Special Legislative Session Message from the Chair
Reinforcing Good Habits: Our Hats
Off to Republican State Legislators - in California!
I have to constantly harp on my children
for failing to take care of basic hygienic needs. They
are still very small and in that malleable age group
where good, solid habits are taught by drawing a hard
line and constantly repeating the basic, black letter
law. "Get in there and brush your teeth. . . Wash
your hands before dinner; " etc., are still phrases
that are part of the daily Zadrowski household lexicon,
which one day will bear fruit in the form of repetition
of good habits without any thought. So what does this
have to do with taxes?
It makes sense to have to repeat this
mantra to a 5 year old and a 7 year old, but what doesn't
make sense to me is why conservatives have to constantly
remind their elected Republican legislators not to violate
basic, black letter tenets of Republicanism. As a reminder,
these "black letter" (read as: "not open
for debate, or interpretation is well settled) rules
include limited government, lower taxes, and fiscal
responsibility. These Republican values are elemental
and really are not areas where Republicans ought to
be searching for excuses to disagree. They should be
ingrained into our Republican leadership, and should
not need to be constantly urged and implored in a manner
and fashion that one needs to remind children to brush
their teeth.
There are some obvious corollaries to
these Republican values, like the simple corollary that
a Republican should not help Democrats trash the very
Republican principles upon which fellow Republican voters
used to help elect them in the first place(as I refer
to it, the "dance with the one that brung ya"
rule; if you doubt the veracity of this rule, show me
a Republican that stated to his constituents: "elect
me and I will raise your taxes!")
If pie-in-the-sky principled reasons,
such as offering a little relief from the already heavy
burden of taxes, or preserving the free market system,
or preserving the "American Way" (as opposed
to the "European Way" which is where we appear
to be headed under Democratic leadership) are just too
corny for Republican legislators, how about finding
a legitimate reason for opposing taxes in the practical
reality that they ran as Republicans? Going along with
Democratic tax hikes annihilates the branding of the
GOP as the party that is for limited government, lower
taxes, and minimal intrusion into the free markets.
It bears repeating that these are elemental
principles, not fringe issues. They are a substantive
part of every county, state, and national Republican
platform. It's kinda like brushing your teeth before
you go to bed, or washing your hands before dinner.
This is the "meat and potatoes" of membership.
So with that in mind, why would one call themselves
a Republican if these are not principles one is willing
to adhere to during desperate times?
And the question that must follow, if
we are to be true to our Republican ideals is, why should
Republicans who do adhere to these principles continue
to vote for those who call themselves Republicans, but
do not subscribe to the very basic, elemental, "black
letter" principles of Republicanism?
I am hopeful that our Clark County Nevada
Republican Legislators know and understand this concept
as they are called to stand for the citizens of their
districts. So far this year, they have not been tested,
but the time will come very soon, perhaps next week,
when they will be, and we urge them to support the Republican
brand, at the very least.
I would note with favor that one
group of Republican legislators that have been tested,
and mightily so, are our neighbors to our west in California.
It has been widely reported over the last few weeks
that the brave Republican minority is standing firm
against a socialist Democratic majority and their tax-raising
Republican governor ally. From a great blog that gives
up to the minute updates I found this:
Day Five of the California Hostage
Crisis grinds on with state legislators no closer
to approving a $42 billion plan to close the state's
budget deficit with a mixture of spending trims and
higher taxes.
The tax hikes have the support
of every Democrat in the legislature, but three Republican
votes in the Assembly and three in the Senate are
needed to meet the requirement that the budget pass
with a two-thirds vote. In the Senate, only two Republican
votes have been secured. One of them is Dave Cogdill
of Modesto, who was unceremoniously dumped late last
night as his party's leader. Republican senators were
unhappy with Mr. Cogdill's role in negotiating the
tax hikes, and replaced him with Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth,
a fierce opponent of higher taxes. Mr. Hollingsworth
is likely to try to renegotiate the budget deal. (http://www.flashreport.org/blog.php)
KUDOS to our California Republican
brethren, who have not only stood strong, but have taken
steps of supported strong conservative leadership. We
have strong Republican leadership in Carson City as
well. Let's continue to support Assembly Minority Leader
Heidi Gansert and the conservative members of the caucus
in their fight for Republican principles. Our esteemed
Republican Senators from Clark County, like Barbara
Cegavske, who is fighting the fight in the Senate, need
your support as well. I'm sure they would like to hear
from you. Let them know you support them in their endeavors
to keep strong the Republican brand. In our effort to
reinforce good Republican habits, we'll keep urging
that our Republican legislators do the right thing.
Bernie Zadrowski,
Clark County GOP Chairman
chairman@clarkgop.org
Archive of Chairman Messages
|
