Libertarians and the future of the Republican Party
Political Consultant Mike Murphy, a native Michigander and veteran of the Engler 1990 and McCain 2000 campaigns, was on this week’s edition of “Off the Record.” When asked by Skubick whether he agreed that the Republican Party needs to open itself up to gays and pro-choice women, Murphy agreed, noting the Republican Party is essentially a “free market party,” and that “the truth is [today’s youth] are culturally less conservative on social issues than they used to be…some corners of the party don’t understand that the country is changing demographically.”
When asked about the moderate/conservative distinction and former Governor Bill Milliken, Murphy further explained, “we’ve tended to define [conservatism] a little bit backwards…No, the old liberal-republican model is not the answer…I’m personally very sympathetic to the pro-life side, but if it’s the litmus-test of the party nationally, we lose votes we need.”
Kathy Barks Hoffman asked whether Murphy was suggesting that Republicans move away from social issues. Murphy responded, “I think totally going to a moderate position on all social issues is not necessarily the reframing of the party. Most elections are about economic issues, rather than social issues…In most places it’s true that younger voters are culturally a lot more libertarian than they used to be which is hurting us because we’re seen as being disconnected from that.”
Kegger Tax
Introduced 2009 House Bill 4565 (Revise keg beer sale procedures ) to require retailers to attach an identification tag signed by the buyer to kegs of beer when they are sold, and not return the keg deposit unless the tag is still on the keg.
State Chairman Sheill at the Sammies
This weekend I traveled with Chet Zarko of outsidelansing.com to the 2nd Annual Sam Adams Alliance Sammies in Chicago.
John Fund of the Wall Street Journal took aim at Susan Roesgen of CNN and told the audience not to worry about MSM’s efforts to discount the Taxpayer Tea Party Protests because MSM does so at their own risk. The Sam Adams Alliance was instrumental in organizing the main tea party in Chicago. Fund said that while the Democrats convince themselves that the age of Obama will bring a return of 1933 and 1965, he argued that next year’s mid-term elections could very well mirror Democratic defeats in 1978 and 1994.
I was really impressed by the diversity of talent among the young liberty-minded activists in attendance. This included Mary Katherine Ham of the Weekly Standard who presented the Best Video Award to Austin Bragg and Caleb Brown of the CATO Institute for their work parodying the inane liquor control regulations of the state of Virginia. For example, in Virginia, a bartender can sell you a pint of beer and a shot, but cannot sell you a shot inside of a pint of beer! Make sense? No Irish car-bombs in Virginia, but then again, Homeland Security might object to those as well. The video was the most entertaining part of the night.
But by far the moment of the night was when Paul Jacob received the Lifetime Award for his efforts to get TABOR on the ballot in Oklahoma, even in the face of potential prosecution at the hands of the attorney general. Jacob had just earlier presented the Modern-Day Sam Adams Award, and you could see him almost break down in tears as he explained to us all how Sam Adams sacrificed his father’s lucrative beer distillery in order to fight for the freedom (and beer, made by a different family now) that we all still enjoy to this day.
We also personally met Joe the Plumber before the show, who is surprisingly real & cool guy (he called McCain a socialist). All in all I met a lot of great people from across the county and in particular, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and of course, Illinois.
-Dan Sheill
Drolet to run for State Senate
Yesterday the Detroit Free Press mentioned that, former state-representative and Republican Liberty Caucus of Michigan advisor, Leon Drolet will run for State Senate. The paper took a shot by saying Leon, “has made a career of bashing government. Now he’ll seek another government job: the state Senate.” The Free Press goes on to mention that Drolet also was a lead speaker at last week’s Tea Party in Lansing, which, according to them, “drew a surprisingly large crowd of close to 5,000.” There is no better way to say this than to say that the Detroit Press Editorial Board is run by a bunch of Obama obsessed socialists. Unfortunately, when (not if) South East Michigan sees the end of one of its major newspapers, it will be the News, and not the Free Press which will disappear.
Beer Tax/Hoekstra
Officer the Record this week addressed a proposal by the Child Welfare insurance Task Force to raise the state’s beer tax from 2 cents a bottle to 5 cents in order to fund social services for foster children.
Also, Pete Hoekstra was the guest, and unfortunately, he failed to provide direct answers to several simple questions. Charlie Cain asked Hoekstra whether he would eliminate the income, sales, and/or Michigan business taxes. Hoekstra said that he has been talking business leaders and individual citizens across the state and the consensus seemed to be getting rid of two of those three taxes. Cain followed up by asking which of the three was he talking about and Hoekstra responded by saying, “I don’t know at this point.” Regarding Congress’ “Cash for Clunker” plan, Hoekstra said he supported “rebates” to buy new cars, but not more “bailout money.” And finally, Hoekstra said he opposes “vouchers” but supports “more educational choices.” Whether or not he intended to doublespeak, Hoekstra needs to do a better job making his positions clear in the future.
Be careful what you wish for!
Last fall, conservative commentators such as Nolan Finley of the Detroit News and Frank Beckmann of WJR radio continuously warned us that, if elected, President Barack Obama would bring socialism to America, as if it hadn’t already arrived. At the same time both men tirelessly defended the federal government’s “bridge loans” to GM and Chrysler, and would complain that, unlike the banks on Wall Street, Detroit’s money would come with strings attached. But lately we’ve learned that too may be wrong as the White House has been rumored to be contemplating the setting of salaries for these banks’ employees. The moral of the story is never expect a handout from the government without expecting a loss of liberty in return.
McCotter does NOT Rock
“McCotter Rocks” is a newly created site in praise of the 11th District Congressman essentially to help bolster the re-election chances of Michigan’s most vulnerable incumbent Congressman. Representative McCotter argued passionately last fall that Republicans lost big in November 2008 because they “lost their way” by supporting things such as the $700 billion Wall Street bailout.
But for someone quite willing to lecture his fellow Republicans for failing to stick to their principles, McCotter seems to be more of a “do as I say, not as I do” kind of guy. Sure, he voted against both 2008 bailouts, but he was also the only GOP Congressman from Michigan to vote for card-check in 2007. And McCotter is apparently going to support the 2009 version as well. He has also voted to expand the government’s role in health care by supporting S-Chip’s reauthorization in 2009. This after saying on October 3, 2007: If the GOP doesn’t battle Dems on SCHIP, the party will “not only lose the next election. It will lose its soul.” And of course McCotter was arguably the most outspoken advocate of the domestic auto industry receiving a “bridge loan” from the federal government. RLCMI would suggest that the fine Congressman take a little of his own advice, “seize freedom” and start anew with a better voting record.
