Chicago Republicans

The narrow margin granted to Al Franken giving him Norm Coleman's Senate seat just reminded me of why I am frustrated with not only Democrats and their tactics to secure power, but with the Republicans' inability to secure the hearts and minds of those they represent. I have to confess that I was pretty mad about the latest revelations about Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC). I think it was his "mea culpa" where he cried about how hard it was to break up with his mistress that did me in. All I could think of was "what a wimp", that he had a duty, not only to his wife, but to serve fully the people of South Carolina and lately the Republican Party. He failed on all three and so now I question whether he really has the capability to be a good governor and win back the trust of his constituents, let alone his family. Whether he was the right person, and clearly he wasn't, doesn't change the fact that in him was the hope of a resurgent Republican party that was focused on issues, fighting the expansion of the federal government and finally standing up to Democrat bullying. Republicans must now keep looking for the right messenger who can deliver that message. And now we are faced with a 60-seat-filibuster-proof-Democrat-controlled Senate secured by a comedian. And a mean one at that. The problem is that Franken hasn't really built anything, has never governed, legislated nor learned the art of compromise. He has spent a career observing, mocking those who do things, and tearing things down. He joins the ranks of our President in serving those for whom he has never really worked or achieved. On the Republican side, we have a governor whose ability to govern, despite a solid track record of improvement, is now clouded by personal issues, and we have Democrat representatives, bereft of business, commercial and government track records who are in office because of their personalities. My point is that neither situation is good. Is it too much to ask that those who serve in office, into whose hands we put our trust and public funds, be both likable and capable?

I ask this question because we are about to have "cap and trade" and national healthcare legislation shoved down our throats with many of us completely unaware of what our representatives are doing "on our behalf". Come the next election cycle, how many voters will hold these people accountable for what they are actually doing? Too often we send our representatives off to state capitals and Washington, DC and forget to keep track of them unless something scandalous happens. Unfortunately, these folks have the ability to really effect our lives, down to telling us what light bulbs we can use or what we can eat. We need to pay closer attention to the skills, experience and principles of those we are electing so that we can trust them to act on our behalf. To those in Illinois looking for a Republican gubernatorial candidate, has a candidate emerged that can demonstrate a certain level of achievement and proven success in leading who is also capable of delivering a solid principled message that articulates what he or she stands for? We need someone who not only understands the issues, how to articulate and defend them but also knows how to put them into action. This we are sorely missing.

A very disappointing vote was cast today by Republican congressman, Mark Kirk.  He voted in favor of the "cap and trade" bill in the House.  Recently, I was invited to attend a $500 per plate fund raiser for Congressman Kirk, and I am so happy I did not attend it.  His decision to support "cap and trade" is confusing and does not reflect conservative, Republican values.  More importantly, it does not reflect common sense.

The "cap and trade" bill was characterized by candidate Obama when he said, "Electricity Rates Would Necessarily Skyrocket" as a result of this bill.  The fairy tale intention of this bill is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to fight global warming.  Raising taxes will presumably reduce energy consumption.  It is interesting that liberal Democrats, and some Republicans, are applying something I call "trickle down taxation" to win the war against global warming.  What a great enemy Global warming is!!  It works in both directions, and, since it goes both ways, it has been renamed "Global Climate Change" which obfuscates it even further, but, certainly sounds more ominous this way.  Who wouldn't' want to preserve the natural global climate?

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The complexities of global climate change are so profound that the strong personal commitment to addressing it by amateurs is absurd.  I would be much more convinced that global warming, triggered by carbon dioxide emissions, is happening, if someone could explain to me why the temperature of the earth increased more during the 100 years prior to the American industrial revolution than during the 100 years AFTER?  If there is a simple correlation between the earth's temperature the amount of carbon dioxide being produced by coal fired power plants and gas fired engines, then, the earth's temperature should certainly be higher now than it was before the industrial revolution.

It appears that when these kinds of messy questions are asked, that it is more convenient to change the name of game, than actually justify the conclusion.  I have heard people say that they are sure that all the cars that output so much carbon dioxide can not possibly be good for the atmosphere.  They have a strong feeling that it just can not be good.  So, does anybody remember from fourth grade biology class what plants eat?  Plants eat carbon dioxide, and convert it back into organic plant mass, i.e. tree trunks and flowers, pretty things that we like having around.   Why wouldn't more carbon dioxide be good for earthly vegetation?  I never hear anybody talk about that.  What would happen if we starved plant life of carbon dioxide?  My "feeling" is that we need MORE carbon dioxide to save the rain forests...  Interesting how absurd the discussion gets when it is feelings driven!

Of course, this only scratches the surface of the complexities of the "global climate change" subject.  It is vast, and anybody who is not an expert in climatology or physics, like most of the ruling class in Washington, can not possibly be responsible in advocating major economic adjustments in response to their belief in this ghost.

At this time, when unemployment is approaching 10%, stock markets are very uncertain, automobile companies are surviving on a federal fairy god-banker, why is it critical to raise taxes on poor people?  The "cap and trade" bill is not targeted to hit the rich.  In fact, even the desired environmental outcome of this plan is ridiculous and minute; experts suggest that, using existing models of global warming, the average temperature of the earth will be decreased by two tenths of a degree by the year 2100!!!

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