There is an old saying that all politics is local. Alot of people dont pay attention to the local elections as much as the national. But the local elections are just as important. And in order for conservatism to be a strong movement, we have to look at local politics.

First, in order to have conservative candidates at the upper levels of national government we need to cultivate conservative candidates at the local level. That means conservatives must get involved in the local level. Persuade friends and family to support conservatives and yes even run for office. We need a pool of conservatives to choose from.

Second, Congressional races are very local. In order for conservatism we need to focus on local election of conservative Congressmen and Senators. Even if we get liberals in the Presidency we need conservatives to check them and to check their judicial nominations.

Conservatives have to return to the grass roots of our movement. we need to start locally and as we do that we will get conservative Presidents.

The simple economics of foreign oil dependency…oil comes in, money goes out….US oil imports have increased steadily….we import more than 10 million barrels of oil per day…..at recent prices that means $800 million dollars a day is being exported…..

Recently it has been argued that in order to jumpstart our economy we need to send out tax rebates totaling $145 billion…at that rate, it seem we have been busy jumpstarting the economies of Mexico, Venezuela, and the Persian Gulf for the last several years….

Recently it was reported that a new biofuel plant is being built in the state of Washington, which will produce a hundred million gallons of fuel annually. The processing system will cost $30 million dollars….that means the equivalent of one days worth of petroleum imports ($800 million) could build more than 25 biofuel plants, producing 25 hundred million gallons of fuel per year….

Not to mention the impact on the local economy in 25 locations around the country when you spend the money for construction…

This particular biofuel plant is being fueled by wood byproducts….in Florida they are experimenting with biofuel from citrus pulp and skins left over from juicing…..experiments are going on using landfills to fuel ethanol plants……there is even a study going on which suggests they can produce ethanol from seaweed….imagine, a plant which can grow in saltwater producing fuel!

Republicans are the party that supports business, but when did we become the “party of big oil companies” instead of the “party of small businessmen trying to build biofuel plants”?

I will add more biofuel news as I find it….

Coors Brewing Company is doubling its current production of 1.5 million gallons of ethanol per year from beer waste by adding a second ethanol processing plant at its Aurora, Colorado brewery.

Xethanol Corporation (AMEX: XNL - News), a renewable energy company focused on converting biomass to biofuel, today announced the Company has formed a venture with Renewable Spirits, LLC for the purpose of building a biomass-based pilot production facility, utilizing waste citrus peels as raw material for making ethanol. The venture is located in Bartow, Florida, the heart of the state’s citrus industry. The venture is expected to establish a pilot plant to produce up to 50,000 gallons of ethanol this harvesting season. The pilot plant, which will increase to over 500,000 gallons per year (GPY), is co-located at a facility owned and operated by Peace River Citrus Products, Inc., a leading producer of orange and grapefruit juice and other citrus products.

With help from a state agricultural grant, a Wisconsin company has successfully tested technology that converts cheese waste into ethanol.

With the win in Florida, it looks like McCain has a strong chance of being the Republican nominee unless Huckabee or Romney can pull an upset. There are alot of conservatives who cannot vote for McCain, and I think they would be completely justified in exercising their right not to vote for McCain. However, there is a problem because they will be inclined now to go to the polls. This would be disasterous.

As vital as the Presidency is, it’s just as important to elect conservatives to Congress in both the House and the Senate. If Conservatives don’t go to the poll and Hillary, Obama, or McCain is elected President, we will need a Conservative Congress to act as a check against them.

We not only need them to check the President with conservatism. We also need it to develop more conservative politicians in the system. The more Conservatives in government, regardless of the position, the better off our conservative movement will be.

So I recommend get involved in state and congressional race. Support conservatives for Governor, for township leaders, for Mayors, for the House, for the Senate. We can still do things!

Have you noticed that every candidate is the candidate of change this election?…..the major theme that seems to be emerging is that everyone is sick of the way things have been handled in Washington, whether by the legislature (either party) or the administration….the sad thing is, I recall that the election of 2000 was about change as well….Bush was presented as the candidate who had demonstrated his ability to work across the aisle in Texas…..things were going to be different if he got elected…..as I recall, though, he was still trying to get his cabinet approved nine months after he was inaugurated….

So, who embodies change this election cycle….on the Democratic side it appears that Obama has captured everyone’s attention….they are calling him the new JFK now….if he gets elected it will be on his charisma….we have had presidents on both sides who were elected on their charisma…..the old JFK….Reagan….Clinton…..he certainly has the chance at securing the “change” title, since he doesn’t have a lifelong tie to Washington….

Last time around Dean was on the path till he screwed it up….can Obama hold it together long enough to secure the nomination?…..

How about the Republican side…..I don’t see anyone pushing the “change” angle there…too much effort being given to appearing like Reagan…..don’t get me wrong, I loved Reagan….he was the perfect president for that time in our history…..but this isn’t 1980….

We need a candidate who will come forward and convince the world that we don’t need another JFK or another Reagan…..one who can convince them we need THAT candidate, for the here and now…..

The simple fact is that Florida is going to be a key primary for the Republicans because it’s right before Super Tuesday and will help narrow down the candidate choices.

After South Carolina and Nevada, it was clear that Huckabee and Thompson were out. Although, Huckabee still hasn’t dropped out, any momentum he has from Iowa is long gone. He is broke and unable to compete. Thompson, despite coming on strong late in South Carolina, didn’t see how he could continue on and dropped out. But Romney and McCain who won Nevada and South Carolina respectedly.

So Florida is now the opportunity to see whether McCain or Romney will come out on top for momentum on Super Tuesday. Giuliani is still in the race, but Florida will be the test to see whether he is viable on Super Tuesday. Florida has the potential to narrow it down to two main contenders, or even narrow it down to the candidate who will win the nomination.

So tomorrow we may have a much better idea who the next Republican nominee is. Let’s hope Florida makes a good choice.

It’s now has happened to me twice in the past 3 months. Back in November I managed to drag myself to school 3 days feeling awful, then I literally couldn’t get out of bed. My son called in for me, I couldn’t even do lesson plans. Went to the doctor, strep/bronchitis. Missed that Friday, all weekend, first 3 days of the next week. I’m really used to successfully ignoring pain and symptoms, and having them go away.

Last Wednesday I came home from school, freezing-shaking freezing. It was sub-zero, so I figured that was it. Woke up Thursday still freezing, with severe pain in right front abdomen and back area. Dragged myself to school. Came home, popped an aspirin and went to bed, basically woke up after 6 hours, but kept going back to sleep. Finally dragged myself out of bed and went to school on Friday, yeah stupid. Pain got a lot worse. Got home, popped an aspirin and went to bed. Stayed in bed all day Saturday.

Sunday I was supposed to go to school for mass, kick off of Catholic Schools Week. Arrggg. Got up at 6, got in shower, nearly passed out. Got back in bed, called principal, I was NOT coming.

Went to doctor. Pretty bad kidney infection, she wanted to put me in hospital, probably psych ward. Shot in ass, thus the pain and 14 days of oral anti-biotics, (cipro, you know the anthrax drug). Agreed to total bed rest, til at least Wednesday, unless my primary care doctor says longer, she said there wasn’t a chance he’d say less. Tomorrow morning get to meet the primary care doctor and watch again the rolling of eyes at my stupidity.

I’m feeling a bit better, then the temperature spikes again and the shakes come back, but those are coming further apart. I think it may be time to get to the doctor more regularly. Did I mention I hate doctors?