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Assuming all the candidates for the U.S. Senate stay in the race, the Democratic choice for Governor is limited. It means the GOP primary will decide the winner. Added to that, no US Senate race in November 2010 means the GOP, especially in the major counties, can have a great year if we don't blow it again. That's good news for down ballot candidates in big counties.
One thing 2008 proved is that voters prefer to vote for officeholders they respect who get things done, like property tax reform, etc. Let's hope we give them that choice.
Huffman Wins SD 17 - No Thanks To "Supporter" Making Middle Of The Night Slam Calls
The GOP wins the SD 17 race with Judge Joan Huffman's well deserved victory. May she have a productive conservative year in the State Senate.
As for the runoff, a couple of thoughts. First, did you see the misleading mudslinging attacks on Huffman's tenure as Judge originated by the Blakemore, Janek, Furse team return this time from Chris Bell? Second, did you hear about the 3:00am phone calls supporting Joan by a PAC affiliated with a Montgomery County November 2008 candidate whose consultant was Allen Blakemore? What is interesting according to insiders, when calls were made to this candidate, within an hour the "slam" calls stopped. It is speculated that Joan's GOP opponents did not stop in the first round and were seeking to hurt her in the runoff. No wonder voters are getting tired of GOP antics.
Paul Bettencourt Returns To The Private Sector
Longtime GOP conservative icon Paul Bettencourt resigned as Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector to return to the private sector.
Paul was a terrific officeholder and was the taxpayer's best friend in Harris County. He will be missed. Never fear, he will still be on KSEV AM 700 and will join TCR as a contributing editor come January.
Shadwick Declares For 2010
We just finished the 2008 General Election and already TCR hears of the first 2010 local race announcement. Former Houston School Board President and District Judge Jeff Shadwick will make a go of it again in 2010.
Merry Christmas And Happy Hanukkah
And For All A Better Year In 2009
2008 was a tough year, both in politics for conservatives and with the weak economy. Let's hope 2009 is better on all fronts.
Failure Of The Two Party Political Systems
In The U.S., Is It Time For A New Party?
Part 1
By Brian Ettinger
This party would be established as an alternative to the two party systems which have become so institutionalized, represent specific special interests, and have caused detrimental harm to our Country. The United States was established as a Republic with specific governmental restrictions at the Federal level as reflected in the United States Constitution.
Central Party strives to represent the majority of the American citizens as an alternative to the other two major political parties and will seek to support candidates with similar views on major issues.
Central Party's view is to be a strict interpretation of the United States Constitution and put the power back into the hands of the people at the State and local levels. The country has lost its compass by the two major political parties becoming institutionalized. Their agendas are funded by special interest groups and do not have an objective point of view as only foster their own existence through this funding. They and the media have become major obstacles to the republic and the American society.
The recent developments of the 2008 election had some positive aspects as it shows that approximately 120 million citizens voted. They elected their first black President and this reflects good aspect of an American diverse culture and an orderly way to transfer power. However, because it is tied to one of the two major political parties, a bias media who claims to be the "fourth branch of government and social conscious" of the American public true change will not be fostered by the system. An example of this is the hundreds of millions of dollars spent by the major parties and presidential candidates, the media frenzy and constant reporting over the last year building up and destroying candidates and not being held accountable. The corruption in our system is outrageous and both major parties are equally liable. Just recently, a Governor was accused of selling the appointment of President Elect's Senate seat. Both parties have numerous elected officials charged or convicted of crimes and moral conduct behavior.
We are asking individuals to join our party by signing up to be volunteers, contribute funding and have a direct say on which candidates we support that hold the views of mainstream America. We welcome all view points and will adopt our final platform based on the majority view on the major issues affecting our country.
The ideology by joining forces as this Central Party is to foster a climate of independent thinking and real change to address American society and its constant needs. Outlined below are some of the major ideas on specific issues we could like to see implemented.
1. Real campaign reform laws.
The process needs to be shortened drastically to run for the office of President. Each candidate should only be able to announce 90 days before the first Primary and raise money to run for President. Campaign donations should be limited to no more than $1,000.00 per person and no organization whether business, political, religious, or union shall be allowed to contribute including outlawing all 527 organizations. These groups will claim it's an infringement of their freedom of expression or speech, but it is not, as it is only restricted to supporting a presidential candidate. The accountability of the candidates' funds should be filed and opened to public scrutiny. The primary season shall last no more than six months from January to June of the last year of the current President.
The Parties will hold their conventions. The general election shall be 90 days before the first Tuesday in November. Each candidate will be given $25 million dollars to spend as they see fit, but cannot accept any donations and will have limits on their advertisements and media exposure. If a candidate holds a prior office, they will not be able to take their funds from their prior campaigns to use for their run for President, but can use this in the primaries.
A candidate for President nominated by their party will specifically outline their issues and agenda. We would ask the candidates to sign a pledge that they will be a one term candidate, because if you cannot get your agenda completed within four years, there is no need for you to do it in eight years. The more years they stay in power corrupts the candidate, causes the country to stagnate and all the elected President does is run the first four years for his second term. If he/she is not running for a second term, they will make the right choices and not be held hostage by the special interest groups. Eventually, we would like to see a constitutional amendment that states that the President can only serve the maximum of four years.
Our party's platform is a strict interpretation of the United States Constitution. The constitution was designed to place restrictions on the Federal Government's infringement on its citizens and all other matters were reserved to the States. Issues such as same sex marriage, abortion, pro life, pro choice, legalization of drugs, gambling and school prayer are state right issues. The Federal Government has no right to govern morality and infringe on state right issues. If the will of the State citizens has to pass legislation on these important issues, then they should have the right to do so without Federal Government interference. The Federal Government claims a right to infringe under an interstate commerce theory which is a very liberal and expanded interpretation of our founding father's constitution. Our party would support judges that strictly follow the rule of law and not legislate from the bench.
To be continued.
Brian Ettinger is a practicing attorney and contributing editor to TCR. He is a strong conservative who is concerned about America's future.
TCR Comment: This is part one of three submitted by Brian Ettinger and is a very interesting reflection of the frustration among our brethren.
Red, White & Blue, featuring TCR Editor Gary Polland and liberal commentator David Jones is currently on hiatus. If you would like to see our show come back sooner, contact John Hesse, General Manager of PBS Houston at (713) 743-8402 or email him at jhesse2@uh.edu.
About Your Editor
Gary Polland is a long-time conservative and Republican spokesman, fund-raiser, and leader who completed three terms as the Harris County Republican Chairman. During his three terms, Gary was described as the most successful county Chairman in America by Human Events - The National Conservative Weekly. He is in his twelfth year of editing a newsletter dealing with key conservative and Republican issues. The last seven years he has edited Texas Conservative Review. Gary is a practicing attorney and strategic consultant. He can be reached at (713) 621-6335.
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