My Son Needed ID to Sign Up For Football, But I Don't Need It to Vote?

http://dailycaller.com/2012/01/12/okeefe-video-prompts-probe-by-new-hampshire-attorney-general/

The Daily Caller story above, based upon a James O'Keefe investigation, proves how shockingly easy it is to commit voter fraud in the United States.

Identification is simple to obtain. My son needed a birth certificate to play football. Why can't voters be held to a similar standard?

Because too many areas of this country rely on voter fraud to keep certain politicos in place. Whether it is Lincoln County, West Virginia or Cook County, Illinois, this crime against democracy must stop.

Pass voter ID laws now.

West Virginia Democrats, Stop Lying to Yourselves

State Deputy Revenue Secretary Mark Muchow said on Talkline Friday, “The hope is West Virginia will be more competitive over time and we’ll actually see a growth in associated tax collections.

This little blurb showed up in Hoppy Kercheval's Metro News column the other day in response to the fact that West Virginia is gradually dropping its food tax as well as some tax burdens on corporations.

This idea was not invented by Governor Tomblin and his revenue chiefs. It has been around for quite a long time now. Republicans understand it intuitively and even have a scientific model for it. Most people reading this are quite familiar with the Laffer Curve, the basic model for supply side economics, better know a few decades ago as Reaganomics.

So this is it guys. Stop lying to yourselves. You are not the Democratic Party. You are officially acknowledging that lower taxes on producers can result in higher net revenues. At the same time, your national party and the policies it supports are designed to squeeze every last nickel out of anyone and everyone. You, on the other hand, seem to get the concept of "competitive advantage."

So switch registrations already. You are pro-life and supply side economists, which currently put you to the right of Newt Gingrich. But when you do, please leave behind the traditional ways of politics.

If we can clean up our elections while applying conservative solutions, we can strip Pennsylvania and Maryland clean of businesses and residents who are sick to death of higher and higher taxes.

The Bigger Picture With Bain

So the other Republicans in the field are attacking Romney because he's a capitalist?

His company, Bain, bought up failing companies to make the hard choices necessary to keep them afloat. Sometimes that meant shutting down facilities and trimming large numbers of jobs. Why act like the alternative was not that these companies would die and all the jobs would be lost?

Romney gives his opponents a lot of ammunition for attack. Romneycare and other issues demonstrate that he has not been a down the line fiscal conservative. Republicans are right to scrutinize this part of his record.

However, Bain serves a purpose in the supposedly free market. Companies do not exist to provide jobs, add to the tax base, or anything else. They exist to turn a profit. When they do, they hire more people, pay more taxes, and do many other things as useful by-products. Why are we attacking the successful while pining over the failed?

The Bain story also gives insight into Romney that, objectively speaking, helps him. Presidents need to make tough decisions. Sometimes the alternatives are between bad and less bad, but a choice must be made, an action taken. Romney has experience making the difficult choices that result in short term pain, but long term success. Instead of backing off this important element of his past, the conservative thing to do is to embrace it. Proudly say that you saved x number of companies and jobs through making the tough choices.

Candidates, Stop Wasting My Time

As a politically active person I have spent, and still spend, a lot of time weighing issues. I read about them, think about them, consider them, think about how my beliefs agree with or contradict my values. I read every book that teachers and professors assigned me, then went out and read a lot more.

I love to read most about the lives of great men and women. Reading about their thoughts and philosophies is eye opening as well. I certainly do not admire Mussolini, but the three biographies I read on him give me an idea of how he came to power and the dangers that poses to anyone else.

Reading Bastiat, Adam Smith, Ayn Rand, Milton Friedman, James Madison, and many others helped to shape my thoughts on what I believe. The works of Marx, Stalin, Hitler, and others convinced me of their enormous evil.

All of this helped to shape my values and beliefs about general issues, such as the economy, and specific issues, such as abortion. I learned that you have to apply your thoughts on an issue to a values test. If you find that you have to support an issue that seemingly contradicts your values, then you at least have to explain that contradiction to yourself, if not others.

I assumed that anyone running for high office, such as senator, governor, or president, would put themselves through the same rigorous preparation. If they had weaknesses in knowledge or experience, they would bring on people to help to bridge those gaps and be ready. Then, once engaged, they would throw their entire efforts into performing as well as possible.

I found myself disappointed in 2008 when I signed on early for Fred Thompson. He still strikes me as a gravely intelligent individual who could have won in 2008 with a strong effort. Thompson gained supporters, raised money, then dissipated.

Rick Perry troubled me in the same way. Here was a guy with unquestioned experience. I liked him early. Perry touted success in Texas, raised gobs of cash, and seemed ready to bring some Texas back to the White House. However, he could not explain his departures from conservative belief. In the debates, he ran into trouble explaining anything.

What angers me is that these candidates convinced people to spend time and give money when they had not even done their most basic homework. Learn about public policy and its philosophical foundations. Look at your record and be prepared to defend it on practical and ideological grounds. Let me know by example that you are working as hard as your best volunteer.. This is how you convince voters that you are ready to be president. Most voters, except those who voted for Obama, do not want a messiah, but a first citizen. They want someone whose efforts, understanding, and abilities match the job.

Hard work, physical and intellectual, forms the foundation of that.

So those of you planning to run for president in the future. Work hard. Study harder. Above all, do not waste our time.

Self-Immolation: The Republican Party's Favorite Pasttime

No political party seems to revel in its own cutting self-criticism than the Grand Old Party. We bash our past, present, and future with a complete lack of proportion or sense. We bash all of the candidates, save the one we support, if any. We bash fellow Republicans whose candidate or views may differ infinitesimally from ours relative to the Leftists now running things. We chase after the vision of people and places long past, while downplaying the fact that we have a powerful and successful blueprint for the future. We have put on the ludicrous spectacle of chasing after every possible candidate not named Mitt Romney, subjecting them to tests of ideological purity that only a professor in an iron bubble could pass.

"Oh goodness, candidate x once said something nice about Harry Truman. Damned RINO. Curse him/her and all of the supporters!" No matter that he/she wants every non felon armed, every abortionist jailed, and taxes lowered to a flat and reasonable rate. He is not pure!!!!"

Yes that is an exaggeration, but these people do walk among us.

It is time to settle down. In a month, two tops, the picture will look more clear. We will rallly behind the nominee and crush Obama in the fall.

In the meantime, try to not come up with anything that will make the eventual nominee's job that much more difficult.