Marco Rubio speaks at the Reagan Library

See for yourselves why Senator Rubio is considered a conservative darling. He was invited to speak at the Reagan Library by none other than Nancy Reagan herself.

Here are a couple of tidbits from the Q&A session. Senator Rubio was asked how to turn “our liberal friends” away from government spending. His response:

“I think they are Americans who love their country, who want a nation of prosperity and compassion, who think government is the only institution that can do that. And the truth is that, there is no nation on Earth that has been able to do that.
“It’s not because they’re ill-intentioned, and they don’t love America, it’s because they’re wrong. The truth is on our side.”

When asked how government should shape children into citizens, Rubia put the responsibility squarely where it belongs: with family and community, then added:

Our rights don’t come from our government; our rights come from our God. Rights come from God. Government’s job is to protect those rights. Those are the founding principles of our nation. Without that principle in place, the American Revolution was just another colonial rebellion.

Hatch not ruling out 2018 run

Chris Vanocur of ABC4 did an exclusive interview with Senator Orrin Hatch this week. It was the first interview since Congressman Jason Chaffetz announced he was not running for the US Senate.

Vanocur asked about Jim Matheson as a possible opponent. Hatch replied that he was good friends with Jim and that he didn’t think he would run. Just like Hatch didn’t think Chaffetz would run. And like he doesn’t think anyone else will run. Because everyone knows you don’t run against the juggernaut, right?

Vanocur then followed up by asking the Senator if he won next year, would he run again in 2018?

ABC 4: “Will that be it? Will that be your last term?”

Senator Hatch: “Well, let me put it to you this way…”

For those playing at home, that was neither a yes or a no answer.

So, we asked the senator again.

ABC 4: “That almost sounds like, if you’re reelected, you would leave open the option of running for another term after that?”

Senator: Hatch: “Well, I think it’s too early to make any decision there. It’s unlikely I would run again but I wouldn’t foreclose it.”

So there you have it folks – 36 years is not enough for Senator Hatch. 42 years may not be enough. At what point does Utah step up and say “Enough is enough?”

Wall Street Journal: What Austerity?

Wednesday’s Wall Street Jouranl contained an editorial piece titled “What Austerity?”

The very pointed piece starts like this:

 
With the recovery sputtering, the White House and its allies have been blaming government spending cuts, or what the neo-Keynesians call “fiscal contraction.” This is a dubious economic theory even if spending were being cut, but yesterday’s mid-year report from the Congressional Budget Office shows definitively that there’s been nothing close to contraction in Washington.
 
That’s the real news in the CBO numbers, which show that spending in fiscal 2011 (which ends on September 30) will hit a new high of $3.6 trillion, up $141 billion from 2010. That’s higher than the previous record in 2009 of $3.5 trillion, which was supposed to be the peak of the “temporary” stimulus spending.
 

Ouch. Did you realize that total federal outlays have increased by about one-third in just four years, something unmatched since the “Great Inflation” of the 1970′s.

The piece continues:

Give President Obama and the two Pelosi Congresses credit for this much: They said they would spend our way out of recession, and they sure gave it the old Beltway try. The problem is that we got the spending without the promised economic growth.

Double-ouch. Spending is up again, and while there are relatively modest increases in military spending (and make no mistake – defense spending absolutely needs to be scrutinized) the biggest increases are “Medicare, Medicaid, and the usual panoply of entitlements and other payments to individuals.”
 
Referencing the recent CBO report, the authors point out that the slightly sunnier picture (very slight) is “based on assumptions that will never come true.” It assumes, they said, that federal spending will suddenly come to a screeching halt and grow by only $12 billion in 2012. Right. Both Obama and the Demorat-controlled Senate want to INCREASE spending.
 
They continue:

The rest of CBO’s fantasy forecast comes from what it says will be “the sharp increases in revenues that will occur when provisions of [the Bush era tax cuts extended last year] expire.” So CBO estimates that federal taxes as a share of GDP will leap to 19% in 2013 and 20.2% in 2014 from 15.3% today. And we are supposed to believe that economic growth will soar to 4.4% and 5% in 2014 and 2015 after huge tax increases on capital gains, dividends, small businesses and workers in 2013. Beam us up, Scotty.
 

The editorial concludes like this:

The real story told by the CBO report is that the federal government is still pursuing a very loose fiscal policy, despite lamentations from Democrats and the Keynesian economists who populate Wall Street. The best that House Republicans have been able to do so far is to battle Mr. Obama and Senate Democrats to a draw, delaying tax increases until 2013 and preventing even larger spending increases. To really control Washington’s appetites, the voters are going to have to back up their message in 2010 with reinforcements in 2012.

I couldn’t agree more.

State Policy Network, 2011

The nationwide State Policy Network – made up of free market think tanks from every state – convened their annual convention in Seattle Tuesday evening. Bringing over 600 attendees from all over the country, the conference is offering 4 tracks – Leadership, Communications, Development and Policy.

Today’s communication track included classes on Facebook and how to maximize it’s usage. The luncheon included the first annual presentation of the Unsung Hero award by the Vernon K Krieble Foundation. The award – which came with a $25,000 check – was presented to Oregon activist Steve Schopp. The keynote speaker was Kevan Kjar, w gave a fascinating presentation on “Winning the Story War.” I’m sure you know what I mean – how do you make your message compelling? The need to sharpen the message seems especially pertinent for think tanks who love to churn out policy papers but struggle gettng their message across.

The afternoon communications track included a discssion on “Translatng Policy Into Action, or at Least English.” Dovetailing nicely with the lunch session, the presenters talked about the power of using social media – Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Linked-In, YouTube – all of it. One of my favorite lines from Todd Wynn, vice-president of Cascade Policy Institute, was “Plagiarize yourself.” Write something once, then re-package it a number of ways. Have a long research paper? Go ahead and turn that paper into blog posts that you then tweet about, convert it to an op-ed piece, create a YouTube video, then tweak again and turn parts of it into an email you send to supporters. Good stuff.

The conference continues Thursday when one of the keynote speakers will be Utah Senator Dan Liljenquist speaking on pension reform.

Chaffetz not running for Senate

As the day started, there was no indication there would be anything out of the ordinary to rock the political boat, but things can change in a hurry. One tweet from one reporter saying that Congressman Jason Chaffetz was announcing his intentions today at 4 pm started a virtual Twitter explosion. Like a summer squall that comes on suddenly, politicos across the state – and the nation – began calling, texting, tweeting and writing. Before noon, speculation was running rampant that Chaffetz would in fact announce that he was NOT going to challenge 6-term incumbent Orrin Hatch.

So confident was Tribune reporter Robert Gehrke that he posted the first online article stating that Chaffetz was out of the Senate race hours before the press conference. He was followed in short order by ABC 4, Politico, WaPo, the New York Times, the Daily Caller and of course, the blogosphere – Hot Air and Michelle Malkin, to name two.  (Stories have been updated)

Indeed, at 4 pm, Congressman Chaffetz, accompanied by his wife Julie, his campaign staff, his chief of staff and his communications director, told the assembled media peeps that he would be running for re-election to his House seat.  Pointing to his sponsorship of the popular “Cut, Cap and Balance” bill, the Fast and Furious investigation in which he plays a major role and the earmark ban he pushed for, he said it was clear that he did not need to wait for seniority in order to be effective.

“Ultimately,” he said, “I can spend the next 15 months doing my job, or I can spend the next 15 months campaigning to do Senator Hatch’s.”

His announcement stunned most political insiders, including this blogger who has to now go find a hat to eat….

Today’s learning moment

In the spirit of “back-to-school”, check out this video optical illusion. How do our brains DO that?!

Kansas returns millions in federal grant money

If states want the federal government to stay out of state business, they must “walk the walk” of being self-sustaining.  That means weaning themselves off federal dollars – and their accompanying strings.

Kansas governor Sam Brownback announced last week that his state is returning a $31.5 million “Early Innovators” grant intended to build “technology infrastructure” for health care exchanges needed under Obamacare.

“There is much uncertainty surrounding the ability of the federal government to meet its already budgeted future spending obligations,” he said in a statement. “Every state should be preparing for fewer federal resources, not more. To deal with that reality Kansas needs to maintain maximum flexibility. That requires freeing Kansas from the strings attached to the Early Innovator Grant.”

He joins Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, who turned back a $54 million grant and a handful of other states who have rejected $1 million grants.

Kansas is working on setting up their own healthcare exchanges to be operated independently of the federal government.  They are also focused on reforming their Medicaid program. Kansas is using Utah’s recent reforms as a model, with the able assistance of Senator Dan Liljenquist who has met multiple times with Governor Brownback, his team and Kansas legislators.  They are committed to keeping their state solvent and self-reliant while maintaining a safety net for their most vulnerable populations.

Ogden School District vs the union

After the Ogden School District saw contract negotiations break down with the teacher’s union earlier this summer, they went directly to the teachers. In a letter sent out over the 4th of July weekend, they asked teachers to sign a yearly contract directly with the district.

Under the new contract, teachers received almost 3% in salary increase and a 1.6% cost-of-living increase. The school district is also phasing out “pay steps” – a tenure-based pay increase schedule – and is moving to performance pay.

In fact, this is not the first time the Ogden teachers union has refused to negotiate. Last year, the school district offered “no increase in taxes, no increase in class size, no reduction of school year, no reduction of personnel, no cuts in student programs, and protection of retirement and health insurance benefits” but it was rejected by the union and went to mediation. This year, the same tactic was tried but the school district did not blink.

Now, several weeks after the July 20 deadline to return the contract, all but one teacher (out of more than 700) signed and returned it to the District. The Ogden Education Association publicly asked all teachers to give them the signed contract so the OEA could deliver it to the District. Only 140 did – approximately 20% of the total (hardly an overwhelming show of support).

While several other school districts are passing new tax increases this year, including Alpine and Davis, the Ogden School District has not raised taxes. They were also able to give raises to their teachers without collective bargaining – imagine. They have not cut the school year, or reduced staff.

Is the OEA happy for the increase in pay for their teachers? Hardly. They are acting like a petulant child and throwing a tantrum. While the Ogden School Board is focused on the children and on improving their educational outcome, the OEA is focused on, well, retribution. OEA president Doug Stephens sent the following letter to union members this week:

From: Doug Stephens
Sent: Monday, August 15, 2011 8:54 PM
Subject: Plan of Action

O.E.A. Members,

Our situation in the Ogden City Schools, reminds me of a poem that I learned a long time ago from a wonderful teacher:

Opportunity, Edward R. Sill

This I beheld, or dreamed it in a dream:-
There spread a cloud of dust, along a plain;
And underneath the cloud, or in it, raged
A furious battle, and men yelled, and swords
Shocked upon swords and shields. A prince’s banner
Wavered, then staggered backward, hemmed by foes.

A craven hung along the battle’s edge,
And thought, “Had I a sword of keener steel-
That blue blade that the king’s song bears – but this
Blunt thing!”- he snapped and flung it from his hand.
And lowering crept away and left the field.
Then came the king’s son, wounded, sore bestead
And weaponless, and saw the broken sword,
Hilt-buried in the dry and trodden sand,
And ran and snatched it, and with battle-shout
Lifted afresh he hewed his enemy down,
And saved a great cause that heroic day.

We have been slammed pretty hard but we need to look for opportunity in this situation. Your O.E.A. leadership team has a plan. We will outline that plan to your A.R.’s on Monday August 22nd and get their input. I will then share that plan with all of you.

We are asking now for all of you to do six things:

1. Be professionals (As we always have been through the contract disputes of the last two years). Our fight will be primarily a political one this year. Throughout this contract crisis we have had the majority of the public on our side. We need to maintain and increase that by continued professional behavior.

2. We need to maintain our O.E.A/U.E.A. percentage of membership in the district. Our large numbers of members has always made us strong. That is more crucial now than ever before. We cannot be as the “craven… and lowering creep away and leave the field”. We cannot worry about what we have lost but be as the “king’s son…Lifted afresh [and hew] his enemy down, and [save] a great cause”.

3. We need each of you to set aside the evening of Thursday September 15th, and be in attendance for a protest (not a rally) at the district office for a school board meeting. It is critical that we get 400 plus in attendance at this protest. We need to have our shouts be heard all over Ogden and have it deafening in the school board meeting. This will get the issue back on the T.V. and the front page of newspapers. More information will follow on this.

4. Our political battles will take large amounts of O.E.A/U.E.A.- P.A.C. dollars. We are asking each member to give at least $30.00 to our P.A.C. fund this year. That is less than $5.00 a month between now and when school ends in May 2012. All the money we raise this year in our P.A.C. will stay with us. To be able to give a candidate, that we select, for a school board race, thousands of dollars and hundreds of volunteers to help in a campaign is unbeatable in a local election.

5. We need each of you to email Rick Palmer (Our Uniserv Director) your personal email address. We need a secure way to communicate with each other. Rick’s email is rick@ogdenweber.org. If you need to communicate with me in a confidential way, my second email is dstephens1@weber.edu.

6. We need to always include our fellow teachers who are not O.E.A. members. Please help us by getting the word out to all Ogden City School teachers when we have activities or share information that we distribute.

We will win this battle, but we need to work together. A lot will be asked of you -please help us.

Thanks,

Doug Stephens
O.E.A. President

So there you have it – a school district that puts kids and teachers first is “the enemy” to be hewn down, a battle to be won (on TV, it would appear and then at the ballot box) and let us not forget, a prime fundraising opportunity for a public employees union.

Daily Fix, Aug 16

Race for the White House:

*Money, money,money – it’s all about the money. Governor Rick Perry’s fundraising “dash” sparks worries (Politico) while Michele Bachmann’s disclosures show farm subsidies she has repeatedly asserted she never received. LA Times Meanwhile, Obama continues his taxpayer-funded non-campaign bus tour of the midwest, telling his audience “You’ve got to send a message to Washington that it is time for the games to stop.” NY Times I think he even said it with a straight face.

*Stumping in New Hampshire: Governor Jon Huntsman spent the weekend campaigning in New Hampshire. He snagged Tim Pawlenty’s NH chair (WMUR Political Scoop), and attended at least 8 official campaign events as he continues to build buzz in that key New England state. Deseret News  In the meantime, Mary Kaye stumps in South Carolina with 3 of the couple’s daughters. CNN

*Mitt Romney continued to focus on Obama, calling his bus tour the “Magical Misery Tour.” NY Post He did take a minute to take a jab at Rick Perry’s lack of experience in the private sector. CNN He is also taking on organized labor, encouraging New Hampshire to move to a “Right-to-Work” state. (Interestingly, the GOP legislature in NH just passed such a law, but the Democratic guv vetoed it.) The Hill

*Meanwhile, Rick Perry is enjoying a very nice post-announcement bounce. It’s so big, in fact, that Rasmussen shows him up by 11 points over Mitt Romney. As the vetting begins in earnest, there are plenty of darts headed Perry’s way – he issued an executive order mandating a controversial vaccine, his immigration stance is unpopular in some circles (he favors in-state tuition for kids in Texas illegally for example), he’s a career politician and at least a dozen other items that need some ‘splainin’. One thing that doesn’t need much, though, is his record on jobs. A local blogger, Matthias Shapiro, perhaps best known for his 1000 Pennies videos, walks us through why Perry’s job numbers DO hold up.

Daily Fix, Aug 15

*Obama takes shots at Congress on his taxpayer-funded Midwest tour. “If they don’t start paying attention,” he told supporters, “then they’re not going to be in office and we will have a new Congress in there that will start paying attention to what is going on all across America.” Um…really? I thought we WERE paying attention *cough* November 2010 *cough* Oh, and 32 months into his presidency, he announced that he will be putting forth a plan to “boost the economy, create jobs and control the deficit…. The Hill

*And speaking of paying attention to Obama, his approval rating is now at an all-time low of 39%. Elections do indeed have consequences. So does failure to lead. USA Today

*Meanwhile, White House spokesman Jay Carney insisted that the luxury bus tour to Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois had nothing to do with Michele Bachmann or the Iowa straw poll, or any GOPer at all. It also has nothing to do with campaigning, hence the taxpayer funding. Yeah, right, Mr. President. Next you’ll be selling us beach front property in states #51-#57. The Hill

*Tim Pawlenty dropped out of the Presidential race after a disappointing and distant 3rd place finish in Saturday’s straw poll. His campaign staffers were immediately snatched up by other campaigns. His New Hampshire state director, for example, got nabbed by the Huntsman campaign. Union Leader Aren’t those phone calls kinda awkward? I mean really….