CPAC Videos

Tea Pary at Lafayette Park, Washington DC:

At the same time, Ashraf refugees were asking for assistance from the current administration – good luck on that:

A sampling of the pervasive attack on freedom via climate non-aggression pacts:

CPAC Review

This was a spectacular event, taking me a week to compose my thoughts, photos and video.

I would like to point out the presence of Sarah Palin at this event. Although this remarkable Governor could not attend the conference, her presence was tangible. Two exhibits were dedicated to her: Team Sarah and Sarah 2012, and she was featured in the John Ziegler film Media Malpractice.

You can view the rest of my photos from CPAC on FLICKR

My thoughts on conservatism, CPAC and the RNC:

The Rise of Conservatism

Ladies and gentlemen, I am happy to report that Conservatism is alive and kicking! The Republican Party, however, is on life support. Attending CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) after a disastrous presidential election cycle, I was curious to gauge the mood of the grassroots conservative activists in the Age of Obama. What I discovered was a strong sense of renewed energy and purpose from the activists At random intervals during the conference, I asked attendees to gauge the mood of the activists and consistently received positive feedback. Conservatives understand the treacherous challenges facing our nation domestically and globally. They are ready to roll up their sleeves and work together towards the goal of turning the nation back from the brink of disaster. I would like to believe the RNC is trying to grasp the concept, yet the Party leadership stubbornly clings to habits that have not served them well over the past two election cycles. The inability to adapt is the quickest way to extinction.

A wise party leader would reach out to embrace the energy of the grassroots activists and work with them to present a unified message to the public. A party that simply votes “no” on an out of control spending scheme is not enough. Party leaders have to continually make the case of why this spending bill is akin to voodoo economics and offer an alternative solution to the public. The RNC working in concert with a solid grass root network could amplify and spread the message to every corner in the US.

To be fair, this is no easy task. Numerous lectures at CPAC carefully detailed the magnitude of the creeping social engineering programs being rolled out under the guise of the Democrat endorsed ‘economic recovery’. For the nation’s sake, I hope these programs fail, and that private industry is allowed to stand on its own two feet again. Despite what Rham Emanuel states, Rush Limbaugh is a great showman of the conservative movement but he is not the authority. The party is missing the Buckley/Reagan combination that brought conservatives of all flavors to the table.

CPAC brought together 8,000 grass root conservative organizers from across the nation who are optimistic, engaged in promoting solutions and not placing blame for the disastrous election cycle. CPAC invited speakers who presented solutions that do not require Jane and Joe America to surrender more of their freedom or tax dollars in order to save them from an ill defined threat. Through organizations such as the DontGo Movement, Rebuild the Party, Operation Tea Party and PACC (Pennsylvania Conservative Council), conservatives have demonstrated the ability to organize effective grassroots campaigns. We have the message and the networking capability to promote real change in Washington and the nation. The RNC can embrace conservative activists or get rolled in the upcoming 2010 and 2012 election cycles.

You can find my interview with Joe The Plumber HERE – Tea Time with JTP

CPAC 2009

CPAC 2009 – Timeless Principles

Ladies and gentlemen, I am happy to report that Conservatism is alive and kicking!

One reason for attending CPAC this year was to gauge the mood of the grassroots conservative activists in the Age of Obama. What I found was a strong sense of renewed energy and purpose. This was not my impression alone. On random occasions, I simply asked those near me to gauge the mood of the activists, and received consistently positive responses. We all understand the problems facing the Republican party and are ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Doing things simply because that is the way they have always been done in the Party is no longer an acceptable answer.

This is no easy task, as I sat in lecture after lecture which carefully detailed the magnitude of the creeping socialism being rolled out by this administration. No doubt, this is the beginning of the definitive struggle between self determination and socialism.

I’m am tired after this whirlwind conference, but by God, I’ve not yet begun to fight!

TBC

Tea Party in DC

Tea Party pic spam from Layfayette Park, Washington DC:

CPAC Update 2

Senator DeMint needs to run for President in 2012, Sarah can be his running mate. We need to guide our politics, not by race but from the heart and mind.

Phyllis Schafley’s retrospective on stopping the disaster called the Equal Rights Acts. She is the precursor community organizer, her organizing skills were reflected in Obama’s campaign.

Joe the Plumber speaks to the crowd:

CPAC Update 1

An interesting morning, I bumped into numerous blogger, notably The Other McCain. Stacy McCain was kind enough to set up MidnightBlue and Sundries Shack at the Victory Solutions Oasis. Free massages…YES!

Senator Inhofe? No dice.

Okay, I’m off to capture the scene at CPAC with Stix and JimmieBJR.

Check out my Flickr account tonight – later

Pre – CPAC Report

While waiting to pick up my credentials at the Omni Shorham, and people watching. Well, more people watching than credentialing. Ed Morrissey strolled by, so did Joe the Plumber. Cool, no?

I bumped into Dr. Melissa Clouthier while checking in to CPAC and as we were chatting, Ed Morrissey strolled by..again. A great conversation ensued in the Omni Shorham’s lobby amongst the three of us over the state of the RNC and the tone of CPAC 2009.

Ed stated he would like to see more coalition building in the RNC and is curious to see if there is much finger pointing at this year’s CPAC. He also observered that Obama, like Reagan, had the edge in this past election cycle by paring his economic message down to the simple phrase “A tax cut for 95% of Americans”. Republicans and conservatives need to acquire better communication skills in order to win elections. Speaking of the bailout boondoggle, Pelosi and Co. dropped the ball by excluding Republicans from the construction of this monstrosity, and it might come back to bite them in 2010.

Melissa stressed that conservatives had to hold to fiscal responsibility. The big tent idea aside,there have to be core values, one of them being fiscal responsibility. That Republicans lost the election to a junior senator from Illinois owning the placard of fiscal responsibility. Hello! RNC..are you listening?? She noted that the recently adopted spending bill has lit a fire under the GOP/conservative activists – I heartily agree!

I’ll tell you what, It was great just to listen to their exchange. My thoughts on the big tent theory? Do the Dems really have one? It seems as though you are required to conform to the Dem orthodoxy or you are booted from the party – ala – Senator Lieberman. Anton Checkhov observed “Love, friendship and respect do not unite people as much as a common hatred for something.” That is the Dem’s “Big Tent”theory in a nutshell. It is not that they are the party of tolerance, quite the opposite, actually. They simply used the abject hatred of George Bush to bring all types together. This was also the litmus test for inclusion in this ‘tent’. Does the RNC need to emulate this behavior?

As for CPAC? I’m with Melissa, a fire has been lit and this is the place for conservative activists to network and build coalitions. A big part of that will be building organizations that seed fiscal conservatives into the framework of the State GOP. Want to know how to go about that? Check out PACC. Other urgent needs are to re-tool our party message and take back ownership of fiscal responsibility. No small tasks, indeed.

Oh, with all my high tech photo gear I brought with me, you’d think that I’d have photos for you. Well, it does not matter how high tech your gear is, it doesn’t work when you leave it at the hotel.

Countdown to CPAC

I’m finished packing for CPAC.

Finally.

I’m looking forward to this conference. The agenda is packed full of interesting lectures and training sessions. I signed up for Conservatism 2.0, with the plan of networking and sharing ideas with my fellow participants.

Yes, the shoes pictured to the left are packed as well. What is a conference without silver sequin heels?

Bringing the Tokina and the 40D to this event. Should make for some interesting photos.

Hope to see you there!

I wasn’t kidding about the photography, pictured below is what I’ve packed for CPAC:

CPAC 2009 Updates

Simply amazing. I have accepted press credentials through Pajamas Media for the 2009 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). While, I won’t have a seat on Bloggers Row, I will have front line access to all the events scheduled. The revolution will be blogged!

Tonight, I was delighted to find out that my dear friend, Erik Svane, will be attending CPAC. I am looking forward to sharing this conference with him and introducing him to Murphy’s Irish Pub. As a resident of Paris, I’m sure he’ll appreciate a good cider.

Erik is pictured below at the 2008 CPAC.

CPAC 2009 Blogger of the Year

CPAC has announced its blogger of the year……drum roll please!

SWEETNESS AND LIGHT

Congratulations to the author of Sweetness and Light – you truly are the next generation of main stream media.

Here is but one example of why this blog was awarded the CPAC prize:

Twenty Fast Facts about the House Democrats’ TRILLION Dollar Spending Plan:

1. The $825 billion package slated for a House vote later this week will exceed more than $1.1 trillion when adding in the interest ($300 plus billion) between 2009-2019 to pay for it.

2. The Capitol Hill Democrats’ plan includes funding for contraceptives; regardless of where anyone stands on taxpayer funded contraception, there is no question that it has NOTHING to do with the economy.

3. The legislation could open billions of taxpayer dollars to left-wing groups like the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), which has been accused of voter fraud, is reportedly under federal investigation; and played a key role in the housing meltdown.

4. Here are just a few of the programs and projects that have been included in the House Democrats’ proposal:

· $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, including $21 million for sod.

5. The plan establishes at least 32 new government programs at a cost of over $136 billion. That means more than a third of this plan’s spending provisions are dedicated to creating new government programs.

6. The plan provides spending in at least 150 different federal programs, ranging from Amtrak to the Transportation Security Administration. Is this the “targeted” plan Democratic leaders promised?

7. Even though the legislation contains at least 152 separate spending proposals, the authors of the plan can only say that 34 have any chance at keeping or growing jobs.

8. Just one in seven dollars of an $18.5 billion expenditure on “energy efficiency” and “renewable energy programs” would be spent within the next 18 months.

9. The total cost of this one piece of legislation is almost as much as the annual discretionary budget for the entire federal government.

10. The House Democrats’ bill will cost each and every household $6,700 in additional debt, paid for by our children and grandchildren.

11. The bill provides enough spending – $825 billion – to give every man, woman, and child in America $2,700. $825 billion is enough to give every person in Ohio $72,000.

12. $825 billion is enough to give every person living in poverty in the United States $22,000.

13. Although the House Democrats’ proposal has been billed as a transportation and infrastructure investment package, in actuality only $30 billion of the bill – or three percent – is for road and highway spending. A recent study from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that only 25 percent of infrastructure dollars can be spent in the first year, making the one year total less than $7 billion.

14. Much of the funding within the House Democrats’ proposal will go to programs that already have large, unexpended balances. For example, the bill provides $1 billion for Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) – a program that already has $16 billion on hand. States also are sitting on some $9 billion in unused highway funds – funds that Congress is prepared to rescind later this year.

15. All board members of the “Accountability and Transparency Board” created by this legislation are appointees of the President; none will be appointed by Congress.

16. A scant 2.7 percent, or $22.3 billion of the overall package, is dedicated to small business tax relief.

17. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that the legislation increases by seven million the number of people who get a check back from the IRS that exceeds what they paid in payroll and income taxes.

18. The “Making Work Pay” tax credit at the center of the plan amounts to $1.37 a day, or about the price of a cup of coffee.

19. Almost one-third of the so-called “tax relief” in the House Democrats’ bill is spending in disguise, meaning that true tax relief makes up only 24 percent of the total package – not the 40 percent that President Obama had requested.

20. $825 billion is just the beginning – many Capitol Hill Democrats want to spend even more taxpayer dollars on their “stimulus” plan. In fact, the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. David Obey (D-WI), told Roll Call earlier this month, “I would not be surprised to see us go further on some of these programs down the line.”

S&L is doing the job the MSM won’t do!