From: AdmrlLocke@aol.com Sent: Friday, August 13, 1999 1:55 AM To: undisclosed-recipients: ; Subject: GrammNet: Kasich Team Joins Forbes; My Column #1 GrammNet Issue 8/13/99.2 Dear Friend, Normally I like to let newspapers publish my columns before I send them to you, but two columns on Forbes currently languish unattended on the desks of our Iowa liberal media. Isn't it curiously how so few members of the news media want you to hear anything about Steve Forbes? So with the Iowa Straw Poll approaching in roughly 36 hours, I'm breaking with tradition by sending you two unpublished columns--one here, and the other in a message to follow. Below you'll also find a small news item from last week reporting that John Kasich's Iowa campaign team has joined the Forbes team here. Kasich was seen by his supporters as representing a break with Washington politics as usual--something which Steve Forbes represents in abundance. Welcome to the party folks! Sincerely, David B. Levenstam, CPA, MT, MA GrammNet is an independent newsletter, not affiliated with Senator Gramm. To subscribe to GrammNet, email me at AdmrlLocke@aol.com, with a message to the effect that you'd like to subscribe. GrammNet back issues available at http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/3390/ ------------------------ Why I Chose Forbes By David B. Levenstam, CPA, MT, MA I came away from last summer's Iowa Republican Presidential Gala with a positive impression of both Steve Forbes and Gary Bauer. I thought that if a candidate could combine their appeal, he or she could unite conservatives and win the Republican nomination. A year later I believe that candidate is Forbes. Last summer I observed that although Forbes had made significant contributions to banning partial-birth abortions--an extreme procedure opposed by 80 percent of Americans--it remained to be seen whether Forbes could persuade social conservatives that his pro-life activism was genuine. No longer. In the past year, many prominent social conservatives have joined the Forbes campaign. Not since Ronald Reagan has any candidate so solid with economic conservatives had such a strong appeal among social conservatives that he could attract conservatives like Iowa's Nancy Streck, a key supporter of Pat Buchanan in 1996. While attracting social conservatives, Forbes has broadened his appeal to economic conservatives by spending more time discussing Social Security. Forbes will transform Social Security from a Ponzi scheme which takes money from you and gives it to my parents, into a personalized, private retirement plan under which you invest your contributions for your own retirement. As for the folks who actually believe that Washington knows best, Forbes' plan will even allow them to keep sending their money to Washington, while letting the rest of us save for our retirement. Forbes retains the flat tax as an integral part of his campaign. The flat tax will encourage the creation of jobs and the growth of incomes by eliminating the tax on investments and cutting the tax on other income to a flat rate of 17 percent. Generous exemptions remove the working poor from the federal income tax roll entirely. Forbes has also taken the lead on abortion. He's the only candidate who has actually helped enact a ban on partial-birth abortions (in his home state of New Jersey where he ran ads which were crucial to overturning Christine Whitman's veto). He's also the candidate setting a new tone for pro-life arguments. In 1996 when Forbes declared that you can't change the laws until you change people's minds, he was attacked by some rivals as being not sufficiently pro-life. Now his commonsense declaration has become the official position of other pro-life candidates as well. With his sensible tone Forbes avoids frightening away economic conservatives while still demonstrating to social conservatives his ardent support for the right to life. Thus Forbes is poised to unite economic and social conservatives, while he alone has the financial resources to challenge the Republican establishment's anointed candidate. Some Republicans, however, want to emulate Bill Clinton by campaigning on vague themes. They figure that Clinton got elected using good-sounding but meaningless rhetoric and then governed as a liberal, so that a Republican could get elected using good-sounding but meaningless rhetoric and then govern as a conservative. A look at history demonstrates their error. In 1980 Ronald Reagan ran as an unashamed conservative on a clear platform of cutting marginal tax rates and government spending, rebuilding America's defenses, and protecting the right to life. He won overwhelmingly and brought a Republican majority to the Senate for the first time in 25 years. In 1994 when Newt Gingrich campaigned on a clear conservative platform of restraining the growth of entitlements, returning power to the states and protecting the family, he brought Republican majorities to both houses of Congress for the first time in 40 years. On the other hand, when George Bush ran in 1988 on vague rhetoric like being "the education president" or a "Teddy Roosevelt Republican," he was able to win only as Reagan's heir, and garnered no Republican majorities. When he broke his only campaign promise--not to let Democrats raise taxes--he sank Republicans in Congress to their lowest number since Watergate. Congressional Republicans themselves, timid since 1995, have steadily lost seats in the House by campaigning mostly on being better pork-barrellers than the Democrats. If Republicans run a vague candidate in 2000, we're likely to lose the House and maybe even the Senate. But if we choose Forbes, with his bold plan for a rebirth of freedom in America, we're likely to increase our majorities in Congress and elect a man with the vision needed to lead them. That's why I'm supporting Steve Forbes. ------------------------ KASICH TEAM JOINS FORBES "Forbes Is The One True Conservative Who Can Win" GRUNDY CENTER, IA - Steve Forbes, Republican presidential candidate, today announced that John Kasich's former State Director Karen Slifka, Field Coordinator De Byerly and Field Director Matt Loney have joined the Forbes 2000 team. "This is fast becoming a two man race and I am personally convinced that Steve Forbes is the one true conservative who can win," said Karen Slifka. "Steve is offering real solutions, not excuses. I think he represents a new generation of fresh innovative leadership, and I really appreciate Steve and Sabina welcoming us onto their team." "The more I learn about Steve Forbes the more impressed I am," said De Byerly, Republican State Central Committee member. "He's conservative. Steve is an independent outsider. And I think he's the only candidate in this race who will really take on the lobbyists and special interest groups. I look forward to helping him have an impressive showing at the Iowa Straw Poll and then win the Iowa caucuses." Forbes 2000 Campaign Manager Bill Dal Col made the following remarks regarding the campaign's new support: "We welcome the experience and support of the Kasich team. Karen, De, and Matt are veterans of conservative grassroots efforts here in Iowa. The fact that they have chosen to support Steve is a sign of the momentum that our grassroots campaign is gaining." Karen Slifka was Rep. Kasich's Iowa Director. Before that she managed the Republican congressional campaign of Larry McKibben. She was the Administrative Assistant for Iowa State Senate Majority Leader Stew Iverson, and was the Deputy Political Director for the Iowa Republican Party in 1996. De Byerly was Rep. Kasich's Iowa Field Coordinator. She serves on the Iowa Republican Party's State Central Committee. She also worked on the field staff of Jim Lightfoot's Gubernatorial campaign. Matt Loney was Rep. Kasich's Iowa Field Director. He previously served as Field Director for Republican congressional candidate Larry McKibben.