Rice County Republicans

From Rep. John Kline we hear:

Earlier today, Senator John McCain announced Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his selection for Vice President. John McCain and Sarah Palin will make a great team in the White House, and the selection of Governor Palin for Vice President sends a strong signal of a commitment to changing Washington. Governor Palin’s principled opposition to pork-barrel projects demonstrates a strong commitment to reform, and her ethical leadership makes her an excellent partner for governing our nation. [emphasis added]

Obviously we are also excited by the addition of this highly principled governor as part of the McCain team.

We look forward to building a strong story around the position that pork-barrel politics is a bad idea, and that taking a principled stand against pork is something to reward our representatives for. Let’s do that this fall, and every election from now on, until cronyism is defeated and the practice of buying of voters using the public treasury is ended.

Continue reading…

A recent letter in the Faribault Daily News caught our eyes (well, one of the editorial staff wrote the letter). In any case, it supports a good candidate for county commissioner who believes that farming is, perhaps, a strategic industry that we should not allow to be shipped overseas. If we do not pay attention, local farming may go the way of many of our other jobs, overseas, to the lowest bidder.

• Piper has good vision for the future. Mike Piper has a vision that is shared by many of us in Bridgewater Township. His vision is of a community that can sustain itself into the future, into a future that will see changes in the environment and in our ability to transport foods for long distances. These changes make sustaining the ability to grow our food locally a critical need for our community. We have seen the effect of unconstrained and unplanned growth around the world and through history.
  - Bruce W. Morlan, Bridgewater Twp
  (read more at the online Faribault Daily News)

We are constantly looking for good letters to the editors of the papers in our region, and if your letter is published you can send us the Internet address for the paper and we’ll link to it here!

We are particularly proud of this first one, because we know that the use of earmarks is symptomatic of a political system that will collapse under the weight of taxes.  John Kline is principled on this one and we like that.

• John Kline won’t pile on taxes. A recent letter writer criticized Rep. John Kline for not taking earmarks to help his district. Maybe, in these difficult economic times, we should instead thank him for practicing his principles and beliefs.
  - Bernhard Ellingson, Northfield

This next one also represents two important principles.  The first is that we cannot run to amend the state constitution every time we want to lock in some new rule.  The second is that health care spending is out of control and an unfundable mandate to provide such care would break the bank.

• Bly health care hurts.  I’m feeling sick. Really! I just read on Rep. David Bly’s Web site that be is proposing a constitutional amendment to lock in socialist medicine.
  David Bly says, “we need quality, affordable health care for every single Minnesotan.”
  Why a constitutional amendment? He sees “a constitutional amendment is enduring and very difficult to change.”
  - John Hill, Dennison