Montgomery County Republican Party Line August 27, 2011

A tempest in a teapot controversy has stirred in Montgomery County over the past ten days or so because of the Chevy Chase Republican Women's Club choice of former Congressman Fred Grandy as a speaker on the topic of the "Threat of Islamic Extremism to America" on September 24^th.

Former Delegate Saqib Ali has 'alerted the media' and launched a Facebook page "Stand Up to Bigotry in MoCo Republican's Party" see http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=272251526123063 as well as an online petition of the same name.

According to Ali: "We don't need divisive people like Fred Grandy coming to Montgomery County to spread their venom. And we don't need the Republican Party to participate in this nonsense. Please spread the word about this event by telling your friends to join. We may have to picket the event if necessary. Let's hope Republicans come to their senses before then and cancel the event."

I commented to the press that his "attacking a program on 'Islamic extremism' as an attack on all of Islam makes the same mistake critics unfairly accuse Fred Grandy of. 'Islamic extremism' and Islam are not interchangeable terms." Others have also pointed out the Chevy Chase Club's First Amendment right to discuss topics and have speakers of their own choosing.

Ali's lack of judgment while in office was legendary. For example, to promote his bill banning the sale of sexual stimulants at gas stations he barged into a press conference where Mark Lunsford was speaking about the need to strengthen Maryland's sex offender laws. Lunsford is the father of Jessica Lunsford, whose Florida tragedy inspired many states' Jessica's Laws. Ali handed out to the media samples of the pills that where the subject of his legislation, with names like Night Bullet and Stiff Nights. District 39's Democratic voters are to be commended for his defeat in the 2010 primary.

Ali's contention in this speaker controversy is, that since there is no such thing as "Islamic extremism," that therefore any discussion of the topic is a slur against all Muslims.

Let me share my personal history to respond further.

In the early nineties our family lived in Brooklyn. Just one block over from our home was Atlantic Avenue, not far along which the Al Farook Mosque is located. This was one of the several mosques in the New York City area at which the so-called "Blind Sheikh," Omar Abdel-Rahman, recruited terrorists. This conclusion is not wild conjecture or biased speculation on my part. Today Omar Abdel-Rahman is serving a life term in a Federal prison as a result of a case arising out of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

According to Evan Kohlmann in Al-Qaida's Jihad in Europe, Omar Abdel-Rahman's sermons condemned Americans as the "descendants of apes and pigs who have been feeding from the dining tables of the Zionists, Communists, and colonialists." Abdel-Rahman issued a fatwa in America that declared lawful the robbing of banks and killing of Jews in America. He called on Muslims to assail the West, "cut the transportation of their countries, tear it apart, destroy their economy, burn their companies, eliminate their interests, sink their ships, shoot down their planes, kill them on the sea, air, or land."

There is added personal significance beyond my proximity to this mosque. At the same time my wife Robin was working for Salomon Brothers at 7 World Trade Center. This structure was eventually destroyed on 9/11.

Today our son Peter serves as a US Marine in Afghanistan. While he was injured this past May by an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by the Taliban and hospitalized for a week, he has rejoined his unit and fights side by side with Moslem soldiers of the Afghanistan National Army.

At nearly the same time Saqib Ali was caterwauling about the Chevy Chase Club speaker choice, I was following news accounts about my son's unit's participating in an Iftar during Ramadan with their Afghan National Army and Police counterparts. (See http://www.marines.mil/unit/1stmardiv/1stregiment/rct1/Pages/FaithsustainsAfghansoldiersduringRamadan.aspx)

Marines Iftar

Photo credit: GARMSIR DISTRICT, Afghanistan-Marines from 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment and district government officials enjoy Iftar or 'breaking of fast,' which is the nightly meal during the month-long Islamic holiday Ramadan, Marines from 1/3 are regularly invited to Iftar with their Afghan National Army and Police counterparts during Ramadan., Cpl. Colby Brown, 8/8/2011 3:13 PM

Consider then the contrast between Saqib Ali's protest and our US soldiers and Marines sharing an Iftar with Moslem soldiers. Together they understand how deadly an adversary Islamic extremists are. If Delegate Ali is really interested in ecumenical outreach, he should stop denying the obvious existence of this threat.

Mark Uncapher

Montgomery County Republican Chairman

MCGOP TO SPONSOR GOLF TOURNAMENT FUNDRAISER ON OCTOBER 11, 2011

The Montgomery County Republican Party is sponsoring its first annual golf tournament fundraiser on October 11, 2011 at the beautiful Bretton Woods Country Club in Germantown, Maryland. The tournament will provide participants with the opportunity to enjoy a great day of golf at one of the County's most exclusive courses and the opportunity to network with national, state and local Republican Party leaders and activists.

The four person "best ball" tournament will tee off at 1:00 p.m. and be followed by an awards dinner at the Bretton Woods Clubhouse at 6:00 p.m. The tournament will feature a $10,000 Hole-in-One Shootout and Longest Drive and Closest to the Pin competitions. All participants will receive a complimentary "re-play" certificate allowing them to return to the Country Club and play the Bretton Woods course a second time. The Party will also host a silent auction during dinner.

Please join us for this fun-filled day at Bretton Woods. Non-golfers are invited to attend the dinner and silent auction. For more information, or to register for the tournament or dinner on-line, go to www.golfdigestplanner.com/19429-MCGOP.

The Maryland Public Policy Institute

After Failing, Keynesians Ask for Still More Spending

Originally Published in the Herald-Mail

by Thomas A. Firey

Keynesianism, the idea that government can heal the economy through reckless deficit spending, is an economic theory and, as such, subject to real-world testing. But Keynesianism is also a faith - faith is "evidence of things not seen," after all, and America has never seen deficit spending create an economic recovery. Not for lack of trying: the United States has thrown mountains of money at the 13 recessions since John Maynard Keynes' "General Theory" first appeared in print 75 years ago.

Nonetheless, the Keynesian faith is alive and well. It can be seen in the new debt deal, as well as the reactions to it by pundits who, as good fundamentalists, have condemned the deal for not being devout enough in the creed.

To be charitable to Keynes, there is much more - and much of value - to the "General Theory" than government spending. But spending is the object of devotion for the Keynesian faithful, who believe that "fiscal stimulus" - their preferred term for reckless spending - is the one and only salvation for a failing economy. The problem is, fiscal stimulus has never done much besides run up public debt.

It did little to help the nation out of the Great Depression[1]; instead, recovery was fueled by enormous increases in U.S. and foreign money supplies.[2] It also did little to end the many U.S. recessions after the Depression; again, monetary expansion rekindled growth.[3] It hasn't worked in Japan, where scads of "public investments" have failed to halt the nation's "Lost Decade" (now entering its third decade).[4]

And it clearly hasn't worked in the Great Recession, despite over $1 trillion in fiscal stimulus from the 2008 Economic Stimulus Act, the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the December 2010 taxes-and-spending deal and all the mini-stimulus bills along the way, on top of routine government deficit-spending. Despite all that, in this summer after what was supposed to be "Recovery Summer," we have unemployment over 9 percent, underemployment over 16 percent, shrinking wages and growing fears of a "double dip" recession. That's all quite different from the 6.5 percent unemployment and thriving economy that Keynesians promised us in 2009.[5]

And yet, despite fiscal stimulus's dismal track record, the supposedly miserly new federal debt deal will throw almost $1.1 trillion in deficit spending at the economy next fiscal year. That will be just the third trillion-dollar deficit in the nation's history - and the third in a row. The allegedly draconian debt deal will cut next year's federal spending by all of two-thirds of one percent from what was previously planned.

Truly, we're all faithful Keynesians now.

But we're not devout-enough Keynesians, according to the zealous. Slate editor Jacob Weisberg branded proponents of the debt deal "intellectual primitives" for not wanting even more stimulus. "Our enemies could not have designed a better plan to weaken the American economy than this debt-ceiling deal," fumed New York Times columnist Joe Nocera.[6] "Thanks to that deficit obsession, government, which could and should be supporting the economy in its time of need, has been pulling back," groused Keynesianism's most ardent dogmatist, Paul Krugman.[7]

But really, how heretical is the debt deal? Federal spending for the next fiscal year will comprise 23.3 percent of the entire economy - more than all but nine fiscal years since 1929.[8] (The other years are 1942-1946, 1983 and 2009-2011.) The deficit will be 6.7 percent of the economy, higher than all years since 1929 except for 1942-1946 and 2009-2011. If the United States reenters recession next year, it can't credibly be blamed on a lack of deficit spending.

But what about the later years of the debt deal? My rough estimate suggests it will stabilize federal spending at just over 21 percent of the economy by the middle of this decade. That would be higher than the average for government spending for every decade since 1929 except the World War II decade and (just barely) the Reagan decade. According to the left-leaning Center for American Progress, deficits under the deal will still average around 3.3 percent in the middle of this decade[9] (my estimate is somewhat lower), well above the 1.9 percent average for the second half of the 20th century.

Most Americans would see these numbers as a meager first step toward fiscal sanity, just before the nation is swamped by the costs of retiring baby boomers' entitlements.[10] For the fervent Keynesian faithful, however, the deal is apostasy. Instead, they want the nation to embrace a fiscal version of St. Augustine's prayer: "Lord, grant me continence - but not now."

[1] Christina D. Romer. "The Nation in Depression." Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Spring 1993): pp. 19-39.

[2] Milton Friedman and Anna Jacobson Schwartz, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960. Princeton University Press, 1963.

[3] Christina D. Romer and David H. Romer. "What Ends Recessions?" NBER Macroeconomics Annual, Vol. 9 (1994): pp. 13-57.

[4] Martin Fackler. "Japan's Big-Works Stimulus Is Lesson." New York Times, February 5, 2009.

[5] Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein. "The Job Impact of the American Recover and Reinvestment Plan." January 9, 2009.

[6] Joe Nocera. "The Tea Party's War on America." New York Times. August 1, 2011.

[7] Paul Krugman. "The Wrong Worries." New York Times. August 5, 2011.

[8] Government spending and deficit numbers come from the author's calculations using data from the President's proposed Budget of the United States, FY 2012 and Congressional Budget Office scoring of the debt deal. Historical data on spending and deficits is from the proposed Budget.

[9] Michael Linden. "Whatever Else It Does, The Debt Limit Deal Reduces the Deficit." Center for American Progress. August 2, 2011.

[10] See Thomas A. Firey, "Myths about Social Security and Medicare," Herald-Mail, June 22, 2011.

You can find this online at: http://www.mdpolicy.org/research/detail/were-all-faithful-keynesian-now

Can You Become a Montgomery County Republican Team Leader?

voting_image

We are currently contacting Prime Republicans throughout Montgomery County -- You can help your party starting with your own neighbors.

Here is what you can do:

1. Send an email to mcrepublicans@gmail.com
with your name, address and precinct number (use your precinct number if you know it, otherwise we will look it up.)

2. We will email back a list with the names, addresses and phone numbers of 50-100 Prime Republicans who live near you or in your precinct and a short, easy to follow script.

3. You then contact these Prime Republicans, introducing yourself and asking if they might be interested in future in receiving Republican invitations and news via email, displaying lawn signs or bumper stickers or helping Republican campaigns in the future.

4. We ask that your record the information you receive online at: http://mcgop.net/signup.aspx, with the information you collect. Please be sure to fill out the "Referred by (email):" field do so can give you credit for the contacts you have made.

Complete five contacts - and we will recognize you in our website, in the newsletter our Republican Team Leader our leader board. After you reach your first group of Prime Republicans, and we can send you additional names to contact.

MPPI: Make Health Insurance Affordable by Choice, not Mandate
Health Care Reform

By: Marc Kilmer

Originally Published in the Baltimore Sun

Do you need a mandate to force you to buy something you want or need? This question isn't asked by those who support a health insurance mandate, such as Dr. Edward Miller and Scott A. Berkowitz of Johns Hopkins ("Hopkins leaders support health insurance mandate," Aug. 9). The reason we have so many uninsured Marylanders is that health insurance is either too unaffordable or it doesn't offer a good value to those who can afford it. A mandate won't solve either of those problems.

Responding to self-interested lobbying groups, well-meaning legislators have mandated that any health insurance sold in Maryland must cover over 60 procedures, something that has dramatically raised the cost of insurance in this state. If you want insurance that doesn't cover, say, in vitro fertilization, you can't purchase it. There are also a number of restrictions on the price and type of health insurance that can be sold in the state.

If you want to escape Maryland's tough regulations, too bad. If you live in the Eastern Shore town of Delmar and want to purchase a cheaper policy from a broker across the street in Delmar, Del., you are legally prohibited from doing so. Now, with the passage of the so-called "Affordable Care Act," restrictions like Maryland are in place at the national level. This legislation will increase the cost of health insurance and then use tax dollars to subsidize its purchase for some people.

If we allowed health insurance to be bought and sold like other goods there would be no need for a health insurance mandate. If people could tailor the health insurance policy to meet their needs and desires and if they could buy health insurance across state lines, the vast majority of people could afford a policy giving them what they want. While some people would not have enough income to afford a policy, that's why we have safety net programs like Medicaid.

Instead of supporting a mandate forcing people to buy a product that is too expensive and doesn't offer people what they want, Dr. Miller and Mr. Berkowitz should advocate giving health insurance consumers more power. These consumers, not government bureaucrats, know what they can afford and what type of insurance is best for them.

Dueling County Council Redistricting Plans Offered

Two plans for redistricting Montgomery County Council seats have been proposed. One was prepared by Henry Kahwaty, Vice-Chair of the Redistricting Commission and one of the Commission's four Republican members. The second plan was released by Don Spence, a Democratic member of the Commission.

Henry Kahwaty's plan breaks the County into five districts based around communities of interest. One district is centered on Rockvile, and a second is centered on Gaithersburg. A third district covers the areas inside the Beltway, including Bethesda and Silver Spring. A fourth district covers the south eastern part of the County (e.g., Colesville). Finally, the fifth district includes the less densely populated areas of the County, including the Ag Reserve, Poolesville, Damascus, Brookeville, Laytonsville, Sandy Spring, and Olney.

See the Gazette's coverage of the Kahwaty plan in a story, See"Republicans Make Play for Upcounty Council Seat

To see maps of the alternative plans: Maps

Commissioner Kahwaty designed his plan as a "clean sheet" exercise. He did not start with current districts and move a few precincts to balance population numbers across County Council districts. Instead, he started from scratch and tried to combine areas with similar interests into districts. For example, the proposed district for the areas inside the Beltway includes more densely populated areas near the District of Columbia. These older communities include the urban areas of Silver Spring and Bethesda. Similarly, the more rural areas of Poolesville, Damascus, and Brookeville are combined in one district. Mr. Spence's plan combines Poolesville with Bethesda, while Dr. Kahwaty's combines it with Brookeville and Laytonsville. Poolesville has more in common with the other communities in Dr. Kahwaty's plan than it does with the urban and more densely populated areas of Mr. Spence's plan. According to Dr. Kahwaty, "My plan combines areas with similar interests into Council districts. This will result in better representation for all Montgomery County communities."

Dr. Kahwaty added that he did not draft his plan with information on where present County Council members live. "I did not view it as my job to protect incumbent members by putting them in separate districts, but I also did not view it as my job to put existing members into common districts. They live where they live. I tried to develop a County Council map that made sense for the people of Montgomery County." The Redistricting Commission's software and database included information on the home precincts of incumbents, but Dr. Kahwaty chose not to consider this information. Indeed, he had argued to the Commission that it should not consider information on the home precincts of incumbents, but the Commission opted to include this information in its database.

Mr. Spence's proposal essentially splits Republican voters evenly across districts, making it exceptionally difficult for any Republicans to win County Council elections. In Dr. Kahwaty's plan, District 2, which is his more rural district, has more of a Republican tilt than the other districts. This is because the more rural areas of the County tend to have a larger fraction of voters registered as Republicans. Even so, registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans in Dr. Kahwaty's proposed District 2 by about 20,000.

"My plan is based on what makes sense for the County. I have not constructed contorted districts to protect incumbents, pit incumbents against each other, or create hostile districts for any candidates. No one is favored or disfavored. Instead, I've tried to break Montgomery County into five districts based upon the interests of local residents."

The Redistricting Commission is holding a public hearing on Thursday evening, September 1 to take public comments on the two redistricting plans. Please make your voices heard by coming to this hearing and letting the Commissioners know your thoughts on both plans. Said Dr. Kahwaty, "I am happy to make improvements to my plan, and I am sure the public will have good ideas on how to make my plan even better."

2010 AWARDS NOMINATIONS REQUESTED

The Montgomery County Republican Party is now seeking nominations for four prestigious awards categories. Deadline for consideration is September 12, 2011. Categories are:

ALBERT BULLOCK YOUTH AWARD - Presented to honor and recognize outstanding achievement and work for the Montgomery County Republican Party in 2010 by a person under the age of 25.
FORBES BLAIR AWARD - Presented to honor and recognize lifetime achievement and work for the Montgomery County Republican Party by an individual.
REPUBLICAN MAN OF THE YEAR - Presented to honor and recognize outstanding achievement and work for the Montgomery County Republican Party in 2010 by a man.
REPUBLICAN WOMAN OF THE YEAR - Presented to honor and recognize outstanding achievement and work for the Montgomery County Republican Party in 2010 by a woman.

To be considered for an award, a nomination form must be completed and should include a statement of justification with supporting documentation. Nominations may be sent to mdmcrp@comcast.net or the Montgomery County Republican Central Committee, Attention Awards Committee, 15833 Crabbs Branch Way, Rockville, MD 20855. Committee members include Rachael Gingrich (rachaelgingrich@hotmail.com) and Josephine Wang (dustercjshan@cs.com )

Renew Your Republican Party Membership for 2011
Online

MCRP MEMBERSHIP LEVELS:

SUSTAINING MEMBER -$25 per year

BUILDER MEMBER -$50 per year

CENTURY CLUB MEMBER -$100 per year

LEADERSHIP COUNCIL - $250 per year

FINANCE COUNCIL -$500 per year

TRUSTEE COUNCIL -$1000 per year

CHAIRMAN'S CLUB -$2500 per year

( ) OTHER AMOUNT -___

Paypal

For Event details see:
the county party website

Thursday Sep 01, 2011 7:00 PM
Montgomery County Redistricting Commission meeting, testimony invited

Wednesday, Sep 07, 2011 7:00 PM
Communications Committee Meeting

Thursday Sep 08, 2011 6:30 PM
First Thursday w/ Guest Del. Neil Parrott

Monday, Sep 12, 2011 6:00 PM
Prince George's County 57th Lincoln Day Dinner w/ Congressman Andy Harris

Tuesday, Sep 13, 2011, 7:00 PM
Montgomery County Central Committee Executive Board Meeting

Friday, Sep 16, 2011 6:30 PM
Daniel Bongino for US Senate Meet & Greet in Kensington

Saturday Sep 24, 2011 5:00 PM
A Grand Old Party with Guests Rep. Fred Grandy and Mrs. Fred
Chevy Chase Republican Women's Club

Tuesday Sep 27, 2011 11:00 AM
Rock Creek Women's Republican Club Monthly Meeting

Tuesday, Sep 27, 2011 7:30 PM
Montgomery County Central Committee Executive Committee Meeting

Saturday, Oct 08, 2011 6:00 PM
Rural Women's Republican Club Annual Fundraiser - Saturday Night in the Country

Sunday, Oct 09, 2011, 1:00 PM
Montgomery Republican Party's Grand Old Party Picnic

Tuesday, Oct 11, 2011
Montgomery County Inaugural Golf tournament & Dinner

Saturday Oct 22, 2011 5:00 PM
Upper Montgomery Women's Republican Club Annual Fundraiser

Tuesday Oct 25, 2011, 7:30 PM
Montgomery County Central Committee Executive Committee Meeting

Friday, Nov 04, 2011,1:00 PM
Maryland Federation of Republican Women Fall Convention

Tuesday, Nov 22, 2011, 7:30 PM
Montgomery County Central Committee Meeting

Help Wanted

Central Committee Members for Districts

15 & 17

The Montgomery County GOP is accepting applications to fill two vacancies on the Montgomery County Republican Party Central Committee.

The positions are in District 15 and 17.

Central Committee members take on leadership responsibility for a variety of projects on behalf of the Republican Party. The Republican Central Committee has regularmeetings, with a number of other events interspersed throughout the year. These appointments will be valid through the next gubernatorial election year (2014). Candidates for this position must be a resident of the jurisdiction being sought and a registered Republican.

A Nominating Committee chaired by Katja Bullock will make recommendations to the full Central Committee. The vacancies will be formally filled by a meeting of the full Central Committee.

Applicants should submit an expression of interest, resume and a short biographical sketch of their political involvements by Wednesday August 31, 2011 to Nominations Committee Chair: Katja Bullock

katja.bullock@gmail.com

Voter Registration Chair

Responsible for the county party's voter outreach effort for registering new voters as Republicans and re-registering voters changing their party affiliation. Works with the Events Chair and with the individual Legislative District Chair.

Applicants should submit an expression of interestand a short biographical sketch of their political involvements or resume to mdmcrp@comcast.net.

GOLF TOURNAMENT VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

The Montgomery County Republican Party is planning its first golf tournament. If you are interested in serving on the MCGOP Golf Tournament Committee, please e-mail Bruce Stern at bruce@sternlegal.net.

GET INVOLVED ! REPUBLICANS NEED TO APPLY !

MONTGOMERY COUNTY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS

District 16 Central Committee member Carol Bowis has taken on the task of encouraging fellow Republicans to get involved in volunteer opportunities on Montgomery County Boards and Commissions. We can help shape public policy and make our voices heard. Please help spread the word to any qualified Republican to apply for county boards and commissions that are of interest. Congratulations to Scott Graham who has been appointed to the Upcounty Citizens Advisory Board. Good luck to other Republicans who have made applications to other Committees. With persistence, and qualified applicants, we will get our voices hear!d

The County Executive has announced the following vacancies and their application deadlines:

September 2, 2011

Bethesda Urban Partnership, Inc. Board of Directors
Citizens Review Panel for Children
Advisory Committee on Consumer Protection
Noise Control Advisory Board
Commission on Veterans Affairs

September 9, 2011

Water Quality Advisory Group
Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Advisory Council

To view the details of each application, go to the Montgomery County website and look for Boards and Committees, then click on Vacancy notices. Then click on the press release which interests you. Please encourage other good Republicans you know to apply as well. Our county needs to know the opinions of their citizens from BOTH parties! For all of the above, please send a letter of interest and a resume to the County Executive's office. The Mont. County website, under Boards and Commissions, lists the press releases with details about each of the vacancies.

If you have served on a Board or Commission during the last ten years or have applied and not been selected, Carol Bowis (301-229-1121) would appreciate hearing from you so that we can be more helpful in advising future applicants as to the process and interviews, etc., in the hopes of getting more GOP representation on county boards.

Anyone else who has been appointed to a County Board, please advise Carol as well, so we can congratulate you publicly.

From Our County
Fair Tent