REPUBLICAN VALUES: THE NEXT GENERATION
by Ryan Oddey
Many people have accused my generation of many things. We have been called lazy, unoriginal, and worse. Some people think that the future of civilization may be in jeopardy once my generation comes into power. Myself and many other young Americans are working hard to dispel the negative stereotypes that have plagued us, but when I read about the actions of Nathan Taylor, the Chair of the upcoming Young Republican National Convention (YRNC) set to be held in Las Vegas, I felt a variety of emotions. At first, I was outraged, as I am sure you will be when I get into the allegations facing Mr. Taylor. However, this outrage soon turned into something else, as I began to realize that Nathan Taylor was just following in the footsteps of other Republican leaders.
Nathan Taylor managed to raise almost $25,000 for the Young Republican National Convention, however, he used almost all of this money for personal expenses. Apparently someone else on the planning committee became suspicions of Taylor when he asked that a check be made out to him to cover his birthday expenses at a bar. Shortly after his, a complaint was filed against Nathan Taylor with the Reno Police Department. Included in this complaint was a Bank Statement that indicates Taylor used funds to pay bills at Bully's Bar in Carson City Nevada, PF Chang's (Chinese Restaurant), Shell Oil, Mandalay Bay, and two cash withdrawals each in the amount of $200 within a 30 day period of each other.
Rather then show some accountability to these accusations, Taylor decided to follow the traditional Republican route. Taylor claims that these charges have been brought against him in response to his failure to endorse a specific candidate for Chairman of the Upcoming Young Republican National Convention. It would appear that Taylor is taking a page from the play book of Republican Congressman Tom Delay. Representative Delay is being investigated for the mismanagement of funds and he too has claimed that he is the victim of a political witch hunt.
It appears though, that Nathan Taylor has other political role models as well. Kriston Whiteside worked for Taylor, assisting him in planning the upcoming convention. During this time, she grew suspicious that Taylor was mismanaging the donations. Apparently Whiteside was concerned with the high bar tabs and other bills Taylor was paying with convention money. Whiteside says "I felt that Nathan was mismanaging funds and when I brought it to his attention, I was fired." Firing associates who bring attention to the mismanagement of money is a policy practiced by President Bush. You may recall that Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neil was asked to resign when he told President Bush that the tax cuts he proposed were going harm the economic stability of our nation.
If these allegations against Nathan Taylor are true, then his actions were northing short of unacceptable and illegal. As unfortunate as the events are for Taylor, what is more unfortunate is that the leaders of the party he is a member have shown that they are no stranger to similar tactics. I believe we can learn a lot from older generations, but sometimes we must be careful in choosing whose footsteps we want to follow.
The members of the Young Republican National convention claim that the event is in jeopardy of not happening because of Taylor's alleged actions. Although Taylor is no longer allowed to plan or solicit funds for the upcoming convention, the website promoting the event still has a picture of him. What kind of message are the Young Republicans sending when they still use the picture of a man to promote an event that he may have single handedly brought to the brink of collapse through illegal activity? Republicans, you call yourselves the party of values, and it looks like those values have been passed on to the next generation of the GOP.
