Parker Griffith: Please don’t call me a Democrat. PLEASE!

In an interview this week, Politico Magazine reported:

“[Parker Griffith] won by a hairbreadth in 2008 — with 51 percent of the vote — and . . . [he] said he wasn’t sure exactly how loud the message from Tuesday’s Democratic losses in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races were, but he said the point was clear.

“I should be nervous,” he said.

He said the current Democratic agenda has “the potential to cost some of our frontline members their seats.”

He also asks that he be identified as a conservative, independent Blue Dog — rather than as a Democrat.”

Politico Magazine, By JONATHAN ALLEN & MANU RAJU | 11/5/09 4:43 AM EST.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29170.html

Mo Brooks Comments:

“Mr. Griffith should be nervous. His party’s policies have angered and alarmed his constituents. In the first ten months of his tenure, millions of Americans around the country have become politically active to oppose them. Millions of other Americans have lost their jobs.

“In North Alabama, hundreds of high-tech and defense and NASA support jobs have been lost due to changing Washington priorities. More job losses are expected because Mr. Griffith’s party has NASA and national defense at the bottom of their priority lists..

“If Mr. Griffith does not want to be identified as a Democrat, then why did he run as one, and why is running again as one in 2010?

“It is obvious Mr. Griffith seeks to be all things to all people. That is not leadership America needs, especially in these difficult times.

“America needs leaders with a clear vision of where we have been, where we are, and where we must go. A leader does not have association by convenience, switching his loyalties to whoever provides the most political mileage.

“Being all things to all people is not a new strategy for Mr. Griffith. He voted for the Cap and Trade Tax Increase . . . before he voted against it. *1

“Mr. Griffith claims he voted against the $780 billion stimulus package because it was too big and America could not afford the debt . . . yet he voted against every single amendment to reduce its size. *2

“America needs leadership, not a politician who plays both sides of all issues, and definitely not a politician like Mr. Griffith who tells people in the 5th Congressional District that he’s doing one thing while his voting record proves he’s does something entirely different.

“I am a candidate for Congress because I believe in the foundational principles that, for six decades, have made America the greatest nation in world history. I have defended those principles as a legislator, district attorney and county commissioner. I’ll fight for them as a Congressman.

“If nothing else, I am known as a fighter because I do not yield to pressure to do wrong when I know what is right.

Mo Brooks

*1. On 6/26/09, Griffith voted for the Cap & Trade Tax Increase (House Roll Call vote 476) before he voted against it (Vote 477). Vote 476 was on a substitute bill that was an alternative national energy proposal (no tax increases with an emphasis on more nuclear power and off-shore oil exploration as the means for handling America’s energy needs. Vote 476 gave Griffith a choice: he could vote for the substitute or to protect Cap & Trade from the substitute. Griffith chose to protect the Cap & Trade Tax Increase from all procedural and substantive threats.

*2. On 1/28/09, Griffith claimed he voted against Obama’s Stimulus Bill because it was too large (“maxing out our credit cards”; H. Times, 2/18/09), yet Griffith supported the Stimulus Bill by voting against all amendments to cut its size (House Roll Call votes 42, 43, 44).

Vote 42 was on an amendment to strike $355 billion in discretionary funding from the Stimulus bill.

Vote 43 was an amendment to strike supplemental funding for Amtrak.

Vote 44 was an amendment to strike income tax “refunds” to be paid to people who don’t pay income taxes (i.e. – wealth transfers to people who either do not work or who don’t earn enough money to pay taxes). Absurd, but true.

“A LEADER DOES NOT DESERVE THE NAME UNLESS HE IS WILLING OCCASIONALLY TO STAND ALONE.” Henry Kissinger, 1961.

There is a political war in America between Free Enterprise and Socialism, between liberty and tyranny.

MO BROOKS QUOTES:

“Socialism has failed in every nation that has tried it. Yet Washington Democrats relentlessly seek to impose Socialism on America. They must be stopped if America is to continue as a world power.”

“Congressman Parker Griffith is a foundational underpinning for Washington Socialists and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. We must defeat Griffith as part of a nationwide effort to unseat Speaker Pelosi and turn the U.S. House into a bastion that protects America’s foundational principles. Together, we can do that.”

“Our local battle with the Huntsville Housing Authority (“HHA”) is a microcosm of what is wrong with America. Hard-working Americans keep getting hammered with higher and higher tax burdens while others vote to forcefully take our money for themselves rather than working hard and earning it. We must turn America’s ship around and reward hard work and initiative, not punish it.”

“I began my fight with HHA three months before becoming a candidate for Congress. Quite frankly, the authoritarian power granted to HHA, coupled with HHA’s abuse of that power, were two of many factors that caused me to run for Congress.”

BACKGROUND FACTS:

HHA, using $468,000 in taxpayer money, purchased 7 single-family houses in Huntsville subdivisions to rent and/or “flip” them (buying them, spending tax dollars to fix them up, reselling them).

Now HHA is purchasing expensive homes in high demand, well-to-do Huntsville neighborhoods.

In one corner, HHA and its apologists support government control and intervention in Huntsville’s housing markets.

In the other corner, Commissioner Mo Brooks, the South Huntsville Civic Association, and others fight to stop HHA.

WHY HHA’S INTERVENTION IN HUNTSVILLE HOUSING MARKETS IS BAD FOR HUNTSVILLE & AMERICA:

1. HHA’s intervention in the housing market is a classic case of Socialism versus free enterprise. HHA is wrongfully interfering with the market prices for the purchase and sale of homes. The problem with Socialism is that Socialists believe they know more about everything than the rest of society does. Yet they rarely do. With free enterprise, everything reaches its natural market value without wasting tax dollars paying bureaucrats to interfere with our freedoms and liberty.

2. Each HHA home purchase is one less home working taxpayers could have bought to reach their dream of home ownership.

3. Each HHA home purchase deprives realtors of commissions from sales, thereby suppressing earnings in the real estate profession.

4. Each HHA home purchase deprives private investors of a property to buy, fix-up, and sell (all without taxpayer subsidies and costs).

5. It is wrong for Congress to empower and fund a local government entity (HHA), thereby giving HHA the power to arbitrarily determine which homeowners or their creditors are favored (i.e. – the beneficiaries of taxpayer largesse) . . . and which are not. It is un-American to give Housing Commissars the power to arbitrarily determine who can live where or who deserves government subsidies and who does not. Yet that is exactly what HHA does when HHA chooses which homes to purchase and who to sell or rent them to after application of taxpayer subsidies.

6. It is wrong for the government to buy homes in the context of unsustainable, $1.4 trillion budget deficits that threaten America’s economic future. America simply does not have the money for this largesse.

7. The government should not forcefully take taxes from working people to give to those that vote to take it. Every tax dollar forcefully taken from working taxpayers is one less dollar those working taxpayers have to take care of their own family needs . . . thereby slowly but surely pushing America closer and closer to the Socialist society demanded by Democrats.

8. If HHA is going to exist, it should provide Spartan housing (i.e. – housing that meets the bare minimum needs of occupants) to those who would otherwise be homeless because of age, disability, or the like. HHA should not buy luxurious apartment complexes (like the 50 unit complex HHA purchased earlier this year) or homes and acreage in high-demand neighborhoods. HHA should be encouraging people to leave government-run housing (thereby saving taxpayers money), not buying properties that are so nice that people want to stay in government-run housing (at higher and higher cost to taxpayers).

9. As British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once said, Socialism works fine . . . until you run out of other people’s money. Our federal government’s deficit for Fiscal Year 2008-2009 was $1.4 trillion. America is already out of other peoples’ money. Now its debt load burdens Americans who are not even born yet. We must draw the line. HHA’s flipping houses and interfering with real estate markets is over that line.

Thank you for considering my thoughts.

Sincerely,

Mo Brooks

If you wish to help us restore American values in Congress, please volunteer at our website, MoBrooksForCongress.Com.

Mo Brooks for Congress Federal Election Commission contributions report for 9/30/09 reflects the following:

$113,814** Cash on hand (after all disbursements)
$ 66,630 Contributions
$ 50,000 Candidate loan
$ 2,716 Expenses paid

** Contributions thru 10/16/09 have increased cash on hand to $130,000.

Factual Data:

100% of all contributions came from American citizens.
98% of all contributions come from Alabama citizens.
93% of all contributions come from Congressional 5th District citizens.
Contribution to Expense Ratio: 20 (+/-) to 1.

Note: the term “expense” in the Contribution to Expense Ratio includes both paid and not-yet-billed-or-paid expenses. In the early stages of a campaign, the Contribution to Expense Ratio is a solid indicator of how much it is costing a candidate to raise money, and how efficient the campaign is operating (i.e. – how much of a candidate’s money is spent early on fundraising activities rather than the primary purpose of a campaign: getting a message to voters in the weeks immediately before elections).

Mo Brooks Quotes:

“Our campaign is financed by America patriots. I salute them all. They have not donated to Mo Brooks for Congress because they want to feed at the federal government trough. Rather, they are motivated both by a desire for a better America and by the risk of a national calamity fostered by reckless and unworkable Washington policies. Each contributor has a choice: to hunker down and try to ride out the storm, or to fight. Patriots brave the storm and fight for America. And fight for America we will!

“As we informed the National Republican Congressional Committee in June, our first quarter goal was to break $100,000 cash-on-hand by September 30, 2009, after inclusion of a $50,000 candidate loan. We exceeded that by almost $14,000 (in large part because of a $15,000 surge in contributions received the last two days of the reporting period).”

“It is a very humbling experience to know that so many people are sacrificing so much because they have faith that we can, and will, help restore the foundational principles that make America the greatest and most influential nation in world history. I will do my utmost to respect and uphold their trust.”

“There is one reoccurring theme everywhere we go. People are concerned – even afraid – that the greatest threat to America is from Washington politicians who have lost all understanding of what made America great, and that America needs principled leadership, not wavering, finger-in-the-wind, pandering politicians who so willingly steal from future generations to pay for today’s excesses. No nation in history has survived the twin evils of unsustainable budget deficits and socialism and continued as a world leader. America is not immune from economic realities. We must act quickly to reverse our course and draw back from the economic abyss.”

“Our next fundraising goal is $200,000 cash-on-hand, which will establish us as an NRCC “top priority, Young Gun”. The NRCC’s complimentary evaluation of our campaign will put us on the radar screen of every contributor in America who is willing to fight to protect America from Washington’s present course of unsustainable budget deficits, socialism, moral decay and declining defense capabilities.”

“The Mo Brooks campaign is part of a nationwide effort to gain the 41 Congressional seats needed to unseat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and convert the U.S. House into a bastion that will promote and protect the fundamental values that make America the greatest nation in history. Our goal is achievable. We gained 54 seats in the 1994 elections. The Alabama 5th Congressional District must do its part to deprive Speaker Pelosi of the votes she needs to stay in power.”

“The vast majority of our contributions were from one-on-one solicitations. Roughly 80-90% of everyone I’ve asked for help has contributed.”

“We will prevail in our fight if we raise enough money to get our message out. While we expect Parker Griffith to have substantially more money than our campaign, Griffith’s extra money will not make any difference because must defend the indefensible (his record). All of the advertising in the world could not sell Yugos or Edsel’s. Similarly, all of the advertising in the world cannot sell Parker Griffith’s record of waffling and lack of leadership at a time when America needs principled leaders.

Contributions of $1,000 or more to Mo Brooks for Congress are:

Mark McDaniel (Huntsville) – $2,000 (NASA Advisory Council, husband of Henri McDaniel – Bud Cramer’s campaign treasurer of 20+ years)
Dr. Jeffrey Cazier (Huntsville) – $2,400
David & Marilee Allen (Huntsville & Arab) – $2,500 (small businessman)
Dean Johnson (Huntsville) – $1,000 (medical office manager & attorney)
Josh & Frances Kelly (Huntsville) – $2,800
Michael Kirkpatrick (Huntsville) – $1,000 (DESE Research Vice-President)
Jim & Mary Raby (Madison) – $1,000 (business owners)
Alan Rhodes (Meridianville) – $2,400 (businessman)
Herschel & Lynne Matheny (Huntsville) – $2,000 (retired Dynetics principals)
Jack & Betty Brooks (Huntsville) – $5,000 (Mo’s parents, Jack is a World War II veteran and retired
from the Arsenal’s Metrology Center, Betty is a retired Lee High School economics & government teacher)
Jack Burwell (Huntsville) – $1,000 (estate planning attorney)
John Charles (Huntsville) – $1,000
Jeannee Gannuch (Huntsville) – $2,500
Meredith & Roger Glaese (Monrovia) – $4,800 (engineers)
Randy Hairston (Huntsville) – $1,000
Barbara & Kent Lee Holloway (Huntsville) – $3,000
Bobby Ledyard (Huntsville) – $2,000 (defense attorney)
Rick & Winnet Leonard (Huntsville) – $1,000 (federal government defense employee)
Nita Maddox (Huntsville) – $1,000
John Nolan (Huntsville) – $7,200
Mark & Diane Pettitt (Huntsville) – $4,000 (engineer & teacher)
Guy Spencer (Huntsville) – $1,000
Charles Trenkle (Huntsville) – $2,300
Bill Waldrop (Double Springs) – $1,000 (small businessman)
Bob & Peggy Koch (Georgia) – $1,000

Please join our fight for America!

Visit our website at mobrooksforcongress.com.

Be an American Patriot! Contribute to our fight for the principles that made America a great nation! Make a check to “Mo Brooks for Congress” and mail it to 7610 Foxfire Drive, Huntsville, AL 35802.

Rasmussen Reports polling service has long been considered one of the best and most accurate, if not the best and most accurate, political polling service in the USA. You can see their polling results at www.rasmussenreports.com.

Rasmussen weekly polls a “generic” congressional ballot. The poll ascertains public sentiment between generic Republican Congressional candidates and Democrat Congressional candidates.

Last year when Democrats did so well, the generic Congressional poll was:

Democrat Nominee: 47%. Republican Nominee: 41%. Hence, Democrat candidates had a built-in generic 6 point advantage in 2008 before the particular issues and candidate qualifications were even considered by voters.

Parker Griffith won by just 4 percentage points in November 2008 in an environment wherein Democrats held that 6 point built-in generic advantage.

As of this week, the generic Congressional poll was:

Democrat Nominee: 36%. Republican Nominee: 43%. Hence, Republicans now enjoy a 7 point built-in generic advantage.

Since Griffith’s November 2008 election, then, there has been a 13 point swing in favor of Republican Congressional candidates. A thirteen point swing, in political terms, is huge!

Political experts nationwide are trying to estimate the impact of this public mood swing. Their consensus is that Republicans will take a minimum of 10-20 seats now held by Democrats. Some projections are more startling:

At the mid-August Netroots Nation convention, Nate Silver, a Democratic analyst whose uncannily accurate, stat-driven predictions have made his website FiveThirtyEight.com a must read among political junkies, predicted that Republicans will win between 20 and 50 seats next year. He further alarmed an audience of progressive activists by arguing that the GOP has between a 25 and 33 percent chance of winning back control of the House.

Folks, let’s hope trends hold up thru November 2010! If they do, and if citizens will do what must be done to impact the 5th Congressional District race (i.e. – contribute money and time), the 5th District will be occupied by a Congressman you can trust to vote to unseat Nancy Pelosi as House Speaker.

And North Alabama will have done its part in a nationwide effort to convert the House of Representatives into a champion of America’s foundational principles that are currently under attack by Washington socialists.

Mo Brooks

Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign theme was “It’s the Economy, Stupid!” Truer words were never spoken . . . for 2009-2010.

America’s economy is threatened by the twin evils of unsustainable budget deficits and socialism.

Americans must not let any public policy debate (even a debate on an issue as important as health care and socialized medicine) sidetrack our attention from the American economy.

No matter how you slice it, if unsustainable budget deficits or socialist policies collapse the American economy, debates on health care, national defense, NASA, and the like are rendered meaningless because America will lack the economic resources to pay for any of them.

America’s estimated budget deficit for FY 2008-09 ranges from $1.5-1.8 trillion (3-4 times higher than anything in history).

Buried beneath the pizzazz of health care town hall headlines is this week’s Congressional Budget Office projection that America’s debt will double to $17 trillion within a decade (ten years of deficits averaging $900 billion/year).

These deficits are unsustainable and threaten to bankrupt America. They demand attention. While deficits are not “sexy” issues, they are critical issues.

Washington focuses on temporary stimulus packages and band-aids while working to replace our free enterprise system with failed socialist economic models.

For example, this Congress has not implemented one single substantive proposal that promotes the free enterprise system and the ability of America’s industries to compete in an international economy.

Jobs are lost. And America’s economic health declines.

Our free enterprise system has gotten us through recessions and depressions before. It will do so again . . . if we will but be patient, have faith, and cut government restraints that render too many American industries and manufacturers unable to compete.

America must elect congressmen who understand economic principles . . . and have the backbone to implement them. That is America’s challenge in 2010.

Mo Brooks

There is much to be said about various aspects of Parker Griffith’s voting record, and much more will be said.

For example, the House has cast 477 votes so far this year. Nancy Pelosi’s side won every single vote.

Out of 477 votes, not once did Parker Griffith vote against Nancy Peloisi when she both needed him and when it would have made a difference.

The “Griffith voted for the Cap & Trade Energy Tax Increase, before he voted against it” voting sequence is a good example.

Historically, Griffith’s tie-breaking vote in the Alabama Senate that empowered the socialist wing of the Alabama Democrat Party to control the Alabama Senate (as opposed to siding with the conservative, bi-partisan coalition that needed Griffith’s vote to govern) is a good example of what America can expect should Griffith become entrenched in Congress.

If any event, the vote to empower House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, Maxine Waters, Charles Rangel, etc., rendered all other votes insignificant because, to date, that one vote has determined the outcome of all subsequent votes.

If conservatives are going to stop the Socialist Democrats from undermining the foundational principles that have made America the greatest nation in history, we have to do it in the U.S. House of Representitives. Conservatives must unseat enough Democrats to recapture the House so that a bulwark can be erected in the House to protect our liberties and the free enterprise system.

If we fail, America fails, because what the socialist Democrats are doing just does not work. It never has and it never will.

Mo Brooks

All:

I read yesterday’s article with comments on the Alabama 5th Congressional District race.

Thanks for the constructive comments. On Wednesday, June 24, I fly to Washington to meet with the National Republican Congressional Committee, various congressmen, and various conservative political groups.

If I receive the expected encouragement from the NRCC and the others I am meeting with in Washington, appropriate Federal Election Commission paperwork will be filed before I address three Tea Parties on Friday and Saturday (July 3-4).

My highest priorities as a candidate would be to reduce the deficit (because current deficits are unsustainable and risk our nation’s economic health and future) and fight the socialist democrats’ efforts to abandon our free enterprise system and replace it with a European style of socialism (because, in the history of humanity, no socialist economy has ever successfully provided sufficient economic strength to simultaneously sustain both a national defense and adequate domestic spending).

Oh, and a short message to “Dan T” (one of the commentators on the original blog entry). Please continue to emphasize to everyone you meet that I will do everything I can legally do as a public official to fight the illegal alien epidemic.

I respectfully disagree that elected officials should continue to look the other way as American citizens and taxpayers are gouged by illegal aliens who consume costly education, health care, aid to families with dependent children (”anchor babies”) and every other federal wealth transfer program they can tap into.

As a County Commissioner, I’d much rather see $1+ million in tax dollars a year spent on government services and roads for Madison County citizens rather than continuing to spend that $1+ million each year to house the roughly 60+ illegal aliens a day who are in the Madison County jail because of crimes they have committed against American citizens.

In any event, if America had unlimited funds, that would be one thing. But America does not have unlimited funds. Tax dollars used to “lure” illegal aliens to America could be much better spent on national defense, NASA, roads and any number of other programs that better serve American citizens.

When roughly 46 cents of every budgeted federal dollar is borrowed money, America must face the economic fact that largesse for everyone is impossible . . . and appropriate priorities must be set and spending habits altered accordingly . . . before America’s economy is devastated by the havoc wrought when the day comes that there is no more money to borrow, thus forcing America to suddenly have to cancel 46% of all federal spending . . . all at once.

That scenario is an inevitable nightmare unless leaders with backbone are elected to serve in Washington.

No offense to “Dan T”, but subsidizing illegal aliens is at the very bottom of my priority list on how to best spend tax dollars.

Sincerely,

Mo Brooks
Madison County Commissioner