Club for Growth

The Money Race

Andrew Roth

Candidates for the House, Senate, and the presidency have raised a total of $2.09 billion through June 30, 2008.

Posted at 3:03 PM, August 7, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

Grading Bush's Legacy

Andrew Roth

Is it that time already? Jimmy P. ranks President Bush's best and worst economic moves.

Posted at 1:57 PM, August 7, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

Dumb Ballot Idea

Andrew Roth

A proposal has been submitted to California's attorney general for consideration on the 2010 ballot (at the earliest) that would apply a death tax of 55% on all wealth over $20 million.

That's bad enough, but the proceeds would not be used to balance the budget or build roads and bridges. No, it would be used to buy stock in Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, Citicorp, J.P. Morgan, and other companies.

The goal is to make sure these companies do not drill or contribute to drilling off the coast of California, and to make sure they invest in alternative fuel research and development. Oh, and it would make sure these companies do not loan money to foreign companies at the expense of domestic ones. You know, because globalization is bad, bad, bad.

Hear that sound? That's all of California's millionaires packing up their things and driving their SUVs to Florida.

Posted at 12:48 PM, August 7, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

You Ate What? We Ate Sand

Andrew Roth

England opens up world's first sand hotel.

Posted at 12:43 PM, August 7, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

High Gas Prices Hit Hollywood

Andrew Roth

High gas prices are forcing some Hollywood stars to pinch pennies.

Posted at 11:58 AM, August 7, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

Repeal of Beer Tax on the Ballot

Andrew Roth

Congrats to the petition organizers! From the Pittsburgh Business Times:

The Whiskey Rebellion II is ready to toast its political battle to come.

Friends Against Counterproductive Taxation, a organization comprised largely of Allegheny County bar and restaurant owners, filed its petition signatures with the Allegheny County Division of Elections Tuesday as part of its bid to place a referendum on the ballot Nov. 4 to reduce Allegheny County’s 10 percent drink tax first established in January.

After a three-month signature drive which FACT members organized in a campaign called the Whiskey Rebellion II, FACT touted its ability to collect far more signatures than the 23,006 required to place a referendum ballot.

Posted at 10:59 AM, August 7, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

Thursday's Daily News

Andrew Roth

THE DAILY NEWS
Recess Revolution - Rep. Tom Price, RedState.com
GOP Planning to Revolt Right Up to Dem Convention - Jared Allen, The Hill
Say Watt, Senator? - IBD Editorial
A Path Toward Income-Tax Elimination - Richard Rahn, Washington Times
Stalinism Was Just as Bad as Nazism - Mart Laar, Wall Street Journal

Can India Ever Catch Up With China? - Peter Foster, Daily Telegraph
The Path to Prosperity - Karabegovic & Dowd, American.com
PODCAST: Education Markets vs. Monopolies - Andrew Coulson, Cato
Why Bottled Water's Tainted - Babej and Pollak, Forbes.com
New York Gets Favre, Trades Hillary to GOP - Scott Ott, ScrappleFace

Cubs 11, Astros 4 - Associated Press

Posted at 10:35 AM, August 7, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

A Government Shutdown?

Andrew Roth

From Roll Call ($):

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) predicted Wednesday during the fourth day of Republican protests at the Capitol that Democrats would lose a potential government shutdown fight over offshore oil drilling.

The offshore drilling ban expires Sept. 30, and some conservatives have urged President Bush to threaten to veto any bill that extends it, including a routine stopgap spending bill keeping the government open.

“Are they really prepared to close the government in order to stop drilling?” Gingrich asked of Democrats. “I think the public would think they’re insane. ... I don’t see how the Democrats could possibly sustain a suicidal strategy like that.”

Posted at 10:06 AM, August 7, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

A Map of Olympic Medals

Andrew Roth

Here's a cool cloud map of Olympic medal winners.

Posted at 9:58 AM, August 7, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

NYC Rooftops

Andrew Roth

Cool collection of rooftops in New York.

Posted at 9:53 AM, August 7, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

Cartoon of the Day

Andrew Roth

Incarcerated for a crime they didn't commit.

Posted at 9:50 AM, August 7, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

Postal Service Loses $1 Billion

Andrew Roth

The U.S. Postal Service lost $1 billion in the quarter ending June 30. But what, didn't they increase stamp rates in May? Yep.

Posted at 9:41 AM, August 7, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

Goolsbee Defends Irrational Energy Proposal

Andrew Roth

Joe Kernan puts Obama adviser Austan Goolsbee on the hot spot in this CNBC interview for his support of the ludicrous "windfall profits tax on oil companies to pay for $1000 checks" idea.

Posted at 2:00 PM, August 6, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

Wonderful Video on School Choice

Andrew Roth

Via Ben Cunningham, this is from a British TV show.

Posted at 1:28 PM, August 6, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

Obama Fatigue

Andrew Roth

Pew Research has the details.

Posted at 1:11 PM, August 6, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

Russia is Not Exactly Business Friendly

Andrew Roth

Here's News Corp's Rubert Murdoch:

"We have great growing business [in Russia] but just -- this is purely me, I’m sorry, I’m -- the more I read about investments in Russia, the less I like the feel of it. The more successful we’d be, the more vulnerable we’d be to have it stolen from us, so there we sell now."

Posted at 1:07 PM, August 6, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

Dumb Bill of the Year?

Andrew Roth

HR 6753, sponsored by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ-06), would "provide for the issuance of a commemorative postage stamp on the subject of inflammatory bowel disease."

Posted at 12:10 PM, August 6, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

Statement on Eric Cantor

Press Release

Club for Growth PAC Statement on Eric Cantor

Washington – Recent reports that GOP presidential nominee John McCain is vetting Congressman Eric Cantor (VA-07) for the vice-presidential slot has prompted inquiries from the Club for Growth PAC about Rep. Cantor’s record on economic issues.

In short, Rep. Cantor’s record in the House, beginning in 2001, has been consistently strong in several economic policy areas, including free trade, school choice, tort reform, drilling in ANWR, and tax cuts. In the key area of government spending, Cantor’s record started out less strong, but has shown marked improvement in recent years, to the point where Cantor now ranks among the most pro-growth members in the House.

The Republicans’ resounding defeat at the polls in 2006 was a watershed event for the GOP Caucus in the House. Some GOP pork spending leaders, such as Rep. Don Young (R-AK), learned nothing from voters’ rejection of the GOP’s profligate ways and continued on their merry earmarking way. Others in the GOP took to heart the need to return the party to its limited government moorings. Rep. Eric Cantor is clearly in the latter group.

Over the past two years, Rep. Cantor has been one of the few Republicans to come to grips with the sorry state of the GOP and lead by example. If Senator McCain wants to win in November, he will need to choose someone who recognizes how badly Republicans have strayed from the principles of limited government and economic freedom. Eric Cantor gets it.

Rep. Cantor is one of only 41 House members to swear off earmarks this year. Just last week, he joined 62 of his House colleagues in supporting an amendment offered by Rep. Flake to strip 103 earmarks from the Military Construction-VA Appropriations Bill (RC #560, 08/01/08).

In 2007, Rep. Cantor rose to the top of the Republican Caucus, scoring a 95% on the Club for Growth’s Congressional Scorecard and ranking 21st overall in the entire House. Over the past two years, Cantor has taken a number of courageous votes in favor of cutting government spending:

• Cantor was 1 of 91 Republicans to vote against the farm bill and voted to sustain the President’s veto of the bill (RC #315, 05/14/08) (RC #346, 05/21/08)
• Cantor was 1 of 54 Republicans to sustain the President’s veto of the Water Resources Development Act (RC #1040, 11/06/07)
• Cantor was 1 of 41 Republicans to sustain the President’s veto of a bill to increase Medicare payments (RC #491, 07/15/08)
• Cantor voted against the Democratic housing bill, imposing new costs and new regulations on American taxpayers and businesses (RC #519, 07/23/08)

“McCain’s vice-presidential pick will be crucial for his campaign and for the future of the GOP,” said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. “Choosing someone like Mike Huckabee would indicate an abandonment of limited-government, free-market principles. However, picking someone like Eric Cantor, who has tried to help the Republican Party reclaim the mantel of fiscal conservatism, could make the difference between victory and defeat. For economic conservatives, Eric Cantor would be a good choice.”

PAID FOR BY CLUB FOR GROWTH PAC AND NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE'S COMMITTEE. 202-955-5500.

Posted at 11:57 AM, August 6, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

Wednesday's Daily News

Andrew Roth

THE DAILY NEWS
More Taxes Will Mean Less Oil - IBD Editorial
Windfall Profits Taxes: Still a Bad Idea - Josh Barro, Tax Foundation
The Guerrilla Congress - Mark Hemingway, National Review
Obama's Stimulus Plan Won't Work - Martin Feldstein, WSJ
The Schwarzenegger Tax - New York Sun Editorial

Anti-Business States Awash In Red Ink - Steven Malanga, RCM
The Fragmented Future of World Trade - Alexander Neubacher, Spiegel
A Nation of Thieves - Walter Williams, Townhall.com
More Monuments to Me - Rep. John Campbell, Green Eyeshade Blog
PODCAST: China to the World: We're Ready - James Dorn, Cato Institute

Cubs 11, Astros 7 - Associated Press

Posted at 10:29 AM, August 6, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

Want to Visit the U.S. Capitol?

Andrew Roth

If you want to witness the House Republican speak-in, you can learn how here.

Posted at 10:05 AM, August 6, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

China's Capitalist Revolution

Andrew Roth

Cato's David Boaz has a long, thoughtful blog post about freedom in China as we near the Summer Olympics in Beijing. It's definitely worth reading.

My own thoughts about China? I think the Olympics will give millions of people an upfront glimpse at China for the first time ever. People buy "Made in China" all the time without giving any thought of the people behind the products. This glimpse might even be a national news story in and of itself.

People will learn about China's amazing capitalist revolution and the huge impact it's having on the country and the world. Once they learn the facts, I think it will take their breath away. As Boaz writes, "The changes in China over the past generation are the greatest story in the world–more than a billion people brought from totalitarianism to a largely capitalist economic system that is eroding the continuing authoritarianism of the political system."

Couldn't agree more. People need to know this.

Posted at 9:23 AM, August 6, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

PainAtThePump@mail.house.gov

Andrew Roth

That's the new email address for people in northern New Jersey to send their grievances to Rep. Scott Garrett. From his office:

Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ-5) has established an email address designed to let constituents share their energy woes, PainAtThePump@mail.house.gov. Due to the overwhelming number of people that have called Garrett’s offices to voice their displeasure with high gas prices, Garrett established this email address in order to share their comments with other Representatives and the American people on the House floor.

[...]Garrett first got the idea for the email when he heard from constituents that many were changing their lifestyles in order to cut back on driving. Within an hour of establishing the email, Garrett already had messages from an elderly couple that can’t afford to run their air conditioning this summer, a woman who has had to lower her monthly contributions to her retirement plan in order to afford to drive to work, a small business owner who has had to cut back on medical and dental care for his family because of his loss in income, and a gentleman who equated the Democrat’s energy plan to the Charmin toilet paper “Less is More” advertising campaign.

Posted at 9:09 AM, August 6, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

Poll of the Day II

Andrew Roth

From Rasmussen Reports:

John McCain is now trusted more than Barack Obama on nine out of 14 electoral issues tracked by Rasmussen Reports. The latest national telephone surveys find that McCain has the biggest advantage on the war in Iraq, by a 51% to 39% margin.

[...]The Republican also has pulled ahead on the issue of balancing the federal budget. Two weeks ago, the candidates were tied on this issue at 40%. McCain now has a 43% to 40% lead on the issue among voters.

McCain used to be behind on the issue of Social Security but has pulled ahead of Obama for a 44% to 38% lead.

On issues that Obama has previously enjoyed huge advantages, such as health care and education, his leads have decreased. On health care, Obama leads 46% to 41%, down from a 12 percentage-point lead just two weeks ago. On education, Obama leads 43% to 39%, down from a 10-point lead two weeks ago. On environmental issues, Obama’s advantage over McCain has gone from 14 percentage points down to eight this week.

Posted at 8:50 AM, August 6, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

San Diego Doesn't Want the 'Terminator Tax Hike'

Andrew Roth

From a Survey USA poll of San Diego County following the announcement of Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposed sales tax hike:

Would you support? Or oppose? Increasing the state sales tax by one percent to help eliminate a five billion dollar budget deficit?

Support - 33%
Oppose - 61%

Posted at 6:26 AM, August 6, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #

The 100 Most Common English Words

Andrew Roth

Can you guess them? I love how "no" is included, but not "yes." I think that's because every two-year-old says "no" at least one thousand times a day.

Posted at 6:22 AM, August 6, 2008 | Trackback (0) | Print | | #