Club for Growth Endorses Kevin Calvey in OK-05

In its first endorsement of the 2010 cycle, the Club for Growth PAC endorsed former state representative Kevin Calvey for the open seat in Oklahoma’s Fifth Congressional District.

The current representative, Republican Mary Fallin, is vacating the seat to run for governor, and Kevin Calvey is expected to announce his candidacy for Congress very soon.

As a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1998 to 2006, Calvey proved himself to be a genuine fiscal conservative. He sponsored a bill to cut Oklahoma’s income tax, and he was one of only five legislators to vote against a pork spending bill in 2004.

“Given Kevin Calvey’s record in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, we have every reason to believe he will be a strong fiscal conservative in Congress,” said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. “As Congress seems more and more determined to spend the country into oblivion, Washington could use a fighter like Kevin Calvey to stand up for taxpayer’s hard-earned money. The Club for Growth PAC is proud to issue its first endorsement of the 2010 cycle in support of such a principled candidate.”

Tom Cole 'TRASH' Club for Growth or is it just Sour Grapes ?

In Defense of RINO Hunting
By PAT TOOMEY
May 8, 2008; Page A13

The Club for Growth Political Action Committee has long been attacked for intervening in Republican primaries and targeting the party's most economically liberal incumbents.

In 2000, Pennsylvania Rep. Jim Greenwood called the Club "cannibals." When the Club ran ads against Ohio Sen. George Voinovich and Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe for resisting President Bush's 2003 tax cut, Karl Rove deemed the ads "counterproductive."

And Newt Gingrich, the man who ushered in a conservative Republican majority in 1994, once denounced the Club. "Their strategy is explicitly wrong," he said. "The key is to elect more Republicans and have a bigger majority and be more inclusive."

Now comes Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole, the man charged with rebuilding the GOP majority in the House. In a New York Times Magazine article, he denounced the Club for Growth's involvement in a special election in Ohio's fifth congressional district.

"The problem I have with the Club is I think they're stupid," Mr. Cole said. "They spend more money beating Republicans than Democrats."

Republicans would be better off, the argument goes, if the Club PAC spent its money targeting Democrats instead of liberal Republicans. This is the argument of politicians who care more about maintaining power than using that power to implement conservative policies.

Thus comes the demand for an uncompromising obeisance to the bottom line: Elect as many Republicans as possible, regardless of how they will vote once in office.

It is for this reason that challenges to incumbents are deemed sacrilegious, no matter how far the incumbent has strayed from conservative principles. And it is for this reason that party leaders defend some of the most liberal incumbents, also known as RINOs (Republicans in Name Only), and assail the Club PAC for helping to elect true conservatives.

In 2000, Rep. Tom Davis, then the chairman of the National Republican Campaign Committee, denounced the Club for supporting Scott Garrett's challenge to New Jersey Rep. Marge Roukema. Mr. Cole and the entire Oklahoma establishment backed Tom Coburn's primary opponent in the 2004 Senate race, Oklahoma City Mayor Kirk Humphreys, viewing Mr. Coburn as too conservative to be electable. Led by President Bush, the GOP cavalry rallied behind liberal Arlen Specter in 2004, and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island and Joe Schwarz of Michigan in 2006.

Mr. Chafee, you may recall, is the same senator who refused to vote for the president in 2004, and voted against the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts and Justice Sam Alito's nomination.

This year, Mr. Gingrich and conservative favorite former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele stumped for liberal incumbent Rep. Wayne Gilchrest against conservative state Sen. Andy Harris in a primary. Mr. Gilchrest was also defended by the Service Employees International Union. He lost by 10 points.

Let us take a moment to consider how these liberal Republicans are serving the GOP today. Mr. Specter, just in the past year, joined Democrats in voting for "card check" (which allows unions to organize without holding a secret ballot election), for increasing the minimum wage, for expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program, and for the bloated farm bill.

Mr. Chafee, who was defeated, switched his party affiliation to Independent and has endorsed Barack Obama for president. Following his loss to conservative Tim Walberg in the 2006 primary, Rep. Schwarz of Michigan backed a state-level tax hike, and threatened to run against Mr. Walberg as a Democrat. Mr. Gilchrest has hinted recently that he will endorse the Democratic nominee for his seat. All four of these pols were heralded by the Republican establishment as genuine conservatives who would go to bat for the party when it mattered.

Conversely, many of the Republican candidates the Club for Growth's members have supported over the years are now leaders in the conservative movement and favorites among the party's grass roots. Sens. Coburn and Jim DeMint and Reps. Scott Garrett, Jeff Flake, John Campbell, Jeb Hensarling, Tim Walberg and Mike Pence are just some of the brave leaders who have led the fight for limited government and greater economic freedom.

Winning for the sake of winning is an excellent short-term tactic, but a lousy long-term strategy. Just look at the consequences of the 2006 congressional elections, when the GOP lost control of both houses of Congress.

A Republican majority is only as useful as the policies that majority produces. When those policies look a lot like Democratic ones, the base rightly questions why it should keep Republicans in power. As the party gears up for elections in the fall, it ought to look closely at the losses suffered under a political strategy devoid of principle. Otherwise, it can look forward to a bad case of déjà vu.

Mr. Toomey, a former Republican congressman from Pennsylvania, is president of the Club for Growth.

The Road to Recovery Begins with Jeff Flake on Appropriations

The Road to Recovery Begins
with Jeff Flake on Appropriations

By The Directors

With Roger Wicker being named a United States Senator, there is an opening on the Appropriations Committee for the U.S. House of Representatives. The Republicans get to fill the seat. The Republican leadership has a great opportunity to prove that it is serious about earmark reform and a conservative approach to spending. It’s time to put some action behind their rhetoric.

Rep. Tom Cole, the Chairman of the NRCC, the campaign arm of the House Republicans, claims that he deserves the spot - that putting himself on the Appropriations Committee will help improve Republican fundraising successes. That, in and of itself, should tell you everything you need to know about why Tom Cole is a poor choice.

We encourage you to call your Republican member of Congress (or the closest one to you if you don't have one) and encourage them to support Rep. Jeff Flake for the Appropriations Committee.

The GOP will not earn the trust of voters again until the House Republicans prove they are fiscally responsible. Jeff Flake has led the fight on the House floor against earmarks and wasteful spending. Jeff Flake gets it.

Our party needs Jeff Flake as the face for reform on the influential Appropriations Committee. He is also one of the few men who could change the committee instead of the committee changing him.

The Republican Steering Committee will nominate someone for this spot - and generally, the Republican Conference as a whole rubber stamps that nomination. But it does not have to be that way. Already Republican backbenchers and members of the Republican Study Committee are gearing up for a fight to nominate Jeff Flake.

If the Steering Committee does not nominate Flake, the Conference can. Let's help them out. Call your Republican member of Congress and encourage him or her to support Jeff Flake.

Approps seat tests the GOP on spending

Approps seat tests the GOP on spending
By Jackie Kucinich
January 15, 2008

House Republicans this month will face a defining moment when they fill an opening on the Appropriations Committee: Either appoint an anti-earmark lawmaker or risk further alienating conservatives at the grassroots level.

The intensifying effort to persuade Republican leaders to select Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) to fill ex-Rep. Roger Wicker’s (R-Miss.) Appropriations seat grew stronger Monday as FreedomWorks endorsed the maverick lawmaker.

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas), now FreedomWorks president, said in a release, “Appointing Jeff Flake would make a major statement to the American people that the Republican Party is about the big ideas, such as ending wasteful earmarks and bringing transparency to the Appropriations Committee.” Armey added that the appointment is “a test” for the Republican Party, suggesting the GOP will not be back in the congressional majority unless it takes bold steps such as tapping Flake.

After sweeping GOP losses in the 2006 election, many Republicans on and off Capitol Hill faulted the rapid growth of earmarks as a major part of the party’s problem. President Bush last year pressed Congress to significantly curtail earmark use.

Flake is perhaps best known for offering anti-earmark amendments on the House floor that often fall well short of passing. The motions have infuriated some GOP members, especially appropriators.

There are seven appropriators on the 27-member House Republican Steering Committee, which will make its decision later this month.

While influential outside groups are pushing for Flake, some Republicans and watchdogs are grumbling about Rep. Tom Cole’s (R-Okla.) bid for the appropriations opening. Cole’s surprise candidacy for the Wicker slot has triggered questions about the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) chairman’s motives.

Cole has indicated that he would be able to boost the NRCC’s war chest if appointed to the spending committee. Cole jumped into the race months after he and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) clashed on NRCC’s fundraising, which is lagging far behind that of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

“My first reaction is the crass power-play aspect of it was astonishing,” said Meredith McGehee, policy director for the Campaign Legal Center, a non-partisan group that monitors campaign finance expenditures. “These appropriations are used as partisan pawns rather than as wise spending of taxpayers’ dollars.”

Republicans “are going to have a tough decision between change and wanting to distance themselves from the [Jack] Abramoff era or [reiterating that] delivering pork is the way to gain political power, “ McGehee added.

Groups such as Club for Growth, Americans for Prosperity and RedState.com began the drumbeat for Flake last week, saying that his brand of fiscal conservatism is badly needed on the spending panel. They urged members to contact Boehner to advocate for a Flake appointment.

A Boehner spokesman said the office had received “some calls” on the topic.

“We need someone [to reform the committee] from the inside,” said Nachama Soloveichik, a spokeswoman for Club for Growth.

While declining to name Cole specifically, Soloveichik said that appointing another member would send a message of Washington business as usual.

“It’s not the message we want to send. It’s about cutting waste and eliminating corruption — it’s not about special deals,” she said, adding that while in the short term fundraising may go up, in the long term “it would be a stake in the heart of the party.”

One former GOP leadership aide was not so kind, describing Cole’s move as “selfish,” explaining that the seat should rightly go to a politically vulnerable member who could use the power the committee affords to stay in office. The aide noted that Democratic target Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) is seeking the seat.

Cole’s office declined to comment on the those claims, pointing to its statement last week that says “Congressman Cole respects all of his colleagues who are also seeking this appointment. He has been quietly making his case to members of the Steering Committee and is confident they will make a decision in the best interests of the Republican Conference.”

In addition to Reichert, Flake and Cole, Reps. Henry Brown Jr. (R-S.C.), Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) and Michael Turner (R-Ohio) have expressed interest in the post.

Last week, Flake found an unlikely ally in appropriator Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) who, while a strong believer in the right to earmark, believes Flake’s addition would be a strong message of a party’s ability to reform itself.

“Jeff has a lot of respect and would be a very good and very viable member,” Kingston said. “This would be a very serious step to get back to where we need to be.

“This is a big cultural challenge on our part: Are we ready for change?” Kingston said. “If we are not up to the challenge to step up to this challenge then we are not ready to assume the majority again.”

Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) echoed Kingston’s remarks, saying, “Jeff Flake is the gold standard of earmark reform. Period. End of paragraph.”

Hensarling pointed out that while several RSC members are interested in the post, Flake’s distinction as a member who does not accept earmarks sets him apart and would “send a very strong symbol” for fiscal responsibility. Hensarling stressed he is not endorsing Flake, however.

Flake asserted that his presence could add much-needed oversight to a committee that has been plagued with questionable ethical practices and, according to many conservatives, is in dire need of reform.

Flake said he has spoken to Boehner and other steering committee members about his bid.