Week Ending May 16, 2003
Religious Freedom Coalition
May 16, 2003 3:35PM EST

CONGRESS IN SESSION

THE HOUSE

I have been assured by House leadership that the Partial Birth Abortion Ban (PBA) and the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (UVVA) will be brought to the floor of the House before the Memorial Day break. The break officially begins at the close of business on the 23rd which is next Friday. The PBA has already passed the Senate. We pray that President George W. Bush will sign the bill as quickly as possible to outlaw this brutal form of late term abortion. UVVA has been brought to the nation's attention by the murder of Laci Peterson and her about to be born son. Although 24 states, including California, can bring murder charges if someone kills an unborn child when attacking the mother, there is no such federal protection. UVVA would still have to pass in the Senate where it could face a Democrat filibuster. UVVA has passed the House in previous congressional sessions and failed for lack of any Senate vote at all.

THE SENATE

New bankruptcy legislation has passed in the House again as it did last year. Senator Schumer of New York killed the much needed bill in the last session by adding language making it impossible for abortion protesters to discharge debt in bankruptcy. It appears that Senator Schumer plans a similar fate for the Bankruptcy Act again in this session. House Leadership has stated that the bill cannot pass a second vote in the House should the Senate add the Schumer language again.

I have received many e-mails asking me why Majority Leader Frist does not "shut down" the Senate or use the "nuclear option" mentioned in the press to get the President's judicial nominations approved. The answer is simple ... if Frist shuts down the Senate by forcing the Democrats to do an actual 24-7 filibuster, no bills will be passed, not even the budget bills. Senator Frist is doing the best he can under Senate rules and indeed is doing some real damage to the Democrats. Yes, the Democrats are currently filibustering two judges, but they had planned to block many more. Frist, by bringing these two appointments to the Floor over and over again, is forcing the Democrats to concentrate their efforts. Meanwhile we are getting judges confirmed that the Democrats did not want; however, they can't keep adding to the filibuster list without alienating the public. The strategy is working and we had best not fix something that is working. Politically this whole sorry confirmation affair is going to hurt the Democrats next November, so let's just let it ride.

THE ELECTIONS

Not only am I the chairman of the RFC, but I am also the chairman of GING-PAC, a political action committee. My April and May commentaries have dealt with the pandering to the homosexual lobby by some Republican leaders. I feel so strongly about this issue that I am reprinting below much of my comments from the GING-PAC May Campaign Update. This does not constitute promotion of the PAC and is provided only for purposes of information.

In the April issue of the Campaign Update, I wrote about a meeting between Republican Party Chairman Marc Racicot and a group of radical homosexuals pushing for the legalization of homosexual marriage. The meeting with the Human Rights Campaign was supposed to be "secret," but that group quickly bragged about it to the press. Family oriented groups in Washington, DC, who primarily support Republican candidates, were outraged.

Gary Bauer, the president of American Values, was one of the social conservative leaders in Washington who was quick to criticize Racicot for the meeting with the HRC. He pointed out in one of his End of Day reports that the HRC had used the meeting to claim that the Republican Party was becoming "gay friendly." This group, the HRC, wants to force the Boy Scouts to hire homosexual counselors and impose homosexual marriage on this nation.

The amount of damage done within the Republican establishment was enormous although ignored by most mainstream newspapers. The RNC-gay meeting had been broadcast throughout the publications, radio shows and TV shows of social conservatives. The RNC immediately mounted a damage control meeting.

On Tuesday, May 6, 2003 Republican National Committee Chairman Marc Racicot met with the leaders of some social conservative groups in Washington for the purpose of damage control. In that meeting Racicot "assured" those attending that the Republican Party continues to oppose same-sex marriage and would defend the rights of private groups such as the Boy Scouts to refuse to hire homosexuals.

Just three days later, on Friday, May 9, 2003 a homosexual group of some 200 was given a special White House briefing by top Administration officials. The group, called the Log Cabin Republicans, has the goal of making the Republican Party "inclusive." By "inclusive" they mean driving off the social conservatives who represent over 50% of the Republican Party's membership. On the day of the White House meeting this group attacked social conservative Senator Rick Santorum because he had stated that homosexuality and polygamy were examples of immoral behavior. A Log Cabin member told the New York Times, "What Rick Santorum said was stupid. It's not really representative of what the Republican Party is moving toward. I think we are the future of the Republican Party."

If Log Cabin Republicans represent the party's future, then the party is dead.

The Republican Party, just like the Democrat Party, is a coalition. The two major groups of the Republican coalition are the social conservatives and the economic conservatives. Joining that coalition are several special interest groups such as the Second Amendment rights advocates and anti-immigration groups. All these groups together represent just over 50% of the electorate. The Democrat coalition consists mainly of economic liberals and social liberals with special interests groups such as homosexuals and United Nations supporters.

Imagine the head of the Democrat party holding secret meetings with the Right To Life Committee in an effort to get votes from pro-lifers. Or holding a secret meeting with the NRA to try to get gun owners to back Ted Kennedy. Just this image displays how stupid it is for the Republican Party to play the "gay" hand at the expense of losing the votes of social conservatives.

Many leaders in the Republican Party feel that they own the social conservative vote the same way that the Democrats feel they own the black vote. These Republicans think they can toss dirt in the face of social conservatives and still get their votes. Their logic is: "Where else will they go?" The answer is--home. The President's father, George H. W. Bush, lost his reelection bid primarily because he failed to reach out to the social conservatives who had backed him in his first election. This can happen again.

State level candidates can have a great effect on the outcome of a national election. The Republican Party under Racicot has recruited "pro choice" Georgia Congressman Johnny Isackson to run for the Senate next year. This is a problem! If he does get the nomination, social conservatives will not work for him and many may not vote for him. Many will stay home from the polls in this state that George W. Bush needs to win to remain in office. The selection of pro-homosexual candidates for the House and Senate could doom the reelection of the President.

Do you think this is bad news? Here is the kicker: Marc Racicot is going to step down as the Chairman of the Republican National Committee to run the reelection campaign of President George W. Bush. This is not a joke! We will have a man who is promoting the homosexual agenda running the president's campaign. What a message to social conservatives.

Many in the Republican leadership suffer from what I call "Bush the first" syndrome. The elder Bush had a 90% "approval" rating eighteen months before the 1992 election and was deemed "unbeatable." Bill Clinton won. An approval rating can't be turned into votes. A majority of Democrats believe President George W. Bush is handling the war on terror properly .... but .... a majority of Democrats are not going to vote for Bush no matter what kind of job they think he is doing. It just doesn't work that way.