Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal are both rising stars but I think they’re still a little “green” to be viable challengers in 2012. I don’t know enough about John Huntsman to make an informed judgment… That leaves Texas Gov. Rick Perry… He has proven record and most importantly he’s not on any of the media short lists.

Where Edwards loses me is here:

The Republican Party that is in such disrepute today is not the party of Reagan. It is the party of Rush Limbaugh, of Ann Coulter, of Newt Gingrich, of George W. Bush, of Karl Rove. It is not a conservative party, it is a party built on the blind and narrow pursuit of power.

Not too long ago, conservatives were thought of as the locus of creative thought. Conservative think tanks (full disclosure: I was one of the three founding trustees of the Heritage Foundation) were thought of as cutting-edge, offering conservative solutions to national problems. By the 2008 elections, the very idea of ideas had been rejected. One who listened to Barry Goldwater’s speeches in the mid-’60s, or to Reagan’s in the ’80s, might have been struck by their philosophical tone, their proposed (even if hotly contested) reformulation of the proper relationship between state and citizen. Last year’s presidential campaign, on the other hand, saw the emergence of a Republican Party that was anti-intellectual, nativist, populist (in populism’s worst sense) and prepared to send Joe the Plumber to Washington to manage the nation’s public affairs.

The problems faced by the Republican party aren’t the fault of Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter or the grass roots of the party. Conservatism is alive and well on main street, where its failed is in Washington… The party’s leadership and of its political consultants have abandoned the principles and ideas that made Ronald Reagan successful and replaced them with a brand of populist, politically expedient “republicanism” that has more in common with the Democratic party than it does with conservatism.

If  republicans are going to have any chance in 2012 or in the 2010 mid-terms the party leadership has rediscover core its core conservative principles and begin crafting policy ideas rooted in those principles.

H/T:  Hot Air.

Other McCain has a slightly different take.

It looks like the race for RNC Chair has tightened a little more.

I mentioned a few days ago that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s bid for appeared to be losing steam and now comes word that Fred Thompson is dropping out of the race in favor of a return to acting.

Putting aside the fact that I don’t think Thompson was ever really in the race that leaves Michael Steele as the only prominent Republican/conservative still in the running. Not everyone is crazy about him but I don’t think he would be a bad choice.

Unfortunately, I don’t think RNC members will choose Steele… I suspect they’ll choose a new chairman from within their own ranks… If media reports are right the top contenders among RNC members are:

• Robert M. “Mike” Duncan, 57, the current RNC chairman
• Katon Dawson, 52, the South Carolina GOP chairman
• Saul Anuzis, 49, the hyperactive Michigan GOP chairman
• Tina Benkiser, 46, Texas GOP chairman
• Jim Greer, 46, Florida GOP chairman
• Chuck Yob, 71, an RNC member from Michigan who is reportedly retiring from the committee.

Tina Benkiser is the only one of that group who is even mildly interesting to me… I’ll admit I don’t know much about her but at first glance she seems to have solid conservative credentials and she would bring young fresh face a Republican party that is viewed in many quarters as old and out of touch.

I suspect most of you read Newt Gingrich’s Wall Street Journal Op Ed on middle class tax cuts:

Let’s Have a Real Middle-Class Tax Cut

Obama’s tax credits won’t stimulate the economy.

By Newt Gingrich and Peter Ferrara, Wall Street Journal, November 20, 2008.

President-elect Barack Obama is right: America needs a real and meaningful middle-class tax cut. Unfortunately, despite the rhetoric, that is not what his proposals offer.

Mr. Obama’s tax plan includes creating or expanding nine or more federal income tax credits mostly focused on low- and moderate-income earners, with an estimated cost of $1.3 trillion over 10 years. These tax credits are provided for certain social purposes, such as child care, health care, education, housing and retirement. Buried amid these is Mr. Obama’s purported tax cut for the middle class.

For the bottom 40% of income earners, who pay no federal income taxes on net today, these refundable income tax credits will not reduce tax liability but instead result in new checks from the federal government for the targeted social purposes. That’s not a tax cut. It’s welfare.

These tax credits will do little or nothing to promote economic growth because they do not reduce marginal tax rates — the rate on the next dollar of income — to provide powerful, meaningful incentives for productive activities such as investment, entrepreneurship and work. A tax credit is effectively a cash grant that can only affect incentives up to the amount of the grant. Indeed, such tax credits would likely reduce economic growth because the credits are phased out as income rises, and so effectively impose higher marginal tax rates over those income levels.

For a real middle-class tax cut, we should cut the 25% income tax rate that now applies to single workers earning $32,550 to $78,850, and married couples earning $65,100 to $131,450. We should reduce that rate down to the 15% rate paid by workers below these income levels. That would, in effect, establish a flat-rate tax of 15% for close to 90% of American workers. Read the rest…

Whilst I agree with Messieurs Gingrich and Ferrara their proposal alone isn’t going to get us out of our current economic mess. If we really want to stimulate the economy and create jobs we need to combine middle glass tax cuts with commonsense corporate tax cuts… Cutting the corporate tax from the current 35 percent to 25 or even 20 percent and drastically reducing or suspending the capital gains tax for two years would ensure that businesses – particularly small businesses have access to capital for expansion, research and development and job creation.

From the Washington Times:

GOP governors and state party chairmen say former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will be a leading Republican spokesman but not as its national chairman, a post likely to be filled by someone from within the ranks of the 168-member Republican National Committee.

Mr. Gingrich, considered a one-man idea factory who had wanted to be drafted for the top party post, would not give up his leadership of two other organizations he already heads, and that pretty much took him out of the running, interviews with Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, his fellow GOP governors and several influential state GOP chairmen indicated.

The Times story goes on to mention several other potential candidates including current RNC chairman Mike Duncan and Texas GOP Chairwoman Tina Benkiser.

I confess I don’t know much about Benkiser but at first glance she seems to have solid conservative credentials.

The choice between Steele and Thompson is tough one, I don’t think we could go wrong with either one, ultimately I think Michael Steele embodies the idea of “change” more than Thompson does so I guess you can put me in the Steele camp.

Who’s your choice? Tell us why in comments.

Senate Passes Bailout Package
House Passage Remains Less Certain

WASHINGTON — The Senate’s revamped bailout package drew support from 74 lawmakers in a roll call vote Wednesday evening, and the measure will now return to the balky House of Representatives for another vote following its unexpected rejection on Monday.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid speaks to the media on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

The Senate approved a new bill loaded with tax breaks for business and an increase in deposit-insurance limits. It will be taken up in the House Friday.

The Senate bill is the latest twist in a dramatic week for a plan the president has said is vital to ensure the proper functioning of financial markets and, by extension, the broader economy. On Monday, the House delivered a stunning defeat to an earlier version of the bill amid a populist backlash from voters, tanking stock markets.

Stunned by the market reaction, lawmakers regrouped and added new items to the bill to win the extra needed support. One big change is the introduction of a 10-year, $150.5 billion package of tax proposals, including measures to ease the bite of the so-called alternative minimum tax and research-and-development tax credits coveted by high-tech companies and drug makers.

Count me among those who agree with Newt Gingrich… The Bush Administration’s handling of this has been irresponsible.

From CNSNews.com:

Bush’s Handling of Financial Crisis ‘Irresponsible,’ Gingrich Says

Wednesday, October 01, 2008
By Tiffany Gabbay

(CNSNews.com) – Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich blasted President George Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Tuesday over the proposed financial bailout, saying the president “is being absolutely irresponsible” in his handling of the problem.

“There are steps that the administration could take today that would dramatically improve where we are immediately, without legislation” Gingrich said.

“If the president believes anything he is saying in his speeches about how big this crisis is, he should pick up the phone this morning and call SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) Chairman Chris Cox and tell him to suspend the ‘mark-to-market’ accounting rules, which are the fundamental problem today and can be suspended.”

The mark-to-market system of accounting requires all assets, mortgages, and holdings to be valued at their current market value, regardless of whether that reflects their true worth.

It is an accounting practice that “literally hundreds of the most revered economists” blame for 70 percent of the current problem in the financial markets, Gingrich said.

“If you calculate 70 percent of $700 billion, that is $490 billion” he said.

Lets hope Republicans in the House can kill this turkey once and for all… Let them know what think: 202-224-3121.