Archive for January 27th, 2010

Obama to America: You’re Stupid – By Ron Miller

Ron Miller for State Senate

Obama to America: You’re Stupid

In the wake of what some of my friends are calling the “Massachusetts Miracle,” the Democrats are now acknowledging the widespread voter anger that has been at their very doorstep for a year now but which they’ve chosen to either ignore, dismiss or criticize as the ravings of a racist, zenophobic fringe group.

Lest you think, however, the results and analysis of the special election have resulted in a little humility and self-examination on the part of the Democrats and their leaders, think again. The stream of words coming out of Washington to explain the Brown win runs fast and deep, but the central theme is unmistakable.

They think we’re stupid.

As a public service, allow me to translate for you what their statements really mean so you’ll get my point.

Obama: “People are angry and they are frustrated…Not just because of what’s happened in the last year or two years, but what’s happened over the last eight years.”

Translation: “I’ll blame George Bush. That always works!”

Us: Blaming Bush is getting really old, really fast. We didn’t get “angry” and “frustrated” until you started spending our tax dollars like a teenager with Daddy’s credit card. You’re the one who ran up the largest one-year deficit in history. You’re the one who promised us jobs with all this spending, only to see unemployment rise to 10 percent. You’re the one who wants to spend even more on this huge health bill. We keep saying, “Stop spending!” and you’re not listening to us.

How about this one?

Obama: “If there’s one thing that I regret this year is that we were so busy just getting stuff done and dealing with the immediate crises that were in front of us that I think we lost some of that sense of speaking directly to the American people about what their core values are and why we have to make sure those institutions are matching up with those values.”

Translation: “They obviously haven’t been listening to my awesome speaking voice telling them what to believe because, if they had, they’d fall for me just like they did in 2004 and 2008.”

Us: Are you kidding? You’ve given 411 speeches or remarks, including two prime time speeches before joint sessions of Congress, 42 news conferences, 158 interviews and held 23 Town Hall meetings. Can you say “overexposure”? You’re like the American tourist overseas who thinks the natives will understand you if you just speak louder and slower. We hear you, Mr. President – we just don’t like what you’re saying.

Scott Brown campaigned on a promise to stop the health bill – remember, I don’t use the words “care” or “reform” because it’s neither. He was clear and unequivocal on that point, and every voter in Massachusetts understood his intentions. Exit polls revealed that opposition to the Democrats’ health bill was key to his victory. How does Obama respond to the clear rejection of his health agenda from a state that clearly understands the issue, thanks to their own floundering experiment with universal health coverage?

Obama: “Well, here’s what I know is that when they actually find out what’s in the proposals for insurance reform, for making sure that we’re making health care more affordable, those specific provisions are actually very popular.”

Translation: “I’m going to pass something – I don’t care what these idiots think. I’m smarter than they are. Besides, I’ll go down in history as the one who finally got health care done. I can rub it in Bill and Hillary’s face that I did it when they couldn’t.”

Us: Hello, McFly? You’re either arrogant or delusional. We already know what’s in the bill. We’ve probably read it more than you or your cronies in Congress. We’ve had months to analyze this thing from every conceivable angle, and guess what? WE DON’T WANT IT!

What did we say when we kicked Martha Coakley, the Kennedy heir apparent, to the curb? WE DON’T WANT IT!

What was our message in Virginia and New Jersey when we threw out Democratic governors and replaced them with Republicans? WE DON’T WANT IT!

Now you know what they’re really thinking when they try to inundate you with words.

The truth is the health bill is an essential step toward the liberal Holy Grail of single-payer health care, and they’re afraid if they can’t get it done with a Democratic President, and both houses of Congress under Democratic control, they’ll never get it done. That’s a bitter pill for them to swallow.

Don’t expect them, then, to change course unless enough of them value their coveted positions in Washington more than being enshrined in the Liberal Hall of Fame.

We don’t need a translator for our message to Washington, a message we need to repeat over and over again for the next several months so they can’t say they didn’t hear it:

“If you pass this garbage heap of a health bill, instead of starting over and letting free people and free markets achieve real health care reform, we will send you home in November – bank on it.”

Dems in Annapolis Looking to the Internet Taxation Again – State could lose revenues in multi-state tax compact


Monday, January 25, 2010

State could lose revenues in multi-state tax compact

http://www.marylandreporter.com/page5504138.aspx

Delegate Christopher B Shank responded on his Facebook by stating:

Chris Shank Last session, we successfully fought and killed a bill that would have imposed a sales tax on the internet transactions. Instead they had the Comptroller “study” the issue. The report came back that imposing what they call a “streamlined sales tax agreement” (scary huh) would actually cost the state $66 million! Guess… that’s not going anywhere! Victories like that are rare, but consider that tax increase dead for now!

Washington County Republican Club Guest Speaker – Charles Lollar for US Congress District 5 v Steny Hoyer

Charles Lollar for US Congress - District 5

Tonight, we had the honor and privilage of having Charles Lollar, Candidate for District 5, US Congressional Seat running against, we all hope, Steny Hoyer.  Let us hope that no one else jumps into the fray against Mr. Lollar, as clearly, he has a fresh voice for all of Maryland, not just the 5th District.  Mr. Lollar carries himself as a very Christian Orientated, Family Man, who chooses to empower the people to get up and get moving.  He is a fantastic motivational speaker, and it was great to finally hear him speak in person and not at a Tea Party, or through our Internet Connections.

Truly a Patriot and shaker for the party, a breathe of fresh air.  Something desperately needed in the 5th District.  It is time for Old Steny to sit back in a chair, rock away, and enjoy the Eastern Shores of Maryland.  Steny has clearly lost his direction in representing the 5th district.  He is all about himself and healthcare, not a care in the world for his district any longer.

He has lost his base and he has lost his beliefs.  No longer is Steny a man of his word, but a man who seems to be falling into the traps of Socialism, a man who once, actually represented his district, but no longer.  He has become ancient, a man with no direction, a man sunk by the corruption in Washington DC.

There is only one man who can restore the path and belief in his district, Charles Lollar.  A man of high integrity, a serviceman who has served his country proudly.  A man who has a direction, a path, and leadership skills to take his district into the next dimension of the Political Realm.

Washington got Scott Brown as it’s wakeup call, now Maryland needs to get one as well, remove Steny Hoyer, a man of tyranny from his post and bring in the new, with New Ideas, Fresh Ideas, and True Conservative Values to empower the people of his district.  We wish Charles well on his journey, and let us hope, should he win the election, that he never becomes the failing congressman that Steny Hoyer turned out to be.  A Benedict Arnold.

Has Hoyer Become the Tyrant of Southern Maryland?

Ron Miller for State Senate

Has Hoyer Become the Tyrant of Southern Maryland?

By Ron Miller

What’s Happened to Hoyer?

I recently attended an event for Charles Lollar, a friend and fellow Republican from Charles County who has filed to run against House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer for the 5th District’s seat in the U.S. Congress. While there, I joined in on a conversation between two women who attended the town hall meeting Hoyer held last summer in Waldorf on the health bill. These women could have been your relatives, neighbors or someone you’d sit next to in church – these weren’t rabble rousers or troublemakers.

One remarked how offended she and her friends were at Hoyer’s treatment of them during the town hall meeting. I commented that I saw some of the news reports about the meeting, and that I’d written a column prior to the meeting predicting it would be a waste of time for anyone opposed to this massive federal government intervention in the health sector of our economy.

Hoyer was arrogant and rude to those who didn’t already agree with him…

She replied that what was reported in the news was nothing compared to what happened in person. She said Hoyer was arrogant and rude to those who didn’t already agree with him, and he had a bunch of union muscle there to intimidate these average citizens looking to petition their Congressman in accordance with their rights under the First Amendment. A lot of people who were fence-sitters when it came to politics left that meeting as activists, dedicated to defeating Steny Hoyer this fall.

A friend of mine, formerly from Prince George’s County, recently retired with his wife to rural Georgia. Even there, he indicated, Hoyer was causing trouble. I’ll let this excerpt from the article he sent me speak for itself:

Dr. Chris Cates says he started thinking about running for Congress soon after a meeting with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., last June.

Cates, a heart doctor from Blairsville who is vice president of the Interventional Cardiology Society, is running as a Republican. He was part of a group of doctors meeting with congressional leaders on health care reform.

Cates said the doctors, all leaders of organizations representing various medical specialties, told Hoyer they had not been consulted on health care reform and asked to be included.

“We said, ‘Mr. Hoyer, let’s work together and let’s fix health care with a patient-oriented focus and do it incrementally,’” Cates said.

“He said, ‘You doctors better get on board or we will crush you,’” said Cates.

Of course, there was the infamous USA Today op-ed piece he co-authored with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in which he used the phrase “un-American” to describe the angry protesters who were showing up at town hall meetings around the country, demanding to be heard.

All of this leads me to ask the question, “What’s happened to Steny Hoyer?” This is a man who I’ve almost never agreed with on anything, but who I considered a savvy politician who knew how to speak to people, even those who disagreed with him, and leave them feeling like they’d been heard.

Has the lack of serious opposition to his electoral chances made him so comfortable that he feels he can … treat people in whatever manner he chooses?

Has the lack of serious opposition to his electoral chances made him so comfortable that he feels he can say whatever he wants, or treat people in whatever manner he chooses? He’s faced only one serious challenge since winning election to the U.S. Congress in 1981, and 29 years safely ensconced in one place can make one seem impervious to harm.

Still, there are enough moderate and conservative Republicans, Democrats, and independents in his district for him to at least pay them lip service, as he’s pretty much done for years now. Maybe he thinks he now has an insurmountable and permanent advantage because of the black voters in Charles and Prince George’s County, and the people in St. Mary’s County he’s manipulated by linking his defeat to the possible closure of the Patuxent River Naval Air Station and the destruction of the local economy.

He reminds me of one of the reasons I’ve devoted much of my life to holding career politicians accountable, even if only through the written and spoken word.

In 1993, I petitioned the city council of Melbourne, Florida to change their zoning laws to permit home-based businesses. My wife was doing translation and interpretation work part-time from home, and we needed a business license to get a bank account, and qualify for other business services. I’m proud to say I was singularly responsible for getting the Melbourne city council to change their ordinances, and my efforts even received national recognition among home-based business advocates and in home-based business publications.

What struck me during the numerous proceedings I attended, however, was how these elected officials, who served at the pleasure of the people, treated me and others who came to them with issues. They sat at the dais and looked down at us as we made our respective cases, forbade us to speak unless spoken to, and didn’t allow us to answer questions even when we knew the answers and they were fumbling to come up with them. At the time, I felt like a serf standing before a chamber of medieval masters, and it infuriated me.

Today’s politicians seem to think they are the bosses and we must bow to their will, and they couldn’t be more wrong.

Their arrogance and the condescension with which they treat everyday citizens are at the heart of the Tea Party movement, and the unrest the pollsters are measuring out there in the electorate. The vast majority of Americans who’ve built this country with their blood, toil, tears and sweat, love America unconditionally, and who have never raised their voices or marched in protest of their government in their lives, are awake and angry.

They are being ignored, belittled, even verbally assaulted by politicians who’ve forgotten their positional relationship with the voters, and whose “loyal” constituents, residing in the echo chamber in which they spend most of their time, aren’t as numerous or committed as they like to think. A lot of the people who make public appearances on behalf of these career elected officials are either political activists, people whose influence is determined by how much they receive or extort in taxpayer dollars, or people who are paid by unions or other special interest groups to be there.

One of the more humorous YouTube videos from the special election in Massachusetts is the one where a man holding a sign in support of Democrat Martha Coakley reveals he’s there because they paid him for his time, and he’s planning to vote for her opponent, Republican and eventual victor Scott Brown!

Steny Hoyer is miscalculating if he thinks he can treat everyday Marylanders any way he wishes and escape unscathed.

Steny Hoyer is miscalculating if he thinks he can treat everyday Marylanders any way he wishes and escape unscathed. I was the master of ceremonies for the first Tea Party in Maryland on March 22nd, and I marveled as I walked through the crowd and spoke with the people. There were young people, grandparents, blue-collar and white collar workers, neighbors and friends, and they all said essentially the same thing I’ve heard at every one of these events I’ve attended:

“I’ve never done anything like this in my life, but I’m angry, I’m afraid for my country and what we’re leaving for our children and grandchildren, and I had to do something.”

This is the motivation that has everyday Americans taking to the streets. A lot of smart politicians understand this and are moderating their statements or, in many cases, deciding to leave rather than fight.

[Hoyer] chalks [the anger of the people] up to their ignorance of what they’re trying to do in Washington, and the failings of the past administration.

Hoyer hasn’t gotten the message yet. Even while acknowledging the anger of the people, he chalks it up to their ignorance of what they’re trying to do in Washington, and the failings of the past administration.

Mr. Hoyer, what has happened to you? Your political instincts have abandoned you. Calling your constituents and most of the American people ignorant is an insult, not a winning strategy. And in case you hadn’t noticed, George W. Bush left the building over a year ago, and didn’t have squat to do with the $1 trillion plus you’ve spent of money we don’t have, or the expensive, intrusive, overreaching legislation you’ve promoted since he returned to Texas.

Take a lesson from a veteran; leaders don’t blame or make excuses. Leaders lead. If you haven’t persuaded the people of the goodness of your plans, that not a “them” problem; it’s a “you” problem.

http://somd.com/news/headlines/2010/11156.shtml

Ron Miller, of Huntingtown, is a military veteran, conservative writer and activist, former and current candidate for the District 27 Maryland Senate seat, communications director for the Calvert County Republican Party, and executive director of Regular Folks United, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.  Ron is a regular contributor to RegularFolksUnited.com, American Thinker, and RedCounty.com. You can also follow Ron on his website TeamRonMiller.com, as well as Twitter andFacebook.

Democrats fall as fast as Nixon Republicans in 1974

Democrats fall as fast as Nixon Republicans in 1974

By: MICHAEL BARONE
Senior Political Analyst
January 27, 2010

Republican Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts’ special Senate election was for Democratic leaders a moment that can be described in two words, of which I will only print the first here, which is “oh.”

Left-wing bloggers, liberal columnists and the stray Nobel Prize winner-turned polemicist are all urging Democrats in Congress to pass, somehow, some way, a health care bill, and many of them are calling for a second and even larger stimulus bill.

Michael Barone, The Examiner’s senior political analyst, can be contacted atmbarone@washingtonexaminer.com. His columns appear Wednesday and Sunday, and his stories and blog posts appear on ExaminerPolitics.com.

Powerball game available in Md. starting Sunday

Maryland

Powerball game available in Md. starting Sunday

http://herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=238635&format=html

Obama to Seek Spending Freeze to Trim Deficits

Published: January 25, 2010 Obama to Seek Spending Freeze to Trim Deficits

By JACKIE CALMES

WASHINGTON — President Obama will call for a three-year freeze in spending on many domestic programs, and for increases no greater than inflation after that, an initiative intended to signal his seriousness about cutting the budget deficit, administration officials said Monday.

Doug Mills/The New York Times

Days before his address to the nation, President Obama spoke to the Middle Class Task Force on Monday at the White House.

Related

A New, Improved State of the Union?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/us/politics/26budget.html?ref=todayspaper

MD Senate Dems seek ethics, transparency reforms

JANUARY 26, 2010

MD Senate Dems seek ethics, transparency reforms

The state’s Democratic senators today announced their legislative priorities for the year. The press conference came a day after Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, laid out his legislative agenda.

The senators’ ideas hit a number of hot topics this year:

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/

Kratovil seat tilting Republican, analyst says

Kratovil seat tilting Republican, analyst says

Rep. Frank Kratovil, the congressman from the Eastern Shore, had his 2010 re-election chances downgraded today by independent analyst Stu Rothenberg.

The Maryland freshman, whose endangered status is nothing new, has been gearing up for what will likely be one of the toughest races in the country for a Democratic incumbent this fall.

His district, Maryland’s First, is now rated “Toss-Up/Tilt Republican” by Rothenberg, publisher of the Rothenberg Political Report. Previously, he had listed the race as a “Pure Toss-Up.”

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/

Legislators act to limit corporate political spending

Legislators act to limit corporate political spending

Supreme Court ruling prompts call for safeguards

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-md.campaign27jan27,0,5857050.story

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