And this guy wants to be South Carolina’s Governor?

With the responsed that Rep. Grasham Barrett (R-SC) recieved at the Tea Party being held in Greenville, SC on Wednesday … his bid for Governor of the state might be off to a bad start. The Palmetto Scoop posted this video to its website of Rep. Barret speaking to the attendees at the tea party:

Barrett, who voted in favor of the $700 billion bailout to stabilize the financial sector, despised by many of the demonstrators, knew what he was getting into. South Carolina grassroots conservatives have been blasting the congressman for months because of his vote on the Bush administration’s bill last October. Previewing his Tea Party speech earlier this week, The Greenville News wrote that Barrett was headed “into the Lion’s Den.”

The booing and shouting continued for the entire five minutes Barrett was on stage. When he pointed out that he recently introduced a bill called the TEA Act to stop wasteful government spending, one protested yelled repeatedly: “Too late!”

 

Much of this might have been forgotten if Barrett were returning to his safe seat in Congress in 2010, but the Westminster Republican is leaving the House to seek the South Carolina governorship next year. He’s gearing up for what’s likely to be a tough three-way Republican primary against Attorney General Henry McMaster and Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, a contest in which Barrett will almost certainly have to answer for his bailout vote.

Barrett spokesman B.J. Boling said the crowd’s reaction “was about what we expected” and stressed that the congressman’s “conservative credentials are unquestionable.” He noted that the National Journal has ranked Barrett as the fourth most conservative member of the U.S House.

“This is about disagreeing over one vote, and the congressman and the folks who were there agree on a whole lot more than just that,” Boling said. “He has a record of fiscal conservativism that I believe is unmatched in the House.”

Let’s just say that Rep. Barrett is going to have a tough race for the Governor’s seat … really tough.

Action Alert: 22 Texas Senators Voted for Tax Increases!

This from Americans for Prosperity:

This week, 22 Texas Senators voted to expand our unemployment insurance eligibility in Texas. This will result in a short-term gain, but long-term cost. It will result in a tax increase that will impact Texas employers and future job growth.  Please call those Senators and ask them to reverse their vote, and vote against this tax increase. The bill isSB 1569 and the next vote is slated for Monday.
Texas has the strongest economy in the nation for one reason — we work to keep taxes low.  Texas has the largest job growth in the country, has been named as the best state for doing business, and has more Fortune 500 companies than any other state.  
But some Senators are willing to throw our success away and accept one-time federal dollars that will expand our current program. The unemployment insurance portion of the so-called stimulus would pay for less than eight weeks of unemployment insurance payments in Texas. Passage of SB 1569 will result in a permanent tax increase for Texas employers and fewer jobs in Texas.
Our message to those Senators who voted for the tax increase: Don’t mess with Texas’ economy and job growth! 
Texans want a paycheck, not an unemployment check.  Our current program of Unemployment Insurance still allows those who lose their jobs to get unemployment checks while they look for a new job.
It is imperative that we not increase taxes at this critical time. We agree with what Sen. Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands) said before the vote on Thursday: 
“Texas employers would be stuck paying the bill, through higher state taxes, once the federal money ran out.  I just felt like the long-term consequences of expanding that program are not good for Texas employers.” 
Please call these State Senators and tell them to vote against this tax increase (SB 1569) and for Texas jobs:
Sen. Kip Averitt (R-Waco): (512) 463-0122 or (254) 772-6225
Sen. John Carona (R-Dallas): (512) 463-0116 or (214)738-5751
Sen. Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth): (512) 463-0110 or (817) 806-4400
Sen. Bob Deuell (R-Greenville): (512) 463-0102 or (972) 279-1800
Sen. Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock):  (512) 463-0128 or (806) 762-1122
Sen. Rodney Ellis (D-Houston): (512) 463-0113 or (713) 236-0306
Sen. Kevin Eltife (R-Tyler): (512) 463-0101 (903) 596-9122
Sen. Craig Estes ( R-Wichita Falls): (512) 463-0130 or (940) 689-0191
Sen. Mario Gallegos, Jr. (D-Houston): (512) 463-0106 or (713) 678-8600
Sen. Chris Harris (R-Arlington): (512) 463-0109 or (817) 461-9109
Sen. Chuy Hinojosa (D-McAllen): (512) 463-0120 or (956) 972-1841
Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. (D-Brownsville): (512) 463-0127 or (956) 548-0227
Sen. Steve Ogden (R-Bryan): (512) 463-0105 or (979) 776-0521
Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano): (512) 463-0108 or (972) 403-3404
Sen. Eliot Shapleigh (D-El Paso): (512) 463-0129 or (915) 544-1990
Sen. Carlos Uresti (D-San Antonio): (512) 463-0119 or (210) 932-2568
Sen. Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio): (512) 463-0126 or (210) 733-6604
Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin): (512) 463-0114 
Sen. Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio): (512) 463-0125 or (210) 826-7800
Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas): (512) 463-0123 or (214) 467-0123
Sen. John Whitmire (D-Houston): (512) 463-0115 or (713) 864-8701
Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo): (512) 463-0121 or (956) 722-2293

We must take action on this. This bill will only provide 8 weeks of funding and then leave Texas to hold the bag and raise taxes on business and hurt our still strong economy in this state. Remember, even in this recession, San Antonio had is unemployment rate DROP while adding 4,000 new jobs over the last month. Yes, maybe in the short term this could be good, but in the long run it will hurt Texas and cost jobs. Take action and make sure that this bill does not pass!

“Just Tax”

This video is hilarious … Its got a good message. Enjoy.

Coming Soon: Complete Post on Tax Day Tea Parties

I had a great time at the Tax Day Tea Parties in both Austin and San Antonio. I am working right now on posting photographs and videos I took from these events. Once I get that done I will work on the blog post. These events were successful … the Don’t Mess With Texas Tea Party at Austin City Hall had over 2,000 people in attendance with Gov. Rick Perry, Michael Williams, Lance Kennedy, and others. Here in San Antonio … Estimates are now upwards of 15,000 packed into Alamo Plaza with Glenn Beck, Ted Nugent, and others standing up to out of control spending and the growth of government. Those in attendance (including myself) made it clear that it was both parties and that Republicans have at times lost their core principles at times. But it is time to reclaim the founding ideals of the country and renew America’s promise to our future generations.

Either way … a full post is coming up later tonight … FYI: watch the Glenn Beck replay at 1:00 AM CT for SA Tea Party coverage from this afternoon! It has been a great day for true patriots and for Americans all over this country. And I am the only one I know that went to two tea parties in one day and in two different cities … awesome day!

Street Light User Fee?

If you live in the District (District of Columbia that is…) be prepared to pay a possible “Street Light User Fee” to the city for maintenance and operation of street lights in the District. This is the brainchild of current D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty in the FY 2010 budget proposal submitted at the end of March. This from Washington City Paper:

Details of the fee have been reveled in draft legislation submitted to the council today: The fee will be assessed on your Pepco bills. Residential customers, under the proposal, will pay $4.25 a month ($51 a year); commercial customers will pay $16.75 monthly ($201 yearly), and all others $42 monthly ($504 yearly).

While the fees themselves do not seem to be very large ($4 a month) … but this is just the begining. If we allow the District to pass this fee … they can increase it to whatever amount they want. By the way … who are all others? If your not a residential customer or a commercial customer what are you? Does that mean like schools will pay $42 a month? If someone knows let me know. Cities have problems of areas without street lights. If your street doesn’t have sufficient lighting is your fee then less … NO. I would rather not use street lights thank you … I agree they increase public saftey and what not. But maybe I could use that $51 a year and get brighter headlights or more headlights on my car … or lights all around my car that light up the road around me (that would be kinda cool). The thing is … I know how to spend my money better than the government does … Stop the Spending … Stop the ridiculous taxation!

Click Here to read the Article from the Washington City Paper.