For rank-and-file Republicans, our party’s mission is to advance freedom through limited government, strong national security, personal responsibility and traditional family values.

Although many Republicans generally adhere to all four of those elements, some do not; yet they remain allied because they are so strongly committed to many of those principles.  Despite inner-party squabbles, most Republicans rationally accept that we must work together to form an electoral majority.

Recently, some have grumbled that social conservatives — pro-lifers, opponents of same-sex marriage and the “Religious Right” — are to blame for the party’s recent setbacks and should be muzzled. (more…)

Ever since Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans first wrested power from the Federalist Party of Washington and Adams, the world has marveled at the orderliness of America’s “peaceful revolutions.”

How long then will voters remain peaceful when their will is cynically undermined by partisan lawyers and willful judges whose lust to see their interests prevail eviscerates any pretense of respect to fair elections? (more…)

For anyone born in the last 50 years, “separation of church and state” is inculcated secular orthodoxy.  I well remember the family discussion during which my dad informed me that the phrase appears nowhere in the Constitution, and I recall spending the next two hours searching my history books in futility to prove him wrong.

That government is insulated from faith is a notion that survives only in historical ignorance.  Perhaps nothing disproves this fallacy more effectively than Thanksgiving Day, an official government holiday established for the purpose of acknowledging God’s blessing of America. (more…)

After being routed at the polls for two consecutive election cycles, Republicans are turning introspective, asking how the party fell out of favor so suddenly and how to correct course.

That introspection includes the inevitable catharsis that exacerbates tensions within the existing right-center political coalition.

Conservatives say moderates were too squishy, especially on spending matters.

Moderates say conservatives were too rigid, particularly on social issues.

Libertarians say both conservatives and moderates are correct in their diagnoses but wrong in their prescriptions. (more…)

As the dust settles after Election Day, it’s fair to say that Republicans deserved the thrashing we received. Unfortunately, some good Republicans (our own Bob Schaffer, to name one) lost undeservedly, and some embarrassments (Alaska Sen. Ted “7 Felonies and a Bridge to Nowhere” Stevens) won undeservedly.

Only time will tell if America will get what it expects from Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress.  We know, however, that many are destined for disappointment if only because so many expectations of Obama are irreconcilable with each other.

Polls indicate the public still desires fiscally conservative government and that Republicans were punished for failing to deliver on what should be our bedrock issue.  To Republicans who are frustrated that voters would turn to the party of even-bigger government, the message is clear:  voters want contrast, not a watered-down version of the Democrats’ agenda. (more…)

Cut through the doubletalk that obscures the financial mess in Washington and on Wall Street, and these points are obvious to everyone paying attention:

• Congress used the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to force banks to make risky loans to “help” people buy houses they could not afford.

• As early as 2001, President Bush and Republicans warned that Freddie and Fannie’s financial house was unstable and could wreak havoc on the economy.

• Fannie and Freddie spent more than $200 million lobbying Congress to ignore the problem.

• Subservient Democrats, like Barney Frank, dutifully declared that Freddie and Fannie were safe and sound and blocked reform. (more…)

Politicians and campaigns are masters of “spin” – selectively presenting facts in a way that leads the target audience to believe what the spin doctors want them to believe.

Like it or not, spin is unavoidable because everyone has a unique perspective, formed by their own experiences and beliefs.

But there’s spin, and then there are lies — outright, premeditated, willful lies that have no basis whatsoever in truth. (more…)

“Government is the great fiction through which everyone endeavors to live at the expense of everyone else.” — Frederic Bastiat.

Contrary to popular belief, the citizen initiative process is not inherently – or even incidentally – conservative.  Like government, the initiative is merely a reflection of the attitudes and principles of the people.

Today, the people are not conservative – skeptical, irascible or cynical, perhaps, but not conservative. (more…)

Barack Obama says Republicans “are going to try to make you afraid of me.”

Well, it’s hard to imagine how the GOP could conjure up a more fearsome specter of an Obama presidency than the one created by the tactics of his own campaign. (more…)

Colorado’s so-called “business leaders” just don’t get it but, oh boy, are they about to.

Shrewd in making deals in their own respective realms, the power brokers who agreed to pay labor union bosses $3 million in exchange for withdrawing four job-killing ballot initiatives have been played for suckers.

Politics is a different ballgame.  These business executives consented to an extortion racket and will pay the price for years to come. (more…)