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Jim Trakas to Announce his candidacy for Ohio 10th District Congressional

For Immediate Release Contact: Steven M. Backiel

Wednesday, December 12, 2007 (216) 621-5417

REPUBLICAN EVENT ADVISORY

For several months, Chairman Rob Frost has worked to recruit a top tier candidate for The United States Congress in the seat abandoned by Presidential Candidate Dennis J. Kucinich, who recently denounced the United States of America on Syrian state television and voted against a memorial resolution commemorating the lives of those lost in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

We are pleased to announce that The Republican Party will vigorously contest the 10th Congressional District with a high profile, established and seasoned candidate. With the strong cooperation of Ohio Republican Party Chairman Robert T. Bennett, Vice Chairman Kevin DeWine, Chairman Rob Frost and the leadership of The Republican Party of Cuyahoga County, Former State Representative Jim Trakas of Independence will announce his candidacy for The United States Congress this Saturday.

We are inviting anyone who wants to be part of this effort to attend Jim's announcement to the public. Below are the details, and coffee and donuts will be served.

WHAT: Announcement of Jim Trakas, Candidate for The U.S. House of Representatives District 10

WHEN: Saturday December 15, 2007 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

WHERE: City of Independence City Hall Council Chambers, 6800 Brecksville Road

Independence, Ohio 44131. City Hall is located on State Route 21, Brecksville Road on the Northwest Quadrant of Selig and Brecksville Roads, North of Rockside and South of

Pleasant Valley Roads in the city of Independence.

If you would like to join Jim in the announcement, please contact Steven Backiel at RPCC HQ at 216-621-5417 or sbackiel@cuyahogacountygop.com so that we may plan accordingly.

Be a part of political history for this special announcement of the campaign that will restore effective, in touch and rational leadership to Greater Cleveland's West Side

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MIKE HUCKABEE IS A FISCAL CONSERVATIVE

by Dick Morris,

Published on TheHill.com on November 28, 2007.

As Mike Huckabee rises in the polls, an inevitable process of vetting him for conservative credentials is under way in which people who know nothing of Arkansas or of the circumstances of his governorship weigh in knowingly about his record. As his political consultant in the early '90s and one who has been following Arkansas politics for 30 years, let me clue you in: Mike Huckabee is a fiscal conservative.

A recent column by Bob Novak excoriated Huckabee for a "47 percent increase in state tax burden." But during Huckabee's years in office, total state tax burden — all 50 states combined — rose by twice as much: 98 percent, increasing from $743 billion in 1993 to $1.47 trillion in 2005.

And he can win in Iowa.

When voters who have decided not to back Rudy Giuliani because of his social positions consider the contest between Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, they will have no difficulty choosing between a real social conservative and an ersatz one.

Romney, who began as a pro-lifer and switched in order to win in Massachusetts, and then flipped back again, cannot compete with a lifelong pro-lifer, Huckabee.

But Huckabee's strength is not just his orthodoxy on gay marriage, abortion, gun control and the usual litany. It is his opening of the religious right to a host of new issues. He speaks firmly for the right to life, but then notes that our responsibility for children does not end with childbirth. His answer to the rise of medical costs is novel and exciting. "Eighty percent of all medical spending," he says, "is for chronic diseases." So he urges an all-out attack on teen smoking and overeating and a push for exercise not as the policies of a big-government liberal but as the requisites of a fiscal conservative anxious to save tax money.

So what happens if Huckabee wins in Iowa? With New Hampshire only five days later, his momentum will be formidable. The key may boil down to how Hillary does in Iowa. Hillary? Yes. If she loses in Iowa, most of the independents in New Hampshire will flock to the Democratic primary to vote for her or against her. That will move the Republican electorate to the right in New Hampshire — bad news for Rudy, good news for Huckabee. But if she wins in Iowa, there will be no point in voting in the Democratic primary and a goodly number will enter the GOP contest, giving Rudy a big boost.

And afterward? If Romney wins Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan and South Carolina, sweeping the early primaries, Giuliani will have a very tough task to bring him down in Florida or on Super Tuesday. It can be done, but it's tough. But if Romney loses in Iowa (likely to Huckabee) then Rudy can survive the loss of Iowa and even New Hampshire without surrendering irresistible momentum to Romney.

In any event, neither Hillary nor Giuliani will be knocked out by defeats in Iowa and New Hampshire. Their 50-state organizations, their national base and their massive war chests will permit them to fight it out all over the United States. Even if they lose the first two contests, they will remain in the race and could well come back to win.

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Championship Series Schedule

Although apparently the Yankees may be pinch hitting for the tribe in ALCS game 4...:)

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Ronald Reagan Breakfast

To help celebrate my upcoming birthday on October 30th. (well maybe that's not why-- but it's still happening) the Lake County Republican Party will be hosting the first annual Ronald Reagan Breakfast on Tuesday October 30^th at LaMalfa, 5783 Heisley Road in Mentor.

Tickets are $25 per person. You can view and or download the invitation flier at http://www.scribd.com/doc/351728/Reagan-Breakfast-flyer

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The Ride is Over at Geauga Lake

Exclusive from Crain's Cleveland Business
By JOHN BOOTH

4:05 pm, September 21, 2007

Geauga Lake's amusement rides won't be back for 2008, parent company Cedar Fair announced Friday afternoon.

"The market demand simply isn't there to support the park in its current structure," Cedar Fair spokeswoman Stacy Frole said. She said Wildwater Kingdom, the $25 million water park Cedar Fair built on the south side of the lake, "has really been the most popular attraction at Geauga Lake. We believe that's where the property is going to succeed — as a water park."

Cedar Fair CEO Dick Kinzel said in a statement: "Geauga Lake's Wildwater Kingdom has been recognized as one of the finest water parks in the country. Since its opening in 2005, Wildwater Kingdom has been the park's highest-rated attribute."

The future of the rides on the 119-year-old amusement park's north side, including the classic Big Dipper wooden roller coaster, is uncertain.

"Our planning and design department is going through and analyzing what the best use for all of our assets are," Ms. Frole said. "Will some rides be located to other (Cedar Fair) parks? Yes." She would not specify which rides might be going to which other Cedar Fair properties. Cedar Fair also owns Cedar Point amusement park.

Mr. Kinzel and Cedar Fair chief operating officer Jack Falfas shared the news with employees at Geauga Lake in person. Park general manager Bill Spehn is expected to retain his position, according to Ms. Frole.

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Good Riddance, Linc Chaffee

From www.politics1.com

Former

US Senator Lincoln Chafee -- who was defeated last year for re-election -- revealed Sunday to the Providence Journal that he had quietly "disaffiliated" in his voter registration from the Republican Party two months ago. Chafee said he hadn't mentioned it until now simply because nobody had asked before. The NRSC spent a significant amount of money on advertising that helped Chafee narrowly survive a conservative primary challenege. Chafee emphasized he still feels close to many in the Rhode Island Republican Party, but his objections were entirely focused upon the national party. "It's not my party any more," he explained. Chafee's criticism was mainly focused upon three areas: "abandoning fiscal conservatism" by passing tax cuts without spending cuts and thus creating a "permanent deficit"; the Iraq War; and the lack of GOP support for environmental protection. Chafee says he very much enjoys his current job as a distinguished visiting fellow at Brown University.

This brings to memory a meeting I had where several Ohio Republican Party staffers were in attendance, telling us how their campaign operation had helped carry Chaffee over the top in his nomination defense over his conservative challenger, MAYOR Steven Laffey. (That's right an elected Mayor of a major Rhode Island City-- not an unelectible kook). But all that mattered was that Chafee SAID he was a Republican, and was the incumbent. Well, now he's admitted what anyone with any sense knew all along Linc Chafee IS NOT A REPUBLICAN. Say hello to Jim Jeffords, and don't let the door hit you on the way out!

--Ron Lisy

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Armey leads effort against email tax

From the email box.....

From the Leader's Desk: Armey's Plan to Beat the Email Tax Again

While taxes may be one of life's certainties, the internet has, so far, miraculously managed to escape the clutches of revenue-hungry government tax collectors. That may change if Congress doesn't get its act together – and fast.

http://www.townhallmail.com/gjsszks_qniarom.html

Back in 1998, when I was the House Majority Leader in Congress, we passed the Internet Tax Freedom Act, imposing a three-year moratorium on state and local taxes on internet access. The moratorium came just as some local governments began to extend their very high telecommunications taxes to internet access. State and local governments want to tax your cable modem or DSL bill, as well as internet services, and the internet backbone, but our bill stopped them cold. Our goal was simple: encourage the spread of the internet by preventing government from strangling it in its crib with high taxes.

Since then Congress has passed multiple extensions of the internet tax moratorium, the latest of which expires this November. This time around, Congress should make the ban on internet taxes permanent. Two bills, S. 156 in the Senate and H.R. 743 in the House, would do just that, but movement thus far has been stagnant and the clock is ticking.

[Take Action]

State and local internet access taxes could add 20 percent to 25 percent to the average internet consumer's bill – a tax hike of about $150 per year. That may not sound like much in Washington, D.C., but it could strand millions of low-income Americans on the wrong side of the digital divide. And higher internet charges could hinder small business from gaining access to the technology they need to compete with larger companies. Schools, libraries, and other educational and research institutions with limited budgets would also take a hit.

Supporters of new internet taxes make the case that Congress' "Hands Off the Internet" strategy has served its purpose. The internet is no longer an infant technology, they say. After all, internet use in the United States has soared from about 36 percent of the population at the end of 1998 to over 70 percent today.

But in the warp-speed world of the internet, that's yesterday's news. America still lags far behind our economic competitors when it comes to wiring homes and businesses with high-speed internet access or broadband. Even though the internet was largely invented here (but not by Al Gore!), America still ranks 16th in the world in terms of broadband deployment, behind countries like South Korea and Japan.

Widespread broadband deployment is the key to unleashing a new round of internet-driven gains in productivity and entrepreneurial activity. Respected economists estimate that 1.2 million new jobs would be generated by the broadband build-out, enough growth to generate more in taxes than states and localities hope to raise by taxing your internet access, e-mail, and other online services.

So why not just extend the moratorium for another two years or so? Because making broadband available on a near-universal basis will require billions in private investment by technology companies willing to build next generation networks like fiber-to-the-home. And companies are hesitant to put that capital at risk as long as the tax man keeps lurking right around the corner, always threatening to milk consumers and potentially destroy a good portion of the mass market for broadband.

Members of Congress have a choice to make. They can give the green light to state and local governments to saddle internet users with myriad new taxes and fees. Or they can lock the tax man away permanently and throw away the key. That should be a pretty easy call.

Contact your U.S. Representative and Senators and let them know how you feel about taxes on your email. Thanks in advance for taking action!

Take Action!

Sincerely,
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