http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/ en Copyright 2012 2012-02-10T21:33:08+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/rnc_chairman_reince_priebus_remarks_excerpts_from_2012_cpac_ronald_reagan_b/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/rnc_chairman_reince_priebus_remarks_excerpts_from_2012_cpac_ronald_reagan_b/#When:21:33:08Z RNC Chairman Reince Priebus Remarks As Prepared For Delivery 2012 CPAC Ronald Reagan Banquet Washington, DC February 10, 2012   I come here with a message from the Republican National Committee: We’re ready. Republicans have the momentum, we have the enthusiasm, and we will have the resources and manpower to fire Barack Obama and put a Republican in the White House. And just in case you haven’t heard: the RNC outraised the DNC four out of the last five months; we outraised the DNC in the fourth quarter; and the RNC and the Republican candidates outraised the DNC and Barack Obama. And, by the way, we have 20 million dollars cash on hand—also more than the DNC. We’re back. And we’re ready...   ***   We must halt Obama’s unrelenting march to the Far Left. His priorities are not America’s priorities. And Barack Obama is not your daddy’s Democrat. He’s not Clinton. He’s not Kennedy. He’s the first unapologetic leftist to live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And he must be the last – because this is a president who’d rather bow to Chinese leaders than stand up for American greatness, a president who’d rather trash the Constitution than preserve our rights, a president who’d rather defer to the United Nations than defend the United States.  We serve the principles of Jefferson and Washington and Madison. Obama serves the demands of the union bosses, the central planners, and the elitist bureaucrats. We believe in the philosophy of our Founding Fathers. He believes in only one man’s philosophy: the philosophy of Barack Obama…   ***   After Republicans won big in 2010, the pundits said that the president would move to the center. Does it look like he’s moved to the center? No, he’s moved further to the left. We saw it last month when he ignored the Constitution, defied established precedent, circumvented Congress, and made four political appointments. We also saw it last month when he said “no” to the Keystone energy pipeline. He said “no” to over 20,000 jobs and “no” to energy security. Why? To please his liberal base. We saw it just recently when he decided that freedom of religion doesn’t apply to religious organizations. He sacrificed the first amendment at the altar of Big Government – because for him, Obamacare is more sacred than the Bill of Rights. In America, we’ve had presidents who studied law, who taught law, who practiced law. But we’ve never had a president who thought he was above the law in the way this president does…   ***   Remember this: every liberal pipe dream the president has pursued…he’s done knowing that he’d have to face reelection. Imagine what he would do in a second term if he doesn’t have to face reelection. From the way it looks, it would be everything short of making the United States a full member of the European Union. We’ve never had a president who sought to trade the American Dream…for a European nightmare….    ***   We have to win this election, or we’ll lose America. If we don’t, collectivism will replace individualism. Government agencies will replace free enterprise. Presidential mandates will replace the Constitution. Dependency will replace self-reliance. And the dreams of Obama will replace the vision of our Founders. Barack Obama has put America on an utterly unsustainable trajectory. The more he grows government, the more he grows the debt, the less freedom our children will have to enjoy.  When Washington runs the economy, Washington runs our lives. And when Washington can tell us what to do, we can’t tell it to stop. It’s time to end Barack Obama’s presidency, before his presidency ends our way of life….     ### 2012-02-10T21:33:08+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/rnc_launches_web_video_on_five_year_anniversary_of_obamaa/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/rnc_launches_web_video_on_five_year_anniversary_of_obamaa/#When:12:43:58Z WASHINGTON – The Republican National Committee (RNC) released a new web video “Five Years Later” on the fifth anniversary of Barack Obama’s campaign announcement in Springfield, IL. At the 2007 kickoff event, Candidate Obama discussed a Washington filled with failed promises by politicians and run by lobbyists and special interests. Five years later, the president fits his own dismal description of Washington, and the American people are not better off. The web video can be viewed here. Download the web video here.     “Five years ago today, Barack Obama kicked-off his presidential campaign that ran on the basis of ‘hope and change.’ He promised to ‘turn the page’ on American politics and ‘usher in a new birth of freedom’ that would change the political landscape,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.   “Today, President Obama has left this nation more polarized than ever, with millions of Americans unemployed and struggling to make ends meet. His recent decisions to embrace a Super PAC along with his assault on religious freedom further highlight his record of failed promises. More accurate than ever is President Obama’s grim 2007 description of American politics. It’s time to change direction and elect a Republican to the White House.”   ###   2012-02-10T12:43:58+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/icymi_obama_criticized_across_america_for_violating_religious_rights/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/icymi_obama_criticized_across_america_for_violating_religious_rights/#When:17:14:11Z Excerpts from 2012 Battleground State Newspapers   Ohio Columbus Dispatch: Reverse rule for contraception coverage I thank Vice President Joe Biden for visiting Ohio today. The Sisters of Charity Health System is a Cleveland-based Catholic health-care organization which, in collaboration with other Catholic health ministries, actively promoted the passage of the Affordable Care Act. We are dedicated to increased health-care coverage and access and are supportive of the law’s efforts to improve quality of care and patient outcomes. Click Here to Read Full Article: http://bit.ly/x0NuU9 Cincinnati Enquirer: McConnell: No one's rights are safe The Obama administration’s recent decision to force religious institutions to violate their own beliefs is shocking – because it tramples our First Amendment religious freedoms, and because it demonstrates the dangers of an all-powerful big government. The president recently approved a ruling of his Health and Human Services Department saying that under the health spending bill, religious institutions – charities, hospitals, and schools – will be forced under penalty of law to go against their own teachings. If they refuse, they face fines for millions of dollars. Or they can shut their doors. The decision to force religious charities, hospitals, and schools to comply with a mandate that violates their sacred beliefs is abhorrent to the founding principles of our nation. Click Here to Read Full Article: http://cin.ci/yDydzE Michigan Detroit Free Press: Catholics protest ruling that health plans must cover birth control Catholic leaders are outraged over a recent decision by the Obama administration that would require Catholic-affiliated institutions to cover contraceptives and sterilization in their employee health care plans -- a rule they say would violate one of their core beliefs. The government's move will affect thousands of people who work for 210 Catholic-related institutions in metro Detroit such as social service centers, schools and hospitals. The institutions currently don't pay for contraceptives or sterilization. In pulpits, church bulletins and Congress, concerned Catholics are voicing their disapproval, saying it undermines their constitutional right to freedom of religion. This week, Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron is expected to send a letter expressing his concerns to all 270 parishes in the archdiocese, which oversees 1.3 million Catholics. Vigneron has criticized the Jan. 20 decision by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, saying the government's move amounts to "discrimination against Americans exercising their right of conscience." Click Here to Read Full Article: http://on.freep.com/zKYajG Detroit Free Press: Guest commentary: Insurance mandate for birth control attacks religious liberty, should be defeated Nearly three years after President Barack Obama called for the protection of conscience rights at the University of Notre Dame, not only has he failed to honor his words, last month he authorized perhaps the most egregious and sweeping intrusion into the religious liberty and conscience rights of every American citizen.  On January 20 the Obama Administration announced through the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) that religious employers who serve persons of any faith or those of no faith at all must provide in their health benefit plans contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs. In effect, the mandate forces charitable and educational institutions, against their conscience, to pay for services they have long held as immoral. Click Here to Read Full Article: http://on.freep.com/zAMIih Florida Tampa Tribune: Religious birth control debate heats up presidential race Birth control and religious freedom have suddenly become the dominant issue in the presidential race, an explosive issue with possible risks and benefits to both President Barack Obama and his leading challenger, Mitt Romney. The controversy over Obama's health care reform plan, which requires employee insurance policies to cover prescription contraceptives, has switched the focus of the nation's long-simmering dispute over reproductive rights from abortion to birth control…Catholic bishops across the nation, including Bishop Robert Lynch of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, issued pastoral letters opposing the contraception coverage requirement. Lynch denied he was getting involved in politics but attacked Obama for "willingly and willfully precipitating a constitutional crisis by causing this assault on the freedom of religion." A Lynch spokesman said the letter focused on Obama rather than on Romney or leaders in other states with coverage requirements because Lynch "doesn't have working knowledge of requirements of other states," and that the federal requirement "seems to breach the religious freedom and freedom of conscience to a degree that hasn't been done before." Click Here to Read Full Article: http://bit.ly/ys62cS Tampa Bay Tribune: Why the president is wrong In all Roman Catholic churches in the Diocese of St. Petersburg last weekend, this letter from Bishop Robert N. Lynch was either read by the priest or distributed in the church bulletin. Dear Friends in Christ, On Jan. 20, President Barack Obama informed the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan that it was his decision that the Affordable Care Act regulations would require many Catholic institutions and agencies to provide mandatory insurance coverage for contraceptive procedures and medicines. As a consequence, all of our elementary and secondary schools, Catholic colleges and universities, Catholic Hospitals, Catholic Charities and Catholic Relief Services to name only a small sector of Church agencies affected may be required by August 2013 to provide these services and medicines under federal mandate. A huge piece of the wall of separation between Church and State has been breached and if allowed to stand, one has to wonder what the government might require next. Mandatory abortion coverage sometime in the future should not be discounted by anyone if we allow this regulatory implementation at this moment to go unchallenged. Click Here to Read Full Article: http://bit.ly/A3tB4q Naples News: Southwest Florida Catholic institutions to fight federal contraceptive mandate   Prominent Southwest Florida Catholic institutions are recoiling against a new federal regulation requiring most employers to provide health insurance that includes contraceptive coverage. Catholic parishioners Sunday found a letter about the issue from the Diocese of Venice in their church bulletins. Last week, the president of Ave Maria University went public with a video about the regulation. Both said they will refuse the mandate on the grounds that it infringes on religious liberty. "It's kind of frightening in a way to see how the federal government can come in, in a way, and force you to compromise who you are," Ave Maria University President Jim Towey said. Towey is slated to meet with Gov. Rick Scott this morning, and said he plans to discuss the Jan. 20 announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services. "Ave Maria (University) is not going to provide to employees contraceptive service coverage," Towey said. Click Here to Read Full Article: http://bit.ly/xF57Tb Pennsylvania The Morning Call: Allentown Catholic Diocese joins outcry against Obamacare mandate on contraception Bishops say rule violates conscience and First Amendment. There's a standoff going on: The nation's Catholic bishops are on one side and the federal government on the other. At issue are thorny questions about reproductive rights and religious conscience, and it all seems destined to play out in court. It began Jan. 20, when Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius affirmed a rule that will require health insurers to offer contraception and sterilization services in policies, meaning employers offering health insurance will have to offer those services. A religious exemption covers churches, but not church-affiliated institutions that serve and employ people outside the faith. That means most religious hospitals, colleges, charities and other agencies would have to cover services that they say violate church teaching. And that has prompted the nation's Catholic bishops, including Allentown Bishop John O. Barres, to condemn the decision, not only on religious grounds but constitutional ones. Click Here to Read Full Article: http://bit.ly/yFOi8E The Morning Call: Obama administration contraceptive rules attack our freedoms I write this column in support of the Catholic Church's principled opposition to an unprecedented attack by the Obama administration on religious freedom, as guaranteed by our Constitution, and therefore an attack on all of us and our freedom and constitutional guarantees. It is a peculiar role for me to be defending the Catholic Church! I am not a Catholic; I am a secular humanist. I do not agree with the Catholic Church on the particular issues that are the basis of the government's attack on the Catholic Church. The government's interference with religious freedom, in this case, involves the government imposing on Catholic institutions and hospitals the requirement that employee health insurance covers contraceptive services, which the church opposes as a matter of faith and conscience. The practical effect is that Catholic institutions could not continue operating without complying with the government's edict. Click Here to Read Full Article: http://bit.ly/xIn3oK Indiana Courier Press: Health care bill an assault on faith The latest embarrassment from President Barack Obama is more than an embarrassment. It's an assault on faith that begins with a 2,500-page health care bill enacted with no one expected to read it except the bureaucrats paid to translate its obscurities into thousands more pages of regulations. After a prolonged look at a phrase that could have been interpreted multiple ways, the president and the masters of your life in the Department of Health and Human Services bypassed the sensible and decreed we are now in the age of mandated contraception coverage, one step closer to Utopian bliss. Depending on what kind, contraceptives are easy to get for free or very cheaply. A federal study showed that virtually everyone who needs them and desires them has them. The chief reason for unwanted pregnancies is carelessness. The administration nevertheless decided to raise insurance premiums so that even the rich could get birth control benefits without co-payments or deductibles. Then came the real doozy. Click Here to Read Full Article: http://bit.ly/y763N1 South Bend Tribune: Reform and religious choice Two years ago, the talk was all about increasing insurance for pre-existing conditions, expanding access to care for the 30 million Americans with no insurance and reining in Medicare spending. At the time the Obama administration sold Congress on health care reform, almost no one foresaw that this would lead to a mandate for the University of Notre Dame and Saint Joseph's Regional Medical Center to provide coverage for contraceptives, including the morning-after pill, in their insurance plans for employees and students. Never underestimate the power of the bureaucrat, however. Some faceless rulemaker narrowed the federal definition of institutions qualifying for conscience exemptions for such services to exclude Notre Dame and the hospital because they don't primarily serve and employ members of their own Catholic faith Click Here to Read Full Article: http://bit.ly/wFdp9e Nevada Las Vegas Review-Journal: Editorial: Health care rule is clear violation of Constitution The First Amendment is really quite simple, with little room for argument. Yes, it’s possible to disagree over whether the Constitution bars teacher-led prayers in public schools or a creche in a public park, but it certainly does not allow the federal government to prohibit the free exercise of religion. Nor does it allow the government to order members of a church to do something that goes against its most basic tenets. Yet, that’s exactly what Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, did last month when she required health insurance plans purchased for employees of organizations with religious affiliations to include copay-free birth control drugs. On Sunday, Catholics in Nevada fought back. Thousands of church-goers listened as priests read a letter from the bishops of Reno and Las Vegas that accused the federal government of restricting Catholics’ “free exercise of religion” and asked them to “Share this concern with other Catholics or anyone who cherishes the freedoms upon which our nation was founded. Click Here to Read Full Article: http://on.rgj.com/zmUiMk Wisconsin TMJ4: Contraception controversy heating up in southeast Wisconsin A contraception controversy is heating up.  Should employers, including religious groups, be forced to provide free birth control? It's a growing conflict among Catholics.  The church teaches them contraceptives are wrong, but the Obama Administration is telling them religious institutions must cover contraceptives free of charge for their employees. Churches are exempt. "If they are a Catholic organization I don't think you can really force their hand on that, they have a right to their beliefs," said Carol Ann Gumina, who is a Catholic. Milwaukee Democrat Gwen Moore defended the president's policy in Congress and went after those who disagreed. "No one is trying to take away religious freedom," said Rep. Moore.  "The concept of separation of church and state does not mean a church can use their bully pulpit to separate millions of women from critical health care benefits." Click Here to Read Full Article: http://bit.ly/yBHlmR The Cap Times: Lon Newman: Bishops’ demands on contraception coverage raise troubling issues The U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops (USCCB) is incensed at the decision by the Obama administration to guarantee that the preventive health care benefit package in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) includes contraceptive care. In a USCCB video, Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, the former archbishop of Milwaukee, wags an index finger as he invokes religious freedom protected by the “very first amendment.” The archbishop calls upon his flock to contact their elected officials and let them know that “religious liberty must be restored.” Under a cloak of reverence for religious freedom, the bishops say reproductive health care must be denied. As do the rights to millions of American women, millions of people of other religious faiths, and even millions of American Catholics — most of whom disagree with the archbishop. Click Here to Read Full Article: http://bit.ly/A2LyZF Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Find compromise for rule on birth control coverage The Obama administration signaled this week that it is willing to compromise on a new rule requiring religious schools and hospitals to provide free birth control in their health insurance plans. We hope it does and that the compromise it finds does not result in government telling a religious organization to ignore its core beliefs, as the two-week-old rule would do. Separation of church and state has just as much to do with keeping government out of church as it does with keeping church out of government. Yes, everyone deserves access to birth control, especially at a time when teen pregnancy and women's health matters are such serious issues. And, yes, birth control is expensive, prohibitively so for some people. And, yes, there are many non-Catholics who work at Catholic universities and hospitals. Beyond that, the vast majority of Catholic women use or have used birth control. Some accommodation should be made for employees of religious institutions. Perhaps a compromise could be crafted that would allow women at exempted workplaces to obtain inexpensive birth control or would provide referrals to an insurance provider who provides birth control coverage. Click Here to Read Full Article: http://bit.ly/AjQmmX New Hampshire Nashua Telegraph: Local religious leaders outraged by federal birth control dictate A provision included recently under the federal health care reform law could force religious employers to choose between their country and their faith, local religious leaders have expressed in recent days. Officials from Thomas More College in Merrimack, among other organizations around the state, are decrying a mandate announced recently under the federal Affordable Care Act that would require employers, including Catholic colleges, hospitals and other religious institutions, to cover birth control and other contraceptive services under their health insurance plans. Federal officials, who announced the provision last month, say it will increase women’s access to birth control and preventative health services. Click Here to Read Full Article: http://bit.ly/yzBqMf New Hampshire Union Leader: Ramesh Ponnuru: The contraception edict and rule of law Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of Health and Human Services, says that a new health-care regulation “strikes the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services.” That’s what she said when announcing that religious non-profit groups would have one year to start offering what she called “recommended contraceptive services” in their employees’ insurance plans. Only churches, narrowly defined, are exempt: Religious hospitals and universities are not. It’s a strange sort of balance. The Constitution provides specific protection to only the first of the two goods being balanced (“religious freedom” and “increased access”). That protection contains no hint of a suggestion that it is up to federal regulators to strike whatever balance they consider appropriate between religious freedom and their other goals. Click Here to Read Full Article: http://bit.ly/x7AMem New Mexico Las Cruces Sun-News: Their View: President Obama destroys conscience protections President Obama and his cabinet have infringed upon a basic private right in their newest sweeping federal mandate. This violation of the longstanding concept of conscience protection breaches the safeguards for personal religious and moral convictions that have been in place since our founding. In a recent op-ed in USA Today, Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, wrote that this latest demand "cuts against the grain of what it means to be American." I believe the Archbishop hit the nail on the head. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is aligning against the constitutional protection of one's conscience and religious beliefs. We have the First Amendment to allow everyone to practice whatever faith in whatever manner without the government dictating the God that they worship. As the National Association of Evangelicals stated in response to this edict, "No government has the right to compel its citizens to violate their conscience."  President Obama is dismissing our Constitution, and forcing religious organizations to violate their conscience by adopting the agenda of the administration's favored special interests. This is an abhorrent assault on our fundamental liberties, including our right to live the way our faith prescribes. The government is interfering where it has absolutely no place-in our personal, spiritual lives. Click Here to Read Full Article: http://bit.ly/z4u1pj North Carolina Raleigh News and Observer: Obama 'firm' on birth control The White House insisted Wednesday that the president's commitment to contraceptive access for women is "absolutely firm," even as Republicans from Capitol Hill to the presidential campaign trail assailed the policy as an attack on religious liberty. Republicans seized on a call from Catholic bishops, who in recent weeks have asked their parishioners to object to a federal law requiring religious-based institutions, such as Catholic hospitals and universities, to provide contraceptives as part of their health care coverage. A new law taking effect this year requires most private insurers to pay for birth control. Religious groups have been given an extra year to comply. Click Here to Read Full Article: http://bit.ly/ABSXvo Virginia Virginia Pilot: Infringement of religious rights Religious institutions receive extraordinary protections under the Constitution. Government must be exceptionally careful that its mandates don't impinge on the freedom of a religious institution to pursue its mission. In the case of health care reform mandates, specifically for birth control, Washington has failed to evince that care for America's largest religious institution: the Catholic Church. According to rules released by the Department of Health and Human Services last month, all employers except for "religious institutions," such as houses of worship, would be required to provide employees with coverage for birth control without a co-payment or deductible. Click Here to Read Full Article: http://bit.ly/wC2ZDD Richmond Times-Dispatch: Obama and Catholics: Conscience American Catholics have a reputation for political progressivism and cultural conservatism. Their church rates among the most principled opponents of abortion, for instance. Indeed, official Catholic positions on abortion, contraception and other questions earn the enduring enmity of the chattering classes. Barack Obama won significant support from Catholics in 2008. A recent decision from the Department of Health and Human Services has attracted strong criticism from sources who had welcomed his election. The department says that certain religious institutions offering health insurance must include free contraception in their coverage, although the sponsoring denominations may oppose artificial birth control on theological grounds. The move is unconscionable; it assaults religious rights Click Here to Read Full Article: http://bit.ly/zPU0aA     ### 2012-02-09T17:14:11+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/icymi_the_political_transformation_of_barack_obama/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/icymi_the_political_transformation_of_barack_obama/#When:14:54:45Z Excerpts from POLITICO By: Jim Vandehei February 9, 2012   “There are two indisputable facts about politics. “The first is that every modern president in the fourth year of his presidency resorts to the cheap political stunts, broken promises and truth-fudging it takes to win reelection in what has been and will be a 50-50 nation. The reason is simple: Politics is not clean-living; it’s survival. “The second is that Barack Obama, for all his talk of moving beyond conventional political tricks, is doing just that, which wouldn’t be so glaring had it not been for his incessant call for a newer, cleaner and more transparent paradigm for American politics. “So much for the high road: Victory is more important than purity… “He’s made a series of calculated, overtly political gestures that are far more transactional than transformational. “Here’s just a sample: “Sucking up to Wall Street — again “The president better hope those Occupy Wall Street voters don’t read Bloomberg News. Hans Nichols, who covers Obama for Bloomberg, has a richly reported piece that Obama’s most important advisers are privately pleading with the same Wall Street titans they vilify to help fund their reelection campaign. “Jim Messina, one of the president’s top political advisers, met privately with financial services industry executives — big banks, money managers — and promised them Obama will not demonize Wall Street as his reelection efforts unfold. Not demonize Wall Street? Hasn’t that been a consistent theme of the Obama presidency?... “A super flip-flop… “Super PACs are the newest way for rich people to influence elections. Obama was vehemently opposed to them, calling them a ‘threat to our democracy.’ That vehemence was heartfelt and consistent — until Monday night, when it wasn’t. “To understand how big a flip-flop this actually represents, rewind the tape to 2007, when Obama discussed his opposition to outside groups taking and spending unlimited funds in campaigns. ‘You can’t say yesterday you don’t believe in them and today, you are having three-quarters of a million dollars being spent for you. You can’t just talk the talk. The easiest thing in the world is to talk about change during election time. Everybody talks about change during election time. You have got to look at how they will act when it’s not convenient, when it’s hard. And the one thing I’m proud of is my track record is strong on this and I’ve walked the walk.’ “He’s not only not walking the walk — he has green-lighted White House officials to walk right into super PAC fundraisers and hit donors up for as much money as they can cough up… “‘Part of his political identity is someone who’s not of Washington,’ said a Democratic strategist who supports Obama. ‘So the consequences for his brand, if actions look political or craven, are exponentially worse than they would be for most politicians.’ “The State of the Union is … very political… “Obama’s January speech to the country was more like a slam dunk contest than a blueprint for sober governance, with no-miss poll-tested proposals that won’t translate into points on the board unless Democrats win super-majorities in both houses, and even then maybe not… “The White House and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development have proposed a series of fixes for the crisis, the black hole of the U.S. economy, that have thus far proven to be ineffectual or ill-conceived… “A senior aide to a Senate Republican dismissed criticism, leveled publicly by other GOP-ers, that Obama’s something-for-everybody speech late last month was a boring, laundry list-y dud. “Jamming the pipeline “Never has Obama more angered an essential part of his political coalition than when he decided last year to punt on stricter ozone regulations… “When it came time last month to pick between environmentalists and supporters of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would move oil and jobs through a key part of the country, Obama had no choice but to go green. “He wanted to punt until after the election, but Republicans forced a decision. Presidents face these political jams all the time. Like it or not, they often choose the path of least political resistance. So Obama did… “The president had the chance to bring significant oil into the United States from Canada, rather than Middle Eastern petro-dictators or Venezuela, and create some U.S. jobs… “The contraception conundrum “The administration’s decision to require Catholic hospitals and universities to provide workers free contraceptive coverage seems on its surface to buck the trend of this story — a principled protection of reproductive rights that risks sparking a culture war with white independents, the critical swing-voter bloc… “And that, at the very least, makes the administration appear to be playing politics with a sensitive personal and religious issue…” Click Here To Read The Full Article: http://politi.co/AvjDaV   ###   2012-02-09T14:54:45+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/icymi_chairman_priebus_obamas_assault_on_religious_freedom/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/icymi_chairman_priebus_obamas_assault_on_religious_freedom/#When:13:11:52Z Excerpts from POLITICO   By: Reince Priebus February 8, 2012   “The Obama administration shows a remarkable disdain for the Constitution. From the unconstitutional individual mandate to unconstitutional political appointments, no clause seems sacred to President Barack Obama. Sadly, that now includes even the freedom of religion — the first right enshrined in the Bill of Rights.   “We now know the finer details of the Department of Health and Human Services decree that would force religious institutions to violate long-held beliefs on the sanctity of life. The administration’s actions are unconscionable and offensive to people of faith — most notably the Roman Catholic Church, which will feel the greatest effect…   “If the federal bureaucracy can so easily cast aside the First Amendment in pursuit of a specific health policy, what else can it ignore at a whim?... “The chorus of condemnation from liberals, moderates and conservatives cuts to the heart of the matter: What’s at issue here is something much larger than a specific health policy. It’s religious liberty — whether the federal government can meddle in the affairs of the church… “The president’s contempt for the constitutional restraints on power was evident before. His disdain for respecting those limits, including freedom of religion, is now on full display. “If the government can dictate the actions of religiously affiliated institutions, those institutions are faced with a terrible choice: violate their faith or receive the government’s prescribed punishment… “There is still time to reverse course. The administration can alter its decision and respect our constitutional liberties. If not, there may come a day when even leaving religion “at the door” isn’t permissible by an ever encroaching federal government.” Click Here To Read The Full Op-Ed: http://bit.ly/xCHfw4   ### 2012-02-09T13:11:52+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/icymi_chairman_priebus_hope_handbags_and_hypocrisy/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/icymi_chairman_priebus_hope_handbags_and_hypocrisy/#When:19:14:39Z Excerpts from Red State By: Reince Priebus February 7, 2012   “This morning’s Wall Street Journal reports on Obama’s ‘Runway to Win’ fashion fundraiser tonight, where the campaign will begin hawking campaign-themed apparel and accessories from high-end designers. The article also raises some serious issues about potential campaign finance law violations… “Visitors to www.RunwaytoWin.com may find themselves asking yet another question: Is the Obama campaign promoting a president or a product? “While the products’ prices are high by conventional standards, it all speaks to a certain cheapening of the commander-in-chief. It underscores yet again the Obama campaign’s desire to run on something—anything!—other than the president’s record. “In 2008, Barack Obama had no record, so he ran on empty slogans. In 2012, he has a record, but because that record is so abysmal, the campaign has calculated that they must run a campaign that deliberately avoids mentioning it… “In the Obama economy, few can realistically afford to be campaign-chic—even if these are supposed to be discounted prices. (See the RNC’s video, ‘The Obama 2012 Fashion Show’) “This tone-deafness comes on the same day that Team Obama took hypocrisy to a new level—embracing the very Super PACs that the president once called a ‘threat to democracy.’ It’s just the latest broken promise from Barack Obama and, like the fashion fundraising, directly undermines the administration’s own rhetoric… “Obama once declared that as a result of Super PACs, ‘every American might end up suffering’… “Obama now prioritizes fundraising over fighting supposed ‘suffering.’ It doesn’t take a fashion designer to see that’s a bad look on him.” Click Here To Read The Full Op-Ed: http://bit.ly/yWuSAX ### 2012-02-07T19:14:39+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/icymi_highlights_from_rnc_conference_call_regarding_colorado_caucus/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/icymi_highlights_from_rnc_conference_call_regarding_colorado_caucus/#When:18:49:21Z RNC Political Director Rick Wiley: “Today’s caucuses in Colorado give us an opportunity to evaluate the last three years since Obama took office and how broken promises and failed economic policies have caused Coloradans to sour on Obama… “Gallup just released job approval numbers last week and six in ten Coloradans believe that Barack Obama is failing at his job. Those are dangerous numbers when you look at an electorate that is as charged up as it is right now… “I believe if you look at Colorado and the successes we have had picking up two U.S. House seats, picked the State House up, one thing I think is important to realize is we picked up Secretary of State and the Treasurer’s office along with the AG when the top of the ticket failed. So it’s rare in politics when down ballot races succeed when the top of the ticket doesn’t do as well, but it shows that the wave from 2010 certainly reached Colorado, and I believe that it’s right in our sights in 2012 to turn it from blue, back to red… “Sixty-two thousand Coloradans have lost their jobs since Barack Obama took office. If you look at the number of seats where the Broncos host their football games, 215,000 people are out of work in Colorado; you can fill that stadium nearly three times with the folks that are out of work in Colorado. “I think at the end of the day, one thing to keep in mind is that Colorado is still a GOP leaning state. We have nearly a 100,000 person voter registration advantage in the state. Obama was only the second Democrat to win Colorado in a presidential election in forty years…then you have just the strong year that we had in 2010…As we move forward…I think Colorado is ripe for the taking and I look forward to a good Caucus Day.” RNC Hispanic Outreach Director Bettina Inclán: “Colorado is yet another battleground state where Latino voters will play a crucial role in the Republican path to the White House in 2012. Just two weeks ago, the Colorado Hispanic Republicans…held a press conference to respond to Obama’s campaign stop and, at the same time, to show Obama that his path to reelection is a steep climb up the Rockies. “Latinos in Colorado have been hit the hardest by Obama’s failed economic policies and are ready to caucus today to take a step forward to make Barack Obama a one-term president. If we just look to the economy, the economic downturn has…had a major toll on the Hispanic community. And particularly true for Hispanics in Colorado who are facing an unemployment rate of 13.2%, much higher than the state’s average of 7.5%. It’s clear that Hispanics in Colorado are ready for a change in direction in Washington. “There’s no doubt Hispanic voters have been a major voice in Colorado elections, making up 1 out of every 10 Colorado voters—about 16% of Hispanics in the state are registered Republicans and about 33% are non-affiliated with either party. The harsh economic climate for those in the Hispanic community proves that Obama will face a rocky road in Colorado. We’re anxious to take this first step with the Hispanic community in Colorado and continue to work together and make sure that we send a leader who will focus on creating jobs rather than saving his own.” Click Here To Listen To The Full Audio: http://www.gop.com/audio/2.7.2012_Colorado.mp3     ### 2012-02-07T18:49:21+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/rnc_rapid_response_web_video_a/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/rnc_rapid_response_web_video_a/#When:16:44:52Z WASHINGTON – The Republican National Committee (RNC) is out with a new Rapid Response web video “A ‘Super’ Failed Promise” after another failed promise from President Obama. Like clockwork, Barack Obama goes back on another one of his promises to ‘change Washington’ because his number one priority is saving his own job. It’s no secret this president will do anything and saying anything to get reelected.  Web video can be viewed here. Download the web video here.  “In 2010, President Obama decried these outside groups as ‘a threat to our democracy,’ yet, with his job on the line, he changed his position,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. “With enthusiasm for his campaign lagging, Barack Obama is going to have to do everything in his power to try and mask three years of failed economic policies.” “Today’s announcement is more evidence that this president will do and say anything to get reelected. The Obama of ‘hope and change’ is no more. He’s in full-campaign mode, focused on saving his own job.”    ###    2012-02-07T16:44:52+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/icymi_president_obama_embraces_the_super_pac/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/icymi_president_obama_embraces_the_super_pac/#When:15:05:40Z In 2010, Obama Called Super PACs And Outside Spending Groups "A Threat To Our Democracy." (President Barack Obama, Remarks At Campaign Event , Philadelphia, PA, 10/10/10)   “Obama Super PAC Decision: President Blesses Fundraising for Priorities USA Action”  Excerpts from POLITICO: “President Barack Obama — in an act of hypocrisy or necessity, depending on the beholder — has reversed course and is now blessing the efforts of a sputtering super PAC, Priorities USA Action, organized to fight GOP dark-money attacks… “Monday morning, Obama reviled the ‘negative’ tone of the super PACs, a dominant fundraising source in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision…by the evening, word leaked…that Obama had offered his support for Priorities USA Action, which thus far has raised a fraction of what GOP-backed groups have raked in… “Republicans lost no time in blasting Obama’s move Monday night. “‘Yet again, Barack Obama has proven he will literally do anything to win an election, including changing positions on the type of campaign spending he called nothing short of a ‘threat to our democracy,’ said Joe Pounder, the Republican National Committee’s research director. ‘In less than 24 hours, Obama has gone from decrying super PACs in the morning to opening up the door to their money during a conference call with his big money donors in the middle of the night.’ “Obama had voiced dismay about the presence of super PACs and negative campaigning in an interview that aired Monday morning. “‘Would I love to take some of the big money out of politics? I would,’ the president told NBC’s Matt Lauer. ‘Unfortunately, right now partly because of Supreme Court rulings and a bunch of decisions out there, it is very hard to get your message out without having some resources’… “In April 2011, two former White House aides formed Priorities USA Action, which — along with an affiliated nonprofit group — hopes to raise $100 million to support Obama. But so far, its funding has been dwarfed by that of Republican groups… “Obama will have to reconcile his campaign’s move on Monday night with his previous opposition to the super PACs, especially his memorable 2010 State of the Union speech in which he denounced Citizens United and called out members of the Roberts Court to their faces for overturning the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law…” Read the Full Article Here: http://politi.co/w62vkH    “Obama Yields in Marshaling of ‘Super PAC’"  Excerpts from The New York Times: “President Obama is signaling to wealthy Democratic donors that he wants them to start contributing to an outside group supporting his re-election, reversing a long-held position as he confronts a deep financial disadvantage on a vital front in the campaign. “Aides said the president had signed off on a plan to dispatch cabinet officials, senior advisers at the White House and top campaign staff members to deliver speeches on behalf of Mr. Obama at fund-raising events for Priorities USA Action, the leading Democratic ‘super PAC,’ whose fund-raising has been dwarfed by Republican groups… “The Republican National Committee sharply criticized the decision. A spokesman, Joe Pounder, declared: ‘Yet again, Barack Obama has proven he will literally do anything to win an election, including changing positions on the type of campaign spending he called nothing short of 'a threat to our democracy’… “Mr. Obama said in 2008 that he did not want support from outside groups and took a strong stand against the influence of special-interest money in politics, effectively shutting down independent activity on his behalf… “His past criticism of outside groups, some Democrats said, had made it hard to persuade donors to back Priorities USA Action, contributing to its problems in keeping up with conservative groups. “‘It’s hard to pass the plate for super PAC money while Democratic leaders have been preaching about the sins of it,’ said Robert Zimmerman, a New York fund-raiser for Mr. Obama… “But the major Democratic groups, including Priorities USA Action, raised only $19 million for the year. Those lopsided figures led Mr. Messina to send his top network of donors an e-mail last week urging them to raise more money... “The decision comes four years after Mr. Obama became the first presidential candidate since the Watergate era to turn down public financing and the accompanying spending limits, allowing him to raise $750 million for his 2008 campaign… “Mr. Obama has consistently spoken out against the new rules that allow unlimited contributions from corporations and wealthy donors. ‘But for 2012,’ Mr. Messina said, ‘our campaign has to face the reality of the law as it currently stands.’” Read the Full Article Here: http://nyti.ms/ydNDiR   “Dems: We Won’t Unilaterally Disarm Super PACs’” Excerpts from CBS News: “Monday night for the first time, President Obama's campaign began asking major contributors to give money to a super PAC that supports his re-election… “This marks a dramatic change in policy for the president, but unsurprising, given the fact that super PAC-supporting Republicans have raised more than $50 million already…. “It's not also the first time that the president has reversed himself on fundraising. In 2008, he said that he would take public funding, but then he changed his mind. This time the reversal comes after his denunciation of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision which allowed unlimited fundraising. “At his State of the Union address in 2010 Mr. Obama had this to say: ‘I don't think American elections should be bankrolled by America's most powerful interests or, worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people, and I'd urge Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps correct some of these problems’…” Read the Full Article Here: http://bit.ly/yFlFzq   ###   2012-02-07T15:05:40+00:00 http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/designer_gear_for_obama_raising_a_ruckus/ http://www.gop.com/index.php/news/comments/designer_gear_for_obama_raising_a_ruckus/#When:13:07:22Z Excerpts from The Wall Street Journal By: Brody Mullins and Elizabeth Williamson February 7, 2012   “Move over, PACs. The latest campaign-finance flap is about sacks. “At a New York fund-raising event Tuesday called ‘Runway to Win,’ President Barack Obama's re-election campaign plans to begin selling campaign-themed tote bags, T-shirts and accessories designed by more than two dozen famous designers. “Attendees can purchase a tote bag designed by Derek Lam for $75. A collectible makeup bag created by Richard Blanch with nail polish in Red-y To Win Red, Victory White and Bo Blue is going for $40. And a silk scarf featuring Mr. Obama's likeness by Thakoon Panichgul is $95. Profits from the sales will go to Mr. Obama's campaign chest. “Republicans contend the sale might violate campaign-finance rules. The gear will sell for a fraction of the price the designers' merchandise typically fetches at department stores. Republicans say that suggests they relied on corporate resources to keep costs low, which could amount to illegal campaign contributions. On Mr. Lam's website, handbags range in price from $340 to $1,890…three scarves offered on Mr. Thakoon's website go for $325 apiece. "‘This raises serious questions about whether corporate money, property and employees were improperly used in the design and production of these items without reimbursement,’ said Sean Spicer, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee… “Designers can't ask employees to work on political projects unless they willingly volunteered their time…If the designer or staff are paid by anyone other than the campaign, it would be considered a campaign contribution from a company to a candidate… “The fund-raising effort will be launched before the start of Fashion Week in New York. It was a project of Vogue magazine editor Anna Wintour, who rounded up Obama supporters to apply their creativity—and more important, their names—to otherwise pedestrian campaign gear… “Election finance regulations govern almost everything a campaign does, down to how singers, artists and designers can volunteer their time. One of the first rulings on the topic came in 1975, just a year after the Federal Election Commission was created…entertainers can volunteer their time to perform, but ancillary costs such as travel expenses had to be paid by the campaign or counted as an ‘in-kind’ donation…” Click Here To Read The Full Article: http://on.wsj.com/AczTqb   ### 2012-02-07T13:07:22+00:00