Edward Brooke: Why Republican

GOP governors are slashing taxes, cutting debt, reducing spending

◼ link - Bob McDonnell/Washington Examiner

In an election year, Americans may wonder what the SOTU might have included if we had a Republican president. Perhaps the best way to consider that potential is by looking to the State of the State addresses where Republican governors are in charge today, and comparing their records with those of their Democratic counterparts.

More than half of the nation's Republican governors have already delivered their State of the State addresses, and reviewing them reveals common themes. In these Republican-led states, you will find leaders who are balancing budgets, reducing taxes and making job creation their top priority. They are leading and getting results.

Many of the Republican governors who have given their State of the State speeches announced plans to ease the tax burden in order to make their states more competitive....

Democratic governors are doing just the opposite. At least six Democratic governors have proposed raising taxes this year....

Over the past two fiscal years, Republican governors have eliminated $65 billion in deficits, while the federal government borrows $5 billion a day just to stay afloat.

Obama has mastered the art of political rhetoric, but records are what matter. In Washington and state capitols, it has never been clearer that Republicans and Democrats have two distinct visions for America.

Republican governors are putting forth a positive, competing vision for America that establishes a strong and sustainable foundation for our country. It's this results-oriented conservatism that will restore America.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday

Did you know...
◼ The Republican Party - the party of Abraham Lincoln - was borne in 1854 out of opposition to slavery.

◼ The party of Jim Crow and the Ku Klux Klan was, as Jeffrey Lord points out in an article at the WSJ, the Democratic Party.

◼ The 13th (abolishing slavery), 14th (due process for all citizens) and 15th (voting rights cannot be restricted on the basis of race) Amendments to the Constitution were enacted by Republicans over Democratic opposition.

◼ The NAACP was founded in 1909 by three white Republicans* who opposed the racist practices of the Democratic Party and the lynching of blacks by Democrats.

◼ In fairness, it was the Democrat Harry Truman who, by Executive Order 9981 issued in 1948, desegregated the military. That was a truly major development. Yet - the military has been the single greatest driving force of integration in this land for over half a century.

◼ It was Chief Justice Earl Warren, a former Republican Governor of California appointed to the Supreme Court by President Eisenhower, also a Republican, who managed to convince the other eight justices to agree to a unanimous decision in the seminal case of Brown v. Board of Education. That case was brought by the NAACP. The Court held segregation in schools unconstitutional. The fact that it was a unanimous decision that overturned precedent made it clear that no aspect of segregation would henceforth be considered constitutional.

◼ Republican President Ike Eisenhower played additional important roles in furthering equality in America. He "proposed to Congress the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960 and signed those acts into law. . . . They constituted the first significant civil rights acts since the 1870s." Moreover, when the Democratic Governor of Arkansas refused to integrate schools in what became known as the "Little Rock Nine" incident, "Eisenhower placed the Arkansas National Guard under Federal control and sent Army troops to escort nine black students into an all-white public school."

◼ The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was championed by JFK - but it was passed with massive Republican support over 80%) in Congress and over fierce opposition from Democrats who made repeated attempts at filibuster. Indeed, 80% of the vote opposing the Civil Rights Act came from Democrats.( Women were added to the Act as a protected class by a Democrat who thought it would be a poison pill, killing the legislation. To the contrary, the Congress passed the Act without any attempt to remove the provision....

◼ Martin Luther King Jr. was the most well known and pivotal Civil Rights activist ever produced in America. His most famous speech, "I Had A Dream," was an eloquent and stirring call for equality. You can find it here. Rev. King was, by the way, a Republican.

◼ h/t, and credit to: Wolfhowling, who compiled this wonderful collection of links: Standing At The Crossroads - Identity Politics, Multiculturalism & The Melting Pot (Updated & Bumped)
◼ article in WSJ

★ ★ ★

Monday, January 16 is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a United States federal holiday marking the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around the time of King's birthday, January 15.

* To advance civil rights for blacks, Republicans started the NAACP on February 12, 1909, the 100th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. The first black head of the NAACP was black Republican James Weldon Johnson who became general secretary in 1920 and wrote the lyrics to the song "Lift Every Voice and Sing". Republicans also founded the HBCU's (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) because Democrats were trying to prevent blacks from getting a good education.

◼ To Celebrate Black History Month, Congressman West took to the House Floor with a remarkable speech on the relationship between African-Americans and the Republican party - MUST WATCH.

A VOTERS' GUIDE TO REPUBLICANS

A History of Leadership - Women and the GOP

◼ From NFRW: For more than 150 years, women have been an active and vital force in the Republican Party.

Because it seems only natural for men and women to work together on matters that affect the nation, the GOP has focused not so much on advertising what they are “doing” for women, but instead on simply utilizing the talents and energies of any individual who wants to share in the work for the benefit of our country.

Through the utilization of the unique talents of individual Republican women – as well as the combined energies of multitudes of Republican women – the Republican Party has proven itself to be the party of opportunity, the party of true equality. Following are highlights of the role of women in the Republican Party and examples of the unique and vital contributions women have made to our Party:

Black History Month

◼ Black History Month from Bob Parks at black-and-right.com



This is not your usual 5 minute YouTube. They're both almost an hour long. It's really quite amazing - and refreshing. An Unrevised History of Blacks in America... please take the time to watch.
◼ Setting The Record Straight, Part 1 58:31
◼ Setting The Record Straight, Part 2 58:33
David Barton, the guy who made the videos is here on Glenn Beck's show:
◼ Glenn Beck - African-American Founders (Part 1) 8:27
◼ Glenn Beck - African-American Founders (Part 2) 7:11

◼ CRP Statement on Black History Month cagop

A new flavor of tea - Bachmann and Palin are the taste of feminism today

◼ A new flavor of tea - Bachmann and Palin are the taste of feminism today
Rep. Michele Bachmann, founder of the Tea Party caucus in the new Congress, gave more than a response to President Obama‘s State of the Union speech Tuesday night. She gave us a look at the new political woman in Washington.

Some of the old Republican bulls looked as if they were suffering a bad bout of indigestion. She’s treading on old toes. She acquitted herself with poise and power, and that’s what’s scary to the party establishment.

When Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann got together during the midterm election campaigns, they were dismissed...

“This new generation of conservative politicas - having caught, skinned and eviscerated liberal feminism as if it were one of Palin‘s Alaskan salmon - is transforming the very meaning of a women’s movement...” read the rest

Did you know?

Republicans Established the Transcontinental Railroad

Republicans Passed the Land-Grant College Act

The First Hispanic Governor was a Republican

Republicans Freed the Slaves

Republicans Passed the 14th Amendment

Republicans Established the Buffalo Soldiers

Republicans Established Howard University

-Lots more at the link. Interesting stuff.
◼ Republican Accomplishments at gop.com

Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday

Did you know...
◼ The Republican Party - the party of Abraham Lincoln - was borne in 1854 out of opposition to slavery.

◼ The party of Jim Crow and the Ku Klux Klan was, as Jeffrey Lord points out in an article at the WSJ, the Democratic Party.

◼ The 13th (abolishing slavery), 14th (due process for all citizens) and 15th (voting rights cannot be restricted on the basis of race) Amendments to the Constitution were enacted by Republicans over Democratic opposition.

◼ The NAACP was founded in 1909 by three white Republicans* who opposed the racist practices of the Democratic Party and the lynching of blacks by Democrats.

◼ In fairness, it was the Democrat Harry Truman who, by Executive Order 9981 issued in 1948, desegregated the military. That was a truly major development. Yet - the military has been the single greatest driving force of integration in this land for over half a century.

◼ It was Chief Justice Earl Warren, a former Republican Governor of California appointed to the Supreme Court by President Eisenhower, also a Republican, who managed to convince the other eight justices to agree to a unanimous decision in the seminal case of Brown v. Board of Education. That case was brought by the NAACP. The Court held segregation in schools unconstitutional. The fact that it was a unanimous decision that overturned precedent made it clear that no aspect of segregation would henceforth be considered constitutional.

◼ Republican President Ike Eisenhower played additional important roles in furthering equality in America. He "proposed to Congress the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960 and signed those acts into law. . . . They constituted the first significant civil rights acts since the 1870s." Moreover, when the Democratic Governor of Arkansas refused to integrate schools in what became known as the "Little Rock Nine" incident, "Eisenhower placed the Arkansas National Guard under Federal control and sent Army troops to escort nine black students into an all-white public school."

◼ The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was championed by JFK - but it was passed with massive Republican support over 80%) in Congress and over fierce opposition from Democrats who made repeated attempts at filibuster. Indeed, 80% of the vote opposing the Civil Rights Act came from Democrats.( Women were added to the Act as a protected class by a Democrat who thought it would be a poison pill, killing the legislation. To the contrary, the Congress passed the Act without any attempt to remove the provision....

◼ Martin Luther King Jr. was the most well known and pivotal Civil Rights activist ever produced in America. His most famous speech, "I Had A Dream," was an eloquent and stirring call for equality. You can find it here. Rev. King was, by the way, a Republican.

◼ h/t, and credit to: Wolfhowling, who compiled this wonderful collection of links: Standing At The Crossroads - Identity Politics, Multiculturalism & The Melting Pot (Updated & Bumped)
◼ article in WSJ

★ ★ ★

Monday, January 17 is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a United States federal holiday marking the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around the time of King's birthday, January 15.

* To advance civil rights for blacks, Republicans started the NAACP on February 12, 1909, the 100th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. The first black head of the NAACP was black Republican James Weldon Johnson who became general secretary in 1920 and wrote the lyrics to the song "Lift Every Voice and Sing". Republicans also founded the HBCU's (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) because Democrats were trying to prevent blacks from getting a good education.