Arlington Republican Club Newsletter August 2008 Since 1975 Next Meeting--- Topic:  "What I Learned (And Didn't Learn) from 1,102 Political Endorsement Interviews," O.K. Carter, former publisher of the Arlington Star-Telegram.    Location:  Cacharel (7th Floor of Brookhollow Tower II---also called the WBAP Building), 2221 E. Lamar Blvd., Arlington 76006.  For directions, please refer to http://www.cacharel.net/info.htm. Date, Time, and Details:  Thursday, August 28, 2008                                      6:00 p.m. Dinner                                      7:00 p.m. General Meeting                                                                 Dinner, an excellent mini-buffet, will be provided starting at 6:00 PM at a cost of $15 per person.  You need reservations to enjoy dinner---please rsvp by Monday, August 25, 2008, by calling the Arlington Republican Club Voice Mail Center at (817) 740-5700 or by e-mailing to: arc@ArlingtonRepublicanClub.com with the number of people eating.  You do not need reservations to enjoy just the program.   Our friends at Cacharel need to know how much food to prepare.  We urge you to have dinner at Cacharel; enjoy Arlington's best view and support the Arlington Republican Club!   Children and visitors are welcome at Arlington Republican Club events.  Bring your friends!   Quote of the Month--- "Why does Obama want to make an issue of McCain's houses? ... McCain (or Cindy at least) paid for his houses---Obama bought his with help from someone who was just found guilty of six counts of wire fraud, six counts of mail fraud, two counts of corrupt solicitation, and two counts of money laundering." ---National Review Online commentator Mark Hemingway In This Issue: 1. President's ReMARKs 2. Legislative Alert: Want to Solve the Energy Crisis? Follow Texas' Lead 3. Book Review: History of Freedom by Rufus Fears 4. Coming Events 5. September Birthdays 1.  President's ReMARKs To me it looks like the Obama campaign peaked in March 2008, and its been a slow decline since.  Hillary's campaign in April and May was successful in halting his momentum, and since Obama got the nomination, he's had nothing to campaign on.  He can't tell the public anymore that he's a socialist and wants to escalate your taxes, abort your babies, and abandon Iraq.  He can't run on his inexperience.  He has no real track record of accomplishment.  Thus he has nothing to campaign on except accusing Bush of being an incompetent.  Well guess what: W isn't on the ballot.   McCain's campaign has been doing much better.  He did great Rev. Rick Warren's Saddleback debate and interview, giving both social and economic conservative something to cheer about.  His quick unequivocal response to the Russian situation in Georgia was Presidential and so much better than Obama's namby pamby response. McCain can win this race.  Let's hope the VP pick is a wise one that will motivate the Republican base.  This is going to be a close election, but McCain can pull it out! Mark R Hanson is President of the Arlington Republican Club.   2.  Legislative Alert:  Want to Solve the Energy Crisis?  Follow Texas' Lead. For over a century, Texas has been known not only for its cattle ranches, but also for its ability to produce energy.   As a matter of fact, Texas leads the nation in energy production-30% of natural gas and 20% of oil produced in America comes from Texas.  Before Nancy Pelosi decided to give Congress a not-so-deserved vacation, they were debating on whether to open the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to drilling.   Our congress needs to take a look at Texas.  In Texas and the Gulf of Mexico, we have been drilling for years without any environmental consequences.   Even Hurricane Katrina could not damage one drilling rig in the Gulf. Here is a fact that has not been reported:  According to State Representative Myra Crownover (R-64th District),  "Texas Parks and Wildlife collaborated with the oil and gas industry and the Federal government to create the Rigs and Reefs program.  Under the program, an oil company converts a decommissioned oil rig into an underwater reef.  The oil company pays the entire cost of the conversion and even donates a portion of the savings back to Texas." The result of the Rigs and Reefs program, is that Texas has added more than 100 healthy and productive reefs to the coastline where before there was nothing but mud.  Texas has chosen to partner with the oil industry instead of working against it, and now the Texas coastline in cleaner and more productive than before. Texas also leads the nation in Enhanced Oil Recovery.  EOR works by pumping Carbon Dioxide into depleted oil fields in order to push out oil that had been considered "unrecoverable."  To accomplish this, all Texas had to do is get out of the way and allow the oil companies to use this technology.  EOR now accounts for 20% of the oil pumped in Texas. According to Rep. Crownover, the benefits of EOR will result in "$200 billion in additional revenue and 1.5 million jobs created in Texas."  Following Texas' lead, the Department of Energy estimates that by using EOR technology, America could add 89 million barrels of oil to its reserves.  Texas has also leads the way in wind energy.  Texas already produces more wind energy than other of the other states, including California.  The Texas PUC approved a plan in July 2008 to add an additional 18,456 megawatts of wind energy to be produced in West Texas. Texas has treated oil companies as partners and has refused to punish them with needless regulation and "windfall taxes."  In Texas, the state has let the markets work.  Oil profits have kept the pumps producing and kept thousands of people working. While our Democratic Congress seems to not have a clue as to how to solve our energy or economic problems, all they need to do is look to Texas.  Every Texan should be thankful to our Republican Legislature for allowing Texas to continue to create jobs (245,00 jobs created in last 12 months) without burdening us or the energy companies with undue taxes and regulations.  So lets all say, "God Bless Texas!" Anne Coker is 4th Vice President of the Arlington Republican Club and owns a business that markets pre-employment testing.   3.  Book Review:  History of Freedom by Rufus Fears Lately my job has me in the car a lot, and often I pass the time (and the miles) with a CD in the radio.  The favorite is one of the 18 CDs that comes in "History of Freedom," a series of lectures by University of Oklahoma professor Rufus Fears. As forceful as "The Fountainhead," as thoughtful as "The Road to Serfdom," "History of Freedom" moves from ancient times to the present, describing the evolution of the idea that individuals are best able to determine the course of their own lives. That last sentence oversimplifies Dr. Fears's point, for as he begins, the concept is of national freedom.  The listener is immediately taken to Marathon at 490 B.C., as a band of Greeks face the Persian king Darius.  Dr. Fears's story progresses, highlighting freedom as it was understood when the dust settled at Marathon, but also onward at Rome, among the early Christian fathers, in the Middle Ages, and at the American Revolution. I have listened to the lectures several times, and I find that not only do I learn something new with every listening, but the subject matter always applies to some item in the news.  One example is Fears's discussion of the difference between the Roman orator Cicero, who believed in virtuous leaders and universal standards of morality, and the Italian bureaucrat Machiavelli, who believed power was an end into itself and the people simply a means to an end.  This lecture could serve as a more substantial description of the Beijing Olympics or Russia's invasion of Georgia than any television news anchor or commentator is capable of doing. Right now, "History of Freedom," which is offered by the Teaching Company, is full-priced.  But it periodically goes on sale, and when it does, I recommend picking up a copy.  Dr. Fears's "History of Freedom" deserves to be on any conservative's book shelf.  Keegan Drake is the 3rd Vice President of the Arlington Republican Club and works with SCM Real Estate in Arlington.   4.  Coming Events August 28, ARC Meeting with guest speaker O.K. Carter, "What I Learned (And Didn't Learn) from 1,102 Political Endorsement Interviews" September 25, ARC Meeting with guest speaker Kasey Pipes, "November 4, 2008--What to Expect and What We Can Do" October 23, Last Regular ARC Meeting of 2008   5.  September Birthdays 1st     Melody Wilkerson and Judge Bonnie Sudderth 2nd     Bruce Hammond 5th     Dr. Robert Aldridge 6th     Linda Dingee 7th     Reland Gonzalez 11th    Judge Molley Jones and Mary Siham Holley 14th    Dr. Mark R. Hanson 16th    Dawson Cannefax 17th    Woody Cash and Kathryn Cosby 19th    WT (Skip) Leake 21st    Roy Hill 22nd    Kevin Hadawi 23rd    Janis DeFrang 24th    Judge Sharen Wilson 26th    Don Waddell and Duke Thomas 30th    James Quick   Contact Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Voice Mail Phone: 817-740-5700 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pol. adv. paid for by the Arlington Republican Club.