Americans for Prosperity conference: preparing for a lack of prosperity under Obama

The annual Americans for Prosperity conference in Phoenix, Defending the Dream, was pretty upbeat considering the country will be under Obama the next four years. Put on by Tom Jenney and Chad Kirkpatrick, it included several prominent speakers, including Steve Moore from the Wall Street Journal, author Dinesh D'Souza, and lawyer Clint Bolick. Moore spoke about the current administration, and how it's spent $5 trillion so far in bailouts. We've spent more on bailouts than we did on World War II. This is a misallocation of resources. He expressed concern that the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board is attempting to take over entire industries - an unconstitutional grab of power. Discussing tax rates, he noted that as tax rates go down, the percentage paid by the rich actually increases, contrary to liberal myths. Moore also addressed healthcare, saying there is something wrong with the system when neither you nor your doctor know the cost of a particular medical procedure you're receiving. He dismissed claims that the middle class is currently getting shafted, pointing out that the middle class has seen a 50% increase in purchasing power since 1960, with income rising from $40,000 to $60,000 (adjusted for inflation). Liberals believe the problem with the economy is that the government isnt spending enough! He explained that corporations are failing and leaving the U.S. because corporate tax rates are so high. Unlike the U.S., other countries have been cutting their corporate tax rates. Moore questioned how Obama is going to cut taxes for 90% of the population when 40% of the population doesn't pay any taxes. Unfortunately, more than half the folks he's going to raise taxes on are small businessmen and women. Moore showed the audience a 1040EZ form that was so easy there were only two lines, 1) How much money do you make, and 2) Send it all to the government.



AZ State Treasurer Dean Martin discussed Arizona's budget problems. He said that Governor Napolitano has worked out gimmicks with the budget that don't really solve the problem. For example, $602 million owed to schools is not going to be paid this fiscal year; it will be delayed until next fiscal year. Martin compared the state's current crisis with Arizona's ghost towns - they built up during the boom but didn't prepare for the bust. Martin declared that Napolitano's legacy is turning Arizona into a welfare state.

The conference ended with a panel on blogging and the New Media, which I led. Other panelists included Shane Wikfors from SonoranAlliance.com, Greg Patterson from EspressoPundit.com, and John McJunkin from VoiceofLibertyPodcast.com. Topics included the advent of Web 2.0, with everyone moving online to social networking sites, particularly facebook.com. Conservatives were urged to join Twitter, which is part of the new #dontgo movement to get conservatives caught up to liberals when it comes to the New Media. For setting up blogs, blogivists was recommended.

For those of you at the conference who did not get one of my handouts, email me at azpoliticalintel-at-yahoo.com and I'll send you it.