“Senate Republicans have long supported efforts to find more American energy, and use less; we believe we must do both. While supporting conservation, electric cars, clean coal and nuclear energy, we also pushed for lifting the Congressional ban on offshore exploration, which was removed more than a year ago. Since then, we have been waiting to see whether the administration would follow through and open more areas for the development of American energy.
“I’m a lifelong conservative, and I can tell the real thing when I see it. I have looked at the records of both candidates in the race, and it is clear to me that Trey Grayson is right on the issues that matter – both on fiscal responsibility and on national security,” said Vice President Dick Cheney.
“The challenges posed by radical Islam and Al Qaeda are real and will be an on-going threat to our domestic security for years to come. We need Senators who truly understand this and who will work to strengthen our commitment to a strong national defense and to whom this is not just a political game. Trey Grayson knows we must stay on offense in the fight against terrorism by keeping the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay open and trying terrorist suspects using military tribunals, supporting the troop surges in Iraq and Afghanistan, and maintaining the Patriot Act so we can effectively monitor the activities of terrorists abroad. There is no doubt that the real conservative in this race is Trey Grayson, and there is no better choice for Kentuckians in May and November.”
Today, Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson called on Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway to join other Attorneys General around the country in filing suit against the federal government over passage of the health care bill.
“Washington is broken, and nothing demonstrates that truth more than the government takeover of health care, which the President signed into law today. Despite overwhelming and bipartisan opposition, Democrats in Congress have forced massive new bureaucracy and unsustainable spending on American families already burdened from decades of bad decisions in Washington. Fortunately, there is still an opportunity to prevent this intrusion into our lives as more than a dozen states have declared their intent to challenge this law in court. Today I call on Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway to join in this effort and file suit against the federal government for the unconstitutional overreach of its authority with the passage of this health care legislation. Jack Conway should stand up to Washington and fight for the Commonwealth of Kentucky against this massive new unfunded and unconstitutional federal mandate on states like ours,” Grayson said.
For many Republicans — particularly conservative Christians who are strongly pro-Israel — President Barack Obama’s nuanced approach, and its results so far, represent a betrayal of a key ally. Many also view the ongoing debate as a proxy for the debate over the muscularity of American foreign policy.
“Support for Israel is one of those issues, like anti-communism used to be, that holds together a number of pieces of the conservative movement, including evangelicals but also neocons, economic conservatives and foreign policy hawks,” said Tevi Troy, a visiting senior fellow at the Hudson Institute who served as Jewish liaison in the George W. Bush White House.
.A February Gallup survey found Democratic voters evenly split on whether they sympathized more with the Israelis or the Palestinians. Republicans are far more united in their support for Israel, the poll found, with 85 percent saying they sympathized more with the Israelis“I support health care reform that does not cost taxpayers more than $2 trillion and that will not add to the deficit. The Democrat leadership and President Obama have used budget gimmicks to hide the true cost of this bill, and they’ve used procedural short cuts, strong arm tactics and have cut backroom deals to win narrow passage of legislation that will affect one-sixth of our economy and every American family and small business. The only thing bipartisan about this bill has been the staunch opposition to it,” said Grayson.
The bill will:
- Increase taxes on small businesses and families
- Cut Medicare by more than $520 billion
- Increase unfunded mandates on states by expanding Medicaid eligibility without paying for it
- Penalize married couples with higher premiums
- Tax/fine those who do not purchase insurance acceptable to the government
- Expand the role of the IRS into enforcing health care mandates
- Increase the cost of health insurance
- Increase spending on health care."
It is also a great leap forward by the United States towards a European-style vision of universal health care, which will only lead to soaring costs, higher taxes, and a surge in red tape for small businesses. This reckless legislation dramatically expands the power of the state over the lives of individuals, and could not be further from the vision of America’s founding fathers. It has also been rushed through Congress without proper scrutiny, in the face of overwhelming public opposition, and with not an ounce of bipartisan support.
Above all the health care bill is a thinly disguised vanity project for a president who is committed to transforming the United States from the world’s most successful large-scale free enterprise economy, to a highly interventionist society with a massive role for centralized government. The United States has thrived as a nation for over 230 years precisely because of its love for freedom and its belief in free markets.
What we have just witnessed is a massive slap in the face for limited government and the principle of individual responsibility. Its net result will be the erosion of freedom in America, and a further undermining of the country’s economic competitiveness. This may be a political victory for the president and his supporters in Congress, but it is in reality a defeat for America as a great power, and another Obama-led step towards US decline.
Recognizing the threat, a well-connected former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney convened a conference call last week between Grayson and a group of leading national security conservatives to sound the alarm about Paul.
“On foreign policy, [global war on terror], Gitmo, Afghanistan, Rand Paul is NOT one of us,” Cesar Conda wrote in an e-mail to figures such as Liz Cheney, William Kristol, Robert Kagan, Dan Senor and Marc Thiessen.
With an attached memo on Paul’s noninterventionist positions, Conda concluded: “It is our hope that you can help us get the word out about Rand Paul’s troubling and dangerous views on foreign policy.”
For the second time this week, the president has called out Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell personally after the leader suggested Democrats who back Obama’s health care proposals should fear GOP retribution in November.
“I heard the Republican leader of the Senate the other day – he’s warning Democrats, ‘You better be careful about voting for this; it could hurt you,’” the president said in a speech to 400 invitees who packed into a high school auditorium just outside of St. Louis.
“I don’t know how sincere the Republican leader is about the best interests of Democrats. [But] he’s been very generous with advice.”
When someone hooted from the back of the room during a Wednesday night fundraiser in St. Louis, Obama stopped mid-speech, and quipped, “Was that Mitch McConnell? ... They don’t like it when we’re talking the truth.”
Wednesday’s remarks tracked closely with those Obama made on a Monday trip to Arcadia University in suburban Philadelphia, when he said, “The echo chamber is telling members of Congress, ‘wait, think about the politics — instead of thinking about doing the right thing’ … That’s what Mitch McConnell said.”
Spotted yesterday at U of L: Senator McConnell visits with Coach Strong.
