We are thinking heavily here about how to present a systematic approach to understanding what we call “Conservatism”. Just this week, a fellow Iowa blogger Albert Bregar penned his thoughts at Red County Polk County and Iowa Defense Alliance.
Albert provides an excellent start with a view to how many of us think about defining the way conservatives see the world today (okay, such a view would include “Ronald Reagan came back for more”). We will certainly start looking around blogdom and start collecting a list of such statements as “Smaller Government” and build them into a resource.

But in stating the conservative view of today’s world, we do limit ourselves to more of a statement of “how does conservative thinking apply to today’s issues”. What I hope we may eventually find is more of a basis for conservative thought. It’s great to say [...]

I am not surprised at the guilty verdict handed down against US Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) on seven counts of making false statements. And nor should anyone else. I stated earlier in the year that Alaskan Republicans needed to find another candidate, but they failed. It amazes me that people like Ted can imagine that they are not only above the law, but that in the midst of failure they should continue on with their struggle for power when they should be focusing on dealing with the issue at hand… planning a appeal. From The Hill:

The senator vowed to “fight this unjust verdict with every ounce of energy I have” and said he would return home to defend his seat.

“I am innocent. This verdict is[...]

Although we may all support the notion that one is innocent until proven guilty, we (and Stevens) have a responsibility to ensure that we not only keep our noses clean, we do all we can to avoid the appearance of impropriaty.  The fact that Ted managed to get himself in a situation where the FBI [...]

Encouraging news in an opinion piece from the Wall Street Journal by Pat Toomey(former member of the US House and President of the Club for Growth) today.  A recent survey concludes that most voters would favor a congressional candidate that cuts spending over one that increases spending, even if it means no pork for their district. 
Some of [...]

Today we got to see some of the substance of Barack Obama’s plan for solving the current economic crisis.  Both Reuters and the Wall Street Journal have good write-ups.
Obama’s approach includes:

More power to the Federal Reserve over non-bank investment firms that borrow from the central bank
A ‘financial oversight commission”
$30 billion in aid for financially stressed [...]

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer today confirmed he met with a prostitute in a Washington hotel room.  He apologized for his actions and said little more.  He did not say if he planned to resign.

“I apologize first and most importantly to my family. I apologize to the public, to whom I promised better,” he said.

He’s [...]