The RightOnline 2010 conference was held over the weekend in Las Vegas and reportedly drew 1,100 conservatives from all across the nation.

Now before all you liberals out there begin howling about RightOnline being a racist organization, relax. It didn't originate in reaction to the highly progressive policies of President Barack Obama (although that wouldn't necessarily qualify it for such a designation even if it had).

RightOnline was started in 2008 by the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, a grassroots organization dedicated to mobilizing activists who embrace the principles of limited government and free enterprise. According to the RightOnline web site, the two-day conference is aimed at inspiring and training conservative-minded activists to "more effectively impact public policy in favor of limited government and free enterprise."

The conference was originally aimed to counter the National Netroots Nation Convention (formerly known as the YearlyKos Convention), but, according to its site, it has developed into a fully-fledged political activist workshop.

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Share Your Experience from the 2010 RightOnline Conference! originally appeared on About.com Conservative Politics: U.S. on Monday, July 26th, 2010 at 19:01:31.

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Although the ethics charges brought against New York House Rep. Charlie Rangel haven't officially been released by the ethics panel that announced he would be facing them, the Associated Press released its version of the charges on Thursday.

Most of the charges seem rather mundane (although unquestionably wrong if they are true), but the common theme running through most of them is a carefully, almost premeditated, skirting of U.S. tax law and the use of his position in the House of Representatives to benefit himself and his pet projects. Rangel, who stepped down in March as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee after it was announcd he was under investigation, has pledged to fight the allegations, but there is no doubt that if he does, the saga will continue deep into the midterm election campaign, and that's a scenario none of his fellow House Democrats want. The last thing they need is one of their own facing ethics charges from a bipartisan House investigative body at such a critical time.

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Rangel Brought Up on Ethics Charges, But is He So Unusual? originally appeared on About.com Conservative Politics: U.S. on Friday, July 23rd, 2010 at 18:58:38.

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Forget for just a moment that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is related to those other Bushes.

When you separate him from his presidential brother and father, Jeb Bush has all the makings of a winning presidential candidate. Especially in these difficult economic times.

Consider this: Bush is the only Republican to have ever won a second term as Florida governor. He was as popular when he left office in 2007 as he was when he was first elected in 1998. He has been able to maintain excellent relationships with Florida's Hispanic and African American communities despite an educational initiative he adopted in 2001 that virtually ended affirmative action programs throughout the state's university system. Nevertheless, the accusations of racial discrimination that dogged President George W. Bush after the Katrina hurricane in 2005 would be tough to lodge against the former president's younger brother.

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Jeb Bush: Could He Be Our Next President? originally appeared on About.com Conservative Politics: U.S. on Monday, July 19th, 2010 at 13:07:58.

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Early last year, about a month after President Barack Obama became president, the NAACP celebrated its 100th anniversary.

In what should have been a moment of serenity for the organization, which has done so much for African Americans since it was founded in 1909, an interview with MSNBC reporter Peter Alexander called the group's entire relevancy into question when he remarked that the president was honoring "this nation's ... colored people ..."

Although Alexander apologized for the perceived slight during the next segment, his remark wasn't offensive in that it was racist; clearly, the context was one of celebration of African Americans. If the comment was offensive for anything, it was that Alexander -- a white man -- had used the antiquated term found in the group's name, "National Association for the Advancement of Colored People."

The problem for the NAACP wasn't that it had been slighted. The problem was that the remark made many within the NAACP, as well as those outside it, question the organization itself was as antiquated as the term. There was even a call for the organization to change its name.

It would certainly seem these days that the NAACP has served its purpose. These days the organization isn't as focused on civil rights issues because the federal government has become a racial watchdog, implementing affirmative action programs in just about every area of public employment and demanding racial quotes for private sector industries that receive any form of federal, state or local funding. Instead, the NAACP has shifted its attention to political policy and has become essentially an lobby group for African Americans. It is no longer focused on racial harmony. If anything, the organization actually depends on racial strife, because its primary purpose is black advocacy.

And so it was with great surprise Tuesday that I heard the NAACP had indeed passed a resolutioncondemning the Tea Party's racist elements.

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NAACP's Racist Resolution Against Tea Party originally appeared on About.com Conservative Politics: U.S. on Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 at 00:48:38.

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Every day it seems as though there's some new outrage being perpetrated by the Barack Obama administration.

Take yesterday, for example. After campaigning on a platform of absolute transparency in 2008, President Obama waited until Congress adjourned for its 2010 summer break before appointing Dr. Donald Berwick to head the agency overseeing Medicare and Medicaid. His decision, which is even dividing Democrats, was made after it became evident Republicans were going to grill Berwick about the implementation of ObamaCare.

Berwick's comments supporting government-run health care initiatives -- including rationing -- are causing quite a stir, but the real outrage this week was the decision by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to sue the state of Arizona for defending itself from a foreign threat. Arizona, facing a deluge of illegal border crossings, did the only thing it could under the circumstances -- it passed legislation that will enact a new illegal immigration enforcement law on July 29.

The Justice Department's complaint, filed Tuesday by Assistant Attorney General Tony West, attempts to invalidate S.B. 1070 (the legislation establishing Arizona's new law) in a number of ways.

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The DOJ's Misguided Lawsuit Against Arizona originally appeared on About.com Conservative Politics: U.S. on Thursday, July 8th, 2010 at 18:33:47.

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June's unemployment numbers arrived last week, and they didn't give many people cause to celebrate.

For President Barack Obama, though, they were just one more reason to party.

June's unemployment figures show the economy dropped another 125,000 jobs, bringing the total number lost on Obama's watch to 4.5 million -- the most since a two-year span in the early 1930s.

Yet President Barack Obama continues to boast about his job creation performance, and in his weekly radio address this weekend, he had the audacity to call out Republicans for obstructing a financial reform bill he claims will create jobs.

The Republicans have a right to be skeptical. After all, this isn't the first time the president has dangled the promise of job creation from a stick to get what he wants.

Obama seems to forget that his party has been in the majority since he became president on January 20, 2009. He had 18 months to do whatever he wanted, and only now, after Republicans have regained their ability to filibuster has he decided to accuse them of standing in the way of creating jobs.

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Obama's Dismal Job Creation Performance originally appeared on About.com Conservative Politics: U.S. on Monday, July 5th, 2010 at 23:48:34.

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