The last couple of days, there has been a lot of sturm und drang online about the RNC’s recently adopted Rule 12, much of it of the highly dramatic and emotional type. I think it’s time we sat down, put emotions to the side, and took an analytical and logical look at it. So everyone put your pointy Vulcan ears on and follow along.
Category Archives: Tea Party
More On The Constutitionality Of The Super-Commission
Two legal eagles have commented on the constitutionality of the “super-commission” created by the debt deal, and have voted in the affirmative.
First, at Just Enrichment, Amanda Rice tackles an accusation that was made here on an earlier thread:
2) Article I, Section 7: “All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives.” 3) Article I, Section 8: “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States . . . .”
Ron Paul Is Wrong On The “Super Committee”
Here we go again, with the always-entertaining Ron Paul opening his mouth and spewing nonsense:
The 76-year-old retired OB-GYN, who is seeking the GOP presidential nomination again, said he was appalled at the ad hoc 12-member bipartisan committee devised to find further federal spending cuts before Thanksgiving, what he calls “this super Congress.”
Palin Declares A (Qualified) Victory
Sarah Palin seems to have the right idea on the debt limit deal (emphasis in original):
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said Monday’s House vote to lift the debt ceiling was a victory for the tea party, proving that conservative activists had shifted the conversation in Washington.
All These People Support Boehner’s Plan
See how many “real conservatives” you see in this list from the American Spectator (I’ve cleaned up the formatting a little and added the link to John Bolton myself):
Allen West Supports Boehner Plan
…at least that’s what The Weekly Standard is reporting, based on a Jamie Dupree tweet.
As Fred Barnes writes, it’s not clear that there are enough Republican votes for John Boehner’s new debt ceiling plan. But the speaker got a big boost on his right flank today from Congressman Allen West (R, Fla.). Jamie Dupree reports that West, an outspoken conservative and Tea Party favorite, is supporting Boehner’s plan.
Not A Completely Novel Idea But One Worth Returning To
I received the below via email today and, as yet, have not checked the veracity of the claims on amendment passage and such. I’ve also removed the “pass it on” part simply because this is a blog, not an email. If you find merit in the ideas then feel free to “pass it on” as you wish. I have a quibble with the name of the “Act” and the use of the constitutional amendment process. I believe the original author intended for the bullet points to be a Constitutional Amendment instead of an “Act of Congress”. As such, I ask for the reader to supply appropriate names for it.
A New E-Pamphlet: I, Light Bulb
A while back, I wrote about a new generation of e-pamphlets from the HarperCollins imprint Broadside Books, aiming to accomplish the same goals as pamphlets during the time before the Revolutionary War: to spread ideas, concepts, and information… notably conservative ideas, concepts, and information.
Broadside Books has just released their latest e-pamphlet, I, Light Bulb. They describe it thus:
The E-Pamphlets Are Coming!
During the time leading up to the American Revolution, one of the best ways the Founding Fathers had to spread their concepts, ideas, and information was through pamphlets, of which one of the most famous is Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. These short, inexpensive, quickly printed, easily distributed monographs were undeniably popular–Common Sense sold half a million copies in its first year, and that’s in just the original 13 colonies–and almost certainly framed the debate over independence.
Now a conservative imprint of HarperCollins Publishers is aiming to do the same thing with e-pamphlets for the popular e-reader platforms: Introducing Broadside Books’ new line, Voices Of The Tea Party.
The series publishes short, pamphlet-like political works on topics such as Obamacare (”First Do No Harm“) and grassroots activism (”Community Organizing for Conservatives“).
At $2 per e-book, the purpose of these long essays is to “reinvigorate and democratize the conservative intellectual movement by lowering barriers to entry for citizen-activists who have something important to say,” according to Adam Bellow. Bellow, the son of Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Saul Bellow, is the editor of Broadside Books.
And now, straight from the publishers’ website:
Voices of the Tea Party is a real-time collaborative forum for Tea Partiers around the country that delivers in-depth information on tactics, strategy, and policy from the on-ground activists through the use of inexpensive and easy to download e-books. The series will serve the vibrant online community of everyday American who launched and continue to drive the Tea Party movement, by taking their collaborative discussions to a much higher level. Tea Party suporters around the country will now be able to instantly access “best practices” that have succeeded elsewhere, hear the stories of others in the movement, and learn from Tea Partiers with specific policy ideas and expertise. Perhaps more important, they will be able to engage with other thought leaders by submitting their own e-book proposals for possible inclusion in the series.
I’ve already purchased and read First, Do No Harm on my Kindle. It was well worth the $1.99 I paid for it, and I’m eagerly awaiting the next entry in this series. God willing, this new idea will help spread conservative principles to the current generation.
By the way, if you don’t have a Kindle or other supported e-reader, there’s always the Kindle for PC app.
And kudos to HarperCollins for doing this!