Adam Kinzinger

I received an email yesterday from Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R, Ill.) that he's given me permission to post, as I thought it would be of interest to our readers. Here it is:

Bill,

All this haggling over a tax rate made me realize one thing... We have failed to explain what conservatism really means.  Immigrants who have come here since Reagan have never had a strong spokesman for conservatism, and in a world where the prevailing worldview is through a spectrum of government, this concept is insanely foreign.

I don't care what tax rates are, they are all random number derived from haggling and negotiations.   What I want is a small government with a strong and fierce military that can kill our enemies and break their toys, legitimate safety nets that provide food and not a way of life, and some roads and bridges.  Put that vision into action and set the tax rates at a percent that covers those costs.   And once you have our payment, leave us the hell alone.  That my friend, is conservatism.

The musings of a soon to be sophomore congressman.

Adam Kinzinger

Sent from my iPhone

Democrats won congressional campaigns in 2006 and 2008 campaigning as moderates. The party fielded candidates with attractive personal stories who did not stray far from the center. One of those candidates was former Mary Kay cosmetics saleswoman Debbie Halvorson, a freshman elected in 2008 in Illinois's Eleventh Congressional District.

This was no ordinary victory. Illinois 11 is a Republican place. Bush won it in 2000 and 2004. Halvorson's predecessor, Republican Jerry Weller, held the seat since 1994 before retiring in 2008. But the GOP trend did not hold in a Democratic year, with Illinois's own Barack Obama at the top of the ticket. Obama defeated McCain 53 percent to 45 percent. Halvorson defeated her Republican opponent, businessman Marty Ozinga, 58 percent to 34 percent.