January 2, 2008

Dear Montgomery County Republican Party Members,

After having the opportunity to observe a couple of the current candidates for President in person, I have decided to support Governor Mitt Romney. I would like to ask you to join me in supporting Gov. Romney.

When I had the chance to see Romney speak at an event in Maryland, I was very impressed by his intellect, speaking ability, and conservative agenda for America.

We need a President who will stand for a strong military and national defense, a strong economy through lower taxes, lower government spending and strong family values.

Aside from nominating someone who shares our conservative values as Republicans, we need to nominate someone who has a record as a successful leader.

Here’s Mitt Romney’s record:

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has been widely recognized for his leadership and accomplishments as a public servant and private entrepreneur. Governor Romney first gained national recognition for his role in turning around the 2002 Winter Olympics. With the Games mired in scandal and facing a financial crisis, he took over as President and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee and led one of the most successful Olympics in history.

Prior to his Olympic service, Governor Romney built a successful career helping businesses grow and improve their operations. He founded Bain Capital, one of the nation’s most successful venture capital and investment companies. Bain Capital helped grow hundreds of companies, including Staples and Domino’s Pizza.

Elected in 2002, Governor Romney presided over a dramatic reversal of state fortunes and a period of sustained economic expansion. Without raising taxes or increasing debt, he balanced the budget every year of his administration.

Balanced budgets
Without raising taxes or increasing debt, Governor Romney closed a nearly $3 billion budget deficit his first year in office — in the face of a heavily Democratic legislature, he filed a balanced budget each year of his administration and turned deficits into surpluses.

Better schools
Under Governor Romney’s leadership, Massachusetts’ fourth- and eighth-grade students ranked first in reading and tied for first in mathematics in national testing. The Governor established a program to reward the highest-performing high school graduates with a four-year, tuition-free scholarship to state universities or colleges.

Lower taxes
Under Governor Romney’s leadership, the state abolished a retroactive capital gains tax increase that would have forced nearly 50,000 taxpayers to pay additional taxes and fees.

Traditional family values
Governor Romney fought activist judges who imposed same-sex marriage on Massachusetts and testified before Congress in support of the Federal Marriage Amendment. Governor Mitt Romney sided with life to protect the unborn by vetoing embryonic stem cell/human cloning legislation. Join

If you would like more information about Governor Mitt Romney you can go to www.mittromney.com.

If you’re interested in joining me in forming a grassroots effort to help elect Mitt Romney in Montgomery County please contact me at 301.365.0360 or e-mail me at: sueghosh@aol.com.

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year to You and Your Family!

Primary Delegate, Maryland Congressional District 8 Romney For President
Member, Maryland State-Wide Steering Committee Romney For President

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; Why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and Maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6 -year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or a band-aid to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 3 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on.

- Remake the good name of the Republican Party soiled by the Democrats without effective response by the Republican leadership. You cannot win local election if the "R" next to your candidate is seen as a negative by the voter.

- Demand that we have effective spoke-persons for the Party in the Senate, the House, at the RNC, in the White House. The voice of the party is not powerful enough at the local level, no matter how good we are.

- Practice Ronald Reagan's motto: Thou shall not speak evil of a fellow Republican", in public. Denigrating in public a fellow Republican because you disagree with him (or her) on one or two issues is suicidal for the Party.

- Avoid the Elite media/Democrat “trap” of getting stuck on one issue. Show the American people that, as a whole, the Party of Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan is better for them and for the future of this country.

- We can only win if we accept and support Republicans of all stripes: Conservatives, Moderates, Mavericks, etc. The Democrats swallowed their liberal pride and chose conservative "blue dog" democrats in order to win, in the "red states", in 2006.

- The GET OUT THE VOTE can only be effective if the GOP leaders, at the national level, show the accomplishments of the Party, an inspiring plan for the future, and project the enthusiasm and energy needed by the grassroot faithful.

- The Republican Party should not have "wimps" as spoke persons on TV. They should provide representatives who can make the case for the Party when they speak on TV, without being intimidated by any “talking point” Democrats.

- Stop being apologetic for a minor issue for more than one day, and learn to fight back Democratic attacks. Is it not unreal that Conservative Senator George Allen lost to the "sexist" Webb simply for using the word "macaka" ? Also note that the "corrupt" Republicans resigned or were defeated, but the "corrupt "Democrats (like William Jefferson democrat of Louisiana) did not resign and got re-elected.

Hernst Joseph
Montgomery County, MD
LD 14 Precinct Chair

An article in the June 12, 2007 Washington Post compares the Philadelphia and Washington, DC public school systems. The gist of the article is that the Philadelphia system has improved greatly recently, and is far outperforming the DC system. The two systems have comparable levels of poor students, non-English speakers, and are not too dissimilar in racial make up. The article was accompanied by some statistical information from which I calculated that the student/teacher ratio in Philadelphia is 16.3, while it is 12.6 in Washington. The cost per pupil in school year 2006-7 was $11,500 in Philadelphia and $18,800 in DC. Thus, Philadelphia with a 29% higher student/teacher ratio and a 39% lower cost per pupil, is doing a much better job. Politicians: please note that smaller classes and higher spending do not necessarily improve education results. Disclaimer: I used the data exactly as it appeared in the Post. I am aware that there may be some differences in the way the two systems report their data.

- submitted by Sam Penner

Dear Mr. President,

I have a couple of comments about the pending immigration bill which you are strongly backing. But first I would like to mention that I have backed every Bush run for the presidency, including 1980 as well as 2000 and 2004. Our whole family worked in your two campaigns, and we are personal friends of Doro.

I also am the longest-serving Republican appointee in the Consular Bureau of the State Department, the agency that issues visas, 7 1/2 years during the Reagan-Bush years in the Eighties. Further, my wife is a legal German immigrant and American citizen and my two adopted children are legal Ukrainian immigrants and American citizens. I thus know as much about the immigration business as anyone from both the professional and "family reunification" angles.

There is much to say about the immigration bill, including that it is more than a (rather tough) amnesty, in both good and bad ways. One bad way is that a criminal who is amnestied is not allowed to keep his ill-gotten gains, but these 12 million illegal alien WILL be allowed to stay in the U.S., their ill-gotten gains. It is also not true that you can't send 12 million home. In the late Forties about 11-12 million displaced German-speaking people from all over Eastern Europe fled to West Germany, which itself was full up with 50 million people and had been thoroughly destroyed--and they were accepted and became part of the West German population. I might add that simply enforcing the existing laws, as you have begun to do, will have the desired effect--a lot of illegals are already heading home because the existing laws are finally being enforced even on a very low scale. I am also not sure why you want to let in several hundred thousand guest workers when there are already 12 million "guest workers' here already.

Having said all this, I know as an expert in the business that a "grand compromise" of letting existing illegals stay while securing our southern border is probably a political necessity. I would therefore make only one major change in the bill. That is, I would not say, as the current bill does, that the day when so and so many border guards have been hired and I think it is FOUR remote controlled airplanes are acquired, and about half the mileage of fence has been built as compared with what was authorized just last year, on that day you can start legalizing the illegals.

No, I would say that the day that some impartial third parties such a s a non-partisan commision can state that over a period of, say, two years the number of illegals crossing the border has been reduced 90 percent, in other words, that the measures discussed in the previous paragraph have actually been EFFECTIVE, on THAT day you can start legalizing the illegals. Otherwise it is no different than the teachers unions' saying that if we spend more money the schools will become better, which is demonstrably false.

So, PROVE that the border has been sealed (90 percent is a reasonable number) and THEN start letting those beloved "undocumented immigrants" get legal. By the way, did you every hear of someone who had had his driviing license taken away as being described as an "undocumented driver"? I don't think so...

Again, close the borders and THEN become compassionate.

Sincerely,

Patrick W. Murphy, Ph.D. and lifelong Republican

The speech George W. Bush SHOULD give:
Forwarded email message received June 2, 2007, original author unknown

Normally, I start these things out by saying "My Fellow Americans." Not doing it this time. If the polls are any indication, I don't know who more than half of you are anymore. I do know something terrible has happened, and that you're really not fellow Americans any longer.

I'll cut right to the chase here: I quit. Now before anyone gets all in a lather about me quitting to avoid impeachment, or to avoid prosecution or something, l et me assure you: there's been no breaking of laws or impeachable offenses in this office.

The reason I'm quitting is simple. I'm fed up with you people.

I'm fed up because you have no understanding of what's really going on in the world. Or of what's going on in this once-great nation of ours. And the majority of you are too damned lazy to do your homework and figure it out.

Let's start local. You've been sold a bill of goods by politicians and the news media. Polls show that the majority of you think the economy is in the tank. And that's despite record numbers of homeowners including record numbers of MINORITY homeowners. And while we're mentioning minorities, I'll point out that minority business ownership is at an all-time high. Our unemployment rate is as low as it ever was during the Clinton Administration. I've mentioned all those things before, but it doesn't seem to have sunk in.

Despite the shock to our economy of 9/11, the stock market has rebounded to record levels and more Americans than ever are participating in these markets. Meanwhile, all you can do is whine about gas prices, and most of you are too damn stupid to realize that gas prices are high because there's increased demand in other parts of the world, and because a small handful of noisy idiots are more worried about polar bears and beachfront property than your economic security.

We face real threats in the world. Don't give me this ~blood for oil" thing. If I was trading blood for oil I would've already seized Iraq's oil fields and let the rest of the country go to hell. And don't give me this 'Bush Lied People Died' crap either. If I was the liar you morons take me for, I could've easily had chemical weapons planted in Iraq so they could be 'discovered.' Instead, I owned up to the fact that the intelligence was faulty. Let me remind you that the rest of the world thought Saddam h ad the goods, same as me. Let me also remind you that regime change in Iraq was official US policy before I came into office. Some guy named 'Clinton' established that policy. Bet you didn't know that, did you?

You idiots need to understand that we face a unique enemy. Back during the cold war, there were two major competing political and economic models squaring off. We won that war, but we did so because fundamentally, the Communists wanted to survive, just as we do. We were simply able to outspend and out-tech them.

That's not the case this time. The soldiers of our new enemy don't care if they survive. In fact, they want to die. That'd be fine, as long as they weren't also committed to taking as many of you with them as they can. But they are. They want to kill you. And the bastards are all over the globe.

You should be grateful that they haven't gotten any more of us here in the United States since September 11. But you're not. That's because you've got no idea how hard a small number of intelligence, military, law enforcement and homeland security people have worked to make sure of that. When this whole mess started, I warned you that this would be a long and difficult fight. I'm disappointed how many of you people think a long and difficult fight amounts to a single season of 'Survivor'.

Instead, you've grown impatient. You're incapable of seeing things through the long lens of history, the way our enemies do. You think that wars should last a few months, a few years, tops.

Making matters worse, you actively support those who help the enemy. Every time you buy the New York Times, every time you send a donation to a cut-and-run Democrat's political campaign, well, dammit, you might just as well Fedex a grenade launcher to a Jihadist. It amounts to the same thing.

In this day and age, it's easy enough to find the truth. It's all over the Internet. It just isn't on the pages of the New York Times or on NBC News. But even if it were, I doubt you'd be any smarter. Most of you would rather watch American Idol.

I could say more about your expectations that the government will always be there to bail you out, even if you're too stupid to leave a city that's below sea level and has a hurricane approaching. I could say more about your insane belief that government, not your own wallet, is where the money comes from. But I've come to the conclusion that were I to do so, it would sail right over your heads.

So I quit. I'm going back to Crawford. I've got an energy-efficient house down there (Al Gore could only dream) and the capability to be fully self-sufficient. No one ever heard of Crawford before I got elected, and as soon as I'm done here pretty much no one will ever hear of it again. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to die of old age before the last pillars of America fall.

Oh , and by the way, Cheney's quitting too. That means Pelosi is your new President. You asked for it. Watch what she does carefully, because I still have a glimmer of hope that there're just enough of you remaining who are smart enough to turn this thing around in 2008.

So that's it. God bless what's left of America. Some of you know what I mean. The rest of you, *%#@ off.

A Minority View
By Walter E. Williams
Release: Wednesday, April 12, 2006

My sentiments on immigration are inscribed at the foot of the Statue of Liberty: ". . . Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

These words of poet Emma Lazarus served as the welcome mat for tens of millions seeking liberty and opportunity in America -- legally. Being a relatively land-rich and labor-scarce nation, immigration has always been good for our country. Plus, for most of our history, there was a guarantee that immigrants would come here to work. The alternative was starvation.

With today's welfare state, there's no such guarantee. People can come here, not work and not starve because the welfare state guarantees that they can live off the rest of us.

At the heart of today's immigration problem is its illegality. According to several estimates, there are 11 million people who are in our country illegally, mostly from Mexico. Many people, including my libertarian friends and associates, advance an argument that differs little from saying that people anywhere in the world have a right to live in the United States irrespective of our laws or preferences.

According to that vision, American people do not have a right to set either the number of people who enter our country or the conditions upon which they enter. Some of the arguments and terms used in the immigration debate defy reason. First, there's the refusal to call these people "illegal aliens." The politically preferred term is "undocumented workers," which is nothing less than verbal sleight-of-hand. After all, I, too, am an undocumented worker.

My colleague, Thomas Sowell, exposes some of this verbal sleight-of-hand in his recent column "Guests or Gate-Crashers?" He questions calling for "guest worker" status for people who, because they weren't invited, are not guests at all but gate-crashers. Sowell argues that the more substantive arguments for flaunting our immigration laws are just as phony.

How about the argument that "We can't catch all the illegals"? That's true, but should we apply that principle to other illegal acts? For example, we can't catch every rapist or burglar, but does it follow that we shouldn't try?

The base motives for much of the political response to illegal aliens are fear of losing the Hispanic vote and pressure by employers who want to maintain a source of cheap labor. Politicians are calling for "guest worker" programs, but they're really calling for amnesty. They are fearful of actually using that term because they know it's political suicide, but the "guest worker" proposal is essentially the same as amnesty.

The word amnesty comes from the Greek "amnestia," defined in part as: "the selective overlooking or ignoring of those events or acts that are not favorable or useful to one's purpose or position." That's what the proposed guest worker program essentially says: forget that you're here illegally.

In principle, the solution to people being in our country illegally is simple. No one in the country illegally should be eligible to receive any social services except emergency medical services. Efforts should be made to deport illegal aliens. Our borders should be made secure both against illegal entry of persons and potential threats to national security.

Finally, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services procedures for obtaining work permits and citizenship should be streamlined so that law-abiding people around the world can more easily contribute to and enjoy America's greatness.

This is a VERY simple way to understand the tax laws.

Let's put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand. Suppose that every day, ten men go out for dinner. The bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this.

The first four men -- the poorest -- would pay nothing; the fifth would pay $1, the sixth would pay $3, the seventh $7, the eighth $12, the ninth $18,and the tenth man -- the richest -- would pay $59.

That's what they decided to do. The ten men ate dinner in the restaurant every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement -- until one day, the owner threw them a curve (in tax language a tax cut).

"Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20." So now dinner for the ten only cost $80.00.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes.

So the first four men were unaffected. They would still eat for free. But what about the other six -- the paying customers? How could they divvy up the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his "fair share?"

The six men realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, Then the fifth man and The sixth man would end up being PAID to eat their meal. So the restaurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount,and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so the fifth man paid nothing, the sixth pitched in $2, the seventh paid $5, the eighth paid $9, the ninth paid $12, leaving the tenth man with a bill of $52 instead of his earlier $59. Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to eat for free.

But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man, but he, pointing to the tenth. "But he got $7!". "Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man, "I only saved a dollar, too, ........It's unfair that he got seven times more than me!". That's true!" shouted the seventh man, why should he get $7 back when I got only $2?" The wealthy get all the breaks!". Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison, "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!" The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night he didn't show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered, a little late what was very important. They were FIFTY-TWO DOLLARS short of paying the bill! Imagine that!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college instructors, is how the tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up at the table anymore.

Where would that leave the rest?

Unfortunately, most taxing authorities anywhere cannot seem to grasp this rather straight-forward logic!

T. Davies
Professor of Accounting & Chair,
Division of Accounting and Business Law
The University of South Dakota
School of Business
414 E. Clark Street
Vermillion, SD 57069
Phone: 605-677-5230
Fax: 605-677-5427

-submitted by Charles Stansfield

Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program. He promised:

1. That participation in the Program would be completely voluntary,
2. That the participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual incomes into the Program,
3. That the money the participants elected to put into the Program would be deductible from their income for tax purposes each year,
4. That the money the participants put into the independent "Trust Fund" rather than into the General operating fund, and therefore, would only be used to fund the Social Security Retirement Program, and no other Government program, and,
5. That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income.

Q: Which party took Social Security from an independent fund and put it in the general fund so that Congress could spend it?
A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the Democratic-controlled House and Senate.

Q: Which party put a tax on Social Security benefits?
A: The Democratic party.

Q: Which party increased the tax on Social Security benefits?
A: The Democratic Party with Al Gore casting the deciding vote.

Q: Which party decided to give your Social Security money to immigrants?
A: That's right, the Democratic Party. Immigrants that move into this country at 65 get SSI even if they have never paid a dime into the system. This is costing us millions of dollars.

Then, after doing all this, the Democrats turn around and tell you the Republicans want to take your Social Security away from you. The worst part about it is that people forget who did what!

- submitted by Charles Stansfield, with additional input from Kal Shmueli, Fort Lauderdale, FL

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress....
But then I repeat myself.
-Mark Twain

I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
-Winston Churchill

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
-.George Bernard Shaw


A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man ..which debt he proposes to pay off with your money.
-G Gordon Liddy


Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.
-James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)

Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.
-Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
-P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian

Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.
-Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801-1850)

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
-Ronald Reagan (1986)

I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.
-Will Rogers

If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free!
-P.J. O'Rourke

In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.
-Voltaire (1764)

Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you!
-Pericles (430 B.C.)

No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.
-Mark Twain (1866)

Talk is cheap...except when Congress does it.
-Unknown

The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other.
-Ronald Reagan

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.
-Winston Churchill

The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin.
-Mark Twain

What this country needs are more unemployed politicians.
-Edward Langley, Artist (1928 - 1995)

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.
-Thomas Jefferson