Specter and Collins: Republicans Until it Mattered

I am not experienced or sage or exceedingly wise, but I do know that the measure of a person is determined based on how well they stick to their bedrock principles when times get tough. Today, Susan Collins and Arlen Specter have shown the people and the nation that they purport to care about how utterly spineless and worthless they truly are. The bill they “compromised” on tonight will cast an anchor around the neck of our nation far longer than either of these politicians will live. It is my generation and that of my children that will be forced to clean up the mess made by these two spineless moderates.

We conservatives expected a tough road after the election and we knew that compromises would be made. What we didn’t expect was to be broadsided by two turncoat senators who were too worried about appearing to obstruct a popular president from ramming a massive and, by all reasonable accounts, inefficient and ineffective stimulus bill down America’s throat. When big things like this come up, we expected our Republicans in Congress to stand in the way and shout “NO!” When this matter was taken up by the house, every Republican and even eleven members of President Obama’s own party stood up and shouted “NO!” and yet when the matter came before the body with the power to stop the bill, two cowards whimpered “yes”.

In Specter’s case, it can be attributed to his re-election campaign and his need to not appear to be standing in the way of the president, who is very popular in his home state. This is no excuse for abandoning his party and his country. I can only hope someone with a backbone and a sense of what’s right can knock the capitulating senator out in the primary.

Senator Collins has no excuse. She was just re-elected in the face of overwhelming Democratic victories in her region. She would have had 6 years and a presidential election cycle to explain her no vote to the people of Maine. Even if we grant that Specter needed to worry about an impending election (which I do not), this is not an option for explaining Susan Collins. Both of these senators are truly penny wise and dollar foolish.

President Reagan told us never to speak ill of a fellow Republican. I have to take issue with the great communicator, even if today is his birthday. A political party is nothing more than a collection of people who like the name if there are no fundamental principles that all members share at their core. Although the Republican Party has gotten lost in the woods in recent years, I still believe that there is a core of conservatism and fiscal restraint engrained at the very center of what it means to be a Republican. If these two senators can’t seem to get a grip on that when the big issues come up, who really cares if they side with the Republican caucus to stop the small stuff? Once you run the ship into the shore, who really cares if you move the rudder? In short, why do we allow these people the right to call themselves Republicans if they will abandon ship the moment it looks like they would be standing in the way of a popular president and a hysterical media feeding exaggerations and false comparisons to the Great Depression?

Those of you who know me understand that I am not anything close to a party line hack, but this is no ordinary bill and we are not in ordinary times. If each terrible part of this godforsaken bill were separate, I would have no issue with certain items passing in compromise. But this is an all or nothing monolith of government intervention and power grabbing. This is a defining moment for our nation and the Republican Party. If Collins and Specter aren’t able to stand strong with the rest of their colleagues, why do they deserve to stand up with them at all? There are moderate members of the house who somehow found the courage the shout “NO!” so why couldn’t these two weasels find a way to do the same?

This “stimulus” bill vote is going to be a defining moment for every member of this body one way or another. When my grandchildren ask me why they were born into a nation with so much debt and obligation, I will have to look them in the eye and tell them that two senators buckled to the pressure of fleeting popular opinion. When given the choice to stand up and say no to the foolish majority, Senators Specter and Collins sold our children and our grandchildren over $1,000,000,000 in debt simply so they didn’t have to look like obstructionists to “hope and change”.

Thanks for reading,
Andrew

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The Obama plan?

Replace candy and ice cream with "income supplement checks" and "universal health care" and substitute the kids for all of American population and you've got a good outline for Barack Obama's plan. (Have a little fun people!)

The double standards of the campaign we have so enjoyed…

Oh the media…your thorough reporting and tough questions to the candidates on some of our biggest campaign issues have left me wondering how you can be so fair, so unbiased, and so equal in your coverage…yeah right.

Here are some examples of your great double standards.

The Health of our Candidates
John McCain is 72 years old and had skin cancer a while ago, clearly this should make us look at Palin more strictly because John McCain probably wouldn’t last half a term.

There’s no need to worry about almost 66 year old Biden and his history of near fatal aneurisms though; those were a long time ago.

The “Washington Insider”
John McCain has been a Washington insider for far too long; 32 years! He is part of the broken mess in Washington that we need to change!

Joe Biden has been a part of Washington for 26 years, his long service gives him the experience that makes him qualified to lead as a vice president or a president should he need to assume that role; it’s an asset, not a negative issue.

Experience
Sarah Palin’s years of service as a community activist with groups like the PTA, being mayor and serving 2 years as governor gives her SOME executive experience you could say, but it was in it’s in a state that really doesn’t mean much to be a mayor in or a governor of, so really she is under qualified to even be VP.

Barack Obama’s experience in the Illinois State Senate, his role as a community organizer in Chicago and serving in the US Senate for 2 years before running for president, gives him more than enough experience to hold an executive office, like the office of President and be the commander in chief of the US armed forces.

Corruption
John McCain wrote some letters on behalf of an old friend and political contributor Charles Keating who was later indicted and went to prison, clearly a lack of judgment on McCain’s part to hang around such people and that shows he doesn’t have judgment to be President.

Barack Obama has been friends with Tony Rezko since he launched/financed Obama’s political beginnings. Obama even got a great deal on a house and some land out of the friendship, but Rezko got indicted and will be going to prison on several corruption charges…Its no biggie though, it’s tough to be a politician in Chicago and not deal with corrupt individuals, it’s not Obama’s fault.

The Tone of the Campaign
John McCain releases a tough new add questioning a view of Senator Obama’s, or perhaps asks if we even know Obama’s real view; the add is deemed as negative, McCain declared to be desperate because he is losing and overall it is said to be expected because after all, he is a Republican and that is what they do.

Barack Obama releases a tough new add where a little fact finding shows it can be labeled as untrue or even a lie, little comment is made of it as it is allowed to be just an add and it is not news worthy otherwise. The McCain campaign mentions that Obama is negative campaigning and lying, and then the news becomes that the McCain campaign is calling Barack a liar.

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These are only a few of the dozens of double standards in this campaign, feel free to post key ones left off this list…

-Michael Hilburn

About Collin Powell......

This is exactly what the media had been predicting all week, and yet its now GROUNDBREAKING. Sorry folks, the groundbreaking story would have been Collin Powell’s endorsement of John McCain. After all the reports I have read this week, today’s announcement was a foregone conclusion.

And, if Powell had instead endorsed McCain, would the media have made such a big deal out of it? Of course not. I can’t see how this doesn’t hurt McCain in the polls, but it’s honestly a story going bonkers in the liberal press and frankly, I’m already sick of it.

I guess now Obama can actually roll around with someone with decent credibility on military issues; too bad McCain doesn't need surrogates for that.