By Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX 10)

President Obama and the Democrats that control Congress have made a hard push for their so-called economic stimulus package to mend our economy. Later today, I will have to vote on this bill. And before I do, I want to share with you some of the many reasons why I intend to vote against it.

· $80 billion for refundable tax-credits to individuals, even if they pay no taxes.

· $1 billion for the 2010 census

· $650 million for digital TV coupons.

· $600 million for new cars for the federal government.

· $6 billion for colleges/universities – many which have billion dollar endowments.

· $50 million in funding for the National Endowment of the Arts.

· $44 million for repairs to U.S. Department of Agriculture headquarters.

· $200 million for the National Mall

· $800 million to Amtrak

· $335 million for Sexually Transmitted Disease education and prevention

· $150 million for Smithsonian repairs

None of these will stimulate the economy. Once again, the Democrats have taken advantage of an economic emergency to push through and fund parts of their own liberal agenda. Worse, the frivolous spending far outweighs the few pieces of the bill that will create jobs quickly enough to impact the economy and get it moving again.

I could have voted for this bill had the few tax cuts that help create jobs been separated from the pet projects. But this bill, similar to the Wall Street Bailout that I twice voted against, is the reason that Americans have little faith and less patients with those of us they elect to serve.

Here’s what we should be doing, as part of the Economic Recovery and Middle-Class Tax Relief Act of 2009 (H.R. 470) that I’ve co-sponsored:

· A 5% across-the-board income tax cut and a lower rate on Capital Gains to encourage private investment

· Encourage business growth by allowing businesses to immediately deduct from their taxes the cost of assets they purchase, instead of extending those deductions over several years

· Increase by 50% the tax deductions on student loans and qualified higher education expenses

· R&D tax credits

You have my word that, guided by my conservative principles, I will continue to work in a bipartisan manner to safeguard your money and put our economy back on track.

Senator John Cornyn (R)-TX, recently filmed a series of videos on the Energy issue that the campaign will be releasing throughout the next few weeks. He will be joined in discussion on the issue by a variety of guest bloggers including some national figures.

Please visit Sen. Cornyn’s Blog to see more details about this exciting event.

The best information on potential VP candidates I’ve seen to date.

Michael Medved’s take

BOBBY JINDAL

PRO:  His impeccable conservative credentials (a 98% American Conservative Union rating during his two terms in Congress) and stalwart defense of human life (“I am 100 percent pro life with no exceptions”) would help rally warn right-wingers to McCain’s cause. Rush Limbaugh has praised Jindal as “the next Ronald Reagan – winning with 100 percent pure conservatism.” Jindal’s remarkable success with ethics legislation during his first months as governor of notoriously corrupt Louisiana would also help McCain run as a reformer who could clean up “the mess in Washington” the way his running mate cleaned up the mess in Baton Rouge. Above all his youth (he’ll be 37 at the convention) and brilliance (biology degree from Brown, Rhodes Scholar at Oxford) would help Republicans balance some of the hysterical excitement over Obama. As the son of immigrants (who arrived from India for graduate school in Louisiana when Jindal’s mother was pregnant with him) he could help connect with Hispanic voters, where Republicans desperately need help. Asians will also make up 4% of the electorate and by placing the first Asian-American on the ticket, McCain could help stop the drift of this growing segment of the population toward the Democrats. Also, Jindal is a devout Catholic (he converted in high school from Hinduism) and has written thoughtful theological pieces for conservative Catholic journals. His ability to connect with religious Catholics will help in any number of battleground states. Finally, he displays an ease on TV and a sense of humor that will disarm all critics: his appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno has become a favorite on You Tube and represented a triumph for the young governor. With Jindal on the ticket, voters wouldn’t have to go to the Democrats in order to elect our first person of color to national office.

CON: He’s too young, too inexperienced – how can Republicans criticize Obama as unprepared, when Jindal is ten years younger? Actually, this argument ends up turning in Jindal’s favor, since he possesses vastly MORE experience than Obama, particularly in executive positions. In addition to his early triumphs as governor, he’s also won spectacular success in a long series leadership roles – as executive director of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare, Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, President of the Louisiana State University System (at the ludicrously young age of 26!), Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services (unanimously confirmed – and praised – in a bipartisan vote of the US Senate), and two terms in the House of Representatives (including service on the House Committee on Homeland Security and re-election with 88% of the vote). Nothing in the Obama resume comes close to any of this. It’s true that I started promoting Jindal for Veep on my radio show nearly a year ago (before he even won election as governor) and, frankly, I don’t see serious negatives to his candidacy.

As a favorite author of mine pointed out years ago, more people are inventing these days by leaving parts of things out. The walkman was created when some creative soul decided to leave the speakers off of a stereo. The iPod took that idea, then left out the tape deck, CD player and radio.

When you think about it, a cell phone is just a regular phone, sans all the plugs and cords, a wireless microphone is a microphone without all the wires, and a diet coke is a coke, hold the calories.

So when we’re figuring out how to reinvent the next administration, it should be helpful to wonder just what could be left out. And we have three candidates, each of which leave out different things. I can’t say that they add a whole lot (as a normal inventor might proceed) because I don’t see that there’s anything really new that any of them bring, at least not anything I’m in the market for.

So for this year’s red-white-and-blue specials, we have on aisle one John McCain and Mike Huckabee. On aisle two, just to the left, sit Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. All four of these products have some flaws, a few touted design improvements and plenty more weight for the American people to carry as they take home their choice in November.

So first up is John McCain. As this year’s war model (an oldie but a goodie), McCain brings with him a 50-to-100 year warranty on the war in Iraq, which many Americans will enjoy seeing (silly them, thinking that products which don’t stop working midway through are best). The McCain comes tested in a way none of the others have been — it’s both thoroughly tested and Independent approved. It doesn’t do much in the way of leaving things out, though, other than earmarks; it’s got the Washington label, 71 attached years and plenty of spunk.

Next in line is the Huck, which comes with an attached Chuck. This model is most notable for leaving out the entire IRS, a design feature which doesn’t seem to have worked well in any previous model. Unfortunately, it also leaves off about 800 electoral votes, without which no voter will take it home.

On the second aisle is Barack Obama — this model’s got the best audio and press, but without any particular new ideas or realism. It also leaves off any warranties, and for all anyone knows could simply break on the first day. After only two years of testing, it seems, America knows very little about the product.

Hillary Clinton is the most interesting widget to come along in a while. Once just an add-on to Bill (the chosen model in 1992 and 1996), this one’s got healthcare plans that appeal to many Americans, as does the Obama (the only real difference is that one only comes in black and one only comes with the female adaptor). Unfortunately, the healthcare plans on both of these models have never been tested and might be too expensive for many Americans (all of whom would have to buy the healthcare product separately).

As it turns out, in 2008, there simply aren’t any good, new features. The old ones work (they squeak quite a bit, but that’s just because they’re old). And so, it seems, America has no choice after all — the Huck being unavailable and the Obama and Clinton being insane… sorry, too expensive, the only choice for consumers this year is the McCain.

Redherringpress

With three different winners now — Romney, McCain and Huckabee — of the earliest states, no one has any idea what will happen. McCain looks like the frontrunner now, winning the national polls an ahead in the next important state, Florida.

February 5 will determine the rest of the race. I sincerely hope that either Giuliani becomes viable again in Florida or Huckabee gets a bump on Super Tuesday. I could vote for any of the Republicans over any of the Democrats (though holding my nose for Romney and knowing that McCain can’t compete if he gets the nomination), but I don’t think anyone — save Giuliani or Huckabee — can win.

Here’s the reason:

McCain is old. That’s not a mean thing, it’s a true thing. And set against either of the Democrats, they won’t hold the age card off the table as the Republicans mostly have done. In addition, McCain is wonderful on foreign policy but hardly a Republican domestically (John Kerry asked McCain to be his running mate just a few years ago and the Mac’s signature achievement is simply liberal).

Romney is a scumbag. That’s said partly (but only partly) in jest. The man will say anything to get elected, and though his issue, the economy, is coming to the forefront, he isn’t viewed as trustworthy by anyone with a working mind. See also: any position he held four years ago vs. his current ones. That isn’t a talking point and it’s not just because of abortion, the one issue for which I can understand his switch; it’s based on just about everything he’s ever stood for (albeit briefly). And the Democrats won’t be afraid to call him a flip-flopper, the death toll for a national campaign since it’s so easily demonstrable.

I agree with this piece, for the most part. Everyone seems to be writing Huckabee off, although he’s winning both nationally and in a few key states coming up in the near future.

RCP blog piece on Hucka-momentum

Iowa was grand for former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, but New Hampshire was a bonanza. He cast his bread upon the waters there and though he finished a distant third, it was returned manifold. The one thing that Huckabee cannot afford, at this stage of the race, is head-to-head defeat. He needs at least two “strong” candidates in the field while he puts together the pieces of his Republican proletariat coalition.

-John Ellis, RCP blog

Here are some trackers for internet buzz, all in one place: Techpresident.com

Seems that other than Paul, Huckabee seems to be doing the best online. That’s a good sign; the media doesn’t talk about Paul at all (he wasn’t at the last debate or the round-table discussion the other day), and he’s still being talked about. Hopefully, with New Hampshire looming and Huckabee unlikely to win anything there, he’ll still have positive blog reviews.

Predictions for NH:

Republicans: McCain, Romney, Huckabee, Paul, Giuliani, Thompson

Democrats: Obama, Clinton, Edwards (Edwards can’t repeat, and he’s losing people to Obama fast)

Conventional wisdom and the most recent polling (which, frankly, is outdated) suggest that McCain is Romney’s biggest threat in New Hampshire, the next step in choosing a Republican nominee.

Both have put out attack ads (with thanks to Political Buzz, which found links to both and posted them together online):

Seems that we Republicans aren’t immune to the sort of negativity that’s been plaguing the Democratic race all along (anyone else left wondering if either Romney or McCain dreamed of creating attack ads for the presidency in Kindergarten?)

Interesting that Romney is using McCain’s old attack ads to challenge him. Funny how he’s the one going that route, considering that he’s been the most negative in the 2008 race on the Republican side thus far.

I don’t have any hard numbers for this, but we’ve seen an increase in our Web traffic here at christianconservative.wordpress.com from the official Huckabee blog.

While they normally send us about 20 visitors daily in the past few weeks, yesterday about 150 people made the trip from the Huckabee site to this one.

What’s that mean? Likely, that site is getting hit by about seven times its normal traffic — significant, because to this point it was already receiving more hits than any other candidate’s (excluding Ron Paul).

That’s a big deal: more people are listening to the Huckabee message, hopefully people who don’t believe the misinformation Romney’s people have been spreading.

… and Ed Rollins (Huckabee’s campaign manager) has a very awkward interview.