Aurora, CO - December 14th - Twenty-three prominent Hispanic business and community leaders have collectively endorsed Ryan Frazier as he makes his bid for United States Congress in Colorado’s District 7. Endorsements for Republican candidates from such respected Hispanic leaders are a rare occurrence in today’s political landscape, as Hispanics historically have not been a staple voting bloc amongst the GOP. It is yet another reason why many believe Frazier is well positioned to win this highly competitive district.

Larry Trujillo, former state Senator stated, “As a member of Governor Owens’ cabinet and former Minority Leader of the Colorado House of Representatives and Senate, I’ve found that we need independent thinkers and decision makers in our public offices. Ryan Frazier, U.S. Congressional candidate, will deliberate and cast votes based on what is good for the American public and the citizens of Colorado. He will do more than simply look and act as a rubber stamp for the Leadership as is now happening by our present Representative of the 7th Congressional district. Coloradans want more than to grow government and create huge deficits that are now occurring with the help of the incumbent. I support and urge all citizens of our great state to support Ryan Frazer for the office of U.S. Congressman from the 7th District. His victory will help this country get back on the right path and move away from letting the Government continue with ‘big brother Government,’ deficit spending and taking over private businesses.”

Frazier, an African American, was raised by a single mother who worked extremely hard to ensure her three sons had a better life. He grew up in a working poor neighborhood where he attended tough schools and had fewer opportunities than many today. Frazier believes his experience has helped him to devise solvent, long-lasting solutions that help, not hinder, minority communities. The right solutions, he asserts, are financially solvent and facilitate personal empowerment through quality education and less government.

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Bob Martinez, Fmr. Chairman Colorado Republican Party
Jerry Natividad, President & CEO, American Facility Services Group
Diedra Garcia, President & CEO, DRG Construction Corporation
Frank D. Carrillo, Adams County Community Leader
Sal Gomez, President Source One Management
Frank Barron, Barron & Associates
Frank Tijerina, Tijerina & Associates
Madalaine Rohan, Latino Radio Talkshow
Martin Mendez, Adams County Community Leader
Travis Martinez, Project Developer, Great Southwestern Construction
Grace Hernandez Fink, Jefferson County Community Leader
Perry Vasquez, Fmr. Chairman, Republican National Hispanic Assembly
Gil Cisneros, President & CEO, Chamber of Americas
Brandon J. Berumen, President & CEO, LEI Companies
Teresa Johnston, Producer KLVZ Radio
Rick Barela, Arapahoe County Community Leader
Mark Martinez, Regional President, Solera National Bank
Tania Vijarro, Legislative Aid to Colorado House Minority Leader State Rep. Mike May
Dr. Efrin Martinez, Martinez Dental Office
Michael Barrera, Fmr. President of U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Robert Ramirez, Jefferson County Community Leader
Edgar Antillon, Adams County Community Leader
Larry Trullijo, Fmr. Colorado Senate Minority Leader

Liberal blogger Markos Moulitsas writes in The Hill that a new poll has disastrous results for Democrats running in the 2010 congressional elections:

Democrats had known there was an “intensity gap” between angry conservatives in the Republican Party and the unexcited Democratic base, and in a midterm election, base turnout often determines who wins the night. Yet no one suspected it was this bad.

Nonpartisan pollster Research 2000 conducts a large-scale weekly poll for Daily Kos measuring voter sentiment toward key Republican and Democratic leaders and the parties (2,400 respondents, for a margin of error of 2 percent). Last week’s edition featured the typical generic congressional ballot test, and Democrats held a 37-32 advantage, not atypical compared to most other polling on that question. In its most recent polls, CNN had Democrats up 49-43, while Pew was at 47-42. And while Gallup bucked the trend, with Republicans up 48-44, those exact generic congressional numbers aren’t as important for the 2010 midterms as precisely who will turn out. And right now, it’s looking brutal for the Democrats.

For the first time, I had Research 2000 ask, “In the 2010 congressional elections, will you definitely vote, probably vote, not likely vote or definitely will not vote?” The results were nothing short of cataclysmic:

Among Republican respondents, 81 percent said they were definitely or probably going to vote, versus only 14 percent who were definitely or not likely to do so. Among independent voters, it was 65-23. Among Democrats? A woeful 56-40: Two out of every five Democrats are currently unlikely to vote.

A look at key Democratic constituencies shows how demoralized the party’s base currently is. Among African-Americans, just 34 percent are likely to vote, versus 54 percent unlikely to do so. Republican-leaning white voters clocked in at 66-29. Only 41 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds, a key constituency for Democrats in both 2006 and 2008, are likely to vote, compared to 49 percent likely to sit things out.

If these numbers hold for the next year, it won’t matter what those generic congressional ballot questions say, nor will it matter whether Democrats can increase their performance with independent voters. If base Democratic voters don’t turn out, like what happened in New Jersey and Virginia this year, Democrats will suffer at the ballot box.

Thus far, the progressive base doesn’t have much to be excited about. Promised real reform in healthcare, the environment, labor, the wars, civil liberties and gay rights, actual accomplishments have been decidedly thin. The healthcare debate dragged on far longer than necessary as Obama and some Democrats engaged in a fruitless and unnecessary search for “bipartisanship” while taking such options as reconciliation off the table. The end result may saddle people with costly insurance mandates without any mechanism to control ridiculously high rates — great for insurance industry profits, but not what progressives worked for the past two cycles. Progress on card-check and climate change legislation is stymied, while Obama doubles down on the Afghanistan quagmire. Institutions that were “too big to fail” got rich bailouts, while the rest of America continues to bleed economically. While there are 96 vacancies in the federal courts (over 10 percent of the 876 total), the Obama administration seems in little hurry to make an impact on a judiciary that took a significant turn to the right the last several decades; only 16 replacements have been nominated.

It’s not too late — yet — for Democrats to fire up their base, but it will require delivering on lofty campaign promises. And if party leaders themselves need inspiration, they need look no further than that magic number of 40 percent of moribund Democrats who plan on avoiding the ballot box in 2010.

November 30, 2009 - The Denver Post is calling for the Obama administration to put the brakes on any plans for a second stimulus package:

American taxpayers, as well as their grandchildren, already are on the hook for well over a trillion dollars in recent government spending that was meant to stimulate the economy.

So forgive us for being a bit skeptical as President Obama and top Democrats in Congress think about cranking up yet another round of spending to stimulate the creation of jobs.

Yes, the economy is hurting, so it is understandable the president would like to help. After all, some economists lamented that the size of the original stimulus package was too small to work.

Still, beyond propping up revenue-starved state governments, which we realize likely has saved some jobs in Colorado, we have yet to see substantive proof that all of that money has created a meaningful number of new jobs.

It is imperative that American taxpayers get some clear answers and strong evidence that a new government bailout/stimulus plan will work before we're asked to foot more debt. Taxpayers also should be given a reasonable plan for eventually trimming the federal debt, which is swiftly becoming unsustainable.

The $787 billion spending bill in recent months has been used to expand a hefty tax rebate for first-time homebuyers that could eventually cost taxpayers another $100 billion.

That's on top of the $80 billion spent to bail out American automakers and the relatively marginal $2 billion add-on to the $1 billion first provided for Cash for Clunkers.

Add all of that largesse to the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief program rushed through Congress last fall under President George W. Bush, and it is easy to see why the deficit grew by more than a trillion dollars in breathtaking speed.

It also accounts for several recent polls that show Americans are becoming increasingly concerned about spending and our nation's rising debt. Americans also should be concerned that the federal government spent all of that money and the unemployment rate shot to 10.2 percent and is headed even higher.

Congressional aides have estimated that the new spending package would cost tens of billions of dollars.

Lawmakers are considering road projects (remember all those shovel-ready projects simply waiting for cash?), loans to small businesses and incentives to manufacturers operating on American soil.

If possible, the lawmakers say they want to avoid deficit spending by possibly tapping unused TARP funds or adding a tax to stock trades. Certainly tapping TARP would make more sense than a new tax that would discourage investment.

As we've seen in Colorado, the situation among many state governments will be even more dire once the current round of stimulus money is gone. But as critics point out, endlessly borrowing money is poor public policy.

At some point, government, much like the American people who have been increasing their savings rates, needs to live within its means.

Like the last time, Democrats are urging swift passage of a new spending measure, perhaps having the bill passed before Obama's State of the Union address in January.

But first, he needs to give the American people more than lip service on our mounting debt.

November 19, 2009 - From Politico:

The chief federal oversight official for the stimulus program said in a letter Wednesday that he can’t certify whether the number of jobs “created or saved” by stimulus funds is accurate.

Recovery Board Chairman Earl Devaney was responding to a request for information by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. In a letter to Issa dated Nov. 17, Devaney wrote, “Your letter specifically asks if I am able to certify that the number of jobs reported as created/saved on Recovery.gov is accurate and auditable. No, I am not able to make this certification.”

The Obama administration claimed that it saved or created at least 1 million jobs this year. But errors in the stimulus job creation data have become a political hot potato, as the administration has been hit by news reports revealing that data it posted on recovery.gov includes jobs allegedly created in congressional districts that don’t exist.

These kinds of mistakes in a stimulus package cost jobs; these kinds of mistakes in a healthcare plan cost lives.

Friends-

As Thanksgiving fast approaches, I am reminded of everything I have to be thankful for – my wonderful family, our great country, and all the new friends that I’ve made over the past year. While we all have much to be thankful for, let us remember that there are many in our communities who are struggling. With record unemployment, this past year has been especially difficult for many of our fellow Coloradans. Before we celebrate the holidays, let us join together for a few hours to make Thanksgiving a little bit better for others.

Please join us on Monday, November 23 from 9:30am - noon as we volunteer our time at the JeffCo Action Center. We will be helping to sort and box food in their warehouse 8035 W. Colfax Avenue in Lakewood. The JeffCo Action Center needs to know how many of us to expect, so please RSVP by clicking here or emailing Marc Massey at marc@frazierforcolorado.com by noon on November 20.

I hope to see you there!

My best regards,

Ryan

Roll Call reports:

David Axelrod has a cure that may be worse than the disease he’s trying to alleviate.

The senior White House adviser admitted that low turnout among base Democratic voters contributed to the party’s gubernatorial losses in Virginia and New Jersey last week. And the White House plans to nationalize the 2010 elections around President Barack Obama in order to regain the 2008 enthusiasm.

But some of the most vulnerable House Democrats represent districts won by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) last year, and those Members may not be all that excited about a national referendum on Obama’s job performance. Furthermore, nationalizing the 2010 midterms could throw fuel on an already inflamed GOP electorate.

“The goal looking forward to 2010 —when we will in fact have a broad national election for Congress — is to motivate those independent voters who voted for us last time but stayed home this time,” Axelrod told Fox News last week.

The White House plans to nationalize the 2010 elections on its own terms by putting the president front and center in order to minimize the party’s losses, Axelrod explained to NBC’s “First Read.” The plan is to use the 2002 elections — when Republicans gained eight House seats and two Senate seats in President George W. Bush’s first midterm elections — as a blueprint.

But there is an underlying assumption that Obama will be at least as popular next November as he is this year. And Democrats appear to want the turnout benefits that a national election may bring without any of the backlash.

Chris Cillizza at The Washington Post reports that a Gallup poll of independent voters shows that a majority wanted their Representative to vote against it:

44: That's the percentage of independent voters who told Gallup they would advise their Member of Congress to vote against a health care bill while just 22 percent said their elected official should support it, polling that comes in the midst of the House's passage of the legislation over the weekend and the start of deliberations on it in the Senate.

When those independents who are "leaning" toward one position or the other are pushed on the matter, a majority (53 percent) said their Member should vote against a bill while 37 percent said he/she should vote for it.

Those numbers come a week after Democratic gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey and Virginia were badly outpaced by their Republican rivals among independents and less than one year before 258 House Democrats, 19 Senate Democrats and 19 Democratic-held governorships are open.

November 7, 2009 - The Associated Press has an article out about Republican opportunities in the 2010 elections:

Fear about the economy and anger at incumbents are coursing through the country, while independents wary of government expansion and federal spending under the president they helped elect are shifting toward Republicans.

Democrats will be forced to explain votes and positions on the expensive economic stimulus plan, climate change legislation and, probably, the health care overhaul. Although Democrats have a popular president on their side, there are limits to Obama's clout; Democratic gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey and Virginia lost last week even though he campaigned for them.

Republicans hope to pick up seats by harnessing the sour public mood and voter wariness over Obama's policies. The GOP is re-energized, but faces tension between conservatives and moderates over the party's direction, just as Democrats did between liberals and moderates when they were out of power.

Read the full article here.

November 5, 2009 - With little more than 36 hours remaining until the Pelosi Healthcare Bill is scheduled for a vote, it appears that the Democratic Congress’ trend of refusing to listen to American voices will continue. Despite a chorus of oppositions from Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs, Congress will vote tomorrow to bring government run healthcare to an unwilling nation. Amidst allegations that many in Congress did not read the former healthcare bill, H.R. 3200, Ryan Frazier believes Coloradans deserve better from the officials that represent them. “I believe that our representatives are answerable to the voters, not the other way around. However, lately Democrats in Congress are arrogantly stepping over the will of the people and have shirked the basic responsibility of listening to their constituents. Ed Perlmutter should fulfill the basic minimum requirement of his office and read the 1,990 page bill that proposes to force onerous regulation and additional taxes upon Coloradans. The citizens of the 7th District deserve better.”

The question remains if Congress will have time to read the gargantuan bill in the next 36 hours. At 1990 pages, Congressman Perlmutter will need to read roughly one page a minute until the time of the vote to get through it all. We hope he’s got a fresh pot of coffee brewing.