Budget Cuts, Obama Style....
In this video clip http://www.wimp.com/budgetcuts the recent announcement by President Obama that Team Obama will cut $100 million from the budget is put into it's true perspective. Even your kids and grand kids will understand that cutting $100 million from a $3, 500 million budget is really just 1/4 of a penny from $100 dollars of pennies. When will Washingon really get serious about cutting spending? When new Congress people, with a fiscally responsible mission, are elected to replace the big government tax and spenders! At this rate, November 2010 elections cannot come soon enough.
(c) Jasper Welch, Four Corners Media www.jasperwelch.org
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Ellen Roberts for State Senate
Ellen Roberts for State Senate
Campaign season is in full swing in Colorado. On Saturday April 17th
Campaign season is in full swing in Colorado. On Saturday April 17th
Good morning Republicans! I’m Jasper Welch, a delegate from La Plata County. This morning I’m honored to place in nomination my friend & fellow Republican Ellen Roberts for the 6th Senate District. In my 30 years of civic involvement, we have the opportunity to nominate the best-prepared candidate for state Senate.
Ellen is experienced, independent and she has the right temperament to be our next state Senator. Simply put: She is the right person for the job… and here’s why:
Ellen has the experience….
… in construction…health services…a successful law practice and her community involvement, Ellen knows the District, the people and the issues we face in Colorado. We know her…and she knows us. No need for on the job training, but rather she is well prepared to represent us. Ellen understands southwestern Colorado…she is one of us.
Ellen has the electability…
…as our 59th House representative, Ellen has met the challenge of a Colorado legislative campaign. Her Democrat opponent has been a government employee that was appointed as a placeholder in the State Senate seat. That won’t last. Ellen knows that an appointed Democrat must stand for his first election. She is ready and willing to campaign. And with your help, and the help of voters throughout the 6th District, she’ll be our next elected (not appointed) State Senator.
Ellen is an independent thinker….
She really listens to all sides of the issues, and as a Republican, she knows how we approach the issues. From my experience, she is independently mined, and doesn’t fit the mold and I admire that. So the question is not, is she “conservative” or “moderate” or “whatever” enough. But rather, does our Republican nominee have the independent judgment and understanding of limited government and fiscal responsibility to be a leader in the state Senate? Ellen wants to know what you think and how best to represent your diverse interests at the state Capital.
Ellen has the unique ability to really listen, to really do her homework, and fight for our Republican principles. It takes sound judgment and a steady temperament to be a state Senator. I have personally known and worked with former Republican Senators Dan Noble and Bob DeNier. We miss them. They served southwestern Colorado well. As fellow Coloradans, they had the experience, the electability, the independence and the temperament to serve. I believe that Ellen will follow in their footsteps.
In remarks to delegates to a Republican assembly in 1982, Ronald Reagan said: “When the chips are down and the decisions are made as to who the candidates will be, then the 11th commandment prevails and everybody goes to work. His guidance? Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican.”
In the heat of party politics and nomination assemblies, with e-mails and political labels flying around, it is easy to lose site of the real goal: that is sending the appointed Democrat Senate back home, and electing a Republican to the 6th Senate seat. It is with these things in mind, that I proudly place the name of Ellen Roberts in nomination.
Jasper Welch, delegate from La Plata County, Colorado 4.17.10
Sunday, April 4, 2010
White Washed White House Press Corp
White Washed White House Press Corp
In America, the tradition of the free press is one of the foundations of our Republic. And tough reporting, along the lines of the late Robert Novak, has been the job of the White House Press Corp. And while every president has publicly stated the need for a free press and access to the White House, most have scrapped, fought and had their dust ups with the Washington press corp.
So, the White House trying to control the message, access to the President, and run a PR machine, this is nothing new. However, in the world of Team Obama, access comes with a price: Your articles are favorable to the President, you get access, and even the opportunity to write a book. And it helps if you don’t report, when that is to the advantage of the White House. And if you take the gloves off, as did the late Robert Novak, well let’s just say that your access and insider info dries up, and maybe your press coverage is weakened by less sources and insider info.
Let’s hear how the issue is laid out by Steve Clemons, in Washington Note in the April 2nd edition on line www.thewashingtonnote.com
The communications team at the White House has an extremely difficult job -- and I admire how hard Ben Rhodes, Bill Burton, Tommy Vietor, and of course Robert Gibbs and others work to connect the President's policy direction with a communications effort that furthers the Obama agenda.
The role of the White House press corps is to engage this team and work on public's behalf to report not only on what they are fed by the communications team but what they are not.
There are good friendships between White House media and those they cover inside the White House -- but they can't be FRIENDS in the fullest sense. They are supposed to be rivals, wrestling over stories and the truth that is conveyed through the media to American citizens.
But an unhealthy pattern is developing in this White House -- a trend that may very well have been a part of other presidencies as well -- but what is happening today needs comment.
Some journalists seem to be putting their self-interest above their responsibilities to the public as well as their employers.
As Howard Kurtz and Glenn Greenwald have both commented, many White House correspondents and other top tier journalists want to write Obama books.
Anything with "Obama" on it is running at a huge premium in the book publication market.
But the kind of books that sell need "inside access" and this is something that the communications team at the White House doles out minimally, and increasingly, only when favors are part of the arrangement.
What I have learned after discussions over the last several days with several journalists who either have regular access to the White House or are part of the White House press corps is that there is a growing sense that access is traded for positive stories -- or perhaps worse, an agreement that things learned will not be reported in the near term.
The White House is working hard to secure deals that yield fluffy, feel good commentary about the Obama White House. One American White House reporter used colorful terms to describe the arrangement. The reporter said, "They want 'blow jobs' first [in the press sense]. Then you have to be on good behavior for a bit or be willing to deal, and then you get access."
Greetings, and welcome to my website. During the days, I serve as Senior Fellow & Director, American Strategy Program, New America Foundation and, in my spare time, serve as Director of the Japan Policy Research Institute. I've also been encouraged by my great friend, Joshua Micah Marshall of http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com to start my own blog. So, connected here you will soon find www.thewashingtonnote.com where I will more regularly comment on public policy debates that deserve attention.
So, Chicago style politics are the norm in this White House. Insider deals, crony capitalism, behind the scenes pressure, and murky deal making are the norm in the world of Obama. But can you blame the President? It is all he has known.
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