EXCLUSIVE CLUB: “I’m a longtime member of a pretty select group: the Dick Cheney Fan Club. Chapters gather in phone booths, refrigerator boxes and, at the annual convention, we take up three whole booths in the back of a nearby Arby’s.” - Columnist Jonah Goldberg
THE CONSERVATIVE WHO CAN WIN
“I support the conservative (GOP presidential candidate) who can win, and as soon as I figure who that is, I’ll let you know. As the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, I am not anxious to put my name on any of the candidates. I am not backing anyone at the moment. I have to be inspired by my presidential candidate. I have yet to be inspired. Having said that, I can assure you that the moment the Democrats nominate Hillary or Obama, I can get very inspired, very quickly.”
- Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas)
TANCREDO SEZ LET PAUL IN
“While I don’t see eye-to-eye with Rep. Paul on all issues, he is a respected Congressman, a former presidential candidate, and a man with strong convictions and the courage to express them. The Republican party is better because he is one of us and he has earned the right to be in all presidential forums and debates. I hope the organizers of this forum will reconsider and extend him an invitation.”
- GOP presidential candidate Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) on the decision by organizers in Iowa to ban Ron Paul from participation in a debate there this Saturday
GOV’T MAKES THINGS WORSE
“Government dominates education in America. K-12 education is a coercive, often rigidly unionized government virtual monopoly that fights every attempt to experiment with free-market competition. . . . Government coercion almost always makes things worse. It discourages individual effort, and sucks capital away from more productive uses.”
- ABC’s John Stossel
GIVE CHOICE A CHANCE
“Thankfully, there is a way to bring both justice and peace to American education: school choice. Attach funding to children instead of public schools, and rather than wasting precious time and resources on seemingly endless political and legal battles, parents could simply choose schools that share their values and get on with educating their children. It is the only system of education that’s truly compatible with a free society, and the key to ending our constant educational warfare.”
- Neil McCluskey of the Cato Institute
HYPOCRITERVATIVES
“It amazes me that some conservatives who preach against ‘big government’ control of our lives think nothing of rushing in to ask big government to control our entertainment choices.”
- Columnist Cal Thomas
SMALL VICTORY FOR FREE SPEECH
“In a substantial and important victory for democracy and free speech, the Supreme Court…announced that the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law cannot completely stifle the free speech of citizens and groups such as Wisconsin Right to Life, which brought the challenge to the McCain-Feingold law’s assault on liberty. . . . By striking the first significant blow against the McCain-Feingold anti-free speech law, the court has struck a blow for the constitutional rights of all of us. Yet there is more work to do.”
- Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich
A LOTT OF PROBLEMS
“Talk radio is running America. We have to deal with that problem.”
- Sen. Trent Lott (R-Mississippi)
OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE?
“Trent Lott the other day said that talk radio is ruling the country. You know what that means? It means that you rule the country. This is the media source that is the closest to the people. [Radio] is the only national media source that I’m aware of in which you influence what’s going on, where you have your voice heard.”
- Conservative talk-show host Glenn Beck to his listeners this week
GAGGING CONSERVA-TALK
“U.S. Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., said Sunday she is ‘looking at’ the possibility of reviving the fairness doctrine for U.S. broadcasters. Feinstein, speaking on ‘Fox News Sunday’ with Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., said talk radio in particular has presented a one-sided view of immigration reform legislation being considered by the Senate. U.S. talk radio is dominated by conservative voices.”
- UPI, 6/24/07
STINKS ON ICE
“Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Ca) said on Sunday that she thought it would be a good idea if the Congress would pass a law bringing back what used to be known as ‘The Fairness Doctrine.’ It is a perfectly horrid idea. OK. Not ‘perfectly horrid.’ How about: That’s an idea that stinks out loud.”
- Columnist Rich Galen
UNFAIRNESS DOCTRINE COULD HAVE LEGS
“It really does appear that liberal Democrats are planning an attempt to revive the Fairness Doctrine as a way of curbing conservative talk radio. They may even have some quiet Republican allies in their effort. . . . (A) return to the Fairness Doctrine would lead to a more homogenous and timid media culture. In other words, exactly the kind of climate that incumbents of both parties find congenial and easy to live with.”
- John Fund, Political Diary, 6/25/07
BACK TO THE BAD OL’ DAYS
“I am worried about what is happening to talk-radio in this country. The left does not like the fact that conservatives dominate talk-radio, and it looks like Democrats will attempt to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine this fall or winter. The public may find this issue more difficult to comprehend than the immigration bill. If talk-radio as we know it dies, this nation will suffer greatly. Back to the days when the big liberal networks filtered everything? God help us.”
- Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress Foundation
AMNESTY BILL KILLING GOP SUPPORT
“If President Bush continues to back the (immigration) legislation - and he shows no sign of doing anything else - many analysts believe that there could be political consequences. According to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, 45 percent of self-identified Republicans approve of how the president is handling immigration, a 16-point drop since April. Of self-identified conservatives, 35 percent of respondents approved, a decrease of 13 points.”
- CNS News, 6/26/07
OVERWHELMING OPPOSITION
“There is in fact overwhelming opposition in the U.S. House to the Senate immigration bill.”
- Arizona Republican John Shadegg
REBUKING BUSH
“House Republicans yesterday unveiled a resolution expressing their disapproval of the Senate immigration bill. It was offered by Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), and simply read: ‘resolved the House GOP Conference disapproves of the Senate immigration bill.’ The move puts the House Republican Conference at odds with President Bush, who has endorsed the Senate bill.”
- The Hill, 6/27/07
THE PARTY’S OVER
“If Tuesday’s vote to renew debate on the Senate’s immigration bill wasn’t a dagger through the heart of many Republicans, including myself, it was very close. Although it may not have been a fatal stab, the damage could very well be permanent.”
- Bobby Eberle, publisher of GOPUSA.com
DOING THE AMNESTY MATH
“America’s illegal immigrant admission has accelerated over time. Congress and President Reagan granted amnesty to three million illegal aliens in 1986; and the current President Bush wants to legalize another 12 million now, which sends an arithmetic signal to other immigrants who want to slip into America that 20 years from now whoever is president will perhaps grant amnesty to 48 million illegal immigrants.”
- Former Delaware Gov. Pete du Pont
STATES PICKING UP FEDS’ SLACK
“Frustrated with Congress’s inability to pass an immigration overhaul bill, state legislatures are considering or enacting a record number of strongly worded proposals targeting illegal immigrants. By the time most legislatures adjourned in May, at least 1,100 immigration bills had been submitted by lawmakers, more than double last year’s record total, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. This year’s total is expected to grow as the issue continues to dominate debate in statehouses still in session.”
- Washington Post, 6/25/07
THE UNION LABEL
“Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked a bill that would have allowed labor organizations to unionize workplaces without secret ballot elections. Democrats were unable to get the 60 votes needed to force consideration of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), ending labor’s chance to win its top legislative priority from Congress.”
- Associated Press
“Democrats did their duty for the AFL-CIO yesterday, offering and then quickly losing a vote on the Senate floor to eliminate secret ballots for union organizing elections. Democrats could muster only a single Republican vote — Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania — and so the bill went down to a GOP filibuster, 51-48.”
- Wall Street Journal
“The Senate’s vote is a victory for workers who value the protection and dignity of private balloting and the basic right to vote on labor contracts.”
- U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
“Even though the Senate failed to pass a procedural vote on EFCA today, the final count was a disturbing 51-48 — enough to pass if the Senate can’t hold a filibuster in the future. Union bosses have already announced that this is their top priority, and they are openly admitting that this vote was preparation for a major showdown in 2009.”
- Center for Union Facts
Posted on June 27th, 2007 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: National
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