by Michael Thompson
Chairman/President of the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy

[Special to Virginia News Source]

Regardless of how one feels about the recent transportation law, all agree it will pour over $1 billion of year into Virginia's aging transportation infrastructure and should build necessary capacity to meet our growing infrastructure needs.

Governor McDonnell did all elected officials, and the two candidates for Governor this year, a huge favor by moving the transportation discussion from "where are we going to get the money?" to a more management focused question of "how are we going to spend the money?"

And this is an incredibly important change in focus. Taxpayers and those who vote will be carefully looking to see if these new monies are well-spent.

If these new funds aren't spent in a way that relieves congestion and helps grow our economy then a massive failure of leadership will be the result. A good example of "wise spending" is in Northern Virginia: the years of delay and the complaints of "Lexus lanes" aimed at the recently opened High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes have disappeared as the traffic congestion in the mornings and evenings on Virginia's Capital Beltway has dramatically improved. And the rapid pace of building additional HOT lanes south from Springfield into Prince William County on I-95 shows that transportation construction can proceed quickly with well crafted public private partnerships.

The new transportation dollars need to focus on congestion relief and economic development. As traffic moves more quickly, the positive corollary impact is that pollution will be significantly reduced. It will be the job of our next Governor and his Secretary of Transportation to be sure that state monies are not wasted on unnecessary projects such as bike paths where there are few if any bike riders, garden patches that clearly don't relieve congestion, and $1 million bus stops as has been the case in at least one jurisdiction.

You might recall the peaceful demonstrations of the Iranian people several years back. They were shot in the streets by the leadership, but how would the landscape have changed if they had succeeded in overthrowing the government? Very little because in the Muslim culture, the people are not the power.

The truth is, there is no such thing as anarchy. Whenever people have succeeded in overthrowing a government, the most powerful coalition moves in to fill the void. Consider Iran, Libya, Egypt, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. Then think Shiite (Iran), Sunni (Libya & Egypt), Alawite (Syria), and Wahabi (Saudi Arabia). These are the power groups, and they are all brutal, intolerant, and determined. It does not matter who wins because none fight for democracy – they fight for theocratic control.
 
It is time Americans, and our government, acknowledge that this is the problem with "freedom fighting" in the Islamic regions. It is not freedom fighting at all, but simply replacing one militant and tyrannical ideology for another. They have little interest in equality, a popular vote, or a democratic form of government. It is obvious that any such trends, including those encouraged in Iraq and Afghanistan, are merely charades within a culture that has been firmly indoctrinated under Islamic rule: "Fight against those...who do not believe in Allah nor the Last Day; who do not forbid what Allah and His messenger have forbidden, and who do not adopt the religion of truth until they pay the tribute out of hand, utterly subdued." (Surah 9:29)

Islam is designed as a political power, not just a religion. Unlike New Testament evangelism, Muhammad's example was conquest, not merely conversion. Hence the term "utterly subdued", and his well-documented massacre of 900 Jews in Medina who rejected his authority. Muhammad also made peace treaties to stall for time until he was sufficiently positioned to overcome his enemies. Does that tactic sound familiar when it comes to the PLO, Hezbollah, and Hamas?

Finally, look at the results of our past efforts in Iran and Egypt with the Shah and Mubarrak. Maybe it aided our access to oil for a time, but that also distracted us from pursuing energy independence. Maybe it calmed down some tensions with Israel, but that was a peace short-lived. It  ultimately provided opportunities for powerful factions to position themselves for conquest, especially the Muslim Brotherhood which has become predominant throughout the region. Their goal is a unification of Islamic nations under Sharia law against all other nations and religions. This is their manifest destiny: the global caliphate.

The only reasonable course in foreign policy is to distance ourselves from the internal conflicts of such cultures and prepare for the coming cataclysm. We should definitely not be equipping any of them with weapons to eventually turn against us (as has often been the case), or funding them with subsidies to their tenacious crusades. Remember, it was our nation's founders who affirmed that our system of government and culture can only succeed with a people of morality, education, and biblical values – all severely lacking in the ruthless Muslim countries. We will either prevail by our values, or yield to their alternatives. Let us focus our resolve on the destiny of America and Israel, and leave the barbaric sects to fight among themselves.

Ira White - Portsmouth

by Joseph J. McGrenra, CFCM
VNS Columnist

(April 29th, 2013)-Saturday April 20th saw the death of a great conservative. Unlike many that I have written about, I was privileged and honored to have known Howard for several years.

He was born in Boston, MA in 1941 and was Jewish by birth converting to Christianity in adulthood. I mention that because he was a man of faith, and his faith was extremely important to him. He attended and graduated from Harvard University, where he served as the President of the student Council for two terms, and he was present with William Buckley Jr. at the meeting that resulted in the birth of Young Americans for Freedom.  

 In the 1960’s he was selected as the Chairman of the Boston Republican Committee and held several positions in the administration of President Nixon. The last position was that of Acting Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity. President Nixon had offered him that position and he had accepted it with the understanding that he would dismantle the agency. With Watergate and a suit by Democrats to stop the elimination of an agency that Congress created, President Nixon backed down and Howard Phillips resigned rather than oversee a government agency that he saw as wasteful and wanted to disestablish. One of the things that I admired about him was that he was a man of principle.   
   It was in 1974  that Howard established The Conservative Caucus (TCC) with the goal of harnessing conservative grassroots strength, and Howard and TCC were two important elements that led to the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. From the 1970’s TCC fought and continues to fight many legislative battles.

During the last two decades of his life, Howard Phillips was instrumental in the creation of the U.S. Taxpayers Party, which in 1999 was rebranded the Constitution Party. He was their Presidential candidate in 1992, 1996, and in 2000.

Among the coverage report on his passing, the best quote that I have seen came from Arthur L. “Art” Harman, who was both a friend and a staffer to Howard who said “…Howard Phillips has been called "Tea Party before the Tea Party…”.

As far as his legacy, I cannot say it any better, but just to give just one example back in 1978; Howard Phillips was calling for the passage of a constitutional amendment to establish a Federal spending limit long before concerns about deficits and the National Debt.

I will save my last few words for the Howard Phillips that I knew. He was a nationally known conservative, and the first time that I contacted his office about a since forgotten issue, they didn’t ask for a contribution or pass me to an assistant, but connected me directly to Mr. Phillips.

His first order of business was to tell me to call him Howard. At the conclusion of our conversation, he invited me to drop by his office the next time that I was in Northern Virginia.
 I found myself with a business trip to Northern Virginia several months later, and I called expecting to be told he was unavailable. Much to my surprise he pulled out his calendar and put me on his schedule. When I dropped by, it was with the expectation of a quick handshake. I was surprised to get a tour of TCC headquarters and to have a great discussion.

As I was getting ready to leave, Howard asked me if I had had lunch, and he ended up inviting me out to lunch, where our discussion continued. Over the years he provided me with much advice and insight on politics and even gave me an opportunity to manage a campaign.

One of the things we spoke about was having him come down to Hampton Roads to speak. I had what I thought was a great tie-in for him to make the trip, but with his schedule and eventually health issues, and my lack of success with the tie-in (a long story that I don’t want to get into for this column) it unfortunately never happened.  

As I said, I was privileged and honored to have known Howard Phillips. He gave me much valuable advice and encouragement over the years.