Kudlow standing strong behind Pence

 

Recently people have attacked Mike Pence for his common sense approach to securing our borders and stopping illegal immigration. Here is an excerpt from Larry Kudlow backing Mike Pence and his Reagan style conservatism.


Incidentally, I wrote the article for Human Events when that newspaper awarded Congressman Pence its "2005 Man of the Year" award. I know Mike. The man is a wonderful, Reagan-thinking conservative.

His life is governed by religious values, a belief in a strong national defense, and a pro-growth approach to low taxes and less government spending. This Tancredo-Buchanan backstabbing does this rising GOP star a great disservice. If allowed to go unanswered, it would represent another devastating blow to the Republican Party.

While the Pence-Hutchinson immigration reform idea is not perfect, it does represent a useful discussion point for future action. As diplomatically and kindly as possible, with all the greatest respect for differing points of view, let me just say that the Tancredo-Buchanan attack on Mike Pence is nuttier than a fruitcake.

Larry Kudlow

New York Times front page piece

 

Mike Pence's recent plan to secure the border has gained impressive media coverage including yesterday's article on the front page of the New York Times. This biased newspaper wrote a fairly objective piece on Mike Pence but pulled a couple of punches to cut down the conservative hero. We applaud Mike Pence for going beyond politics to stand for what's right to ensure that America is secured and that freedom prevails. In our great time in history, America is in need of leaders like Mike Pence who care more about their country than their career.


MUNCIE, Ind. — He supports tax cuts and the war in Iraq. He opposes stem cell research and the Medicare drug plan. He is a master of his movement’s medium, talk radio. Jesus Christ is his personal savior and Ronald Reagan his political idol.

Conjure what might be called the perfect conservative, and chances are he would look a lot like Representative Mike Pence, the Indiana Republican who in just three terms has turned 100 House allies into a vanguard and himself into one of his party’s rising stars.

Or that was the case until this spring when he sought compromise in the rancorous immigration debate. His complicated plan would strengthen border security and send illegal immigrants home, but let most of them quickly return. Since then, Mr. Pence — named last year’s Man of the Year by the conservative weekly Human Events — has looked to some conservatives like this year’s Benedict Arnold. They say he has lent his conservative prestige to a form of liberal amnesty.

Phyllis Schlafly of the Eagle Forum called his plan “a sick joke.” Richard A. Viguerie, the direct-mail pioneer, threatened to punish politicians who supported it. Pat Buchanan, editor of The American Conservative, likened the betrayal to a scene from “The Godfather.”

Perpetually genial, prematurely gray, Mr. Pence, 47, said, “I was taken aback by the level of invective.”

“It’s a test of the character of the conservative movement in the 21st century,” he said. “We are either going to prove that we believe in the ideas enshrined on the Statue of Liberty or the American people will go looking elsewhere.”

Mr. Pence — who bills himself as “a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order” — pushed the plan on a recent trip across his district. He quoted the Bible. He quoted Ronald Reagan. He stood sweating in a tomato field beside Mexican workers. And when asked why an Indiana congressman was focused on the border, he responded with a ready phrase: “April 11, 1923.”

That is when his Irish grandfather, Richard Michael Cawley, a Chicago bus driver, arrived on Ellis Island. “We were especially close,” said Mr. Pence, who added that he sees his grandfather’s thrift and hard work in today’s immigrant generation.

Some members of the Muncie Chamber of Commerce had doubts. Some worried about cost. Some worried about compliance. But several complimented him for tackling a tough cause. “It is the greatest privilege of my life to represent you,” he said.

Though he comes from a family of Irish Catholic Democrats — his father ran a string of gas stations — Mr. Pence joined an evangelical fellowship group at Hanover College, drawn less by theological issues than by its more personal style of worship. His religion pulled him to the right. “I had a hard way of reconciling my commitment to biblical truth with the national Democratic Party’s commitment to abortion on demand,” he said.

His wife, Karen, teaches at a religious school, and sends out e-mail messages asking for the prayers of his supporters. “Please pray for the Holy Spirit to speak through him at the bbq,” a recent message read.

Mr. Pence, two years out of law school, made his first Congressional run in 1988 and lost narrowly to a longtime Democratic incumbent, Phil Sharp. He tried again two years later, in a negative campaign that won him just 42 percent of the vote. Mr. Pence was devastated.

“What was most painful to me was the bile in my throat over how I had responded,” he said. “My faith says if someone strikes you on the cheek, turn the other. My response, after being attacked by my opponent, was to empty the silos on this guy.”

Mr. Pence delivered an unusual self-rebuke in an article called “Confessions of a Negative Campaigner.” Then he ran a conservative research group, the Indiana Policy Review Foundation, and was host of a talk radio show in Indianapolis. The seat opened up again in 2000 and Mr. Pence squeaked in — with civility, he said.

“I’m a conservative, but I’m not mad about it,” he often says.

Arriving in Washington, he was dismayed at conservatives’ support for government expansion. In 2001, he was one of 34 Republicans to oppose the No Child Left Behind Act, which expanded federal involvement in education. In 2003, he was one of 25 who opposed the Medicare drug benefit. “I was voting against big conservative government before it was cool,” he said.

Congressional leaders hinted at reprisals, but the base applauded, especially after a 2004 speech in which he warned that the movement was drifting into “the dangerous and uncharted waters of big government.”

Among those won over was Paul Weyrich, a fixture of movement conservatism. He said Mr. Pence had strong appeal among supporters of four major conservative causes: limited government, free enterprise, strong defense and traditional values.

“Nobody is perfect, but he comes pretty close,” Mr. Weyrich said. “He is what I’ve been waiting for in terms of leadership.”

Last year, Mr. Pence became head of the Republican Study Committee, a conservative caucus. He quickly expanded its profile, and, rivals note, his own. Mr. Pence, unlike many conservatives, courts the news media.

His influence was apparent last fall after Hurricane Katrina, when Washington was suddenly filled with talk of new aid for the needy. Concerned about the cost, Mr. Pence’s group replied with Operation Offset, a plan to cut $500 billion over 10 years in programs that included Medicaid, tax credits for the poor, and care for people with AIDS.

It outraged the leadership, which accused him of showboating, and failed to pass. But it quickly changed the political dynamics, from starting programs to cutting them. Five months later, with Mr. Pence nearby, President Bush signed a bill that cut $39 billion over five years. “I think Operation Offset had something to do with that, though I would never boast of that,” Mr. Pence said.

Edwin J. Feulner Jr., president of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington group, said Mr. Pence “has really been central to the revival of principled conservatism in the House.” Admirers have already begun a “Mike Pence for President” Web site.

But some colleagues grumble about what they call his self-promotion, and critics on the left see harshness behind the geniality. Robert Greenstein, executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal group, said that while the Republican effort was billed as deficit reduction, it in fact made the deficit larger. That is because the reductions were paired with $70 billion of tax cuts, mostly for the very well-to-do. “This is Robin Hood in reverse,” Mr. Greenstein said.

Barry Welsh, a Democrat challenging Mr. Pence this fall, is a Methodist minister who said, “I find it hypocritical that he claims such Christianity” while “cutting the benefits of those who need them.”

Mr. Pence argued that tax cuts help the poor by revving the economy. That may eventually prove true, but despite large tax cuts the poverty rate has risen in each of the last four years.

“That’s anecdotal,” Mr. Pence said in an interview last fall. Then he offered an anecdote — a story President Reagan told about a pipe fitter pleased to see the rich prosper, “because I’ve never been hired by a poor man.”

With Republicans worried about losing control of Congress in the midterm elections this fall, some moderates say Mr. Pence’s wing of the party has pushed it too far to the right; conservatives like Mr. Pence say that in accepting what they call big government, the party has not hewed to its conservative principles enough.

When Mr. Pence weighed in on immigration this spring, the issue, like much of the Republican agenda, was stalled and Republicans were deeply split. The House had passed a tough bill focusing on border security alone. The Senate had passed a broader measure that included a guest worker program and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already here.

Mr. Pence tried to offer something to everyone. He included provisions to bolster the borders. After two years, if the government certified that those changes were in place, a guest worker program would begin. Those here unlawfully would have to leave the country and apply at job-placement centers. By requiring re-entry, Mr. Pence argues, the plan avoids amnesty and respects the rule of law. The guest worker visas could be renewed, with a chance of citizenship after 17 years.

Mr. Bush sent an approving signal by inviting Mr. Pence to an Oval Office meeting. And the proposal won a Senate co-sponsor in Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican of Texas.

The idea, at best, faces an uphill fight when Congress reconvenes next week. But Tamar Jacoby, a fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute who sees promise in Mr. Pence’s approach, said that without him, “the issue would be dead.”

So his critics fear. Team America, a conservative political action committee, now has a feature on its Web site called “Pence Watch.” Representative Tom Tancredo, Republican of Colorado, said the plan would encourage more illegal immigration and undermine cultural cohesion. But David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, credits Mr. Pence’s “courage to think outside the box.”

Does he worry his conservative image has been tarnished?

“I’m not completely immune to that thought,” Mr. Pence said, en route to a photo op in an Orestes, Ind., tomato field. Then he quoted from Micah in the Old Testament: “Do justice and love kindness.”

Pence visits New Orleans on one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

 

Progress and Piles of Debris: New Orleans One Year Later

By Congressman Mike Pence

As our plane approached the New Orleans airport, I didn't know what to expect on my first journey to this fabled city nearly a year to the day after the worst natural disaster in American history.

Thanks to the hospitality of local Congressman Bobby Jindal (R-LA), we were treated to lunch and a briefing of that fateful day, August 29, 2005 when Hurricane Katrina devastated this city. Rep. Jindal and his staff have been extraordinarily effective in making the case for relief funding in a fiscally responsible manner.

Our first stop was the infamous 17th Street Canal where the levee broke, devastating homes and businesses for miles. I remember watching from Kuwait City as the Army Corps of Engineers labored to close the massive gash in this waterway.

Today, where there was once millions of gallons of water, there is a new levee and an entirely new pumping station. Both are operational and secure. Some of the very same Army Corps who labored in vain that day, showed us the new restrained waterway with pride and expressed confidence about the future.

The one thing that surprised me as I drove through the areas of New Orleans affected by Hurricane Katrina is the sheer, geographic scope of the disaster just in this city. We passed street after street of abandoned homes, with waterlines showing up to ten feet on their siding. Each and every home was still showing the spray paint of the search and rescue teams who used an ‘X’ marking to indicated people recovered from that site, dead or alive. Many roofs still showed the large holes through which thousands of Americans were airlifted to safety.

While Congress has appropriated more than $12 billion to rebuild these homes, the State of Louisiana has not released a significant portion of these funds to the local citizens and it shows. In nearby Mississippi, most of the housing funds have already been made available but, for reasons lost on me, not so here.

The next site we visited was the Industrial Canal breach, the place where we all saw sunken homes surrounding that school bus crushed by a massive coal barge. Where less than a year ago nature was victorious, now stands a massive concrete levee that seems to stretch for more than a half mile.

When we made our way into the city, through the French Quarter and into downtown, the traffic was heavy and the streets were bustling. While the local Charity Hospital is still bravely operating out of what used to be a department store, much of downtown New Orleans looks like many major American cities, shops open, cars honking, tourists strolling. Not surprisingly to any who know the character of the people of the Gulf Coast, New Orleans is coming back.

We left the city as storm clouds began to blow in from the sea. Some local residents expressed anxiety about a tropical depression forming in the Caribbean. Others said that many former residents were waiting to see how the new levees managed this hurricane season before coming back. Only 30 percent of the population on this city has returned. While I share the hope of local officials that most will return, I could never comprehend the hardship they endured. It would be hard to come home after Katrina.

New Orleans is many things today. She is piles of debris and miles of broken homes. But she is also new levees, new pumping stations, a bustling downtown and alluring French Quarter. I hope they show the progress along with the challenges as the media, the President and dignitaries descend on New Orleans for the anniversary events next week. And if they don't, go see it for yourself. If you do, you will be proud of the people of this city. I know I was.

Mike Pence
New Orleans, Louisiana

Journal entry from Mike Pence in Texas

 

ON THE RIO GRANDE WITH SECRETARY CHERTOFF, SENATOR HUTCHISON

By Congressman Mike Pence

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and I arrived by small aircraft in the 100 degree heat of a Texas summer at a municipal airport near the US/Mexico border.

Harlingen, Texas, is ground zero for the influx of illegal aliens from countries "other than Mexico" (OTMs) and, like San Diego yesterday, has made tremendous progress reducing the flow of human traffic in recent years.

Shortly after our arrival we watched as the Coast Guard jet carrying DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff (pictured above) touched down and taxied to the terminal. A huge motorcade pulled up to the aircraft and we were spirited into an oversize van for an immediate briefing and border tour.

Secretary Chertoff is an intense and impressive administrator. He peppered the U.S. Border leadership at our briefing with questions and outlined upcoming strategies with ease. Yesterday, Secretary Chertoff made national news announcing that all OTM's would be subject to the new "catch and remove" policy, ending a long-time policy of allowing illegals to leave custody on a promise to return for a hearing six weeks later.

As we left the tarmac, we watched as dozens of OTM' s were escorted to two waiting 737 aircraft for a return trip to their Central American homes.

Following a briefing at headquarters, we made our way down narrow and dusty roads to the edge of the United States, the Rio Grande River. We were briefed on the river patrols, aerial surveillance and technology necessary to interdict human and drug traffic across the treacherous band of water.

At an outdoor press conference, Secretary Chertoff described the recent efforts in this region of Texas and commended the U.S. Border Patrol for the underreported progress they have made.

In response to a question on the prospects for immigration reform, the Secretary stated that the White House was "in no position to endorse" any one proposal. He did express gratitude to Sen. Hutchison and me for our efforts in attempting reach some compromise.

From the Rio Grande, Sen. Hutchison and I flew to San Antonio for a detailed briefing on efforts by the DEA to inderdict narcotics along the border. Today, as yesterday, the message was clear: the same Mexican cartels that are smuggling drugs are smuggling workers into America. The profits from moving thousands of illegal immigrants into our country are subsidizing the manufacture and importation of the drugs that are killing our kids.

As I fly back to Dallas, I believe we have made progress in border security but our U.S. Border Patrol and DEA need help. They need people, technology and funding for barriers and equipment. And they need Congress to come up with a way that people can apply legally outside the United States to meet the needs of our grow ing economy. With the resources, the people, the tools and the ability to just focus on the bad guys, our law enforcement community can secure our border and protect our nation.

Mike Pence
Flying back to Dallas, Texas

Journal entry from Mike Pence in San Diego

 

ON THE CALIFORNIA BORDER WITH BORDER PATROL: A TOUR OF SMUGGLERS GULCH

By Congressman Mike Pence

The US/Mexico border in southern California is a study in contrasts. Part of the border is a single, rusted wall of corrugated steel. There are clear signs that illegals have climbed over or dug under this barrier. With more than two million residents of Tijuana, Mexico, just a few hundred yards away, this doesn't appear to be much of a national border. Farther to the east, we got a glimpse of the future: A two-layer border fence with video surveillance towers and a patrol road in the middle. It is an imposing sight and, while not completely secure, the new neighborhoods being built just inside the U.S. border attest to the fact that this border is largely secure.

We spent the day touring border areas, detention centers and the largest port of entry in the United States: southern California's San Diego sector.

Different from many other areas of the US/Mexico border, this is an area that has seen real progress in border security over the past ten years. In 1995, more than 500,000 arrests were processed in this sector and, after extensive border and personnel changes, that number has dropped to around 125,000 in 2005.

The success of what CBP called "Operation Gatekeeper" is especially important since San Diego is considered the number one point of entry for criminal aliens on the U.S. border. The terrain, population density and numerous transportation options have made this the most attractive arrival point for aliens with criminal intent. Progress here should mean that our families are safer from criminal aliens but, unfortunately, the U.S. border is more than just San Diego.

The discouraging news is that there is evidence that success here has only driven many of the drug and human traffic activities to less secure areas of the border.

We were also told that different standards for prosecution in districts along the border virtually invite illegals to "game the system," shaping their smuggling efforts to regions and quantities that will avoid serious criminal penalities.

My biggest insight came during a briefing at the Imperial Beach station of the San Diego sector. There we were told that the same cartels that are building sophisticated tunnels and systems to move illegal drugs into our country have a large network of "load houses" that move workers into the U.S. economy on a fee-for-service basis. Companies in the United States that need laborers spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year on these human trafficking organizations. The fees range from $200 to $2,000 per person and are most often paid by wire transfers coordinated by ostensibly legitimate middle men in the United States who arrange for the laborers that have been "ordered" by U.S. companies.

We were told that the same cartels putting drugs in the hands of our kids are making billions of dollars smuggling laborers into the U.S. market. One load house recently detected was posting $1,000,000 per month in income.

This seems to me to be an argument for three major elements of the Hutchsion-Pence plan: border security first, employer sanctions and a new guest worker program.

From what I saw of the success here in San Diego, the border can be secured but it will require people and resources to do it. Employers must face serious fines for hiring illegal immigrants to cut off the demand for illegal workers that fuels the smuggling cartels. We must create, outside the United States, a system that would permit law-abiding workers to obtain access to our nation to work. We must replace the illegal system of load houses, a system that finances drugs and violence, with a legal system that protects our nation, respects our laws and meets the needs of our growing economy.

As I prepare to leave for the border area of Texas, I leave with a profound sense of gratitude for the men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol. Their courage, candor and optimism convinces me that we can and will solve the crisis of illegal immigration. May God bless the U.S. Border Patrol.

Mike Pence
San Diego, California

Pence in Texas

 

U.S. Congressman Mike Pence will tour the Texas border today with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Look for Mike Pence on Fox News today!

Pence's public schedule follows:

Thursday August 24, 2006

10:05 a.m.
Justice Prisoner Air Transport System Briefing.
Harlingen, TX.
Closed Press.

10:35 a.m.
Catch and Release Briefing with Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff. Harlingen, TX.
Closed Press.

11:25 a.m.
Border Tour.
Harlingen, TX.
Closed Press.

11:35 a.m.
Media Availability.
Willacy County Pump Station, Rio Rico Road.
Harlingen, TX.
Open Press.

1:50 p.m.
San Antonio Border Briefing with Drug Enforcement Agency.
San Antonio, TX.
Closed Press.

2:30 p.m.
Media Availability.
San Antonio International Airport (Enter Gate 83), 457 #2 Sandau Road.
San Antonio, TX.
Open Press.

4:20 p.m.
Media Availability.
Love Field Business Jet Center, 8611 Lemmon Avenue.
Dallas, TX.
Open Press.

Pence in San Diego

 

Mike Pence spent yesterday in San Diego observing the border and speaking out to help secure our borders. Pence's "border security first" plan is the best thing we can do to secure our borders and we must take action now. Here is an article from the San Diego Union-Tribune.

(08-23) 04:00 PDT San Diego -- REP. MIKE PENCE visited San Diego recently to get a close-up look at the U.S.-Mexican border. And that gave me a chance to get a close-up look at Mike Pence.

The Indiana Republican is a rising star in the GOP who has emerged as one of the most pivotal figures in the immigration debate. He also must be one of the most frustrated.

That is because every time the three-term congressman comes up with a way to give GOP hardliners what they say they want in an immigration bill, they decide they don't want it anymore. Every time it looks as if he is about to get into the end zone, members of his own party move the goal line.

It's a maddening negotiation.

"I'm not a stranger to controversy," Pence told me, "but the crosscurrents here have been challenging to me."

The Republican holdouts have said all along that they want border security first -- before any discussion about what to do with 12 million illegal immigrants. They said they oppose amnesty and define it as anything that forgives the unlawful act of entering the country without proper documents. And, they said, it would be nice if the illegal immigrants had to return home first and apply to re-enter the United States legally.

Pence agreed to every demand, crafting a "third way" alternative to the cumbersome Senate bill and the unworkable enforcement-only House bill. And yet still, he admits, about a third of House conservatives -- perhaps 30 or 40 members -- are "unalterably opposed" to his approach.

Under the Pence plan, the first priority would be securing the border. Then comes a guest- worker program that would require illegal immigrants in the United States to return to their home countries to register at privately run centers. The immigrants would get work visas that could be renewed every two years for up to 12 years, provided they were learning English. For the next five years, they'd be given a more permanent visa. After 17 years, participants could apply for U.S. citizenship.

Pence gained an ally in Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas who, according to the congressman, "improved the plan immensely" by suggesting that participation be limited to those who come from countries who partner with the United States in the North American and Central American free trade agreements.

"If we have a positive relationship with you," Pence said, "if you're a good neighbor -- diplomatically and economically -- then not only can your multinational corporations do business here and ours there but your people can come work."

There's another limit in the Pence plan. For the first three years of the guest-worker program, the market dictates the amount of people who can participate. But beginning in the fourth year, the U.S. Labor Department would put a cap on the number.

What Pence didn't see coming was that this good neighbor policy would freak out those who are scared silly about the Latinization of America. For those who think that Mexico and the rest of Latin America monopolize U.S. immigration policy, and who worry that Spanish-speaking Latino immigrants are changing the cultural fabric of the country in frightening ways, the Pence plan would only make things worse.

It's in that crowd you'll find the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), an anti-immigrant group that not only wants to eliminate illegal immigration but also limit legal immigration. FAIR is running hit pieces on the radio in Indiana that label the Pence plan a "backdoor amnesty."

I don't buy that, and neither does Pence.

"If you're applying outside the United States for the legal right to work inside the United States," he said, "that's not amnesty."

"As a matter of the law, there's no amnesty involved in that transaction because you're applying outside the jurisdiction of the United States of America."

And while Pence acknowledges that there is racism in this debate, he insists that it is limited to "a very small number of Americans" and that none of his colleagues in Congress fits the description.

Pence knows that I'm usually not so generous.

"I'm not saying that what you have observed and rightly chastised in your columns isn't out there," he said. "But if we can find a way to get people right with the law without undermining our commitment to law and order, I think every community in Indiana and every community around the country would be more than happy to have these people and more like them."

It's a nice thought -- one that I'd find easier to believe if more Republicans in Congress were embracing the common sense behind the Hutchison-Pence plan.

Ruben Navarrette Jr., San Diego Union-Tribune

Pence's Christian influence on politics

 

Here is an article by The Conservative Voice touting Christian influence in the realm of politics with new leaders like Mike Pence. Mike Pence knows the best way to draw people towards Christ is to speak and act in such a way as to win people with grace and love. Mike Pence is the Christian leader America needs for 2008 and beyond.


Evangelicals are more present-tense in the US Congress than even they would let on. They are not brash nor in-your-face with tracts in hand. They are mannerly, poised, well-educated, yet still firm in the faith.

According to The Washington Post’s Hanna Rosin, "Nearly every third congressional office stocks an ambitious Christian leader who calls himself ‘evangelical,’ according to Jim Guth, a political science professor at Furman University."

They are a new generation of biblical Christians. They know of the Tammy Faye Bakker types and the Jerry Falwell genre. But they’re not that, at least not in style.

Even their language is more suave. They say the same convictions but their nomenclature is posh-pleasant. There is no compromise to their biblical ethic but they know how to communicate it more effectively than the Bible-thumpers who preceded them.

So it is amazing to realize the statistic: "Every third congressional office stocks an ambitious Christian leader who called himself ‘evangelical.’" Surely George W. Bush realizes that. And now it’s time for the American evangelical community to be encouraged by that.

Red States, give a cheer. Bible believers, thank God. Evangelicals worldwide, realize how strongly God has brought together His righteous remnant in action. Now get in line and behave while keeping to your principles. Listen up and act smart. Do something but do it right this time.

"This year evangelicals in public office have finally become so numerous that they've blended in to the permanent Washington backdrop, a new establishment that has absorbed the local habits and mores.

"They may believe everything they believed before, but they've learned to speak in ways that are more measured and cautious and designed not to attract attention.

"Sen. John Thune is the movement's new David, having overthrown former Senate minority leader Tom Daschle. When talking about abortion, the South Dakota Republican prefers abstractions: ‘I like to connect my principled view with my policy objectives,’ he says. ‘Good principles can lead to good policy.’"

There’s your example of the new Congressional evangelical type. He’s right on. He’s knowledgeable. He’s contemporary. He’s grounded in his biblical beliefs. So there.

"Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) has promised to make a brief appearance at this antiabortion news conference. Pence was raised Catholic, born again in college, but a political experience brought on his real ‘conversion.’ In 1990 Pence ran what he described as the nastiest race in Indiana history. He lost.

"From then on he vowed that even while engaged in politics he would always be ‘true to his faith.’ Pence, 45, became a conservative radio talk show host who is stylistically the anti-Rush Limbaugh. ‘I'm a conservative, but I'm not in a bad mood about it,’ he'd say on air. Last year he ran for Congress again with the aim of rehabilitating himself; in ads he never mentioned his opponent.

"After he got to Washington his colleagues voted him head of the Republican Study Committee, a group of powerful House conservatives once known as Newt Gingrich's henchmen. Their platform hasn't changed in 10 years, but under Pence's leadership it's a new day. ‘You do not demonize those who disagree with you,’ he says. ‘If you believe in a woman's right to choose, you're not a bad person, we just disagree.’"

So go the prayer warriors for the Lord in up-town dress. God bless them all.

Evangelical Impact on Congress

Pence for President

 

Here is a post on RedState by a conservative talking about Mike Pence for President.

When Mike Pence first ran for Congress in 2000, he had several hurdles to overcome. Ask some of the pundits watching his campaign and one of those hurdles was Mike Pence. Competitive primaries are often the breeding ground for negative campaigning. The way the story goes, now-Congressman Pence wouldn’t hear of it. …He still won.

Now the elected head of the House conservatives in Congress (the Republican Study Committee) the small town lawyer born in Columbus who graduated from Hanover College and received his law degree from Indiana University School of Law now leads an army best truly described as the “Majority of the Majority.”

Of course, he doesn’t lead alone. In fact, it could be argued that he doesn’t so much lead as he asks others to find their own potential and run with it. Florida Congressman Tom Feeney has had tremendous success as chairman of the House Conservatives Fund. Congressman Jeb Hensarling has flourished as the Budget & Spending Taskforce Chairman for the RSC. Gone are the days when then RSC languished with 40 members. They claim well over 90 public members. In reality, there are closer to 110.

And what of the thoughtful, soft-spoken representative from Indiana’s 6th District who manages to keep at least a step ahead of Majority Leader John Boehner, several steps ahead of House Speaker Dennis Hastert, and miles ahead of House and Senate Democrats on a daily basis?

At last count, there are no longer dozens of “Draft Mike” and “Draft Pence” groups on (and off) college campuses nationwide… there are hundreds. A fiscal and national security hawk whose commitment to conservative ideals is exceeded only by his commitment to playing by the rules (scandal-mongers will be sorely disappointed by Mike Pence), it isn’t difficult to see why some gravitate toward this fast-rising star.

Perhaps understanding that leaders need to take on the challenges of the times, Reagan had the Cold War. President George W. Bush has had the War on Terror. For Congressman Mike Pence, the issue has been one that accounts for between 30% and 85% of all mail and calls to Member offices on a given week: Immigration.

What began as a comprehensive policy called (no surprise) the Pence Plan in the House earned instant praise. It was endorsed almost immediately by conservative icons like Newt Gingrich, Republican leaders like Dick Armey, establishment leaders like David Keene from ACU, pundits like John Fund of the Wall Street Journal, and even candidates around the nation like conservative Oklahoma City Mayor and Republican Congressional candidate Mick Cornett, who made it the focal point of his immigration policy.

While the Democrats have already started campaigning in earnest, the Republican field seems thin so far. Whether or not Mike Pence runs remains to be seen. There is certainly room in the field for his ideas.

Mike Pence for President? Your Thoughts Please…

President 2008 Mike Pence

 

Listen to Mike Pence's Congressional Campaign Ad. This is exactly what Pence will be campaigning on during his presidential race. Enjoy!

Pence heads for the Border

 

The immigration hero Mike Pence will be heading down South next week to prayerfully secure the border. Please pray for Pence and our country that we will put aside politics and secure our borders to protect our children and future from terrorists, drug smugglers and felons. Here is an article by The Hill.


Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), whose immigration reform plan has garnered significant media attention during a prolonged standoff between Republican leaders in the House and Senate, is scheduled to make a trip to the U.S. border with Mexico next week, his spokesman said.

The chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee is planning to stop in San Diego, Calif., and El Paso, Texas, next week to promote his plan to overhaul the country’s immigration laws. Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) has introduced a Senate companion. A Hutchison spokesman was “hopeful” the senator could make one of the appearances.

Their plan would create a privately funded system for businesses of every size to bring foreign workers to this country while establishing stricter internal and external enforcement of illegal immigration.

Pence’s trip to the border is independent of a leadership-backed effort to build opposition to the Senate plan.

Republican leaders in the House, in coordination with the committees of jurisdiction, have organized 12 field hearings in eight states during the August recess in order to criticize aspects of a Senate-approved plan that would create pathways to citizenship for undocumented workers already in this country. Nine more hearings are scheduled for the rest of the month.

Pence headed for the border

Timeless Speech

 

Read Mike Pence's famous 2004 CPAC Keynote Address.

Picture, if you will, a ship at sea. A proud captain steps into the sunlit deck of a tall ship plying the open seas of a simpler time. Its sails full and straining in the wind, its crew are tried and true, its hull, mast and keel are strong but beneath the waves, almost imperceptibly, the rudder has veered off course and, in time, the captain and crew will face unexpected peril.

The conservative movement today is like that tall ship with its proud captain, strong, accomplished but veering off course into the dangerous and uncharted waters of big government republicanism.

I'm Mike Pence and I'm From Indiana.

And I can't tell you what an honor it is for me and my family to be with you today.

I feel I should ask the question of Admiral Stockdale, the question many of you must be asking, "who am I and why am I here!"

All I can say is that I am a Christian, a Conservative and a Republican in that order and that I am deeply humbled to address the most important gathering of conservatives in America!

I am especially honored to address the state of the movement before so many who have done so much for the cause of conservative values.

As we reflect this morning on battles past and future, the words of David before Goliath come to mind when he asked his countrymen, "is there not a cause?"

Conservatives like you gathered here never suffer that question.

Conservatives know the cause: to "establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity."

And by the standards of these fundamental objects of the republic, American conservatives can take considerable pride in the past three years, that the ship of conservative Republican government in Washington is strong.

And our movement is strong.

In promoting national security, economic prosperity and the sanctity of human life, conservatives made measurable gains in 2003.

Under the leadership of President George W. Bush and a Republican Congress, we have provided for the common defense -which the Federalist reminds us is the first and most fundamental object of all.

Ours was a nation under attack as I stood on the east lawn of the Capitol on September 11, 2001. I stood beneath a sky filled with mud brown smoke, people running in every direction...F-16's going supersonic at treetop level to intercept an inbound menace over Pennsylvania...and in the midst of the chaos of that time, stood George W. Bush, his arm draped over the shoulder of a bone-weary fireman, speaking courage through a bullhorn to a listening nation.

And we saw those words matched by deeds of equal valor.

These are the deeds that ousted the Taliban in Afghanistan, and have now defeated and captured the butcher of Baghdad.

These are the deeds that have yielded a safer America and a safer world, visible to all but an angry, frustrated few who remain stubbornly and willfully blind.

Through it all, Republicans in Congress and conservatives throughout the land have stood steadfastly behind our president whose personal courage and bold leadership has made our families measurably safer.

To provide for the common defense at home.

And to project power in the national interest abroad.

Because of conservatism, America is defending freedom at home and abroad.

And since conservatives were the margin in the disputed election of 2000, conservatives can take credit that America has this man as our president "for such a time as this."

At the same time, we have promoted the general welfare with the only means that ever works - the means that unleashes the enterprise and initiative of the American taxpayer. Under the leadership of President Bush and the Republican Congress, two successive tax cuts have provided the largest tax relief since the days of Ronald Reagan. Just as they began to do in 1983, the positive results are now pouring in with each day's economic news. Americans are going back to work. Businesses are expanding and this president's determination to act on his conservative Republican principles is the reason for our returning prosperity.

And on this, the 31st Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we can finally progress in securing the unalienable right to life for millions of unborn Americans.

Thanks to the unselfish, unflagging efforts of conservatives who have devoted themselves to being the voice for the voiceless, we can now point to the first major legislative victory since the legalization of abortion in 1973.

A Republican Congress passed a ban of "partial birth abortion" and this Republican president signed it into law.

Republican governance, in these respects, has been conservative governance.

And if any of you believe George W. Bush is not the right man for our country, and not the right man for conservatives to support, you need look no further than these victories in national security, economic policy and the sanctity of life to know that George W. Bush is the right man for America, equal to the times and worthy of our trust.

But despite these enormous conservative achievements, there are troubling signs that the ship of conservative governance is off course.

While Ronald Reagan said famously, "government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem" many Republicans-even many who call themselves conservatives-see government increasingly as the solution to every social ill and-let us be clear on this point- this is a historic departure from the limited government traditions of our party and millions of its most ardent supporters.

And this shift to faith in government is especially clear to me.

Not because I am a congressman, but because not long ago, as I watched the children's animated movie "Ice Age" with my kids I realized...I am the frozen man.

You remember the frozen man...born in a simpler time, slips into the snow and thaws out years later in a more sophisticated age.

Well, I first ran for Congress in 1988. An entrenched Democratic majority controlled Congress, frustrating President Reagan at every turn.

A band of heroic House conservatives were challenging Speaker Jim Wright and welfare state politics; a balanced federal budget was as much a fantasy as a Republican majority in Congress...but some of us believed. We believed we could reduce the size and scope of government and halt the slow march to socialism embodied in the welfare state politics of the left.

I lost my bid in 1988 and again in 1990.

There's a saying in politics: "When you're out, you're out!"

Well, I was out for 10 years.

And when I was finally elected to Congress in 2000, I was like the frozen man...frozen before the revolution, thawed after it was over...a minuteman who showed up 10 years late!

A decade ago, when I first ran for Congress, Republicans dreamed of eliminating the federal Department of Education and returning control of our schools to parents, communities and states.

Ten years later, I am thawed out, take my oath of office in the 107th Congress and join the revolution and they hand me a copy of H.R. 1...One...as in our Republican Congress' number one priority.

The "No Child Left Behind Act." The largest expansion of the federal Department of Education since it was created by President Jimmy Carter.

In the end, myself and about 30 House conservatives fought against the bill and were soundly defeated by our own colleagues.

Our Reaganite beliefs that education was a local function were labeled "far right" by Republicans and the President signed the bill into law with a smiling Ted Kennedy at his side.


Conservatives were told to bear up...that this was the exception, not the rule.

And so, relieved to have that experience behind me, I anxiously awaited a new H.R. 1 for a new Congress...an H.R. 1 I could be proud of. And so at the onset of the 108th, I was handed H.R. 1...the number one priority...the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill.

The largest new entitlement since 1965!

To the frozen man it was obvious.

Another Congress.

Another H.R.1.

And another example of the ship of our movement veering off course.

Actually this bill started out promising. The president asked Congress for a very limited program...extending existing welfare benefits to seniors just above the poverty level where most of the one in four seniors without prescription drug coverage reside.

Many conservatives, me included, were prepared to support this limited benefit. I told the president we shouldn't make seniors choose between food, rent and prescription drugs...we were a better country than that.

But instead of giving the president what he requested, the Congress...the land of the $400 hammer...set sail to create the largest new entitlement since 1965...a massive one-size-fits-all entitlement that would place trillions in obligations on our children and grandchildren without giving any thought to how we were going to pay for it.

Conservatives in the House were faced with a difficult choice...oppose the president we love...or support the expansion of the big government we hate.

Twenty-five rebels decided to make a stand for the principle of limited government.

When all the votes were counted, we were one rebel short.

In the end the bill passed.

The welfare state expanded.

And the ship of conservative government veered off course.

But I will always believe that the stand we took mattered. Even in defeat.

Sometimes a small group of people can take a stand, be defeated and still make a difference.

Like in 1836 when less than 200 men fought against thousands of Mexican forces to defend an ancient Christian mission on the plains of Texas.

Though they died to the last man, the Texas volunteers within those missionary walls exacted such a horrific toll on the Army of Santa Anna, that his aid, Col. Juan Almonte privately noted, "One more such glorious victory and we are finished."

And so they were.

The inspiration of the men who made their stand at the Alamo fueled the victory that Sam Houston would lead just six weeks later.

"One more such glorious victory and we are finished."

One more big government education bill.

One more new government entitlement.

One more compromise of who we are as limited government Republicans, and our majority could be finished.

So then, the state of the movement:

Strong, on the advance, but veering off course from our commitment to limited government.

The time has come for conservatives to retake the helm of this movement and renew our commitment to fiscal discipline and to what we know to be true about the nature of government:

Conservatives know that government that governs least governs best.

Conservatives know as government expands, freedom contracts.

Conservatives know that government should never do for a man what he can and should do for himself.

And conservatives know that we never expand the welfare state but that we don't reduce the freedom of its recipients and all those condemned to pay its price in confiscated taxes.

And conservatives know that if you reject these principles of limited government and urge others to reject them you can be my ally, you can be my friend but you cannot call yourself a conservative.

As I close I think about the year ahead.

The unforeseeable challenges our nation may face.

And I think of the heroes we will likely bid farewell.

And I think of Ronald Wilson Reagan.

I met President Reagan in the summer of 1988.

I was a 29 year-old candidate for Congress and he was winding down a presidency that changed the world.

It was a candidate photo-op in the Blue Room of the White House.

I was determined to say something of meaning to the great man.

After we exchanged pleasantries, I told him I was grateful for everything he had done for the country and everything he had done to inspire my generation of Americans to believe in high ideals.

He seemed surprised, his cheeks appeared to redden with embarrassment and he said, "Well, Mike, that's a very nice thing of you to say."

Moments later in the ballroom he took a minute to respond to my and others' accolades with characteristic humility and optimism saying:

"Many of you have thanked me for what I did for America but I want you to know I don't think I did anything for this country-the American people decided it was time to right the ship and I was just the captain they put on the bridge when they did it."

It's time for conservative Americans to do what Reagan did.

It's time for conservative Americans to right the ship again.

To celebrate our great Republican President and Congress that are leading our nation's progress in national security, economic prosperity and value of human life.

But also to see her listing to port...in the direction of big government and set her right again.

And to know that this is not a sign of disloyalty but of true loyalty to principle.

When a ship is approaching a rocky coast, the life of the ship and its crew depends on the navigator with his sextant to counsel the captain and crew to steer clear of the shoals and if need be to forcefully oppose the captain when the fate of the ship hangs in the balance.

This is our cause.

To stand with our captain as he leads us well.

And to right the ship in that where she is adrift.

And this cause will prevail.

For the cause of freedom is not ours but His - "the author and finisher of our faith."

And I believe with all my heart that He who set this miracle of democracy on this these wilderness shores will see our cause through tomorrow as surely as He has seen it through every yesterday.

Thank you for all you do to keep the cause of conservative values alive in this shining city on the hill, this last best hope of earth, these United States of America.

God bless you and God bless the USA.

Conservative Mandate

 

Conservatives scored a victory yesterday as liberal Republican Joe Schwarz lost to conservative candidate Tim Walberg in the 7th district of Michigan. Americans want conservatives governing their country and it's time for true conservatives to lead us back to that "shining city on a hill." Walberg looks up to conservative leader Mike Pence and will fight for our conservative principles to ensure freedom and liberty.


MI Rep. Joe Schwarz's long history in his CD -- from doctor, to mayor and active rep -- couldn't save himself from the fire that his moderate positions on social and fiscal issues kindled.

Schwarz's positions easily handed ex-state Rep. Tim Walberg the backing of MI Right to Life and the Club for Growth. RTL helped Walberg's ground game and CFG helped Walberg raise money when the MI and national GOP establishment lined up behind Schwarz.

(It's the first time a Club-endorsed candidate has ever beat a federal incumbent.) Schwarz's electoral base was never large to begin with: he won 24% in the six-way '04 GOP primary. It didn't hurt that Walberg is a minister and was a red-blooded fiscal conservative during his 16 years in the Legislature.

Sources in MI say that Schwarz ran a poor campaign. Robocalls from Pres. Bush, Laura Bush ex-Dem Gov. Jim Blanchard barely helped. Also: Walberg's campaign used sophisticated precinct targeting software developed by a young DC-based consultant.

The solidly GOP CD means Walberg is on his way to Congress. Walberg is certain to stay to the right once there, saying he admires Reps. Mike Pence (R-IN) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ). Schwarz's absence will rob moderate House GOPers of one of their own, at a time when they've played an influential role in shaping the House GOP agenda (like killing ANWR drilling).

Unified Dem opposition made moderates the key for the GOP leadership to pass legislation. The hope among conservatives is that Schwarz's defeat will encourage moderates to tack right. [JUSTIN MILLER and MARC AMBINDER]

On Joe Schwarz's Defeat

Top 10 Pro-Growth House Members

 

Mike Pence recently got rated 100% by The Club for Growth, the most fiscally conservative organization in America. This shows how Mike Pence is capable of being an effective leader while staying true to his conservative principles. Human Events says to watch out for Pence and they are exactly right!

10. Steve Chabot (98%) – Liberals want Chabot’s seat. He’s in an evenly split district (Bush got 51% against Kerry), but that hasn’t weakened his exceptionally strong voting record.

9. Joe Pitts (99%) – A Vietnam veteran, Pitts has quietly attained a very conservative voting record in a state that continues to lurch leftward because of its increasing RINO congressional representation.

8. Sue Myrick (99%) – She’s part of the celebrated Class of 1994 who continues to fight for limited government even after 12 years in Washington.

7. Todd Akin (100%) – Akin was one of the 25 brave fiscal conservatives who successfully resisted the DeLay whip machine by voting against the Medicare drug bill in 2003.

6. Ed Royce (100%) – He speaks softly, but carries a strong voting card. He’s a very smart guy and a nice one to boot.

5. John Shadegg (100%) – Here’s one reason why House Republicans are getting weaker and weaker on fiscal issues…they didn’t elect John Shadegg as their Majority Leader.

4. Jeb Hensarling (100%) – He studied under fiscal legend, Phil Gramm. And while he’s got big shoes to fill, he’s surpassing all expectations as the RSC’s budgetary pointman.

3. Mike Pence (100%) – Mike Pence, the chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), is a rising star. Watch out for him.

2. Trent Franks (100%) – A successful entrepreneur, Franks is the real deal when it comes to fiscal conservatism. He has publicly stated that he never wants to be on the Appropriations Committee.

1. Jeff Flake (100%) – Very few members of Congress, if any, work harder than Jeff Flake to protect the American taxpayer. Most admirably, he has never secured pork projects for his district.

Top 10 Pro-Growth House Members

Different revolt, same leader

 

Mike Pence once again led a revolt against the leadership, but this time it was against a bill that he wanted. Pence has been the biggest proponent of abolishing the death tax which was what this bill was intended to do. Unfortunately the leadership caved into the moderates and tacked on a 41% increase in the minimum wage. This is bad for the economy and bad economically because this legislation would hurt American's poorest families causing them to lose their jobs. Pence has always been the leading voice of reason to stay true to our conservative values. We can always count on Mike Pence to lead the charge for freedom and liberty. Below is an article written by Bob Novak explaining this situation.

WASHINGTON -- When House members departed last weekend for summer vacation, they handed a painful choice to senators left behind in 100-degree Washington heat. The haughty Senate could either rubber-stamp two complicated bills passed by the House or face real-life consequences. When it took the former course, the Republican-controlled Congress again had abandoned conservative doctrine.

This abandonment bears the imprint of Rep. Bill Thomas, the domineering House Ways and Means Committee chairman, in his farewell congressional performance. He combined GOP-sought estate tax relief with the minimum wage increase long blocked by Republicans as job-killing wage fixing. In accepting this, Republican lawmakers cast doubt on what they really believe.

A lame-duck committee chairman overpowering Congress connotes weak leadership in both House and Senate and a president detached from legislative activity. As the summer break approached, Congress was going nowhere on immigration and lobbyist controls, and long ago gave up on Social Security and tax reform called for by President Bush. But non-passage of two bills would bring real-life consequences.

The first such bill dealt with private pension plans, now $450 billion in the hole. Missing a Sept. 13 deadline would mandate a federal bailout of two airlines, Northwest and Delta. The other measure is the "extenders bill," continuing some 40 expiring corporate tax breaks. Unless passed by the Sept. 15 tax deadline, many corporations must restate their earnings -- antagonizing executives as Republicans dun them for 2006 campaign contributions.

I first heard on July 12 that House Republicans were planning to merge minimum wage and estate tax legislation. Thomas last week combined them with the extenders bill. Arrogant, acerbic and authoritarian, the chairman was going out with a bravura performance (refusing to walk across the Capitol to meet with senators). Last week, senators cooled their heels for hours while waiting for Thomas and other House members to attend a meeting.

Sen. Charles Grassley, Thomas's counterpart as Senate Finance Committee chairman, was furious. He had planned to sweeten his pension bill with the popular extender measure. An enraged Grassley burst uninvited into a meeting of House Republican leaders. He and Thomas, long locked in mutual contempt, attacked each other face-to-face at a Thursday night meeting. But Grassley was undercut by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's support of Thomas's plan.

House Republican leaders next swallowed the 41 percent minimum wage hike -- under duress. Moderate Eastern and Midwestern House members, many threatened for re-election and embarrassed by failure to raise minimum wages, issued a ultimatum: Without the minimum wage, they would block scheduled House adjournment last Friday. The moderate tail again was wagging the conservative dog in the House.

Conservative Republican Reps. Mike Pence and Jeff Flake tried to soften the higher minimum wage's impact on small businesses by joining it with a plan to cut their health care costs. They were told this would be doomed in the Senate by the "Big Blues" (Blue Cross and Blue Shield).

"It's about time we increased the minimum wage!" Thomas told the House. That triggered instant conversion by Republican debaters, extolling the minimum wage as a positive good, with or without estate tax relief. When fellow Republicans tried to convince Pence that this was shrewd politics, the third-term congressman from Elwood, Ind., replied: "I didn't come here to pass wage controls." But only 20 other Republicans joined Pence and Flake in voting against Thomas's concoction. The consensus at a Senate Republican conference Monday was positive (though Grassley did not attend).

Thomas, the fabled legislative mechanic, added $3.9 billion over 10 years for the "abandoned mine lands" program to attract mining state Democrats (perhaps including Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia). He also put in the bill state and local tax deductions and writeoffs for higher education expenses, among other goodies. Earlier, the bill took on a timber tax break intended to snare Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell, facing a vigorous re-election challenge in Washington state.

At this writing, it appears all this will pass the Senate untouched by week's end. But most Democrats are opposed, chiding Republicans that they embraced a higher minimum wage only if tied to the estate tax. Having abandoned its principles, the GOP can't even get credit from its opposition.

Another GOP retreat By Robert D. Novak

Appeal to the American people

 

It's funny how people sometimes mistake Mike Pence as a "centrist" because of his soft-spoken, laid back appeal that influences many people including moderates to agree with his position. It's great that Mike Pence appeals to the "centrist" base but he definitely appeals more to the conservative wing of the Party. Pence has constantly taken bold stances against the leadership in key legislation including the No Child Left Behind Act, the Medicare Bill, Hurricane Katrina and immigration reform. This is what makes Mike Pence a hero to the conservative base and the American people! Below is a profile on Mike Pence by The Conservative Voice.


Born in the heartland of America, Representative Mike Pence has been representing the Sixth Congressional District of eastern Indiana since 2000. His ascent in the political realm as a national spokesman for conservative principles has been noted in publications such as the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, Business Week and The Weekly Standard. In 2005, Pence was named “Man of the Year” by Human Events, a national conservative weekly.

While accolades continue to flow from conservative groups for Pence, it wasn’t always so. After losing his first two attempts at congressional runs in 1988 and 1990, he found himself with a local and later statewide audience as the host of “The Mike Pence Show,” a syndicated radio program. Pence would go on to also appear on a weekend political television show in Indianapolis. He jokes about his long-running radio experience “for ten years [I] did my best impersonation of Rush Limbaugh every day.”But with 2008 coming within vision, there’s talk in Indiana and nationally that Mike Pence might make a good conservative candidate for the presidency. Self-described as “a Christian, a conservative and a Republican,” the Congressman’s appeal seems to lie with the centrists of the Republican Party.

His so-called Pence Plan for immigration reform, however, has brought out criticisms from hard-liners, including Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO), Chairman of the 97-member House Immigration Reform Caucus. Despite criticism from Tancredo that Pence’s plan would “start the new foreign worker program before border security is even proved effective,” a look on Pence’s website refutes this claim. “Before any new temporary-worker program can begin, our plan requires the president to certify that all mandated border-security measures are completed. The Hutchison-Pence proposal embraces the tough border-security measures of the House and Senate bills. It would add border patrol agents, drug enforcement agents and port-of-entry inspectors; end catch and release; add security fences and other physical barriers at critical points; and employ American technology, such as unmanned aerial surveillance vehicles.” Pence’s website offers the complete plan as advocated by the Indiana congressman and co-sponsor Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX).

Strong on national defense and an advocate of limited government, Pence has often been described as a Reagan Republican. As the Congressman is fond of saying, “Every time I heard Ronald Reagan speak …… he always, invariably brought up the indelicate matter of core values. Whatever venue he was in front of he demonstrated, maybe with just a single line, the courage of his convictions.”

Indiana Congressman Mike Pence is certainly someone to look hard at -- now and in 2008.

Considering Mike Pence

The Fight for Freedom: Mike Pence and 527 Fairness Act

 

Mike Pence is the biggest advocate of freedom and has constantly fought against legislation or ideals that intrudes on our liberty. McCain campaigned on campaign finance reform and unfortunately got it passed in 2002, which Mike Pence was directly involved with the lawsuit. Pence went on to say this about McCain, "John McCain is so deep in bed with the Democrats that his feet are coming out of the bottom of the sheets."

Mike Pence has recently fought against McCain's and the liberal's new strategy to reform 527's to keep the elites in power by introducing "527 Fairness Act" that levels the playing field for political parties and individual PACs. Below is an excerpt from an article dealing with this situation and how the Soros's and McCain's of the country are trying to rule over us by taking away our free speech through this form of campaign finance.


In order to effectively fight the Soros/Gill shadow government, the Congress must remove regulatory shackles imposed on political parties, PACs, and non-profit groups if they are to compete against this shadow government. In Congress’s misguided efforts to bring about election reform, they have tied the hands of those opposed to a Soros/Gill cultural revolution.

Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) has stated the problem well. In enacting campaign reform legislation, Congress put restrictions on how much money could be given to political parties and PACs, but 527 groups were generally free of onerous regulations. Money flowed to these groups in record amounts during 2004. In testifying before a congressional committee in April 2006, Pence observed: “Because political speech and the money supporting such speech will always find a home in a free society, Swiftboat Veterans and MoveOn.org dominated the 2004 election airwaves, leaving political parties, political action committees and the campaign committees of George Bush and John Kerry with very little control over their own messages.”

Rep. Pence and other conservative legislators know what must be done to create a level playing field against the Soros/Gill shadow government. The question is whether they will have enough votes to bring about meaningful legislative solutions to fix the damage done by previous campaign reform bills.

If our democratic system is to work the way the Founders envisioned, American politics cannot be dominated by a Soros/Gill network of 527s designed to undermine traditional values. Political parties, PACs, and non-profits should have just as much political power as the shadow government.

American Daily