Chris Saxman for Delegate 2007...

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Republican Delegate Chris Saxman announced the beginning of his re-election campaign for 2007 today at the Holiday Inn of Staunton in front of a large gathering of area supporters. Also in attendance and guest speaker was Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell with his wife and he spoke to those in attendance as well.

Saxman spoke of his tenure in the Virginia assembly as a Delegate and the many positive things done by the Republicans in the last sessions. He also spoke of the challenges ahead for Virginia and the nation when $74 trillion comes due in the next decade for the spending on entitlement programs and programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

Saxman also talked about the final consolidation of the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind which took 30 years for the schools to be combined as they should. Nothing should take this long but nothing in Government that makes sense is done quickly…

Saxman also spoke of when he was in High School he looked at joining both the Young Republicans group and the Young Democrats group. He asked what the Republicans what they stand for and was told Strong defense, lower taxes, less government. He then asked the Democrats group and was told that all they know is they hate the Republicans. This reminds me of a statement I believe by Peggy Noonan that said: “We are Democrats and we are not sure what we stand for but we do know that we can’t stand Republicans“…

Attorney General Bob McDonnell spoke about the work being done in Richmond by the Republican Delegates and by using “Commonsense Conservatism” as a rule. Virginia unemployment rate is at an incredible low of 2.7%, crime rates are down, and dependency on Welfare is also down. He also spoke of two projects he is working on and getting strong support from Virginia citizens and Delegates…

McDonnell’s first project is Youth Internet Safety and the efforts being made to protect our children from sexual predators on the internet. Working to eliminate Spam and identity theft as well as improving the internet service provided to Virginians.

McDonnell’s next project is to work at reviewing the 24,000 pages of regulations in Virginia to make them more efficient and to cut programs\laws not needed anymore.

Staunton Republican Chair Anne Taetzsch attended the Saxman announcement with her Father Jim Taetzsch...

“Hey Charlie!, got those numbers for you”…

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To follow up on my prior post "Charlie Rangel's Vision" here are some numbers...

Investor Business Daily had a great follow-up about Democratic Representative Charles Rangel comments about the un-educated being the ones going to Iraq to fight in the war.

"The mean reading level of 2004 recruits is a full grade level higher than that of the general youth population."

"Less than 2% of military recruits have less than a high school degree vs. 20% of the general population."

"In 2004, 92.1% of those who became active-duty officers held a baccalaureate degree or higher. Census Bureau data show that only 25.2% of civilians ages 18 and up hold such degrees."

"In the Air Force, almost 50% have advanced or professional degrees."

http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=249524207811885

"Diplomacy"

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The Capitol Hill Newspaper reported:

"At a private reception held at the White House with newly elected lawmakers shortly after the election, Bush asked Webb how his son, a Marine lance corporal serving in Iraq, was doing.

Webb responded that he really wanted to see his son brought back home, said a person who heard about the exchange from Webb.

“I didn’t ask you that, I asked how he’s doing,” Bush retorted, according to the source.

Webb confessed that he was so angered by this that he was tempted to slug the commander-in-chief, reported the source, but of course didn’t. It’s safe to say, however, that Bush and Webb won’t be taking any overseas trips together anytime soon."

http://thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/UndertheDome/112906.html

In the post prior to this one I asked what would happen if Webb ran into Charle Rangel in the halls of Congress...

"I wonder if Representative Rangel will ask Senator-elect Jim Webb about the options his son had before going to Iraq where he is presently serving?"

Charlie Rangel's vision of "Choice"...

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While driving to work I heard the following statement by Democratic Representative Charles Rangel from New York to host Chris Wallace of FoxNews Sunday. “I want to make it abundantly clear that I have been advocating a draft ever since the president has been talking about war, and none of this comes within the jurisdiction of the Ways and Means Committee. But I want to make it abundantly clear, if there's anyone who believes that these youngsters want to fight, as the Pentagon and some generals have said, you can just forget about it. No young, bright individual wants to fight just because of a bonus and just because of educational benefits. And most all of them come from communities of very, very high unemployment.”

“If a young fellow has an option of having a decent career or joining the Army to fight in Iraq, you can bet your life that he would not be in Iraq.”
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/11/charlie_rangel_john_dingell_ba.html

Now before you go looking for that famous quote from Democratic Senator John Kerry allow me to provide it here “Education -- if you make the most of it and you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well," said Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat. "If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

As soon as I got to work I found a co-worker who is a Marine and just returned from serving in Iraq for six months. I asked this Marine several questions about his decision for joining the Marine Corps right out of high school without telling him about the above quote made by Rangel. Jon told me that the attacks on 9-11 hit close to home and his family and he felt it his responsibility to go fight the terrorism that has attacked this country not just on 9-11 but for numerous years leading up to 9-11. Jon informed me that joining the Marines was not his only option and in fact he was ready and accepted to go to a college before he decided to join the Marines and serve his country. He also told me of friends and fellow Marines lost in combat and of Marines that have re-enlisted at the first opportunity. He told me of a fellow Marine who was a Maryland State Trooper before going to serve in Iraq and upon his return he has opted to return to the battle in Iraq\Afghanistan. This Marine\State Trooper is also engaged to be married and is still choosing to return to the battle on terrorism.

Ironically later on this same day at work I noticed a Army Sergeant who I have worked with on projects with the “From Our Hearts” program. This program has sent numerous shipments of packages to the troops serving in Iraq\Afghanistan. http://fromrhearts.blogspot.com
I told him about Rangels comments and he told me that he does not see a large percentage of recruits signing up “just because of a bonus and just because of educational benefits” as Rangel has claimed. The Sergeant said the biggest problem they see is that some of the recruits wishing to serve their country are in poor physical condition and must be placed in special PT classes to get them in proper condition.

This also made me think of a member of the Augusta County Republican Committee who is presently serving his 12 month tour in downtown Baghdad with the National Guard Reserve. His wife told me of how he called her at the first word of the first plane striking the World Trade Center tower and that it was no accident. “A big plane like that does not hit a big building like that by accident”. She then told me of how he called again after the second plane hit and told her that “We are at war”…
SSgt. Herb Harman was forty years old at the time and immediately started to condition himself by running in the Virginia mountains to get ready for his tour to fight terrorism. Ssgt. Harman volunteered and requested to serve in Iraq and has been downtown Baghdad for over ten months now. Ssgt. Harman had a good job, nice house, incredible family, and a very nice life happening here in Shenandoah Valley. He did not have to volunteer to go active duty and he did not have to request downtown Baghdad but he did. This is something I do not believe Democratic Representative Charles Rangel and many members of his party understands.

And what about the troops who are re-enlisting for another tour while still in the theater of service? Many of these heroes have served multiple tours in combat and have volunteered to serve their country and fellow citizens when they had a clear choice. Have you heard of the many injured service members who have requested to be returned to front line duty upon their healing and\or fitting of artificial limbs to replace those lost in combat so to be with their fellow service members? Just something I do not believe Rangel understands.

I wonder if Representative Rangel will ask Senator-elect Jim Webb about the options his son had before going to Iraq where he is presently serving?