To read the tribute to SFC Marcus Muralles, please click here
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
I Hate Laptop Batteries, Part 2
Next at the Defending the American Dream conference general session was John Fund of the Wall Street Journal. His focus was on the upcoming elections, not just the Presidential election, but also the local elections. The Left knows that they are not the majority, so they spend their time blurring the message to make it more palatable. Americans need to be convinced to vote Democrat (only one Democrat in the past ten Presidential elections received 50.1% or more of the vote, but eight of those Democrats were ahead in the polls in July). If Democrats succeed in getting veto-proof margins in the US House and Senate and the Presidency, then they will begin changing the rules (same day registration and voting, felon voting, no excuse absentee balloting, more "finance reform", etc.) The state legislators chosen in the next 2 years will decide Congressional boundaries for the next decade. The election isn't over, and we need to fight for each seat and office.
Elizabeth Ames Jones, Texas Railroad Commissioner, spoke next on some of the nuts and bolts of Texas energy resources. Right now, Texas provides 30% of the natural gas and 20% of the crude oil used by our country. 7300 wells were drilled in 2007 alone in the Texas Barnett Shale formation. Texas also has large deposits of coal and uranium. If the federal government would just get out of the way, Texas is ready for another energy boom.
After Mrs. Jones, Steve Lonegan told his inspirational story. He took a struggling business and turned it into a great success, then made a bloated city government manageable, and had a lower city budget in 2007 than he did in 1995.
Congressman John Carter spoke next. He was funny and insightful. He spoke about the Democrats' energy plan, which amounts to taxes anyone who wants to explore for oil. He believes that we just stand firm and fight, many Democrats can be swayed- not all, but many. Some are just too brain dead to think it through.
Erick Erickson from Redstate discussed the need to move from punditry to activism, and the easy ways to get involved.
Michael Steele wrapped up the general session asking how serious those of us in attendance are about our conservatism. How committed are we to making a change? How important is the future of our country? How willing are we to spread the conservative message?
During lunch, Michelle Malkin spoke. I'll let Ed tell you about her talk.
There you go. The "Defending the American Dream" Texas summit. Good seminars, great speakers. If you have the chance to go to a state summit, do it. If you have a chance to go to the national summit in October, I'm jealous.
Elizabeth Ames Jones, Texas Railroad Commissioner, spoke next on some of the nuts and bolts of Texas energy resources. Right now, Texas provides 30% of the natural gas and 20% of the crude oil used by our country. 7300 wells were drilled in 2007 alone in the Texas Barnett Shale formation. Texas also has large deposits of coal and uranium. If the federal government would just get out of the way, Texas is ready for another energy boom.
After Mrs. Jones, Steve Lonegan told his inspirational story. He took a struggling business and turned it into a great success, then made a bloated city government manageable, and had a lower city budget in 2007 than he did in 1995.
Congressman John Carter spoke next. He was funny and insightful. He spoke about the Democrats' energy plan, which amounts to taxes anyone who wants to explore for oil. He believes that we just stand firm and fight, many Democrats can be swayed- not all, but many. Some are just too brain dead to think it through.
Erick Erickson from Redstate discussed the need to move from punditry to activism, and the easy ways to get involved.
Michael Steele wrapped up the general session asking how serious those of us in attendance are about our conservatism. How committed are we to making a change? How important is the future of our country? How willing are we to spread the conservative message?
During lunch, Michelle Malkin spoke. I'll let Ed tell you about her talk.
There you go. The "Defending the American Dream" Texas summit. Good seminars, great speakers. If you have the chance to go to a state summit, do it. If you have a chance to go to the national summit in October, I'm jealous.
