Your Weekly GOP Trunk - May 7

Issue 18, May 7, 2010

Welcome to the Weekly Trunk -- The Republican National Committee's weekly email update on all the latest news and political happenings. The goal of the Weekly Trunk is to inform and arm you with the facts you need to spread our conservative message and refute the misstatements of the Democrats.

This week's issue features:

Financial Reform Pain

Dentists are warning they may become unintended targets of legislation designed to overhaul Wall Street. (Silla Brush, “Dentists fear pain from finance reform bill,” The Hill, 5/3/2010)

Judicial Activism

People are increasingly worried that Washington is exceeding the limits set by the Constitution, asserting too large a role in American life. (Sen. Jeff Sessions, “Americans look for Supreme Court to restrain federal power, not expand it,” The Washington Post, 5/7/2010)

Failure-in-Chief

The controversies over the Arizona immigration plan and the Obama Administration’s response to the oil spill in the Gulf may not seem related, but they have a key common characteristic: both originate in the failure of Washington. (Newt Gingrich, “Failure-in-Chief,” HumanEvents.com, 5/5/2010)

Misguided Reform

As Democrats close in on their goal of overhauling the nation’s financial regulations, several prominent experts say that the legislation does not even address the right problems, leaving the financial system vulnerable to another major crisis. (Binyamin Appelbaum and Sewell Chan, “Senate Financial Bill Misguided, Some Academics Say,” The New York Times,5/3/2010)

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

Frustrated with the pace of job-creation in Washington, the nation's governors are putting homegrown employment programs into place, and calling on Congress to refocus on the issue. (Elizabeth Williamson, “Governors Press Congress to Focus on Job Creation,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/2/2010)

Hawaii House Race

Democrats here might lose a House seat in a special election this month because of a feud between two candidates that has inflamed tensions within Hawaii's ethnic voting blocs and between the state's Democratic establishment and the party's national leaders. (Philip Rucker, “In Hawaii, intraparty feud may cost Democrats a seat in Congress,” The Washington Post, 5/7/2010)

Trust Issues

American voters are more confident that the economy will improve in the next year, but trust in major institutions continues to fall -- a slump that mirrors Pres. Obama's tumbling approval rating. (Reid Wilson, “Confidence Improves, But Trust Hurts Obama,” National Journal’s Hotline on Call, 5/6/2010)

Wall Street Buys Dems

If Republicans are "making love to Wall Street," as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., puts it, one wonders if there's a printable description for Reid's torrid affair with the financial sector. (Timothy P. Carney, “Harry Reid carrying Wall Street's love child,” Washington Examiner, 5/7/2010)

No Obamacare

Democrats have even more reason now to be nervous about the fall elections. Mr. Obey clearly figured out that his party has gotten no bounce from the passage of health care and that he was in danger of losing back home in Wisconsin this fall. (John Fund, “ObamaCare: Death Panel for Political Careers,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/7/2010)

Financial Reform of Dentists?

The Democrats’ health care takeover didn’t stop with ObamaCare and there are some hurtful provisions in the new financial regulation bill Americans should know about if they have any expensive dental procedures coming up. (Sen. Jim DeMint, “‘Brace’ Yourself: Wall Street Regulation Bill Snares Dentists, Doctors & Patients,” BigGovernment.com, 5/6/2010)

Out to Lunch

White House claims of all hands being on deck to respond to the oil slick crisis in the Gulf, Department of the Interior chief of staff Tom Strickland was in the Grand Canyon with his wife last week participating in activities that included white-water rafting, ABC News has learned. (Jake Tapper, “While Oil Slick Spread, Interior Department Chief of Staff Rafted with Wife on "Work-Focused" Trip in Grand Canyon,” ABC News, 5/5/2010)

Who Pays?

To hear Obama Administration officials tell it, they've been fully engaged on the Gulf Coast oil spill since day one, bringing every resource to bear and able to ensure without question that taxpayers will be protected. Not quite. (Erica Werner, “SPIN METER: There since Day One? Maybe not,” The Associated Press, 5/4/2010)

Be sure to watch Representative Pete Hoekstra's (R-MI) Weekly Republican Response video message here:

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