Republicans in New Hampshire Upbeat After This Weeks Local Elections
Cross posted on Grizzly Groundswell
This week Republicans at the local level in New Hampshire did very well, much to the credit of New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Cullen Fergus. Fergus is now very upbeat about the Republicans chances here in 2008, but is trying to keep it in perspective.
Cullen said he did not want “to overstate what a round of municipal elections means, but certainly there is a lot of encouraging news in yesterday’s results.”
One thing he’s happy about is that the Republican Party showed that it can do the “block-and-tackle” basics of campaigning.
No big deal? Well, consider that in 2006, the GOP had no get-out-the-vote operation to speak of, and paid dearly for it statewide.
“We demonstrated that we still remember how to do that and that we’re back doing it,” Cullen said.
Manchester Republican mayor, Frank Guinta, who was supposedly on the hot seat easily won re-election despite a fiercely negative campaign run against him. Guinta was the man that Fergus Cullen dubbed, the last Republican standing after last year’s blue wave swept over New Hampshire. Much like a sunami, this blue wave has left much destruction and devastation in it’s path and we must start rebuilding NOW by putting Republicans back in charge.
Cullen also credits allot of the Republican presidential candidates who helped including Rudy, Romney, Huckabbee, and Paul. All of these candidates realized that New Hampshire fell in a big was to Democrats last year and recognize the importance of turning New Hampshire around.
After this week’s elections I am beginning to get a little more optimistic about New Hampshire’s future and the upcoming elections. Have New Hampshire voters realized their mistake? Have New Hampshire voters had enough? I don’t know, but I am hoping the elections this week are giving us a hint of what is to come in the 2008 elections. Maybe we are turning the corner.
America's Watchtower 
Mike Huckabee is an adroit public speaker; he communicates his message in life-like, cogent terms, with compelling examples like the story he told (at the Ames Straw Poll) of what his then-11-yo daughter entered into the “Comments” section of a Visitors Book after visiting the Yad Vashem holocaust museum: “Why didn’t somebody do something?” Very effective.
Huckabee is all about calling his listeners to “do something,” to awaken them to their own empowerment, and summon them to action in order that “Main Street,” and not “Wall Street,” will prevail in guarding the values and beliefs upon which the Republic was founded.
Huckabee puts his listeners at ease, and reassures them, articulating clear concepts in a natural, easy style (no doubt something well-cultivated as a pastor). He’s not as “mechanically-scripted” as Romney, nor angry or demanding, like a Ron Paul, and his large brown eyes, peering through a humble demeanor, draw a striking contrast to a unconvincing, tired-looking Thompson. One can easily imagine sitting comfortably with Mike over a cup of coffee at the Main Street Cafe.
Most importantly, Huckabee convinces many that he is ONE with the FairTax grassroots movement ( http://snipr.com/fthuckabeeonirs ). While many – like Romney, and others, who are invested in the current income tax system – seek to demagog ( http://snipurl.com/taxpanelrebutted ) the well-researched FairTax plan, its acceptance in the professional / academic community ( http://snipurl.com/econsopenletter ) continues to grow. Renown economist Laurence Kotlikoff believes that failure to enact the FairTax – choosing instead to try to “flatten” what he deems to be a non-flattenable income tax system – will eventuate into an irrevocable economic meltdown ( http://snipurl.com/meltdowninprogress ) because of the hidden aspects of the current system that make political accountability impossible.
Romney’s recent WEAK response to FairTax questioning on “This Week with Geo. Stephanopoulos ( http://snipurl.com/stephanopoulosdebate )” drew a sharp contrast between Huckabee and all other presidential front-runners who will not embrace it. Huckabee understands that what’s wrong with the income tax can’t be fixed with “a tap of the hammer, nor a twist of the screwdriver.” That his opponents cling to the destructive Tax Code, the IRS, preserving political power of granting tax favors at continued cost to – and misery of – American families, invigorates his campaign’s raison d’etre.
Of the FairTax, Huckabee asserts that it’s…
• SIMPLE, easy to understand
• EFFICIENT, inexpensive to comply with and doesn’t cause less-than-optimal business decisions for tax minimization purposes
• FAIR, FLAT, and FAMILY FRIENDLY, loophole-free, and everyone pays their share
• LOW TAX RATE is achieved by broad base with no exclusions
• PREDICTABLE, doesn’t change, so financial planning is possible
• UNINTRUSIVE, doesn’t intrude into our personal affairs or limit our liberty
• VISIBLE, not hidden from the public in tax-inflated prices or otherwise
• PRODUCTIVE, rewards – rather than penalizes – work and productivity
A detailed benefits analysis of the plan (from The FairTax Book) explains Huckabee’s ardent advocacy:
For INDIVIDUALS:
• No more tax on income – make as much as you wish
• You receive your full paycheck – no more deductions
• You pay the tax when you buy “at retail” – not “used”
• No more double taxation (e.g. like on current Capital Gains)
• Reduction of “pre-FairTaxed” retail prices by 20%-30%
• Adding back 29.9% FairTax maintains current price levels
• FairTax would constitute 23% portion of new prices
• Every household receives a monthly check, or “pre-bate”
• “Prebate” is “advance tax payback” for monthly consumption to poverty level
• FairTax’s “prebate” ensures progressivity, poverty protection
• Finally, citizens are knowledgeable of what their tax IS
• Elimination of “parasitic” Income Tax industry
• NO MORE IRS. NO MORE FILING OF TAX RETURNS by individuals
• Those possessing illicit forms of income will ALSO pay the FairTax
• Households have more disposable income to purchase goods
• Savings is bolstered with reduction of interest rates
For BUSINESSES:
• Corporate income and payroll taxes revoked under FairTax
• Business compensated for collecting tax at “cash register”
• No more tax-related lawyers, lobbyists on company payrolls
• No more embedded (hidden) income/payroll taxes in prices
• Reduced costs. Competition – not tax policy – drives prices
• Off-shore “tax haven” headquarters can now return to U.S
• No more “favors” from politicians at expense of taxpayers
• Resources go to R&D and study of competition – not taxes
• Global “free (and equitable) trade” becomes possible for currently-disadvanted ( http://snipurl.com/tradeinequity ) U.S. exports
• US exports increase their share of foreign markets
For THE COUNTRY:
• 7% – 13% economic growth projected in the first year of the FairTax
• Jobs return to the U.S.
• Foreign corporations “set up shop” in the U.S.
• Tax system trends are corrected to “enlarge the pie”
• Larger economic “pie,” means thinner tax rate “slices”
• Initial 23% portion of price is pressured downward as “pie” increases
• No more “closed door” tax deals by politicians and business
• FairTax sets new global standard. Other countries will follow
While passionately supporting FairTax, Huckabee understands that, if elected President, Congress will have to present the bill for his signature. His call to action goes beyond his candidacy, Main Street will have to demand ( http://snipr.com/scrapthecode ) that their legislators deliver the bill.
(Permission granted to republish, in whole or part. -Ian)
LikeLike