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Abernathy Strategies
RepublicanGazette
Tuesday, February 26, 2008 "When news breaks, we fix it" Published daily except some days
Submissions welcome
The Republican Gazette welcomes Emails to the Editor and press releases. All submitted items must include the name and contact information for the author of the article, and all articles will only be published with the author's name included. Thank you for reading and participating in The Republican Gazette, another of West Virginia's most biased publications.
All opinions are those of The Republican Gazette and its editor, Gary Abernathy, except letters or commentary signed by others, and do not reflect the views of anyone else, including clients of Abernathy Strategies.
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Having Fun With Mojo
Hey, I'm on CSPAN! Tune in! Don't call in!
Hey kids! Mojo here! Guess where I am today? In Washington! Guess why? I'm on CSPAN this morning! Now it's pretty likely that I'll be on and off their "Washington Journal" show before you even turn on the TV, but trust me, I was there! But if you do happen to be watching TV, tune in at 7:30 and check it out! CSPAN is my kind of network! Have you ever watched it? They ask you a whole bunch of softball questions, and never do any follow ups! Perfect! Only trouble is, they do take phone calls from viewers. But I got that covered, too! Between you and me, I've got some members of my staff ready to call in with some real zingers! They're going to use phony names, and pretend like they're calling from different places around the nation! They're even going to disguise their voices! Here's one of the questions they're going to ask:"Governor Manchin, you are the best, most wonderful governor in the United States."Here's another one: "Governor Manchin, I have always admired you. Please keep up the good work."And try this one:"Governor Manchin, Barack or Hillary would be lucky to have you as their vice president."And this is my favorite:"Governor Manchin, someday I hope to be calling you President Manchin."So tune in! But don't call in, okay? We got that covered! Chillicothe? Athens? Portsmouth? Bill Clinton in wilderness
All the presidential candidates were in Ohio on Monday, but one of them was being kept under the radar.When I read a story Monday detailing former President Clinton's Ohio campaign schedule on behalf of his wife, I had a flashback.Back in 1988, I was still a newspaper editor at the Hillsboro (Ohio) Press Gazette. and I was invited by a friend to travel to nearby Chillicothe to attend a campaign rally for Dan Quayle, who was George H.W. Bush's choice for vice president.I asked my buddy, who was chief of staff for a U.S. Congressman, "Why on earth would Quayle be in Chillicothe?""Because," he replied. "They're trying to keep him out of the spotlight."By then, you see, Quayle had already (unfairly) become a punchline, and the Bush campaign was trying to keep him out of the media glare.Imagine my amusement, then, when I read ex-President Clinton's Ohio campaign schedule for Monday -- Chillicothe, Portsmouth, Athens, Lancaster, Bowling Green, Lima, and Springfield. Those are all very nice small Ohio towns, but Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were campaigning in places like Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus, while John McCain was in Cleveland.That Bill Clinton has fallen so far from grace as to be shunted to Quayle-land has to be the most degrading thing that has happened to Slick Willie since Paula Jones turned him down. Of course, the campaign's spin was that they were simply reaching out to rural Ohioans; you know, rubbing shoulders with the real people. Right. President Clinton has earned his demotion through a series of embarrassing gaffes, including his ill-received remarks about Obama and the black community, and his recent admission that Hillary must win Ohio and Texas or she's toast. The general consensus has been that Bill has hurt Hillary about as much as Hillary used to hurt Bill. Since then, Bill has been so far off the radar that NASA is interested in studying him for clues to building their next stealth fighter jet.Like Quayle in '88, they can't really pull him off the campaign trail completely, because that would create too much of a stir, and raise too many questions. So the campaign keeps him out there, but they study their maps to find parts of Ohio and Texas that the media can barely find.Wanna see Bill Clinton sometime soon? Try booking a couple of nights in Mt. Orab, Ohio. You're bound to run into him any day.As House Democrats continue to block bipartisan legislation to update and modernize our nation’s intelligence laws, West Virginia Republican Party Chairman Doug McKinney released the following statement:“It’s now been more than a week since liberal Democrats like Nancy Pelosi, Nick Rahall and Alan Mollohan ignored the warnings of our intelligence community and allowed the bipartisan Protect America Act to expire.“As Congress reconvenes this week, will Rahall and Mollohan join a bipartisan majority of the Senate, Blue Dog Democrats and House Republicans in giving our intelligence community the tools they need to monitor foreign terrorists? Or will they acquiesce to liberal interest groups and their trial lawyer buddies who fill their campaign coffers?"Senate Democrats like Senator Rockefeller have joined with Blue Dog Democrats and House Republicans to protect American lives and modernize our intelligence gathering capabilities. While Senator Rockefeller has shown a commitment to real bipartisanship, Rahall and Mollohan are apparently content to put liberal special interests before the security of West Virginians."
McKinney: Rahall and Mollohan put America at greater risk
DOUG McKINNEY
As reported by the Charleston Daily Mail, "A bill up for a House vote this week would increase compensation for days that legislative leaders work when they're not in session. These per diem payments would triple to $150 for the House speaker and Senate president, and double to $50 for the party leaders in each chamber." Travel pay would also go from $115 to $131 per day.Lawmakers should not only have a per diem adjustment, but an overall salary hike. Not only do they work enough to deserve it, but a better salary would attract a wider field of candidates who now avoid the process because they cannot afford to take off work to serve in Charleston.More $$ for lawmakers a good idea all around
Caruth, GOP lead fight for tax cuts
Spurred by Senate Republican Leader Don Caruth, the GOP is leading the fight for tax cuts, including the acceleration of incremental tax cuts favored by the Manchin administration.On Monday, Caruth successfully amended an administration bill that would have reduced the corporate net income tax from 8.75 to 6.5 by 2014. Caruth's amendment chops two years off the waiting period for the reduction to take effect.Caruth out-debated Democrat Senator Brooks McCabe in carrying the day with colleagues, something seldom seen in the Senate.
Meanwhile, a Republican plan to freeze property taxes for senior citizens will apparently survive in the Senate after Democrat Sen. John Unger, who introduced the GOP plan, said a compromise has been reached with the Manchin administration. The test for the bill will come when it moves to the House, where Manchin could still work to kill the measure.