Parker: Republicans Need Shareholder Revolt

[Terri]

By Star Parker
January 12, 2009

The first Gallup poll out on President-elect Barack Obama's stimulus plan shows a divided country, with Republicans in a distinct minority and in opposition.

Democrats support the $750-billion plan (67 percent to 19 percent) as do Independents (54 percent to 37 percent). But Republicans stand in opposition (56 percent to 34 percent).

But taking a look at Republican Party reality inside the Washington beltway, we see a rudderless ship, out of touch with the grass roots of its own party.

Our Republican president -- yes, he is still president -- has taken himself out of the discussion. And on Capitol Hill, the Republican leadership appears quite comfortable with the initiative in principle, expressing reservations only in regard to its form and content.

More (http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/sparker/2009/sp_01121.shtml)

[jack virtus]

Well, if with holding money from the Republican National Committee is considered part of the shareholder revolt I have already started revolting. I refused to give any money to the Mccain campaign and I'm being VERY selective to which Republicans receive any money from me.

[Charie]

I can tell you that I'm ready to join a shareholder's revolt. This whole business has just sickened me and Parker is correct that our leadership still hasn't a clue as to what their base thinks they should be doing. They're still inching left and extending that hand across the aisle. How many times do they have to pull back bloody stumps before they get the picture?

When Reagan ran for office there was a clear difference between Republicans and Democrats. the way our party leadership :laff: is going any person with an ounce of conservative blood in their body would run in the opposite direction. Any conservatism is reserved only for the fiscal side of conservatism. As far as the moral side goes, their fingers are in their ears and they're singing "La-la-la-la-la."

I receive a mail request for money from the Republican party at least 2 a week now. Much more during the last campaign. There are at least 20 times that in the e-mails I receive. None are getting a cent from me until I see some change in the leadership. End of story.

Thank you Star Parker. I shall be checking Ken Blackwell out.

[social-isms]

I gave money a few years ago to the Minutemen standing watch on our borders. Now, everytime I receive a solicitation from the GOP, I send them a copy of the check and write "When you start to represent conservatives again, you'll get my money".

It is incredible how conservatives have been abandoned. Like the Black in the Dem party, they are taken for granted.

NO MORE...

[Claire Martin]

What Republican jumped to his/her feet to yell, "600,000 more jobs in the U. S. Government is an expansion of the government work force, Mr. P.E.!"

Has any Republican lawmaker said, "Gee, it seems like a trillion dollars might be too much."

Don't any of them remember when Clinton took office and decided to put out a $19billion "stimulus plan" and the Republicans went on the air and on the floor on C-Span and in op-eds to decry it, AND IT DIDN'T GET PASSED?

Michele Bachman's is the only voice I've heard on the horrendous Payback to the Trial Lawyers bills that are rumbling through now. HR 11 and 12 are more shivs to stick into businesses large and small.

If Pelosi won't let you amend stuff, you can at least VOTE NO on these outrages!

[mtncrusr]

The social conservatives have ruled the party since Reagan with some success. But in these dire economic times it's vital that the fiscal conservatives take the lead.

We have a very limited time to save the country from Socialism, so we had better start the revolt soon and with extreem vigor.

[just jim]

As a disgusted Republician, I think that the fall of the Republican Party, along with the USA happened in 1973, when Nixon took the USA off the Gold Standard.
Since that time, we have marched all most in lock step with the History Of Germany, The county, with runaway govt. spending, the people don't count, only the Govt. and Multi-national corps matter, exporting the jobs and importing the folks from south of the border to do the spade work on roads, gardens etc. and whats left now?
Every Republican would be well advised to remember the biggest spender in the history of the Nation, with unending wars and gross mis-magement from the top down, for those who scream NO, look at Katrina, the Iraq War etc.
Our dollar, due to the insane spending by the Bush adm. and his co-horts have left the nation next door to upside down and backwards from where we need to be, with NONE of the problems that were created by this mismanagement solved other than the biggest boondoggle and swindle ever carried out in the history of the world, i.e. the Bail-out.
Wholesale theft from the taxpayers, done by the few for the few at the expense of the many, to the long term determent of all, including what will likely be the downfall of the USA, just as in Germany.
The insane spending has devalued the american dollar at times over sixty per cent vs the Euro in the past few years, and hper inflation is just around the corner, the fiat money printed by our govt. has no more value left than a promise to pay, which is like expecting a drunk or a drug addict to be responsibile.
I am glad he and Nancy are going to Dallas, or is it Paraguay?

[FlaJim]

Since the only thing these entrenched politicians seem to understand is money. the views expressed above about withholding donations to the GOP are right on the mark. I'm first and foremost a conservative and the GOP was the closest party to representing my values and beliefs. It was never the other way around.

It's not enough, either, that we express our discontent to the national party. We need to directly address locally elected Republican officals - as rare as they may be in the NE and on the Left Coast.

A news article over the weekend said McCain was starting his own 'grassroots' movement to reenergize the party. Let none of us be fooled by that. We've already had a taste of his watered down 'conservatism' and a new batch of the stuff won't be any more palatable.

[notoObama]

AMEN AND AMEN!

Start fighting back with the same things our elected officials seem to ONLY understand, MONEY.

Everytime a solicitation is received we should write back and ask for exact plans to where they will spend this money and when we receive satisfactory answers, we will then send money.

SOMEONE in Washington has to become accountable.

I think our elected officials should have to submit an accomplishment and goals summary every year just like most businesses require of their employees. THEIR pay and bonuses should depend on whether they attained successful completion of those accomplishments and goals. JUST LIKE MOST REQUIRE.

I don't think I would be able to continue in a job if my appraisal rating was a single digit every year for four years. It is time to require that they step down if their approval ratings are not raised to above the 50% level every year.

[RiverGirl]

I guess I would suggest that, in addition to simply withholding money from the Republican Party, which I've been doing since Alan Keyes' campaign, that we do the following:

1) communicate with party leadership about exactly WHY we are no longer contributing

2) thoroughly investigate the candidates for party chair and let party leadership (i.e. your national committeeman and woman – it only takes a phone call to your local party HQ to find out who they are) know who we want

3) and again…. GET INVOLVED IN YOUR LOCAL PARTY. Go to meetings, listen, voice your opinions and ideas, and don’t be intimidated by the “old hands”. Remember, they’re the ones who haven’t been getting the job done.

If there is truly going to be a “shareholder revolt” that means that we, the shareholders, need to be prepared to take the reins. Because if we aren’t prepared to do that, the KOTSQ (keepers-of-the-status-quo) will remain right where they are, and we as a nation will keep on going right down the path we’re on. I personally don’t think that’s acceptable.

[Gumbi]

I'm in complete agreement with Star on this and won't be sending a single dime to the RNC until I see something akin to fiscal responsibility instead of the whole of the Congress acting like a teenager who was just handed his mother's credit card but doesn't have a clue as to when the balance will come due or how it will be paid. To add insult to injury they aren't even spending the $$$, but instead are GIVING IT AWAY!! I need to keep what little I have so when Uncle Sam comes calling to strong-arm me, I'll still have a few pennies to hand over....

[welder4]

They know we are a two party system and until that is eliminated we will have more of the same time and time again. It is a shame that we have only two sides and now there is but one side as the republicans have jumped ship and are sailing along with the flow of the democrats . Until every person that thinks he or she can run and win an election on just being a republican comes to an end now and not later we will have more of the same . If government is the answer I would ask for what?

[jimmy43]

Why is it nobody mentions the pass through taxes of doing business. This article states taxes north of 40%. I think it is much higher!
When you buy a new car it loses value immediately. All of the taxes of everyone involved is included in the price of that new car. The taxes paid by the janitor at the truckstop that sells fuel to the truck driver that delivered that new car is passed through to the consumer. These pass-thru taxes added to the 40% add up to more than 75% confiscated by Government out of control. Help!!!!

[Charie]

The social conservatives have ruled the party since Reagan with some success. But in these dire economic times it's vital that the fiscal conservatives take the lead.


Why are you, like our Republican leadership, separating moral and fiscal conservatism? I believe in conservatism in all things. If you separate them you don't have conservatism any longer.

What you have is a party that only swings in the wind whichever way the popular culture wants. That does not help our country whatsoever.

We just had a man elected president because the Democrat party aimed particularly at people who thought they'd be able to stick their hands out and the govesrnment (us taxpayers) would drop money in it.


Every Republican would be well advised to remember the biggest spender in the history of the Nation, with unending wars and gross mis-magement from the top down, for those who scream NO, look at Katrina, the Iraq War etc.

Are you aware that FEMA was never intended to be a first responder. Check that one out with anyone from Florida who dealt with them before the Bush administration. The aftermath was a good example of Republicans acting like Democrats and trying to out-fuzzy them. God bless our Representative Sensenbrenner, a conservative, one of the few who stood up and wanted accountability as to where all that money was going to be spent. He took a lot of bad press and rough talk in the House for that. P.S. He was re-elected in the 2008 election.


Our dollar, due to the insane spending by the Bush adm. and his co-horts have left the nation next door to upside down and backwards from where we need to be, with NONE of the problems that were created by this mismanagement solved other than the biggest boondoggle and swindle ever carried out in the history of the world, i.e. the Bail-out.

I agree that President Bush should have filled his pen with veto ink. I was often appalled on what came across his desk and he signed.

But. Don't lay the failure of Fannie and Freddie at his door. He and McCain both tried to put the brakes on the subprime lending. Check out Frank, Dodd and Schumer and you can throw Obama in there for good measure. These men were actively against any restrictions on the offering of mortgages to anyone who wanted them regardless if they could afford them or not. And racism was often used as a method to cow anyone who went up against them. We're not hearing much, if anything, about this on alphabet TV.

When the newspapers get down to 3 pages is when we will find out this kind of information. Pages 11-18 don't get read real often.

[Terri]

President Bush definitely separated social and fiscal conservatism

Bush was a great moral conservative. So, what did he change? Is marriage safer? Is the country more moral? Will anything he did about abortion last? I say no. And I also say there isn't much of anything a president can do about those issues.

He had absolutely NO fiscal conservatism beyond tax cuts, which he could have done something about, but didn't.

So, I'm going to disagree with you, Charie.

It's important for all of us, as individuals, to have moral values.

Presidents have a job to do and it has far less to do with social issues than it does with fiscal issues. It's important to be conservative about the things you can do something about, spending, free markets, keeping socialism at bay, not starting brand new entitlement programs, etc.

This president could have cut spending along with taxes. He could have used his veto power to send back all those earmark laden bills. He could have told Paulson to take a hike instead of advancing socialism in our markets at a rate never before seen in the history of America.

He didn't. Bah! Humbug!

I want a sound fiscal and defense candidate next time, if we ever get a next time.

[Terri]

And even now, right now, this morning, President Bush said in his news conference that he wouldn't ask for the remaining $350 billion in the financial bailout UNLESS OBAMA WANTS HIM TO.

And now, Obama has TOLD him to.

I swear to God, this president is going to make my head explode BEFORE he gets out of office.

Fiscal conservative????? ARG!!!

Next time, I will have a fiscal conservative or this vote will NOT be cast.

[Dingbat36]

But taking a look at Republican Party reality inside the Washington beltway, we see a rudderless ship, out of touch with the grass roots of its own party.

Exactly right! Before the 2004 election, I contributed to the RNC. I sincerely regret that now and they got not one red cent from me this time around nor would I even answer the phone when they called (sometimes 3 times a day) just before the end of the year. I knew exactly what they wanted, the $100.00 "tax free" contribution. The RNC has abdicated their responsibility to their base....why should any real conservative support their (drifting to the left) organization?

[Charie]

Not sure what you're disagreeing with, Terri. I agreed that the Republican leadership (that does include President Bush) has separated moral and fiscal conservatism. Except for President Bush being on the opposite side, they have split conservatism into two factions. I don't believe conservatives can do that and remain conservatives.

I did not say that President Bush is a fiscal conservative.

I have to ask if you would vote for a candidate who backed partial-birth abortion, gay marriage, government take-over of private property to sell to a private company so they'd have a larger tax base and the confiscation of all guns even though he/she believed in cutting taxes and less spending?

I don't believe a Republican candidate can ever make it again being on one side or the other. We need the complete conservative. The reason George Bush was elected was because we thought he was not only a morally conservative candidate, but a fiscal one as well.

Obama was elected on the hope of his followers that he would be morally liberal as well as fiscally liberal. The opposite side of the coin.

[ONTIME]

The impact of the unrest and the temperment now taking place in the Republican party are becoming evident, we now have Boehner and McConnell trying to suddenly speak like real Republicans and use conservative speech after a lapse of several years. We ae still cursed with the lib/RINO element and the party platform is still in jeopardy with these renegades being allowed to insert themselves into party direction and party leadership.

This country needs to be shown a future of hope and prosperity and the fact that integrity and perserverance is the keel of prosperity upon which we are founded. Yankee ingenuity is not a myth and achievers are the results of what a free market produces under a capitalistic system, freedom is what we are and the Republicans in this party need to be cognizant of this platform.

[Terri]

I'll use an example, Charie.

In the past primary season we had a soundly conservative fiscal and defense candidate in Mitt Romney.

He was judged unfit on social values despite the fact that he had lived those values all his life. Nothing mattered but his religious denomination.

Sorry, but we cannot allow the people who administer a religious litmus test to our candidates to continue to do that. They loved Bush for his social conservatism and you see where we are today.

Enough. We need to concentrate on fiscal and defense policies.

Without sound fiscal and defense policies we may well not be around to argue about social values. So, while social values are still important to me personally, I am going to have to follow the intent of the Founders. Those issues belong to the states and not to the occupant of the Oval Office.

[wunsch]

The dem party will move to liberal policies on social and fiscal areas and who knows what, if any, defense they will provide for our nation. The republican party needs to stand for a strong defense along with conservative social & fiscal responsibilities. The party lost because it abandoned conservative fiscal policy and ran when it came time to support social issues they ran on. You cannot fix this country with fiscal responsibility alone, you need honest, diciplined people with principles based in our Judeo-Christian philosophy. Otherwise, this country will fall as the Roman Empire did. If you think gay marriage, abortion on demand, God out of the public sphere etc. are not issues that matter, you are very wrong. Look at the continuing degradation of our society in behavior, dress, honesty, work ethic etc. I want to see a republican leadership that lays out the way ahead as Gingrich did in his contract with America. Lets put it out there with solid conservatism and see how it flies - and expect the press to fight it and denigrate it as they will. The press does not represent the folks on Main St in towns across America. I doubt that they even know what being an American is (or was?).

[Terri]

If you think gay marriage, abortion on demand, God out of the public sphere etc. are not issues that matter, you are very wrong.
It's too bad that you misunderstood what I said.

It is not that social issues are unimportant. It is that according to the Constitution of the United States of America they are not among the enumerated powers of the federal government. If the country wants them to become the province of the feds they will need to amend the Constitution which is something we don't have the ability to do.

A president has limited powers. That one office is not the beginning or the end of government in America. We need to work for more conservative state government and a conservative US Congress. That's how we can block a liberal president. That's how our Congress could have held Bush to conservative principles but we elected a Congress that didn't have them either.

Look at the continuing degradation of our society in behavior, dress, honesty, work ethic etc.
Are those issues you want to legislate at the federal level? Where is the constitutional authority to do that?

The party lost because it abandoned conservative fiscal policy and ran when it came time to support social issues they ran on.
They definitely ran away from conservative fiscal policy with George Bush leading the pack and Congress in hot pursuit. As to "time to support social issues" that time didn't come. Those are issues for the states and a goodly number of states stepped up and addressed them during the last 8 years. There is one thing a president can do about them, and that one thing is important, but one thing is all there is. Judges. If you can tell me what other changes Bush made, or could have made, in social issues that will be lasting, please do.

We cannot have it both ways. Either we follow the Constitution or we don't. Apparently, we don't. Not on either side.

When we decide social issues are the only important issue areas, and we throw out the best qualified candidates because they are not of the approved denomination, we risk losing elections. Now, if the economy goes into a real depression, which it may under the leadership of Obama, we are going to be far more vulnerable to attacks from the outside. Who's going to have the luxury of worrying about legislating social issues then?

Getting back to the thrust of Star's article, not donating to the national party is one thing which I believe most of us have been doing for a long time now. Does anyone see any visible changes because of it?

I don't. That's because it takes personal involvement in large numbers at the state level to turn the party around. We have to do a lot more than stop donating. We need to change leadership at the county and state levels. It will take a lot of time that we really don't have.

[Retired92]

I would like to add that for 6 years I supported the RNA more than I should have out of my retirement income, but not one penney after that: 1. once I figured out that Bush was captured by the neoconservatives, 2. wants to heal the world by joining in the western Europe socialistic rules/ 3. put our constitution subservient to the World court, 4. keep our borders open 5. give amnesty to anyone already here.

Lack of my continued money has not convinced the RNA, nor the notes I sent back over the past two years along with their multiple pleas for more money.

I figure they are still blind so no more money or attempts to influence other people until they pick a TRUE Conservative to put themselves back together. Time is running out. Yes we need a revolution.

[Bobnews]

I, for one, agree with Mr. Blackwell's Shareholder revolt however I've already revolted and will not support any Republican effort until we see someone at the Party Chair level take some responsibility for walking away from the base and destroying the Party. I am afraid Mr. Bush decided to walk away and we are still without a leader that can muster more than a tepid voice.

Mr. Bush got it all wrong on immigration and has a twisted view of what Republicans have to do to get the Hispanic vote. Amnesty with open borders will completely kill off the Republican Party. Securing the border and providing a legal means for guest workers to enter the Country is the answer to winning the Hispanic vote. Every poll I can find says Americans, Republican and Democrat alike opposed the amnesty Bush proposed. Even legal Hispanic citizens opposed it.

I warned in this forum long before the election that the Party was without leadership and heading over the cliff. The election proved my analysis to be dead on point. Until I see a leader and a return to the base count me out.

[Retired92]

I would like to see Dr. Bill Frist considered, or even Mike Huckabee. Dr. bill did what he promised and retired, and I wish he was still there.

Who is the man listed early in this thread and where does he come from?

I should have added that it wasn't all Bush: The Congress are the ones that destroyed the economy. Bush only has veto power (which he didn't use) but Congress refused to pass the bills that Both Bush and McCain tried to get through to get Freddymae and Freddymac under control. And as stated earlier, where are our few conservative legislators that were left in this term

[Bobnews]

As for Terri's comment "If you think gay marriage, abortion on demand, God out of the public sphere etc. are not issues that matter, you are very wrong."

I agree with Terri. As a matter of fact this notion fits in with the debate on how to get the Hispanic vote. As you may know, Mexico and other southern Countries are very religious and mostly Catholic. Republicans have a golden opportunity to take the social issues of the day and use them to reach out to the Hispanic population. Hispanics know that issues like marriage is for one man and one women and that family is important. They believe that God is more important than anything else. Hispanics know that the church strongly opposes abortion. This is what I was talking about when I said above that Republicans have better means of getting Hispanics to join the Party than amnesty. Amnesty makes Hispanic Americans angry as these new illegals are butting in on their jobs.
----- Original Message -----

[Terri]

That wasn't my quote so we better credit it to Wunsch. :)

Social issues are all important issues but they are not constitutionally under the direction of the feds.

How we will ever get back to the Constitution, I don't know, but as conservatives we need to recognize how it limits the federal government.

Right now it seems like an impossible task as does rebuilding the Republican Party in a way we could all agree on.

I don't think we could agree on a leader no matter who he or she was.

[utexas]

We do need a shareholder revolt in the Republican Party followed by one in the country as a whole.

The only flaw in this theory is that there are seemingly not nearly enough concerned or knowledgeable Republicans who care enough to stage such a revolt within the Party, as seen by the blame-throwing and finger-pointing, and the continual reelection of moderates, centrists, and RINO’s to Party positions of power.

And if there aren’t enough true conservatives within just the Republican Party, then there certainly isn’t anywhere near enough conservative Americans who care enough about the country and its future to do anything about it. Most are too happy getting the free money-for-nothing doled out by the Dims as long as they keep voting for them. They only look as far ahead as their next dole check, not to the future of the country their children will be living in.

And I quit giving money to the GOP on the day that McCain was selected as presidential candidate.

[makamends]

And if there aren’t enough true conservatives within just the Republican Party, then there certainly isn’t anywhere near enough conservative Americans who care enough about the country and its future to do anything about it.

There's not that many conservatives, but like George pointed out today, they are loud. The next few years are going to terrible for Americans. They'll be looking for those lone voices of truth like Tancredo was during the first amnesty fiasco. Give it time. Americans will have their ears on and be ready for answers. We'll need to learn to take them in fractured though they may be. :D