It's the first sign of spring, when pitchers and catchers report to their respective spring training camps in Florida and Arizona. Baseball season is finally here. I have attended spring training once in Arizona, where 15 teams are within an hour of each other, most of them in the metropolitan Phoenix area. It's a destination for baseball fans all over the country taking a vacation away from the cold and the snow. Spring training enables fans to be closer to the action with more accessibility to the players for photographs and autographs. It brings in millions of dollars to the local economy in the form of hotel rooms, car rentals, dining out and shopping.

There is a controversy hanging over training camps in Arizona this year, which has pitted the state of Arizona and the Chicago Cubs versus the rest of Major League Baseball. The Chicago Cubs is looking for $84 million dollars to build a new stadium in Mesa Arizona. There have been several proposals for the funding. First, the City of Mesa proposing a referendum to their voter to allow them to issue bonds and offer other spending to help with this project. I have no problem with this, even without voter approval because communities all over the country offer tax breaks and incentives to businesses to expand or move to their community. It's a fine line because you can't give all businesses what they want, sometimes you have to call their bluffs. Sports teams should be considered as a business like any other corporation. They generate revenue for the local community and employ citizens. Tax breaks are an investment in jobs and grows an economy to support schools, the arts and other projects. Voting on a referendum is what the residents of Brown County Wisconsin did to help the Green Bay Packers funding the renovation of Lambeau field to increase revenues to be more competitive in the NFL. The voters approved a ½ percent increase in the sales tax. While I voted no, (because I believe that the ticket prices are too low because the Packers have a waiting list of 54,000, its simple supply and demand)the Packers are an important part of the community and would lose some quality of life if the Packers weren't there. I would rather spend my tax dollars on “Private” enterprises than wasteful government programs.

The controversial part of the funding comes in form of a bill that is working its way through the Arizona legislature. If passed there would be an increase the tax on hotel rooms and car rentals which  is a common practice, because it effects people who are visiting the community no voters. The bill would also add a surcharge on ALL spring training tickets in Arizona, not just the Cubs. The Chicago Cubs feel that they are the most important team in the Cactus League, bringing in the most out of town fans and fills up stadiums whether its at home in Mesa or away games. Of course Major League Baseball and the other Cactus League teams are against the proposal. I agree, its like having a tax on all cars sold but all revenue going to General Motors. I have no problem with government making investments supporting revenue generating businesses but it has to be somewhat fair. Depending on leverage, cities give out greater tax breaks to one business than to others of comparable size. They just don't tax their competition. If all the funds that come from this surcharge would go into a general fund supporting all teams and the marketing of the league, I wouldn't have a problem with this. I also wouldn't have a problem if the state, county or city offer tax breaks and incentives just to the Cubs. If the other teams want the same breaks they can negotiate for them. I just hope that this bill goes nowhere, without other teams in Arizona the Cubs wouldn't have anyone else to play in their new stadium.

If you would have told me last year that the Republicans have a good shot to win back the House of Representatives and/or the Senate after what we saw in 2006 and 2008, I would have called you crazy. In both elections the Democrats wiped the floor with the Republicans winning back both chambers and the Presidency. They were riding the wave of Obama and his vows of “hope and change.” Now its 2010 and what a 180 degree swing have we seen with huge Republican victories in heavily blue state of New Jersey and Massachusetts where the Democrats did everything in their power to win. I makes me wonder why did the Republicans lost the last two election cycles. More and more each day I believe that a lot of it was because of the anti-Bush resentment of Americans (shown in low approval ratings) and the Republican party moving away from their core beliefs. Now with the emergence of the tea parties and the Obama administration's persistence on pushing through major health care reform, bad stimulus packages and their socialistic agenda when it comes to corporations especially banks, Americans are scared. You would think that President Obama and congress would move more to the center right where most liberal Presidents move too (look at Bill Clinton) but he hasn't wavered from his agenda, just regrouping.

This growing revolution will happen all over the country, where there will be not as many safe seats. There will be many long serving congressmen losing including majority leader of the Senate Harry Reid in November. If he does lose, Reid will be the highest ranking congressman to lose since Tom Foli who was Speaker of the House in 1994. This up-swell hopefully holds true in my home state of Wisconsin. We can see close battles for two of our long serving Democratic congressmen, Ron Kind and David Obey, even though they should win in the end but they will have to work for it. My focus here is on Senator Russ Feingold. He has held the seat since 1992 winning a very dirty election. Russ stayed away from all the mudslinging with his hokey ads protraying himself as as Washington outsider. He has won re-election twice, albeit by small margins against underfunded weaker candidates. If rumors are true ,this time around he will have stiffer competition in our former governor and Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson. He still is extremely popular, has name recognition and will be able to raise the money to compete dollar for dollar. As a candidate, he's about 60-70% of what I am looking for, which is much higher than Russ Feingold. Although he had reformed welfare in the state, which was used as a template for other states, he liked to spend and tax to make sure Wisconsin had the “Cadillac” of services. He needs to run as a reformer and listen to the tea parties which have a strong following in the state. We don't need another Rino (Republican in name only).

Well, I won't be making any guarantees this time but it looks like unless President Obama and congress reverses their course on several fronts, it would be every interesting watching the second Tuesday of November and the spin afterward. This time they don't have President Bush to blame, but they might find a way to spin it anyway.

Thank you for stopping by and taking a look and reading my re-launched blog. Let me tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Marc, I am 36 working as a retail manager in a suburb of Milwaukee Wisconsin. For those who know me, I am not shy talking politics, current events and society, I could do it all day. Sometimes, these conversations have become heated but I never take it personally. For those who don't know me as well or you are visiting for the first time, the following is a brief description of my beliefs. I used to classify myself as a “card carrying Republican” but now I refer to myself as conservative or libertarian. Over the years, the Republican party has let me down to a point where now there isn't a huge difference between Republicans or Democrats. Simply put, nothing gets done in Washington (which is not always a bad thing). I also think that the evangelical and moderate wings has taken over the Republican party and has taken too big of a role in choosing candidates, especially in primaries. Hey, I am as religious as the next guy, but the evangelicals chooses candidates mainly on their social views. Hey, I am religious as the next time but it seems that this trumps everything else, like their views on fiscal issues and overall electability. A candidate who is with me 70-80% of the time is better than nothing.

 

First and foremost, I am a fiscal conservative. Higher taxes isn't the solution, it's the cutting of spending and streamlining the federal government to what the founding fathers imagined. I use a strict interpretation of the constitution where the federal governments role should be national defense, infrastructure and public welfare. The rest of the powers should belong to the states, where the people have greater power. I hate to say this liberals, but trickle down economics and a truly free market works. I am pro-life, pro-gun (why do we always fight for the first amendment and not the second), and for the death penalty. I think that ILLEGAL immigration is a fiscal and security concern for the country. On more controversial issues, my libertarian views really show. I am pro gay CIVIL UNIONS (let the religious keep the term marriage). Although I am not pro gay, its out there and as long as there is a commitment relationship, who cares, as long as its not in my face. There are more important issues out there to fight for. I also believe that prostitution and certain drugs should be legalized. Have the government regulate and tax it. This takes the crime out of it and if someone breaks the law we put the hammer down.

This was just a little synopsis of my beliefs, I use these as the basis of my options of news that I come across. Feel free to make comments on any of the entries I make, and if there are any topics that you want me to tackle and comment on post it here or email me at conservativemarc@yahooo.com. I would like to have a rotation bloggers on my site, so if there are anyone interested, just let me know.