Young Cons, 2012, GM, and more.

I hope ya'll enjoyed the Young Cons video as much as I did. I am really glad to see other young conservatives out there making there voices heard that they aren't satisfied with the direction is going in. Keep it up guys.

I know this is a little early to talk about this but I there was a video I caught on Foxnews.com today from the show The Live Desk. It talks about how Senator John Ensign from Nevada has just made his first trip to Iowa in hopes of a possible run for the GOP nomination for President in 2012. I'd like to get some of my opinions about 2012 on here so we don't have to discuss it all the time and can focus on the present for the most part until this race becomes something that is truly on our hands as Republicans. First off I'd like to state my position on the primary system. I think the whole primary system is simply flawed. I think it is ridiculous for a small number of voters from states like Iowa and New Hampshire to have such huge control over who our next POTUS is going to be. I think we need to move to a one day primary system where the primary for all 50 states is on the same day to allow for each states to have equal influence. As far as the GOP nominee I like a few people right now. Mitt Romney is obviously already doing some preparation work and has never really stopped campaigning. He is definitely the person who can fix our nation's economic situation and is a very popular face and voice in our party right now. I am also really glad he was able to come to Richmond this weekend and campaign for Bob McDonnell and Bill Bolling. Despite this I still hold reservations about his Mormon beliefs, but would definitely support him over most other "possible candidates". Mike Huckabee is also a name that comes up. I think Mike Huckabee is a great guy and was a great Governor but I would really be disappointed if he ran again. I think he has really found his niche with his show on Fox News. I feel he can be a much more powerful voice for the party through his show and his PAC rather than as a candidate. We've been hearing from Newt Gingrich a lot over the past few months I definitely think he is trying to get his name out there in preparation for a run in 2012. He kind of kept quiet in 08 but since BO has taken office he has really been an outspoken critic of the BO administration and of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and the Congressional Dems. Newt has a strong following out there and definitely brings a lot to a ticket. That being said there can also be some concern brought up about him being a face of the "old" Republican party of the 90's. Bobby Jindal is also talked about a lot. I love Bobby Jindal and would definitely support him over most of these other guys that I am talking about, but I think Bobby is more concerned with the state of Louisiana at this point in time and depending upon what happens in 2012 I see him more as our guy in 2016 or 2020 (though I would definitely love to see Bob McDonnell and Ken Cuccinelli making some noise on a national level by then). Speaking of some Virginians Eric Cantor has had his name thrown around a bit too. I really like Eric Cantor and really enjoyed hearing from him this weekend at the Republican Party of Virginia convention. Everyone in Virginia absolutely loves him including me and has become an awesome voice against the Democrats in Congress. Despite his popularity in his home state of VA some people in the GOP have voiced their dislike for Cantor and his involvement in the National Council for a New America and his trying to "re brand the Republican Party". I believe that Congressman Cantor will be one of the top choices for the Vice Presidential running mate of whoever is the nominee and possibly a Presidential candidate in 2016 or 2020. Today Tim Pawlenty announced that he will not seek a third term which I believe sets him up to run for President. This gives him time to set up his network, staffers, a PAC, and all the preliminary things most candidates do. It also clears from the strictures of tough Minnesota campaign finance laws, which made presidential fundraising tough. He has done a really good job in Minnesota and another guy who like Romney has the tools for the economy. The Democrats in the state legislature sent him $1 billion in tax increases and he vetoed them all. The only thing that I don't like is that he has been touted as a very moderate voice in the party and has been associated a lot with John McCain. As you might already be able to tell I don't think our Party needs to move in a more moderate direction. I think the party needs to move back to its Conservative base and needs to look towards the grassroots activists and average Americans for voices, candidates, and volunteers. Other names being thrown out that I haven't listed above include Mississippi Governor and former RNC Chair Haley Barbour, South Dakota Senator John Thune, SC Governor Mark Sanford, and of course American favorites Sarah Palin and Ron Paul. I don't want to spend anymore time on this issue but I think we have a good slate of possibilities for 2012 and I think if we can do well in VA and NJ this fall and in mid terms next year we will definitely be able to do well in 2012 and by then we could have a more sure idea of who our nominee will be. I would just like to say this first though. I like what Virginia has done in coming to an agreement on Bob McDonnell as the nominee for Governor and saving ourselves a costly and tiring battle going into primaries or a convention. The Dems are still going to be battling it out until June 9 but we are ready to roll and leading in polls over all three candidates. I think one thing that hurt us last year in the Presidential race was the number of people we had running and how long it took. We were so divided and only really became united again when Sarah Palin was added to the ticket and by that time it was pretty much too late. I think we need to come to a consensus early so we can get going. We already know who our opponent is going to be and we can be much more prepared. We need to be a united party and that is the key.

Michael Steele is on Neil Cavuto right now talking about the government take over of General Motors. I am going to keep it short and simple on this. There is no reason for the government to takeover a private company. The failing of GM is the fault of the way the company has been run and we should have just let it fail. As an economics major I have learned time and time again in Econ class that the best way for the economy of the nation to fix itself is to allow your economic actions to be the same as they are in normal times. If you do this the markets will clear and everything will go back to normal. This may not be an instant solution as many impatient people would like, but it would ultimately be the best solution for the economic future of this country. There is no reason for the government to step in a have bailouts and take over private companies. I don't want to get too much more into this because frankly I am sick of talking about GM, bailouts, etc. I just want to let everyone know that as an IndyCar fan I am quite excited about the possibility of Penske Automotive Group purchasing Saturn.

I was going to stop talking about GM but I just saw one thing on Glenn Beck that I couldn't pass up blogging about. Special Assistant to the POTUS for economic policy Brian Deese has been named by the Obama administration as the person who will oversee the re-shaping of GM and American capitalism at the same time. He was highlighted in an article in Sunday's NY Times. The thing about Mr. Deese is that he is one of the top economic advisers in our country yet has no experience in business or economics in or out of the classroom. This will be his first private sector job and there is no indication that he received any training in economics or business while receiving a degree in Political Science Middlebury College or before he dropped out of Yale Law School to work on the Hilary Clinton campaign. If the above sentence is true, which according to the information I have recieved and researched, I, a rising college sophomore, am more qualified to be in charge of the re-shaping of GM and be a White House economic advisor based on my job experience and my economic education. What is our nation coming to?

Mitch McConnell was able to meet with Judge Sotomayor talking about how Republicans are not going to "pre-judge" her and are going to do all proper research and let the process of hearings go through and learn more about her before they make a judgement. I have not had the time to read up about Judge Sotomayor yet, so I will not state an opinion on here yet but I hope to make one in a post in the near future.

That's about all for today. See you all tomorrow.