CR Alumni: Mason Harrison
By punch bowl | June 29, 2008
Topics: Campaign 2008, John McCain | No Comments »
Rumor has it…
By sage of monticello | June 29, 2008
…that controversial former CRNC field rep Morgan Wilkins is vying to become chapter chair at Indiana University - Southern.
Topics: CR gossip | 2 Comments »
Who prepared for their Convention? Hint:not Democrats
By windstone | June 29, 2008
The St. Paul Pioneer Press says when it comes to preparing for their national conventions, the GOP has the advantage. I find this interesting: Republicans better organized than Dems? Naw, can’t be! Plus, Denver has been trying to out-environmentally wacko Greenpeace. It is good to be a Republican, no?
Topics: Barack Obama, 2008 Republican National Convention | No Comments »
Davidson on entitlement spending
By punch bowl | June 28, 2008
Michael Davidson, who ran for CRNC chairman in 2005 under the YourCRNC banner and is now CEO of Gen Next, has written a column for the FlashReport. For those of you like me who have never heard of the FlashReport before, it is described as “California’s most influential, comprehensive, and widely read political website.” So it’s a big deal to have your work published by such an important media authority. Congratulations, Michael.
Michael writes about the entitlement spending crisis:
Recently the Washington Post ran a piece titled “What We Owe Our Young” by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Ambassador James R. Jones (also linked by the Sacramento Bee via the FlashReport). The authors elaborate on the magnitude of the looming entitlement and budget crises and a summit that they have convened to engage young leaders on the issue, which was covered by C-Span. I was fortunate enough to be one of those young leaders.
The Youth Entitlement Summit included about 11 under-30 leaders spanning almost the entire ideological spectrum. The idea was that I, a conservative, would work with and learn from a progressive, Democrat, independent, little “L” libertarian, and so on. Each panelist was impressive—informed, passionate, and forcible yet respectful in the delivery of their views.
Modeled after congressional testimony, fellow panelists heard experts on health care, social security, budget, and tax issues testify before us. Some experts were David Walker, former Comptroller of the United States government; Senator Norm Coleman; Governor Richard Lamm; Dr. Alice Rivlin at the Brookings Institution; Dr. Sylvester Schieber, Chairman of the U.S. Social Security Advisory Board; Maya MacGuineas, President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget; Congresswoman Barbara Kennelly; David Sloan, Senior VP of the AARP; Isabel Sawhill at Brookings; Stuart Butler at Heritage; Robert Bixby, President of the Concord Coalition; and more.
The problem is enormous and complex, but here’s some take away: entitlement reform is the single largest domestic challenge facing the next generation. As Justice O’Connor and Ambassador Jones state, “Even if every dollar of wealth of every millionaire in the United States were magically diverted to pay these costs, 80 percent of the unfunded liabilities forecast for these three programs (medicare, medicaid, and social security) would remain on the books.” They also note that “today’s high school students might never experience a year in the workforce when their tax rates would not rise.” Interest rates alone on government debt come out to $1,000 per person, and it’s compounding.
Thus, we are way behind and far from catching up. The volume for raising taxes is loud against a culture of dependency on these programs. We will be left in a severely weakened economic position, which also has serious implications for our posture and clout in world affairs. It’s probably not smart to rely on China to hold most of our debt.
The entitlement crisis is a Gordian Knot that must be cut, or we are strangled and unable to pursue other national priorities to launch us forward into the 21st century. Beyond the entitlement crisis, we still have to confront violent extremism, energy security, a totally outdated educate system, generations old infrastructure, a flawed and uncompetitive tax structure, and so on.
I’m stunned that the Republican leaders aren’t doing more to dominate this issue with the boldest and most innovative ideas. Congressman Paul Ryan is one of the only Republicans sticking his neck out to help shape the debate. History is not kind to idlers. We must do something.
The left is afraid of this issue too. Rock the Vote abandoned their spot at the summit because they thought it wasn’t slanted far enough left. Note: Rock the Vote is supposed to be “nonpartisan,” but I’ve had my battles with them before. The Nation is upset too. Strategically it’s foolish to debate only with people who agree with you. So conservatives have an opportunity.
There’s a menu of options that could be employed to confront these challenges, yet they aren’t at the forefront of national debate. How much talk have you heard about minimum and maximum retirement benefits for different ages; eliminating tax burdens on senior citizens working after their retirement age; financial literacy; opt out savings programs; clinical effectiveness studies in health care; payment systems in health care; preventing and managing chronic diseases; VATs with corporate tax rate reductions; forcing votes and real budgeting on entitlement programs; and so many more options from the right and from the left?
Options exist but too little courage. At the summit panelists eschewed generational warfare and victimhood in order to call for intrepidness and dialogue on this important issue.
Ultimately, the debate will be shaped by who shows up. In my humble view, this should be one of the top three issues of every major candidate for office, especially conservative ones because we hold ourselves to higher standards—at least, I had thought so.
Topics: CR Composition Corner | 1 Comment »
Who was Lee Atwater?
By windstone | June 28, 2008
Sage referenced the legendary GOP political operative the other day and some of you dont know the man? Aw, come on now folks. Well, let me give you a primer. Harvey Leroy “Lee” Atwater was born in Atlanta,Georgia, on February 27,1951.
He may have been born in the state know for its peaches, but Lee Atwater was through and through a South Carolina man. He learned from two of the state’s greatest politicians, Governor Carroll Campbell and Senator Strom Thurmond. The two practically were the be-all and end-all in South Carolina politics,especially on the Republican side.
Atwater became a tough operator of campaigns, using weaknesses of candidates against them. He would use character or issue matters, but he was usually tough, for the most part not the nasty operator critics said he was. He ran a few congressional campaigns and was political coordinator for the Reagan campaign in 1980.
The guitarist and theatre man went to Washington on the recommendation of Thurmond,working as a member of the Reagan administration with White House political director Ed Rollins. Atwater’s fame came as the man behind the 1988 campaign of then-Vice President George H.W. Bush to succeed President Reagan.
His great work there led President Bush to name him chairman of the Republican National Committee. But a tragic brain tumor discovered in 1990 cut short his life. He died March 29,1991.
Atwater comes up because of a new documetary about him called Boogie Man. The reaction to the film hasn’t been positive from our side of the aisle, but people do seem agree on one thing- you better know who understand the impact Lee Atwater had on American politics.
Postscript: Sorry for the errors! Thanks!
Topics: Pres. Bush, political philosophy, Bill Clinton, CRs in the news | 1 Comment »
CRNC creates new wikipedia-like chapter manual
By punch bowl | June 27, 2008
Shamlessly stolen from the chapter manual introduction page:
Welcome to the online version of the College Republican Chapter Manual. It’s in a wiki format so that we can all collaborate together to make this a relevant manual that addresses the issues faced by Chapter Chairs across the country.
It will be a manual for College Republicans…by College Republicans! Jump in to the chapters and share your thoughts and opinions on running a successful Chapter.
Thanks in advance for your contribution.
The wiki-feature is by far the best aspect of the chapter manual because it ensures that content stays relevant in real-time.
Plus, as an American, I am a big fan of the “of, for and by the people” ideal.
Topics: CR gossip, CRNC | 2 Comments »
WITR: Earned media
By punch bowl | June 27, 2008
One of the financial justifications of WITR is earned media. To counter-attack the youth juggernaut that is the Obama campaign, College Republicans have to hit the street, hit it hard and let others know about it. That is where cool stories - like WITR - come in, to earn media.
To that end, Where Is The Red earned some media today. This is the first bit of earned media I have seen coming out of the WITR road trimp, but I am certain it will not be the last.
In a story appearing on newsmax.com about McCain’s online operation, the story stated:
And on June 24, David All’s consulting firm helped launch Whereisthered.com along with the College Republican National Committee. The blog follows several college Republicans as they travel through “Red” congressional districts around the country to show young voters the appeal of the GOP across America, according to Business Week.
Topics: Where Is The Red | No Comments »
Rumor has it…
By punch bowl | June 27, 2008
…that another STORM competition is coming with the top 40 activists receiving free lodging at the GOP national convention in MN.
Topics: S.T.O.R.M. | No Comments »
Where is the Red?: Become a Fan
By punch bowl | June 27, 2008
Become a fan of Where is the Red? on Facebook. As a fan you will able to view videos and pictures that aren’t available anywhere else on the web.
Topics: CR gossip, facebook, CRNC, Where Is The Red | 2 Comments »
STORM updated
By punch bowl | June 27, 2008
Why did STORM need to be updated?
The updates were needed for one reason: STORM was lacking in user experience. This was for two reasons.
First, is the timeline on which STORM was released. When the program was first launched it had all the underlying database technology (i.e. store information, provide “live” lists, allow for quick communication and mobilization through e-mails and event creation) that was needed for this coming fall, but lacked characteristics and qualities for a good user experience (i.e., cool, crisp, clean, etc).
At the time of the launch the CRNC decided to it was more important to launch early (Feb 2008) before creating an “ultra-clean, friendly” user experience so as to test the underlying database technology, which, if left un-tested until fall, could not be updated to address any major glitches.
In essence, at STORM’s launch the CRNC prioritized the purpose of STORM (i.e., data integrity) over visuals and user experience, deciding to launch early to test the data integrity part of STORM in order to give them an opportunity to fix all glitches before the fall.
When asked about the updates, Ethan Eilon (CRNC executive director) stated, “We opted to ensure the data integrity aspect ahead of anything else and launch a beta version in Feb.”
Second, to clean up the STORM’s user experience, the CRNC wanted user feedback. Makes sense. And the only way to get user feedback is to let users into the system.
So, the CRNC chose to save any user experience updates until well after the launch of the system so that users could get into the system and see what changes they wanted made, pass along those changes to the CRNC who in turn would have them implemented. The CRNC waited, so that the changes that were made were the changes that you wanted.
So, the updates that took place yesterday are to address the user experience side of STORM, making it cleaner, crisper, cooler.
What updates were made?
In general, a cleaner, crisper look has tried to be created.
They have cleaned up many of the headers, added some tabs and made some of the tabs into “drop down” menus. More leadership abilities for the state and chapter chairs have been added.
Messaging has been streamlined. And so has the action center.
Overall, in my opinion, STORM’s environment feels more integrated.
Regardless of what I think, I know you have your own opinion on STORM. So what is it?
Topics: CR gossip, CRNC, S.T.O.R.M. | 3 Comments »
