Erick Erickson's Blog, page 34
July 11, 2012
David Dewhurst Campaign Alters Taxpayer Funded Website to Cover Up Past Support for Amnesty.
Texas Lt. Governor David Dewhurst’s Senate campaign might have just crossed a line it should not have crossed. Who else would be behind the Lt. Governor’s taxpayer funded website for his Lieutenant Governor’s Office suddenly deleting the transcript of a speech proving David Dewhurst has been lying about his position on illegal aliens?
The speech is . . . well . . . it is gone. Poof.
Again, the website is taxpayer funded and the document suddenly no longer there directly contradicted Dewhurst’s present statements on immigration in the Senate campaign.
Now, David Dewhurst adamantly claims that he opposes amnesty – even calling the recent Obama plan to grant permits to illegals who came here as children “nothing short of backdoor amnesty by executive fiat and a blatant political ploy.”
But there is one very big problem… He is lying and then covering up the facts that prove he is lying.
As the Houston Chronicle’s Peggy Fikac notes, Mr. Dewhurst just a few years ago advocated for amnesty for anyone here illegally, not just children. In a speech Dewhurst gave in 2007 down in south Texas, he said the following: “I support a guest worker program for those here today illegally. Labor and skilled workers are critical to our Texas economy.”
But here’s the interesting part. That speech was available online at the official, taxpayer-funded website for the office of the Lieutenant Governor of Texas, www.ltgov.state.tx.us until this story about this speech regarding amnesty came to light. Yet, suddenly that speech has gone missing – and even Ms. Fikac’s story has a dead link to it.
His opponent, Ted Cruz – the actual conservative in the race – has a pdf of the original screenshot here. In addition, the cached google page I found by searching for “David Dewhurst speeches Lieutenant Governor” is here, and it shows a link to the speech entitled “Mr. South Texas,” in which he made his declaration of support for amnesty.
This is, as I pointed out on Tuesday, the way Lt. Gov Dewhurst operates. His game of power – and of saying what needs to be said to get elected. In other words, he would fit right in up in Washington with the rest of the Senate “club” that has given us the deal-cutting and broken promises that has caused the mess we’re in.
This is the truth that everyone knows, but only a few are covering. Take for example this description of Dewhurst by the AEI’s Steve Hayward over at powerlineblog.com”
It became clear that he is an old fashioned petty corrupt pol who believes in using the power of government to help his friends and favored interests (he made his own personal fortune in the natural gas business). I’ve met a lot of politicians over the years, but he was perhaps the single most unappealing and offensive one I’ve ever met, in either party. Cruz is the obvious superior choice.
This is the last person we should send to the U.S. Senate if we expect change. Especially from Texas.
That is why Texas must send Ted Cruz to Washington – and every conservative in America should send Ted money to help him combat Dewhurst’s endless deep pockets.
Governor Bobby Jindal Will Be At The RedState Gathering. Will You?
That’s right, one of the most effective surrogates on the campaign trail in the primary for Rick Perry and now in the general for Mitt Romney, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal will be at the RedState Gathering.
Governor Jindal is in the news these days for opting not to expand Louisiana’s medicaid program for Obamacare. He’s also in the news as speculation grows over who Mitt Romney will pick for a running mate.
Time is running out to register for the RedState Gathering. More so, there is only about a week left to get a discount on the hotel rooms.
The RedState Gathering will be in Jacksonville, FL from August 2nd to August 5th. Go to www.redstategathering.com for more information and to register.
Morning Briefing for July 11, 2012
RedState Morning Briefing
July 11, 2012
Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.
1. Governor Bobby Jindal Will Be At The RedState Gathering. Will You?
2. Romney extends lead among Independents to 14 percent
3. Obama’s Middle Class Tax Hikes
4. Young Guns: Cantor’s PAC of Loose Cannons
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1. Governor Bobby Jindal Will Be At The RedState Gathering. Will You?
That’s right, one of the most effective surrogates on the campaign trail in the primary for Rick Perry and now in the general for Mitt Romney, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal will be at the RedState Gathering.
Governor Jindal is in the news these days for opting not to expand Louisiana’s medicaid program for Obamacare. He’s also in the news as speculation grows over who Mitt Romney will pick for a running mate.
Time is running out to register for the RedState Gathering. More so, there is only about a week left to get a discount on the hotel rooms.
The RedState Gathering will be in Jacksonville, FL from August 2nd to August 5th. Go to www.redstategathering.com for more information and to register.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. Romney extends lead among Independents to 14 percent
In the new ABC News/Washington Post poll, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney extends his lead among Independents to 14 points, 53-39 percent. Two months ago, a POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground poll found Romney had a ten-point lead among the critical Independent voters.
The mainstream media is touting the poll as showing the race is “dead even” — a 47-47 percent Obama-Romney contest among registered voters. Yet the new poll contains many more warning signs for the Obamacrats.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
3. Obama’s Middle Class Tax Hikes
While Obama is prosecuting a flaccid war overseas and apologizing for our troops when they defend against Taliban attacks, he is fighting a no-holds-barred class war at home. Once again, Obama has announced that he will orchestrate the largest tax hike in American history on those earning more than $200,000. After all, taxing the rich is a great way to raise revenue; it worked so well in Maryland. Oh, wait.
But fear not, he will renew the Bush tax cuts on those earning under $200,000, while repackaging them as his own tax cuts.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
4. Young Guns: Cantor’s PAC of Loose Cannons
One of the most perplexing organizations on the political scene this election cycle is the Young Guns Action Fund, started by two former aids to Eric Cantor. It was started last fall in an effort to support “conservative candidates for elected office who hold true to the Young Guns movement.” One would expect a PAC affiliated with the House Majority Leader to get involved in numerous general election races to help preserve and grow the Republican majority. Yet, this committee has only run independent expenditures in primaries, not in general elections.
Well, you might be thinking that there is a good reason to get involved in primaries. After all, we need to ensure that the Republican nominee is a “conservative candidate.” To that end, Young Guns has made the most bizarre choices of any political committee this cycle.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
5. Gail Collins: all hat and no cattle.
In the latest Muppets movie, the plot (such as it is) revolves about a villain seeking to destroy the Muppets’ theater. There’s oil beneath the structure, and the evil Tex Richman will stop at nothing to get it. Just in case the subtlety escapes you: he’s the bad guy because he’s rich, he’s mean, and he’s Texan.
If you’ve seen this contribution to the cinematic art, then you’ve mostly got the point of NYT columnist Gail Collins’s latest book — and in light of her recent sojourn in Austin, it’s worth a few words on it. “As Texas Goes: How the Lone Star State Hijacked the American Agenda” could have been many things: a trenchant leftward critique of the state; an exploration of Texas’s importance in American life and politics; or a stranger-in-a-strange-land travelogue. It is somewhat all of these, and fully none of them. Collins is obviously intrigued by Texas. The question is whether she understands it. “As Texas Goes” leaves one to wonder.
July 10, 2012
. . . When?
Yesterday I asked if not now, when do we get to hold Republicans accountable.
It is mind numbingly infuriating to get some of the bellyaching from people that, in effect, we never can.
I disagree. I know most of you do too. Right now, here are six congress critters we can annihilate in Republican primaries. The alternative candidates to them are far more conservative.
If you really do care about taking the country back and improving the GOP, you have no excuse. You must oppose these incumbents currently fighting it out in Republican Primaries.
Congresswoman Diane Black of Tennessee. Her opponent is Lou Ann Zelenik.
Congressman Charles Bostany of Louisiana. His opponent is Congressman Jeff Landry. They are pitted together due to redistricting.
Congressman Chuck Fleischman of Tennessee. His opponent is Scottie Mayfield.
Congressman John Mica of Florida. His opponent is Congresswoman Sandy Adams. They are pitted together due to redistricting.
Congressman Ben Quayle. His opponent is Congressman Dave Schweikert. They are pitted together due to redistricting.
Congressman Fred Upton of Michigan. His opponent is Jack Hoogendyk.
If you think we need to hold our side accountable, but you are not sure when. Well, now.
Here’s your chance to throw the bums out and replace them with better conservatives in races where the Democrats don’t have a chance.
David Limbaugh Will Be At the RedState Gathering. Will You?
David Limbaugh, author of the awesome new book The Great Destroyer is going to be at the RedState Gathering.
You are running out of time to register for the event. And you are absolutely running out of time to get a discount on your hotel room.
The event will be August 2nd through August 5th at the Omni Hotel in Jacksonville, FL.
Go to www.redstategathering.com right now to register. You only have a week or so left to be able to.
David Limbaugh, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, Florida Governor Rick Scott, and more will be there. I hope to see you there.
Morning Briefing for July 10, 2012
RedState Morning Briefing
July 10, 2012
Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.
1. David Limbaugh Will Be At the RedState Gathering. Will You?
2. . . . When?
3. The Next Epic Battle: Scott Keadle Vs Richard Hudson in NC-8
4. Newsflash – Texas State Senators “Decide” to Support Dewhurst over Cruz
———————————————————————-
1. David Limbaugh Will Be At the RedState Gathering. Will You?
David Limbaugh, author of the awesome new book The Great Destroyer is going to be at the RedState Gathering.
You are running out of time to register for the event. And you are absolutely running out of time to get a discount on your hotel room.
The event will be August 2nd through August 5th at the Omni Hotel in Jacksonville, FL.
Go to www.redstategathering.com right now to register. You only have a week or so left to be able to.
David Limbaugh, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, Florida Governor Rick Scott, and more will be there. I hope to see you there.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. . . . When?
Yesterday I asked if not now, when do we get to hold Republicans accountable.
It is mind numbingly infuriating to get some of the bellyaching from people that, in effect, we never can.
I disagree. I know most of you do too. Right now, here are six congress critters we can annihilate in Republican primaries. The alternative candidates to them are far more conservative.
If you really do care about taking the country back and improving the GOP, you have no excuse. You must oppose these incumbents currently fighting it out in Republican Primaries.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
3. The Next Epic Battle: Scott Keadle Vs Richard Hudson in NC-8
With the Wisconsin recall behind us and the Texas Senate race scheduled for the end of the month, we must remember that there is an important battle taking place in North Carolina next Tuesday.
Conservative Scott Keadle – who has been endorsed by Red State, the Club for Growth, Citizens United, and the Madison Project – will be facing off against establishment-hack Richard Hudson in a runoff-election to face faux blue dog Democrat Larry Kissell in North Carolina District 8. This is a conservative district and is ripe for picking this November; however, we must pick off the seat with the right Republican.
Please click here for the rest of the post.
4. Newsflash – Texas State Senators “Decide” to Support Dewhurst over Cruz
For a guy who says he will go to Washington as a “conservative” and fight against the establishment, it sure is curious to see Texas Lt. Governor David Dewhurst lining up the Texas establishment to defend him in his race for U.S. Senate against the actual conservative, Ted Cruz.
Dewhurst has the support of very few people outside of Austin. Think about it. His most powerful endorsement is that of Rick Perry – which while sad, is understandable given that Perry has worked with him for 10 years. Who else? Well, a whole helluva lot of Austin lobbyists – who know full well that if Dewhurst loses, they have to deal with him as the head of the Texas Senate to get bills passed.
And now – holy cow, out of the blue – we have 18 of the 19 Senators in the Texas Senate coming out in defense of Lt. Governor (and therefore, Presiding officer of the Senate) Dewhurst…
Wonders never cease. What’s even more wondrous about the letter is that the state senators did not even write the letter. According to the metadata of the PDF’ed letter, Michael Grimes, an Austin lobbyist wrote the letter. How very Charlie Crist of David Dewhurst.
July 9, 2012
Newsflash – Texas State Senators “Decide” to Support Dewhurst over Cruz
For a guy who says he will go to Washington as a “conservative” and fight against the establishment, it sure is curious to see Texas Lt. Governor David Dewhurst lining up the Texas establishment to defend him in his race for U.S. Senate against the actual conservative, Ted Cruz.
Dewhurst has the support of very few people outside of Austin. Think about it. His most powerful endorsement is that of Rick Perry – which while sad, is understandable given that Perry has worked with him for 10 years. Who else? Well, a whole helluva lot of Austin lobbyists – who know full well that if Dewhurst loses, they have to deal with him as the head of the Texas Senate to get bills passed.
And now – holy cow, out of the blue – we have 18 of the 19 Senators in the Texas Senate coming out in defense of Lt. Governor (and therefore, Presiding officer of the Senate) Dewhurst…
Wonders never cease. What’s even more wondrous about the letter is that the state senators did not even write the letter. According to the metadata of the PDF’ed letter, Michael Grimes, an Austin lobbyist wrote the letter. How very Charlie Crist of David Dewhurst.
You reckon there are any arms being twisted in Austin?
Meanwhile, Cruz has overwhelming grassroots support from all over the state of Texas and beyond. For example, Ted has received almost 38,000 contributions… about 10 times as many donations as Dewhurst’s 3854 – with an average size of $167 vs. $1654 for Dewhurst. His contributions come from 865 Texas cities compared to 265 for Dewhurst.
And best of all – Dewhurst likes to criticize Ted for receiving the endorsement of the likes of Jim DeMint, the Club for Growth and Sarah Palin – calling them “outsiders.”
This race will be about money for ads coming down the stretch, and getting out the vote. If you are in Texas – vote, and take your friends to vote. And wherever you live – send money to help Ted combat Dewhurst’s endless personal wealth and campaign self-funding…
Ken Cuccinelli Will Be at the RedState Gathering
Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia’s Attorney General and a hero to so many of us for his conservative convictions and race to the courthouse the moment Obamacare was signed to file suit against it, is going to join us at the RedState Gathering.
Yep. You won’t want to miss him.
Time is running out to register. Heck, time is running out to get a discount on the hotel rate. You only have a few more days for that. Go to www.redstategathering.com right now to register. It’ll be in Jacksonville, FL on August 2nd through the 5th.
See you there!
Dear Governors, Rick Perry Joins Governors Scott, Jindal, and Haley Showing You The Way
Rick Perry is joining Governors Nikki Haley, Rick Scott, and Bobby Jindal in leading the way for other governors in the United States, some of whom — even Republicans, are starting to get cold feet on the issue of exchanges and medicaid.
Rick Perry is drawing a line in the sand and giving Washington a “hell no.”
Under Governor Perry, Texas will not create state healthcare exchanges and will not expand medicaid. He is joining Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina.
If anyone was in doubt, we in Texas have no intention to implement so-called state exchanges or to expand Medicaid under Obamacare, I will not be party to socializing healthcare and bankrupting my state in direct contradiction to our Constitution and our founding principles of limited government.
God bless Texas.
And may I point out that RedState supported Rick Scott, Nikki Haley, Bobb Jindal, and Rick Perry for their elections. Elections matter.
If Not Now . . .
Despite making clear that I was not advocating a third party, but rather recognizing that one will spring up if the Republican leadership does not pay attention to the state of its own party, many not only assumed wrongly my advocacy, but resorted to the worn out argument of the Republican leaders over several generations — “we must fight the Democrats first” or the variant “the top priority is beating Barack Obama.”
The problem with this argument is it never ends. How many more trillion dollars must we add to the national debt before the “wait and focus on the other side first” crowd wakes up to what they have enabled?
When George Bush decided to pass Ted Kennedy’s No Child Left Behind plan as his own, conservatives were told they needed to rally and help the President, given his victory while losing the popular vote. We needed unity.
After steel tariffs for Pennsylvania, “hush,” we were told because we were trying to set the stage for a re-election.
Then came the prescription drug benefit and we better not challenge the President because … 9/11 … patriotism … build the party.
He nominated Harriet Miers and more than half the conservative establishment beclowned themselves standing with him.
Then came immigration reform and those who disagreed from the right were racists. Solidarity!
TARP . . . the General Motors bailout . . . still Republicans told Republicans we couldn’t hold our own side accountable because we needed to fight the left “and oh my goodness litmus tests!!!!!”
Earmarks? “Litmus tests!!!!” and “pshaw, they’re just a little teeny-tiny piece of the budget.”
That was some time around $10 trillion in national debt.
Then the GOP began cutting deals with Barack Obama. “Trust them,” others said, “they have a plan.” The tea party led them to victory and the tea party congressmen started voting just like their leadership. The debt ceiling increased, spending expanded, Pledge to Nowhere pledges were breached, and still we hear “we have to fight the other side first.”
And then there was the Senate variant, “Oh Mitch McConnell had to do that or else Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and . . . and . . . and . . .”
Friends, at what point do we hold our side accountable? $20 trillion in debt? $50 trillion in debt? Contrary to what some of you want to think, it was not the Democrats who got us to $16 trillion in national debt. It was bipartisan. Some of it legitimate, much of it not, and all to the tune of “let’s focus on the Democrats instead. They’re the real bad guys here.”
The leaders of the GOP give lip service to smaller government but just last week shut down legitimate private businesses to feed the leviathan more tax revenue. Republicans in the House of Representatives are now urging candidates not to sign the ATR tax pledge and Republicans in the Senate are cutting deals that will boost revenue because — deficits. And still they add to the debt.
So if not now, when? Not until we’re all speaking Chinese apparently.
If the conservative movement cannot fight on two fronts, we’re screwed. But some of you will be okay with that as long as its an elephant and not a donkey screwing you.
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