Steele: Last Two Years Has Strengthened GOP

By Ji Hyun Yoo

“Last night was historic,” said Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele during a conference call on Wednesday. Steele discussed the turnaround his party has achieved over the last four years, from suffering losses in 2006 and 2008, to winning 60 seats in the House yesterday.

“In two short years, our party, I think, has reemerged stronger,” he said. “Our party is prepared to do the very most important thing, and that is listen, react and respond to what they hear from the American people.”

Despite having ‘tasted victory in mouth,’ Steele said he believes that great responsibilities lie ahead for Republican lawmakers.

“We are now also humbled by the reality that with this victory comes enormous responsibility for us to govern wisely, smartly and with the intent of the people.”

RNC Takes Swipe At DNC’s Tim Kaine

While Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele has been on the receiving end of a non-stop stream of criticism, his organization took aim Wednesday at his Democratic counterpart, Tim Kaine.

“The DNC under Kaine has been a ‘disaster’,” a newly released RNC research brief states, invoking a statement former Democratic National Committee member Steven Ybarra recently made to the Los Angeles Times.

The brief goes on to claim that the DNC has also had difficulty outpacing RNC fundraising efforts, citing a release from the Federal Elections Committee that found the DNC had only raised only thousands more than the RNC by the end of 2009.

Kaine simultaneously served as both Governor and Democratic National Committee Chair for much of 2009, a year that brought his party election losses in Virginia and New Jersey’s gubernatorial races. After Kaine’s replacement as governor by Republican Bob McDonnell, Democrats suffered another defeat when the opposition party claimed the Senate seat held by the late Ted Kennedy.

The RNC’s brief comes shortly after Douglas Wilder, another former Virginia governor, published an opinion piece on politico.com claiming that the Kaine’s chairmanship position was “the wrong job for him.”

Still, the shot against Kaine from the RNC seems surprising. The inner-party troubles facing Kaine seem nearly paltry in comparison to those plaguing the RNC’s Steele. Congressional Republicans have moved to block the former Maryland Lt. Governor from policy decisions, and a conference call between the RNC and Capitol Hill staffers reportedly grew heated after Steele mused in an interview that Republicans were “not ready” to win back the House. In addition, other high-profile gaffes have become You Tube gold.

However, it may be too early to judge either chairman’s performance. Both parties have had only a handful of special elections by which to measure their committees’ effectiveness and the true standard-bearer for both organizations is still on the horizon: the 2010 midterm election.

RNC And A Tea Party Movement Leader Join Forces Against Health Care Reform

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele and former House Speaker Dick Armey (R-Texas), a figurehead for the conservative “tea party” movement, presented a united front late Monday morning against Democrats’ legislative efforts to reform the U.S. health care system.

“I’m ... very honored to partner with grass roots activists, to invite them to be a part of this effort to push back against this takeover of health care,” said Steele during the duo’s joint conference call with reporters. “This is a partnership, and it’s one that’s based on some core principles that I think are foundational for the GOP.”

Although the tea party movement, which receives logistical support from the Armey steered non-profit group Freedomworks, is typically viewed as more radical than the current party establishment, Armey defended both the RNC and Steele as chairman.

“I have a clear sense that chairman Steele wants to lead that party back to it’s days of being the champion of individual liberty and the practitioner of responsible restraint in spending and government.”

Both conservative leaders took issue with the Senate’s 1:00 am cloture vote Monday morning, with Steele adding that even if moderate Senate Democrats vote against the bill in its final form, the 60-40 party-line vote in favor of cloture shows where their intentions actually lie.

Steele, who seemed to become increasingly enthusiastic throughout the call, also accused Congress of giving the public the middle finger.

“Enough is enough,” Steele said. “I’m tired of Congress thumbing their nose and flipping the bird to the American people.”

RNC Launches Ad Campaign To Combat Senate Healthcare Bill

By Meagan Wiseley - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

On Monday Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) Michael Steele announced the launch of the “Listen to Me” Effort. Which will include the launch of a six-figure national radio ad which explains the GOP position on healthcare reform, with emphasis on the Senate healthcare bill.

“We can’t force the democrats to listen to the American people, but we can certainly help the American people lift their voice up to be heard by those in Washington,” Steele said. “[We] are asking the Democrats in Washington to do something different for once, and that is listen to the American people.”

The new initiative consists of telephone town hall meetings, an interactive internet campaign and a grass roots activist campaign.

RNC staff members will also be sent to the six states (North Dakota, Nebraska, Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana and Connecticut) who’s Senators still seem to be undecided on how they will vote on the healthcare bill.

“In these states we will do everything we can to help people get their elected representatives to listen, to pay attention [and] to hear their voice,” Steele said.

Steele Condemns Democrats' Approach To Health Care Reform

By Learned Foote- Talk Radio News Service

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele condemned proposals for health care reform advanced by the Democratic Party and criticized the legislative process that he says has excluded the GOP in an address at the National Press Club on Monday.

Steele called President Obama a “good man who cares deeply about this country, but he is determined...to transform it into something none of us would recognize.”

Steele argued that the primary affliction of the health care system in the U.S. is rising costs, noting that the U.S. spends over 15% of its GDP on health care, whereas comparable countries spend about 10% of their GDP with similar outcomes. He said that “our uninsured are a symptom of that cost problem.”

Steele claimed that both Republicans and Democrats would like to see the costs associated with private health care significantly reduced, but argued that "the “Democrats’ plan to save money will cost us more money,” and that their “plan to reduce health care costs will cost us trillions more in tax dollars.” He cited a report released by the Congressional Budget Office last Friday as evidence, and also said that this report did not account for the administrative costs associated with the legislation, which he said would be even more expensive.

Steele suggested some solutions to curb these rising costs. These suggestions included posting the prices and outcomes of various procedures online, simplifying health insurance contracts to promote competition, protecting doctors from frivolous lawsuits, enacting penalties against those who unethically profit from the health care system, encouraging small businesses to form health care plans and coops, cutting Washington bureaucrats out of the equation, allowing people to retain health insurance as they move from job to job, and enabling Americans to purchase health insurance from various states, regardless of their home state.

Steele also said that “much about our health care system is in very good shape,” and said that the Democratic proposals could “lead to a 119 million Americans being dumped out of their private coverage into a cheaper, government-run health care program.”

He said that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leaders of the Senate and House respectively, “aren’t really doctors, they’re just trying to play one on Capitol Hill by experimenting with health care and insisting on a big government takeover.”

Steele criticized the legislative process, which he says is occurring too quickly for Congress to read the legislation at hand, saying that the Democrats are “determined to shove this bill through without permitting any meaningful scrutiny,” and are leaving Republican leadership out of the discussion. “The Democrats have no intention to have a bipartisan bill,” he added.