RIPON FORUM Shines a Spotlight on Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman’s Efforts to Block Federal Regulatory Overreach

Latest edition of centrist Republican journal also features profile of the nation’s first Latina Governor, Susana Martinez of New Mexico

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In its latest edition, THE RIPON FORUM shines a spotlight on Michigan Republican Fred Upton, who overcame opposition to become the Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee and is now leading an effort to block regulatory overreach by the federal government.

“When Fred Upton was named Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee last December,” stated FORUM editor Lou Zickar, “it was not just one of the biggest victories of his career, but also a victory over radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who waged an on-air crusade to deny the Michigan Republican the gavel. Now, Upton is taking on another bloated force — the Environmental Protection Agency.

“As he writes in our latest edition, ‘A million or more large and small businesses, as well as many farms and buildings, would eventually come under the agency’s regulatory authority’ if new rules the EPA is now proposing were to go into effect. Upton is pushing a plan to block these rules, which he discusses in his op-ed. In pushing this plan, he is essentially jabbing a finger in the chest of those who thought he would back down in the face of this regulatory onslaught. He is also redefining what it means to be a centrist Republican. It is a brand of centrism that places pragmatism ahead of politics and issues over ideology. It is also a brand of centrism that we embrace.

“Indeed, we burned our Birkenstocks long ago here at The Ripon Society. And the posters of Nelson Rockefeller have long been put away. In their place are posters bearing the new heroes of Republican centrism. Governors like Rick Snyder, who is using his experience as the former CEO of Gateway Computer to cut spending and instill business-like efficiency in the government of his home state. Senators like Scott Brown, who is carving an independent path on Capitol Hill as someone who always puts people ahead of party and never forgets the working class roots from which he came. And Representatives like Fred Upton, who, in taking on the EPA, is setting out to prove that one can support a clean environment and a strong economy at the same time. Here’s hoping he succeeds.”

In addition to the op-ed by Upton, Zickar noted that the latest edition of the FORUM also features a profile of Susana Martinez, who, with her election as Governor of New Mexico last fall, became the first Latina Governor in the United States. “The way Republicans win support among minorities,” she tells the FORUM, “is to lose the rhetoric and labels and talk honestly about the issues that minorities care about. Issues like responsibly balancing the budget, eliminating wasteful spending, ending corruption, improving education for our children and rebuilding our economy around a vibrant small business community will help create a better life for all New Mexicans, and that will earn their support.”

Other authors and essays featured in the latest edition of THE RIPON FORUM include:

• West Virginia Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito – writing about how overreaching by the EPA is destroying jobs in her home state;

• Pennsylvania Congressman Tim Murphy – writing about the need to boost all types of domestic fuel production in light of growing unrest in the Middle East;

• Texas Congresswoman Kay Granger – writing about the Egyptian uprising and the chain reaction it has caused throughout the region;

• Former Pennsylvania Congressman Bob Walker – writing about the budget battles of 1995 and the lessons House Republicans can learn from that fateful year;

• Fiscal Expert Demian Brady – writing about the war on federal redundancy and why duplicative government programs should be the first place Congress looks to cut;

• Trade Expert Daniel Griswold – writing about the state of U.S. trade policy and why trade agreements may be an area of bipartisan cooperation this year;

• George Mason University Scholars Maurice McTigue & Daniel Rothschild – writing about their experience as members of government efficiency commissions in Virginia and Louisiana and their eight steps to better reform; and,
• Ohio University Professor Chester Pach – writing about the Presidency of Ronald Reagan and why 1983 was such a pivotal year.

The latest edition of the FORUM also includes coverage of The Ripon Society’s 2011 Legislative Directors Symposium on Leadership at Mount Vernon, which was held February 4th and was attended by the top legislative aides for nearly 100 Republican Members of Congress. 

THE RIPON FORUM is published by The Ripon Society, a public policy organization that was founded in 1962 and takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 – Ripon, Wisconsin. One of the main goals of The Ripon Society is to promote the ideas and principles that have made America great and contributed to the GOP’s success. These ideas include keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes low and having a federal government that is smaller, smarter and more accountable to the people.