Hensarling to fill Pence's shoes as RSC chair

 

Mike Pence led the Republican Study Committee, the largest and most conservative caucus in the House, to national prominence in the conservative debate after 2 years of strong leadership. Now it is time to continue the Pence movement by electing Hensarling, RSC's budget and spending taskforce chair, to fill Pence's shoes in bringing limited government, fiscal discipline and reform to the House while Pence brings this message to America. Here is an article by CQ Politics about the RSC elections.


Rep. Jeb Hensarling will be nominated to head the Republican Study Committee next year, according to a letter sent Tuesday by eight of the most active RSC members.

Their endorsement of the second-term Texas Republican sets up a potentially nasty fight over the direction of the House’s most conservative faction. The four founders of the RSC — John T. Doolittle of California, Ernest Istook of Oklahoma, Dan Burton of Indiana and Sam Johnson of Texas — are expected to nominate their own candidate, appropriator Todd Tiahrt of Kansas, for the post.

The RSC founders’ pick has been honored in the past by the rank and file. But Tuesday’s letter signed by current RSC Chairman Mike Pence of Indiana, John Shadegg of Arizona and six other conservatives signals a willingness among some RSC members to continue using aggressive tactics in the pursuit of a more conservative legislative agenda.

Some Republicans blame Pence and his allies in the RSC for election losses, pointing to their campaign to publicize spending increases during a period of Republican control of Congress. But many conservatives say the GOP’s loss of the House and Senate resulted from an abandonment of small-government principles.

Pence has won praise from conservative activists for his stands against pork barrel spending, President Bush’s 2001 education overhaul and the Medicare prescription-drug law.

But he and Shadegg, both of whom signed the Hensarling letter, were easily defeated in Republican leadership bids earlier this month, a loss that was seen as a rebuke of their message and tactics.

Some conservative aides have expressed concern about promoting Tiahrt, an appropriator to head a group that often clashes with the Appropriations Committee on spending issues. Others worry that Tiahrt would give Republican leaders too much sway over the RSC.

In an interview last week, Tiahrt suggested that he has at least tacit backing from Republican leaders.

“I have spoken with leadership about the job. They’re supportive,” he said.

He argued that he has advanced conservative principles as a member of the Appropriations Committee.

“There are some who think that appropriators are the enemy and everyone’s entitled to their view,” he said. “Most of them haven’t been around long enough to see some of my battles.”

Tiahrt has sponsored amendments aimed at prohibiting funding for foreign family-planning groups, needle-exchange programs and adoptions by gay couples.

His penchant for sticking conservative social-policy riders on appropriations bills has not always met with approval from fellow appropriators.

Hensarling’s backers say he is “committed to advancing conservative principles of limited-government, traditional family values, a strong national defense and retaking the majority in 2008.”

In addition to Pence and Shadegg, the Hensarling endorsement letter was signed by Reps. Tom Feeney of Florida, Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, Kevin Brady of Texas, Jeff Flake of Arizona, J. Gresham Barrett of South Carolina and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee.


Hensarling to Be Nominated to Head RSC

Pence's post-leadership election statement

 

"It was one of the greatest honors of my life to stand for election as Minority Leader of the House of Representatives. I am deeply humbled by the support extended to me by many both within and outside the Republican Minority in Congress.

"I congratulate Minority Leader John Boehner on his election. I look forward to working with him as we steer our Republican Conference back to the principles of limited government, fiscal discipline and traditional moral values."

Pence's speech to the Republican Conference

 

I know there are many traditions in this room but permit me begin by acknowledging God. He has given my family and my staff the health and strength to give our colleagues a choice: to endure this contest of worthy opponents with grace.

I want to thank my supporters in this room, loyal friends who have stood at my side in this cause, wherever life takes my little family, I will always see you in this moment and admire your courage and your willingness to act on principle whatever the cost.

And to those of you who oppose me, thank all of you for the kindness, even in opposition. Many whom I have dueled with on the floor and in conference showed me the greatest respect.

I haven’t been turned down this often or this nicely since I was trying to get a date for the prom!

To the good men and women of the 110th Congress, thank you for your courtesy and your encouragement. I love you guys.

I am running for Republican leader because I believe we did not just lose our Majority, I believe we lost our way.

We are in the wilderness because we walked away from the limited government principles that minted the Republican Congress.

But there is a way out.

Mark Helprin wrote, “the way out of the wilderness is the truth; recognizing it, stating it, defending it, living by it.” Here’s the truth as I see it.

The Truth

While the scandals of the 109th Congress harmed our cause, the real scandal in Washington, D.C. was runaway federal spending.

After 1994, we were a Majority committed to a balanced federal budget, entitlement reform and advancing the principles of a limited federal government.

In recent years, our Majority voted to expand the federal government’s role in education by nearly 100 percent, created the largest new entitlement in forty years, and pursued spending policies that created record deficits and national debt.

This was not in the Contract with America.

Our opponents will say that the American people rejected our Republican vision.

I say the American people did not quit on the Contract with America, we did. And in so doing, we severed the bonds of trust between our government and our most dedicated supporters.

And I am not saying this because I bear no blame for this departure.

While I opposed No Child Left Behind and the Prescription Drug entitlement, my opponent voted against the Farm Bill and never requested earmarks in his entire career. I supported the Farm Bill and have requested earmarks every year I have been in Congress.

None of us are blameless, least of all me.

When I say we lost our way, I mean all of us, to one degree or another, lost our sense of true north.

As we choose who will lead us in the days ahead, it is important we learn the right lessons from 2006. It is even more important that we move forward with a renewed commitment to do our duty.

While tragic necessity has placed us in this position, I urge you to seize this day and join me as we return our Conference and our party to the conservative principles that minted our Majority in 1994.

We must reject the path of big government Republicanism that led us into the box canyon of 2006.

Only by renewing our commitment to fight for the principles embodied in the Contract with America can we hope to have the credibility to earn back the opportunity to lead this national legislature.

Let me say a word about my opponent, John Boehner.

I am not running because I think John Boehner did a bad job as Majority Leader. Quite the contrary. I think the guy deserves a medal.

John Boehner is an honorable man and John Boehner is a conservative.

He took a tough job under the worst circumstances and made the best of it and I commend him for it.

I am not running because I think I am a better man. I am running because I think I might just be the best man to lead this conference as Minority Leader.

And the role of the Minority Leader is different from Majority Leader. Each demand different skills and each have different goals.

Our goal in the Majority was to pass legislation reflecting Republican principles.

Our goal of the Republican Minority in the 110th Congress should be to defeat the liberal agenda of the Democrat Party and become the majority in Congress again.

We will only defeat the Democrat agenda by presenting a positive, conservative message in vivid contrast to the big government liberalism of the new Majority.

New Vision

To renew our Majority, we must offer this nation a compelling vision of fiscal discipline and reform.

It is written “without a vision, the people perish.” What is true of a people is also true of any political movement.

Our new Republican minority must rededicate itself to the ideals and standards that minted our majority in 1994.

Now, as then, we must pledge ourselves to find a consensus agenda, acceptable to every member of our conference, like the Contract with America, and promote that agenda through policy and persuasion that will resonate with the American people.

We must again embrace the notion that Republicans seek the Majority not simply to govern but to change government for the better. We are the agents of change and we must return to that reformist vision.

New Voices

And I believe we must confront this moment with new leadership and new voices.

We must take a page from the playbook of President Ronald Reagan who taught us that it is not enough to believe great things, we must effectively communicate great things to the American people.

Throughout my public career, I have worked to provide a credible and persuasive voice for the Reagan agenda. I became a Republican because of Ronald Reagan.

My decade as a working radio and television broadcaster combined with the credibility that has earned me the support of dozens of conservative leaders and publications, might just prove that I am uniquely prepared to renew the confidence of millions of Americans in our commitment to core Republican values.

Without the votes necessary to stop the advance of their liberal priorities, our mission will be one of persuasion and tactics.

We don’t just need leaders in the air to member districts, we need leaders on the air.

Each of us must commit ourselves to using our voices and expertise to dismantle Democrat arguments and expose their liberal, big government agenda at every turn.

I see every Republican member as a leader, with unique gifts and talents, and I am offering my talents as both spokesman and coach to bring this team of leaders to the American people.

But our challenge in the majority won’t just be about opposing the Democratic agenda.

There may be one other task.

In 1990 I was a candidate for Congress when the last Bush Administration sided with a Democrat Majority in Congress to pass the largest tax increase in history.

I watched as a Republican president worked with a Democratic Congress to the detriment of every Republican candidate in the country.

As Moses famously said, “I’ve been burned by a Bush before.”

As most of you know, I have never hesitated to stand with this President when I thought he was right-even on tough issues like the war.

And, I have never hesitated to oppose this President, publicly and boldly, when he has pursued policies at odds with my commitment to limited government.

This Republican Conference and its new leaders must be prepared to stand up to this President when he is wrong …when he pursues policies at odds with the principles of limited government and the rule of law.

I will represent the Conference to the White House, not the other way around.

As your Minority Leader, I will defend our nation, our treasury and our values.

I will stand with those who stand for freedom and defeat the voices of retreat.

I will fight to renew our reputation for fiscal discipline and reform.

And, while I will exercise and abundance of respect for all members on matters of conscience….let me say with clarity:

This is a pro-life conference and I will be a pro-life Minority Leader.

Conclusion

In 1995, House Republicans wrote the following in one of their first governing documents:

America stands at a crossroads. Down one path lies more and more debt and the continued degradation of the Federal Government and the people it is intended to serve. Down the other lies the restoration of the American dream…we choose the second of these roads.

We are once again at a historic crossroads in the nation’s future.

The result of last week’s election means that America is poised to go down the other path--the wrong one.

Our Minority must stand in the gap and point the path to the other road. We must be a light in the darkness. I brought a weathered pocket copy of the Ten Commandments with me this morning. The card is yellow from nearly twenty years of use. As I was preparing to speak, my eyes fell on a passage I had not noticed before. Exodus 20:20 reads, “Do not be afraid for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you.”

Men and women of the Republican conference, Providence has come to test us and I know we will pass this test. We will do the work the American people elect Republicans to do; defend our nation, defend our treasury and defend our values with all we’ve got.

In the words of the founder of our Republican Party, “with malice toward none and charity toward all,” I ask for your support for Minority Leader of the 110th Congress.

Mike Pence

Family Research Council endorses Pence

 

It is no coincidence that with every shift in power in Washington there is a shift in Leadership. In two separate op-eds today both Tom McClusky, FRC's Vice President of Government Affairs, and I point out that the new Democratic Leadership will be representing the most in-your-face liberal ideology we've seen since the early 90's. In response the Republicans must elect leaders who best represent the ideology they hope to pursue as a minority party. Will Republicans in Congress decide to stay the course? To do so will guarantee the Republican Party minority status for the years to come. Republicans should elect true blue leaders who will bring back into focus core conservative principles that brought them out the previous 40 years in the political wilderness.

I firmly believe that Mike Pence (R-IN) would be the best choice to lead House Republicans as Minority Leader. As Chairman of the Republican Study Committee, Mike has shown his ability to work with and lead his colleagues in championing limited government and family-friendly policies. A refusal to change direction in leadership sends a very clear signal that pro-family issues will remain relegated to the level of campaign issues or below. A vote to stay the course is a vote to remain in the political wilderness for another 40 years. Call your Republican member of Congress and urge them to support Mike Pence

Tony Perkins

Congressional Switchboard
1-800-839-5276 or 202-224-3121

Write your Representative!

Tony Perkins and FRC endorse Pence for Minority Leader

Pence's vision for the future

 

Team of Leaders: Renewing Our Majority
Unity—Visibility—Strategy

Mike Pence

“The heart of what a statesman says is in simple words that draw their force from the compelling circumstance that they are true.” – Mark Helprin

Introduction

I believe we did not just lose our Majority, we lost our way.

I believe this happened to us because somewhere along the way we lost our willingness to fight for limited government, fiscal discipline, traditional values and reform. And, I believe that millions of our most ardent supporters figured this out.

As Mark Helprin wrote, “The Republican Party was unwilling and unable to go into battle to defend American exceptionalism, to defend the idea that our politics depend on self-evident truth…that the modern Republican Party fails to defend because its leaders are interested not in truth but in power.” Election Day was not a rejection of our agenda as the opposition party will allege. It was a plaintive cry from millions of Americans who had grown weary of the expansion of government, fiscal mismanagement and outright corruption that has beset our Majority in recent years.

While the scandals of the 109th Congress harmed our cause, the real scandal in Washington D.C. is runaway federal spending, and our voters said, “Enough is enough.”

After 1994, we were a Majority committed to a balanced federal budget, entitlement reform and advancing the principles of a limited federal government. In recent years, our Majority voted to expand the federal government’s role in education by nearly 100 percent, created the largest new entitlement in forty years, and pursued spending policies that created record deficits, national debt and rampant earmark spending.

This was not in the Contract with America. Our opponents will say that the American people rejected our Republican vision. I say the American people did not quit on the Contract with America—we did. And in so doing, we severed the bonds of trust between our government and our most dedicated supporters.

As we choose who will lead us in the days ahead, it is important we learn the right lessons from 2006. It is even more important that we move forward with a renewed commitment to do our duty. While tragic necessity has placed us in this position, I urge you to seize this day and join me as we return our Conference and our party to the principles of the Reagan Revolution.

Our new Republican Minority in Congress must be rededicated to the conservative principles that minted our Majority in 1994. We must reject the path of big government Republicanism that led us into the box canyon of 2006. Only by renewing our commitment to fight for conservative values of limited government, traditional values, fiscal discipline, and reform, can we hope to have the credibility to earn back the opportunity to lead this national legislature.

We are in the wilderness because we walked away from the principles that brought us our governing Majority. I believe there is a way out. “The way out of the wilderness is the truth; recognizing it, stating it, defending it, living by it,” wrote Mark Helprin.

It is time to act without inhibition or fear and to believe in our principles and our people. We must have faith in our ideas, be bold, and trust the innate wisdom of the American people.

It is time to remember the vision of a freedom-loving party championing limited government, a strong robust national defense, and traditional moral values. That is the vision we advertised to our constituents, and it is what they expect from us. If we offer that, they will renew our Majority and put us back in charge. Here is my plan:

Reaffirm First Principles

Let me be very clear. I do not believe we need to figure out what our vision should be. I do not think we need to go back to the drawing board and mix and mash into place a set of principles to guide us. We already know what those first principles are – the same ones articulated by Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, and the authors of the Contract with America. We just need to remember them and why we came here.

We came here to promote freedom and opportunity. We came here to allow American families to keep more of their hard-earned money and spend it on their own priorities rather than Washington’s, a reality that only can be accomplished through less government, lower taxes, less federal spending, and economic prosperity. We came here to rekindle the fires of men, material, and morale that warm the warriors who stand on freedom’s ramparts in far-off lands. And we came here to assert again the constitutional rule of law, an unalienable right to life, and the traditional values shared by millions of Americans.

That is our vision. It does not need to be constructed out of papier-mâché or run through a focus group. Instead, it must be remembered, embraced in our hearts, and endlessly articulated, even in the midst of adverse political winds.

Unity

Once we remember what we stand for, it is obviously important to execute, but we cannot execute until we unite. What defines us can no longer be about membership in this faction or that. Our Minority can no longer be riddled by the sort of divisions that have recently characterized our Conference. We must put aside the petty and instead create consistent opportunities to promote the personal ties that bind us.

It is important for you to know that as your Leader, you will have my ear. Leading is listening to the entire Conference and shaping a unified message and agenda for us to act upon, and I will do exactly that.

At the Republican Study Committee (RSC), we fostered a spirit of unity—a sense that we are all in this together with an understanding, borne of experience, that no matter how dark the day, our friends would be at our sides. This focus caused us to revamp our annual retreat so that colleagues and their spouses could talk, get to know each other, and be refreshed anew as they heard the ideas and insights of guest speakers. We continued these gatherings or “mini retreats” throughout the term to give members an opportunity to take a deep breath and reflect on the road just traveled and the road ahead. And on a weekly basis, as other groups within the Conference do, the RSC continued its lunch meetings to share news and opportunities to help each other.

These family-friendly events are important. For this reason, I would plan seasonal “unity dinners” in which the Conference would gather for nothing other than food, fellowship and inspiration. No fundraising, no leadership pitches—just fellowship. In addition, our weekly Conference meetings, which will undoubtedly focus on the important matters of tactics and policy at hand, would still retain a sliver of time to promote smaller, less formal unity opportunities—not all of which will be the brainchild of the new Leadership team. We will rely on your initiative. However, by focusing on it each week, the concept of remaining united will be foremost in our minds.

Visibility

One of the most important responsibilities of any minority is to articulate a credible alternative to the Majority that governs. Minorities that are unsuccessful either fail to construct such an alternative or fail to communicate it. We will not fail to do the former, and we cannot neglect the latter. To that end, we must not shy away from the media either within the Beltway or back home in our districts.

We need leaders traveling to support our candidates and campaigns. But we do not just need leaders in the air — we need leaders on the air. It is important that our Leadership and every single Member be on the public airwaves, articulating our message, and encouraging by example the entire Conference to follow suit.

That credibility will be essential for our primary task these next two years: to expose, dismantle and defeat the “principles to which we have been forced to succumb.” The primary mission of the Republican Party in the 110th Congress will be to defeat the agenda of the Democratic Party in Congress. Each of us must dedicate ourselves to using our talents and expertise to dismantle Democratic arguments and expose their liberal, big government agenda at every turn.

Overall, our Minority must jettison the habitual disdain that all too often takes root with respect to the media. The media does not always consist of our friends, but neither should they be viewed as our enemies. Treating the media with suspicion does us no good in the long run. Our ideas can be communicated and they must. We cannot offer the needed and endless jeremiads to failed Democrat policies (and the new ones they come up with that will fail) if we are silent and invisible.

Strategy

Without the votes necessary to stop the advance of Democrat priorities, our mission will be one of persuasion and tactics. We must offer this nation a compelling vision of renewal and reform. It is written, “Without a vision, the people perish.” We have learned, through arduous trial, that what is true of a nation is also true of a governing Majority. Our duty in the Minority is to communicate a forceful vision of limited government, traditional values and reform that will propel our party back into the Majority in 2008.

After an election defeat, Winston Churchill described the duty before us. Churchill quoted the late Lord Salisbury who wrote in 1867, “It is the duty of Englishmen and every English party to accept political defeat cordially and to do their best endeavors to secure the success or to neutralize the evil of the principles to which we have been forced to succumb.” Churchill added in his own words, “It is good that we have no wish to be unfaithful to so wholesome a tradition.”

The days ahead will be challenging, but I relish the opportunity to be faithful to so wholesome a tradition. Our duty in the Majority was to govern. Our duty in the Minority is to propose solutions based on Republican principles and tear down every Democratic argument that sets itself against our agenda. We must look for every strategic opportunity to stand in the gap.

We must not grow complacent, neglecting to learn the procedures of the House of Representatives — relying on auto-pilot special rules that require no more from us than to show up and vote. Our Minority Leadership team must be present on the floor and practiced at maximizing our procedural posture.

Newt Gingrich once said, “The number-one fact about the news media is that they love fights. When you give them confrontations, you get attention. When you get attention, you can educate.” More than anything, our Minority must educate the American people about our renewed vision and thus, we must choose our battles wisely. Whether it be discharge petitions, extensive use of the unfunded mandates and earmark reform rules, vote-a-ramas, timely motions to adjourn, and filibusters by amendment during the appropriations season, rest assured our Minority will confront.

This will not be a new terrain for me or my team. At the RSC, we used or advocated for many of these tools to move our agenda when appropriate. In addition, we initiated an internal rewrite of the House Rules that led us to offer numerous proposals to improve the rules to control spending and legislative transparency. While most were voted down, the effort deepened our understanding of the Institution and the specific levers at our disposal. Our team is knowledgeable, our team is motivated, and our team is prepared for the House floor.

That is not to say that we will only obstruct. Certainly not. We also will attempt to restart the old GOP-Boll Weevil coalition that proved so successful in the 1980s to advance President Reagan’s revolution with a Democrat House and a Republican Senate. There are Blue Dog Democrats that want to balance the budget, address our nation’s abounding debt, strengthen Social Security, and protect life and marriage. Our Minority will look for opportunities to work with them when there is agreement, and our hope will be that these occasions will not be few and far between.

A Positive Agenda

It is important to get one last thing straight. As your leader, I will not encourage you to use negative personal attacks on the floor or in your campaigns. The American people are weary of the personal invective of modern politics. Some of you may not know that it took me a long time to get to Congress. I lost two races, in 1988 and 1990. Those experiences were not fun, but they taught me an important lesson, prompting me to pen an article called “Confessions of a Negative Campaigner.” My realization was not that negative personal attacks cannot “work.” At times, they very well may, but they have an opportunity cost. They squander priceless opportunities to define how we would govern differently, what our ideas are, and why they are better. When we resort to the politics of personal destruction, we are inherently off-message.

Our campaigns must value winning, but as candidates we cannot be seduced by the political opportunities of the moment and find ourselves swayed from our principles just to win the next election. As I wrote then in defeat and believe now, in order to attain a strong and lasting Majority we ought to be a new breed of candidates that seek to leave a foundation of arguments in favor of policies that will stand the test of time. We must run not just “to win,” but “to stand.” And if we stand on that foundation, we will win and usher in a new Majority—one that will be concerned with far more than continuing to retain itself.

Conclusion

In 1995, House Republicans wrote the following in one of their first governing documents:

America stands at a crossroads. Down one path lies more and more debt and the continued degradation of the Federal Government and the people it is intended to serve. Down the other lies the restoration of the American dream…we choose the second of these roads. We do it because it’s right. We do it because it’s sensible. We do it because America’s future does not belong to the Congress, or the administration, or any political party. It belongs to the American people themselves.

We are once again at a historic crossroads in the nation’s future. Unfortunately, the result of this week’s election means that America, with Republican losses in both the Senate and the House and a President with only two years left to serve, is poised to go down the other path — the wrong one. Our Minority must stand in the gap and point the path to the other road. We must be a light in the darkness. For these two years, my friends, that must be our legacy. It is the only legacy the American people will accept from us.

Support Mike Pence for Minority Leader

 

Dear Republican Colleague,

I am writing to announce my candidacy for Republican Leader in the 110th Congress and to ask for your support. I will make every effort to speak with you about this personally before our leadership elections, and I am anxious to hear your thoughts and counsel.

Like all of you, I was deeply disappointed with the outcome of Election Day 2006. I am saddened to think of the men and women who will leave our ranks and cannot reflect on the names without emotion or ask, as Gideon did in defeat, "why has all this happened to us?"

I urge you to consider this specific question as we return to the Capitol to choose the men and women who will lead us back to the Majority. I look forward to your analysis but, as Sen. Phil Gramm once said, "I've got an open mind, but not an empty mind." Here is my take.

I am running for Republican leader, because I believe that we did not just lose our Majority-we lost our way. We are in the wilderness because we walked away from the limited government principles that minted the Republican Congress. But there is a way out. "The way out of the wilderness," author Mark Helprin wrote, "is the truth; recognizing it, stating it, defending it, living by it." Here is the truth as I see it.

The Truth:

After 1994, we were a Majority committed to a balanced federal budget, entitlement reform and the principles of a limited federal government. We delivered on balanced federal budgets, welfare reform and responded to a national emergency with defense spending, homeland security and tax cuts that put our economy back on its feet.

However, in recent years, to the chagrin of millions of Republicans, our Majority also voted to expand the federal government's role in education by nearly 100% and created the largest new entitlement in 40 years. We also pursued domestic spending policies that created record deficits, national debt and earmark spending that has embarrassed us and caused many Americans to question our commitment to fiscal responsibility.

This was not in the Contract with America.

Our opponents will say that the American people rejected our Republican vision. I say the American people did not quit on the Contract with America, we did. In so doing, we severed the bonds of trust between our party and millions of our most ardent supporters.

As we choose who will lead us in the days ahead, it is essential that we learn from the lessons of 2006. It is more important that we move forward with a renewed commitment to our principles and the vigor to do our duty.

Our mission has now changed. Our mission in the Majority was to pass legislation reflecting Republican principles. The duty of the Republican Minority in the 110th Congress is to defeat the liberal agenda of the Democrat Party and become the majority in Congress again. We will only defeat the Democrat agenda by presenting a positive, conservative message in vivid contrast to the big government liberalism of the new Majority.

New Vision:

To renew our Majority, we must offer this nation a compelling vision of fiscal discipline and reform. It is written "without a vision, the people perish." What is true of a people is also true of any political movement. Our new Republican minority must rededicate itself to the ideals and standards that minted our majority in 1994. Only by renewing the promises of the Republican Revolution will we attain Majority status again. Now, as then, we must pledge ourselves to promote and defend the agenda the American people elect Republicans to advance; defend our nation, our treasury and our values. We must again embrace the notion that Republicans seek the Majority not simply to govern but to change government for the better. We are the agents of change and we must return to that reformist vision.

New Voices:

I have great respect and appreciation for the hard work and leadership provided by our current leadership. Like most members of our conference, I have stood behind our leaders through good times and challenging times. However, in this new time of challenge also comes opportunity. I believe we must confront this moment with new leadership and new voices. We must take a page from the playbook of President Ronald Reagan who taught us that it is not enough to believe great things, we must effectively communicate great things to the American people.

In various roles, over the past six years, I have worked to provide a credible and persuasive voice for the Reagan agenda. Credibility will be essential for our primary task these next two years-to expose, dismantle and defeat the Democrat agenda. Without the votes necessary to stop the advance of their liberal priorities, our mission will be one of persuasion and tactics. Each of us must commit ourselves to using our voices and areas of expertise to dismantle Democrat arguments and expose their liberal, big government agenda at every turn. I see every Republican member as a leader, with unique gifts and talents, and I am asking for the privilege of serving this team of leaders.

These are anxious times, and we all feel the pain of opportunity lost. I encourage you to act without fear or inhibition, to be bold in your choices, and return this conference to the ideals and standards that created our national governing Majority. To retake our Majority, we must "be strong and courageous and do the work." We must renew our commitment to the agenda of the Majority of the American people, and defend our nation, our treasury and our values for ourselves and our posterity.

I am ready to work with you to restore and renew the Republican Congress. I ask for your support to serve you as Republican Leader in the 110th Congress.

Most sincerely,

Rep. Mike Pence

A positive campaign/debate (a rarity in politics today)

 

After a long month of watching negative campaign ads and listening to candidates only talk about their opposition and how bad they are, here is an example to follow in the debate between Mike Pence and his opponent in the 6th district. Pence knows what it means to be a statesman and how to put our conservative principles on the offensive instead of wasting time talking about the other person. A campaign should not be about a person but rather about ideas. This is why Mike Pence will easily win his re-election. Here is an article on the Pence debate.

MUNCIE -- If their lone debate is any indication, Mike Pence and Barry Welsh are steering clear of the mud-slinging that pervades many campaigns.

Pence, the long-time incumbent Republican, and his Democratic challenger Welsh met Monday in Muncie in a forum characterized by civility and politeness and free from protests.

Pence spent much of the time referring to his opponent as "Rev. Welsh," while Welsh referred to Pence as "Mr. Pence."

While they agreed to a civil approach, they disagreed on the issues.

The first question moderator Steve Bell asked illustrated the differences: What each candidate would first do in Congress that would differ from the other.

Welsh immediately said he would propose a law to raise the minimum wage. Pence said he would do what was necessary to make certain American soldiers had what they needed to fight the war on terror.

On same-sex marriage, Pence said he supported a constitutional amendment to ban it while Welsh said state law made a constitutional change unnecessary. Both are pro-life and agree on the need to secure American borders.

Pence -- who brought his wife, Karen, and senior staff to the event -- talked about how President Bush's economic policies and tax cuts helped create 6.6 million new jobs since August 2003, keeping unemployment at a 30-year low.

Welsh said he opposed foreign trade agreements, saying they had cost too many American manufacturing jobs. Pence countered that free trade helped create jobs and expand the economy, such as Honda building a new auto assembly plant in Greensburg that will create 2,500 jobs.

Jim Hahn, retired from Guide Corp. in Anderson, which is closing next year, said he believed both candidates responded well.

"Pence has been in office and he pretty much knows what is going on," Hahn said.

Fred Hellmer, who retired from Chrysler Corp. in New Castle, said he believed the discussion was even, although he pointed to fewer local jobs and a war that has gone wrong.

"I think the war was a big mistake from the word go," he said.

Janice Canan, a retired real estate appraisal, liked Pence and his views on family values and other issues, saying he represented the views of most area residents.

Pence/Welsh race for Congress a lesson in civility