Cornyn for President!

Wow! In a couple of my last few posts, I mentioned "Cornyn '12". I had no idea that anyone else was echoing my sentiments until I read this (courtesy of the Houston Chronicle):
"[Running for Chairman of the NRSC] has prompted speculation that the senator [Cornyn] may establish a donor base that could position him for an eventual run for president."

This is incredibly exciting! This is just what the Republican Party needs to cure its woes. John Cornyn has the classic combination conservatism. He appeals to BOTH fiscal, and social conservatives (As opposed to McCain, Huck, Giuliani), he has no significant flip flops (Romney...), and sounds very intelligent in media interviews *cough* Palin*cough*.

Go Cornyn '12!

UPDATE: was reading the news and saw this. Popular governors don't go to Iowa right after an election when their candidate lost, without a very good reason. Looks like it is time to add another to the hunt, 4 years before the election...

John Conryn Releases New Website!

On Monday, the John Cornyn campaign will release their newly redesigned website. This will be in conjunction with the release of several tv ads, that you will be able to view on the website. As a Blogger For Cornyn, I was granted access to the new site, and can assure you that it looks like it will be a much better thought out design from the original. If you have a blog and would like to become a Blogger For Cornyn, and have your blog added to the blogroll, then email: vincent@johncornyn.com with the name of your blog, and its URL.

Noriega Flip-Flops on Energy

Well my friends,
After months of saying that we cannot "drill our way out of this problem" of high gas prices by drilling offshore and in ANWR, Rick Noriega has flip-flopped. He has now stated that he IS in favor of drilling offshore, and that he would have to "Take another look" at drilling in ANWR. I guess his problem is just that he can't think of anything better than Cornyn can. Well, unless you count pulling all our military out of Iraq and then drilling there for our oil, which he advocated.

Noriega Releases Energy Plan--or Lack Of

Rick Noriega has just released an ad on Youtube promoting his energy policy. You can watch the video here. What this ad boils down to is, Rick Noriega has NO energy policy. He spends almost the entire video attacking John Cornyn. Just as a note, he finds that he can only spend 38 seconds talking about this extremely important issue. Of course, he says how gas prices have risen $2.64 since John Cornyn took office, but I noticed that he does not mention that $1.72 (65%) of that amount has been in the last two years, coinciding with when Democrats took power. He also says that John Cornyn has opposed alternative energy, which is an outright lie. Rick Noriega opposes drilling in ANWR, opposes nuclear energy, opposes clean coal, opposes increased refineries. He is the one who opposes creative solutions to our energy crisis. You can watch Cornyn's videos on the issue here. I encourage you to watch all of Cornyn's videos. Who do you think will be the most capable to deal with our energy problems, Senator John Cornyn, or State Representative Rick "I can't figure this out" Noriega?

Does Rick Noriega Support Trial Lawyers Over National Security?

AUSTIN, Texas—A bipartisan majority of the U.S. Senate is set to pass legislation today to modernize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), allowing American intelligence professionals to gather critical additional information to detect and deter terrorists. Yet U.S. Senate candidate Rick Noriega opposes the measure, putting him far outside the mainstream and on the opposite side of most Texas Democrats in Congress.

Noriega objects to a provision in the FISA reform that prevents lawsuits against telecommunications companies that acted in good faith at the request of the administration and monitored potential terrorist communications. Thanks in part to disruption of terrorist planning, the U.S. has not suffered another domestic attack since Sept. 11, 2001.

“What is more important to Rep. Noriega—the safety of the American people, or his close relationship with trial lawyers?” asked Kevin McLaughlin, spokesman for U.S. Sen. John Cornyn’s re-election campaign. “There is only one group that would benefit from the vindictive, frivolous lawsuits that Noriega is trying to protect. That is the trial lawyers who would bring massive suits against companies attempting to act in the national interest.”

Noriega is a longtime, dependable recipient of trial lawyer campaign donations. And several recent fundraising receptions staged by his cash-starved campaign have been hosted by trial lawyers such as Fred Baron (Dallas), Richard Mithoff (Houston), Robert White (Odessa) and Clay Jenkins (Dallas).

Noriega has come up with inventive reasons to justify his trial lawyer-friendly position. For example, in a campaign video last week, he made the novel accusation that he opposes monitoring communications between terrorists because he suspects national security authorities eavesdropped on conversations he had with his wife!

“When we got on the computers to wake up our families on that Christmas Day, I suspect that the government probably listened in on my and Melissa’s conversation because it was communication between two countries,” Noriega said in the video.

Noriega apparently believes the National Security Agency (NSA) was eavesdropping on his conversation via the Terrorist Surveillance Program. It is a comment that, at best, reveals an unpardonable misunderstanding of the FISA program. At worst, it is a reckless charge levied in an attempt to mislead Texas voters. No mainstream news outlet has reported a similar charge made by any other serviceman. It appears Noriega is the only federal candidate, Republican or Democrat, to throw this wild idea into the political mix.

The FISA reform bill is the product of extensive bipartisan negotiations and is widely supported by a majority of Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate. “This legislation strengthens the ability of our intelligence agencies to conduct lawful surveillance of foreign targets,” said U.S. House Intelligence Committee Chairman U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, last month.

In addition, U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said that without these measures our intelligence will be “degraded.” The Director of National Intelligence said that if the bill is not approved, the U.S. would lack the necessary tools to intercept communications between foreign nationals.

Only four members of the 32-person Texas congressional delegation voted against FISA modernization. Among those joining Senator Cornyn in supporting this legislation include Reps. Chet Edwards, Henry Cuellar, Al Green, Gene Green, Nick Lampson, and Silvestre Reyes, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

In advocating the compromise, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has cited an incident in Iraq last year that demonstrates need for FISA reform. Three U.S. troops were kidnapped in Iraq, south of Baghdad, by al Qaeda terrorists. The U.S. military immediately launched a search and rescue operation.

Within hours, a new source of information was discovered that required electronic surveillance of phone conversations. Then, a maze of complicated U.S. laws kicked in, stopping progress on the new lead for nearly 10 long hours. U.S. rescue efforts were complicated as government lawyers were forced to sort through a legal quagmire to develop “probable cause” for electronic surveillance. Read this New York Post story for more.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has continually urged Congress to pass FISA modernization legislation to make sure our intelligence professionals have the necessary tools to keep America safe.