MASON CONSERVATIVE

Corey Stewart Continues To Move Forward

Greg has the breakdown of Corey Stewart unveiling his Rule of Law campaign statewide to crack down on illegal immigration in Virginia.  Its interesting to watch Stewart move forward in Virginia, as he is the first person I can think of that is putting forth a statewide initiative while not holding any kind of state or legislative office.  Its impressive and I'm starting to think that I guessed right about him, that there is more going on here than a lieutenant governor's campaign or reelection in Prince William.  Obviously he will be doing the latter, but I really think he's moved his sights past LG.  

Stewart for Senate!  Who's with me?

Tim Pawlenty

Thoughts?

Jill Vogel Raises Some Serious Money

Could there be some sort of statewide ambition planned, especially with an opening at the LG position?

She raked in $128,229 in the first six months of this year, second only to Dick Saslaw.  Damn. 

Shockingly Fair Cuccinelli Profile

The Washington Post looks at Ken Cuccinelli and manages to not make him into the snarling knuckle-dragger that their editorial board wants to portray him.  And interesting look at a guy who a lot of people try and define on the extreme, but is actually much deeper than most realize.  

He's going places.

Is Gerry Connolly In Favor Of Extending The Bush Tax Cuts

From this quote to the DCPost, I get the feeling the answer is "Yes . . . until the election is over."

Connolly's Fairfax-based 11th district is the most affluent congressional seat in the country, based on median household income, and he warned his fellow Democrats that the issue might not be the slam-dunk some think it is.

"I honestly think it's a danger," Connolly said of the tax debate. "I part ways, I think, with the dominant view of my caucus on this subject. I do not favor a permanent extension of the Bush tax cuts. I do favor extending the current rate for some period of time until the economy is on a sustained and a robust track."

Connolly argued that the top 5 percent of earners represented a disproportionately large share of consumer spending, so increasing their taxes could blunt the economic recovery. "Democrats need to abandon their ideology on the Bush tax cuts and look at the economic reality on the ground," Connolly said.

At the end of the article, he says that the base needs to be fired up for him and its Obama who can do that.  Perhaps, but its gonna be hard Connolly to explain to Democrats why he wants to keep the hated Bush Tax Cuts . . . which if allowed to lapse will lead to essentially the largest tax increase in American history. 

Been On Vacation

My parents are in town for the week and I just got back from a family reunion in Syracuse where my fiance got to meet half my family all at once.  She was a good sport.  Anyways, I'll be laying low for the rest of the week unless something catches my fancy.

What World Does Jim Webb Live In?

I still am not sure what Sen. Webb was trying to accomplish with this article he posted in the Wall Street Journal.  Ostensibly I think he's trying to say that today's anti-discrimination laws are inherently discriminatory because they aren't applied evenly.  With that, I agree.  But soon he starts wondering into the relm of his Scotch-Irish paradigm that he (and only he) sees the world.  I remember when Webb was elected people began to fancy him as some new Andrew Jackson, which I thought was strange.  At his heart, Webb really is kind of a 19th century guy.  He seems to be arguing, and correct me if I'm wrong, that "white culture" is diverse and has been treated as an evil monolith.  I don't even know what to say to that.  But this quote struck me most:

Where should we go from here? Beyond our continuing obligation to assist those African-Americans still in need, government-directed diversity programs should end.

Now I agree with Senator Webb for the most part, but he's splitting hairs.  How else can you "assist African-Americans still in need" without government-directed diversity programs.  Its an odd stand to take.  I can't wait for Sen. Webb to run for reelection asking black leaders in Richmond, Hampton, Chesapeake, and Portsmouth to help him out after that little number. 

I get that Senator Webb wants to help poor whites in rural Virginia, its a worthy cause.  But he is essentially complaining that black Americans got the long end of the straw because of racism while poor whites, relegated as backwards racists, have been left behind.  In fact, that is false.  Much, if not all, of FDR's New Deal in the South was controlled by white senators and congressman in Washington who brought schools, roads, dams, and electricity to the rural South, not to mention that NRA, AAA, and the CCC.  The kind of government "help" that Webb is talking about is something only out of the 1960s. 

I get the feeling that when Webb says he's dedicated his career to economic fairness, in his context he means to white people.  The problem is that Webb still accepts the premise that the government is the answer to any person's problem.  Rural America has been pounded by rationing, outsourcing, and a reliance on federal subsidies.  Rural America doesn't need subsidies or the government, they need to be fully unleashed so our "fruited plains" can feed the world.  But sadly in places like the rural South they have become prisoners of federal pork monies to maintain their lifestyles instead of being allowed to flourish. 

What bothers me is that if this were written by a Republican or a conservative, the reaction would much less intellectual and much more "maccaca." 

Should Michael Steele Go Down . . .

 . . . I'm not sure I want a guy who has lost elections to a former professional wrestler and a comedy writer to be in charge of the party.  Granted Norm Coleman did win one term in the US Senate, but after the incumbent was killed in a plane crash and an octogenarian former vice-president was put in his place. 

Steele has been underwhelming as chairman.  Nevermind his comments about Afghanistan that got the neocon alligators all upset, its his inability to translate the energy from his Senate campaign into making the national party anything but a hindrance to our candidates.  We need an organizer, someone who can raise money and strategize.  Someone like Karl Rove.

Want To Know What A Real Leader Sounds Like?

Bobby Jindal is everything Barack Obama is not. Plain and simple, and if the two ever got into a legitimate debate about the issues, I believe that Jindal is the only Republican out there with the intelligence, experience, and personality to expose Obama for the charlatan that he is. While Obama appears to be a citizen of the world and a high intellectual, in reality his adult live has been a provincial existence in Chicago where he has learned to mime and mimic the musings of insulated high academia. Its Jindal who is the true up from his bootstraps wunderkind that made it through smarts and guile. While Obama toasted the town and played poker in the Illinois state senate, it was Jindal knee deep in education and health care policy both in Louisiana and Washington working for Gov. Mike Foster and President George W. Bush. Jindal's initial entrance onto the national was undistinguished and the media, always willing to do Obama's biding as provne by Journoist, threw fire at Jindal before he even finished his speech. But he has found his voice in the Gulf oil spill. Jindal's only problem is timing, if he chooses to run for reelection it comes one year before the presidential election tying him up in Louisiana while the all the other ham-and-egger Republicans run around Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

Bob Marshall Is At It Again

I love it.  Today Del. Marshall sent out an email pushing for a constitutional amendment banning the practice of slipping fees and tax increases into the Budget.  This will make Marshall very unpopular because Republicans are touting that Virginia now has a budget surplus.  To be sure, Gov. McDonnell's commitment to shrinking government is sincere but the budget practices of the General Assembly under both parties needs to be remedied so legislators can be called to account for their choices instead of hiding tax hikes and fees (essentially the same thing) from the folks.  

Del. Marshall continues to be a fearless lone wolf in the General Assembly.  This is the kind of things Republicans regularly railed against in the past but now that we are running the show we seem to have grown somewhat meek.  Many Republican bloggers and commentators are salivating over McDonnell's announcement and taking it at face value.  And look, I think some on the right like Tertium Quids and RWL do a great job pointing out these gimmicks and how unseemly they are.  And I can't even really blame McDonnell and Bolling because they were handed a budget that for the last eight years has been blown up and bloated by tax and spending increases and they had to do what they could with that and a recalcitrant state senate led by Dick Saslaw, who hasn't met a tax increase he doesn't like.  Some on our side may be a bit naieve at times to exactly how a budget gets passed and what is needed.

But the real transparency is the cure, and it will force the Assembly to make real choices instead of shadow budgeting to protect each other.  We campaigned on ending these practices, and the McDonnell administration has done a good job with what they've had but Del. Marshall's amendment is something that will clean up the hidden tax games the Assembly has been playing for years.  

Marshall's email is below