim. We also need to eliminate lawsuits that can be filed without proof of injury. Anyone can enter into a place of business and file a lawsuit of injury without any proof that an actual injury occurred. This has turned our legal system into a lottery. We have to stop taking baby steps to improve our business climate, and rather take leaps and bounds to attract business, create jobs, and allow current companies to grow creating even more jobs. The government managed economy advocated by Del Guthrie and her colleagues in the ruling party has failed us for the past seventy-four years. We will never feel the effects of free markets in West Virginia until our government ceases to over regulate and over tax our people. The only alternative to the free markets is government control, which failed in Eastern Europe, and has failed West Virginia . Lisa Peana is the President of West Virginia Republican Club, and can be reached at lisapeana@wvrepublicanclub.orgFree markets work, government controls do not
Guest commentary by Lisa Peana
The Associated Press' Larry Messina wrote an update this week on the progress of the West Virginia Republican Convention, and quoted convention CEO Bob Fish as saying, "We're really staking the measure of success on the level of representation we see at the convention. That means having as close to 1,446 delegates as possible. That will be the real telling point.''I agree that the number of delegates who attend the convention is one telling point, or benchmark, for success. But another will be the number of grassroots Republicans voting for those delegates during the Jan. 1-14 voting period, when rank and file Republicans can either vote online or participate in their county conventions. And the deadline for registering is Nov. 30 to vote online in January.Overall, the convention has largely met its benchmarks for success. With 10 GOP candidates registering to participate and campaigns actively working in-state to recruit delegates, West Virginia clearly has the attention of the presidential contenders.Vic Sprouse wrote a good piece recently about the convention. I agree with the concept that many, maybe most, West Virginia GOP delegates to the convention might not make up their minds who to support until the day of the convention -- but I disagree with the concept that delegates will be voting for who they perceive as the national frontrunner. At least I hope that is wrong, because otherwise the whole purpose of holding the event so early will be lost.Our state delegates need to recognize that they have the power to determine who theWVGOP convention winner can set the tone and sway the outcome in other Feb. 5th states
frontrunner is going to be. The winner of West Virginia's convention will be announced by early or mid-afternoon, while voters in other Feb. 5 states are still going to the polls. An announcement going nationwide of who won the West Virginia convention can have a big impact on voters in other states. We can set the trend rather than follow it, which is one reason for holding this early convention.
But I do agree with Vic on one important point -- whether you like the convention idea or not, it is how we are choosing the majority of our delegates this year and we need to make it a success. We often find it preferable as a party to complain about things and predict failure, and then make sure failure happens so we can continue complaining about it and talk about how right we were -- we seem to enjoy creating self-fulfilling prophecies. Instead, we need to work together for success. Regardless of who you are supporting for president, please make sure every Republican you know either secures a username and password before the end of November for online voting (find how here), or attends a county convention if your county is holding one. I can imagine a scenario come Feb. 5 where Republicans claim they were "disinfranchised." Not knowing about the convention or how to participate might make that claim legitimate. But knowing how to participate and choosing not to do so is not being disinfranchised -- it's being willingly complacent and silencing your own voice in the process. Mojo's internet welcome sign gimmick shows online voting not a scary thing to most people
Gov. Joe Manchin wasted everyone's time and probably a lot of money when he chose a new welcome sign via online internet voting.Instead of doing what nearly everyone thought he should do -- just change the hated "Open for Business" to "Wild, Wonderful" -- he turned the whole affair into a public relations coup and held a dramatic announcement to unveilthe winning slogan, which was, as everyone knew it would be, "Wild, Wonderful."
But the whole sham proved one point. With nearly 50,000 people casting votes online for the welcome sign, the criticism about the state GOP conducting online voting for the presidential convention seems silly. Online voting is probably the wave of the future. The future is now. Right to Life director praises Thompson's record
Responding to opponents who are trying to cast doubt on Fred Thompson's dedication to the pro-life cause, the director of the National Right to Life organization said Thompson's record speaks for itself.David Osteen, director of National Right to Life, said this week that Thompson had a solid pro-life record while in the Senate, wants to overturn Roe v. Wade, and would appoint judges who would reverse Roe.
"He's pro-life, he's got a strong pro-life voting record in the Senate, [he] was a consistent vote for the pro-life side during the eight years he served in the U.S. Senate -- and I think his record speaks for itself," Osteen said.