Republican Incompetence

    Observing the Republicans fight the Democrats in the rough arena of politics bears an uncomfortable resemblance to watching a kindergarten softball team play the New York Yankees. 

    The task of deposing the most dangerous and harmful president this nation has ever endured should not be a herculean endeavor. However, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, the GOP is snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.  The four surviving candidates are spending far more time degrading each other than in attacking the dreadful Obama Administration. The collection of rapacious campaign "professionals" who advise their clients to pursue this course should be ostracized.

    Where is the national Republican leadership?  Clearly, it is time for the RNC to call the candidates into the proverbial woodshed to put a stop to this nonsense.  Further, why doesn't the GOP stop pandering to left wing media debate moderators and demand that national issues be the focus of the discussion?  it is blatantly obvious that the debates are being used  to diminish the stature of the Republican contenders. 

    The nation desperately needs a viable opposition to the Democrat Party, which has been hijacked by leftist extremist.The  GOP leadership must rise to the occasion.

The Sad State of the Union

     The President delivers the State of the Union address this evening, but it is doubtful that the actual facts will be part of his remarks.

     Under Mr. Obama's watch, and due to his seriously harmful policies:

• 30% of our current national debt was incurred.  
• 1.66 million Americans lost their jobs.  
• Vast sums of tax dollars were redistributed in "stimulus" programs that stimulated nothing except organizations that contributed to his first presidential campaign. 
• Long standing allies, such as The United Kingdom and Israel, were alienated.
• Our enemies abroad were emboldened to take outrageous steps against us; Iran and China are making vast inroads in our own hemisphere.
• China's growing bid for military supremacy and Russia's military resurgence has been answered only by weakness, appeasement, and a deteriorating American armed forces budget.
• Our space program, an essential element for our military, our economy, and our future prospects has been decimated.
• Every possible step towards energy independence has been vigorously suppressed.
• The federal government's power has grown exponentially.
• Constitutional provisions as well as federal statutes have been ignored or violated.
• The nation has reached a milestone; 1,000 days without a federal budget.
• Our economy has stagnated.
• Our nation's people are more divided than at any time since the Civil War.

     It must be remembered that the lion's share of all these disasters occurred in the first two years of the Obama administration, when, thanks to Democrat control of both houses of Congress, the White House had free rein to impose its platform without any real opposition.   

Triborough

REPEAL THE TRIBOROUGH AMENDMENT 

             

              As County officials mull over the possibility of raising local sales taxes to help pay down their budget gaps, the reason for that shortfall remains unaddressed in the Governor’s recent budget message.

While containing some decent proposals, the governor’s budget failed to address a key financial problem that affects the entire state.

            Cuomo’s budget outline admirably reduces the fiscal gimmicks and spending hikes that were standard fare in prior years. Notably, however, in a state starved for jobs and economic development, the failure to encourage hydrofracking, and the revenue that could produce,  is deeply disappointing.

            The Governor courageously demands that the powerful teachers’ lobby accept some responsibility for the pitiful condition of our public schools, and pushes for new standards of performance.  The unacceptable fact that NY spends more per pupil than any other state, but gets generally dismal results in return, has been intentionally overlooked for far too long by politicians kowtowing to the influential teachers’ union in return for their votes and contributions.

            Albany cannot resolve its systematic budgetary dilemmas until the elaborate political giveaway to public sector unions, the Tribrough Amendment, is repealed.  That is the law which requires state & local governments to keep for their employees all contractual perks including automatic “step” increases even after the expiration of union contracts.  The governor’s budget fails to address this. County officials throughout the state are detrimentally affected by this.  New York State’s Conference of Mayors, school district leaders and others are urging that this millstone be removed.

            The problem has recently risen to crisis proportions.  Over the past several decades, Albany has depended on ever increasing taxes to pay the bills presented by special interests that have far too much influence with elected officials. Following the recent (and long overdue) passage of the property tax cap, and Governor Cuomo’s appropriate reluctance to hike levies, however, that system of finance has been derailed. More logical means must be found to keep budgets balanced.

            Putting public sector union costs on a realistic and fair basis is the right course of action.  However, the Triborough Amendment prevents this. The Manhattan Institute’s recently released report, “Triborough Trouble,” condemns the costs of this three decade old law.  Guaranteed pay hikes for state government employees alone due to Triborough cost $140 million a year.  That figure doesn’t include the numerous other county and local union costs. For example, Increases for NYC teachers total $150 million, and add $93 million to school budgets statewide. Those numbers represent only a small part of the problem. As the report further notes, Triborough makes it almost impossible to fruitfully negotiate reasonable common sense updates to new contracts.

            For far too long, state elected officials have failed to confront runaway union costs out of fear of losing campaign contributions. New York counties have also suffered from unfunded mandates. It’s time for that to change.  

NYC DOESN'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO REPEAL THE 2ND AMENDMENT

      By now, the story of the Tennessee woman who was arrested after asking a NYC police officer how to appropriately check her legally registered handgun before visiting the Ground Zero site is well known.  What is less publicized is the bizarre and extreme antics of NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg against the Second Amendment. 

      New York's "Sullivan Law," which virtually nullifies the Second Amendment, has, unfortunately, been on the books for decades. But under Mayor Bloomberg, it has been pushed to levels which border on the deranged.  He has, for example, dispatched city cops to other states to examine gun sales which are legal in those jurisdictions.

      He has even turned his attention to toy guns. Not realistic looking replicas, but plastic, orange-tipped toys that a four year old would play with.   A city bodega owned was fined $30,000 for displaying three toy cowboy  sets that contained a plastic "sheriffs badge,"  and a flimsy-looking six shooter with a bright orange tip.  

     The sale of these toys are perfectly legal, even under NYC law.  The fines will probably be overturned, but it will cost the store owner thousands in legal fees to do so. The mayor's goal in doing this sort of thing is to intimidate the public into accepting his personal obsession against personal self-protection, an obsession so extreme that even allowing children to play traditional American cowboy games offends his warped sensibility.

    It must be noted that even while New Yorkers are unconstitutionally prohibited from taking steps for self protection, the Mayor has seen fit to reduce his police force by 25%. 

An Open Letter From Rep. Jim Jordan

In 2012, Our Vision Must Be Crystal Clear

An Open Letter From Rep. Jim Jordan

The November 2010 elections sent an influx of conservatives to Congress with a genuine desire to solve our country’s biggest challenges. But make no mistake, the troubles Americans have faced in recent years have not yet been conquered.

Millions remain unable to find a job. Washington continues to spend and borrow way too much. ObamaCare puts unconstitutional demands on citizens even as health care costs keep going up. The structural weaknesses that endanger Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security have not yet been fixed.

Conservatives spent the past year confronting these challenges head on. The Republican Study Committee proposed the Jobs Through Growth Act to grow our economy with less red tape, more energy production, and a simpler, flatter tax code. We voted to repeal ObamaCare and worked toward lowering costs through greater choice and competition.

Our Cut, Cap, and Balance plan would have finally forced Washington to live within its means. And our budgetattempted to strengthen Medicare & Social Security while giving States the flexibility they need in Medicaid to prevent it from breaking the bank.

Through it all, we hoped the Democrats controlling the Senate and White House were willing to work with us in the interest of country. Unfortunately, the President spent the past year trying to boost his own chances for reelection by avoiding real cooperation. It is a cynical strategy, and Senate Democrats happily played along.

So far, all signs point to more of the same in 2012. So where does that leave us? I agree with Senator Ron Johnson. Our only choice is to continue providing Americans an unambiguous contrast between the liberal and conservative visions for our nation’s future.

It must be crystal clear who supports government growth vs. private sector growth.

It must be crystal clear who lives in a fairy tale world with no limits on spending and debt vs. the real world where families, businesses, and governments must seek to live within their means.

It must be crystal clear who puts their faith in government mandates and venture socialism vs. liberty and free enterprise.

The conservatives in the Republican Study Committee will not waver.  We will continue to defend the cause of liberty and seek out real solutions to the challenges at hand.  We will because we must.

God Bless,

Jim Jordan, Chairman

The Republican Study Committee

Condolences to Long Family

The New American revolution Bronx Conservative Organization extends its sincere condolences on the passing of Michael Long.

Obama Sinks Carriers

The President's headlong rush to reduce the US Military at a time of unprecedented international challenges has worsened yet again.

   As we reported on January 5, the White House introduced dramatic cuts to the Pentagon's budget, including sharp cuts in personnel, our nuclear deterrent, and the replacement of aged and worn out equipment.  

    It has now been revealed that the Navy will no longer be able to maintain its already inadequate fleet of 11 carriers due to the financial Pearl Harbor unleashed by the Oval Office.

Due to financial constraints, several carriers, and their task forces, may have to be mothballed.

    Further evidence of Obama's dangerous foreign policy comes from the middle east.  Having failed to implement sanctions strong enough to dissuade Iran from developing a nuclear capability,  the President is now attempting to bully Israel in a bid to prevent that nation from taking steps to defend itself from the threat of atomic annihilation at the hands of Tehran's rulers, who have publicly threatened to do so as soon as they have the weapon.  The White House has postponed a scheduled  joint defense exercise with Israel, and has brought pressure on that nation's leadership not to take unilateral action.  

    As Conservatives, we led the nation on the path to standing up to Moscow in the Cold War.  We must revive that leadership to defend our nation in its current time of peril.

THE CAMPAIGNS AGAINST US

  Three seemingly unrelated stories tell you everything you need to know about how the left wing media will do its best to re-elect leftists in 2012.

1.       The cover-up of the White House’s extravagant Halloween Party was neither an oversight nor an accident.  You can be assured that while any scandal, misdeed, slip of the tongue, misstatement, or other error on the part of conservative oriented candidates will be headline news, the most stunningly foul acts or incredibly doltish statements by Democrats will be wholly ignored.  The Left hasn’t made the world safe for democracy, but they have made it safe for Joe Biden.

2.       NY Assembly Speaker Sheldon Speaker continues to be a one-man wrecking crew, working tirelessly to destroy the Empire State’s future while he enriches himself. His law practice is a textbook example of conflict of interest ethical violations.  His kowtowing to the teachers union in return for their campaign support is a direct attack on the welfare of our children’s education.  You will, however, hear little or nothing about it in most media outlets.

3.       A former Speaker of the House, several former governors and senators are among the Republican contenders for President.  Yet the media continues to force feed the public the ridiculous narrative that no one of stature equal to Obama is in the race.  Hey, where are you going to find a candidate equal to a guy who is largely responsible for the worst economic debacle since the Great Depression, who has alienated our international allies and strengthened our foes, and caused the worst divisions in our nation for over half a century?

     Conservatives going into the 2012 election know that they will be fighting two foes:  their opponents on the ballot, and the left wing media that props them up.   We shouldn’t be reluctant to sharply criticize either one.

A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER

     President Obama's proposed defense cuts constitute a clear, present and immediate danger to the safety of the United States.  Slashing the size of our armed forces personnel by a third, and our nuclear sub force by a third, will devastate our national security.

     There is an uncomfortable question that we must ask :  have  Conservatives and Republicans concentrated so much on the White House's horrible economic policies that they have ignored the extreme threat to our safety from Obama's attack on our armed forces, and his seriously misguided foreign policy? 

     We cannot put this issue on the back burner.  The very future of our nation depends on preserving our military strength.  

      It's time we rejected the media's incorrect portrayal of our defense budget.  The  assertion that the U.S. budget is so much larger than China's and Russia's is wrong--those nations hide the lion's share of their military spending under other budget lines.  Our defense spending is a lesser percentage of GDP than at anytime since before WWII.  Our armed forces have already been slashed, with the Navy shrinking from 600 ships to 288, the Army reduced from 18 divisions to 10, and the Air Force from 37 wings to 20.  

    Here in New York State, the economic impact of the defense cuts will be devastating.  Estimates are that 26,000 jobs may be lost, and 2,707 small businesses will be impacted.  

    We must make our opposition to Obama's attack on our safety our top priority.

"Non Recess" Appointments Violate Constitution

Obama Openly Violated U.S. Constitution

     President Obama's openly unlawful recess appointments are clear and serious challenges to our Constitution.  This act goes beyond partisan politics, and beyond any transient issue.  It is an extreme affront to the continued rule of law and adherence to the document that is the bedrock of American freedom.

      Whether The white House likes it or not, it cannot make a recess appointment when the Senate is not in recess.  The appointments to the CFB and the NLRB are clearly illegal.

      The utter disdain the White House has both for precedence, as well as constitutional law, is clear. There is no complex issue to be litigated, no question of misinterpretation. 

       Indeed, even some of those who supported the placement of Richard Cordray as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, one of the unlawful appointments, are disturbed by the President's illegal action.  Timothy Noah, writing in The New Republic, (certainly not a conservative journal) noted yesterday that:

        As someone who strongly supported a recess appointment for Richard Cordray, I'm confused as to why President Obama chose to act today...I'm having trouble understanding how the recess appointment of Cordray can possibly withstand a legal challenge."

       The relative merits (and lack thereof) of Obama's "non-recess" appointments to the CFB and NLRB are secondary problems.  The key question is the complete illegality of the President's action, and what response should be made to it.   

        As a party dedicated to preserving the freedoms and rule of law enshrined in our Constitution, we are obligated to fight this White House, and its contempt for constitutional law, with all the strength we can muster.