A leading House Republican wants Europeans to be solely responsible for climbing out of the European debt crisis and is calling on the U.S. to limit its contribution to that relief effort.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) said Monday that the United States should be focusing on its own fiscal priorities and not sending billions abroad to prop up European nations via its contributions to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“At a time when the federal government is borrowing $5 billion every day on top of a $14 trillion national debt, we should not be funneling billions of dollars through the IMF to bail out Greece, Portugal, Ireland, and other wealthy European countries. The European Union was set up to be an economic competitor to the United States, and therefore, any bailout funds should come from the E.U., not the U.S,” she said in a statement. “We cannot take the ‘too big to fail’ philosophy to a global level.”

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Bolton had publicly discussed running for president in 2012, but announced earlier this month he would not seek the nomination. Wagner is his first endorsement of the cycle.

Wagner, a former chairwoman of the Missouri GOP, also served as ambassador to Luxembourg. Her term as a diplomat under former President George W. Bush (R) slightly overlapped with Bolton’s.

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Saudi King Abdullah announced Sunday that the nation’s women will gain the right to vote and run as candidates in local elections to be held in 2015 in a major advancement for the rights of women in the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom.

In an annual speech before his advisory assembly, or Shura Council, the Saudi monarch said he ordered the step after consulting with the nation’s top religious clerics, whose advice carries great weight in the kingdom.

“We refuse to marginalize the role of women in Saudi society and in every aspect, within the rules of Sharia,” Abdullah said, referring to the Islamic law that governs many aspects of life in the kingdom.

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FORMER SECRETARY CONDOLEEZZA RICE TO JOIN 2011 WOMEN WORKING FOR CHANGE CONFERENCE

Washington, DC – In one of her first political appearances of the 2012 election cycle, Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will attend 2011Women Working for Change Conference in Washington, DC.

On November 18, 2011, the conference will host a luncheon titled: “No Higher Honor: A Conversation with Condoleezza Rice.” Conference participants will hear first hand from Secretary Rice on her experiences serving our nation, her advice to conservative women in the arena, her views on current affairs and personal reflections about her newest book, No Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington (to be published on November 1, 2011 by Crown Publishers). All lunch participants will also receive a personally signed copy of Secretary Rice’s book.

“Secretary Rice is the highest ranking Republican woman in history, and we are honored that she has chosen to join our conference,” said ProjectGoPink Founder Suzanne Haik Terrell. “So many women have grown to admire Secretary Rice’s strength, conviction and poise. It will be an incredible tool for our participants to hear her story and view’s first hand.”

One year away from the 2012 elections, a group of strong and experienced women has joined together to host the largest gathering of conservative women of the 2012 election cycle. Heels On, Gloves Off: Women Working for Change will be held in Washington, DC November 16th – 19th at theGaylord National Hotel & Convention Center. The Conference, which has been called a “CPAC for women,” will bring prominent leaders, grass roots activists and experts together to share their tools , techniques and testimonials.

“In elections and activism, more and more conservative women are raising their hands and doing their part to fight for what is right, and to restore America.” Terrell continues, “Americans are learning there is truth to Margaret Thatcher’s famous quote: “if you want something said, send a man. If you want something done, send a woman.’”

Women Working for Change is the latest in a series of events powered by ProjectGoPink. Founded as an early response to the uprising of conservative women over the past several years, ProjectGoPink has brought together experienced women to share their tools, techniques and testimonials to empower the next generation of conservative women activists and leaders.

Individuals interested in attending the conference or the luncheon with Secretary Rice can register at http://wwfc2011.com.

Alabama’s new state finance director, Marquita Davis, says she didn’t seek the job, but she accepted the challenge when Gov. Robert Bentley offered it.

The 44-year-old Davis was sworn in by the governor during a ceremony Monday at the Capitol.

She’s the state’s first female finance director, but both she and Bentley say they didn’t realize that until after she had accepted the job. Bentley said it was never a consideration.

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by Ben Smith

The White House ‘a hostile workplace’ to women

If there was any allegation that got under the skin of President Obama’s staff early in his term, it was that he had a gender problem — a claim that Hillary Clinton and even John McCain pushed about Obama’s campaign, and which has been a source of quieter grumbles about the Administration.

Since then, a long list of women in senior posts have cycled through the Administration and left for other jobs — Anita Dunn, Ellen Moran, and Linda Douglass in the communications shop; Neera Tanden and Mona Sutphen and at the top Christina Romer in senior policy jobs. They’ve gone on to senior posts elsewhere, but relatively few have advanced to positions of substantive influence on the inside. The names of women who remain tend to be absent from the key tick-tocks and the Oval Office photos — with some obvious exceptions: Samantha Power is a senior voice at the NSC; Romer was certainly heard, though she lost, in arguments over stimulus.

And Dunn just blew the issue wide open to Ron Suskind, Mike Allen reports:

“‘The president has a real woman problem’ was the assessment of another high-ranking female official. ‘The idea of the boys’ club being just Larry and Rahm isn’t fair. He [Obama] was just as responsible himself.’ …’[L]ooking back,’ recalled Anita Dunn, when asked about it nearly two years later, ‘this place would be in court for a hostile workplace … Because it actually fit all of the classic legal requirements for a genuinely hostile workplace to women.’”

The Post has various attempted walkbacks.

UPDATE: And Dunn is pushing back hard on the interpretation of her words. She emails, “He asked me and I said the direct opposite. Challenging environment yes. Hostile workplace no.”

It is, a colleague suggests, time for Obama to bring Domestic Policy Council director Melody Barnes for another round of golf.

House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt announced on Sept. 13 that he was “strengthening” his leadership team as the Legislature heads toward the opening of the 2012 session, specifically focused on job creation.

“The people of New Hampshire were exceptionally clear during the last election; people need jobs, employers need breathing room and government must be smaller, more efficient and one that actually works for the people,” he said in a press release.

One new member of the team will be state Rep. Laurie Sanborn, R-Henniker, who was named Assistant Deputy Majority Leader.

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AMERICAN INDIVIDUALISM: How a new gene ratio of conservatives can save the Republican Party by Margaret Hoover

Book Reviewed by Heather Wolf

Heather Wolf is a former Bush White House aide and a John McCain presidential campaign staffer.

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With the 2012 Republican primary race well under way, I am filled with anticipation: Who is going to be the Republican nominee? If the GOP does not unite in 2012, President Obama will be a two-term president.

As a millennial – my generation was born between the Reagan-through-Clinton presidencies, now ages 18-29 – I was excited to read Margaret Hoover’s book, “American Individualism,” and it is thought provoking.

Ms. Hoover is a Fox News analyst and appears on “The O’Reilly Factor” as a “culture warrior.” She is the great-granddaughter of President Herbert Hoover. However, growing up as a Hoover was never easy for the author. Throughout her education, she listened to teachers and professors vilify her great-grandfather.

Nevertheless, when Ms. Hoover came across one of Herbert Hoover’s pamphlets published in 1922 titled “American Individualism,” she was struck by the opportunity to advance his legacy. The pamphlet is a broad and forceful statement of political philosophy and an essay on the relationship between the individual and the state. Written nearly a century ago, it applies to circumstances today.

“American Individualism” could not be coming out at a more critical time. Ms. Hoover reflects on the outcome of the 2010 midterm elections and what it means for the upcoming presidential race. Moreover, as she makes the case for how the GOP can right itself and capture the allegiance of younger voters, she challenges the up-and-coming millennial generation to take another look at the Republican Party.

Ms. Hoover nails down the way the millennial generation is trending – politically, culturally and spiritually – predominantly in moderate- and independent-voting areas of the country. In fact, the GOP presidential campaigns should apply some of Ms. Hoover’s insights when the candidates address younger voters.

Ms. Hoover believes that the GOP is uniquely positioned to offer solutions for the most pressing problems facing America – skyrocketing debt, crises in education and immigration, a war against Islamic extremism – but she argues that it is held back by the outsized influence of certain factions within the party. She describes the steps the party must take to become home to the millennial generation.

Ronald Reagan was the last leader who led with the big-tent approach. He understood that if someone is conservative on 8 to 10 major conservative principles, that was sufficient to secure their vote. Reagan managed to link neoconservatives, anti-communists and national security conservatives with social conservatives.

In 2008, Sen. Barack Obama had a similar approach with liberals, blue dogs and independents. Mr. Obama electrified the millennial base and they came out in droves to the polls. However, now in 2011, all millennials can remember from the Obama campaign is “change.” As a result of Mr. Obama’s fiscal mismanagement, Republicans have an opportunity to make headway with younger voters.

Millennials are natural go-getters. In college many are involved in extracurricular activities and internships to prepare for future employers. Now, however, they are unable to find jobs, and many must still live at home with their parents. Their unemployment rate is currently 37 percent. With fewer fiscally responsible Democrats in office, this dire circumstance leaves an opening for Republicans.

In 1936, Herbert Hoover said, “Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt.” Ms. Hoover writes that a Hoover growth plan would channel his business instincts: Stop printing money. Get our fiscal house in order. Balance the budget. Reform entitlement spending. Stop runaway spending in Congress.

That will make sense to younger voters, too, who know the economy they are being given will give them a lower standard of living than their parents. Millennials understand that poor economic growth and our unsustainable spending is generational theft.

Republicans are running out of time to connect with the next generation. Partisan identification solidifies after three presidential cycles. Millennials voted decisively for John F. Kerry in 2004 and Barack Obama in 2008. Politicians have 16 months to make inroads with this generation – the largest voting bloc in history, which will make up 24 percent of the votes in 2012, and which made all the difference in Mr. Obama’s election.

Youth voted overwhelmingly for Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984, and it can happen again. With a conservative pro-growth economic agenda that puts the millennial generation to work and brings millennials into the GOP, the future is ours.

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