Nebraska Republican Revival

A Note to Readers

This particular blog hasn't gotten much attention lately.  I find myself busy with the RedStateEclectic blog, in addition to helping out with the Unicam Watch from time to time, working with the Campaign for Liberty, the Republican Liberty Caucus (if you're reading this, you might be interested in that organization) and a few other random community activities--in addition to looking for a job, and being a wife and mother to 2 young children in Elementary School (in addition to a college student). 

If you're interested in the general goals of this particular blog, and would commit to posting here more than my current average of once every couple of months, I'd be happy to give you posting privileges.  Just e-mail me with your information. 

Nebraska's Republican Governor Gets B+

Congratulations to Governor Dave Heineman for scoring 4th highest in the nation (a B+) on the Cato Institute's ranking of governors and fiscal sanity.  Way to go Gov. Dave! 

Now, if you can just rein in state spending, you'll get that "A"!

The Three Nebraskans!

Nebraska's 3 members of the U.S. House of Representatives--Reps. Jeff Fortenberry, Adrian Smith, and Lee Terry--joined the majority of Republicans, and a significant minority of Democrats in turning back the administration's "bailout package" today. 

Some will argue that these member of Congress have weakened the Republican Party, by turning their backs on the Republican Leadership and their Republican President--and that they have harmed the long term interests of the American economy in the process.

Personally, I think they did what needed to be done, and that they have sent notice that the GOP still has some limited government/free market conservatives in its ranks.  I don't have an economic crystal ball, and I suspect that we are in for a bit of a rough go in the next year--but I am firmly convinced that a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street banks puts a debt load on our children and grandchildren--and increases the powers of the national government--such that we would have trouble looking our kids in the eye if we did not demand that our government get control of its spending, and stop bailing out every bad business decision made.

Thanks to our Nebraska Republican members of the House for their votes today.

Quick Notes

Posting on this blog may be sparse--I'll try to add stuff from time to time as circumstances warrant--until things start really "happening" in Nebraska again. 

There are going to be some organizational meetings of folks around the state in the next couple of months--folks loosely associated with the Campaign for Liberty, but mostly folks who are interested in getting involved in the Republican Party in their counties.  A few of us are going to be working with folks, giving them some history lessons and some "down and dirty" lessons on the way political parties work, so that folks new to the process will feel a bit less intimidated when they decide to take the plunge.  If you're interested in having a "group session" in your area, e-mail me, and we'll try to set something up, or I'll let you know when something is happening in your part of the state.

On another note, it's been nice to see that at least some of our Nebraska Republican members of Congress aren't just rubber stamping the Administration's bailout proposal.  There's no doubt that there are financial troubles ahead.  But there's little doubt in my mind that adding to the debt of our children and grandchildren by committing three-quarters of a trillion dollars to a bailout of private companies that made bad decisions is a dangerous prospect.  While my personal preference would be to just allow the failures to happen, and the markets to work to correct the problems in our economy, I suppose that's not likely.  That being the case, I hope Members of Congress will be VERY cognizant of the fact that every dollar given to failed businesses will ultimately come from the taxpayers' pockets. 

Rally for the Republic

If you're interested, I've got a long post up on my main blog which discusses the Rally for the Republic and what we learned about the new Campaign for Liberty.

Quick RNC Update

If you're interested, there were a number of posts in the last week over at my home blog.  One of the Ron Paul supporting delegates, Jon Tucker, posted photos on that site. 

Several of us posted information related to the Ron Paul Rally for the Republic that took place in Minneapolis on Tuesday.  That marked the kick-off event for the Campaign for Liberty.  If you're interested in helping to promote a Nebraska Republican Revival, be sure to sign up at the Campaign for Liberty so that you're on our list of contacts.

As far as Nebraska's RNC delegation, Nebraska was entitled to 33 votes in the roll call of states, 31 of which (for John McCain) were recorded.  The 2 for Ron Paul were apparently omitted, and recorded as a "pass."  For those who were Ron Paul supporters, that was a disappointment.  We didn't expect him to win, but we worked hard to see him represented (he did, after all get about 15% of the vote in Nebraska) at the National Convention.  Fortunately, we'll have other opportunities to get our message out there.

Rally for the Republic(ans)

For those of you who aren't heading off to the Republican National Convention in a few weeks, if you've got some time to take off for the long Labor Day weekend, there will be a GREAT show being held in Minneapolis during the convention.  Ron Paul's Rally for the Republic will feature great speakers, and great entertainment. Tickets are reasonably priced at $17.76.  Think about going.

Nebraska's Campaign For Liberty

For those who are unaware, since Ron Paul closed down/suspended his presidential campaign, a new organization has taken root--Ron Paul's Campaign For Liberty.  They are signing up folks at that site, and are anxious to reach out beyond those who were active participants in the Paul campaign--to all traditional libertarian-conservatives, especially (but not exclusively) those in the Republican Party.

If, after taking a look at the website, you're interested in participating here in Nebraska, you can go here, and apply for membership.  It is an "invitation only" group, but applications for membership are generally accepted.  The goal is for this to provide a clearinghouse for information and a means for reaching the maximum number of traditional Republican in short order possible.

Convention Wrap Up

I had the privilege of attending the Nebraska Republican Convention this weekend.  I was in the presence of 400-some patriots, all of whom love their country.  A group of 50 some of us, who see things a bit differently than the current Republican Establishment, achieved a few small victories in the course of the convention--2 delegates to the National Convention were elected from our ranks, and 3 alternates to the National Convention.

While I disagree with the direction that the Party has taken in recent years, I am of the fundamental belief that it can be reclaimed as the home of traditional conservatism.  Sometimes, unfortunately, folks forget that there is a difference between Party and principle, and too often Republicans have forgotten about principle.  Our job is to help remind them.

Congratulations to all of our National Convention delegates and alternates, but especially to that small band that got elected apart from the "official" slate.

An Invitation

While this is not a Republican Liberty Caucus site, I suspect that many of our Nebraska readers would be friendly to the RLC cause in Nebraska.  We recently applied for a state charter here in Nebraska, and will be celebrating the granting of that charter on July 11.

I'm attaching a PDF copy of an invitation to our event.  Reservations are due July 3 (see payment info and where to send on page 2).  All liberty loving folks in the state are welcome to join in the casual celebration as we kick off our involvement in the state.

Download rlc_inaugural_invitation.PDF