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Today is an unusual day at RedState.Many websites around the nation and the world are going dark today in solidarity against SOPA, the Stopping Online Piracy Act (SOPA) pending in Congress. Many of this site’s good friends, like Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Marco Rubio of Florida (a co-sponsor of the Protect IP Act in the Senate, which is the Senate version of SOPA) are supporters of this horrible legislation that would give Eric Holder and future attorneys general the right to shut down websites with minimal, if any, due process.While it pains us to do so, we are committed to working against the re-election of each Republican co-sponsor of SOPA and Protect IP, including Rep. Blackburn and Sen. Rubio. Both pieces of legislation overreach their goals and will harm the internet. We hope the Republican co-sponsors of these pieces of legislation will remove their names and we hope the legislation will die. In solidarity with those sites shutting down today to show you the potential impact of this legislation, RedState will suspend posting new content for much of today.On the front page of RedState you’ll find a tool you can use to contact your member of Congress and urge they oppose both SOPA and Protect IP.
1. Sarah Palin Says She’d Vote for Newt
2. SOPA and PROTECT IP/PIPA: An Update
3. What The Republican “Establishment” Really Means
4. Healthcare Doesn’t Need European Style Austerity Measures; It Needs Free-Market
5. Union Bosses Showing Their True Colors in Wisconsin
1. Sarah Palin Says She’d Vote for Newt
This will probably be the biggest news of the morning. Millions have wondered who Governor Palin would actually support. She’s making it crystal clear now.On Fox News, Sarah Palin says if she lived in South Carolina she’d vote for Newt.The next big question is whether Governor Perry decides to depart the race before or after Saturday. And if he departs, will he endorse Newt Gingrich, who wrote the introduction to Governor Perry’s book Fed Up!With Palin’s endorsement, Rick Perry is now in a terribly awkward spot. If he departs before Saturday, he could be a hero for one of the non-Romney candidates. If he waits until Sunday and the race is close, as it appears to be, Rick Perry will rightly be remembered as the spoiler who handed Mitt Romney the nomination.If Rick Perry and Sarah Palin both throw their lot behind Newt Gingrich, well, the Republican nomination might actually turn into a race instead of a coronation.Please click here for the rest of the post.
2. SOPA and PROTECT IP/PIPA: An Update
We celebrated Monday when House Majority Leader Eric Cantor effectively signaled the death of SOPA, the Stopping Online Piracy Act. Cantor said the Internet censorship bill would not see a vote until there was consensus on the matter. As long as Darrell Issa, Justin Amash, and Jason Chaffetz are on the case there will be no consensus on sweeping Internet censorship, so Cantor’s position basically kills SOPA this Congress.This was a well earned victory for conservatives, and we owe the above allies thanks for sticking up for our values against formidable opposition. Barack Obama refused to pledge a SOPA veto even in the face of a massive petition from his supporters. Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith sponsored the bill, and notable tech leaders like Marsha Blackburn co-sponsored it. Well-funded groups like AFL-CIO, MPAA, and RIAA all lined up behind it.It took everything we had to be heard on this. Our movement could hold nothing back.Please click here for the rest of the post.
3. What The Republican “Establishment” Really Means
There’s been a lot of talk, maybe too much talk, about the struggle between the GOP “Establishment” and “Outsiders,” sometimes – but sometimes not – meaning the Tea Party, however defined. There are many fault lines, wheels within wheels, that divide different groups on the Right, but it’s time to clarify the core issue that has people of perfectly conservative temperament and ideology scratching their heads at their own constituents. After all, we’re conservatives: establishments are a good idea, a necessary intersection of tradition and meritocracy, giving undue weight to neither and co-opting dangerous ideas about revolution and radical change. What’s so bad about that?The answer is a simple one: it’s almost entirely about spending. Please click here for the rest of the post.
4. Healthcare Doesn’t Need European Style Austerity Measures; It Needs Free-Market
Nothing typifies the inane cycle of government dependency and poverty more than the issue of healthcare. Given that healthcare constitutes 18% of our economy and that millions of Americans are languishing under its crushing costs, it is important that we articulate healthcare reform from a position of strength. We must demonstrate how it is socialist interventions in the marketplace that are responsible for high costs. We must demonstrate how our policies will bring costs under control.Please click here for the rest of the post.
5. Union Bosses Showing Their True Colors in Wisconsin
As the Recall Walker effort submitted their signatures to the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board today (claiming 1 million signatures), Wisconsinites deserve a serious analysis of this Big Labor, big money game to force a recall election on the people of this state. We will be shocked at what is yet to come. Evidence is already mounting to suggest that Big Labor has used underhanded, fraudulent and illegal tactics to pad their petition numbers. Major national labor organizations have dumped millions into Wisconsin to stop Governor Walker’s reforms and with the integrity of these petitions being questioned; they have shown their true colors.Please click here for the rest of the post.
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