On the Western Banks of the Shenandoah

I’ll be in Richmond all day today with Americans for Prosperity speaking out against the stimulus bill, fighting for government transparency, and saying no to growing the nanny state. I don’t want to make any big promises, but expect video, blogging and tweeting throughout the day. This is a big experiment in comprehensive coverage for this blog, so bare with me. Let me know what you think will all is said and done (or even as I’m posting things). 

Stay tuned to the blog and twitter for updates through the day.

From Reason.com’s twitter feed, another tool for average citizens to be engaged (well, as engaged as Congressional Democrats will let us be) with the stimulus bill. Here, you can vote for and comment on the urgency of the various stimulus projects. Each project has its own page and lists the cost and amount of jobs that will be created. Some “favorites” from those using the site:

• $100k for doorbells in Laurel, Mississippi
• $500k for a dog park in Chula Vista, California
• $621k for intercom and PA upgrades in Anchorage, Alaska schools
• $1.5 million to discourage prostitution in Dayton, Ohio

All worthy projects, but worth putting up to two generations of Americans another trillion dollars in debt?

From the Weekly Standard, a different idea for using your hard earned tax dollars to boost the economy:

From the National Journal, word that Democrats will by helping out the “struggling” film industry:

The Senate bill includes a tax break worth up to $246 million over 11 years for investors in bigger-budget movie projects that don’t necessarily qualify for incentives currently. The provision is backed by firms like the Walt Disney Co., and the industry trade group the Motion Picture Association of America, according to aides and lobbyists.

….

But a problem arises for pictures that cost $30 million or more, which the option to instead use bonus depreciation attempts to resolve.

It probably wouldn’t benefit blockbusters that take years to produce, a lobbyist said, given that, to benefit, a firm’s asset must be placed in service — hitting the theaters or video market — during that time.

Of course, a tax break is a bit better than direct use of our tax dollars, as in the case of part of the $4 billion that went to Chrysler back during the fall being used for product placement in the upcoming Terminator film. From worldcarfans.com:

The American automaker recently received $4 billion in a taxpayer-funded government bailout. Chrysler was reportedly on the verge of bankruptcy, and would not have been able to pay their suppliers without the loan. Still in a dangerous position, the privately-owned company cut over a third of their employees.

Chrysler was shut out of many product placement deals recently. General Motors inked a deal with The Transformers live-action films. Ford got in on the action with theirKnight Rider deal, featuring a Mustang, Flex, and F-150.

In completely unrelated news, the top 10 films last week grossed a combined $96 million, and revenues are up over 20% for January last year, while attendence was up 16%.

Poor, poor Hollywood.

As we speak both sides of the stimulus debate are trying to rally their troops to grassroots action. However, just how they are accomplishing this couldn’t be further apart. 

On the Democratic side the Administration is already converting MyBarackObama over to efforts focusing on the stimulus. From Bloomberg:

The Democratic National Committee is overseeing a new advocacy group called Organizing for America and using its 13 million e-mail addresses and network of Obama volunteers to encourage people to host house meetings to view a video about Obama’s economic recovery plan.

The essence of MyBO (yes, what an unfortunate name, but hey, the man’s President now, so a rose by any other name….) is that it is not just a social network but something that moves people to organize and move to action. Facebook is wonderful, but at the end of the day it is ultimately just another method of communication. MyBO offers individuals involved with the social network tools to act, first towards the goal of electing Barack Obama and now towards the President’s policy goals. The McCain campaign tried a similar effort, but ultimately it was just a glorified social network for McCain “lovers” (I’m sure they exist, just like albino squirrels) with only a flimsy fundraising tool built. 

Over on the Republican side we have word that a site has been launched to push back against the stimulus package by Whip Eric Cantor. Here’s the statement on the Minority Leader’s Website:

“We hope that Americans from coast to coast visit our website, read our plan and contribute ideas,” said Mr. Cantor.   “We can get our economy moving again if we focus on helping working families and small businesses get back in the game.  Republicans will continue to speak directly to the American people and ask for their best ideas.  America deserves no less.”

Sounds promising; we have an alternative proposal, and the House Republicans want to work with US, the people on their plan. However, when you get the website, all you find is a copy of the plan, a comments section, and a video by Eric. 

It’s great to see an effort, but I see two major problems here. One, there’s no real call to action. At this point, the pressure needs to be on Senate Republicans to stage a filibuster that will either kill (best case scenario and highly unlikely) or shrink this bill. Now, granted, if Gregg goes, we may not have the votes to keep it alive, and Obama can probably peel off on of the northeastern Republicans pretty easy. But it’s still worth a shot. The second problem is that the comments section is wide open and right there on the page. The Obama team is smart about this–you can comment on their blog posts, but they aren’t right there for public consumption. When people come to the Whip’s site, they can see the comments section right there, where our people are making less than cogent arguments, our opposition is openly mocking us, and the Paulistas are grand-standing for their pet causes. There’s interactivity, but there’s no action. 

I’m not saying that the website is an utter disaster, or that I expected an instant social network to spring up. What I am saying, though, is that this is further proof of just how far behind we are on social networking and that a cogent social network that interfaces the Congressional, national and grassroots of the party should be Chairman Steele’s top priority over the next year.

So that’s why they took our the birth control money….because they just couldn’t find the words to explain how handing out free condoms would help create 3 million jobs.

I suppose they could have hired people to deliver them door to door……

Congressman Randy Forbes lays out his opposition to the Stimulus, and notes that he has been one of just 16 Republicans to vote against every stimulus or bailout package that has come through. Listen here.

This article is a few days old (which is ancient in new media terms) but it still gives an important insight into the challenge facing Congressional Republicans: Pleasing grassroots activists while winning back the suburban moderates that fueled wins in 2000 and 2004 but abandoned the party after 2005. From the WSJ:

The November elections were widely seen as a rebuke to Republicans, and Mr. Obama has claimed the economic crisis as a mandate for action, leaving Messrs. Boehner and McConnell groping for the right blend of cooperation and defiance.

Republicans can’t simply be “the party of ‘no,’ ” Mr. Boehner, of Ohio, said in an interview this month, but must offer solutions to voters’ problems. “We have to give the American people reasons to take a look at us,” he said. Tuesday, Mr. Boehner issued a statement congratulating Mr. Obama on his inauguration, vowing to find “common ground with the President on solutions to rebuild our economy, strengthen American families, and keep our country safe.”

Similarly positioned opposition parties have taken various paths. In 1993, Republicans fought Bill Clinton on almost everything. Eight years later, many Democrats cooperated with George W. Bush on certain items, such as tax cuts and education overhaul.

With likely minorities of 41-59 in the Senate and 178-257 in the House, Republicans — who just four years ago seemed on the cusp of long-term dominance — have less leverage than any minority in recent memory.

“I think it’s important not to be in a hurry,” Mr. McConnell, of Kentucky, said in an interview in his office in the U.S. Capitol last week. “The new president has high approval ratings. Polls indicate that both Republicans and Democrats want him to be successful. We want to be a respectful, loyal opposition.”

The opening of the article best summed up the dueling faces of the party as it stands:

House Minority Leader John Boehner recently attacked the potential “wasteful spending” and “mountains of debt” in President Barack Obama’s stimulus plan. A few days later, he warmly invited Mr. Obama to address House Republicans, saying, “We do not want partisan differences to stall achievement.”

Yesterday the party won a major victory (at least internally) by unanimously opposing the House Stimulus package. They also managed to offer an alternative proposal which, while imperfect and somewhat slapped together, was still an alternative. Can they keep this up?

We’re in the wilderness. Now all we need is a leader. Will it be from Congress?

Speaker Howell and others released a comprehensive package designed to stimulate Virginia’s economy. However, rather than relying on indiscriminate spending and allowing pork to slip in like SOME stimulus packages *cough*U.S. House Democrats*cough*, the package is focused on enhancing the economy through commonsense reform and focused spending projects. As the Speaker put it:

“As Republicans, we believe in advancing innovative solutions, strong management and fiscal responsibility,” Speaker Howell. “Like we have on so many pressing issues people care about, House Republicans are offering a compelling vision for a better future and a convincing way to help lead our Commonwealth out of the current financial and budget turmoil. “These initiatives will result in more jobs, stronger economic development potential and a faster return to prosperity for Virginia‟s families, businesses and taxpayers. I am proud that our strong majority caucus has built a sensible and broad-based economic package for Virginia. We will hard to ensure its passage because I am confident it will deliver a very positive and lasting impact.” 

Read more…

From FOX News:

House Republican Leader John Boehner issued a statement over the weekend noting that the stimulus bill wending its way through Congress provides $4.19 billion for “neighborhood stabilization activities.” 

He said the money was previously limited to state and local governments, but that Democrats now want part of it to be available to non-profit entities. That means groups like ACORN would be eligible for a portion of the funds.  

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., told FOX News Tuesday that the money could be seen as “payoff” for groups’ political activities in the last election. ACORN generally supports Democratic candidates and actively backed President Obama last year. 

I’m generally against any non-profit with an ideological streak getting taxpayer dollars (or really, any non-profit), but given ACORN’s actions during the election (or at least their slipsoh excuses for “oversight” over their organizers) this one takes the cake. 

But I guess its true what they say. Payback IS A……