Jingle All The Way

From the
Champlain College Republicans

To the Champlain College Community
and
Our Brave Troops
Defending our Freedom at Home and Across the Globe

Have a safe
and very
Merry Christmas

Candidate Spotlight: Ron Paul

Texas Congressman Ron Paul
Campaign Website



The Economy
Click here for more.
Real conservatives have always supported low taxes and low spending. But today, too many politicians and lobbyists are spending America into ruin. We are nine trillion dollars in debt as a nation. Our mounting government debt endangers the financial future of our children and grandchildren. If we don't cut spending now, higher taxes and economic disaster will be in their future--and yours.

In addition, the Federal Reserve, our central bank, fosters runaway debt by increasing the money supply-- making each dollar in your pocket worth less. The Fed is a private bank run by unelected officials who are not required to be open or accountable to "we the people."

We cannot continue to allow private banks, wasteful agencies, lobbyists, corporations on welfare, and governments collecting foreign aid to dictate the size of our ballooning budget. We need a new method to prioritize our spending. It's called the Constitution of the United States.

Energy
Click here for more.
Oil companies should enjoy big profits if they are legitimately earned in a free market. Ron Paul would eliminate the Department of Energy. He opposes all federal subsidies for oil companies and voted to allow drilling in the ANWR.

Health Care
Click here for more.
You don't have to throw anybody out in the street, but long term you have move toward the marketplace. You cannot expect socialized medicine of the Hillary brand to work. And you can't expect the managed care system that we have today [to work, because it] promotes and rewards the corporations. It's the drug companies & the HMOs & even the AMA that lobbies us for this managed care, and that's why the prices are high. It's only in medicine that technology has raised prices rather than lower prices.

Socialized medicine is not the answer. We need to get the government out of the way. Inflation hits the middle class and the poor the most. Those are the people who are losing it. We don't have enough competition. There's a doctor monopoly out there. We need alternative health care freely available to the people. They ought to be able to make their own choices and not controlled by the FDA preventing them to use some of the medications.

Immigration
Click here for more.
I would not sign a bill like [comprehensive immigration reform], because it would be amnesty. I also think that it's pretty impractical to get an army in this country to round up 12 or maybe 20 million. But I do believe that we have to stick to our guns on obeying the law, and anybody who comes in here illegally shouldn't be rewarded. And that would be the case.

I see the immigration problem as a consequence of our welfare state. We encourage people not to work here, but the welfare we offer the people who come--they get free medical care. They get free education. They bankrupt our hospitals. Our hospitals are closing. And it shouldn't be rewarded. That means you don't give them citizenship. You can't solve this problem until you get rid of the welfare state, because in a healthy economy, immigrants wouldn't be a threat to us.

If you subsidize something, you get more of it. We subsidize illegal immigration, we reward it by easy citizenship, either birthright or amnesty. But we force our states and our local communities to pay for the health care and pay for the education. Why wouldn't they bring their families? And because of our economic conditions, we do need workers. But if we had a truly free market economy, the illegal immigrants would not be the scapegoat. We would probably need them and they would be acceptable.

War in Iraq
Click here for more.
The war in Iraq was sold to us with false information. The area is more dangerous now than when we entered it. We destroyed a regime hated by our direct enemies, the jihadists, and created thousands of new recruits for them. This war has cost more than 3,000 American lives, thousands of seriously wounded, and hundreds of billions of dollars. We must have new leadership in the White House to ensure this never happens again.

Both Jefferson and Washington warned us about entangling ourselves in the affairs of other nations. Today, we have troops in 130 countries. We are spread so thin that we have too few troops defending America. And now, there are new calls for a draft of our young men and women.

We can continue to fund and fight no-win police actions around the globe, or we can refocus on securing America and bring the troops home. No war should ever be fought without a declaration of war voted upon by the Congress, as required by the Constitution.

Under no circumstances should the U.S. again go to war as the result of a resolution that comes from an unelected, foreign body, such as the United Nations.

At the same time, we must not isolate ourselves. The generosity of the American people has been felt around the globe. Many have thanked God for it, in many languages. Let us have a strong America, conducting open trade, travel, communication, and diplomacy with other nations.

Candidate Spotlight: Mitt Romney

As we've said - we are going to begin to highlight each Republican Presidential candidate. We've decided the best way to go about this is by using You Tube and MSNBC. We'll take what we believe is the best clip that introduces the candidates from You Tube, then copy and paste five issues from MSNBC's interactive Candidate Rating Matrix, and their sources. The issues that will be covered are: the economy, energy, health care, immigration, and the Iraq War.

First up: Governor Mitt Romney
Campaign Website





The Economy
Click Here to read more
This is, indeed, a time of extraordinary challenges in this country, and the overspending in Washington and the overpromises that we've made are certainly among those challenges. But this is not a time for us to wring our hands and think that the future is bleak. In fact, the future is bright. We need leadership to rein in excessive spending, and to help America grow. The best answer for our economic woes is to make sure we have good jobs for our citizens, good schools for our kids, good health care for everyone, and that we have policies that promote the growth of the nation. We can have a level playing field around the world, get ourselves off of foreign oil, reduce the excessive spending in Washington, and have a bright future for our kids. This is based upon the strength of the American people. If you want to see a strong America, you don't look to Washington; you look to ways to strengthen the American people.

Energy
Click Here to read more
o remain the economic and military superpower, America must address achieving energy independence. We must become independent from foreign sources of oil. This will mean a combination of efforts related to conservation and efficiency measures, developing alternative sources of energy like biodiesel, ethanol, nuclear, and coal gasification, and finding more domestic sources of oil such as in ANWR or the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

Health Care
Click Here to read more
It doesn't make sense to have 45 million people without insurance. It's not good for them because they don't get good preventative care and disease management. But it's not good for the rest of the citizens either, because if people aren't insured, they go to the emergency room for their care when they get very sick. That's expensive. They don't have any insurance to cover it. So guess who pays? Everybody else. So it's not good for the people that aren't insured. We have to have our citizens insured, and we're not going to do that by tax exemptions, because the people that don't have insurance aren't paying taxes. What you have to do is what we did in Massachusetts. Is it perfect? No. But we say, let's rely on personal responsibility, help people buy their own private insurance, get our citizens insured, not with a government takeover, not with new taxes needed, but instead with a free-market based system that gets all of our citizens in the system. No more free rides. It works.
**Note, Romney's Health Care plan has been deemed "virtually identical" by On The Issues, one of two major sources used by MSNBC

Immigration
Click Here to read more
Romney says current law discourages legal immigration of professionals while giving the unskilled a free pass. Romney proposes biometric documentation, employment verification of legal status and enforcement action against illegal immigrants already in this country.

The War in Iraq
Click Here to read more
"This is not just about strategy & allies. It's not about oil. It's not about just the economy. It's not just about standing up for the fact that we've been there for a long time. It's about human lives. What we're doing in Iraq relates to protecting the lives of American citizens, here, around the world. It relates to lives throughout the world. It relates to dignity & freedom. We're in Iraq because we want to make sure that Iraq does not become what Afghanistan was under the Taliban: a place that they could recruit and train and launch attacks against us on 9/11, and other attacks throughout the world. The last thing America could stand for would be to have Iraq become an Afghanistan. Fortunately, the surge is working. It's going to keep that from happening. We're going to have stability and security there and American lives will be saved by virtue of the extraordinary sacrifice of American servicemen."

It's still anyone's game

A recent Fox News poll proves that it's still anyone's game. Check out this story!

FOX News Poll: Three-Way Toss-Up in Republican Presidential Sweeps
by Ernie Paicopolos, December 20, 2007

If Republican voters were hoping for a wide open presidential race this holiday season, they are clearly getting their wish. A new FOX News poll shows that Rudy Giuliani (20 percent), John McCain (19 percent) and the surging Mike Huckabee (19 percent) are clustered together at the top of the GOP hill—with Mitt Romney (11 percent) and Fred Thompson (10 percent) still within striking distance. Since a large share of Republican voters are still undecided (13 percent), this race is about as "up for grabs" as any in recent memory.

Giuliani suffered the biggest drop in support since November, losing a full 13 points. On the other hand, Huckabee has shot up from 8 percent in November to 19 percent in the current poll. Romney (up 3 percent) and McCain (up 2 percent) scored small gains in the last month.

As has been widely reported, the overall character of the Republican race has changed dramatically over the last several months. In fact, as late as September, Huckabee registered only 2 percent in a FOX News poll. Barely three months later he is a now co-front-runner.

• Click here to view full results of the poll. (pdf)

• Click here to see results for the race for the Democratic nomination.

Giuliani’s hefty 24-point lead from February has essentially vanished. McCain lost some momentum last August, when he was in fourth place with only 7 percent support. Today, he enjoys a resurgence that has been somewhat overshadowed by the "Huckaboom."

Opinion Dynamics Corporation conducted the national telephone poll of 900 likely voters for FOX News from December 18 to December 19. The poll has a 3 point error margin.

The poll also found that nearly 6 in 10 voters nationwide (59 percent) know that Romney is a member of the Mormon faith—with Republicans (63 percent) being slightly more likely than Democrats (59 percent) to have that knowledge.

Moreover, nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of likely voters say Romney’s religion would make "no difference" to them in deciding whether or not to vote for him for president. While independent voters are the most likely to take this view (80 percent), large shares of both Democrats (70 percent) and Republicans (74 percent) also feel this way.

However, when placed in a slightly different electoral context, only one-quarter of all likely voters (25 percent) and about one-third (32 percent) of Republican likely voters say they would vote for Romney as "the first Mormon president in 2008."

With so much discussion of religion in the GOP primaries, it is noteworthy that Republicans are just about evenly divided on whether elected officials should (47 percent) or should not (45 percent) let their religious beliefs influence policy decisions.

On the endorsement front, fully 62 percent of likely Republicans say Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman’s endorsement of McCain makes "no difference" to them in deciding their vote.

According to the poll, a majority of likely Republican primary voters (52 percent) think their candidates show real differences on the issues—which could move the race away from personalities toward more substance down the stretch.

On a range of candidate attributes, McCain is viewed by Republican voters as the most "authentic" (25 percent), "honest and trustworthy" (24 percent) and the candidate that "has clear stands on the issues" (23 percent).

Giuliani gets the nod for "experience" (28 percent), being a "strong leader" (36 percent), and doing "anything to win" (25 percent). Huckabee does best on being "a real conservative" (21 percent), and having "strong moral character" (23 percent). On this last attribute, McCain follows closely with 20 percent.

What's your take?

ICYMI: Douglas helps welcome company back

Chairman's [Rob Roper] Note: This good news story about Vermont jobs, Douglas helps welcome company back, demonstrates the important difference between just talking about economic development, and actually DOING something about it. "...Harrison said he was also encouraged by the willingness of top officials to reach out personally. A phone call from Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie helped influence his decision to return to Vermont , Harrison said. "The lieutenant governor gave me a phone call when we were trying to decide where to expand," Harrison said. "I doubt there's another state in the union where that happens." It may not happen in other states, but Douglas said he and Dubie are more than willing to reach out to businesses personally." Thanks to Governor Douglas and Lieutenant Governor Dubie for focusing on the right priorities for Vermont, and for their positive action.


Douglas helps welcome company back
NEAL GOSWAMI, Bennington Banner
Tuesday, December 18

BENNINGTON — Vermont's business climate is on the mend and manufacturing is expanding in Bennington County, according to state and local officials who gathered Monday to welcome a business back to the state.

The state has made significant progress in attracting companies here over the past few years, according to Thomas Harrison, owner of Vermont Timber Frames, which celebrated its relocation from Cambridge, N.Y., back to Bennington Monday with Gov. James Douglas and other state and local officials.

"Attractive offer"

"(The state) made a very attractive offer and package for us to move our operation back," Harrison said Monday from the floor of his company's manufacturing plant.

Vermont Timber Frames was started in Bennington in 1993, but left town — and the state — in 1999 to find relief from the high taxes that Douglas has said chilled the state's business climate.

But all that is changing, according to Harrison. He said state and local officials throughout Vermont have worked hard and adopted programs to lure people such as himself back to the area.

"There's an attitude in Vermont now that we want to bring

manufacturing back to the state," he said.

Incentives are now being offered to companies, such as the Vermont Employment Growth Incentive (VEGI), which is administered through the Vermont Economic Progress Council. The council is an independent body of nine Vermont citizens appointed by the governor and regional representatives designated by the regional planning commissions and regional development corporations.

To qualify, as Vermont Timber Frames did, a company must pledge to create a certain amount of jobs at a certain wage. In 2007, the minimum wage was $12.05 per hour.

Rather than tax incentives, though, companies receive cash payments from the state if they meet certain payroll, employment or investment thresholds. The incentive is paid in five installments. "I think it's critical to our success in a number of areas," Douglas said. "The program has really proven its value."

Fred Kenney, director of VEPC, said the VEGI program is beginning to attract lots of attention companies interested in coming to the state. "I'm talking to five or six companies right now that ... are looking to come to Vermont," Kenney said.

Harrison said he was also encouraged by the willingness of top officials to reach out personally. A phone call from Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie helped influence his decision to return to Vermont, Harrison said.

"The lieutenant governor gave me a phone call when we were trying to decide where to expand," Harrison said. "I doubt there's another state in the union where that happens."

It may not happen in other states, but Douglas said he and Dubie are more than willing to reach out to businesses personally.

"That's a real advantage of a small state. We're accessible and here to help," Douglas said. "I make a number of calls myself and meet with people who come to Vermont. I take my cues from the Economic Development Department — I don't make cold calls."

Bennington Economic and Community Development Director Scott Murphy said the VEGI program, coupled with property tax incentive programs have helped the town and the county add manufacturing jobs in the past few years.

"We're well beyond starting. Bennington County is the only county in the state that has seen growth in manufacturing jobs," Murphy said.

People may not realize how many manufacturing jobs are in the area because the jobs opening today are different than they were decades ago.

"These are great jobs," Murphy said. "You don't have to get filthy dirty and ruin your lungs to work a manufacturing job."

Douglas said Vermont Timber Frames is an example of the strides the state has taken to make Vermont business friendly.

"We've got a lot going for us and we've seen a lot more jobs created for us over the last few years. We've got to celebrate those successes but keep our eye on the challenges that remain," he said. "Our unemployment is still below the national average and we're in the half of states that are not running deficits, so our economy is pretty strong."

Find Your Candidate?

Do you have no idea who you want to support for the primaries? Or do you just have a thing for surveys? Try out this "Candidate Calculator" -- you answer some questions based on the issues and the program chooses a candidate whom it believes best aligns with your political views. You may be surprised. ;)

http://www.vajoe.com/candidate_calculator.html

What do you think? Is it accurate? Is it B.S.? Comment below.

What Happened? News on the national level.

Anyone know what happened to Hillary Clinton?

Even her own husband, former President Bill Clinton said "It would be a miracle if she wins in Iowa." Click Here for the story... oh, and Click Here for an interesting op-ed by Dick Morris, a former strategist for Clinton during the 1996 campaign. It's fittingly titled "Why are the wheels coming off the Clinton bandwagon." Best quote from it:

"The conclusion is inescapable: the more voters come to know Hillary Clinton the less they like her...

And who is Mike Huckabee? During the break, we'll be taking an in depth look at all of the Republican Presidential candidates to help you make the best, and most informed decision.

On another note - this just in from the news room: President Bush's approval rating is STILL higher than the Democratically controlled House and Senate. Ba da ching! Who's the real joker in Washington?


Oh, and good luck everyone on exams!!!

Guess Who's Coming to Town?

A few of the Champlain College Republicans probably don't want you to know this... but there's a "special" trophy headed to the State House on Monday.

It wasn't as "HUGE" of a win as it was in '04; but alas the Boston Red Sox are World Champs. And like in 2004, the World Series trophy will be in Vermont. Venture to Montpelier between 2:45 and 4:30 on Monday, December 17th, enter the State House - and the trophy will sadly be displayed in the Main Lobby.

For Randy and Jeff - next year is the year for the New York Yankees!

November Poll Results

Here are the results of our (highly unscientific) sidebar poll:

Who is your man going into the 2008 election?

Rudy Giuliani 9 (36%)

Ron Paul 5 (20%)

John McCain 5 (20%)

Mitt Romney 4 (16%)

Fred Thompson 1 (4%)

Other 1 (4%)

There is a new poll up and running, so be sure to make your voice heard and vote now!

CCR Meeting Agenda for December 4, 2007

A lot has happened over the past several days and there is a lot to talk about! I present to you the agenda for tonight's meeting in SLC 309 to take place tonight at 7:30:

We will discuss the results of the Reorganization Caucus which was held on Saturday with the Federation of Vermont College Republicans. This was a big event for VT College Republicans which was held right here at Champlain College. As you can see, Gov. Jim Douglas stopped by and spoke with us for a while. A special thanks to Gov. Douglas, as his presence served as an inspiration to Vermont College Republicans.

We here at Champlain College will pat ourselves on the back for being so well represented in the Vermont College Republicans Executive Committee. Excellent job everyone!

More good news: A portion of our budget has been approved by the Student Government!

We will announce that the deadline for article submissions to the Champlain Current is Friday, December 14. Any and all Champlain College Republicans are encouraged to participate in the campus news paper and submit an article.

As for local GOP get-togethers, our friends in the Middlebury College Republicans will be holding a PIZZA PARTY this Thursday, December 6, from 5:00 - 7:30. The featured movie presentation will be Manufacturing Dissent. Champlain, as well as all Vermont College Republicans are encouraged to attend.

Here at Champlain, a draft of our Constitution will be presented.

Tonight is sure to be a very productive meeting. We hope to see you there!

-- Aaron, CCR Secretary.

Direct Message from the Chairman-Elect

Greetings to all fellow Vermont College Republicans,

I sincerely thank you for your confidence in electing me Chairman of the Vermont College Republican Executive Committee. Our state and our party have a wonderful opportunity in having such a great and motivated group of college students who are dedicated to promoting our values on campuses throughout Vermont.

The task that lies ahead, however, is not an easy one. As I’m sure many of you have personally experienced, “Republican” seems to have become a dirty word on our campuses in recent years. At any rate, all of our groups must now direct their efforts toward filling the ranks of our campus organizations and ensure that we meet requirements to become recognized by our individual student governments. Rest assured, however, that the people who join us now and in the future do so not for the sole purpose of being “fashionable” and “trendy,” but because they truly believe in the Conservative thought, ethics, and values that we seek to promote on campuses throughout our state. Together we will work to destroy apathy and intellectual laziness on our campuses by increasing awareness and discussion of the critical issues our generation faces today and in the future.

We are the first state-wide organization of Vermont College Republicans in four years. Let us work together in 2008 in setting the standard for the future of Vermont College Republicans.

Sincerely,

Aaron LaRoche
VCR Chairman-Elect

They're back!

We have a motto here at the Champlain College Republicans... "Let's not focus on the fact that you came late to the party, but rather embrace the fact that you came at all." And by golly, for the first time in a couple of years, the Vermont College Republicans held their Convention this weekend!

A lot was acccomplished, and it was awesome to see so many Vermont Republican College Students together working towards a common goal.

Vermont's own Governor Jim Douglas stopped by and addressed the Convention. Also, Mr. Schiavone, the National Committeeman from the Vermont Republican Party surprised us all and showed up with his lovely wife too! It really was a great time.

Students from Champlain College, St. Michael's College, Middlebury College and Johnson State College took the time on a Saturday... a Saturday late in the semester mind you, to elect new officers and begin to build what is going to be a truly outstanding organization!

The 2008 Vermont College Republican Executive Committee:
Chair: Aaron LaRoche - Champlain College
Vice-Chair: Siobhan O'Malley - Middlebury College
Secretary: Kristin Leupold - Champlain College
Treasurer: Randy Chartrand - Champlain College
Public Relations Director: Chelsea Hicken - Johnson State College
At-Large Member 1: Catherine Collins - Middlebury College
At-Large Member 2: Ben Miller - St. Michael's College

More information to come on the Re-Organization Caucus.

***

Don't forget that our weekly meeting will be held tomorrow in SLC-309 at 7:30pm - we encourage you all to attend. E-mail us if you have any questions! ChamplainRepublicans@gmail.com

And of course, please drive safely!