The election was last week, but the funny business continues.  According to a National Review article posted yesterday, someone is trying to impact the counting of absentee ballots in New Yorks 25th Congressional District.

National Review quotes the following:

“Statement From Ann Marie Buerkle On Absenteee Ballots

“Syracuse, NY –   “It has recently come to my attention that there are efforts underway in Upstate New York to contact individuals who cast absentee ballots in the 25th Congressional District and inquire how they may have voted in the recent election.  It is regrettable that this action is underway prior to those absentee votes being tabulated by county election officials.  While the reasons for this effort are unclear, many agree it could be an attempt by some to identify who each person voted for in an effort to disqualify certain eligible ballots from being counted.  I would like the public to know that my campaign is not connected to this current effort.  Further, no American – in Upstate New York or anywhere – is in anyway under obligation to provide information to anyone on how he or she voted in any election, including my own.””

“…The counting of the absentee ballots will be staggered over the next two weeks. Not surprisingly, the Maffei campaign has already filed legal proceedings against the four county boards of elections claiming voting irregularities. The objective is to delay and obstruct the process in order to disenfranchise voters who voted for Ann Marie.  

“We are currently trying to raise money for the anticipated recount.”

Have we reached a point where our elections results will be determined by lawyers and not voters?

On November 5, a website called MassResistance posted their analysis of why Republicans in Massachusetts lost at the polls last week.  The theory expressed is that the Republicans ran most of the campaigns in a way not to offend anyone. 

The article points out:

“In April 2009 the Boston homosexual newspaper Bay Windows featured a front-page interview with newly elected Massachusetts Republican Party Chairman Jennifer Nassour. She told Bay Windows that the Party will no longer oppose same-sex “marriage”, abortion, or other divisive “social issues.””

The article cites a quote from a past election:

“As columnist Jeff Jacoby once observed (regarding Mitt Romney’s 1994 Senate race against Ted Kennedy), if people are given the choice of a watered-down liberal and a real liberal, they will choose the real thing every time. What he might have added is that when the Republican Party caves in to more and more liberal mush, its rank and file starts to lose their zeal and enthusiasm, and it affects campaigns.”

I partially agree with the article, but I think there were exceptions to the watered-down profiles that were offered to the voters–the problem was that they were not at the top of the ballot, so people probably did not bother to split their vote to support them.

I don’t know if Massachusetts Republicans will learn from their mistakes or not.  Part of the problem is that many of the Massachusetts Republicans are not conservative and can’t be expected to take conservative stands.  I am not sure what it will take for that to change.

WLS AM in Chicago is reporting that even though Republican Mark Kirk has been elected to the United States Senate, he won’t be seated in time for the beginning of the lame duck session.  There were three Senators who were elected to fill vacant seats in the Senate.  They were expected to take their seats in time for the lame duck session which will begin on November 15.  Well, oddly enough the two Democrats that won will be taking their seats immediately, but Illinois can’t get the paperwork done on Mark Kirk to get him to the Senate before December.  This is the kind of shenanigans that angered the voters in the first place.  This is what those of us who live in Massachusetts watched with the election of Scott Brown.  Even though he won the election, the Democrats tried to keep him out of the Senate for as long as possible.  It would be nice if the Democrats would seat people when they are supposed to be seated instead of being sore losers and playing games with the electoral process.  This makes me wonder what mischief the Democrats have planned for Congress in the last two weeks of November.

One of the problems with the disclosure of the emails regarding climate change that were exposed this year is that they encouraged those of us who believe that global warming is faulty science to speak louder.  As I look outside at the snow on the ground today–snow on November 8–my skepticism is reinforced!  It is also reinforced by the fact that the emails showed that a significant period of global warming during the Middle Ages was left out of the data because it interfered with the desired conclusion.  Somehow, I just can’t picture the Lord of the Manor in the Middle Ages driving around in his SUV.  I don’t claim to be a scientist, but I suspect climate change is a basic part of the history of earth–before and after the industrial revolution.  Well, as the science of global warming becomes more suspect, those poised to make a lot of money because of global warming are having their hopes dashed.

Yesterday the National Review Online reported that the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) announced on Oct. 21 that it will be ending carbon trading – the only purpose for which it was founded – this year.

According to the article:

“The CCX seemed to have a lock on success. Not only was a young Barack Obama a board member of the Joyce Foundation that funded the fledgling CCX, but over the years it attracted such big name climate investors as Goldman Sachs and Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management.”

Many of our leading Congressmen have investments in CCX.  The article points out:

“CCX’s panicked original investors bailed out this spring, unloading the dog and its across-the-pond cousin, the European Climate Exchange (ECX), for $600 million to the New York Stock Exchange-traded Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) – an electronic futures and derivatives platform based in Atlanta and London. (Luckier than the CCX, the ECX continues to exist thanks to the mandatory carbon caps of the Kyoto Protocol.)

“The ECX may soon follow the CCX into oblivion, however – the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. No new international treaty is anywhere in sight.”

Does it bother anyone else that the people who will make millions from the implementation of carbon restrictions are the same people who are supporting the legislation?

Meanwhile, on Friday Breitbart.com reported:

“A top UN panel on Friday called for increased taxes on carbon emissions and international transport to raise 100 billion dollars a year to combat climate change.

“The group led by the prime ministers of Norway and Ethiopia also said there could be a tax on international financial transactions.”

It really is about the money–not the climate.

Yesterday’s Washington Examiner posted an editorial about the decisions that now have to be made regarding Republican leadership in the Senate.  Yesterday I posted an article about the Republican Conference Chairman, which will be either Michele Bachmann or Jeb Hensarling.  Michelle Bachmann represents the Tea Party, which some Republicans do not wholly accept, and Jeb Hensarling represents more of the standard Republican mold.

Now John Boehner has to back someone as the new Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.  The Washingon Examiner points out:

“It would be a horrible mistake to give the nod to either Rep. Jerry Lewis of California or Rep. Hal Rogers of Kentucky.  Lewis and Rogers are both Old Bull Republicans who love earmarks and pork barrel politics.  Apppointing either would split the House GOP caucus and spark a revolt among conservatives who have been fighting earmarks for years.  Most if not all of the freshman would join the revolt, with dire consequences for the GOP.  The next two Republicans in line are C.W. Young of Florida, another earmark-loving Old Bull who would be a disaster as chairman, and Frank Wolf of Virginia, whose undoubted experience and skills would be better utilized elsewhere, especially on homeland security issues.”

The battle here is totally understandable and was totally predictable.  The historic gains made in the House of Representatives by the Republicans were not the result of people loving Republicans–they were the result of people opposing the rapid increase in government spending.  The historic gains need to be followed by a new way of doing businesss in the House.  The Washington Examiner recommends Representative Jack Kingston of Georgia for head of the Appropriations Committee.  Representative Kingston has asked for earmark reform for years and has the experience to know how to run the committee well.  He would be a good choice, although he is not technically the next person in line for the position.

The Washington Examiner reminds us:

“To be sure, the federal budget won’t be balanced simply by banning earmarks.  But just as it is impossible to be a little bit pregnant, House Republicans cannot be against most earmarks but for some of them, which has been the position of Boehner and Kingston.”

These are the decisions that will determine the economic health of the country and also the election results of 2012.  Keep in mind that the campaigns for the House, the Senate, and the Presidency have already begun.

Today The Hill is reporting on the race for GOP Conference Chair as the Republicans prepare to take control of the House of Representatives.   Representatives Jeb Hensarling and Michele Bachmann are competing for the position. 

The problem here is one that is going to become increasingly more common in the immediate future.  Michele Bachmann is more closely associated with the Tea Party.  She has spoken out very publicly for the Tea Party.  She is the person who would be considered the “Tea Party” candidate.  Jeb Hensarling is someone who is ‘in line for the position.’  This is what always gets the Republicans in trouble.  This is the reason John McCain ran for President instead of Mitt Romney.

The question is very simple.  The energy in the Republican Party in this election came from the Tea Party.  Whether the old guard Republicans like it or not, that is a fact.  They have a choice.  They can acknowledge the heavy lifting done by the Tea Party or they can pretend that they took the majority because of their own popularity.  If they choose the second option, there will be a third party–it will be the Republican party.  The energy right now is with the Tea Party.  To ignore that fact is on a par with President Obama saying he lost the House of Representatives due to communications problems.  There were no communication problems–the American people saw exactly what he was doing and they didn’t like it.  If the Republicans in Congress choose to ignore the contributions of the Tea Party, they too run the risk of becoming irrelevant.

Today’s New York Post is reporting that Bertha Lewis, CEO of the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN), has sent out a statement that the group is filing for bankruptcy.  Ms. Lewis claims that a “right-wing media blitz” is responsible for ACORN’s troubles.  Wow.  Who knew there was such a thing as a right-wing media blitz?  I’m not even totally convinced that there is a right-wing media,

The article in the Post points out that the Congress that cut off the funding for ACORN was controlled by Democrats–not Republicans.  The Post also points out that the money was later restored to ACORN. 

According to the article:

“”[Over] the next week or so we should see a dozen or more organizations launched on the state level by staff who used to work for ACORN and leaders who developed their skills as ACORN members,” ACORN strategist Nathan Henderson-James wrote in February.”

“”These are not just simple name changes, but re-imaginings of how best to organize low and moderate income constitiuencies [sic] without any of the lelgal problems and funding issues dogging ACORN, not to mention the brand damage.””

May I have the honor of translating what has just happened.  The House of Representatives controls the spending bills.  The Republicans just took over the House of Representatives.  There goes the gravy train for ACORN.  ACORN doesn’t want to pay all the bills it ran up as ACORN, so they will declare bankruptcy and continue with a new name.  They can manage on a lower budget until the Democrats win control of the House of Representatives again (and they can help the Democrats win control by registering Mickey Mouse to vote in Orlando and the Dallas Cowboys starting lineup to vote in Las Vegas).

Every President has a library.  Jimmy Carter has one in Georgia; Bill Clinton has one in Arkansas.  It’s part of the whole presidential thing.  Presidential libraries also have historic value–sometimes events become clearer as time passes.  Well, some of the United Methodists are having serious problems with the fact that George W. Bush is planning a library at Southern Methodist University.

Front Page Magazine reports:

“I hope that a bullhorn will not become the symbol for the entry of the United States into an unjustified war and that a pistol of Saddam Hussein’s is not seen as some strange symbol of victory in that horrendous misjudgment,” harrumphed anti-Bush United Methodist theologian Tex Sample to The New York Times. “That these should be the symbols of the values and commitments of the Bush administration and should now become the face of Southern Methodist University is cause for alarm.”

I guess Mr. Sample has forgotten how devastated many of us felt after the events of September 11.  The people working at the World Trade Center site were digging in ruins where their friends and colleagues had been killed and in many cases buried alive.  The inspiration provided by the bullhorn in question was needed and appropriate.

The article further reports:

“”It’s the approach they’ve taken all along; it fits their worldview,” explained leading Bush library critic and SMU professor emeritus William K. McElvaney, who is an ordained United Methodist whom The New York Times also quoted.  “It’s a tragedy for SMU to hitch its star to this.”  Evidently McElvaney has promised there will be demonstrations at the library’s groundbreaking this month.  With the Rev. Sample and other left-leaning United Methodists, he unsuccessfully tried to persuade SMU’s board and the denomination’s bishops to halt the library. More temperate minds understood that whatever controversies surrounded the Bush years, the library’s archives would be a boon to SMU scholarship.  George W. Bush, who’s wife Laura attended SMU and sits on SMU’s board, is himself a United Methodist.  The pastor of his Dallas church also sits on the SMU board and has outspokenly defended the library.”

Good grief.  What a sad commentary on the politicization of everything in some circles in America that a presidential library cannot be built without someone getting their dander up.  I am sorry that those opposing this library are so against the military.  Have they not figured out yet that the military is what defends their right to practice their religion?

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air reported yesterday that President Obama, moving toward the political center after the recent election, has expressed an interest in expanding drilling for natural gas.  He has also implicitly backed a process called hydraulic fracturing to access large deposits in Pennsylvania and Texas, among other places.  Chris Tucker, spokesman for Energy in Depth, a drilling industry group formed to fight off federal regulation of shale gas drilling, stated that he was surprised by the change of direction.

Mr. Morrissey comments:

“Yes, well, don’t be terribly surprised.  The key to this change in direction is in that last paragraph — Pennsylvania.  Democrats just lost control of that state on Tuesday, along with Wisconsin, Ohio, and Florida.  There’s a term for a Democratic presidential nominee who loses Pennsylvania and doesn’t get the other three states in return: loser.”

Mr. Morrissey also reports:

“Coal producers expressed disappointment that Obama failed to mention their industries in his remarks, but that may not be long in coming, either.   Joe Manchin nearly lost an election he should have won by 30 points in large measure because of Obama’s war on coal. Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana have fingers in the coal industry; Wisconsin doesn’t produce coal, but they use a lot of it, and so does Michigan.  If Obama wants to reconnect to voters in states he has to win in 2012, expect at least a temporary truce in the coal war, too.”

It would be truly ironic if the political necessity that caused this change of direction wound up reviving the economy.  However, the thing to be aware of here is that President Obama’s apparent change in offshore drilling policy in last spring (see rightwinggranny.com) was not what it appeared to be.  It will be interesting to see if the President follows through on this ‘interest’ in drilling for natural gas or only keeps the issue alive long enough to win him the votes he needs.

Yesterday Boston.com reported:

“Federal officials have arrested dozens of alleged illegal immigrants connected to a flight school in Stow, including the school’s owner and students who received US government clearance to train as pilots despite strict security controls put into place after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.”

It is a good thing that the illegal immigrants were arrested; however, according to the article:

“All the arrested immigrants, who were learning to fly small single-engine planes, are free pending deportation hearings in federal immigration court, immigration officials said.”

This is amazing.  How many of these arrested immigrants do you think will show up for their pending deportation hearings in federal immigration court?

One of the people arrested was the owner of the school, Thiago DeJesus, a 26-year-old Brazilian immigrant who holds a license to fly single-engine airplanes.  Mr. DeJesus was charged in July with being in the United States illegally.  He is not only still here–he has gone into business!  Now just for the record (and with no idea what Mr. De Jesus’s political or terrorism tendencies are), this is obviously an entrepreneurial young man.  He is the person we need in this country right now.  What is wrong with our immigration system that he is not allowed to be here legally?

Meanwhile, Mr. DeJesus was continuing to give flying lessons this week??!!! 

According to the article:

“FAA spokeswoman Laura J. Brown confirmed that DeJesus is a licensed pilot and flight instructor but would not comment on the fact that his school is still open because the agency is investigating what she called safety issues in connection with the school. She declined to elaborate.”

Please follow the link above to read the entire story.  It gets more unbelievable as you read it.

On November 3rd, I posted an article (rightwinggranny.com) about the Republicans already requesting that the Obama Administration not shred documents as they prepare for the transition to a Republican House of Representatives.  Yesterday, Power Line posted an article commenting on the coming investigations.

Paul Mirengoff at Power Line comments that, “In my opinion, the public elected a Republican Congress for the purpose of repealing Democratic legislative excesses, preventing new overreaching legislation, and bringing spending under control. It did not elect a Republican Congress to persecute the executive branch.”

Mr. Mirengoff lists the investigations he believes are important to the political health of the country:

The handling of the New Black Panthers voting intimidation case–the Justice Department needs to understand that Congress will not tolerate a double standard of enforcement in Civil Rights Laws.

The appointment of approximately 32 ‘czars’–the President has placed people in top positions in his administration without the benefit of Senate confirmation.  The confirmation process is there for a reason, President Obama should respect it.

The firing of Gerald Walpin, the inspector general of the Corporation for National and Community Service.  This is a little more significant than an ordinary firing.

The article explains:

“At first glance, the removal of, Gerald Walpin, the inspector general of the Corporation for National and Community Service, may seem insufficiently consequential to justify a backward looking investigation. However, as Stanley Kurtz points out in Radical-in-Chief, Obama included $1.4 billion in the 2011 budget to create a force of government-funded community organizers. His aim is to boost his political program while creating an army of young adherents in the process. The firing of Walpin appears to have an attempt to clear the way for this form of abuse. In this context, it is worthy of investigation by the House.”

We don’t need a witch hunt.  However, we do need an honest investigation and oversight into those things that have been done by Congress and the Obama Administration that were not Constitutional.

Today the Washington Examiner is reporting on the latest unintended consequence of Obamacare.  The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) was one of the strongest supporters of the healthcare reform bill.  They spent millions of dollars to promote the bill.  They were part of the group of supporters of the bill that repeatedly stated, “health insurance costs will not go up if Obamacare is passed and that people who like their current coverage would be able to keep that coverage.”  Well, that was then; this is now.

According to the article at the Washington Examiner:

“Now along comes AARP announcing an eight to thirteen percent hike in its health insurance policy premiums charged to more than 4,500 employees, retirees and dependents.  And that’s likely only the first of more such increases to come.  There are also “adjustments” coming in the AARP plan’s required co-payments and deductibles.”

The bottom line here is that all of us were lied to about Obamacare.  Some of the liars knew they were lying, some did not.  At any rate, now that the truth is rapidly becoming apparent, the only honorable thing to do is for Congress (and the President) to apologize to the American people for their lying and repeal the bill.  I am sure that will happen right after pigs fly.

Yesterday’s Washington Examiner reported on some of the results of George Soros’ involvement in our elections in recent years.  In 2006 George Soros funded the Secretary of State Project, a liberal activist group whose goal was to put Democrat Secretaries of State in place to help Democrats win elections.  Their most visible success was the Minnesota Senate recount where a victory for Norm Coleman eventually became a victory for Al Franken.  Recent news stories have reported that a large number of the ballots counted came from convicted felons.

The Washington Examiner reported that in Tuesday’s election Republicans won 17 of 26 of the races for Secretary of State–defeating six incumbent Democrats.  There are now 25 Republican Secretaries of State and 22 Democrat Secretaries of State.

Another of George Soros’ recent projects was trying to change the redistricting in California that will be done in response to the census from the non-partisan group that is in charge of drawing up districts to the control of the state legislature.  The measure failed and the redistricting will remain in the hands of a Citizens Redistricting Commission.

It is to the credit of the American voter that both of these efforts to control our electoral process have been stopped.

Yesterday the Wall Street Journal reported on the tax breaks which General Motors will be receiving from the federal government.  As the majority of Democrats make statements about ending what they call “corporate welfare”, they seem to be willing to extend unbelievable tax breaks to General Motors. 

The Wall Street Journal reports:

“GM, which plans to begin promoting its relisting on the stock exchange to investors this week, wiped out billions of dollars in debt, laid off thousands of employees and jettisoned money-losing brands during its U.S.-funded reorganization last year.

“Now it turns out, according to documents filed with federal regulators, the revamping left the car maker with another boost as it prepares to return to the stock market. It won’t have to pay $45.4 billion in taxes on future profits.

“The tax benefit stems from so-called tax-loss carry-forwards and other provisions, which allow companies to use losses in prior years and costs related to pensions and other expenses to shield profits from U.S. taxes for up to 20 years. In GM’s case, the losses stem from years prior to when GM entered bankruptcy.”

This is the kind of government favoritism that causes all Americans to lose faith in the basic honesty of their leaders.  As the article notes, this tax break is occurring just as General Motors is ready to release its Initial Public Offering (IPO) of stocks.  The stock sale needs to go well so that the Obama Administration can say that bailing out General Motors was a good thing.

Yesterday The Hill‘s Blog Briefing Room posted an article about a statement by Representative Chaka Fattah (Pa.) who has said that he will introduce a measure that would “disavow” the impeachment of former President Clinton.  

According to the article:

“Rep. Chaka Fattah (Pa.) said that the resolution is necessary so that Democrats and Republicans can work together in a bipartisan fashion.

“”As we enter a period in which bipartisanship will be a major priority for the Congress, it is vital that we disavow the most highly partisan example of the politics of personal destruction in the recent history of this House,” Fattah said in a statement.”

Oh yeah.  I remember working together.  On January 24, 2009, Politico reported:

“President Obama listened to Republican gripes about his stimulus package during a meeting with congressional leaders Friday morning – but he also left no doubt about who’s in charge of these negotiations. “I won,” Obama noted matter-of-factly, according to sources familiar with the conversation.”

I don’t mean to be difficult (although there are some people in my life who would argue with that statement), but if the 2008 election had consequences, then the 2010 election should also have consequences.

The article at The Hill states:

“Fattah said he is introducing the resolution on Nov. 15, the first day of the lame-duck session, noting that Clinton’s impeachment took place during the December 1998 lame-duck session.

Republicans have already said they do not plan to impeach President Obama when they take power next year.”

Why is this man wasting our time with this?

Yahoo News reported yesterday that San Francisco has passed a law putting nutritional requirements on Happy Meals.

According to the article:

“The law, like an ordinance passed earlier this year in nearby Santa Clara County, would require that restaurant kids’ meals meet certain nutritional standards before they could be sold with toys.”

This law was passed in the same state that tried to legalize marijuana.   

According to the government:

“The Center for Science in the Public Interest this summer threatened to sue McDonald’s if it did not stop using Happy Meal toys to lure children into its restaurants. A lawyer for that group said it is on track to file the lawsuit in the next several weeks.

“McDonald’s debuted the Happy Meal in the United States in 1979 with toys like the “McDoodler” stencil and the “McWrist” wallet. Modern offerings have included themed items from popular films like “Shrek” or sought-after toys like Transformers, Legos or miniature Ty Beanie Babies.”

First of all, parents are responsible for what their children eat.  No one is forcing parents to take their children to McDonald’s.  If the parents are not capable of telling their children ‘no’, the problem is greater than where they are eating.   It is not up to the government to control our diets.  I understand that obesity is a problem with our children.  I believe that diet is part of that problem (along with taking recess out of schools and children staying inside playing video games), but the problem is also related to some of the ingredients found in our food that were not there in previous generations–high fructose corn syrup for instance. 

It is just amazing to me that the same people who want to legalize marijuana (which has been proved harmful to brain activity) want to ban Happy Meals.  Happy meals may not be the best choice for parents, but it is the parents’ choice.  The government does not have the right to interfere with the free market and override parents’ food choices.

Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal reported that voters  in Denver rejected Ballot Initiative 300, which would have set up an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission, stocked with Ph.D. scientists, to “ensure the health, safety and cultural awareness of Denver residents” when it comes to future contact “with extraterrestrial intelligent beings or their vehicles.”

When you listen to some of the statements made by the people supporting this, you really do wonder what the people who began the initiative were thinking.  The campaign to pass the initiative was run by Jeff Peckham.

The article reports:

“”It took, what, 18 years for health-care reform to happen,” Mr. Peckham said. “And how many years for women to get the vote? So some big things take a while to get going.”

“Supporters of the measure that argued that it would position Denver as the Roswell of the Rockies and attract sci-fi and space-related business and tourism.

“”Look at your Star Trek conventions! How many people go to those?” agreed Veronica Barela, a supporter of the initiative and a leader in Denver’s Latino community.”

This was definitely a unique way to try to attract business to the community!

Today The Hill posted an article stating that:

“Republicans are likely to urge the Obama administration not to shred documents as they transition to the House majority.” 



That is a very interesting statement.  The article points out that now that the Republicans are in the majority in the House of Representatives, Republicans next year will enjoy subpoena power.  There are some things I would like to investigated, but I hope Representative Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who will become chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, will choose his battles carefully.  I suspect he will, but I also suspect every obstacle to finding the truth will be thrown in his path.


There is a great need for sunlight to be shown on some of the actions of Congress and the Presidency during the past two years.

Today’s Wall Street Journal posted an opinion piece by Jim DeMint commenting on yesterday’s election results and what needs to happen next.  Jim DeMint has served in the Senate since 2005 and has a very clear picture of the struggle within the Republican party between the ‘old guard’ and the Tea Party.  The Tea Party is not interested in being a quiet part of the Republican Party.  They are not even interested in being associated solely with the Republican Party.   I suspect they would support Democrats who agreed with their principles–there just haven’t been very many.

Senator DeMint points out:

“Many of the people who will be welcoming the new class of Senate conservatives to Washington never wanted you here in the first place. The establishment is much more likely to try to buy off your votes than to buy into your limited-government philosophy. Consider what former GOP senator-turned-lobbyist Trent Lott told the Washington Post earlier this year: “As soon as they get here, we need to co-opt them.””

Unfortunately that statement is a fact of life. 

Senator DeMint has a few suggestions for the new Republicans:

• Don’t request earmarks
• Hire conservative staff
• Beware of committee assignments used as bribes
• Don’t seek titles
• Keep your priorities straight–doing your job correctly is more important than your reelection.