MUTH'S TRUTHS 12/10/2013

DEFINITION OF A CONSERVATIVE As the campaign season heats up and more and more moderate Gumby candidates draw conservative opponents in GOP primaries, the question is again and often raised, “What’s your definition of a conservative?” The long version definition is clearly outlined in a little book written by late Sen.  Barry Goldwater titled “Conscience of a Conservative.”  But for a short summary, this quote pretty much sums it up… “I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them. It is not to inaugurate new programs, but to cancel old ones that do violence to the Constitution, or that have failed their purpose, or that impose on the people an unwarranted financial burden. I will not attempt to discover whether legislation is "needed" before I have first determined whether it is constitutionally permissible.” For a more direct definition of what a conservative is, I’ve always found the following by former Reagan adviser Lyn Nofziger to be helpful… “Allowing for differences I would define a conservative, first as one who believes in the Constitution as it is written. That takes care of free speech, freedom of religion, the right to petition the government, the right to keep and bear arms and, in the words of William O. Douglas in one of his saner moments, ‘the right to be let alone.’ “Second, a conservative believes in small, limited government at every level. Along with this he believes strongly in individual responsibility. That is, a person or a family should take care of itself and turn for help to government only when all other means have been exhausted. It also means that society, before government, has a duty to take care of its own. Government should be a resource of last resort. “Third, a conservative believes taxes should be levied for the purpose of financing the limited responsibilities of government such as providing for the common defense, catching and incarcerating criminals, minting money and filling potholes. Taxes should not be levied for the purpose of redistributing wealth. “That’s about it. “I know there are those who say a conservative should be pro-life, which I am, but I’m not sure a person has to be that to qualify as a conservative. Nor am I sure that a person must be opposed to pornography, which I am. In both cases there are questions of individual rights and responsibilities which are arguable.  “One other thing I think a conservative believes is that the parents, not government, are and should be responsible for the upbringing and behavior of their children.” Amen. So if you vote to raise taxes, grow government, limit individual rights and interfere unconstitutionally in the free market…you ain’t no conservative. In other words, their protestations to the contrary, Gov. Brian Sandoval (R&R-Partners), Senate Minority Leader Moderate Mike Roberson, and Assembly Minority Leader Pat Hickey may all be Republicans…but ain’t one of them a true conservative. May they all lose in primaries!  Speaking of which… HICKEY’S OPPONENT “Richard Fineberg is the Simi Valley-to-Reno transplant and ‘constitutional conservative’ who will challenge Assembly Minority Leader Pat Hickey in the 2014 Republican primary in District 25,” writes Ray Hagar of the Reno Gazette-Journal in is blog, noting that Fineberg “appears to personify the issues that are bugging the ‘constitutionals’ in Washoe County.” Among the issues bothering constitutional conservatives, writes Hagar, is the Kirner Tax (AB46), Gov. Brian Sandoval (R&R-Partners) breaking his word on taxes, and Republicans who talk like a conservative on the campaign trail and then vote like a Democrat once in office. Hagar notes that conservative candidates such as Fineberg “love guns and hate Obamacare,” are not professional politicians, and sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge promising their constituents that they will oppose any and all efforts to increase taxes. Fineberg told Hagar that the Kirner Tax – a recently tabled sales and property tax hike for Washoe County that Republican Assemblyman Randy Kirner (R-Kirner Tax) engineered and promoted jointly with Hickey – “was the big factor that spurred my candidacy on.” “I was actually very angered by the way that whole thing was handled,” Fineberg said.  “By creating the Kirner-Hickey amendment to AB 46 and passing it through the Legislature – a vehicle that shifted responsibility over to the county commissioners - I thought was abhorrent at many levels.” “No. 1 and foremost, it was an act of cowardice,” Fineberg said. “It was an act of betrayal. It was an act of a breach of trust between the legislators and the people who elected them." Yep.  And Fineberg has similar feelings towards Sandoval and those tax hike “sunsets.” “The governor ran for election on a platform that said, ‘I’m not going to renew these taxes' and he violated that promise to the people,” Fineberg said. “It’s like George Herbert Walker Bush saying, ‘Read my lips.’  It was that kind of thing. And on his (re-election) web site now, he boasts that he was able to pass a budget without raising taxes. That’s poppycock.” Hagar notes that running against the incumbent GOP Minority Leader “won’t be easy,” but Fineberg is undeterred. “I want to be a conservative voice for the 25th Assembly district,” Fineberg, 63, said. “I don’t think Mr. Hickey is that. I know Pat. I like Pat. I’ve been to his house. But I just see a voting record and a perspective that clashes with my own world view about these things.” Like Mr. Fineberg, I also know Pat.  I like Pat.  But Pat is no conservative.  And he’s not a fighter (except when he’s fighting with conservatives!).  Like Tom Hagan (“The Godfather”) before him, Hickey is no “wartime consigliere.”  And a fighting wartime consigliere is what Assembly Republicans have needed and lacked for many, many years now.  Gentlemen, start your primary! RALSTON RETORTS! As liberal blogger Jon Ralston continues to ridicule Republican Assemblyman Jim Wheeler (R-Douglas County), conservatives continue to rally to Wheeler’s defense.  Indeed, as Ralston was referring to Wheeler last week as part of a GOP “freak show” in response to Wheeler’s new fundraising video, Tory Crockett responded… “THANKS! Just gave Jim Wheeler $50 and it felt SOOOOO good.” Ralston may turn out to be the Wheeler’s best fundraiser before all is said and done! See more Ralston Retorts at www.RalstonRetorts.com TAX PLEDGE SIGNERS Click here for the update 2014 list of Taxpayer Protection Pledge signers in Nevada. FAMOUS LAST WORDS “An American liberal is one who can speak of Hiroshima without mentioning Pearl Harbor.” – Grover Norquist Did someone forward you this copy of Muth's Truths? Get your own FREE subscription...