RINO Droppings

I just received a copy of Rising Tide, which is the magazine of the Republican National Committee. I suppose they sent it to me because I donated a couple of dollars to the Party before the `04 election, although I haven`t done anything since, and had never received it before now. Being a sucker for free stuff, I eagerly flipped through the glossy publication only to be horrified by what I was seeing; if this magazine is any indication of where the Republicans are headed the Conservative movement is in deep trouble.

The magazine opens with a letter from GOP Chairman Ken Mehlman, in which he bragges about the outstanding accomplishment of Republicans-including the highway budget buster bill, the reprehensible energy bill (which forces stricter CAFE standards as part of government mandated conservation), and the party`s efforts to ``reach out to all communities``-which is code for the big tent philosophy which has been fracturing party unity and giving us such wonderful things as President Bush`s ``guest worker`` initiative for illegal aliens. (This was one factor in GOP gubernatorial candidate Jerry Kilgore`s loss-Kilgore was here! He shouldn`t have wasted his time.)

``Inclusion`` was a big theme (not much talk about including conservatives, though) and much talk was given to how Republicans can spent taxpayer money to accomplish this; ``The President`s plan already has created 2.3 million new minority homeowners since he was elected...He has pledged to help create 5.5 million minority homeowners by 2010, so that the gap between minority and non-minority homeownership will be gone forever`` according to the Chairman. Not only is such targeted policy discriminatory (to those not covered under the programs) but it is not at all something a believer in limited government can condone. It is not the job of government to buy people houses, and the Republicans USED to be the party who opposed robbing Peter to buy Paul`s vote. No longer; we now have Democrat lite.

Page eight boasts about the ``nation`s first energy legislation in more than a decade`` as if more government control and largesse is cause for pride. The core of this boondoggle is the establishment of ``new energy standards``, and this alleged republican magazine crows about this with pride. Further, they brag that this law REQUIRES (read forces) the annual use of 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol and biodiesel (which cost much more without government subsidies than gasoline), as well as funds windmills and other moonbean energy schemes (the very schemes which lead to the power shortages in California). Another article on page 8 waxes poetic about the jobs to be brought to America thanks to the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act, and they actually have the gall to say, ``The bill will create jobs, fund vital highway and mass transit programs...and holds the line on the budget... President Bush said the bill `is going to give hundreds of thousands of Americans good paying jobs`..the American Road and Transportation Builders Association estimates 47,500 jobs are created for every $1 billion invested``! I feel like I`m in a time warp! Has Bill Clinton returned to office? Has Jimmy Carter?

There is a large, sickening piece by Laura Bush in which she lauds The Helping America`s Youth Conference. She brags about how this group has spent millions to find out ``what factors drive children toward risky behavior`` (gee, Laura, I guess eating too many pop-rocks), and she pushes such drivel as the ``good behavior game`` for first graders (why aren`t children learning to read in first grade?) and the Computer Asssisted Debate project, in which middle-schoolers learn to voice their emotions with debate ``rather than turning to violence and anger as a means of expression``! It looks like Hillary has returned, too! She likes a tattoo removal program run by a group called ``Homeboys Industries``; I suspect this is government funded, also.

Pages twenty and twenty one feature more on the outreach to minorities, by Matthew Dowd in which he bragges about President Bush increasing his vote among African Americans by 70% (of course, in 2001 he received only 8% of the black vote, so ANY increase was guaranteed to be enormous) and devotes considerable time to Bush`s outreach to hispanics (which is failing, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.) All of these outreach programs are at taxpayer expense, and are of dubious value to the longterm success of the Party and those they are designed to help.

Pages twenty two and twenty three deal with No Child Left Behind; there is something to rally the troops! Education is a matter for the States.

Twenty five and twenty six treat us to an essay by Senator James Inhofe about the Clear Skies Act, which imposes even more regulation on industry in an effort to steal environmental issues from the Democrats, page 31 ballyhoos Bush`s Prescription Drug (abuse) Program, etc. How fast can we spent your money, folks?

The last page has an add with this plea:

HELP PRESIDENT BUSH PUT HIS AGENDA INTO ACTION...

Considering what a huge pile of RINO droppings this agenda is, I have to say thanks but no thanks.

It`s clear conservatives have lost control of their party.