http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/ en Copyright 2012 2012-02-27T18:09:23+00:00 Subscribe with PlusmoSubscribe with The Free DictionarySubscribe with Bitty BrowserSubscribe with NewsAlloySubscribe with Live.comSubscribe with Excite MIXSubscribe with Attensa for OutlookSubscribe with WebwagSubscribe with Podcast ReadySubscribe with FlurrySubscribe with WikioSubscribe with Daily Rotation http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/icymi_editorial_unstimulating/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/icymi_editorial_unstimulating/#When:18:09:23Z Excerpts from the Columbus Dispatch   February 27, 2012 "With the recent marking of the third anniversary of the first federal stimulus bill's passage, it's hard to argue that taxpayers got their $800 billion worth. If anything, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - passed along party lines, with the aid of all sorts of side deals and kickbacks to woo holdout lawmakers - ultimately might have delayed and extended the pain of the recession by providing only short-term and inefficient fixes to a much-larger economic problem, while significantly increasing the nation's burden of debt... "Despite all the promises of transparency, there were problems with the full disclosure and oversight of stimulus funds from the outset...there were far fewer 'shovel ready' projects poised to create jobs than initially promised; and the 'saved and created' method of reporting jobs supposedly tied to the stimulus was quickly recognized as a sham, over reporting job numbers or including jobs that never were in danger... "Today, saddled with an ever-ballooning debt and a national unemployment rate that has remained above 8 percent - and is much worse if one takes into account the number of people who simply have given up trying to find a job or are underemployed - the absurdity of the argument for the stimulus is apparent to the majority of Americans who continue to be faced with tough choices in their own household budgets..." Click Here To Read The Full Op-Ed: http://bit.ly/y8ZGjq ### 2012-02-27T18:09:23+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/icymi_senator_mitch_mcconnell_debate_is_about_religious_freedom_not_contrac/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/icymi_senator_mitch_mcconnell_debate_is_about_religious_freedom_not_contrac/#When:15:37:07Z Excerpts from the Lexington Herald-Leader   By: Senator Mitch McConnell February 27, 2012 "At issue is the Obama administration's recent decision to force religious institutions to provide insurance to its employees that includes coverage that some, including the Catholic Church, have religious objections to providing. The new rule is born of a provision created in Obamacare, health care legislation whose constitutionality is itself under examination by the Supreme Court. "The fact that liberals believe the controversy is about contraception underscores the troubled relationship they have with the Constitution. "How the government forces a church to violate its religious beliefs, or even what those beliefs might be, is inconsequential to the discussion. It's the violation itself that the framers anticipated when drafting the famous words, 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.' "Americans decided at our nation's inception that the government cannot tell someone whether their religion is worth believing. It doesn't matter whether the president thinks your beliefs are antiquated; your right to practice them is protected. "Bishops, pastors and rabbis alike banded together last week to support religious freedom. They understand what the framers realized when drafting the Bill of Rights: If the rights of some are not protected, the rights of all are in danger... "Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville said, 'the administration has cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution ... denying to Catholics our nation's first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty. We cannot - we will not - comply with this unjust law. People of faith cannot be made second-class citizens'... "I'm certain these leaders and the countless others from every religious community who've spoken up do not have a single view on the issue of contraception. But they do have a single view on the respect every religion deserves and the protection each is afforded in America. "For the protection of everyone who enjoys the freedom to worship how they wish, this mandate should be repealed." Click Here To Read The Full Op-Ed: http://bit.ly/zq3YTP ### 2012-02-27T15:37:07+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/icymi_cost_of_10_billion_stimulus_easier_to_tally_than_new_jobs/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/icymi_cost_of_10_billion_stimulus_easier_to_tally_than_new_jobs/#When:17:30:20Z Excerpts from The Wall Street Journal   By: Ianthe Jeanne Dugan and Justin Scheck February 24, 2012 "Alfredo Garcia was among the residents of Webb County, Texas, banking on a windfall from federal stimulus money. "Mr. Garcia expanded his Mexican restaurant from 80 to 120 seats, anticipating a rush of new patrons springing from the nearby Cedro Hill wind farm, a project built with the help of $108 million from U.S. taxpayers. "When construction ended, Cedro Hill had just three employees and Mr. Garcia's restaurant, Aimee's, filed for bankruptcy protection. 'Nobody came,' said Mr. Garcia, a county judge who closed Aimee's last year, putting 18 people out of work. "Companies have received more than $10 billion to create jobs and renewable energy by building wind farms, solar projects and other alternatives to oil and natural gas under section 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The program expired in December, and President Barack Obama proposed last week that Congress revive it in the 2013 budget. "On federal applications, companies said they created more than 100,000 direct jobs at 1603-funded projects. But a Wall Street Journal investigation found evidence of far fewer. Some plants laid off workers. Others closed. "The discrepancies highlight broader challenges calculating the economic benefits of stimulus spending. Jobs have been an important measure influencing distribution of more than $800 billion in stimulus money, which also has included tax breaks and spending on roads, sewers, schools, health and public assistance. Yet the number of jobs created or saved is largely based on formulas, mathematical models and reports by recipients, rather than actual tallies... "Jobs figures reported by grant recipients were full of errors, the Congressional Research Service said in a report last year: 'Thus it is recommended that any job creation estimate be viewed with skepticism'... "Some communities expecting a flood of new hires from 1603 grant spending have so far found little to celebrate. "Raser Technologies Inc., for example, filed for bankruptcy protection last April, after receiving a $33 million grant for a geothermal plant in Beaver County, Utah. "Lecia Langston, a Utah state economist, said the plant now has fewer than 10 employees. Regulatory filings show that in the year after receiving its 1603 grant, the total number of company employees fell from 42 to 27. "When it went bankrupt, Raser owed $1.5 million in state and local taxes, bankruptcy documents show. Neil Glassman, a bankruptcy lawyer for Raser, declined to comment... "The 1603 program gave $10.7 billion to 5,098 businesses for 31,540 projects, according to the Treasury Department. Recipients were generally reimbursed 30% of their costs after projects were finished. "Those businesses claimed on federal applications that they created 102,883 jobs directly. But the Journal found evidence of far fewer. "About 40% of the funding, $4.3 billion, went to 36 wind farms. During the peak of construction, they employed an average of 200 workers apiece-a total of roughly 7,200 jobs. "Now, those projects employ about 300 people, according to the companies and economic development officials. Their parent companies employ many more, both in the U.S. and abroad. "In Texas, the state comptroller estimated the Cedro Hill wind farm would create 531 jobs directly and indirectly during construction in 2010 and taper down to 44 jobs this year, according to computer models and information from developers... "'I'm so disappointed,' said Rosaura Tijerina, a Webb County commissioner who supported tax subsidies for Cedro Hill, which is owned by California-based Edison International. 'I expected a lot more jobs'... "The American Wind Energy Association lobbied successfully in late 2010 to extend the 1603 program through 2011, predicting it would create thousands of jobs. Wind companies wound up with more than $7 billion of the 1603 money, yet industry payrolls declined to 75,000 last year from a peak of 85,000 in 2009, according to the association. "Iberdrola Renewables Inc., the U.S. arm of a Spanish energy giant, received more than $1.5 billion for its wind and solar projects. In January, it laid off 50 people, leaving about 850 U.S. employees, according to spokeswoman Jan Johnson... "Another wood-burning plant, Blue Lake Power in Northern California, received more than $5.3 million in October 2010. The plant had a number of temporary shutdowns around that time, said Chief Executive Kevin Leary. About a year ago, it laid off most of its staff and stopped producing power. Mr. Leary said the plant is now scheduled to start operating again on March 15. If the plant doesn't work, he said, it may face bankruptcy... "How so few jobs came out of a stimulus program mystified Joseph Mendiola, acting director of Laredo Development Foundation in Webb County. "'Green energy is a future for all communities we should embrace,' he said. 'But they shouldn't tell us it is for jobs.'" Click Here To Read The Full Article: http://on.wsj.com/wh2Bv1   ### 2012-02-24T17:30:20+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/highlights_from_conference_call_with_former_secretary_of_commerce_carlos_gu/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/highlights_from_conference_call_with_former_secretary_of_commerce_carlos_gu/#When:23:09:08Z Former Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez: "At the end of the day, a president who has been in power for three years has to run on what he has done. It's a little too late to be talking about what he is going to do... "After three years it is very clear that the results have fallen short of promises and expectations. The president hasn't had a budget for three years. I don't know of a CEO in the country who can survive without a budget for three years. The president may be the only chief executive officer in the country who doesn't have a real budget. So through spending bills, his administration and he have increased the size of the federal budget and the federal government to 24 percent of GDP. Just to give you an idea that's 24 percent of GDP federal spending is the highest four years since 1946 so we're living through something that we have never really experienced in the last 60 years just five years ago that 24 percent was 19 percent. So to increase five points on a 14 trillion dollar economy is not an easy thing to do... "The president promised that he would cut the deficit in half by the end of his fourth year in office. So instead of another year of record deficits you no longer hear about that promise, you no longer hear about the promises he made in order to get elected. Revenues are 16 percent of gross domestic product. That's due primarily to mediocre economic activity. The government gets revenues when there is growth, when there is vitality, when there is investment. The last time we had that level of revenues was before 1950. Raising taxes will only make our recovery even weaker... "What is more important, a reelection or the economy of the country? This is something the administration needs to answer to the American people... "Floridians can't wait, they need the jobs and they need this president to move forward and do what he is supposed to do as soon as possible... "In spite of unbearable gas prices, the president just made a speech in Florida where all of a sudden he has become 'Mr. oil and gas.' For the first time in three years because we had been working on solar and wind and all of these renewable ideas that sound sexy but they haven't done anything for our supply of energy to the country. The president has just blocked the Keystone pipeline. That will cost thousands of jobs...Once again job creation takes a backseat to political reasons... "I don't think Floridians and the American people are going to buy that. Right before an election campaign, he says what he wants. Let's look back at what he said three years ago...We need a change desperately. The cost of regulation is strangling small businesses, Obamacare is going to add a trillion dollars of cost...We desperately need a change, the more time that goes by, the more time it is going to take to fix what has been done." Click Here To Listen To The Full Audio: http://www.gop.com/audio/2.23.2012_Gutierrez.mp3   ### 2012-02-23T23:09:08+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/rnc_launches_web_ad_obamas_got_america_singin_the_blues/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/rnc_launches_web_ad_obamas_got_america_singin_the_blues/#When:12:50:42Z WASHINGTON – The Republican National Committee (RNC) released a new web ad: “Obama’s Got America Singin’ the Blues” highlighting the skyrocketing gas prices under President Obama’s failed leadership. The web ad chronicles the steep rise in gas prices over the past three years, while President Obama sings the blues with B.B. King and Mick Jagger at a recent fundraiser. The web video can be viewed here. Download the web video here. “When President Obama moved into the White House three years ago, the national average of gas was $1.85 per gallon. Today, the average price of gas has risen to an astonishing $3.59 per gallon and is showing no signs of a decline,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.   “Unfortunately for America, Barack Obama has had us all singin’ the blues with rising energy costs and failed energy policies. His recent rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline denied thousands of Americans jobs in addition to an affordable, secure energy source. In November, Americans will be able to send the president and his failed policies into retirement, where he will be able to sing the blues all day.”     ### 2012-02-23T12:50:42+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/icymi_priebus-led_rnc_rights_the_fundraising_ship/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/icymi_priebus-led_rnc_rights_the_fundraising_ship/#When:22:00:28Z Excerpts from MSNBC’s First Read By: Mark Murray February 21, 2012   “After his election as Republican National Committee chairman a year ago, Reince Priebus inherited an organization that was more than $20 million in debt and that had lost some of its biggest donors… “The RNC raised nearly $51 million in the second half -- actually outraising the Democratic National Committee over that same period of time… “The RNC has cut its debt in half -- from more than $20 million in January to $11.8 million now… “‘They want to know we're making the case [against President Obama and the Democrats] every day,’ RNC Communications Director Sean Spicer tells First Read…” Republican National Committee Jan. 2011: $5.7 million Feb. 2011: $5.3 million March 2011: $7.2 million April 2011: $6.1 million May 2011: $6.2 million June 2011: $6.8 million July 2011: $6.1 million Aug. 2011: $8.2 million Sept. 2011: $9.3 million Oct. 2011: $8.5 million Nov. 2011: $7.2 million Dec 2011: $11.6 million Jan. 2012: $10.4 million   Democratic National Committee Jan. 2011: $7.2 million Feb. 2011: $7.1 million March 2011: $6.7 million April 2011: $14.0 million May 2011: $10.5 million June 2011: $12.2 million July 2011: $6.9 million Aug. 2011: $5.4 million Sept. 2011: $14.7 million Oct. 2011: $8.0 million Nov. 2011: $6.7 million Dec. 2011: $8.9 million Jan. 2012: $13.3 million   Click Here To Read The Full Article: http://on.msnbc.com/ziziG8      ### 2012-02-21T22:00:28+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/icymi_president_barack_obama_back_in_florida_this_week_for_official_events_/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/icymi_president_barack_obama_back_in_florida_this_week_for_official_events_/#When:13:04:15Z Excerpts from the Tampa Bay Times By: Alex Leary and Adam C. Smith February 20, 2012   “President Barack Obama is rewriting Florida's advertising tagline: Come for the sun and soak up the electoral votes. “When Air Force One lands Thursday in Miami then Orlando, it will mark Obama's 14th visit since his inauguration, and second this year. “Not to mention trips this month by Vice President Joe Biden and First Lady Michelle Obama, and a string of previous jaunts by the two. Tampa, Tallahassee, Orlando, Homestead, Cape Canaveral, Sarasota, Miami . . . they've been everywhere… “‘It would be naïve to think there wasn't a political or campaign purpose to most of his travel,’ said Gary Jacobson, a political science professor at the University of California San Diego who has studied presidential travel. ‘It's part of the permanent campaign presidents are engaged in these days.’ “Ohio has been Obama's top swing state target with 17 visits, followed by Pennsylvania with 15 then Florida, according to statistics maintained by CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller. “Last week, Obama paid his ninth visit to Wisconsin. He drops in frequently to Colorado, Iowa, Virginia and Nevada. Travel to Republican-heavy states is less common... “On Thursday afternoon, Obama will hold an official event at the University of Miami, where he'll discuss plans to shore up the economy. While in town, he'll rake cash at the Biltmore Hotel and the home of Democratic fundraiser Chris Korge, where a photo with the president will cost $15,000. “Air Force One will ferry him to Orlando for a $30,000 per-person fundraising dinner at the home of NBA star Vince Carter. “Taxpayers will pick up a big part of the cost. “When Obama took Air Force One to Orlando last month for an official event focused on growing tourism, it cost $179,750 per flight hour (including fuel, annual maintenance and other costs). The trip down was two hours and afterward, Obama flew to New York for a fundraiser before returning to Washington. Total air time was about five hours, or $898,000. “At times, the president's official events have been hard to distinguish from campaign events, such as his trip to Iowa last summer where he stood in front of a picturesque red barn adorned with an American flag… “‘It's just coincidence that every time the president gets on a plane, a helicopter or a bus he's immediately carted off to important states for the November election,’ scoffed Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee. “‘We can be intellectually honest and have this conversation. Other presidents have campaigned,’ Priebus acknowledged. ‘However, this president has taken campaigning to a new stratosphere’… “The White House made its presence felt, too: Education Secretary Arne Duncan visited a charter school in South Florida; Interior Secretary Ken Salazar came to the Everglades to announce a ban on importing Burmese pythons; Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood stopped in Tampa to tout the $536 million I-4/Lee Roy Selmon Expressway Connector; Labor Secretary Hilda Solis met with minority businesspeople in Orlando; and First Lady Michelle Obama visited a Hispanic grocer in Tampa to highlight healthy eating (and made campaign fundraising stops in Sarasota and Palm Beach)… “Obama started his swing state focus almost immediately after the 2008 election. Three weeks after his inauguration, he went on a three-state tour to places he carried: Indiana, Florida and Virginia…” Click Here To Read The Full Article: http://bit.ly/ACYWTf       ### 2012-02-21T13:04:15+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/rnc_chairman_reince_priebus_statement_on_january_fundraising/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/rnc_chairman_reince_priebus_statement_on_january_fundraising/#When:16:43:43Z WASHINGTON – Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus released the following statement on January fundraising: “The Republican National Committee is off to a strong start in 2012. Building on our momentum from 2011, the RNC raised an impressive $10.4 million in January, bringing our cash-on-hand total to $23.4 million,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. “Thanks to the generosity of our supporters and careful financial stewardship, we will have the resources to wage a competitive campaign against Barack Obama. I extend my sincere thanks to all those who have invested in the RNC and our efforts to elect Republicans to the White House, the Senate, the House, the statehouses, and beyond. “Since this time last year, we’ve also cut our outstanding debt by more than half, paying off another $1.2 million of it just last month. At the RNC, we are committed to running an effective and efficient operation that maximizes the use of every dollar. “The American people are ready for a new president and a new direction, and that’s evident in their support of the Republican Party. We take their trust seriously and look forward to achieving victory in November.”   ### 2012-02-20T16:43:43+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/rnc_chairman_priebus_and_co-chairman_day_congratulate_newly_elected_chairma/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/rnc_chairman_priebus_and_co-chairman_day_congratulate_newly_elected_chairma/#When:16:01:45Z WASHINGTON – Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus and Co-Chairman Sharon Day released the following statement congratulating Jack Lindley, the newly-elected Chairman of the Vermont Republican Party: “On behalf of the Republican National Committee, I would like to congratulate Jack Lindley on being unanimously elected Chairman of the Vermont Republican Party,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. “Jack’s hard work and dedication to the party is much needed in a state that has for so long been a one-party controlled Democrat state. Mr. Lindley’s singular focus on fighting big government liberal policies in Montpelier, while strengthening the party, will serve the people of Vermont well.” “We are delighted that Mr. Lindley decided to return and serve the Vermont Republican party,” said RNC Co-Chairman Sharon Day. “We look forward to working with him and the entire Vermont team to defeat Barack Obama this fall and elect strong Republicans at all levels of government.”     ### 2012-02-20T16:01:45+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/rnc_chairman_reince_priebus_and_co-chairman_sharon_day_message_commemoratin/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/rnc_chairman_reince_priebus_and_co-chairman_sharon_day_message_commemoratin/#When:05:01:41Z WASHINGTON – Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus and Co-Chairman Sharon Day released the following message commemorating Presidents Day: “This Presidents Day, we pay tribute to the men who have served as America’s Commander-in-Chief for their leadership and their sacrifice,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. “We honor especially the two pillars of the American presidency: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, whose birthdays we celebrate this month. Under George Washington’s command, our nation was born. Through Lincoln’s perseverance, our republic was saved. “February is also the birth month of President Ronald Reagan, the conservative visionary who saved America from economic stagnation. Today, America is once again mired in a difficult economy. With families hurting and businesses struggling, it is time we embrace the principles of Ronald Reagan once again.” “Reagan understood that a thriving free market offers opportunity to all Americans,” said RNC Co-Chairman Sharon Day. “He also understood the dangers of a heavy-handed federal government, famously observing that ‘government is not a solution to our problem; government is the problem.’ “When Americans go to the polls in November, they will be looking for a president who ensures government exists to preserve and protect freedom and opportunity. They will seek an individual who, like Lincoln and Washington, will serve selflessly and in the interests of all Americans. I’m confident that, like Reagan, our Republican candidate will do exactly that.”   ### 2012-02-20T05:01:41+00:00