Redstate

Posted at 8:29pm on Jun. 10, 2008 Compare and Contrast

By Erick

Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK) will not endorse Barack obama. Why? He says Obama is too liberal. In fact, he told the Associated Press that Obama was "the most liberal senator" and he wanted to respect the wishes of his constituents.

Of course he'll vote for Obama, but at least he respects his conservative constituents.

Contrast that behavior with Nick Lampson (TX-22), the most endangered Democrat in Congress. He's all aboard the Obama train. He does not really care about his constituents. Lampson just wants to stay in Washington.

[UPDATE by Moe Lane]: I would also like to note this post - specifically, the update - by Jake Tapper. While I understand the need to push back on potentially embarrassing statements made by others, it's just a little odd that the Obama campaign feels the need to do it to those on Obama's own side. Particularly now that he's been declared the nominee, and everything.

Posted in 2008 | Dan Boren | Nick Lampson | Oklahoma | Texas | TX-22 — Comments (7)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:32am on Apr. 29, 2008 Pass the Colombia trade pact

By Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

President Reagan once observed, "The way to prosperity for all nations is rejecting protectionist legislation and promoting fair and free competition."
On April 10, the U.S. House speaker indefinitely blocked a vote on the pending Colombia Free Trade Agreement. The action by the Democrats sends the wrong message to trade partners around the world and squanders an opportunity to help Americans shouldering the burden of unemployment and a stalling economy.

Indeed, failure to ratify the trade agreement with Colombia denies economic growth opportunities for both the United States and Colombia, stifles competition and undermines efforts to create a safer, more stable world.

Economically, enactment of the agreement would level the playing field and foster fair trade by removing the costly tariffs levied on U.S. exporters trying to sell their goods in Colombian markets. The U.S. International Trade Commission projects that the deal would increase U.S. exports to Colombia by $1.1 billion a year, which in turn will create jobs for American workers.

In 2007, America exported high-quality beef, cotton, wheat, soybeans, fruits, vegetables and other goods to Colombia, with sales valued at $8.6 billion.

Although Colombia was able to export goods into the U.S. duty-free, American businesses and producers are still obligated to pay tariffs on exports to Colombia. The U.S. trade representative estimates that, since negotiations on the trade pact were completed in 2006, American products have been taxed nearly $1 billion in tariffs paid to Colombia. By eliminating this inequity, producers in the U.S. will have greater access to this lucrative market.

This would particularly benefit Texas, which led the nation in merchandise exports to Colombia last year, resulting in $2.3 billion in revenue for the state.

Read on . . .

Posted in Columbia | Foreign Affairs | Free Trade | Texas — Comments (27)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:25pm on Apr. 7, 2008 Lightening the Burden for Texas Taxpayers

By Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman once observed that “Congress can raise taxes because it can persuade a sizable fraction of the populace that somebody else will pay.”
 
Today’s tax burden on American families is too high.  Yet many in Congress are trying to take even more money out of the pockets of taxpayers, and pour it into the vaults of big government.  The fact is that everyone pays for higher taxes – whether it’s directly through tax withholdings, or indirectly through higher prices through goods and services.
 
With rising costs to fill-up a gas tank or put food on the family dinner table, increasing taxes will only further strain family budgets.  In the Senate, I am committed to fighting tax hikes so that on Tax Day, April 15, Texans are not overburdened.
 
For example, the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) has become a perennial point of tax debate.  The AMT was established by Congress in 1969 to prevent a small number of high-income individuals from using large deductions to evade paying their federal income taxes.  Although created to address a few unusual instances, the AMT was never indexed for inflation, and as a result has impacted more and more Americans as family incomes have risen.  In 2001, the AMT affected 1.8 million taxpayers.  By 2010, this number will rise to more than thirty million. 
 
In an effort to address this problem, Congress raised the exemption amount to $42,500 for single taxpayers and $62,550 for married taxpayers in 2006. When the patch expired at the end of 2007, several of my Senate colleagues and I fought for, and won, another extension.  That means that more than 23 million taxpayers will not be hit with a $1,700 tax increase on their 2007 returns.
 
There is much more to be done to keep Texans’ taxes low.  

Read on . . .

Posted in Taxes | Texas — Comments (1)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:45pm on Mar. 19, 2008 Paul to GOP: Why don't you Neocon Constitution-haters like me?

Is it the hat? Or the McCain bashing?

By Neil Stevens

Representative Ron Paul, Republican nominee for Congress in Texas district 14, believes there is a 'New Right' conspiracy against him in the GOP.

Despite the fact that he shifted effort from his Presidential campaign to ensure he beat the mainstream Republican, Chris Peden, in the Texas 14 primary, and that he still has neither endorsed John McCain for President nor even acknowledged that he needs to work with McCain to ensure Republican victory in November, Paul thinks the burden is on the party to come to him.

Read on...

Posted in 2008 | John McCain | Republicans | Ron Paul | Texas | Texas 14 | The International Neocon Conspiracy — Comments (26)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:06pm on Mar. 4, 2008 Remind Your Friends in Texas to Vote Today

By Tex Whitley

It's Election Day in Texas! Besides a Presidential race, there are several other important Republican primaries in Texas today. Erick highlighted CD-22 yesterday, a race so close that it will surely head to a runoff, but there are other important contests today as well.

Posted in 2008 | Texas — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 3:43pm on Feb. 29, 2008 Four days before primary election, Hillary Clinton threatening to sue over Texas Democrats' delegate selection process

Hey, something's gotta give *somewhere*....doesn't it?

By Jeff Emanuel

"The Texas Democratic Party is warning that its primary night caucuses could be delayed or disrupted after aides to White House hopeful Hillary Clinton raised the specter of an "imminent" lawsuit over its complicated delegate selection process," reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The paper managed to obtain a letter sent late Thursday to the Clinton and Obama campaigns by Chad Dunn, the Texas Democrat Party's attorney, which "warned that a lawsuit could ruin the Democrats' effort to re-energize voters just as they are turning out in record numbers."

Said the letter:

It has been brought to my attention that one or both of your campaigns may already be planning or intending to pursue litigation against the Texas Democratic Party. ...Such action could prove to be a tragedy for a reinvigorated Democratic process.

Democrat party officials confirmed -- on condition of anonymity -- that "the Clinton campaign in particular had warned of an impending lawsuit," and that "Clinton's political director, Guy Cecil, had pointedly raised the possibility of a courtroom battle."

More below the fold.

Posted in 2008 | Democrat infighting | Hillary Clinton | lawsuits | Texas — Comments (69)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:44am on Feb. 26, 2008 Obama Overtakes Hillary In Texas

Get The Fork Ready

By California Yankee

It's starting to look like next Tuesday could be Hillary's last stand.

A new CNN /Opinion Research poll finds Obama ahead of Hillary Clinton Texas 50%-46%. In a similar poll taken a week before, Hillary held a 50%-48% lead.

Keep in mind these numbers are within the polls sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points for Democratic respondents, so statistically, the race is a virtual tie.

The poll was conducted February 22-24.

Even Bill Clinton concedes that a loss in Texas or Ohio would doom Hillary's candidacy:

"If she wins Texas and Ohio I think she will be the nominee. If you don't deliver for her, I don't think she can be. It's all on you," the former president told the audience at the beginning of his speech.

Yesterday, Hillary advisor Harold Ickes, "dropped a hint that March 4 will produce a decision point":

"I think if we lose in Texas and Ohio, Mrs. Clinton will have to make her decisions as to whether she moves forward or not," he said. He paused, then added: "as she has at the end of every other state."

According to the Houston Chronicle, Ickes would not go as far as Bill Clinton and proclaim Texas and Ohio must-win states:

"I wouldn't want to fly in the face of President Clinton," Ickes said. "What I will say is it is important that she do very, very well."

There is still a week before the Texas primary, but unless Hillary pulls off one of those miracles Mike Hukabee is still looking for, we can stick the fork in this campaign.

Posted in 2008 | Democrats | Hillary Clinton | Texas — Comments (47)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:07am on Feb. 25, 2008 God Bless Texas

By Erick

A week from tomorrow, Texas will either prolong the bloody battle for the Democratic nomination or give the nomination to a self-admitted former cokehead. Either way, we should thank Texas.

Let's presume, if we will, that Texas goes for Barack Hussein Obama, a name that is not quite poll tested and mother approved. That presumption is not a safe one because even now the forces of Clinton are going into hispanic communities and churches to remind them that hispanics would be minority number one in a Clinton administration and minority number three in an Obama administration, behind blacks and everybody else. With thirty percent of the voting strength in the Texas Democratic Primary, Hispanics could help Hillary pull it off.

In any event, I presume Obama will win. And we should delight in his victory. Hillary has been too timid to throw a punch. We will not be.

We will remind people that Obama admitted using cocaine. While the left loves to accuse George Bush of doing the same, one of these two men wrote a book and admitted he did so. And that man's name is not Bush.

We will point out that when Obama was in the Illinois Senate he voted to allow porn shops to open within 1,000 feet of churches and elementary schools.

Likewise, Obama voted against trying high school students as adults if they committed gun crimes on school grounds — I'm sure the folks in Colorado will love that vote.

Obama says he only wants gun owners to be able to use their guns for sport and he has a record to prove it. Obama supported allowing criminals to sue their victims if their victims shot them.

Crucially, for those pro-life voters who right now seem to be fawning over Obama, we'll remind them that he is to the left of Hillary on abortion — going so far as to oppose the Born Alive Infant Protection Act.

For years the Democrats have tried to get away from the anti-gun, big government, high tax, abortion on demand liberal label. They've gone so far as to rebrand themselves progressive. Obama champions the failed schemes of the last one hundred years, repeatedly rejected by the voters, to fix what he claims are the failed policies of the last eight years. The Democrats, God bless 'em, are about to hand us the prototypical liberal boogeyman as their nominee.

By the time it's all over, the only defense Obama is going to have is to resort to the standard liberal playbook and scream racism when anyone dares point out his voting record. And the public we have not heard from year, the public that swings elections but generally does not engage in primaries, are going to come running to John McCain begging him to save the nation from the liberal anti-gun former cokehead whose feminist wife hates America.

America has rejected liberalism. Obama thinks he can repackage it in new rhetoric and move it to the left of Hillary. He cannot. I relish the fight against the man who has no problem with porn shops across the street from elementary schools and terrorist leaders in the White House. That'll go over real well.

The only thing better than an Obama candidacy is a Hillary one after a bloody primary fight. As a result, God bless Texas.

Posted in 2008 | Clinton | McCain | Obama | Texas — Comments (142)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:47am on Feb. 16, 2008 For Those Who Believe The Race For The Democratic Nomination Is Over . . .

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Get a load of this:

When Election 2008 began, long before the first votes were cast, Senator Hillary Clinton led in the national polls but trailed Barack Obama in the key state of Iowa. Many remarked upon the difference between those national and state numbers. At Rasmussen Reports, we noted that if Clinton won Iowa, she could wrap up the nomination. On the other hand, if Obama won Iowa, he would have the chance to make his case but there would be no clear frontrunner.

Today, the situation is reversed. Obama leads nationally in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll and can wrap up the nomination with victories in the key states of Ohio and Texas. Clinton needs to win those states to keep her campaign alive. Yesterday, Rasmussen Reports released polling data showing Clinton with a double-digit lead in Ohio and the latest Rasmussen Reports polling in Texas also shows the former First Lady on top in the Lone Star State. Clinton attracts 54% of the vote in Texas while Obama earns 38% with nearly three weeks to go until Election Day.

If Clinton is able to win in both Texas and Ohio, the race for delegates will be just about even and there will be new talking points for the Superdelegates to consider before reaching a decision.

Nothing is certain on this issue because there remain a number of undecided voters. But nothing is settled either. We still have ourselves a race on the Democratic side. And before a nominee is determined, that race could turn very bloody indeed.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton | Ohio | Texas — Comments (4)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:18am on Apr. 18, 2007 Them Targetted Dems

By Erick

How are the Freshman Democrat Blue Dogs doing? These are the men and women who beat Republicans in Republican leaning seats and promised to be Republicans without the corruption. Well, Robert Novak has a report card.

Thus far, Gabrielle Giffords, Harry Mitchell, Joe Donnelly, Brad Ellsworth, Nancy Boyda, Heath Shuler, Charlie Wilson, Chris Carney, Jason Altmire, and Nick Lampson have disappointed. In fact, Lampson failed to vote on either the GOP proposed budget or the Democrat budget. And sadly, Gabrielle Giffords, Nancy Boyda, Chris Carney, and Jason Altmire voted in lock step with the Democrats from embryo killing research to eliminating the secret ballot in the workplace.

Chris Carney, whose district gave Bush 60% of its vote and Nick Lampson whose district gave Bush 64% of its vote have both voted in lock step with Nancy Pelosi on every issue, other than Lampson bailing on budget votes.

As Robert Novak notes

By winning a term in 2006 to represent a Republican district, each of the Democratic moderate freshmen earned two years to convince GOP voters that Democrats can look after their interests just as well as Republicans. But to the extent that each votes and thinks Democratic, each also risks a short career that could be over as soon as 2008.

You can read the whole article here.

Posted in Arizona | Indiana | Kansas | North Carolina | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Targets | Targetted Seats | Texas — Comments (6)/ Email this page » / Read More »