New Contact Email

adambrickley.brickyard@blogspot.com

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Patrick Ruffini likes Palin

UPDATE: Patrick Ruffini has continued his praise of Gov. Palin, devoting an entire Townhall column to her exploits. (Click here to read). He has also posted about the Governor at Hugh Hewitt's blog (Click here)

---

Proof continues to mount that Sarah Palin is quickly becoming a national figure. Today, conservative web guru Patrick Ruffini, who served as webmaster for the Bush-Cheney Campaign in 2004 and eCampaign Director for the Republican National Committee from 2005 to 2007, added himself to to the growing list of bloggers praising with the GOP's fastest rising star. The following is an excerpt from Ruffini's post today, in which he endorsed California congressional candidate Eric England:

"Erick Erickson got it absolutely right when he wrote, “If we do not clean our own house, the voters will do it for us.” The house cleaning just swept Idaho (though it looks like we’ll need to send the cleaners back in). It’s happening in Alaska, where new Governor Sarah Palin is standing up to Ted Stevens and Don Young and winning. The next big test — and perhaps the biggest one in the next few months — is California-4 and the fight to replace corrupt appropriator John Doolittle in Congress."

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Palin elected chair of Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission

Gov. Palin was elected today to a one-year term as chairperson of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC), an interstate organization consisting of 30 member states and seven associate member states. She succeeds Gov. John Hoeven (R-ND), and past chairmen include presidential candidates Mike Huckabee and Bill Richardson. While several Alaskan governors, including Palin's two immediate predecessors, have chaired the commission, none were elected so early in their tenure. In fact, only one other first-year governor has chaired the IOGCC recent memory, Bill Richardson (in 2004) , and he was a former U.S. Secretary of Energy. Before him, you have to go back to 1987 to find someone elected IOGCC chair in their first year (George Sinner of North Dakota).

This election secures Sarah Palin's place as one of the nation's top experts on energy issues and a leader among her fellow governors. It also puts her at the head of "the oldest, largest, and most effective interstate compact in the nation."

Click here to read the IOGCC press release on Gov. Palin's election.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Club for Growth loves Palin

The Club for Growth PAC has lauded Governor Palin for canceling the "bridge to nowhere" project, and they seem to be as infatuated with taking her national as anybody on our blogroll. In addition to their praise, the CFG also released a poll which indicates that the Governor would clobber U.S. Senator Ted Stevens were she to challenge him in next year's primary. Of course, the CFG has major issues with Ted Stevens and hence would love to see Sarah Palin rip his seat out from under him. However, something tells me that they would also be absolutely ecstatic if the GOP presidential nominee decided that Alaska's pork-buster extraordinaire was better suited for a slightly higher office.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday, September 23, 2007

This is called an "Insta-lanche"

This is what happens to your blog's hit count when you get linked by Instapundit.com. If you're not familiar with Instapundit, it is arguably the most widely read conservative political blog on the planet. Thank you very much to Instapundit for the link. (I can't link directly to individual posts on Instapundit; but if you want to know how to find the link, it was posted at 5:13 PM on Saturday).
P.S. Why does this stuff always happen when I can't blog? But what can I say? Yom Kippur is Yom Kippur and I've got to do what I've got to do.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Palin sacks "bridge to nowhere" project

UPDATE: This story has now been mentioned by Instapundit, The Club for Growth, and the ABC News Political Radar Blog

While long an object of national attention, Alaska's $398 million "bridge to nowhere" is actually a state project...or rather, it WAS a state project. Today, Governor Palin trashed the plan and directed the state transportation department to find a more "fiscally responsible" alternative.

Way to go, Governor!

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Palin calls out Ben Stevens

According to KTUU, Gov. Palin has made it known that she wants former State Senate President Ben Stevens out of his position as Alaska's representative to the Republican National Committee. Stevens, the son of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, has been named by former VECO corporation executives as one of the legislators who had received bribes from that company, although he is not currently facing any charges.

Palin has stated "When I'm looking at the political party in which I'm registered and I see the national committee man is Ben Stevens, I'm free there to state my opinion and that's; he shouldn't be our national committeeman."

The Governor is also asking the State Senate to review whether Senator John Cowdery (R-Anchorage), also named as a VECO bribe recipient, should remain in his position as Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee. Cowdery has announced that he will not attend the upcoming special session of the legislature.

Governor Palin is becoming arguably the greatest crusader for ethical government in this country. With the GOP trying to cement its image as a party that does not tolerate wrongdoing (see: Larry Craig), and with the the Dems reeling from the Norman Hsu scandal, Sarah Palin's reputation as one of the nation's most ethical politicians is exactly what the party needs to carry it to victory in 2008.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

ACES and the Army

There are two recent stories out of Alaska that I feel are worth mentioning:

First, the news broke today that Gov. Palin's son Track enlisted in the U.S. Army on September 11th. I have always believed that it is inappropriate for the children of political figures to be drug into political conversations, so I will simply salute the young Mr. Palin for his patriotism and leave it at that. I will not be discussing this story further unless it somehow becomes a major political issue at some point in the future.

Secondly, and more importantly for the purposes of this blog, Gov. Palin has called another special session of the Alaska Legislature to debate how oil production should be taxed. The current system, known as the Petroleum Production Tax (PPT), was voted in last year and called for oil companies to be taxed on their net profits. However, the legitimacy of that system was called into question when it was revealed that several state legislators had taken bribes from the Veco oil pipeline company in exchange for their votes in favor of the PPT.

Gov. Palin has proposed an alternative plan which she has labeled "Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share (ACES)". ACES is a hybrid system which taxes oil companies partially based on gross profits and partially based on net profits. Gov. Palin had originally supported a gross profits tax, but concluded that such a tax would not be a good deal for the oil industry. Hence, she has put forth the ACES plan in an effort to ensure that "the golden goose is fed and not killed". In the legislature, the plan has drawn the ire of both Democrats, who wanted a system based on gross profits only, and some Republicans, who want to stick with the PPT system of taxing only net profits.

Here's my take: The PPT system was bought and paid for, that is beyond dispute at this point. If the vote on any proposal is tainted by corruption, then that legislation should be reconsidered. Hence, I support the calling of the special session. As for ACES, it seems to be a solid plan to me. It eliminates the pitfalls presented by the tainted PPT, while also trying to avoid the economic ramifications of the harsher gross profits-based plans advocated by the Democrats. The legislature will have more than enough time to hash out details, and I expect the finished plan to put in place a tax that is low enough to stimulate the economy, but also fair to the people of Alaska (who do happen to own all of that oil).

While I am no economist, I think that ACES is good proposal for the legislature to start with. It is not a liberal plan, but nor is it a tainted one. The fact that Gov. Palin chose such a proposal also shows that she is willing to objectively evaluate her own positions, as she says that she was "dragged kicking and screaming, with a little bit of gnashing of teeth, even, away from the pure simple gross system." This shows me that, while Palin is a strong, decisive leader, she is also willing to listen to good advisers. I will continue watch this story with keen interest.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

We Will Never Forget

"September 11, 2001, was a day that changed America forever. The magnitude of that attack was terrible, its motivation inexplicable, and its result shocking. Those whom we lost on that fateful day will forever hold a place in our hearts and in the history of our great country."

- Governor Sarah Palin
(September 10th, 2007)

Saturday, September 8, 2007

Steve Maloney

Today, Steve Maloney at Campaign 2008 Victory, our biggest booster in recent months, indicated that he would be taking a slightly less active role in the Draft Palin effort in order to pursue other blogging ventures. Mr. Maloney has been a tremendous help to our budding movement, and for that he deserves our thanks.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Column on Palin

I apologize for not blogging in recent days, but I have been working on a column about the Palin Movement for the newspaper at my university. This column outlines how and why I started this venture, and I think you should read it if you want to know the basic reasoning and thought process behind this blog. (Click here to read)