The Plight of the Protesters

The Tea Party and its many allies are leaving their mark on the political landscape. Approximately two million subdued the nation's Capitol on the weekend of September 11th and tens of thousands have attended events nationwide. Their list of grievances are long, ranging from excessive spending, pork barrel programs, high and counterproductive taxes, bureaucracy, abandonment of common sense when it comes to the environment, and more. Underneath all of these issues, there is the fundamental belief that it is time for the government to do what it is suppose to do. Nothing more or less.

I believe that this group, however, is more sophisticated than those activists of 1994 that led to the US House and Senate being ruled by Republicans for the first time in decades. Millions of Americans were mad at a liberal President (Bill Clinton) and an irresponsible Congress, and found the answer in electing a large number of Republicans. Many of those Republicans went back to work on a slower road to serfdom than their colleagues across the aisle. One in which there was more "thought" in the process, a frequency of detours, but definitely on course towards a command economy.

In 2009 it appears that voters have truly had "enough" and their anger transcends parties. After years of being abused by Democrats and neglected by Republicans, those who consider themselves friends of liberty have grown tired of the "lesser of two evils" and have concluded they are merely the "evil of two lessers." This leads to a serious problem in 2010 because of the temptation to do nothing, since there seems to be very few candidates who are serious about their Constitutional mandate or equally impotent to vote for pure principle candidates outside of the poor choices provided by the "Republicrats." The argument is simple: voting for someone other than the Republicans or Democrats is an investment into a new, viable, third option. Maybe, but our entire political system makes it very difficult for viable third parties. Furthermore, how much time do we have to spare in light of the current regime and members of Congress? The options for those who believe in limited government, free enterprise, a strong defense, and traditional values are fairly limited:

• Not participate and attempt to blame the left for the direction this country is going. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" quote by Edmund Burke rings true here. Criticism alone is not an option.


• Vote for the most conservative among the two main parties. Again, this tends to feel futile since the vast majorities of these "lesser of two evils" fail to fulfill their constitutional obligations. There has to be a better way.


• I think we should aggressively support the best (AKA constitutionally sound) candidates in primaries and if they fail to get the nomination than support candidates outside of our district monetarily and/or voluntarily if they are close enough geographically.

This approach would have a profound impact on the best candidates, would attract better candidates to run, would provide desperately needed discipline to the GOP, and would have more immediate gain then the approaches above. Unfortunately, in the short run, we may be a political minority, but we will be a minority that matters and one much more politically pure. Instead of trying to make a third party that hasn't work, constitutionally minded people could profoundly impact the GOP and make it relevant again to the majority of voters by simply forcing candidates to obey the constitution they swear to defend. It will be interesting to see what happens in 2010, but those who are concerned about our future do not have the luxury of doing anything that amounts to nothing.

Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business, the longest running show on AM 650 (M-F at 11 am) in Houston, Texas and on AOL Radio. His articles often appear in Chicago Sun Times, Reuters, USA Today, and other national media. Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal calls Price the “best business talk show host in the country.” Find out why and visit his blog at www.BizPlusBlog.com and his show site at www.PriceofBusiness.com. You can also find Price on Strategy Room at FoxNews.com.

Interviewing Your Next Congressman or Senator

The Tea Party movement will have many people voting for the first time in years and some voting for the first time ever. When they go into those voting booths they will be filled with anger -- even revenge -- and will be poised to "get back" at those politicians who have taken this country on such a dangerous course.

Candidates for Congress are applying for a job and it is imperative that they be asked some tough questions before one casts a vote:

• What is your employment history? In my opinion, if a candidate has never owned a business and has never been subject to the payroll, regulations, taxation, and licensure laws that comes with it, they should not be taken seriously as a candidate.


• What is your view of the Constitution? The responsibilities of a member of Congress are wide, but the single most important duty is to carry out the responsibilities in the Constitution they have sworn to defend. They need to explain what the enumerated powers in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution mean. They need to articulate the role of the Tenth amendment in limiting federal power. If a candidate does not answer these questions in a manner in line with the Constitution, they have no business running for such an important office. This is the most important question to ask someone running for federal office.


• What other elected offices have you been in? US House or Senate are pretty significant offices. In my experience it takes politicians a significant period of time to "get their legs" in Congress. When I worked for the US Senate I was surprised by how little members knew when it came to conducting their duties. I believe that career politicians are a problem, but I believe it makes sense for the House or Senate to be the next step after serving in a state legislature.


• What other positions have you held? I think that many Americans will be a little reluctant to elect a career "community activist" to any office after Barack Obama. For a long period of time people on every level of government (federal, state, local) were reluctant to elect attorneys to office because who wants to elect individuals who make a living off the proliferation of laws? To me, the best candidate is the one who is most sympathetic to the plight of all Americans and understands the challenges of job creation and economic growth.

If Americans had been asking these type of questions before now, our country would be in a very different position today.

Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business, the longest running show on AM 650 (M-F at 11 am) in Houston, Texas and on AOL Radio. His articles often appear in Chicago Sun Times, Reuters, USA Today, and other national media. Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal calls Price the “best business talk show host in the country.” Find out why and visit his blog at www.BizPlusBlog.com and his show site at www.PriceofBusiness.com. You can also find Price on Strategy Room at FoxNews.com.

Why Steny Hoyer wanted to Avoid a Recess

For years there has been a great deal of division between Republicans and Democrats, at least in style, if not substance. However, there is one area of general agreement between both parties and that is their love for the summer recess.

The summer recesses are valuable and important for several reasons. When I worked for Senator Gordon Humphrey (R-NH), he use to remind his staff that was a very important time for them to determine if Members of Congress were heading in the right direction by hearing the concerns of constituents. Furthermore, when Congress isn't meeting, taxpayers can breathe a little easier because the fear of new spending takes a momentary rest. Some members simply go on vacation, but the vast majority work on the reelection efforts. This has been the way the Congress has conducted itself for decades.

Therefore, it came as a little bit of a surprise when House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) announced that he thought that Congress should not adjourn until it passed "urgently needed" health care reform. What was pitched as something that needed to be done immediately is increasingly looking like something that must be avoided. That "something" was the wrath of voters who feel as though the Obama Administration and its accomplices in the Congress are simply going much too far, much too fast in their aggressive legislative agenda. Congressman Hoyer and other Democrats who were in stronger positions in the next election cycle knew that vulnerable members might have a difficult time sticking to their guns. Keeping them away from their constituents added hope to the Obama team.

Ironically, Harry Reid, the Democrats leader in the Senate has had an agenda of his own. He immediately dismissed the idea of skipping the recess because he wanted his colleagues -- particularly the vulnerable ones -- to be fully aware of public sentiment. He didn't want to disrupt the Obama Express on his own, after all, as a leader in the party it is his job to get these bills passed. But Reid is among the vulnerable. His approval numbers are the lowest since he began his service in the Senate and he faces reelection in just over a year in 2010. I believe he wants his colleagues to stand with him to, at least, slow down the Obama agenda, if not obstruct it.

How bad is it? Several Democrats are avoiding Town Hall meetings altogether. Others are choosing decidedly safe places like predominantly minority churches and organizations. Barack Obama has given marching orders to his activist friends to overwhelm these events and demand that Congress support the President's health care agenda. This could get very tense when they face grass root activists of the Tea Party variety. Still others are facing some very tough questions from voters, including Steny Hoyer when he went to upstate New York to help his colleague, Michael Arcuri. At this event they faced a very angry mob, with one voter pointing out that the President put more time into the purchase of a dog than what he is giving the Congress in deliberating on socialized medicine.

Hoyer has read the "tea leaves" quite well on the situation facing members and I believe the cold shower on the Obama agenda should be significant. That is, at least, until the days between the 2010 election and the Congress that follows it. As a betting man, I believe those lame duck Democrats will do in defeat as they say goodbye, what they cannot do while style fighting for their political lives.

Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business, the longest running show on AM 650 (M-F at 11 am) in Houston, Texas and on AOL Radio. His articles often appear in Chicago Sun Times, Reuters, USA Today, and other national media. Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal calls Price the “best business talk show host in the country.” Find out why and visit his blog at www.BizPlusBlog.com and his show site at www.PriceofBusiness.com. You can also find Price on Strategy Room at FoxNews.com.

Does Obama want Harry Reid Out?

For years, conservatives have called on Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) to resign as Senate Majority leader. This was due to his statement in 2007 that the war in Iraq was effectively "lost." He was wrong then both in principle and reality, but members of his own party embraced him warmly as they all collectively denounced our troop in ability and worked to undermine their morale. The warmth he shared among Congressional Democrats may now be lost since he has become the single most powerful obstruction to Barack Obama's agenda. Republican rants, tea party tirades, and conservative condemnations cannot compare to one man who sets the policy agenda in the US Senate. Reid, who is fighting for his political life in his reelection for 2010 is saying "no" to a second stimulus and is delaying the vote on Obama's health care agenda. This is not due to the economic consequences of these bills, but because of the political consequences as he faces a very difficult election in just over a year. The truth is, Nevada is not nearly as liberal as Harry Reid. In fact, he replaced one of the most conservative members of the Senate, Paul Laxalt, who was arguably Ronald Reagan's best friend and ally in the Legislative Branch.

Things are getting ugly on the left, many small, liberal bloggers have declared he needed to go. Now, the situation is worsening for Reid, as The DailyKos says "Harry Reid...for the good of Country...Please Resign!

The writing is written on the polls for Reid as well. The Las Vegas Sun reports "he still has some of the worst polling numbers in the country for a senatorial incumbent — a Mason-Dixon poll last month found that only 34 percent of the electorate had warm and fuzzy feelings about him, and 46 percent did not think too highly of him. Those are fatal numbers for most elected officials, especially one who has been around for four decades, which surely has caused a contagion of Reid fatigue." It goes on to point out that, in spite no "name brand" GOP candidates seems to be looking seriously at Reid's seat, "There are plenty of folks talking about and even campaigning for Reid’s seat on the GOP side. And even a no-name has a chance against someone whose approval numbers are upside down. Ex-Assemblywoman Sharron Angle may draw tittering from the political cognoscenti, but she is relentless, and with some outside funding, she almost cost Heller that congressional seat two cycles ago. And there will be plenty of outside funding this cycle as the national Republicans have Reid as their No. 1 target — and, I’d guess, their Nos. 2 through 10, too." Finally, it notes that "Except the national atmospherics could make somebodies out of nobodies pretty quickly if the economy does not improve, if health care reform implodes, if President Barack Obama’s numbers turn Reid-like. As the most powerful Democrat in the legislative branch, he would not just have to carry the national negatives if they exist; he would be the symbol of them — at thousands of gross rating points a week next summer."

Because of these realities, Reid will play it safe between now and November of 2010, making himself the single biggest obstruction to President Obama. Here are just a couple scenarios bouncing around.

If Reid resigns as Majority Leader, he can free up the Party to be as liberal as it wants and he can vote with the "conscious of a conservative" up to the end of next year. Problem is, much of the money he brings to his reelection is because he is Majority Leader. Furthermore, it is how he makes his case for reelection. "As Senate Majority Leader I have enormous influence on how states, like Nevada, benefit from Washington's policies." Difficult to make that case if you are no longer leader.

On the other hand, he doesn't resign and the Obama agenda goes down like the Titanic (an ever growing possibility), I could see the President and his minions pour money in to get a Primary opponent funded that will force Reid to resign to spend time on his reelection efforts.
Either way, Reid is in one ugly position.

Rumor has it, pressure is already being applied on Reid to resign within the government, in spite Congressional leaders defending him. I believe it will soon be revealed that Obama himself is applying that pressure. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds.

Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business, the longest running show on AM 650 (M-F at 11 am) in Houston, Texas and on AOL Radio. His articles often appear in Chicago Sun Times, Reuters, USA Today, and other national media. Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal calls Price the “best business talk show host in the country.” Find out why and visit his blog at www.BizPlusBlog.com and his show site at www.PriceofBusiness.com. You can also find Price on Strategy Room at FoxNews.com.