"This Memorial Day, I’m drawn more than ever to the words of Abraham Lincoln. Speaking in his Gettysburg Address, he said, “It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Those beautiful words describe not only the incredible price American soldiers pay for our freedom, but also the responsibility that we owe to those soldiers to make sure their sacrifice was not in vain. Everyday, “We the People” are charged with making sure freedom is not lost in this great country. Do you want to be the generation that allowed freedom to perish? That allowed the greatest nation in the history of the planet to fail? I for one am not going to sit silently and wait for someone else to do something about it. The time for action is now."
This was written by Glenn Beck.
I agree that we need to do all we can right now to preserve freedom which includes working hard to support those running for office who will bring a new surge of committment and hard work to limit the over reach of government into our lives and preserve our liberties. The current government establishment, including Senator Hatch, is out of control and caught up in their own power. It's time for We The People and new representation. Let's all support the new stripling warrior, DAN LILJENQUIST!
Here is Dan Liljenquist's Memorial Day Message: As America gathers on Memorial Day, the original meaning of the day is often downplayed or even forgotten. It is a day to remember – and honor – those who have died in the service of their country. Almost 150 years ago, flowers were placed on the graves of soldiers who fought on both sides of the Civil War, a tradition now continued as the wreath-laying at theTomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Today, amid the barbecueing, backyard ball games and time with family, please take the time to remember those who have served to keep this country free. Felix Frankfurter said “We have enjoyed so much freedom for so long that we are perhaps in danger of forgetting how much blood it cost to establish the Bill of Rights.” My grandfather and two of my uncles served in Word War II to defend freedom and liberty in far off lands. I – like many of you – have been to Arlington national cemetery where over 300,000 of our nation’s heroes are buried.
At this moment, families all over this nation have loved ones in harm’s way. As we celebrate the beginning of summer, let’s be sure we remember those families who are NOT in danger of forgetting the cost of freedom…and from my family to theirs….”Thank you”.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Gordon Jones Responds To Aunt Bethie
Since I have been wearing the Dan Liljenquist tee shirt and assisting at some of his events, people have been coming up to me and sharing with me their stories, letters and experiences relating to the Hatch vs. Liljenquist choice. I have decided to post them here for others to read. My thanks to Gordon S. Jones of Draper, Utah for sharing this letter from "Aunt Bethie" and his response to her niece. The original letter is long, over seven pages, so I have selected some excerpts. If you would like a copy of the entire letter, please email me at Kristenkprice@gmail.com and I will forward it to you.
"The following letter was sent to a neighbor of mine. It is
from an aunt to her niece, explaining her support for Senator Hatch. My
neighbor, knowing of my experience in Washington Utah
Having prepared this response to my neighbor, it occurred to
me that it might provide a general statement that would be helpful to others.
It is in that spirit that I pass it along.
Aunt Bethie's remarks are in Roman type. Mine are in italics.
---Dear Niece,
Hatch’s record of
endorsing liberal incumbents and trashing conservative challengers is long and
consistent. He did it with Olympia Indiana
---
---
I have had many conversations with him and his staff over
the years. I have heard the back story of many of his votes that
people find controversial, and I have been tutored in the complicated process
that occurs back in Washington
I have had thousands
of conversations with Hatch and his staff over the years on matters of politics
and policy. I do have to say that his staff never tried to give me “back-story”
explanations of his votes for the Department of Education, NCLB, Medicare Part
D, CHIP, TARP, of his support for taxpayer funding for embryonic stem cell
research, his vote to make possession of firearms illegal using the Commerce
Clause arguments that Obama is using today to defend the Individual Mandate in
Health Care. They did not bother to give me that “back story” because they knew
that I knew at least as much about how the Senate operates as they do, and they
knew that I would not be as easily “tutored” as Aunt Bethie.
Senator Hatch will be the chairman of the Finance Committee
if he wins and if we take back the Senate, and if we don't, then he will be the
ranking minority member of that committee, which is powerful in and of itself.
The legislation to defund or repeal Obama Care will come out of that
committee....a balanced budget proposal will come out of that committee, just
to name two of the more pressing issues. Why on earth
would we kick out someone poised to lead that committee?!! For the next 6
years [we] will have another junior senator, who will be
stuck onto some minor committee, and it will take him years to work his way
even onto the Finance Committee, and more years to have any chance of becoming
Chairman. It's ludicrous.
What is ludicrous is
to think that a single Senator is all that important. If Hatch goes down, the
worst we will get is Mike Crapo at Finance, a much more reliable conservative
(for example Mike Crapo never proposed a health care bill with an Individual
Mandate in it, as Hatch did). There has been only one Indispensable Man in our
history, and Orrin Hatch is no George Washington.
---
Senator Hatch has been there a long time, it's true, but how
long is too long? (36 years is too
long!) He is consistently rated in the highest percentile by conservative
watch dog group...
(I do some of those
ratings, and I know exactly how reliable they are, and what they are used for.
They are very good at distinguishing between Rs and Ds, but not so good at
distinguishing between moderates and conservatives. Besides which, Hatch’s
record is not all that good. On the ACU
Index, for example, his Lifetime rating is only in the high 80s, which puts him
among the lowest Republicans. These last two years, since Bennett’s travails,
he has repented and gotten 100%, but is this a deathbed conversion?)
---
So, to sum up....I ask people who have a problem with some
of Senator Hatch's votes over the years....or the fact that he has served in
the Senate for many years......FORG ET
THAT, and ask yourself. WHO HAS THE BEST CHANCE TO BRING ABOUT THE
DRASTI C CHANGES THAT MUST HAPPEN
TO SAVE OUR COUNTRY......HATCH OR LILENQUIST? WHO HAS THE
POWER, THE CLOUT, THE INFLUENCE, THE SENIORITY?
So, to sum up, I ask
people to look at the record of Orrin Hatch for the last 18 years, and compare
it with (a) what he did in the first 18 or (b) Dan Liljenquist’s record in
three years in the State Legislature (which is three years more experience in
government than Hatch had when he was elected—or Mike Lee for that matter).
Look at the record,
and forget the incantations of the magic words of Seniority, Clout, Influence,
Power, What the Senator can do for Utah
My state delegate
supported Hatch “because he helped us get the TRAX line here in Draper.” Well,
Hatch can only get TRAX money for Draper because he agrees to support taxpayer
money for the Big Dig in Boston, for the Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska, for the
Murtha Airport in New York, and an Interstate Highway in Hawaii! Hatch can do
nothing “for” us without doing it “to” someone else. It is this system of
mutual back-scratching that has gotten us into the fiscal mess we are in.
Forget these
incantations of power recited by the Hatch campaign, and apparently so
persuasive to Aunt Bethie and others. Vote for the man who will make a
difference, who has made a difference."
It’s Time! (For Dan)
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Register To Vote
You can register to vote by going to www.secure.utah.gov/voterreg. Do it right away and be certain to register as a Republican so you can vote for DAN LILJENQUIST in the Republican Primary on June 26, 2012 or by mail starting next week. NO ONE should be in the United States Senate for 42 years. NO ONE-not even Orrin Hatch. It's time for a new young warrior to fight the conservative fight. DAN'S THE MAN!
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Is It Time For Hatch To Pass The Torch?
I believe I was elected to be a delegate because I told my precinct members that I stood for limited government, individual liberty and personal responsibility. Our caucus took a straw poll and the group was split about 50/50 on whether Senator Hatch should be re-elected. So I entered this process committed to my principles and committed to do everything I could to explore the various candidate's positions, backgrounds and records. I have dedicated many hours of time to this process and so far I believe that I have personally met with and listened to every candidate, some several times. I was also determined throughout this process to be open-minded and to seriously evaluate without previous prejudice. This exploratory process has been very revealing. And as I have evaluated voting records and positions, I realized that even though I considered myself pretty well-informed, I was not aware of the seriousness of the situation and the urgent need to make changes in the bureaucracy of the Washington environment.
This week I have found myself feeling saddened and recognized I was going through a mourning period. I feel sad that the country I grew up in, won't be the country my grandchildren grow up in. I feel sad that we are saddling the upcoming generations with our selfish debt burden and no economic means to pay for it. I'm saddened that as citizens we are steadily embracing a socialistic model--that the government should take care of us. This will reduce freedom and opportunity for growth and result in a lower standard of living for all. I recognized it was time to say goodbye to Senator Hatch and I was mourning the loss of a iconic grandfather figure.
Senator Hatch is a wonderful person who has been an example of family values and good living. He has done many excellent things for his consituents and legislative co-workers. He has worked to help keep Hill Air Force Base open and has been an example of civility throughout the years. I express my thanks for his many efforts to serve our state. Thank you, Senator Hatch.
If the majority of the senators are republicans...If the senate doesn't vote to change their seniority rules like the house did...If Mitt Romney is elected president...If Senator Hatch doesn't have a stroke, heart attack or other disabling health issue..If the stars align just right...If, If, If...Hatch may be the chairman of the senate finance committee. Is this the sole reason that we should re-elect him? Right behind Hatch in seniority on the finance committee is Senator Mike Crapo from Idaho. He would be an excellent chairman. His vote is consistently more conservative than Hatch's. Here are some votes.
Crapo -Nay, Hatch-Yea for the Economic Stimulus Act - Vote #10, 2/7/08
Crapo -Nay, Hatch-Yea to confirm Cass Sunstein - Vote #274, 9/10/09
Crapo -Nay, Hatch-Yea to confirm Eric Holder - Vote #32, 2/2/09
Crapo -Nay, Hatch-Yea to the NDAA, Stripping citizen's rights,Vote #230, 12/15/11
Hatch co-sponsored and voted for the Dream Act on 12/14/07. He voted for English as the official language but against English as the common language. He voted to expand entitlements and debt with the passage of Medicare Part D. He supported further intrusion into our state educational system with No Child Left Behind. Additionaly, the Natl'Assoc. For Gun Rights does not consider Sen. Hatch to be a defender of Second Amendment Rights.
At his event, Hatch was praising Ben Bernanke as a brilliant, upstanding man. I asked him if he was concerned with Bernanke's quantitative easing, which basically devalues our dollar by printing more money to cover our debt. He said that Bernanke surrounds himself with brilliant economists and we need to trust him. This easing undermines the very economic foundation of our country! I was shocked at Hatch's response.
Later I asked him if he regretted his votes to confirm Justice Ruth Bader Binsburg, Cass Sunstein and Eric Holder. Ginsburg recently commented that Egypt should pattern their constitution after South Africa, rather than our Constitution. Sunstein and Holder have both done massive damage to our constitutional foundation in the current administration. He ignored Sunstein and Holder and proceeded to defend Justice Ginsburg telling us he was the one who championed her nomination because "even though she is liberal, we know how she will vote." I disagree with Hatch that "advice and consent" means confirming anyone the President wants. The senate's job is to vet appointments and make sure appointees uphold the Consitution!
We are at a critical crossroads in our country. The tenatcles of socialism are spreading deeply into our government and culture. Mr. Hatch has been in Washington so long that he has become a part of the culture and doesn't recognize its strength, nature and all-invavsive power. He has been part of a system that has given away congressional power to the executive and judicial branches and he hasn't stood up to stop it. He is now part of the problem, not part of the solution. It's sad but true.
I was diappointed by Hatch's recent comment, that a group that had the courage to expose his voting record, stood up for principles they believe in and happened to disagree with him, are despicable. He said..."these people are radical libertarians. I despise these people." True conservatives do not attack individuals for their beliefs. That is a tactic of liberals. It's sad that Senator Hatch tarnished his statesmanlike reputation. It is also unusual that no one from the current Utah delegation to Washington has endorsed Hatch. You will note that even Governor Herbert has not endorsed Senator Hatch.
It is time to do the difficult thing and make the hard choices. The status quo has not worked and we are in trouble. We need to send new, strong, committed warriors back to Washington to shake things up, fight against the encroaching socialism, replace federal bureaucracy with state's rights and cut spending. Those who have been there holding the torch in the past can't change a system they are entrenched in. We must bid a sad but grateful farewell to Senator Hatch. It's time for Hatch to pass the torch!
Fortunately for Utah, the delegates to the Republican State Convention, gave the people the opportunity to replace Senator Hatch with a younger, dynamic, conservative leader who can join with Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Mike Lee and others to change the direction of Washington. His name is Dan Liljenquist and he has the business experience as a turn-around specialist and the legislative experience to reform unsustainable entitlements. Most of all he has the COURAGE to stand up and tackle our difficulat fiscal problems because he has no strings attached and he doesn't owe favors. 93% of his compaign funds are not coming from outside the State of Utah. As Utahns, let's control our own destiny and let's choose our own senator. Senator Hatch has had 36 years of chances. Let's give this opportunity to DAN LILJENQUIST! Please vote for Dan in the Republican Primary on June 26, 2012. Go Dan! You are the warrior we need now! - Kristen Price, West Jordan Delegate
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