No Runny Eggs

We have a couple of minutes while a video on AFP is playing. Time to catch up.

Owen, you know me better than to censor. I <expletive deleted> swear like a <expletive deleted> longshoreman.

Back to the live-blog with Mike Gableman.

Before I get to him, Brian just handed me a list of notables in the audience. Once I get some light beyond the laptop, I’ll get that up.

WSJ Editorial Board member Steve Moore begins by asking where Al Gore is. Global Warming is one of the biggest scams in the history of mankind. It is not about climate change, but about shutting down capitalism.

He’s relating a story about an Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms party (no, not the federal agency).

The debates at the WSJ editorial board are between the right and the far-right.

He is praising us for killing Healthy (and Depopulated) Wisconsin. He points out the taxes would have been higher than places like Sweden with it.

Hits Jimmy Carter, not only for being the worst President of the 20th Century, but the worst ex-President.

Comparing Clinton and Obama, when asked by friends who he would prefer, he said it’s like choosing between shot at by Bonnie or Clyde.

Onto taxes; “Fair” or Flat, it doesn’t matter. We need one of them. Polling the audience on whether we should do a flat or fair tax; about 50-50. Relates a story about one of the earlier audience polls; two of the guys in back were wildly waving when asked about keeping the current system. Both were tax accountants.

Both Clinton and Obama want taxes to go back to 40% from 35%. This while the rest of the world is adopting the Reagan low-tax model. Even France, which doesn’t have a word for “entrepeneurship”, is cutting taxes.

Obama is even worse than Clinton on taxes. His tax raises would return us to the 1970s.

On to the death tax. Quoting Steve Forbes – “No taxation without respiration.” The current temporary reduction and repeal is the “Throw momma from the train” death tax repeal. The fed death tax, which is slowly being reduced, is gone in 2010 and back in full force in 2011.

The Left talks about bringing us together; meanwhile, they push to separate the classes. Top 1% of the income earners pay 39.6%, bottom 50% pay 3%. Quoting Charles Barkley to one of his TNT co-hosts when pressed on why he would vote for George Bush – “Kenny, you dumb ass, I am rich!”

(More paraphrasing until I get the audio up)

James Klauser introduced Wisconsin Attorney General JB Van Hollen. He is glad to be here, and that this got rescheduled so he could make it.

Does life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness sound like change? Unfortunately, with the way government is, it is change.

Government has taken away the ability to defend life nowadays. They took the liberty to protect borders away. They changed the pursuit of happiness into (missed it; I will update when I replay the tape).

Even some of those on my side of the aisle (Republican) get caught up in government. We have become so much an entitlement society it is hard to get into government by opposing expansion of entitlements.

When he, as a kid, asked his dad what conservatism means, he answered that it is belief in limited government and self-determination.

The first priority is public safety. Even after he won, he kept his campaign slogan.

At the federal level, the first duty is protect the borders.

Onto the defense of his first year; it may not look conservative, but it is limited government. His vision of the Department of Justice is local control, with some help from the DOJ.

Conservatives do not believe in no government, but in limited government. He has made significant progress on the backlog at the DNA lab.

He will help local governments go after Internet child pornography, has increased the Medicare fraud department, is cooperating with the feds on illegal immigration.

He is contrasting his view on the role of the AG with that of his predecessors; he won’t grow it into a policy-making body, but that it be a law firm (and not a tort law firm either). That is part of restoring integrity.

Change begins with people in the grassroots. We need to change back to the way we were in the first place.

Next up at the podium, AFP-WI director Mark Block. Continuing with the paraphrasing…

Change; everybody’s talking about it, we’re doing something about it. 2 1/2 years ago, AFP-WI didn’t exist. Now, we have 12,000 members.

We have to change the mindset of some legislators who want to make us not just the highest-taxed state in America, but one of the highest-taxed states in the world.

We want to double membership this year. This is the big introduction of the Home Headquarter Kit hinted at back in December.

Closes with a heartfelt appreciation for everybody involved with AFP. Introduces James Klauser.

Assuming my voice recorder is working, I’ll have the audio up. Until then, I’ll paraphrase.. The first speaker is AFP President Tim Phillips. He started with the weather (it’s not that cold, yet, but it is for a southern guy.

He’s onto the taxpayers’ rally. He pointed out that those that opposed us were doing so on the taxpayers’ dime (sounds a bit like the RTA using $495,000 of their $500,000 in rental car taxes to lobby for more taxes).

Onto the ideas that came out of Wisconsin. First, the good; welfare reform. Next, the bad; bloated government.

Onto global warming; he’s onto the propsals that the liberals want; ending the tax deduction of mortgage interest on “larger” homes, the Programmable Communicating Thermostats.

Mad props to Leah Vukmir, who told Tim that if we were bold about promoting freedom, we will change the dynamic of the slouch toward liberalism.

The reason this is called Defending the American Dream summit; each generation dreams the next one has it better. Tim going into a family story, ends it with when he came back home in a coat and tie (after his mom said that he would get a “coat and tie” job), his mom said get the coat and tie off and cout the grass.

I wish I would get to the Reagan Presidential Library; it is a very good place. Tim closing with Reagan’s last letter to America (I hope that the recorder is catching this). For America, there will always be a bright, new dawn ahead.

We started off with a video presentation of Ray Charles singing “America”, presentation of the colors, the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem. Now, we’re on the growth of AFP.

The bloggers are in the house, and we’re actually right in the thick of it (unlike DC). Pete Fanning is over to my right with his laptop, Fred’s on the left (sans laptop, but he will have DAD Random Quotes), Christian is floating around along with Kathy and Jo. The party will start shortly.

R&E (10:02 pm 2/9/2008) – Brian is also in to give those of us back in the corner some professional tips.

I hope you’ve registered by now (if not, you might still be able to do so here), and if you’ve already left for the Country Springs Hotel, you’ve packed that winter coat; a whole heap of Gorebal “Warming” cold will be filtering in during the day. Kind of appropriate, because one of the sessions is going to be on global warming.

I’ll be there with my laptop, camera, and digital voice recorder, so unlike yesterday, expect a fair amount of posts today.