 By: Amy Lutz This morning, the RNC released their 2012 "autopsy" findings and plan for future elections. The report, appropriately titled "The Growth & Opportunity Project," bluntly addresses the widespread issues within the Republican Party as well as providing a plan for 2016. Although I highly suggest you read the entire report yourself, here are a few highlights. - The Republican Party needs to stop talking to itself. We have become expert in how to provide ideological reinforcement to like-minded people, but devastatingly we have lost the ability to be persuasive with, or welcoming to, those who do not agree with us on every issue.
- It is time for Republicans on the federal level to learn from successful Republicans on the state level. It is time to smartly change course, modernize the Party, and learn once again how to appeal to more people, including those who share some but not all of our conservative principles.
- If we want ethnic minority voters to support Republicans, we have to engage them and show our sincerity.
- This new organization should develop a program designed to educate Republicans on the importance of developing and tailoring a message that is non-inflammatory and inclusive to all.
- Republicans should develop a more aggressive response to Democrat rhetoric regarding a so-called “war on women.” In 2012, the Republican response to this attack was muddled, and too often the attack went undefended altogether. We need to actively combat this, better prepare our surrogates, and not stand idly by while the Democrats pigeonhole us using false attacks. There are plenty of liberal policies that negatively impact women, and it is incumbent upon the party to expose those and relentlessly attack Democrats using that framework.
- Republicans need to talk about people and families, not just numbers and statistics.
- Encourage young candidates to run for office by preparing them with training and support.
- Media plans and buys must integrate all platforms. What worked in the last campaign will no longer work in the next campaign. Continued audience fragmentation means media plans must incorporate increasingly diverse mixes of broadcast television, cable television, Hispanic advertising, sports programming, radio, Internet advertising, social media, mobile, and other
emerging media such as online television viewing and radio listening. - Groupthink is a loser.
- The number of debates should be reduced by roughly half to a still robust number of approximately 10 to 12, with the first occurring no earlier than September 1, 2015, and the last ending just after the first several primaries (February-March 2016).
- Instead of driving around in circles on an ideological cul-de-sac, we need a Party whose brand of conservatism invites and inspires new people to visit us. We need to remain America’s conservative alternative to big-government, redistribution-to-extremes liberalism, while building a route into our Party that a non-traditional Republican will want to travel. Our standard should not be universal purity; it should be a more welcoming conservatism.
 By: Amy Lutz I promise this is not a joke. This week, Sports Illustrated named President Barack Obama "One of the Most Powerful People in Sports." Appropriately, he was #44 on the list. The magazine had this to say about the selection:
"POTUS might be the ultimate global power player, but he also wields significant influence in the Republic of Sports. One relevant riff-on his NCAA tourney picks, on his desire for a college football playoff, on his concern over permitting the sons that he doesn't have to play football-and the sports world takes notice. Plus, the 51-year-old can shoot the J."
I think we all know where Sports Illustrated is located on the political spectrum because anyone with eyes and half a brain could logically deduce our current Commander in Chief knows very little about several of this country's favorite pastimes. Don't believe me? I'll prove it. He doesn't know the name of the 2012 NBA Champions.
"Miami Heats?" I'm not an NBA fan and even I know it's the "Miami Heat."
He thinks "Caminsky Park" is actually "Kaminsky Field." Alright, I'll admit, I didn't know where Kaminsky Field was until I saw this video. However, 1. I'm not a huge baseball fan (I was unfortunately enough to be born into a family of Royals fans) and 2. I'm not from Chicago. You would think that someone who hails from Chicago and claims to be a huge baseball fan would actually know the name of the park where the White Sox played from 1910-1990. He Can't Actually Name Any White Sox PlayersIn 2010, before throwing the first pitch at a Nationals-Mets game in DC, the president gave an interview in which he was unable to name any White Sox players. But, wait, I thought he was such a HUGE fan? Rob Dibble, former White Sox pitcher: “Having played with the White Sox for a short time, I know how the Cubs fans and White Sox fans go back and forth. Who was one of your favorite White Sox players growing up?”Obama: “You know uh ….. I … I thought that … uh …. you know … the truth is a lot of the Cubs I like too! But, uh … I did not become a Sox fan until I moved to Chicago. Because I uh …. I was growing up in Hawaii so I ended up actually being an Oakland A’s fan.”
He Doesn't Mind Insulting Handicapped Athletes Now that's just downright offensive.
He Throws Like a Girl I take that back. Even I could probably throw out a better first pitch.
Image above via Breitbart.
I have long understood that insane health insurance premiums are one of the few things I have to look forward to after graduation. Thanks Obamacare. However, until this morning, I did not realize how much I will have to pay once I am out on my own (in about three months mind you). According to a recent article in Breitbart, young people can expect a 145-203% increase in health insurance premiums. I didn't think I'd be eating so many Ramen noodles after graduation, but that looks to be my future.
The average young health insurance consumer will pay $1224 more for health insurance than they would had the "Affordable" Care Act never been passed. For $1224 you could buy the following items PER MONTH (each bullet is $1224 or less): Kinda hurts, doesn't it? By the way, the minimum penalty per person for not buying health insurance is $695 in 2016. In 2014, it's only $95/month. Interesting.
By: Amy Lutz HA Had you going there for a second, didn't I? No, gun control is far from successful in the Sean Penn's socialist utopia. Last year, the Venezuelan government banned all private gun ownership and forbidden gun shops from selling to private individuals. Police and military officials are exempt from the ban. So it had to work great, right? I'm sure that the "culture of violence" in Venezuela has come to a screeching halt since June of last year. Wrong. After the ban went in place, Venezuela's murder rate increased by 12%. In total, there were 21,692 homicides in 2012. That's 73 murders per 100,000 people. In case you're wondering, the murder rate in the US is a MASSIVE 4.7 murders per 100,000 people. But the fun doesn't stop there! Venezuela has the honor of holding the 4th highest murder rate in the world! Can I get a round of applause? Nothing? All joking aside, Venezuela is a perfect case study for both socialism and gun control (of course, the two go hand in hand). Let me give you the spark notes: They both suck. Venezuela is less free and more violent since Chavez took power. I can only hope that liberty will creep back into the nation now that their leader has passed. If you want a great recap of the damages Chavez did while leading Venezuela, check out this awesome article from Reason.
By: Amy Lutz
I normally don't ask my readers to sift through an entire Court case, but I'll make an exception. For my Constitutional Law class, I'm currently reading Pollock v. Farmers' Loan and Trust Company, which dealt with the income tax long before Woodrow Wilson's tenure. What I find most fascinating about this case is its obvious nature as a Progressive Era case. While I tend to agree with the majority opinion, the dissent touches question of wealth inequality and implies the "fair share" question which we have all grown to know and love (or hate.). Most importantly though, Justice White (dissent) presents a very blatant vision of the Constitution as a "living document." Below I've included the syllabus, majority opinion, concurring opinion, and dissenting opinion. For brevity, I bolded the important phrases.
By: Amy Lutz
As each year passes, bloggers become an even stronger force at both CPAC and in the political sphere. This year, the National Bloggers Club is providing a scholarship for CPAC which will be awarded to four lucky bloggers. If you care about new media, citizen journalism, or conservative activism, this is definitely a cause worth supporting. Read more below:
The National Bloggers Club has launched a new scholarship fund to send at least four citizen-journalists to the annual conference at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.
Money for the scholarships will be raised through crowd sourced donations, BlogBash.org, and will cover travel and hotel costs. Grant recipients have been selected from applicants from throughout the country.
“The National Bloggers Club is honored to launch this initiative to help some of our own attend CPAC and BlogBash this year,” said Bruce Carroll, NBC board member and blogger at www.GayPatriot.org. “Our goal through this effort is to raise $4,500 to make sure that our scholarship recipients have the resources they need to accurately and efficiently report from CPAC. As bloggers, we have a duty to help each other out and this is part of that continuing mission.”
Many bloggers hold full-time jobs and support families, so it can be a financial challenge to attend the largest annual gathering of conservatives in the country. The National Bloggers Club established this fund knowing the both the conference and the political blogging world benefit from the presence of additional citizen-journalists.
The National Bloggers Club is working closely with the organizers of CPAC, the American Conservative Union, to make sure these grantees receive blogger credentials to the event. Recipients of the grant will also assist the Club in providing tools, pictures, and other resources to the hundreds of its members planning to attend.
Melissa Clouthier, Houston based blogger and co-host of Blog Bash lent her support to the scholarship. “These folks are the tip of the activist spear and the best weapon against a biased and lapdog media,” she said of citizen journalists looking to attend CPAC.
For more information or to make a donation to the scholarship fund, please visitwww.bitly.com/bloggerstocpac13. Other bloggers seeking to offset their trip or be matched with roommates can contact the Club.
One of my favorite quotes:
"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and probably be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully around with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safely in the casket of your selfishness. But in that casket -- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become impenetrable,irredeemable . . . The only place outside heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers of love, is hell." - C.S. Lewis
During yet another President Obama campaign speech, otherwise known as the State of the Union, Mr. Obama stated the following:
One of those we lost was a young girl named Hadiya Pendleton. She was 15 years old. She loved Fig Newtons and lip gloss. She was a majorette. She was so good to her friends, they all thought they were her best friend. Just three weeks ago, she was here, in Washington, with her classmates, performing for her country at my inauguration. And a week later, she was shot and killed in a Chicago park after school, just a mile away from my house.
Hadiya’s parents, Nate and Cleo, are in this chamber tonight, along with more than two dozen Americans whose lives have been torn apart by gun violence. They deserve a vote.
Gabby Giffords deserves a vote.
The families of Newtown deserve a vote.
The families of Aurora deserve a vote.
The families of Oak Creek, and Tucson, and Blacksburg, and the countless other communities ripped open by gun violence – they deserve a simple vote.
First thing, who says they don't get a vote? Or rather, why shouldn't they have a say in gun control legislation? No one is denying their right to take part in the democratic process. It's a false argument, a political ploy, an appeal to the easily swayed emotions of your average bleeding heart liberal. Yes, victims of gun violence deserve a vote, but they're not the only ones. - Pro-Life women deserve a vote in the abortion debate
- People who have been saved by guns deserve a vote in the gun control debate
- Doctors who find it difficult to practice under Obamacare deserve a vote in the health care debate
- Legal immigrants deserve a vote in the immigration debate
- Companies who use fracking procedures deserve a vote in the energy debate
- God-fearing Americans deserve a vote in the freedom of religion debate
- Catholic hospitals deserve a vote in the contraception mandate debate
- Public school teachers deserve a vote to not join a union.
- Chris Stevens and Brian Terry? Well they just deserve a vote.
So there, President Obama. You're right. We ALL deserve a vote. We all deserve a say. Yet, in many national debates, liberal talking points scream a little louder; amplified by the main stream media. But, yes, we ALL deserve a vote. Pro-lifers deserve a vote. Gun owners deserve a vote. Legal immigrants deserve a vote. Let's fight for it.
Below is the full video of Toure's full speech at SLU. In it, he discussed the "racism" of the GOP and his perspective on gun control. During the last 15 minutes, you will see him argue directly with a woman in the audience about the latter topic.
During his presentation, Toure repeatedly referenced the "racist" tactic of the Republican party. Sure, I can understand disagreeing with our policies, but to imply that they are racist? That goes a bit far. What I noticed is that Toure repeatedly labeled the GOP's opposition to over-bloated welfare programs as "racist." That was the basis for his label. So, wanting a small government and less government dependency is racist? That's news to me. Furthermore, his implication is that attacking welfare is synonymous with attacking minorities. Isn't that a bit biased in and of itself?
Yes, I am aware that black Americans and other minority groups are disproportionally impoverished, but that's not a result of modern day racism. It's a result of New Deal and Great Society programs which destroyed the black family and solidified poverty for many black Americans. Thus, by attacking welfare programs, Republicans are suggesting a vision in which impoverished Americans will have more opportunity for success. Ending government dependency is not racist. It's simply rational.
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