Help Jack Take Our Michigan Back

Link to Jack’s blog, Core Principles.
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http://www.jackformichigan.org/core--------------

New Blood is thriving in St Paul.
Jack Hoogendyk Running hard to try to unseat Carl Levin. Is making some positive waves in St. Paul. Nice to see this from the Republicans. BTW if ever there was someone who represented the same old same old it is Carl Levin. He has always been in the forefront of pushing the liberal policies that have made Michigan a laughing stock.

Help Jack

Take Our Michigan Back


Hoogendyk Calls for Blood Drive at Republican Convention
Michigan Delegates Pledge to Give Blood for Hurricane Victims 


Minneapolis, MN - Michigan State Representative Jack Hoogendyk announced that the Michigan delegation to the Republican National Convention would be participating in a blood drive on Tuesday, which he initiated to provide relief for potential victims of Hurricane Gustav. Hoogendyk, the Republican Party's candidate to unseat US Senator Carl Levin, made the announcement at the Michigan delegation's breakfast and then circulated the room with a clipboard collecting pledges for blood donations.
 
The local Red Cross has named the effort the "Michigan Republican Party Gulf Relief Blood Drive." The Red Cross plans to send a blood drive bus to the Northland Inn, where the Michigan delegation is staying. Hoogendyk is calling for blood donations from residents across the state of Michigan, as well as from other delegates to the Convention.
 
"Everyone here in Minnesota at the Convention is watching the events in the Gulf closely. We see it as an opportunity to mobilize Republicans from all around the country to help their fellow citizens who are suffering from the effects of Hurricane Gustav," says Hoogendyk.  "We're all going to roll up our sleeves and give blood to send to those in need in the Gulf Coast area."
 
The blood drive will be taking place at the Northland Inn Hotel on Tuesday, September 2 from 10 am to 4 pm. A large turnout is expected.
 
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Just a thought. Wonder who the first Democrat will be that says it’s all Bush’s fault. Now that would be a constructive thing to say. That is a policy to get behind. That is the SAME OLD SAME OLD.

Also Right Michigan our own West Michigan Blog (the best Republican blog for Michigan politics) is giving live coverage from St. Paul. Nick has all the credentials to get anywhere. Here is a part with Jack in it.
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http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2008/9/1/111434/6174
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Scroll down and the fourth picture is Jack at the Podium. Under the picture Nick in is customary in depth manner helps explain how the above press Release came about. I give Jack a “Bottom Up” award for putting people first then Making Do, Making it Now and Getting It Done. I could get used to Leaders that lead and not like the ones we have that have to wait for polling before doing anything.

Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative

PS The owners of Toast N Jams and I are in the planning stages for a Help Jack Take Michigan Back Fundraiser. I’ll keep you posted. Our state can’t take any more liberal experiments.

If Jack needs help "Clearing the Road" I know just the Person.

Let Nick do the Work

I've been too busy to blog much lately. I really don't know how Nick at Right Michigan does it.

I must take the time however to tip my hat to him. He is in St.Paul right now and has press passes to everything.
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http://www.rightmichigan.com/
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He is even video blogging some. He is blogging interviews from the convention. Our own little piece of the blogosphere is doing us proud. I've set up a convention watch party and what with the Gustav Hurricane, and John McCain saying they will do what is necessary to help including shutting down the convention, I am up in the air about the party.

After reading Nick's take on it, I picked up some perspective on it. Don't you dare go national on us Nick. We'd miss you too much. lol.

Regards,Live Dangerously Be A Conservative

Our Strength, The Sum of the Parts

Our Strength. The Sum of the Parts

I think that it has become apparent over the last couple of years that the American people have come to the conclusion that we need Change. In 2006 the leadership and control of Congress has changed hands, the People voted to “Throw the Bums Out”. With the advent of a Pelosi and Reid led Congress it has also become apparent to the People that the Democrats have neither the ideas nor the leaders to bring about Actual Change. They have had their chance and not pulled it off.

The American People are neither stupid nor memory deficient. They know a good common sense idea when they see it. The point I want to make here is that the ideas, the concrete plan the leader or the party has is as important as their leadership. They are two different things. The synergy between them is what creates and defines great leadership. While Obama and Reagan gave uplifting speeches, Reagan had a concrete plan of action and his speeches were a means to that end. To gin up support not just for him but for his programs. When he gave a speech about cutting taxes for example he would state the case how his specific plan for cutting taxes would lead us to the uplifting vision he had for America. So far Obama has offered a pretty vague vision. Not backing it up with the concrete actions we need to take to accomplish it. That will probably work for him if McCain doesn’t offer an alternative. Lately however, McCain’s true strength has been popping out all over. He is defining what he represents, his plan of attack, and it is centered around Change. It is centered around the things that Obama only talks about. Government corruption. Earmarks. All of the perceived and corrupt things in Government. Anti Bigger Government. The speech announcing Governor Palin just brought out the difference between talking and doing something to effect change. About picking a Washington inside tough guy vs. an Outsider. Picking a status quo VP. representing the old Democrats vs. picking an “out of the box” person representing the New Republicans. A "Make Do, Make It Now, Make It Work" kind of Republican.
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http://www.breitbart.tv/html/163813.html
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Getting back to my idea of this being a classic “what not to do” election cycle for the Liberals. They have accomplished next to nothing with Congress in two years. The Democrats point to Bush and the Republicans as the reason for their inability to do nothing. It has become apparent to the People however that they just don’t know what to do to lead other than point fingers. The “Classic” part comes when they try to defend themselves by attacking Bush claiming that he has historic low poll numbers They seem to think the American People are ignorant of the fact that the Congress has even lower poll numbers. They are their own worst enemy. They are the majority they are the ones stopping the President from enacting his legislation. They are the ones who can’t come up with their own and push it through. Then they show for the world to see Bush’s poll numbers. What’s that about the pot calling the kettle black, or when you point your finger at someone else, three are pointing back at you.



This election is becoming a beautiful thing. A classic study in the difference between the two parties. Change is offered by both parties. One party talks of Change as some wonderful all encompassing mystical thing that will cure all our problems. We have seen for two years what that “Revival Tent” rhetoric without direction or leadership leads to. --- A “Do Nothing Congress” that at best tries to blame everything and everyone else for it’s short comings: or at worst, as we are finding out, will if given full reign pull this country apart.

Time after time in the last two years, when solutions to problems have been offered, Congress has showed it’s inability to do anything. The whole Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less effort highlighted the problem the Democrats have. They clamor for change but when it’s offered they pull it apart and say that it won’t work because it’s not theirs. It’s not big enough. It doesn’t solve all our problems. They fail however to put their own plan out there that would actually solve any problems. It is becoming clear what the effects of their lack of action and their blocking of action lead to. Their altruistic efforts have stopped any efforts to create any new answers. Prices are still rising , education is still crumbling, the economy is still crippled. You want a picture of failed Democratic policies. Look to Detroit and to Michigan. People can see this. They aren’t blind.

I’m glad they keep shooting themselves in the foot. The Republicans offer change and they ridicule it as not big enough, yet offer no alternative. When Pelosi shut down the US HOUSE and a committee because she was afraid of having a vote on the issue of energy the people knew what was happening. The Republicans have started to get some backbone and are keeping the issue alive.

McCain by picking Palin has set the Democrat leadership and Obama on it’s ear. This choice of Palin has put the Dems in a Catch-22 position. I am overjoyed by this. We truly have a conservative ticket. Palin highlights McCains conservative strong points. Together they show a unified front. They both have in the past proven they will reach across party lines. Something Obama hasn’t. Together they are larger than the sum of their parts. They have the ability to frame the debate by putting out the real issues and making them stick in the minds of the people by offering from experience a specific plan that can work.

In the Bloggospere the first retorts by the libs to tear her down were the exact things Obama has been hiding from. Lack of experience lack of foreign affairs knowledge. In fact Palin has more of both than Obama. I even heard that they’re saying in a bad way that her husband and a son are not registered Republicans. So much for their argument that the Republicans can’t reach across the isle.

I think you will see the attack on Palin soon steer away from the experience thing. Obama can’t take any more of the scrutiny and is just left with empty rhetoric. The people if allowed to choose will soon see and vote accordingly.

Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative

What Can We Do Today ??

Getting it Done.

Every one is familiar with the light bulb and that it signifies a bright new idea. Like turning on the light in a darkened place, it adds perspective to how we see the world. Once that idea is accepted progress can be made more easily.

What I post today is about one of those light bulb ideas. Gee I’ve got a bright idea what about the light bulb and Edison. (I couldn’t resist forgive me).

I imagine that there were hundreds of thousands of people that wished at night that they had more light. Probably hundreds of people worked at doing something about it. Better kerosene then gas lamps etc. Probably fifty or so thought that electricity that mysterious force coming into vogue could somehow be used to create light. After all lightning would light up the sky, why not a little lightning to light up a room.

From there I’m sure that some few came up with the idea of a filament that would only partially short out the circuit and not create a spark but still heat up the wire enough to create light. After that it was only Edison that tried hundreds of different filaments until he found one that worked.

The conclusion I’ve drawn from this is that Edison was not looking for a solution that was perfect in every way, a solution that would solve all our energy needs. He simply wanted something that would work. Well he found it and it worked well for a long time. There were countless improvements along the way also.

The incandescent light bulb we use today has evolved into a more energy efficient and cost effective product. The point is that Edison’s first light bulb wasn’t discarded because it wasn’t the perfect solution. We accepted the inferior solution then let the market place keep coming out with better solutions. As technology grows in part as a result of this competition, better and better products keep emerging, until someone else comes up with a better “light bulb” idea.

I see the example above as a microcosm of how the two parties approach problems and the solutions they offer.

Republicans offer more concrete specific solutions to the problem. They might only be partial solutions but a step in the right direction. Republicans seem to intuitively know that the act of solving part of the problem leads us to better understand the problem and allows us to come up with better solutions than we could come up with if we waited till a perfect solution was found. We gain insight into the problem by diving in and trying to actually make a solution work. I am of the idea that there are really no perfect solutions due to the fact that we are not a perfect people. Looking for perfection only tends to burn out that which is within us that wants to fix things and make things better. If that dies we soon become cynical and perhaps bitter in the effort.

I believe that if one can accept that a perfect solution does not exist then we will be more content by striving to do what we think will help and be happy with the effort. As with Edison a workable solution is found then later better ones come along and all the benefits along the way are utilized and people feel confident by the steady progress. It is precisely that confidence I am saying is what makes the whole thing work.

Without that as we are seeing today things get bogged down, the idea that only big anything from big business to big government has the ability to find that perfect solution. This is robbing the citizens of that feeling of self worth found in feeling that they are part of the solution. That they have added their two cents. That they are indeed invested in the society.

As with the energy problem we face. Let’s start doing all we can in every direction from all sorts of places to find partial solutions. One small success will build and be the rallying cry to win the next, and on and on. Confidence will build. We only need to be able to accept that there will be missteps then do what we can to quickly abandon wrong approaches and adapt to what is available. Soon enough we will be coming up with newer technologies to overcome more parts of the problem, putting thousands to work while we correct these imperfect solutions. I see something noble in this vs. paying people to do nothing, or charging them to do nothing.

Peter F. Drucker wrote the following in his book, “The Effective Executive”. “Effective Executives lead from strength in their own work. They make productive what they can do. ………. Effective executives are of course also concerned with limitations. But it is amazing how many things they find that can be done and are worth doing. While the others complain about threir inability to do anything, the effective executives go ahead and do. As a result, the limitations that weigh so heabily on their brethren often melt away”

This ties into my “What Can I Do Today” philosophy. It is surprising me what I am doing with that simple idea. If we as a country can only start to dwell on not what is wrong but what is right, on what we are good at and not what we are not. This country will prosper and you and I will not only feel better about it, but ourselves too.

Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative

How Can It Be ???

How Can It Be??
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http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1541
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Hat tip to Joan at The World According To Me. First time I saw the Poll
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http://apackof2-theworldaccordingtome.blogspot.com/2008/08/mccain-in-news.html
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New Zogby poll shows McCain taking a 5 point lead over Obama.
How can it be that an old man, is ahead of the young man?
How can it be that the man claiming Change is falling behind.
Do people not want change?

I’ve blogged about how people are sick and tired of the status quo. About how they are willing to vote anyone in power out. I still believe that is true. The key word is anyone not which party
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John McCain does not represent to the people the thing they want changed.
As I show below he is the change people long for.

The media in the past had glorified him for standing up to President Bush. The people that still listen to the MSM were bombarded with the idea that McCain is not Bush. The Democrats seem to have forgotten that and made a major mistake in wasting so much time and money trying to paint John McCain as a double for President Bush. So much wasted effort. People knew better.

The other mistake the Democrats are making is to make sure through the acts of their leadership, namely Pelosi and Reed that they are indeed the leaders of the status quo and are the ones who will go to any lengths to not let the People’s voice be heard. To stifle the opposition without even letting it make it’s case. From their Ivory Tower they have no idea how condescending and bureaucratic they look. How dictatorial they can be if given the chance. I think people are waking up to that fact.

From my point of view another mistake they made was to let the Blogoshpere of the right take the upper hand by hamstringing their counterparts in the MSM in at least putting up enough of a show of reporting the news to stay credible in the mind of the public.

The last mistake that the Democrats can’t seem to stop from doing is treating the average voter as too brain dead to see the writing on the wall. I guess it simply stems from the elitist Leaders not being able to see that writing themselves. Or at least admitting it.

The saddleback portrayal of McCain vs. Obama, showed for the first time the true character of the two Candidates.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX47gOSFa24&feature=related
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The older, semi crippled white haired and balding one seemed far more sure of himself and confident in his answers, dare I say more energetic, than the younger bright looking “self-touted” vehicle of change who simply dithered about.

One seemed able to pick out change and was willing to do something about it. The other just waffled around till you were certain he didn’t really know what he wanted to say till you told him what it was. Talk about same old, same old. I knew who was the bum I wanted to throw out after watching that forum. I knew who the real Vehicle of Change was and who had the guts to attain it and it wasn’t Obama. He may be a nice kid and all but I prefer someone who can make a decision on the spot. Deal with it and move on.

Too bad it isn’t like in the early days of the Republic when the one with the 2nd # of votes would be made Vice President. Then President McCain could put Obama out front to look good and talk nice without saying anything while the real work of change was being done by John McCain.

Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative

Thank You Ms. Pelosi

The Energy debate about whether to drill or not to drill is still out there.

I know in this day and age of the fifteen minute sound bite, it should of evaporated long ago. Other stories in the media jump up but can’t quite erase the “Pain at the Pump” people feel. No matter how some in the media hope for another story. I heard yesterday a news person say that there is still a short time in which tropical storm Fay could still turn into a Category One Hurricane. It didn’t, I can’t help but feel sorry for the media.

At some point it seems that the media will have to actually do some in depth reporting and investigating, about what is so stubbornly still going on. There is a “Shadow Government” ala Britain holding session. Every day they give testimony for one issue. The issue is energy independence.

In Michigan today Pete Hoekstra and Candice Miller spoke the following from the Darkened yet Sunlit Halls of our Nations Capital. (From House Republican Leaders John Boehner’s Blog)
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http://republicanleader.house.gov/blog/?p=331
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It seems ironic to this blogger that only after Nancy Pelosi forced the Congress to
shutdown was there actually a civil and in-depth study of the energy issue. This issue has
probably been discussed more on the floor of the House than any other in recent memory.
I must with tongue in cheek thank Nancy Pelosi for giving the people this opportunity to
voice their opinions so freely. A big “Two Bottom Up” Award goes to her for her
actions.

Something about abhorring a vacuum???

The blogosphere and people in general have gotten it in gear. I even held a small protest at the County Building in my town. Various protests across the state and nation have spontaneously sprung up. Nearly 1.5 million people signed a petition to Drill Here Drill Now Pay Less. A Website called Dontgo was created and is going strong, just in response to Ms. Pelosi and her shutting down Congress.
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http://dontgomovement.com/
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There are already 30 some thousand signatures calling for Ms. Pelosi to reconvene Congress.

Don’t miss clicking on the “Media Lizzie” button in the link above.

Ms. Pelosi is a God send for the upcoming election. If this would have been handled in the normal fashion, this energy thing would have been commented on in glowing and inspiring rhetoric for a couple of days then stuck back in committee to die a quiet death. With Pelosi’s elitist and dictatorial antics, she has finally given us the straw that we will refuse to carry.

People have created this cause. Congressmen have flocked to this “people” cause. Some of the younger Republicans have jumped on board and for once it was nice to see the leadership jump with equal vigor as John Boehner’s web site above shows.

With 70% of the people in favor of drilling as the first step into getting out of this mess, the more time Pelosi will give us the better. The more she tries to shift the discussion to things she loves like impeaching Bush or the “Fairness Doctrine” the more people are seeing her true colors.

This election could very well hang on which party the People think will actually do something concrete about our energy independence, and which party they think is just full of nice sounding platitudes (read B.S.)

So what can we do?

Study the issue and the candidates.
Compare what they actually do vs. what they say.
Vote for the ones you think will actually do something constructive
Read, Study and Sign petitions that you agree with.
Make your voice heard.
Make it your job to think for yourself.
Then Do something

Above All

Live Dangerously and speak your mind.


Regards. Bob Carr

PS If you drive a school bus or are in the employ of a school check this link out.
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http://republicans.edlabor.house.gov/energysurvey.shtml
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What one lone person did
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http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2008/8/8/94849/25915
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What another lone nut did (me, with some friends). There isn’t much to it. It’s simple actually to do something and harder to talk yourself out of it. Like Nike says Just Do It.
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http://bottomuppolitics.blogspot.com/2008/07/energy-freedom-march-is-done.html
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Make Do With A "Big Stick"

David Brooks as usual wrote an insightful piece in the New York Times.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/opinion/18brooks.html
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David Brooks writes about the five major changes that will need to be enacted to keep our country a leader. We may quibble over the five and or the nature of the changes needed, but the fact remains that changes are needed. Mr. Brooks makes the historical case quite well that Republicans have been good reformers and the people have gone along with the changes because they were not only cautious but they were based upon the values and ideals of the people.
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Two of the most prominent conservative reformers were Benjamin Disraeli and Theodore Roosevelt. Both reframed the political debate so that it was not change versus the status quo, it was unfamiliar change versus cautious, patriotic change designed to preserve the traditional virtues of the nation.
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The quote from Disraeli was superb and spot on.
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“In a progressive country, change is constant; and the great question is not whether you should resist change, which is inevitable, but whether that change should be carried out in deference to the manners, the customs, the laws and traditions of a people, or whether it should be carried out in deference to abstract principles, and arbitrary and general doctrines.”
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Let us make those changes in a Republican way. That in a nutshell was what I have been blogging about for awhile, ever since I listened to David Cameron of the British Conservatives. The Disraeli quote to me symbolizes the idea I’m pushing. Simply stated, the New Republican Image that is forming is not one of smaller government, but rather that image of a party that is capable of taking the abstract pipe dream Democratic ideas of “saving the world” and translate it into a workable solution to save the neighborhoods where “people” live.

We need to be the party of doers that take what authority we have and use it for the common good in very real and specific ways. While others talk and talk and talk. We need to be more like Bobby Jindal who as a State House Congressional member in Louisiana took it upon himself during Katrina and used what limited power he had as a local congressman to push some bureaucrats into action and actually get things done, while the other big shots were stuck in bureaucratic quick sand. The people of Louisiana loved him for it and voted him in as their youngest Governor. He is becoming the poster child for the New Can Do Republican.

I’ve been trying to capture the essence of this type of idea, and the picture of the old MacGyver TV show kept popping up. If you remember he was the guy that could make do with whatever was at hand and come up with the solution to the problem. His methods were quick and to the point and above all they worked. Those solutions were not the best perhaps or even the most efficient but they worked and their success led to other success’ and in the end with the burden and worry of needing to fix the problem alleviated, a better solution could be found.

I call this the “Make Do, Make It Now, Make It Work” plan.

As with the revolt over Drilling Off Shore, just the threat of it has reduced the cost at the pump. If Congress could agree to an across the board systematic attack on the reasons for the high cost then the price would plummet. We “Make Do” by drilling, then with that in hand and the government starting to get some money coming in we can start to attack on the alternative fronts. “Make It Now” will give proof that the country is serious, and the markets will heed it and they will be forced to “Make It Work”.

In the Brooks article he refers to Theodore Roosevelt and how he used Patriotism and core values to help get the country on his side with the reforms he wanted to enact. It worked. We too now have the chance to tackle this problem one step at a time building upon the success of the previous one.

We do not need national leaders to do this. We have gotten the oil drilling debate up through the ranks to the leaders and now they are finally paying attention. Not the other way around. This is the Party I like. Many Republican’s including John McCain like and say they admire Teddy Roosevelt. David Brooks put out the following quote by Roosevlet in his article linked above.
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“The true function of the state as it interferes in social life,” Roosevelt wrote, “should be to make the chances of competition more even, not to abolish them.”
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Once we allow the big companies to compete freely then we can start to find ways for the smaller ones to compete also. If the Big Oil Companies are truly the bottle neck or whether it is the big speculators and hedge funds etc that is the problem I would like to see McCain as the one carrying that “Big Stick” of Teddy’s to give us a “square deal”.
We need to be the ones who are making the changes and we can if we put the debate in the terms of the American values of common sense and the good old American “Can Do” Spirit.

Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative