What is a Conservative to Do When They Find Themselves Without a Party?

Written by Roberta Biros

For those of you that read my blog with any regularity, you are familiar with the on-going trials and tribulations that I’ve experienced regarding the Mercer County Pennsylvania Republican Party. After numerous attempts to become an involved volunteer, my efforts have been thwarted at every turn. After numerous attempts to “conform”, I believe that I’ve found myself without a Party in our fine County.

I realize that I have no right to complain. I had fair warning months ago from a good friend who has seen the Mercer PA GOP in action for years. On November 25 of 2008, my friend (“Anonymous”) posted a comment on my blog and predicted the following with absolute precision:

“As a new friend of mine once said, “I prefer to rely on experiences from past history to predict the future.” From many of our past experiences and the history of the Mercer GOP, I predict that you will have a difficult time with “cracking the nut” as you say, unless of course you have some use in any of the three elected official’s upcoming elections.”

There have been other warnings too. Another excellent conservative blogger in Mercer County stated the following only two weeks ago in the blog post titled “2008 in Review: The Political Clubhouse”:

“The local [Mercer County PA] GOP needs a serious housecleaning, and I have cited this problem several times during 2008. Some of the county GOP elected officials have successfully set up a banana republic for themselves, in that they use their power to suppress competition from other Republicans. New faces come and go within the local GOP, since they are not permitted to have their say and are deliberately, selectively and actively excluded. The only possible solution, unfortunately, will be to wait out these individuals until they are satisfied with the size of their respective pensions (and 4th pension in one case). Many voters already view these three individuals as less than adequate public servants, but due to GOP voter loyalty, and the lack of alternate choices, they will continue to hang on. I would like to exclude, and commend, the following current GOP elected officials who support the local GOP without undue exertion of their personalities and preferences on the county committee–Rep. Brooks, Rep. Stevenson, Recorder McClelland, Coroner McGonigle.”

I read the above post on January 5th (the day it was posted), and I found it very truthful . . . as usual. At the time, I was still “hopeful”, which is apparent in tone of the comment that I posted on that day as follows:

“The ability of the Mercer County GOP to exclude newcomers has been frustrating, but some of us will continue to “knock at the door of the Clubhouse” in hopes of someday getting our foot inside that darn door.”

After my experiences of the past several weeks, I think it is now safe to say that this particular Conservative has finally lost that last ounce of “hope” for the Mercer County PA GOP. My most recent attempt to become involved as a “worker bee” has been manipulated and man-handled by a very determined group of self-centered and self-serving bullies. I’ve never seen so much effort and so many road blocks erected to keep out a VOLUNTEER.

Excuse my language, but “What the Hell is Wrong with These People”?

The funniest thing about the whole episode is how the “politicians in charge” managed to scheme in such a way that they appear completely innocent . . . or at least on the surface . . . to anyone that doesn’t fully comprehend the level of sophisticated dishonesty that they are capable of. In this particular case, the old saying is true:

“How can you tell when a politician is lying? . . . Their lips are moving.”

So, instead of helping the candidates in “my Party” to continue their successful careers, this Conservative will be “without a Party” until something changes.

Just last week I was discussing this very issue with another good friend. In reference to the Mercer GOP turning me away my attempts yet again, the friend asked, “what will you do?”. Well, friend, very good question!

Of course, when the question was asked I fired back with a “light hearted” and joking remark in an effort to lighten the mood. The truth was, I had never asked myself that question so I didn’t have an answer.

I’ve had some time to think about, and I think I have a few options. If the Mercer GOP won’t have me, I will eventually do one of the following:

Option 1.
My husband and I have discussed the possibility of officially changing our party affiliation. If the Republicans in Mercer County won’t have us, we might follow in the steps of other former Republicans by registering as Democrats. We could be DINOs . . . Democrats in Name Only! It wouldn’t be the first time that good people have left the Grand Old Party to join the party of the “donkey”, and it wouldn’t be the last . . . especially in Mercer County. Hello? Democratic Party? Are you listening?

Option 2.
I could remain a registered Republican, but attempt to split the Party by promoting a new “right wing” of the Mercer GOP. The new “right wing” would support only conservative and hardworking candidates, and it would devote its efforts to getting rid of the “RINO bums” that currently control the Mercer County Republican Committee. This could prove to be personally satisfying but it would damage the Republican Party in this County and it could potentially hurt the few “good conservative Republican leaders” that we have left (i.e., Representative Dick Stevenson and Representative Michele Brooks are just two names that come to mind . . . off the top of my head).

Option 3.
I could remain a loyal Republican by supporting conservative candidates through an independent field office that provides support and services to “good Republicans” . . . a “safe-haven” that is outside of the control of the Mercer GOP. These services could be provided to current elected officials that are deserving of extra assistance, or it could be a much needed resource for new and ambitious candidates who have been left out in the cold in Mercer County Republican politics by the current “regime”. This is an ambitious goal that may be too ambitious and expensive for this particular Conservative to do alone.

Option 4.
I can give up on the idea of contributing at the County level altogether. Perhaps this “political activist” has a more useful purpose elsewhere. There are, after all, “bigger fish to fry”.

Option 5.
I could continue on my current path by continuously pushing and poking in hopes of finding a weak spot . . . much like a mouse trying to get into a pantry full of goodies . . . I may eventually find my way “in” with perseverance and determination. I may need to crawl through a crack under the doorway or nibble a hole through some paneling and insulation, but I’ll get there . . . eventually.

Option 6.
I could simply stop my silliness. I could stop trying to be honest, trust-worthy, transparent, ambitious, and fair, and, instead, I could try to “become one of them”. I could abandon who I am and morph into a foot soldier for “the powers that be”.

All of these options have merit on their own, and some of them could be combined in some way to produce a myriad of variations. I’m not exactly sure what to do. So I ask for the help of those of you that are reading this today . . . to the loyal readers of this blog, what do you think I should do? I’d love to hear the opinions of those of you out there that have similar frustrations and concerns. E-mail me with your private comments. For those of you that are also “with out a Party”, what would you like to do?

ON A PERSONAL NOTE:

To my wise friend (“Anonymous”) who predicted these problems months ago I say “you were right and I was wrong . . . I’m a dumbass and I promise to quit “friggin’ apologizing” to people that don’t deserve it.”

To my thoughtful friend that asked “what will you do?”, I say thank you for making me stop and think.

As always, just my opinion.
~Roberta Biros, Mercer County Conservatives

Fiscal Responsibility: You’ve Got to Know When to Hold’em and Know When to Fold’em

More Comments Regarding Boscov’s Bailouts, Bank Bailouts, and More! Could It Get Any Worse?

Written by Roberta Biros (David Biros, Contributor)

I’m finally willing to watch the news again. With images of the inauguration behind us, I felt that it would be alright to turn on Fox News this morning. It was 9AM when Fox’s “America’s Newsroom” announced its headlines “Projected Bank Bailout $3 – 4 Trillion” as follows:

“Top lawmakers and treasury officials now suggest that America’s taxpayers will have to spend between $3 and 4 trillion in order to rescue American banks. That is $3-4 trillion in direct spending. These are not guarantees, they are not commitments to cover future loses, this is money that is going out of the treasury in the coming months.”

(It was later stated that the sources of this information were Sen. Chuck Schumer and Paul Volcker. )

Wow. What a way to start the day!

I published a blog post yesterday titled “Rubber Stamp Leadership: The Same Mistakes . . . Over and Over Again!” that discussed the current Pennsylvania bailout of Boscov’s and Mercer County’s bailout of the Woodland Place nursing facility. The post referenced a commentary by Nathan A. Benefield that was posted by the Commonwealth Foundation in Harrisburg titled “Boscov’s Bailout is Bad for Business”. In my post I asked the simple question, “So, when will it all stop?” Based on today’s news (above) I would suggest that there is no end this fiscal irresponsibility, and the numbers are becoming staggering and incomprehensible. We are now talking TRILLIONS.

I have a very simple statement of wisdom regarding fiscal responsibility (which was made famous by Kenny Rogers in 1978) . . .

“You’ve got to know when to hold them . . . know when to fold them . . . know when to walk away . . . know when to run”

Now this isn’t rocket science, and I am surely not a rocket scientist. Fiscal responsibility is a matter of common sense.I am responsible for running my household and my own small business. Every month we are forced to make financial decisions using no tools other than our own “noggins”. About two years ago, my husband started a small business in hopes of generating additional income for our household. About a year later, we ran the numbers and found that the business did not generate sufficient income to pay for the associated taxes and numerous business expenses (like business and liability insurance). We made the “common sense” decision to FOLD the business and cut our losses while we were ahead. Simple, right? . . . you need to know when to “hold’em” and know when to “fold’em”. We made the decision quickly and without hesitation.

Now, let us take a look at the Boscov’s situation.

Boscov’s was struggling. Instead of cutting their losses (“fold’em”), they decided to try to finance their way out of debt (“hold’em”). Unfortunately, no right-minded financial institution in the private sector would lend them they money that they needed. Instead, Ed Rendell decides that the State of Pennsylvania should “help” Boscov’s by offering a “no-risk loan”. Then the outrageous step is made to push that financial responsibility onto the Counties. They took Boscov’s problem and made it the problem of already cash-strapped County governments. At this point, the Counties needed to “know when to run”.

My question is “Who will bail out the Counties in the end?”

No one is concerned about bailing out Mercer County after Woodland Place failed to pay back it’s bond debt. State Legislators Sen. Bob Robbins, Rep. Michele Brooks, Rep. Dick Stevenson, and Rep. Mark Longietti have not brought $8 million back from Harrisburg to keep Mercer County out of bankruptcy. Ed Rendell is not losing sleep about the financial problems of Woodland Place in Mercer County. Why? Because they all know that the tax payers of the County will foot the bill in the end. County Commissioners recently raised County taxes to push the debt to each and every household in Mercer County—-simple.

Mark my words . . . the same will be true when Boscov’s fails to pay on their bond debt too. Harrisburg will not be concerned about bailing out the handful of Pennsylvania Counties that signed onto the bond. It is shameful.

If Ed Rendell wants to bailout his friends at Boscov’s with this so called “risk free” loan, he should do it with his own money. Unfortunately, if the loan were actually as “risk free” as they claim, Ed Rendell and his Philadelphia Lawyer friends would have taken on the loan “opportunity” and we would have never heard a word about it.

Ed Rendell . . . if you want to bail out a company, I’ve got a wonderful small business in Mercer County who had to pull money out of our savings account last month to pay our mortgage. That business is “my business”, and I’m still waiting for my bailout. Like other Pennsylvanians, I’m struggling to keep my head above water as it is . . . I can’t afford to bailout Boscov’s or any other personal friend of the Governor’s office.

The sad part of the story is the list of who will eventually be hurt by all of this tom-foolery. First, the County Commissioners in the Pennsylvania Counties that have signed onto the Boscov’s Bailout will soon be GONE. Much like former Mercer County Commissioners Ken Seamans, Gene Brenneman and Olivia Lazor who signed up Mercer County for the financial responsibility of Woodland Place in 2002, the Commissioners who have signed their Counties on for the Boscov’s Bailout will disappear from the political scene . . . and deservingly so.

Who are the REAL victims? . . . the answer is . . . taxpayers in the Counties that signed on for the Boscov’s Bailout. They will eventually be left with the debt of the unpaid bond.

Perhaps I’m over simplifying, but it seems so straight-forward to me! The answers are as close as day-time television. Have none of these County Commissioners ever watched “Judge Judy”? I wish I had a nickel for every time she said “what idiot co-signs for somebody else?”. Just think about that for a minute. People only need co-signers because they have BAD CREDIT.

Judge Judy has another great line that is worth repeating here. “Don’t pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining.” In other words, we need to be smart enough to see these obvious problems for ourselves and quit listening to lines like “the loan is virtually risk-free”. We need to spot the lies before the damage is done.

As always, just my opinion.
~Roberta Biros, Mercer County Conservatives

Perhaps I should start closing my blog posts with another fine quote from Judge Judy as follows: “Of course I’m right; I’m always right. I’m like a truth machine.”