Thread: ALIPAC: Conservative Activists Not Sold on GOP 'Pledge to Am

Conservative Activists Not Sold on GOP 'Pledge to America'

As House Minority Leader John Boehner unveiled the GOP's "Pledge to America" at the Tart Lumber Company in Virginia on Thursday, conservative activists around the country listened intently to find out if House Republicans had included their issues on the GOP's priority list for the near future.

Although Erick Erickson at RedState.com blasted the pledge as "full of compromises and milquetoast rhetorical flourishes in search of unanimity," other conservative activists praised the pledge as a good start, but just that -- a start.

The document is heavy on economic themes, pledging to keep the Bush tax cuts, cap federal spending, institute a federal hiring freeze, and whack Congress' budget. But traditional GOP social issues literally fell to the back of the line. A proposal to permanently end federal funding for abortion was listed last under a series of health care proposals, while enforcing immigration laws and strengthening America's borders came only at the end of a section on national security.

Erick EricksonMarjorie Dannenfelser, president and chairwoman of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, offered qualified praise for the pledge, saying the Republican leaders "echoed the voices of pro-life Americans calling for a Congress that will protect life." But she added that other items that were not in the document, like defunding Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers, must also be Republican priorities.

William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration, a grassroots group that opposes comprehensive immigration reform, said he could praise 90 percent of the document. "The concern that we have is when it says 'immigration reform starts with the enforcement of our laws,'" Gheen said. "We want to find out what some of these Republican candidates think it ends with."

Gheen said while he was happy to see border security included in the document, "What we were hoping for was, 'No path to citizenship ever for the illegals in this country.' Illegal aliens must never be able to become voters."

While issue advocates have long played a role in Republican politics, this year's Tea Party activists will be crucial to the success or failure of the GOP's efforts to recapture power in Congress.

Matt Kibbe, president and CEO of FreedomWorks, an organization closely aligned with the Tea Party movement, noted that several parts of the pledge echo or are even identical to the Contract From America, a document generated last year from grassroots activists.

"I think (the pledge) is a good step in the right direction and really reflects a lot of the issues that the grassroots have been pushing," Kibbe said. In addition to repealing the Obama health care law, which is in the document, Kibbe said Tea Party activists will want to see Boehner and other leaders fight for items that the document did not address, including a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

"There's more to be done," he said.

The man behind the Contract From America, Ryan Hecker, said his initial reaction to the pledge was positive -- with footnotes. "I think it is definitely a good first step," Hecker said. "Looking beyond the first few months, they need to push toward fundamental tax reform, and a balanced budget amendment, as well as real earmark reform."

The Houston-based lawyer said that he is confident that Boehner can see through the promises that he and his fellow Republicans made, but, he added, "In terms of really pushing forth other bold measures, we'll see. We're going to hold them up to it. We're not going away November 3rd."

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/09/23 ... o-america/

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[b]Liberals take freedoms away, Republicans hold the line and retreat

An Anemic “Pledge To Americaâ€

We are going to put these goof balls in office... and if they screw it up ... the shit is going to hit the fan like this country has never seen

If we are to take our country back we must stop fighting over some social issues in order to unite a larger portion of true Americans including indies and some Dems. imho

Our focus must be on a smaller less intrusive Gov.,Illegal Immigration,more power to States,lower taxes,lower our national debt,adhere to our constituition and get career politicians out of office if they do not listen to "We The People" on these issues.

Originally Posted by USPatriot

If we are to take our country back we must stop fighting over some social issues in order to unite a larger portion of true Americans including indies and some Dems. imho

Our focus must be on a smaller less intrusive Gov.,Illegal Immigration,more power to States,lower taxes,lower our national debt,adhere to our constituition and get career politicians out of office if they do not listen to "We The People" on these issues.

I think there can be a --small--role for government in leading the way to employment growth through facilitating research and development. Case in point: the NASA n+2 and N+3 grants to design the next generation of commercial aircraft---an industry which we have sorely depended upon for export earnings.
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/oc ... racts.html

There are other technologies-- some of them advanced even by Obama---that could produce exportable products. We need to be looking at every possibility we can to stay ahead of the now-globalized competition and produce products that we can sell.

I don't think we can just turn businessmen loose on the American economy and expect that they will give American workers the highest priority. A lot of them would just outsource to other countries.

Originally Posted by Captainron

Originally Posted by USPatriot

If we are to take our country back we must stop fighting over some social issues in order to unite a larger portion of true Americans including indies and some Dems. imho

Our focus must be on a smaller less intrusive Gov.,Illegal Immigration,more power to States,lower taxes,lower our national debt,adhere to our constituition and get career politicians out of office if they do not listen to "We The People" on these issues.

I think there can be a --small--role for government in leading the way to employment growth through facilitating research and development. Case in point: the NASA n+2 and N+3 grants to design the next generation of commercial aircraft---an industry which we have sorely depended upon for export earnings.
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/oc ... racts.html

There are other technologies-- some of them advanced even by Obama---that could produce exportable products. We need to be looking at every possibility we can to stay ahead of the now-globalized competition and produce products that we can sell.

I don't think we can just turn businessmen loose on the American economy and expect that they will give American workers the highest priority. A lot of them would just outsource to other countries.

Yes I agree Captainiron.

Our Gov. already is outsourcing a lot of projects which need to stay within our country,mostly to India.

As for the corp. Business side;My niece is a Head Engineer project manager for GE. Her latest project was the AirBus.She told me 14 countries were involved in designing,developing and building the AirBus.

I laughed and said the AirBus is in trouble if that many countries try to build the Bus. I think this is exactly why the AirBus went down in the ocean.Too many disconnected fingers in the pot.

I see this pledge as a good start - not the end of the discussion. I believe the document included language that local governments should be permitted to enforce immigration law. Local enforcement would go a long, long way to sending illegals back home. It's the Obama lawsuit against AZ that's keeping more local government from enforcing the law.

Establish Operational Control of the Border: We must take action by securing our borders, and that action starts with enforcing our laws. We will ensure that the Border Patrol has the tools and authorities to establish operational control at the border and prohibit the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture from interfering with Border Patrol activities on Federal Land

Work With State and Local Officials to Enforce our Immigration Laws: The problem with illegal immigration and the Mexican drug cartels engaged in an increasingly violent conflict means we need all hands on deck to address this challenge. We will reaffirm the authority of state and local law enforcement to assist in the enforcement of all immigration laws.

Strengthen Visa Security: To stop Terrorists like Omar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Christmas Day Bomber, we will require the Department of Homeland Security to review all visa applications at high risk consular posts and prevent aliens from attempting to avoid deportation after having their visas revoked

Originally Posted by jamesw62

Establish Operational Control of the Border: We must take action by securing our borders, and that action starts with enforcing our laws. We will ensure that the Border Patrol has the tools and authorities to establish operational control at the border and prohibit the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture from interfering with Border Patrol activities on Federal Land

Work With State and Local Officials to Enforce our Immigration Laws: The problem with illegal immigration and the Mexican drug cartels engaged in an increasingly violent conflict means we need all hands on deck to address this challenge. We will reaffirm the authority of state and local law enforcement to assist in the enforcement of all immigration laws.

Strengthen Visa Security: To stop Terrorists like Omar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Christmas Day Bomber, we will require the Department of Homeland Security to review all visa applications at high risk consular posts and prevent aliens from attempting to avoid deportation after having their visas revoked

They only ever seem to talk about border security -- and ignore internal enforcement by the federal government. ALIPAC is right to be suspicious of where the "end" is! Affirm state and local law enforcement to do something--bah!