A common battle cry of Democrats is that Republicans are the party of the rich, but I’ve come to see what a downright lie that statement is. This was evident at the end of last year as they discussed extending the bush tax cuts. Republicans wanted them extended for all, while Democrats only wanted them extended for people making less than $250,000. So it’s pretty simple, Republicans want something for the rich, Democrats don’t, so Republicans are the party of the rich, right?

That’s the lie they want you to believe, but it’s false. For one group to be favored over another, there must be unequal treatment. When one ethnic group is given priority over another to meet an affirmative action quota, you have unequal treatment. When a teacher gives one student more time on an assignment than another student, you have unequal treatment.

The liberal lie that conservatives are the party of the rich is absolutely not true. Liberals might despise the rich and want to play robin hood with their money, but that says far more about liberals and their views on freedom than it does about conservatives and their treatment of the rich.

Now that Obama has been successful on his first major goal (spending even more of our money), I was wondering how those people above feel now? Did you expect Obama to spend nearly a trillion of our dollars, a move that will most certainly prolong our recession? Do you feel $300 million for electronic golf carts is a good way to stimulate the economy? Do you feel Obama’s rhetoric that Republicans want to do nothing is fulfilling his promise of bipartisanship?

There are a LOT of stupid things in this “stimulus” bill. Let’s list them!

There are two things I want to bring up about Obama’s impending Presidency. First, while I think it’s great we have our first black President, I’m over it already. Is this going to be the new benchmark to establish when a minority group is no longer opressed? Poor hispanics and asians are going to have to wait for a President that can affirm their ability to do whatever they want. That being said, I don’t think the cries of discrimination are going to stop anytime soon. The black community faces many unique challenges like high crime rates and out of wedlock births, and an Obama presidency will do little to change those problems. How long will it take before the black community turns on Obama for not fixing their problems?

Speaking of Obama and fixing problems…it will be interesting to see how he governs. He set the bar awfully high when he promised to change the world. He does realize he’s only in charge of one country right? With so much power in congress I fully expect the Democrats to embrace a leftist agenda. Don’t expect them to tackle the problems with social security or earmarks, but instead look for topics like healthcare and social spending. Clinton’s eight years were relatively mild because he was kept in check by a Republican congress. The last time the Democrats were in this position was when Carter was in office.

I’ve seen talk already of the Republican party realizing they need to get back to the basics of limited government. They screwed the pooch royally over the last eight years of Bush and the six years of their majority in congress. If Obama does govern to the left, and prolongs the economic troubles we face, Republicans will be in a good position to come back to the people and preach about limited government.

One thing I pledge to do over the next four years is to respect the office of the Presidency. I’m sure I will have many disagreements with Obama’s vision for our country, so don’t be surprised to find me critical of his politics. However, I promise to keep it on an even keel, which hopefully isn’t a surprise to most that read this blog.

Look for another post soon with baby pictures and Little Big Planet!

Here’s how I see things. McCain certainly has an uphill battle. There are some key states that he really needs to win like Florida and Ohio, and recent polls show him clearly in contention there. If Obama wins PA and NH (which recent polls show likely) then McCain really has his work cut out for him. There are a number of states he needs to win, like NV, NM, and CO to name a couple, and the polls in all of those are either very close or have Obama slightly ahead.

Speaking of polls though, I think the polls have overstated Obama’s lead for a while now. When pollsters come up with their polling numbers, they determine what percentage of the electorate will be Democrat and Republican. Many pollsters are giving Democrats a 6% advantage this year…but that hasn’t happened in the last 8 years! Over the last few election cycles the number of Republicans and Democrats that showed up were either tied, or Democrats showed up 2-4% more frequently, but never 6%. The last Presidential election was a tie, and to assume that four years later will be a huge Democrat turnout might be wishful thinking. Another promsing nugget is that several times in the primaries Obama was expected to win handily, sometimes by as much as double-digits, but he lost to Hillary in some of those states. Over and over Obama hasn’t been able to close the deal, and with some polls showing almost 10% of people unsure of whom they will vote for, that means McCain can still have a lot of votes in play. Since most of my readers are on the West coast, make sure you ignore any exit polling you hear because it consistently overstates support for the Democrat, and make sure you get out and vote. Here in California we’ve got other important things on our minds like Prop 8!

But either way, it should be interesting tonight. I’ve got some sausages to grill and some beers to drink, but whoever wins tonight wins. Obviously I think an Obama win would be bad for the country, but I’ve never had a blog while someone of the opposing party was in the White House. That might be fun, but I’ll certainly trade that for McCain and his supreme court nominees.

Here is my “guide” as requested by a couple people. Thanks to GeekyWeekly for doing the work on the Judicial nominees. Those are always a pain. Have fun tonight everyone!

Federal and Statewide
President/Vice President – John McCain/Sarah Palin
House and Senate Seats – Republican

Judicial
Office #72 – Hilleri Grossman Merritt
Office #82 – Thomas Rubinson
Office #84 – Pat Connolly
Office #94 – Michael J. O’Gara
Office #154 – Michael Jesic

Propositions
Prop 1A – No
Prop 2 – No
Prop 3 – No
Prop 4 – Yes
Prop 5 – No
Prop 6 – No
Prop 7 – No
Prop 8 – Yes
Prop 9 – Yes
Prop 10 – No
Prop 11 – Yes
Prop 12 – Yes
Measure R – No

But regardless of the polls, I’ve already accepted that Obama might be the next President, and sadly I think it has much less to do with the vision and philosophy that Obama has put out, and more to do with the Republicans lack of fiscal restraint. Don’t get me wrong, I think Obama and his Herbert Hoover style of raising taxes will be worse for the economy than anything John McCain does, but right now the general public wants something new. I’m surprised I haven’t heard anyone mention how different the race might be right now if it was Romney against Obama, but no one could have predicted the economy would be the sole issue this election.

With the public declaring they want something new, I don’t think there is much McCain can do to change their minds. What he needs to do is come out and say that he will decrease the size of government and lower taxes (which would be in stark contrast to Obama), and while he has sort of said that, there are two big problems he faces. The first is that on one hand he says that, and then he says he wants to bailout all the stupid people that bought houses they can’t afford. The second is that people have lost faith in Republicans as believers in smaller government.

I think George W. Bush’s greatest mistake was letting government spending run rampant because he has damaged the Republican brand immensely. I think the War on Terror will be judged positively if Iraq becomes a beacon of hope in the region (and there hasn’t been another 9/11, which Bush deserves credit for). The economic issues have been pushed to the side though, and that’s what has McCain in such a pickle. He can’t come out and say the best way to get out of a financial crisis is lower taxes and smaller government, because people think he’s full of crap. It’s in this that I think Republicans have hope for the future.

If Obama wins and Democrats control Congress and the White House, I think Republicans should take a long look at what they stand for. I’ve said before that I’m a conservative first and a Republican second, and in recent years the Republicans in office have strayed a great deal from conservative principals of smaller government. If the Republicans find themselves in the minority in the next four years they need to stop and think about how they got there. Being “democrat-lite” is not what people want.

I think Obama’s policies will self-destruct if he governs anything like he talks and has voted in the past. Herbert Hoover was a one term President, so it’s possible the Republican party can turn itself around in four years. My biggest fear is that the economy recovers like it did in the early 90′s under Clinton. The economy had started a major upswing right before he got into office, and instead of the first Bush getting the credit it was Clinton. I’m not sure that can happen with Obama because we’ve just started to have major problems, and the end isn’t even in sight. That being said, once we hit bottom, there is only one way to go, and that is up. I guarantee if things get better the media will make sure it was Obama’s doing.

If that happens, the road for the Republicans is more difficult, but only time will tell. Whether Republicans can keep the White House or not, they’ve been getting spanked in Congress for a while now, so they need to sit down and really think about what they’ve done, and what they need to change. Get back to the party of limited government and lower taxes, and maybe then the people would be willing to trust you in office.

Read This Now

…and then tell me with a straight face how someone with such views has earned your support.

A March study by the NAM predicted that the United States would take a $269 billion hit to the economy by 2014 and lose 1.8 million jobs by 2020 if the proposal becomes law.

Just what a struggling economy needs!

I promise the next post will have baby in it.

In case you’re new here or haven’t been reading, I am a strong supporter of Mitt Romney. Personally I think he has the right stance on the most issues, I think he has great experience both in private business and as a governor, he is a good family man, and I think he is the only candidate left that can win the general election.

At this point Republicans can choose between Romney, McCain, Huckabee, and Paul…but only Romney and McCain have a chance. So Huckabee and Paul supporters, I urge you to throw your support behind Mitt Romney, a more conservative candidate than John McCain, someone who loves working with Democrats on liberal legislation.

Right now polls are showing Romney closing the gap in California. One poll shows him tied with McCain, and one shows him +3 points over McCain. Hugh Hewitt has a great article detailing why conservative voters should rally behind Romney.

Who are you voting for on Super Tuesday and why?

I stayed up until 2 am last night watching the Republicans debate in New Hampshire, and overall it was very interesting. Going into the debate Romney was my favorite, and after this debate, that is even more true. I was disgusted by some of the comments by John McCain and Mike Huckabee. They sounded like 3rd graders on a playground with some of their comments taking swipes at Romney. McCain and Huckabee both gave insults and then smiled like little brats. Neither of them will get my votes, and you should watch last night’s debate before you decide to support them.

As for Romney, despite the barrage of insults, he was extremely intelligent on all issues. His understanding of the health care issue was great. I still like Fred Thompson on the issues, but it doesn’t look like he wants it. Romney is now solidly my #1, Thompson #2, and Giuliani #3.

Democrats

I even sat through the 2 hours of the Democrats debate. Obviously I don’t support any of the Democrats, but eventually one of them will be battling a Republican. It’s interesting to compare the Republican debate with the Democrat debate. The Republican debate was full of substance and discussion about the issues. They were in-depth discussions on the economy, defense, health care, and illegal immigration. As I watch the Democrats, it’s almost void of details. They spent 15 minutes arguing about who is the biggest proponent of “change.” It was basically “I’m the best person for change, and I think we should have discussions about change, and who will be changing the most, because we need change!” It was idiotic, especially in comparison to the Republican discussion that actually focused on issues.

There is another GOP debate tonight on FOX News at 5 pm, but I’ll have to catch that on youtube.