Editorial

2012 Florida Senate Race – Candidates Jockey For Position

On January 20, 2011, In Congress, Editorial, Florida, By admin

I am sure everyone has read several stories and polls the past few weeks about possible candidates that may run for against Senator Bill Nelson in 2012. Part of the stirred up or false hype around certain candidates has to be directly related to our good friends at the Sugar Industry that would like to “solidify” a candidate for 2012 early on.

As much as I hate elections and even more that primaries because they often denigrate to a drunken bar fight, they exist for a reason. Recent history, such as the Florida Governor’s and Senate races should be a sign of caution for those of us to ready to declare a victor before the candidates have run the course. I vividly remember Marco Rubio announcing to run in April 2009 and no one thought he would have a chance.

First order for conservatives is to stand united and change the 2010 Florida Senate Race Rule of “ABC”, Anybody But Charlie, to “ABL”, Anyone But Lemieux, for 2012. Senator Lemiuex should be handled with extreme cause because he has brains, unlike Crist, politically savvy and willing to do anything to win.

I am currently watching five candidates in no specific order, Senate President Mike Haridopolos, Former Leader Adam Hasner, Congressman Connie Mack, Mike McCalister and Nick Loeb. Let the race begin!

You might be asking who is Nick Loeb. He is my wild card draw, but could very easily topple the other candidates. His recent life changing experience has caused him to “grow up” and become a leader. In addition his relationship with Sofia Vergara has centered the once “playboy.” For those that don’t know Sofia Vergara, she is a conservative hot Emmy nominated Columbia actress that you will find in “Modern Family” and other popular shows. Nick has a great heart, huge ambitious, but also the ability to raise millions. This couple is Caliente! Check out the speech Nick gave at the first West Palm Beach Tea Party.

I have heard several rumors that Congressman Connie Mack lives in California. Expect his residency to be challenged early on if Mack officially jumps in. Republicans have two major congressional eyesores in Florida, Connie Mack’s residency being one. Let’s hope these individuals quietly walk away without damaging conservatives.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos will likely be one of the most conservative Florida Senate Presidents ever. He is also very connected and was able to raise millions for Florida Senate Candidates in 2010. I think it will be difficult for him to run for Senate and while at the same time being the Florida Senate President. Senator Atwater was successful at this maneuver because he was only dealing with Florida state issues. Mike will have his hands full trying to rodeo both state policy and federal policy, run the Senate and campaign for Federal office.

McCalister drew 10% of GOP Florida Governors Primary in 2010 without any resources. As much as I like Mike, feel he is not likely to be a serious candidate because he lacks a realistic campaign strategy. Running around and ranting at the local tea party meetings is good, but I feel McCalister lacks the ability to connect with the super voters or middle voters.

This past week I have noticed a few “pro” Hasner Facebook pages pop up. Adam Hasner is a rock solid conservative that should give all candidates a run for their money. Hasner lacks statewide name recognition, but so do the other candidates. Expect Adam to play toward his consistency of being a conservative from a part of the Florida that eats conservatives for breakfast on a regular basis. Hasner will also deploy a very sophisticated policy approach on federal issues which most of the other candidates lack. I also expect his leadership to put him in front or near the front.

Who knows which candidate will be the front runner in 2012. Honestly I just hope to see a conservative that has a large amount of support running. We can’t afford Senator Bill Nelson. He is destroying the future of Florida and America with is liberal big government policies.

Obama wrangles with own party over health care overhaul plan

On July 22, 2009, In Congress, Editorial, By jenn

Keep the pressure up — we are winning!

July 22 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama and congressional Democratic leaders are trying to mend fissures within their own party over plans to overhaul U.S. health care.

A rebellion over the cost of the legislation prompted Obama to summon some Democrats to the White House for talks as a congressional committee delayed drafting its bill and Republicans sought to capitalize on the friction.

Negotiations over the most sweeping changes in health care in more than four decades have proven so difficult that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer left open the possibility Congress may fail to meet Obama’s August deadline for legislation.

“The seven of us can’t support the bill as it stands,” said Representative Mike Ross of Arkansas, a leader of the Blue Dog Coalition of fiscally conservative Democrats, speaking for a group of lawmakers who met with Obama yesterday to voice concern over a plan unveiled July 14 by House leaders.

Obama spent more than an hour talking with those lawmakers, who are members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has yet to pass its part of the legislation.

To help win over the Blue Dogs, Committee Chairman Henry Waxman agreed to include a provision to create an independent commission to set reimbursement rates for Medicare providers each year. Ross said such a body would take politics out of decisions on the federal insurance program for the elderly.

To pay for Obamacare, tax raises for America … except union members

On June 24, 2009, In Editorial, By patriot

By Warner Todd Huston

The Senate is about to pay off the unions for helping get Obama elected. Senator Max Baucus (D, Mont.) looks to be about ready to propose a plan to pay for Obama’s massive, more than $1 trillion in new government spending on healthcare by instituting a new tax on many employees that currently have healthcare through their workplace (nearly 1 in 8 workers according to Peter Barnes). Never having been “income” before, Senator Baucus is prepared to claim it is and will be taxed accordingly.

… unless, of course, you happen to be a union member. If you are a Democrat supporting, Obama voting union member, why you don’t have to pay this never before levied tax at all. You get off scot free. Fuggedaboutit.

So much for equal under the law. Now, all you have to do is join a union and, voila, you don’t have to pay the taxes everyone else suffers under. Aren’t you glad that Obama is so interested in “fair,” and “balanced” governance? Isn’t it great that the Obama era is the “post-partisan” era? If it weren’t the “post-partisan” era, I’d fear for my life instead of just my tax bill this being an example of Democrat’s “fairness” for America.

One of the many problems with Obamacare is his claim that the program could be made “revenue neutral.” It is a thorough fantasy to imagine it could be so. We all know that for Obama to begin to pay for even a small portion of this mess taxes will have to be raised in many areas. And even that will never cover the cost of the trillions that Obama wants to spend on this policy. Obama’s meddling in healthcare will cost an exorbitant amount of money. Worse, it is likely that the states will be left with unfunded mandates that will force them to raise taxes as well (just like what happened with Medicare and Medicaid).

Additionally, Baucus has a sort of bait and switch in his proposal. Not only is he selling this idea to his biggest supporters in unions as a free ride for them in order to get their class warfare vote, but he is also pretending that only “the rich” will have to pay the healthcare-coverage-as-income tax. He says that only a small number of Americans will be hit with the new tax scheme. To soften the blow, Baucus is proposing a cap on on his tax exclusion at a level “significantly above” the cost of current federal employees plans. That way, he claims, the tax would hit only those making $100,000 or above (or $200,000 for a couple). He then proposes that the tax cap be frozen at this current rate. It’s a classic class warfare maneuver. Soak the rich, give everyone else a pass… even though that “everyone else” will ostensibly benefit the most.

So, why would Baucus only want to tax such a small number of people? If his goal is to “pay” for Obama’s massive spending on healthcare, one might think Baucus would make the cap at a much lower income level so that more Americans would find themselves paying the new tax.

This is where it gets underhanded. Once the Baucus cap is frozen at today’s rates, as time goes on and incomes rise, more and more Americans will find themselves suddenly “rich” enough to be taxed unequally. This happened with the “Alternative Minimum Tax.” In that case, only “millionaires” were supposed to be hit harder, but as incomes rose more and more people found themselves forced into the bracket that triggered the tax. The obvious tactic is to hurt fewer Americans now to get the thing passed all the while knowing that more and more citizens will be hit later.

And why exempt all union members? Shouldn’t they share the same burden as other Americans? This is just more of Baucus’ underhanded political games being played with our health. Was Baucus trained by Tony Soprano? It sure seems so.

Tagged with: senate • tax increase • unions • warner tood huston