Part-Time Pundit: Wictory Wednesday Archives

August 16, 2006

Wictory Wednesday Presents Tom Kean for US Senate

This week, Wictory Wednesday present Thomas Kean for the US Senate for the state of New Jersey. Tom is a known conservative supporting sound economic and political policies that will keep America going in the right direction.

Much has been said about the "culture of corruption" that permeates both parties nationally as well as in New Jersey. Recently, the New Jersey Attorney General resigned over ethical violations. Kean is no stranger to the destruction a corrupt government causes and is committed to the cause of reform to clean up not only corrupt politicans, but wasteful bureaucratic spending and expansive government agencies.

Kean understands that funding education is essential but that it must come with accountability. Projects and organizations that are achieving results should be funded and expanded. Bureaucracies and programs that are failing students and parents should be defunded and discarded. Throwing money at a problem without taking the time to ensure results just wastes money and condemns American youth to second-class status in the global economy.

As a supporter of lower taxes, Kean understands that this must come with lower spending. While the economy is growing and reducing the impact that the budget deficit has on the economy, much greater gains would be made if wasteful spending never took place to begin with. Ending absurd taxes such as the marriage penalty and the ever-expansive alternative minumum tax would not shackle the middle class. The best way to create jobs is to keep the cost of running and expanding businesses economical.

Kean would be a solid voice for conservative values in the United States Senate where it seems to be needed the most. Please consider contributing to the Kean campaign.

This has been a production of the Wictory Wednesday blogburst. If you would like to join Wictory Wednesday, please see this post or contact John Bambenek at jcb (dot) blog [at] gmail {dot} com. The following sites are members of the Wictory Wednesday team:

Posted by John Bambenek at 9:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 9, 2006

Wictory Wednesday Presents Steve Laffey for US Senate

This week Wictory Wednesday presents Steve Laffey for the US Senate for Rhode Island. Steve is running against well-known *insert appropriate adjective here* Republican incumbent Senator Lincoln Chafee. The reasons to vote against Chafee are many, but as a rule, we should casts votes for something.

A vote cast for Laffey is a vote cast for fiscal restraint. Laffey understands that the federal government spends other people's money and that pork projects are an egregarious example of government waste and corruption. He also is against raiding the Social Security Trust fund (yeah, I know, it's a joke) and corporate welfare. It is a national disgrace that our tax system cannot be understood by even the enforcers of that system, the IRS, and that such a system is an oppression and shackle against the American family. He supports simplifying the system so that the average person doesn't need to hire a team of professionals to figure out what their "fair share" of taxes is.

Laffey is a strong economic growth candidate supporting policies that will keep the economy moving forward. He supports making the Bush tax cuts permanent and will work to introduce additional tax cuts. He understands that tax cuts also need to come with spending cuts. Laffey is an experienced politician who, as mayor, lead his town from having a near junk-bond rating to financial solvency and has overseen some of the greatest economic renewal Cranston has seen in decades. The Club for Growth has endorsed his campaign recognizing that he will move the nation forward and avoid the recession-prone policies of the Democrats.

Please consider contributing or volunteering for Steve Laffey's campaign for the Senate.

Posted by John Bambenek at 2:41 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 2, 2006

Wictory Wednesday Presents Thelma Drake

This week, Wictory Wednesday presents Thelma Drake for US Congress for the Second District of Virginia. Representative Drake is running for reelection for her second term in the Congress and is running against MoveOn backed candidate Phillip Kellam. Polls indicate this will be a tight race, and from the amount of money being poured in by MoveOn, a race of importance in 2006.

Rep. Drake has been a supporter of victory in Iraq, rejecting calls to surrender to terrorists and leave the region in chaos. By providing support that the troops need, it gives the military and administration the latitude needed to do the hard work of reconstruction.

Also a supporter of free trade, Rep. Drake has voted to create a free trade zone in South America to further economic development that is beneficial to all parties. Many protectionists keep railing against the trade deficit without realizing that the trade deficit does more for other countries developing their economies than humanitarian aid could ever do.

Lastly, in the light of the recent debate on immigration, Rep. Drake gets it. Regulating the flow of immigrants is not xenophobia, it is common sense. It is one thing to be generous in allowing immigrants to come here to build a better life. It is another to have no real border and allow anyone, including terrorists, free reign across the border. Immigration is healthy for a county, unregulated flaunting of a border is not.

Please consider supporting Thelma Drake in her race for reelection.

Posted by John Bambenek at 9:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 26, 2006

Wictory Wednesday: Doug Lamborn for Congress

This week Wictory Wednesday presents Doug Lamborn for Congress for the 5th District of Colorado.

Doug Lamborn is a solid conservative with a history of fiscal restraint. He supports reforming education to give more choices to parents instead of dumping more money into a bloated bureaucracy. He believes there should be little to no federal role in education as those decision should be best left up to local areas to determine their own needs. Education is the absolute key to continued economic development and sustainability and it is clear that school choice will once again produce schools and students who are representative of the greatness of this nation.

Senator Lamborn understands that the problem with health care in the United States is not because the government isn't in charge, but because the government has skewed the incentive system away from consumers. The solution isn't to remove the consumer even farther from the equation, but to put the consumer square in the middle and allow them to make flexible choices for their own health care.

The use of eminent domain to take property from the disenfranchised and give it to the enfranchised has left those on all parts of the political spectrum a sense of fear. It was only a matter of time when the Court gave local governments the right to kick people out of their homes that those governments would stop paying fair market value for the properties they seized. Senator Lamborn understands private property rights as a foundational aspect of our society, government, and nation. Our freedoms are not something granted by the government out if its magnimity, but these are rights inherent in our society that the government is not free to intrude upon.

Senator Lamborn has won endorsements from the NRA, the National Pro-Life Alliance, and the Club for Growth as well as many other conservative endorsements. Please consider helping Doug Lamborn win in November by contributing or volunteering for his campaign.

Posted by John Bambenek at 12:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 28, 2006

Wictory Wednesday Presents Senator George Allen

This week Wictory Wednesday is supporting the reelection of Senator George Allen of Virginia. Sen. Allen has been a consistent supporter of conservative values in the Senate, earning a place in the ranks of the American Conservative Union's Best and Brightest.

Sen. Allen is a supporter of fiscal conservativism and introduced legislations to require a balanced budget. He also supported a law that would dock congressmen's paychecks if they failed to produce a budget by October 1st. The idea that legislators should be penalized for failure to do the few things they must do is one that should be whole-heartedly supported.

While Senator Allen does support accountability for school systems and supporting programs that succeed, support for school choice is notably lacking. There is no better accountability than allowing people to leave failing schools, taking tax dollars with them.

Illegal immigration is an issue many legislators are running away from while Senator Allen has the courage to take a stand. He understands what should be common-sense, immigrating legally is a good thing, immigrating illegally is a bad thing. It is obvious that decades of not enforcing immigration law hasn't worked and perhaps it's time we give law and order a chance. We don't need to demean the people who came here while the government basically said it wouldn't enforce the law, but that doesn't mean blanket amnesty… or for that matter, lavishing rewards on illegal immigrants.

Lastly, while it has become chic for members of Congress to suggest it's time to surrender to America's enemies and to proclaim that America is the cause of every world problem, Senator Allen understands that no victory came through surrender. The war on terror and Iraq are difficult problems that lesser men run away from by planting their heads in the sand. Winning the War in Iraq takes time and with plans for troop reductions under way, it's clear that "stay the course" is not only a strategy, but a strategy that's working.

Please considering donating to Sen. Allen's reelection campaign or volunteering your time.

Posted by John Bambenek at 12:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 20, 2006

Wictory Wednesday Presents Diana Irey for Congress

This week Wictory Wednesday presents Diana Irey for US Congress. Diana is running against ex-Marine Rep. John Murtha from Pennsylvania who needs no explanation as to why he should be replaced. This race began as what seemed to be an uneventful race against an incumbent who not only didn't expect competition, but is planning on making a run to become House Minority Leader.

Diana Irey served for ten years as commissioner of Washington County and served on a number of boards and commissions bring jobs and fiscal discipline to the local government. She supports not only lower taxes but lower government spending. While Murtha's campaign seems to revolve around nothing else but the Iraq War (albeit an important issues), Irey is approaching running for office with a variety of stances on issues including supporting victory in Iraq and treating soldiers with respect, not as criminals.

Most importantly Diana is not a beltway bureaucrat and has served only in local offices until now. She will not only bring a local perspective to a seat that is held by an individual more concerned with his own national profile, she will support balanced budgets and intelligent policy-making to a Congress that has shown itself to be free with the money entrusted to it.

Please consider supporting the campaign of Diana Irey for the House of Representatives for the 12th District of Pennsylvania.

Posted by John Bambenek at 5:46 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

June 13, 2006

Wictory Wednesday Presents Rep. Jean Schmidt

This week Wictory Wednesday is supporting the reelection of Jean Schmidt to the House of Representatives.

Congresswoman Schmidt is a supporter of private property rights against the rising level of abuse of eminent domain by cities and states. Emiment domain is the widely criticized practice by which local governments kick you out of your home, pay you a (now very deflated) price for your house, and then hand it over to big business. Some of the rampant abuse of eminent domain has had governments pay only $1 for property worth over a million, and the City of New London charging "back rent" for citizens who exercise their legal rights and challenged the city's eminent domain action in court. Congresswoman Schmidt is commited to ending the abuse of local governments by curtailing eminent domain.

Representative Schmidt has been a strong proponent of fiscal responsibility and has cosponsored legislation to give the President a line-item veto to help curtail the abuse of earmarks tagged on to legislation. She also understands that part and parcel of cutting taxes is reducing spending, not increasing it.

Lastly, Representative Schmidt understands that a nation worthy of the title of nation must secure it's borders. This is not to say all legal immigration should be stopped, but it should be a matter of common sense that immigration should be regulated and orderly. While it may be difficult to craft a a solution to illegal immigration, it does not follow that an open-borders, full amnesty, and large payoff to illegals is the way to go.

Please consider donating to Representative Schmidt's campaign or volunteering your time.

Posted by John Bambenek at 7:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 6, 2006

Wictory Wednesday: Rep. Mark Kennedy for US Senate

This week, Wictory Wednesday presents US Rep. Mark Kenney for the Senate in Minnesota. Having served 3 terms in the US House of Representatives, he has the advantage of name recognition in the state.

Current the race is to replace retiring Senator Mike Dayton (D) and is considered to be a race where the Republicans stand a chance in picking up a seat in the Senate.

Mark Kennedy spent 20 years as a CPA before entering politics, which brings with it the hope that when he gets to the Senate he might help his fellow Senators on their problem of spending more than they have. He has come out against the spending habits, and the "earmark" process specifically. A particular reform he mentions which is unique is giving the President a line-item veto that allows the President to veto specific clauses in legislation instead of having only an up-or-down say. This increase in the accountablility of the Congress will only help the problem of a tax-and-spend Congress.

Rep. Kennedy understands that the best way to educate children is to put control of the schools in the hands on local officials and parents, not Washington or detached bureaucrats.

Lastly, he realizes that the path to a better health care system is not further detaching patients and doctors from the decision-making process. Our health care system is designed so that insurance companies don't have to meaningfully answer to their customers which results in what every economist would expect, a system that doesn't meet the consumer's needs.

With public opinion of Congress at an all-time low, Rep. Kennedy provides one of the few examples of someone who has some ideas and fights for them. Please see his website and donate or help his campaign.

Posted by John Bambenek at 10:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 30, 2006

Wictory Wednesday: Mike McGavick for United States Senate for the State of Washington

Mike McGavick has been running an insurgent campaign against incumbent Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell. Bucking the trend against the GOP nationally, Mike has closed the gap between his Democratic competitor to within 5 percentage points in the last Rasmussen Reports poll. Last November, he was trailing by 15 percentage points.

Mike is a solid conservative who understands the necessity of fighting the war on terror and on regulating the flow of immigration at the border. There is a difference between welcoming immigrants in an orderly way and having a wide-open border that is open to exploitation by those who wish to harm the American way of life.

On health care, Mike realizes that the problem with health care is not that it is run by insurance companies, but that there are too many middlemen that leave the consumer out of the loop. Insurance companies are paid by companies who provide benefits to their employees. Those companies want to keep costs low so they pick one vendor and offer two plans to their employees: lower premium lower benefit plans with vendor A, or higher benefit higher benefit plans with vendor A. The needs of the consumer are only indirectly represented to the insurance company... if at all. The hospitals and doctors are paid by the insurance companies. Hospitals collect less than 30% of bills that are sent to consumers without insurance (or after their insurance has paid only part). Hospitals will therefore cater to the insurance companies that pay the bills. The solution is to put the consumer in the driver seat when dealing with their healthcare, not remove them even farther by having the government run the show.

Lastly, in an uncharacteristic position lately for a Republican, he's for fiscal conservativism. He knows that tax dollars isn't monopoly money, but money to which he is a steward, not an owner. We can count on him to support common-sense reforms to the tax-and-spend habits that have plagued Congress lately.

Please consider taking a look at Mick McGavick's website and supporting his campaign.

This was a production of the Wictory Wednesday blogburst, a weekly posting by bloggers supporting solid Republican candidates for office (national office or governorship. If you are interesting in joining the Wictory Wednesday blogburst, please take a look at this post or e-mail John Bambenek at jcb (dot) blog (at) gmail (dot) com.

Posted by John Bambenek at 9:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 26, 2006

Wictory Wednesday has Returned!!

Wictory Wednesday has returned! It is a once-a-week event where hundreds of bloggers ask their readers to support a Republican candidate by donating to their campaign (or at least blogging about them). After over a year break, I've taken the initiative to set it back up and put it together again. 2006 is a big election year and now is the time to assert the influence of the grass roots (or the "connected" will assert it for us).

Each Wednesday, I will send out the "default" candidate to support for that week. Since we aren't Democrats or liberals, you are free to change the candidate and support someone else of your own choice. We like free-thinkers here. All we ask is that you support some candidate on Wednesday and help advance the ideas we hold dear.

If you wish to participate in Wictory Wednesday which will begin on May 31st, 2006 (incidently my birthday), please send an e-mail to jcb.blog (at) gmail.com with your blog name, blog URL, and add the following blogroll code to your site (optional). If you don't post the full blogroll, a link to this post with some advertisement for Wictory Wednesday is appreciated.