Why Abortion is a cause of the Financial Mess (by way of illegal immigration)

Something struck me at breakfast this morning, an awful (and frankly, a little strange) realization that I think has been overlooked in the bailout debate.

One of the root causes of the financial mess we’re in is the holocaust of abortion.

Follow the logic here…

In the thirty five years since Roe v. Wade, 48.5 million babies have been killed (legally) in the United States. That’s 48 million people under the age of 35 that we’re missing as a nation - about 20 million of which would now be in the workforce.

In 1973, according to the US government, the estimated number of illegal immigrants in the United States was at 4 million people. In the intervening thirty-five years, those same years since Roe, that number has quintupled to (you guessed it) around 20 million. To replace the population, especially the workforce population, that had been lost by abortion, businesses turned to an underground market of illegal immigrant labor.

Where did those illegals live? Many were (and in some places, still are) in tent cities and trailer parks hidden away around the nation.

But, in the 1990s, something strange happened. In the ‘90s, those who wanted low-income folks (many of whom had been the victims of racial discrimination) to get more affordable housing changed the rules for lending to those folks, but did it in a way that included easing the paperwork burden. This noble goal came with an unintended consequence: illegal immigrants flocked to buy houses, since the new rules made it easier to get mortgages without actually being a citizen or legal resident.

Those same rule changes allowed no down payment mortgages up to 125% of the value of the house – which encouraged fraud among the illegal immigrant population.

Imagine the fraud possibility – you use the fraudulent documents that allowed you to steal someone else’s identity to also get a mortgage, for 125% of the value of a home, pocket the extra 25% in cash, live in the house for a year, don’t make payments, leave to go work somewhere else and let the bank foreclose. And because you’re on a stolen identity, no one can track you down.

Now, I do understand that this is only one part of the overall mess in the financial system, and not a comprehensive fix. But it’s still a major part.

The Bailout Package really should include border fencing and the repeal of Roe v. Wade. Otherwise, we’re open for more of this in the future.



Update: Video of liberal Democrats in denial over the impact of Fannie and Freddie. When you watch press coverage tonight of the bailout, remember that those same folks are the ones who gave us this mess in the first place.

Presidential Debate thoughts

McCain on points... no Knockout blows in Round 1.

If you want to know how I spent my evening, The State has the roundup. Don't miss the video...

How far to the right did Barack Obama shift before last night's debate? All of a sudden, he's trying to sound like a neocon - giving Ukraine and Georgia NATO membership, calling Iran a terror sponsor, and calling Israel our staunchest ally. If he had come out like that in the Dem debates, we would've been watching someone else on stage last night. All part of the show, I suppose...

McCain did a better job of defining his opponent than Obama did last night. Obama tried to make this the "Bush/McCain" term, and did OK doing it. McCain solidly (and repeatedly) made the point that Obama is too dangerously naive to be President.

There was one clear loser in this debate: Jim Lehrer. I kept expecting him to handout boxing gloves or brass knuckles while trying to get the two to attack each other. After last night, I wouldn't be surprised if PBS got it's federal funding eliminated to help pay for the bailout package...

Every debate moderator has to live up to the memory of Tim Russert (and the surprisingly solid forum performance of Pastor Rick Warren). Lehrer fell far short of those considerations last night.

Where the financial mess goes from here: my 3-point plan

OK, so, for the purposes of this discussion, let's assume the bailout passes, in some form. Congratulations, taxpayers, you're the proud new owners of approximately $700B in other people's bad debts. (I won't get into those arguments here, but I think Senator Jim Demint and former Speaker Newt Gingrich have already made the best cases against the bailout...)

All that said, let's assume for the moment that, 70% of the American public's lack of support notwithstanding, the bailout passes Congress this week, in some form or fashion. Where should we go from there? Here's my three point plan...


The Federal Government must get out of the federal housing and mortgage business, phased out over the next ten to twenty years.

This entire mess happened when President Clinton bowed to liberal pressure (or helped engineer it) and pushed through initiatives to expand home ownership. A laudable goal, to be sure, but never underestimate the power of unintended consequences when dealing with the behomoth that is the Federal Government. The government's interference into the marketplace, loosening credit to folks who frankly never should have gotten loans in the name of expanded home ownership and a growing economy, blew up in all of our faces this month. Fannie is a New Deal relic whose expiration time has come due.

So, just as soon as the Treasury Secretary gets his grubby mitts on those debts and the public panic calms down, the US government needs to get out of the mortgage business altogether. Take a couple of years, five at the most to quietly and slowly sell off all of the assets we're taking control of now. Then take a couple of years to sell off all of the Fannie and Freddie assets and close them down. The experiment into government-based lending needs to stop - the government is great at taking people's money, but a rank amateur at managing the process. (Oh, and Rep. Barney Frank should not be allowed within one hundred nautical miles of this process. He's as much responsible for this mess as anyone.)

While we're at it, after we've closed Freddie and Fannie, the whole federal housing mess needs to go away as well. No more crime-stricken, drug-ridden housing projects, no more foot-bridges to nowhere for local congresscritters, no more corrupt under the table favors for which landowner gets to sell out to the feds at an overinflated price. As with so many other things, this is just something the federal government has no business dealing in, no matter how noble the goal. The sooner we get out of this mess, the faster it can get cleaned up - though I'd take ten years to phase the program out altogether, just to make the landing as soft as possible for the folks ekeing out a living in those homes now.

No "Government sponsored entity" should be allowed to donate money to political campaigns. Ever.

The Obama folks will quite rightly point to the $180K that has been donated from Freddie and Fannie to the McCain camp, who will quickly and even more rightly retort that Senator Obama has taken more money in less time ($500K in only two and a half years in the Senate) than any other member of either house of Congress. They're both right, and they're both wrong. I know how much campaigns cost, I don't begrudge politicians' ability to raise money, and I'm willing to give them both a pass on this one, because they accepted legal political contributions.

(Political integrity should mean you accept all legal donations, and still work for what's best for the American citizenry. If you can't work for the citizens because you've taken a political donation, you're in the wrong business. But I digress...)

But that doesn't excuse the fact that Freddie and Fannie have been spreading the federal largesse to the political campaigns of more than three hundred members of Congress. That's unacceptable - federal government entities should not be allowed to influence the campaigns of those whose oversight impacts their business (which should've been closed down years ago...see above.) Frankly, the Hatch Act should've covered this, but since they made Freddie and Fannie "Government Sponsored Entities" (GSEs) instead of departments of the government, the employees weren't covered, and neither were the companies. That should stop - and these companies (and any quasi-governmental or GSE entities like them) shouldn't be allowed PACs, either.

While we're at it, this goes at the state level too - states shouldn't be lobbying the feds for funding, and neither should cities and counties be hiring lobbyists to go for state money, while state associations give money to State Senators, Reps and Leadership PACs. That's just Big Government Corruption begetting more Big Government Corruption, as far as I'm concerned.

On to the Wall Street side of the mess...

No More Short Selling, Naked or Otherwise.

For the uninitiated, the process of short selling involves selling a stock you don't own shares of, and then making up for it later by buying the shares at a lower price. This isn't responsible or moral investing, it's a casino game for vultures - and it directly contributed to the downfalls of Lehman and AIG last week. Senator McCain has quite rightly criticized the SEC for allowing short-selling to continue, and for now, the SEC is banning it - for financials. I'd like to see that go across the board and permanently.

(The difference between "Short Selling" and "Naked Short Selling" is whether or not you borrow someone else's shares first before you sell them. I'm largely referring to Naked, or unborrowed, Short Selling, but the problems apply to both types.)

This isn't the first time this battle's been waged either. In addition to being banned in England after a Dutch tulip crisis, short-selling was partly blamed for the crash of 1929 that brought about (or at least exacerbated) the Great Depression. It's also partly to blame (along with Bernie Ebbers' $11B fraud) for the collapse (and subsequent bankruptcy) of WorldCom, my former employer. After the near-death experience the market had last week, it's long since time to say "Real Men Don't Sell Short."

So, that's my three point plan. Comment away.

ICYMI: Kevin Hassett on How the Democrats Created the Financial Crisis

Courtesy Bloomberg News - this is important reading to understand why liberally motivated government intervention brought us the financial crisis we're in now.

(In other words, this is why excessive government intervention is to blame, and not the free market.)

The financial crisis of the past year has provided a number of surprising twists and turns, and from Bear Stearns Cos. to American International Group Inc., ambiguity has been a big part of the story.

Why did Bear Stearns fail, and how does that relate to AIG? It all seems so complex.

But really, it isn't. Enough cards on this table have been turned over that the story is now clear. The economic history books will describe this episode in simple and understandable terms: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac exploded, and many bystanders were injured in the blast, some fatally.

Fannie and Freddie did this by becoming a key enabler of the mortgage crisis. They fueled Wall Street's efforts to securitize subprime loans by becoming the primary customer of all AAA-rated subprime-mortgage pools. In addition, they held an enormous portfolio of mortgages themselves.

In the times that Fannie and Freddie couldn't make the market, they became the market. Over the years, it added up to an enormous obligation. As of last June, Fannie alone owned or guaranteed more than $388 billion in high-risk mortgage investments. Their large presence created an environment within which even mortgage-backed securities assembled by others could find a ready home.

The problem was that the trillions of dollars in play were only low-risk investments if real estate prices continued to rise. Once they began to fall, the entire house of cards came down with them.

Turning Point

Take away Fannie and Freddie, or regulate them more wisely, and it's hard to imagine how these highly liquid markets would ever have emerged. This whole mess would never have happened.

It is easy to identify the historical turning point that marked the beginning of the end.

Back in 2005, Fannie and Freddie were, after years of dominating Washington, on the ropes. They were enmeshed in accounting scandals that led to turnover at the top. At one telling moment in late 2004, captured in an article by my American Enterprise Institute colleague Peter Wallison, the Securities and Exchange Comiission's chief accountant told disgraced Fannie Mae chief Franklin Raines that Fannie's position on the relevant accounting issue was not even ``on the page'' of allowable interpretations.

Then legislative momentum emerged for an attempt to create a ``world-class regulator'' that would oversee the pair more like banks, imposing strict requirements on their ability to take excessive risks. Politicians who previously had associated themselves proudly with the two accounting miscreants were less eager to be associated with them. The time was ripe.

Greenspan's Warning

The clear gravity of the situation pushed the legislation forward. Some might say the current mess couldn't be foreseen, yet in 2005 Alan Greenspan told Congress how urgent it was for it to act in the clearest possible terms: If Fannie and Freddie ``continue to grow, continue to have the low capital that they have, continue to engage in the dynamic hedging of their portfolios, which they need to do for interest rate risk aversion, they potentially create ever-growing potential systemic risk down the road,'' he said. ``We are placing the total financial system of the future at a substantial risk.''

What happened next was extraordinary. For the first time in history, a serious Fannie and Freddie reform bill was passed by the Senate Banking Committee. The bill gave a regulator power to crack down, and would have required the companies to eliminate their investments in risky assets.

Different World

If that bill had become law, then the world today would be different. In 2005, 2006 and 2007, a blizzard of terrible mortgage paper fluttered out of the Fannie and Freddie clouds, burying many of our oldest and most venerable institutions. Without their checkbooks keeping the market liquid and buying up excess supply, the market would likely have not existed.

But the bill didn't become law, for a simple reason: Democrats opposed it on a party-line vote in the committee, signaling that this would be a partisan issue. Republicans, tied in knots by the tight Democratic opposition, couldn't even get the Senate to vote on the matter.

That such a reckless political stand could have been taken by the Democrats was obscene even then. Wallison wrote at the time: ``It is a classic case of socializing the risk while privatizing the profit. The Democrats and the few Republicans who oppose portfolio limitations could not possibly do so if their constituents understood what they were doing.''

Mounds of Materials

Now that the collapse has occurred, the roadblock built by Senate Democrats in 2005 is unforgivable. Many who opposed the bill doubtlessly did so for honorable reasons. Fannie and Freddie provided mounds of materials defending their practices. Perhaps some found their propaganda convincing.

But we now know that many of the senators who protected Fannie and Freddie, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Christopher Dodd, have received mind-boggling levels of financial support from them over the years.

Throughout his political career, Obama has gotten more than $125,000 in campaign contributions from employees and political action committees of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, second only to Dodd, the Senate Banking Committee chairman, who received more than $165,000.

Clinton, the 12th-ranked recipient of Fannie and Freddie PAC and employee contributions, has received more than $75,000 from the two enterprises and their employees. The private profit found its way back to the senators who killed the fix.

There has been a lot of talk about who is to blame for this crisis. A look back at the story of 2005 makes the answer pretty clear.

Oh, and there is one little footnote to the story that's worth keeping in mind while Democrats point fingers between now and Nov. 4: Senator John McCain was one of the three cosponsors of S.190, the bill that would have averted this mess.

Kevin Hassett, director of economic-policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
To contact the writer of this column: Kevin Hassett at khassett@aei.org

Obama Goes to Hollywood

So the headlines have been blaring about a $28,500/plate fundraising dinner for Barack Obama last night, one attended by about 300 people (the usual Hollyweird crowd - Will Ferrell, Jodie Foster, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Lee Curtis, Steven Spielberg, David Geffen, Jeffrey Katzenberg...). Barbara Streisand was there singing, so I have to admit, I'm glad I wasn't there.

But it raises a question. I am NOT an expert on presidential fundraising or the laws that govern it (I'm a policy/communications guy...important to "know thyself"), but if memory serves, the legal presidential contribution limit is $2300 per person, no corporate contributions allowed, and all of those people must be US citizens or legal residents, who in turn must also report home address, employer and occupation, etc.

So, if the legal limit is $2300, how do you even legally schedule a $28,500/plate dinner, and have the headline "Obama raises $9M at Hollywood fundraiser"? Isn't the most Obama could raise from 300 people $690K? (I'm a policy guy 'cuz I'm good with the math...) That sounds like more than twelve times the legal limit to me... or is there some weird loophole that lets celebrities give more than normal people?

(Paging Sunny Philips - your expertise is needed today... and we miss your blog)

These have been held previously - most notably one for Hillary in 2005. That one ended badly, with one of the fundraisers getting in federal trouble for breaking campaign finance laws, but for reporting misdeeds, not the clearly obvious "over the limit" thing (The the NY Times has a page up from 2007 that alleges a series of Clinton fundraising abuses.)

Interesting note - McCain, whose monstrous campaign finance law at the least complicates this issue, dinged Obama about the fundraiser with "celebrity friends" but not about the dollar amount.

So why is it legal to hold events that cost 12 times the legal contribution limit to get in? Anyone?

on Patriotism, and Blogging 9/11

OK, I'm opening a can of worms here, but I think it has to be said...

Patriots, blogging on 9/11/01 today:

Adam Fogle, whose Palmetto Scoop included the patriot poetry of a dying Jack Buck;

Earl Capps, who posts Lincoln's Gettysburg Address;

Dan Cassidy, whose Sunlit Uplands posted numerous items, including this patriotic YouTube;

Brian McCarty, whose VUI posted a composite picture of the victims;

Mike's America, who posts pictures and video from the day;

Jeff Duncan, whose Walk-On Legislator posts thoughts from an airport this morning;

Rod Shealy, Sr, recovering from brain tumor surgery, takes a moment to remember 9/11;

Michelle Malkin remembers, while Hugh Hewitt Prays;

The Jawas remember, and do not forgive;

Don McLaughlin remembers where he was at on 9-11 on Redstate;

****

And then we have our friends on the left...

The ever aptly titled notverybright chose to attack The State's Brad Warthen for his support of the Iraq War today, before a post questioning Sarah Palin's qualifications;

Tammy at Seeding Spartanburg chose to mock Sarah Palin's last name today;

Tim Kelly at Crack the Bell chose to continue his attacks on Sarah Palin today (one day after changing "Shrill b*tch" to "lying sack of s**t")

Waldo Lydecker chose to attack Sarah Palin's Christian Faith today.

****

It's not that I'm questioning the patriotism of you liberal bloggers; it's that you don't apparently have any patriotism for me to question. You're too busy attacking the Republican Vice Presidential nominee...

****

An important exception: Roxanne Walker did something different - she chose to pay tribute to Iraqi veterans who suffer from depression and mental illness as a result of the war. While I don't agree with her conclusions (or even her premise), I still appreciate that she took the time to pay tribute to one American soldier today.

****

For some actually historic perspective on 9/11, check out the History Channel's 102 Minutes that changed America. I highly recommend the site - especially for those of you mentioned above who have apparently forgotten that day, what happened, how we changed, and why.

Reprise: The Ballad of Johnny Heff

As we remember 9/11/2001 today, I am reprising my Project 2,996 posting from two years ago, memorializing one of the heroes who fell that awful day, seven years ago.

May we never forget.

*****


Johnny Heffernan was a guitar player, and reportedly a very good one. He played first for a band called the Psychotics, then for a New York neo-punk band known as the Bullys, wearing his trademark black t-shirt and jeans, and working with Marky Ramone on their first album: Stomposition. According to John Holmstrom, editor of Punk Magazine, The Bullys were a force in renewing the punk scene in New York, and Johnny was the true force behind the band.

If not for The Bullys, I might never have bothered with the relaunch of PUNK magazine. This band, more than anything else, convinced me that there's a real rock 'n' roll scene out there worth writing about. I wanted to bring out a new PUNK magazine so maybe we could put The Bullys on the map, just like we did for The Ramones, Blondie and the Dead Boys back in the day… Johnny had real star quality. He was good-looking, articulate (in his own way), talented, ambitious, and charismatic… I thought he was like the Jimmy Cagney of punk rock.

Johnny Heff was as rebellious as you would expect from a punk rocker, except that the occasional target of his anger was radical Islam. And sometimes, that came out in lyrical form:

"I hear the government of Afghanistan is waging a war upon women. Where da f*** is Gasghanistan? I gotta get a f***in' map for dat one. Anyway, it must be one tough m*****f***ing country to wage war against chicks, huh? Since some dude named The Taliban took power in 1996, women had to wear some s*** called the Bercha or somethin', and have been beaten and stoned in public for not wearin' the proper attire. So I guess tattoos and leather pants are out of the question, eh? ... Well, if they ever get into a war with the United States, they should know we ain't gonna just send a bunch of chicks to f*** 'em up... I'll go to fight... Anybody know where 'dis backward frickin' place is?"

So, in his own very unique way, Johnny Heff was alert to who the enemy was, years before the rest of us had necessarily figured it out.

Johnny was also a committed family man. A rebel on stage, Johnny was notoriously mellow around his wife Lori and daughter Samantha, teaching “Sammy” to swim, taking her to her first concert, even helping her do her nails. Lori described Johnny as her “soul mate” and Johnny’s friends were amazed at the way Johnny “marshmellowed out” around his wife and daughter.

Unfortunately, being the lead guitarist in a punk band rarely pays the bills, although the band was becoming very successful and hoped to start touring, so in 1993 Johnny also took a day job, one that allowed him to support his family.

Johnny became a New York City Firefighter.

Perhaps that didn’t seem that heroic at the time, but it certainly does now. You see, on a bright sunny day, five years ago this morning, Johnny Heffernan of Engine Company 28, Ladder 11 raced into a burning World Trade Center, one of the first on the scene.

Maybe Johnny had the lyrics to his song going through his head that morning, as he raced up the stairs to rescue as many people as possible. Maybe he realized exactly who was responsible for the destruction he was witnessing, and maybe he didn’t. We will never know. Nor will we know exactly how many lives he saved that day, just another FDNY firefighter “doing his job” with unparalleled heroism. What we know is that he was right, and he fought bravely to save lives that day just as he’d lyrically promised he would if given the chance.

And that they found him at Ground Zero on October 2, 2001, on his beloved Lori’s 31st birthday.

As we remember the events of that awful day, we also pause to remember and honor the lives of those who were lost that day. I never knew Johnny Heff, and I wish I could’ve met him. He sounds like a brash barrel of fun to me.

I don’t know if any members of the Heffernan family will read this. I hope that if they do, that I will have done Johnny justice (even though I know I’m probably not capable of that). I also hope if you are reading this, that you’ll be willing to add a few notes of your own to honor the fallen hero that you knew far better than any of the rest of us.

One final note. It seems that heroism runs in the Heffernan family. Johnny’s younger brother Michael is a FDNY firefighter, and youngest brother Brian is NYPD.

O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine,
Til all success be nobleness And every gain divine!

*****

I want to thank Dale and the folks at Project 2,996 for the opportunity to participate. It has been an honor, a humbling experience, and an emotional one.

Please take the time today to read more of the tributes to the men and women of 9/11.


*****

To support the family of Johnny Heffernan, and others of his engine company who perished that fateful day, make your check out to:

Eng28/Lad11, WTC Relief Fund

And mail it to:

Engine Co. 28/Ladder Co. 11
222 East 2nd Street
NYC NY 10003

Sources: LGF, Legacy.com, September11victims.com, thebullys.com, Punk Magazine.

Liberal Hate (or Why They're Screaming Scared of Sarah Palin)

I've long noted that the "Hate is not a Family Value" bumpersticker crowd loves to hate the conservatives they accuse of being hateful. This is wedded to the liberal interest group notion that people in certain groups should "belong" to the Democrats, and if they don't the need to be punished for getting out of line. The two groups that drive liberal Democrats craziest are conservative women and conservative minorities.

For past national examples of this, I would point to the vicious left-wing attacks on Michael Steele (the infamous blackface Photoshop), Clarence Thomas, and Michele Malkin. For past SC examples look no further than Karen Floyd's face with the words "Cocaine Fueled" superimposed, or Ross Shealy's now infamous attack in The State on Karen Iacovelli's Lyme Disease (the one I responded to by referring to him as “morally reprehensible and well beyond the bounds of acceptable civil discourse” - the tagline he still proudly displays on his other blog).

Well, they're at it again over Alaska Governor (and McCain running mate) Sarah Palin. Bob McAlister has already given you his take on the media's spurious attacks, but I thought I'd hit it from another angle - the liberal hate-osphere.

After Republicans noted the lack of experience at the head of the Democrat ticket, Donna Brazile on CNN's Strategy Room compared Obama to Christ and Palin to Pilate: "Jesus was a community organizer; Pontius Pilate was a governor."

Juan Cole in Salon today compared Governor Palin to "a Muslim Fundamentalist with lipstick."


SC's own Waldo Lydecker calls Palin "James Dobson's Moose Muppet" and a "trailer-trash Christianista".

Elonkey rolls out the snark to call her "one of those perky little ex-beauty queens who will repeatedly stab you with her rhetoric while wearing a 1,000-watt smile on her face". In the same snarky vein, Deacon Tim refers to her "truthiness."

Tim at Crack the Bell just comes out and calls her a "Shrill Bitch."

Hey liberals: y'all stay classy, now...

*****

Pat Buchanon points out this morning:

Palin's daughter was fair game for a media that refused to look into reports that John Edwards, a Democratic candidate for president, was conducting an illicit affair with a woman said to be carrying his child and cheating on his faithful wife Elizabeth, who has incurable cancer. That was not a legitimate story, but Bristol Palin's pregnancy is?

Mona Charen adds:

Sarah Palin is no ordinary pro-lifer. She is an attractive, intelligent, ambitious, successful woman who has actually lived her convictions... And there stands Sarah, Trig Palin in her arms, a beautiful ambassador for the path of humility, duty, honor, and grace. It's no wonder she was in their crosshairs from the get go.

Final Thoughts from Convention Week

I thought I'd give you a wrap up of the week with my own thoughts and recollections.

Governor Sarah Palin is the Real Deal.
It was a privilege to meet her, and her husband, and her mother, and her aunts. Folks, these are real, every day, down to earth people. No putting on airs, no falsity, just real people - and frankly a breath of fresh air.

Politically, that is going to connect with most of the heartland of this country. The northeastern liberal elites, especially in the media, will never understand the Palins, and will never understand why they connect at such a deep level with ordinary Americans. Neither will the West Coast Hollywood crowd. But the vast middle of the country, stretching from the Sierras to the edges of the Beltway, will understand this family perfectly - because we and they are the same. These are normal people with normal struggles and triumphs and challenges. That is why the left and the media have gone bonkers trying to cut her to ribbons - they understand the danger Governor Palin brings without understanding her at all.

Her speech was simply brilliant - even more so because the teleprompter had died a third of the way through. When they checked the tape to the original, she had changed one only word (not counting the insertion of the now famous pit bull/hockey mom/lipstick reference). That is a sign of a great and polished speaker who kept her head remarkably well.

But her speech, while fantastic, wasn't the memory I will cherish the most from this convention. Later that night, after we rode the bus back to the hotel, but before we went to the party up the street, a number of us were in the hotel lobby/lounge area. In walks Henry Kissinger. I get to meet Henry Kissinger and shake his hand - too weird. I'm still in that lobby (after taking a few pictures) when I hear the elevator ding - and in walks Sarah and Todd Palin. They meet a few people and chat, and pose for pictures, before the Secret Service politely reminds her to keep moving, and she does - into the hotel lounge/restaurant area.

The roar that went up from the folks in the hotel lounge is a sound I will remember for the rest of my life. It sounded like a Stanley Cup winning goal had been scored, or a Super Bowl winning touchdown - in overtime. The hotel shook with the noise - and then they all started chanting "SARAH... SARAH..." I get choked up just remembering that sound. I spoke with someone Friday morning who still had chills just thinking about it - she was on the third floor and on the other end of the hotel, and she still heard it (and wondered why she wasn't downstairs in the lounge...)

One last thought on Sarah Palin - sometime Wednesday night, around 11PM EDT, the Presidential hopes of Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Sam Brownback, and anyone else whose name was on this year's ballot - their future White House hopes died that night. Anyone on this year's ballot had only this year to pull the trick - and that moment has now passed. The entrance of Sarah Palin onto the national stage heralds the end of one generation of Republican politician and the beginning of the next. This new breed is conservative socially and fiscally, but is reform minded - something the Big Government breed of Republicans just can't get. The corruption, scandal, and failure of Tom Delay, Mark Foley, Larry Craig, Duke Cunningham and the K Street cabal has led inexorably to a generation of leaders like Governors Palin, Jindal and Sanford (and probably others we don't even know yet) who will lead this party into the future. I welcome this development wholeheartedly, even as I remain concerned with some of Senator McCain's own proclivities on border security and global warming...

Other highlights of this week: Wednesday night's speech lineup was rock star - and they all hit it out of the park. Huckabee, Romney, Giuliani - all did fantastic jobs at warming things up. That more people watched Wednesday night than watched Obama's speech augurs well for the Republicans this fall.

Lowlights of the week - protestor idiots, especially the ones that MSNBC allowed to get access into the arena on Thursday night. Shame on MSNBC for knowingly giving protestors badges so they could make trouble - someone needs to get fired for that, just as someone needs to get prosecuted for stealing the identity of an Indiana delegate to gain unlawful access.

People I got to meet (and really enjoyed): The Palins, Mayor Giuliani, Jon Voight, Mary Katherine Ham, Henry Kissinger, and the guy who played George Washington.

SC people (some delegates) I had the pleasure of hanging out with this week: Lou and Patrick Nolan, Doug and LouEllen Robertson, Gen. Richard and Linnea Eckstrom, Kevin Hall, Jim Corbett, Reps. Alan Clemmons, Tracy Edge, Eric Bedingfield, and Wendy Nanney (along with her husband Tim), Glenn McCall, Moye Graham (who is a prince), Eaddy Roe Willard, Katrina Shealy, and Drew McKissick. Special Thanks also to the folks who did videos this week: Lt. Gov Bauer, Atty Gen. McMaster, Speaker Harrell, Congressmen Wilson and Inglis, Rep. Bedingfield, and Kevin Hall. I do wish Governor Sanford could've stayed longer (we had to cancel the scheduled video due to Hanna's arrival) and that Rep. Gresham Barrett could've come up (something happened there and that video didn't happen either).

It was a pleasure and a privilege to go to this convention with such a fine delegation - even more so under the leadership of our Chairman, Katon Dawson, who did remarkable work this week. Jay W., Katie, Lisa, and Rob also were terrific, and did a ton of work keeping things running. Well done all.

So now it's back to work. I'm back in Lexington, dodging the hurricane on the drive down from Charlotte airport last night. After this many nights of too little sleep, I think it's nap time...

SC Delegate reactions from the RNC

Two reaction videos for you, from the Hilton Minneapolis - Kevin Hall of Richland County and Rep. Eric Bedingfield of Greenville. These are two of the wonderful people I've had the pleasure and privilege of hanging out with this week.

First Kevin:



And Eric:

Andre Bauer at the RNC

SC Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer talks with us before the SC delegation breakfast on September 4, 2008

Glenn McCall at the RNC

Glenn McCall, Republican National COmmitteeman joins us at the Republican National Convention. Day 4 after breakfast.

SC Attorney General Henry McMaster at the RNC

From the Morning of Day 4 at the RNC: SC Attorney General Henry McMaster

And now for something completely different...

I thought I'd also show some of the fun side of Minneapolis. The Civic Fest has been running since Sunday, and Sunday night, we started with the Host Committee Reception there.

So... here's some video of what that looked like this afternoon...



Unfortunately, I missed getting pictures of Abraham Lincoln.

More photos from some of my fellow delegates to come, including the frankly surreal moment where some of us got to meet Dr. Henry Kissinger, while others met Todd and Sarah Palin...

AND - I'm on the floor tonight!!

RNC Day 4 breakfast

After a really stirring night last night where Sarah Palin hit a grand slam with her speech, we got together for one last delegation breakfast.

Our Intro speaker was Senator Lindsey Graham, who also spoke later in prime time.



That was followed up by one the young bright lights of American conservatism - Michael Steele of GOPAC. Video in two parts below.

Part I:




Part II:

Thoughts from the 50th, Part II: Jim Demint

After we heard at length from T. Boone Pickens, we got to hear from our Senator, Jim Demint. Jim spoke on the challenges that face our party, including the energy challenge that T.Boone had just laid out...

Part I:



Part II:

Congressman Joe Wilson at the RNC

Before he flew back to SC for hurricane duty, Joe Wilson had a chat with one of his constituents - me!

Congressman Bob Inglis at the RNC

Next up: Congressman Bob Inglis, from the RNC

Bobby Harrell at the RNC

First in a series of interviews with SC Republican newsmakers at the convention: SC Speaker Bobby Harrell

Thoughts from the 50th Floor: Breakfast at the RNC

So breakfast this morning was on the 50th Floor of the IDS building in downtown Minneapolis: "Windows on Minnesota". This is the view out one of those windows, an iconic downtown Minneapolis office building on the right and the Mississippi River flowing on the left.

As we walked out of the hotel this morning on our way to Windows, we were immediately hit with the after-effects of Labor Day - Fall has fallen on Minnesota. The brisk breeze this morning was an amazing refreshment after months of heat and humidity, and served to wake us all up in a hurry, despite the early hour. (I was up working on the blog and still unresolved video issues from yesterday until about 2AM... 0730 meeting in the lobby came awfully early today.)

Our speaker this morning was also well worth the wait - one of America's finest entrepreneurs, T. Boone Pickens. Mr. Pickens is out working on promoting his energy program, which largely consists of expanding our domestic energy production, especially revitalizing our transportation infrastructure with natural gas and our home energy needs with wind, solar, and nuclear. The environmental impacts of this would be remarkable, but the key point, as you will see below, is removing America's dependence on foreign sources of oil. I suggest watching all five in order - this was pretty much the full speech, divided up this way so I could load on YT.

Part I:




Part II:



Part III:



Part IV:



Conclusion:

Republican National Convention Day 2

VERY Busy day today - sorry for how late this is getting posted! With the convention in full gear, we didn't have many moments to spare...

We opened up with another delegation breakfast, this one a joint deal with New Hampshire. It was an opportunity for the McCain campaign to thank the two states that gave him early primary victories.

We heard from the Secretary of Commerce, then a former POW who had been in the Hanoi Hilton with Senator McCain.




After remarks from Senator Lindsey Graham, Cindy McCain addressed the breakfast, as well as America's Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Unfortunately the video files are getting fought by YouTube and Blip... hopefully I'll have those up soon.

After getting some of our marching orders for the day, a few of us headed over to a surprising symposium on education involving Speaker Newt Gingrich, MN Governor Tim Pawlenty, and ... the Rev. Al Sharpton! Yes, a Republican audience gave Al Sharpton two standing ovations! Shocking stuff, I tell ya... The crux of the argument is choosing children over bureaucrats - including merit pay for teachers and more market based reforms (school choice, anyone?) American Solutions has more information and the video here.

Then it was off to lunch with the delegation - and two very special guests, the Ambassadors from India and New Zealand. Congressman Joe Wilson made some remarks on the importance of US-India relations, and emphasized the SC ties with India. And the food was awesome...

Then we headed over to another restaurant in town (the restaurant row in downtown Minneapolis is called Nicolette Mall -- and it's truly impressive...) for a reception honoring Senate Conservatives, especially Senator Jim Demint. It was great to see the Senator there as well as Governor Sanford. Because of scheduling, this was just a quick drop by before we boarded buses to cross the Mighty Mississippi for St. Paul.

As for the first full night... the video clips were amazing, especially the ones narrated by Robert Duvall and Gary Sinise.

I got to the floor for Fred's speech... and loved every minute of it. Fred was as good as I've seen him all year, perhaps more comfortable singing the praises of others than he was himself during the campaign.

Then it was off to Senator Demint's birthday party...

More to come tomorrow.

Convention Day 1: George Washington gets us kicked off

South Carolina's delegation breakfast got off to a rousing start today with the actor who played George Washington in the History Channels "The Revolution". After giving us some historical perspective on the importance of prayer, General Washington led us in a prayer of his own (taken from his diary.)



After that, we got our marching orders for the day (get your badges, make the bus, don't forget the milk and cookies party...) and an update on the electoral landscape from Whit Ayres (who agrees with the importance of the Palin pick.)

Mostly just business today while we watch. Everyone is palpably relieved that Gustav seems to have spared New Orleans. At the same time, Don Fowler has clearly put his foot in it with his over the top rhetoric about God sending hurricanes to stop the convention. Favorite unintentional admission of the morning: Howard Wolfson on Fox News "Sometimes we say things we don't mean." Yep - that's one of the differences between Republicans and Democrats. Democrats often say things they don't mean - thanks for admitting it.

The energy surrounding this campaign is overwhelmingly positive since the announcement of Sarah Palin as the running mate. The base is energized and motivated in a way we weren't just a week ago. The polling from Rasmussen and Zogby shows McCain/Palin leading (in basically a statistical tie) with Obama/Biden, and that's after their convention and before ours - unheard of. As long as we can get in three solid days of message (Tuesday through Thursday after the cancellation of political speeches tonight due to Gustav) we should see a modest bounce on top of that, and go into the final two month stretch with a lead...