The Hill - March 28, 2024

My name is Melissa Ortiz, and I am the new government affairs manager for TCC. I discovered my love of all things Congressional during my 7th grade field trip to DC many years ago. At one point my goal was to be the first female US Senator from the great state of Tennessee. I'm proud to say that one of my mentors, Marsha Blackburn, beat me to it. That's probably a good thing, too, as she is nicer than I am and in working on the Hill and in other related fields through the years, I learned that what I really wanted to do was influence policy and how it is made rather than be the one passing the legislation. Government Affairs and grassroots organization/mobilization are my sweet spots. This position allows me to combine both. 

Since coming on board March 1st, I have been working towards meeting the Chief of Staff and/or Legislative Directors from all the 267 GOP offices on Capitol Hill. It's easier said than done, but I am making steady progress. Sometimes I feel like I know more Members than I do staffers. 

This is a perilous time for our Republic. Nowhere is it more evident than on Capitol Hill. Tension is thick and comradery is almost nonexistent. We are spending money we do not have and wading into conflicts that are not our own. We are enabling people to live in government dependence rather than learning to be self-sufficient. We are allowing the idea that we should have things just because we exist and not work for what we need or want to be the guiding principle. It is no longer seen as shameful to be dependent on the government rather than working. 

Several pieces of legislation are making their way through the channels that continue these bad trends. Things that should be provided by the private sector have been presented for funding. Legislation and guiding parameters that honor feelings above logic are the norm rather than the disdained exception. Reagan’s idea of finding the 20% we CAN work together on, even in our own party, seems to be sitting on the shelf gathering dust. The Constitution is being trampled at every turn. Because it is no longer taught in public schools, it is not understood by most citizens. Private schools aren’t doing much better. We have an opportunity to unite like minded legislators, educate and influence their staff and rally the citizens of each congressional district and state to demand that their legislators do better or be unseated. 

TCC’s role on the Hill will be to let the elected officials know the citizenry is watching. In the district, TCC will be raising up a grassroots army to hold their elected officials accountable and be ready to replace them when needed. Besides making sure that they know TCC exists, is making a comeback and what our core beliefs/mission are, part of my role is to figure out who is high on the TCC scorecard of holding to Constitution values and support their initiatives. It is also my role to work with our President, Jim Pfaff, to partner with like-minded organizations to support good policy and those who make it, while causes and ruckus of awareness when those elected are not doing their job, which is to represent the will of the people. 

The view is disheartening to the faint of heart, but not to me. Not to Team TCC.

Biden's State Of The Union: Hatred and Lies

All Americans should be worried about the psychological warfare contained in President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech. It is all about hatred and lies, and YOU are the target.

Let’s look at some of the incendiary language that he used.

Within his first minute, he went directly to Hitler, mentioning in the context of President Franklin D. Roosevelt that “Hitler was on the march.” This is amplifying the Left’s propaganda line that President Donald Trump is ‘literally Hitler,’ and that all Trump supporters are fascists. That is why that line is there, right at the very start.

Seconds later he started the first of many mentions that “Freedom and democracy were under assault in the world.” That was also in the context of World War II, but Biden immediately tied that to President Trump and his supporters, saying that “freedom and democracy are under attack both at home and overseas.”

The Democratic Party of course is using the most undemocratic means to deny Americans the right to vote for the candidates of their choice, as seen in countries like Russia and Venezuela. Trying to remove Trump from the ballot and using lawfare to find him guilty of invented crimes.

Remember that Democrat leaders and the media always engage in ‘projection,’ meaning accusing their adversaries of the crimes they are committing. Just reverse what the Democrats and media are saying about President Trump and conservatives like us, and you’ll see exactly what they are in fact doing.

When Democrat party officials and the media call Trump and his supporters “Hitler,” just reverse it. How are they acting?

Biden’s speech was full of many blatant lies, knowing that the liberal media will never ‘fact check’ those. Here’s the first one.

Biden said that Trump “tells Putin, quote, do whatever the hell you want. That’s a quote.” Context matters, because President Trump got NATO to increase their defense spending because he made threats to withdraw from NATO if they didn’t spend their required share. That’s a basic negotiating tactic, and you may see examples in Trump’s book, “The art of the deal.”

Trump’s complete statement was, “I said: ‘You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent? No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.” Trump was indeed bullying our allies who won’t spend the required defense sums to be a NATO member. During his presidency, Trump succeeded in getting many NATO member nations to increase their defense expenditures.

Predictably, Biden’s tirade hit on January 6 too: “when insurrectionists stormed this very Capitol and placed a dagger to the throat of American democracy.” He continued, “the threat to democracy must be defended. My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth about Jan. 6.”

‘Dagger to the throat of democracy’ is pure incendiary propaganda and an obvious lie, so look at who buried the truth. Why did the old Twitter immediately ban President Trump’s account? Because it had his January 6 Tweet imploring, “I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order – respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you!” That had to be covered up. And it took House Speaker Mike Johnson to release the videos of January 6 that showed the actual events of the day that differed greatly from the fabricated version of the events on that day.

Look carefully at these words from Biden. “I ask all of you, without regard to party, to join together and defend democracy. Remember your oath of office and defend against all threats foreign and domestic.” And “History is watching another assault on freedom.” Then, “My God, what freedom else would you take away?”

See what Biden’s speech is designed to do? He effectively called every American who isn’t a Biden Democrat a threat to democracy and a domestic enemy.

You should be worried.

There’s little difference between the words that Biden spoke and how tyrants in history have used language to dehumanize their opponents. Hitler, Stalin, Lenin—the list goes on. Once you dehumanize your opponents, then it’s apparently OK to treat them inhumanely.

Following the leaked Supreme Court decision on abortion, Senator Chuck Schumer screamed “I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”

Such incendiary words may be designed to trigger crazy people to take illegal action, and indeed shortly afterwards, a man was arrested who apparently intended to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Representative Steve Scalise paid a price as well for leftist hatred when a Bernie Sanders supporter opened fire at the Congressional baseball game, greatly harming him.

Lastly, Biden finally mentioned Lincoln Riley: “an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal, that’s right. But how many thousands of people are being killed by legals?” See what he did there? He’s excusing crime and murders by illegal immigrants by saying Americans commit murders as well.

Why does this matter so much? The State of the Union speech is watched by millions of Americans. In a campaign year, it’s a campaign ad of incalculable value. And here’s the proof.

CNN reported their own polling that “More than 6 in 10 Americans who watched President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address had a positive reaction to the speech, according to a CNN Poll conducted by SSRS, with a smaller 35% reacting very positively.” Sure, they may skew the results, but the point is clear: Millions who aren’t tuned in to conservative media accepted Biden’s speech of hatred and lies as a positive message.

That makes our job tougher. And highlights why it’s important that you help conservatives and President Trump win this year. We need to step up our outreach. Talk to your neighbors and friends. Your fellow parishioners and club members. Your fellow students. And your social media contacts. Make sure all on our side are registered to vote, and will vote early. Share this widely, and together, we can win and restore the America we love.

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What can you and concerned fellow Americans do to help? Register voters in your neighborhood. Make sure you and your friends vote early. Pass the word to friends on social media. Share this newsletter.

Please join The Conservative Caucus as a donor or grassroots volunteer. We’ll provide talking points and plenty of research about the eventual nominee, and give you action items that matter.

Would you like to be a grassroots volunteer? Just a few hours of your time every month can make a difference, and we’ll send you ideas of what you can do from home and in your community. Contact Art Kelly, TCC’s National Field Director, at art.kelly@theconservativecaucus.org or 703-881-7610 or sign up online at TheConservativeCaucus.org/volunteer

Your donation matters more than ever in this election year. Please support our efforts today with a donation: Please support our efforts today with a donation.  

CONSERVATIVE CALENDAR: The Conservative Caucus’s master calendar of conservative events features events of national, state, or regional interest. Send us your items to be listed!

• March 12: Hawaii GOP Caucus

• March 19: Primaries in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Ohio.

• March 23: Louisiana Primary

• April 2: Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Rhode Island, Wisconsin primaries

• April 4-6: Pennsylvania Leadership Conference

• April 11-14: Virginia GOP Advance

• April 18-20: Washington: 2024 Republican party state convention

See more events at theconservativecaucus.org/events-calendar 

PUBLISHER: Barry M. Goldwater Jr. is Honorary Chairman of The Conservative Caucus. He served 14 years as a member of the U.S. Congress, and is the son of the late Senator Barry Goldwater Sr., who was the first presidential candidate of the modern conservative movement. Goldwater Jr. followed in his father’s footsteps as a conservative leader. Among his accomplishments in Congress was co-authoring the Privacy Act of 1974. Goldwater is a board member of the Goldwater Institute, a leading conservative think tank which has an arm that sues government entities when they violate the Constitution and statutory law. He is also a member of the board of the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program, one of the most prestigious national undergraduate scholarships in the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics.

CHAIRMAN: Peter J. Thomas has been TCC’s Chairman since 2011, and served on the board starting at our founding in 1974. He founded and served as President of the Massachusetts Foundation for Economic Research, and was chief of staff to Congressman Peter Torkildsen. He was regional administrator of the General Services Administration under President Reagan, worked in the Small Business Administration under President Bush the elder, and was acting assistant secretary for administration in the Department of Agriculture under President Bush the younger.

PRESIDENT: Jim Pfaff is the President of The Conservative Caucus. Jim’s political career stretches over three decades. He served as a Chief of Staff in Washington, DC for two different congressmen. He has also been a communications, grassroots, and political consultant during that time. Through his company, he provided consulting in public policy and public relations; business research; media strategies; and on-the-ground consulting for political campaigns and grassroots organizations. Jim served as Chief of Staff for two different Congressmen – Cong. Thomas Masse (R-KY) and Cong. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS). He also served as the Chief of Staff for the Colorado House Republican Caucus. He also served as Founder and Executive Director of Americans for Prosperity of Colorado, President of the Colorado Family Institute, and a National Representative for Family Policy Councils at Focus on the Family.

EDITOR: TCC’s Art Harman has a long career in public policy and conservative politics. He served as a Legislative Director in Congress where he developed the successful strategy to kill the 2013 Senate amnesty bill, wrote legislation and amendments, and learned from the inside how Congress really works. He advised the 2016 Trump campaign on border security, international broadcasting and space policy, as well as with the transition and White House.

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The Goldwater-Thomas Report is a project of THE CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS, America’s grassroots conservative organization, founded 1974.

All Americans should be worried about the psychological warfare contained in President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech. It is all about hatred and lies, and YOU are the target.All Americans should be worried about the psychological warfare contained in President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech. It is all about hatred and lies, and YOU are the target.