Senate Republicans Split on Earmark Ban
What is the attitude of the democrat when political rights are under discussion?
When it is time to vote, apparently the voter is not to be asked for any guarantee of his wisdom. His will and capacity to choose wisely are taken for granted. Can the people be mistaken? Are we not living in an age of enlightenment? What! Are the people always to be kept on leashes? Have they not won their rights by effort and sacrifice? Have they not given ample proof of their intelligence and wisdom? Are they not adults? Are they not capable of judging for themselves? Do they not know what is best for themselves? Is there a class or a man who would be so bold as to set himself above the people, and judge and act for them? No, no, the people are and should be free. They desire to manage their own affairs, and they shall do so.
But when the legislator is finally elected – ah! Then indeed does the tone of his speech undergo a radical change. The people are returned to passiveness, inertness, and unconsciousness; the legislator enters into omnipotence. Now it is for him to initiate, to direct, to propel, and to organize. Mankind has only to submit; the hour of despotism has struck. We now observe this fatal idea: the people who, during the election, were so wise, so moral, and so perfect, now have no tendencies whatever; or if they have any, they are tendencies that lead downward into degradation. ––Frederic Bastiat, The Law, pages 60-61
Politico reports:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is maneuvering behind the scenes to defeat a conservative plan aimed at restricting earmarks, setting up a high-stakes showdown that pits the GOP leader and his “Old Bull” allies against Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and a new breed of conservative senators.
Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe called an earmark ban a “phony issue.” He added: “The ban doesn’t accomplish anything.”
Wrong, Mr. Inhofe.
What it accomplishes is:
- That you can show the American people some respect.
- Proving we have not voted in vain, that D.C. politicians are beginning to get it that they work for us.
- That the people can trust you to carry out our directives as our elected representative.
The American people wanted you to begin dismantling a bloated, corrupt federal government where only the rich and powerful derive any benefit, not to lecture us from your ivory tower about how ignorant we are about your job description.
Let’s turn this around and ask the question from another perspective. If you can’t accomplish something so allegedly insignificant as cleaning up the federal budget a bit by banning earmarks, how can we trust you will do the right thing when political pressures demand you do heavy lifting on something major?
While some in the GOP insist on maintaining a party full of Old Bull, they incessantly repeat history in a manner that bodes ill for America’s future.
Last January, Republicans as the minority party voted en masse against raising the debt ceiling. One day after the election:
U.S. House Speaker-apparent John Boehner pledged the new House majority would listen to the voters who swept the Republicans into power.
But now, in true Bastiat form, Republicans plan to increase the federal debt ceiling to cover this year’s $1.5 trillion deficit. They did this without first preparing a plan to streamline a bloated government, not even by banning earmarks.
McConnell and Inhofe need a brief history lesson.
The 2008 elections were a mandate against business as usual under the GOP and Bush. CNN exit polls showed that only 28% thought Bush was doing a good job, and 48% thought McCain — as leader of the Republican Party by nature of his presidential candidacy — would continue Bush’s policies.
This was one crucial nail in the GOP’s coffin that year.
In 2010, voters didn’t vote so much in favor of the Republican Party as against Obama’s agenda. Politico notes: “Following their midterm rout of Democrats, Republicans are welcoming a big crop of freshmen who criticized earmarks on the campaign trail … .”
Even the BBC admitted that Republicans campaigned with the promise to halt Obama’s agenda. The results are historical fact that their promise played well among the electorate.
McConnell and Inhofe should take this reality to heart, before they set dynamics in motion that return America to 2008.
There is another reason to ban earmarks. The bulk of the federal budget is passed as ten ‘omnibus’ appropriations. An essential function of this system is to provide political cover for those who wish to insert ‘earmarks.’ To get control of the budget, the ‘omnibus’ bills have got to go, and with them the whole system which destroys accountability. Earmarks are an outgrowth of the Supreme Court decision which blocked the historical practice of ‘sequestration.’ Congress refused to restore it by dumping the proposals for a ‘line-item’ veto. If you want to restore accountability, it is a necessary, but not a sufficient condition, to get rid of ‘earmarks.’ So if they won’t dump this practice, they’re telling the voters and the Tea Party to ‘go fish.’ The respons, if they win the tactical engagement,might be to oppose every one of them in their primary…or it might be a third party…?
The Senate has some sort of tradition involving a good caning, doesn’t it?
Whoa, be to the first repub that votes in favor of the earmark. The writer here made a clear and concise point if we can’t trust you to do that then how can we trust you to do anything. Sounds like the tea party will be taking over the repub party that will fall to the wayside of the Whigs. I can only speak for myself but I have had enough of yea we’ll do that and when it comes time it’s just to hard. Wish I could say that and still have a job (no I don’t because I have pride and not afraid to fail, that is freedom). Even if you lose you went down fighting for the right cause. ENOUGH of the same old BS. Mad as heck and I’m not taking it anymore, you may but I’m not.
Have they learned nothing? In the Senate some of them still haven’t. We, the electorate, made good progress in the House but the Senate is still a cesspool. The House Republicans are going to have to do their best and communicate that to the American people. Most of what they try is going to get shot down in the Senate or be vetoed by Obama. On top of that, they will be demonized by the MSM as never before. I hope they are up to the task.
Just remember what Will Rogers said about the US Senate: “when they call the roll in the Senate half say ‘present’ and the other half say ‘not guilty!’.”
We knew a second and bigger battle is coming.We are seeing it play out now. What is that you ask? The status quo inside the beltway repubs are mobilizing their defenses against the citizens and it is not going to be pretty but wholly necessary. Going to washington to become sainted like so many of these twits is what “it” used to be. Lots of fanfare and lots of ego tripiing. Spending cuts, budget busting, tough choices, thinking of the future!! Should we dare so much to expect this new group to actually do something about the deficits. Well this is the “Bull Run” we have waitiing for and taxpayers/citizens lock and load.. Ear marks are symbolic. Ear marks represent that tiny sell out that explains how this gigantic train got off the track. After all it is just a tiny bit of corruption against a whole sea of corruption. These nitwits don’t get it yet and it may take till 2012 to finally clean out this den of thieves but their day is coming.
“The American people wanted you to begin dismantling a bloated, corrupt federal government where only the rich and powerful derive any benefit, not to lecture us from your ivory tower about how ignorant we are about your job description.”
Right. The American public is giving the Republicans one last chance to accomplish this mission. If they don’t do it and return to “business as usual” in Washington, there really is no hope for this country and we really will be teetering on the brink of another Revolution. If Americans really start to believe that their elected representatives cannot be trusted anymore to do what they were elected to do, then the discontent will be so great it will make the unrest of the 1960s look like child’s play. Or, if that doesn’t happen, then a third party is all but inevitable. The Republicans will go the way of the Whig Party and the mood of the American public will be a lot, and I mean a lot, uglier than it was during the midterm elections. The old-time Republicans in Congress had better start listening to Jim DeMint, and soon.
“In 2010, voters didn’t vote so much in favor of the Republican Party as against Obama’s agenda.”
Given that this is true I fail to see how banning earmarks accomplishes anything (percentage wise) when the supposed objective was / is to tame the elephants in the room instead of crushing the skulls of the hummingbirds that sing from the window sills.
The hobby of smashing all government workers when the culprits are high dollar SES Obama payback jobs AND slashing and burning old people and veterans medical care benefits are acts of symbolism that tell me the Tea Party’s efforts didn’t produce squat.
That said; who and what in the hell do we support and vote for next?
Are you serious? You don’t understand that the Healthcare Bill wouldn’t have passed without earmarks? It’s not the “low percentage” that makes them so bad, although they do stink to high heaven, it’s the VOTE BUYING that’s so odious.
Most of our “representatives” still think 20 BILLION here or 500 BILLION there is only a drop in the bucket. They’ll never be convinced “it ain’t YOUR bucket”!
EXACTLY….
Oh ‘We the People’ of so short a memory. Cornhusker Kickback and Louisiana Purchase are just some of the faint foggy history footnotes in the minds of so many.
Bribery is what passed O’traitorCare. Scumbags, all of ‘em.
They’ve said many times they’d support a ban on ALL earmarks, just not “hey, let’s cut our own throats, stop OUR earmarks, so that they can spend MORE on THEIRS. It IS a phony ban. Unless ALL earmarks are stopped, congress and the white house, all earmarks, it’s a phony ban that handicaps us, and shows the public, not the three empty rhetorical “victories” YOU claim, but actual progress. Demand it in a bill, pass it in the house, send it to the Senate and DARE them to not pass it, DARE the president NOT to sign it. When are YOU guys going to get some balls?
Ultimately, the ban has to turn into legislation, but you can’t be serious to believe it’s all or nothing. We can’t expect the progressives to go along with the Republicans on this one right now. It’s antithetical to their core. We must first show them the Republicans are serious and agree unanimously to the ban. Then with threats of loosing their jobs, maybe we’ll have a fighting chance to get a Bill making it illegal to include earmarks. First things first, and I didn’t imagine we’d have a fight within the Republican Party over this one. This does not bode well.
Where have you been? You didn’t think there would be a fight over this? Seriously?
The Tea Party decided to favor the Republican Party, to work within it to overhaul it. Many times during the election, there were primary challenges to turn out the professional political class. Many were successful. Each was a greater victory than defeating the Democratic opposition. You have to get your own house in order first.
How many times have you seen in the blogs that this is a fight between the Conservatives and the Moderates of the Republican Party? How many cries have you heard to purge the RINO’s? Did you think those were “right-wing extremists”? Wingnuts?
The Socialists have taken over the Democratic Party, so the real Democrats became “moderate” Republicans. This is a fight to take back the Republican Party, to make it stand for what it is really supposed to stand for.
They will only find a more politically correct form to call an earmark. And the US citizen will be fooled once again.
What lessons do the Senators / Congressmen need to learn ?
They KNOW all they need to know : they are safe. Their jobs are secure, their pensions and perks are secure, and in all liklihood those who elected them in the first and last place shall do it again. No matter their promises are pie in the sky, not intended to be honoured. They are POLITICIANS, in the main lawyers, and know from personal experience that contempt for their constituents is justifiable.
Their constituents have been lied to again, again, and again; given promises never honoured except in the breach, and yet elect them again and again and again.
Rather as the “highwaymen” they have shown themselves to be in their insistence to “deliver” the goods of the citizens held up with false promises of “your money OR your life” and take all, the money and the life.
The petty, the small, the hyenas and vultures rather than the majestic promised in the foundation of this Nation which is ill served by these Senators/Congressmen and government ADMINISTRATORS we continue to choose for the positions of service.
Are Americans really as petty, as small minded, see only their own advantage in the management of this once and future great nation of men as the examples chosen to “represent” us as the models of Americans in the offices of government.
Once again REMIND OURSELVES: the OWNERS of the enterprise called THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, that the Congressmen/ Senators/ Judges and Executive are OUR EMPLOYEES, OUR SERVANTS, the ADMINISTRATORS of OUR GOVERNMENT, NOT THE RULERS. And that these administrators must be continuously monitored / audited to their duties to US the OWNERS.
THE OWNERS ARE and have always been WE THE PEOPLE.
Unfortuntely it seems that WE have forgotten that FACT.
Forgotten they work for us? NOT SO! We fell asleep at the wheel, but the Tea Party is reminding Congress of the fact. If the Old Guard Republicans waver, they will find out that old means past. They’re next. I hope McConnell is listening.
The electorate voted overwhelmingly to restrict spending and limit government. A significant percentage is also demanding a restoration of constitutional observance.
The Old Bulls stand at the chore commanding the tides to cease, but will, in the end, succumb to those tides, or be forced to enact their will over that of the people via government force.
This article is right on the money. If the Republican Establishment cannot hear the very clear message from the people that earmarks must be banned then they cannot hear any message at all. The Republicans show themselves to be card-carrying members of the transnational elites who now see their destiny as America’s destiny. At the next election, they will be voted out of office just like the Democrats. The people have before them the task of cleaning up Washington. Clearly, that task must be accomplished before anything else can be accomplished. The number one job for Americans today is to end the careers of the Establishment politicians in Washington.
In 2010 we cleaned House.
Looks like 2012 is the time to clean Senate.
Anyone, and I mean anyone that votes against an earmark ban should be primaried, and all fiscal conservatives should vote against them, regardless of their “good stance” on any other bills.
To quote an old cartoon, “enough is too much!”
Unfortunately, Senator Inhofe and others like him are STILL wedded to the idea that the way to stay in power is to “bring home the bacon.” After all, it kept the Democrats in control of the nation’s purse-strings for over 40 years. Times have changed. What we MUST do–and I intend to make this abundantly clear to my senior Senator–is to do away with as much of the federal bureaucracy as humanly possible. It is THEY who are responsible for much of the malaise we see in our economy today–sucking up 25% (and more) of GDP, mostly just to provide patronage jobs for Democrats so they can advance their “progressive” agenda without having to resort to legislation.
The order of battle is first, destroy the Democrat party, and second, remove from the ranks the RINO establishment (at our convenience). In 2012 we should be able to go a long way in accomplishing these goals.
I would have never thought McConnell would have fallen on this side of the issue. Shame on him! I hope the Republicans oust him from the Minority Leadership.
Earmarks are nothing more than vote-buying. It’s the main thing that corrupts Congress. If McConnell doesn’t see that, he must GO!
REPEAL THE 17TH AMENDMENT! TERM LIMITS!
Tea Party organizations should immediately begin a primary challenge campaign in the state where any member of Congress votes to oppose an earmark ban. Begin a search for potential candidates, begin a nominating process, begin raising funds, begin an internet campaign to spread the word about about any member of Congress that has voted to oppose an earmark ban, conduct public demonstrations at the Senator’s or Congressman’s home office, and announce an intention to be relentless in pursuing the defeat of the Senator/Congressman who has chosen to ignore the will of the people.
That is the best idea I have heard for ages. There is a T-Party in most cities so it should work.The problem being the T-Party is probably run by a politician instead of a concerned citizen.
I suppose the Republican leadership has assumed we’ve gone back into our usual and traditional post election induced stupor.
Nothing could be further from the truth than that assumption. McConnell & Inhofe need to rethink their assumptions. While I’ve admired Inhofe’s efforts to expose AGW for what it is even he isn’t insulated from job loss if he can’t recognize the importance of taking the first critical steps towards fiscal solvency – dump earmarks forever.
Whats that old adage about assumptions?
That didn’t take long. The election meant nothing to the entrenched elite repubs. They want business as usual. I’m sick of hearing that banning earmarks would do little to reduce the deficit. Even Rush is saying it. So what? Is it not a first step and sign that they are serious?
November (2012) is coming. Time to start finding good candidates to replace these idiots.
“To see what is right, and not to do it, is want of courage or of principle.”
Ia it time for a TEA Party rally?
Sorry that’s, Is it time for a TEA Party rally?
The Senate thinks in the manner of the House of Lords, they being above the riff-raff they represent and know better what’s good for the rest of us. Since Arlen Specter and John McCain, I’m no longer voting for the lesser of two evils. I’ll go 3rd party or sit at home on election day.
Here in Pennsylvania we have Pat Toomey as our new senator for 6 years. I hope he is as conservative then as he is now. Only time will tell how DC rubs off on him.
I emailed all Republican senators yesterday who came forward mentioning Earmarks as cost-insignificant, reminding them they work for US, We The People, and THEY are on PROBATION.
They are not permitted to make their own decisions, they will act on behalf of We The People. And if the don’t, we’ll REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER!
Though I’m not still using my email signature post Nov 2nd, I did not throw it away:
LEAVE NO INCUMBENT STANDING!
I may need it for 2012.
I prefer DRIP:
Don’t Return Incumbent Politicians.
DRIP on ‘em!
I still don’t understand why Inhofe is still in Oklahoma. In ’08 Inhofe is against earmarks and today..
His political leanings regarding budgetary issues seems to be set in jell-o.
Too bad his counterpart Tom Coburn was unable to talk sense with the guy from ’08 to the present.
As for McConnell, he too suffers rfom elitism-itis. Caused when you’ve worn your welcome out in D.C. a good 12-15 years ago..
Make each item in the budget a separate spending bill, anything else and the TEA party will come for you.
It’s a darn shame there are no Senators up for re election in 2011. The sooner the Rhino’s are eliminated the better.
As just happened to the Democrats, judgement day is coming for any Republican, who does not heed the message from the American people, and does not cut earmarks, spending, the size of government, and does not vote to repeal Obamacare.
No, the Republicans have learned nothing from the past two election cycles. The professional politicians have no intention at all about changing the way business is done.
Every politician of every party needs to be replaced. They are all damaged goods – foul and vile.
In lieu of Term Limits
Vote all incumbents out everytime they come up for re-election. PERIOD.
We can vote the REAL GOOD ones back in and kick the rest to the curb. They must believe we are involved more than through just one election cycle. If ‘We the People’ jerk their chain hard and often, only the good will survive.
NO MORE RINOs, NO MORE DEMOCRATS, EVER…….. It could get to where there is no longer any party politics, because there is no party, D or R.
Just ONE party, the American Party, everyone who wants to run gets a chance and the winners are picked, top down, from one list.
The cream ALWAYS rises to the top.
“The cream ALWAYS rises to the top.” Except in the US Senate. Then it seems to be the scum. Maybe there is hope this time.
In one form or another for 200 years now, politicians in the U.S. Congress and in state legislatres have been using “earmarks”.
When one takes the time to find out what they are and the practical purposes that they serve, one finds that they are NOT the evil that some people are portaying them as being to play on the emotions of an ignorant and uninformed electorare.
It would be absurd to do away with earmarks, and it won’t accomplish any worthwhile purpose.
Oops, that was supposed to be legislatures and electorate, NOT legislatres and electorare. Sorry ’bout that.
SORRY- i KNOW YOU THINK YOU SOUND REASONABLE AND SMART, but when trillions of dollars in debt, everything and every ‘tradition’ is fair game.
If Republicans can’t resist the pork that is earmarks, then they haven’t learned a thing from Red Storm 2010, and they need to be voted out.
I don’t give a rat’s ass how things have been done in the past. The future is here, and it’s coming ashore on a tsunami of red ink.
EVERYTHING MUST GO
CUT CUT CUT
I don’t claim to be smart. But your comments show that you don’t know what earmarks are.
They do not, and I do. get over yourself.
LOL – You wouldn’t be so defensive, unless you knew that you were on shaky ground.
Dispensing with earmarks will be a strictly symbolic gesture to appease ditzy Tea Partiers; a senseless distraction that will divert attention away from other MUCH more important issues.
The Congress has much bigger fish to fry. That’s where they should be focusing their attention, instead of wasting their time on trivial issues to placate huffy dummies who are as clueless as the 52%ers who voted for Obama are.
By focusing on the trivial issue of earmarks, instead of on HUGE instances of frivolous spending and government waste, Tea Party candidates are playing right into the hands of the Obama Administration and other Democrats, who will gladly go along with that distraction, while wringing their hands with glee that Tea Party candidates are overlooking the Democrats’ corruption and pet, wasteful projects.
Savvy Republicans like Inhofe recognize those facts. But I’m sure that it is with exasperation that he recognizes, also, that it is the squeaky wheel that will always get the grease.
Sarah Palin and the Tea Partiers are so irresponsible and so ditzy that it is mind-boggling that anybody is that shallow, dense and clueless.
While earmarks may not be a significant part of the annual budget, they are used as bribes to get bills passed. See Obamacare for a perfect example. If these projects are so critical, put them up to a vote on their own merits.
Right!! and dollars to donuts the republicans have not learned one thing and are going to make a fool of themselves, “again”.
Pelosi still doesn’t realize the dems lost big time..pity..she’s nuts and fits with her electorate well..the rest really don’t.
The Republicans made fools of themselves, huh?
Bullsh*T.
You Canadian ditz, what the hell do you know?
The economy didn’t tank until after the Democrats took control of Congress in 2007, you putz, and its Congress, not the President, who appropriates and spends our money, and besides, for a varety of reasons too numerous to list here for the sake of brevity, but reasons for which Democrat politicians and their sleazy, largest financial contributors were entirely to blame, there was no way in hell that Republicans could have seen that financial debacle coming. You don’t know squat about Republicans.
I never thought I’d live long enough to read about saving a couple of billion here and there and in the same sentence some propeller head for Senator saying, “Oh, it doesn’t amount to that much!!!!” Yes, it does.
Inhofe, I’ve supported you since your days as mayor of Tulsa. You were even in Dear Old Mom’s house during those days. As a fellow Oklahoman, I’ve been rather proud you have been the most vocal critic of AGW fraud. It would be a shame that your stubborn nature gets you summarily frogmarched to the curb from your Senate seat. But I promise you it will if you don’t get your head screwed on straight.
Maybe you’ve forgotten in Oklahoma even the one Dim we have in Congress is more Conservative than most Republicans. We aren’t the reddest of red states for nothing. Don’t think you can’t easily be replaced.
Here’s a link to an article with Senator Inhofe on earmarks:http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/128479-sen-inhofe-on-warpath-against-proposed-earmark-ban . There is sincere disagreement on this issue.
I have written (e-mail, not snail-mail) both of my Republican Senators and told them enough already with the earmarks and woe unto either or both of them if they go along with earmarks again. We don’t have recall in Texas, but we have pretty good memories. Remind your Senators of the same thing: we made you senator, we can un-make you senator.
Since neither Sen. McConnell nor Sen Inhofe will be facing reelection in 2012, their positions don’t surprise me. The Republicans up for reelection in 2012 are Dick Lugar, John Ensign, Orrin Hatch, Olympia Snowe, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, John Kyl, Roger Wicker, Bob Corker, Scott Brown, and John Barrasso; they’re the ones to keep track of. I’m no national expert, but looks like Snowe and Brown can do what they want (including switch parties), but I’d guess Hutchinson, Hatch, Ensign and Lugar’s options are 1) Support the ban of earmarks. 2) Retire.
Geezez, Jeanette, pay attention. Senator McConnell has already said in a press conference that he will join Tea Party candidates in advancing their agenda and in doing away with earmarks. If you knew squat about the Republican Party and Washington politics you would recognize that, in view of current circumstances, freshman and senior Republicans are already scrambling to coordinate their objectives in a united front.
The most conspicuous remaining Rinos, and the flakiest ones are Graham, McCain (aka, Mr. Magoo), Brown and the ditzy twins from Maine.
Still, I would rather have Rinos, who will vote with Republicans most of the time, than to lose their seats in Congress to Democrats, who will never vote with Republicans. That’s a no-brainer, dontcha think?
Earmarks should be banned because they redolent of Good-ol’-Boy game playing. ENOUGH! If the expenditure is worthwhile, it will withstand daylight. We conservatives need to maintain the heat and pressure. It is a matter of basic values & core principles. If the dinosaur Republicans cannot see that, they need to go the way of, say, Sen. Bennett.
The options are dissolution, and break up along the fault lines pointed to by Panarin, or something similar; or the launching of a third party that will tap into the Tea Party movement.
It is a time to choose, to use a phrase that has been used before.
Have you ever seen pigs at a trough? Then you’ve seen the US Senate.
If there are Reps that won’t take us seriously on this earmark thing, we can always add their names to the list of unemployed politicians next election day.
NOBODY FOR CONGRESS 2012
How you define earmarks is irrelevant. Their past value or lack thereof is irrelevant. Earmarks are a symbol of small c corruption. After the loud message from the voters in the mid terms, the first steps taken by elected Republicans should be symbolic votes against symbols of corruption. If they can’t do that, they’re done like dinner.
Rand Paul ran on a platform of ending earmarks/pork spending. Within 24 hours of being elected he announced that he’s changed his mind and would now work as hard as he can to get as many earmarks/pork spending as he can possibly get. He couldn’t even keep up the teabagger charade for one day
The tea party is a joke. They wasted over a hundred million dollars to get teabagger politicians elected
This is more evidence that Republicans are no better than Democrats, prompting the need to develop “third” parties to leadership status, as I do by being a member of the Constitution Party (www.constitutionparty.com).
“We hate earmarks!” . . . (But they don’t make that much difference in the big picture.) . . . “I’ll ban earmarks!”) . . . (except the ones for Kentucky) . . . “W have a message for Washington, we’ve come to take our earmarks – I mean country – back!”
Wow, you clowns haven’t even been sworn in yet and look at the confused, hypocritical, backpedaling mess you’re making of things. This is going to be fun to watch.
Actually, NonSensei, I agree with you. It is repugnant to me.
The thing is, we voters actually mean it. It is the political class which does not get it. Do not confuse us voters with the politicians.
This reform is going to naturally be ugly. People do not give up their power and perqs readily. Hogs do not readily pull their snouts from the trough.
Yes, I know you are a Leftist troll, but try not to be confused as to who is actually to blame.
“Do not confuse us voters with the politicians.”
Wow, what a concept! You should try it some time.
Marc and Sensei, your assessments are absurd, and they show an ignorance that is stunning.
Even before their first day of orientation, incoming, new freshmen Republicans and senior Republicans had already communicated with each other extensively and they’re already on the same page in coordinating their objectives.
Those people aren’t amateurs. All of them are smart, savvy professionals from one field or another.
The arrogance of power cost the Republicans congress in 2006 and then bounced the Democrats in 2010; it may take until 2014 to fix the Senate but the message of 2010 was clear- stop the wasteful spending. It is our money not yours and you work for us and better not forget the fact.
Sen. McConnell is the embodiment of the Republican party that got bounced in 06; he can get voted from leadership real fast.
Representative government,, it just works. Just keep tossing the bums out until one evolves enough to learn to listen.
If Harry Reid can be re-elected after he conned the whole country and was as corrupt as Barney ,then what hope has the T-Party got ?.
Obviously, you don’t know squat about Senator Mitch McConnell. You dolt, he isn’t a leader of Republicans in the Senate for no reason. He is a shrewd, savvy, old war horse who adapts to changing climates. If you were paying attention, instead of shooting off your mouth without knowing what you’re talking about, you would have noticed that he has decided to support most of the agenda of the incoming Tea Partiers’ candidates …., and he will be a hulluvalot more effective at advocating their positions than they will be, tempering their rash ideas with good judgment.
Since you know so much about the Kentucky war horse, perhaps you can share with us why he left the Army after just six months. I mean, he didn’t have to leave, really. Lindsay Graham stayed in.
PJM’s Nemerov and his source, Politico, don’t know what they’re talking about.
Senator Mitch McConnell is NOT working behind the scene to keep earmarks intact.
Senator McConnell already announced in a press conference that he will be working closely with Tea Party candidates to advance their agenda and to do away with earmarks. That’s old news already. Geezez, in addition to FOX, even MSNBC and CNN reported that story.
You can always tell something about people who are afraid to use their own name. They like to leave trash on the internet, because nobody will be able to make them clean it up.
According to your logic, any author who wrote about Bush winning in 2004 is now stupid, because Obama is currently president. At the time of this article, it was current news.
We’re working on an update. However, it’s got bad news as well as good. The point was never to single out any elected official, but to keep people involved in the political process so that we actually create positive change for America. But I guess you would rather complain than be part of the solution.
All your comments here serve only to make you look intolerant and uneducated. Think about it before committing your electrons to posterity.
Aw, poor baby, you had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the podium to admit that you were wrong, and that your assessment was premature …, and yet, not surprisingly, you still aren’t man emough to concede that you have a very limited knowledge of the political process and even less knowledge of the strengths of the leaders of the Republican Party; the latter of which goes to the crux of your clueless and extremely irresponsibe criticisms of Republicans.
Demonizing the messenger because you can’t refute the message was just smoke and mirrors to conceal and to deflect attention away from your ignorance on a whole array of issues. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and attribute your lameness and your ignorance to your youth, or to your senility, whichever applies. Unlike you, I am man enough and secure enough with myself that I won’t hold a grudge. After all, the inanities of your goofy comments gave me a chuckle. Now, y’all have a nice day, ya hear?
BTW, Mr. Nemerov, if you make valid criticisms of Republicans, I’ll let it slide and I might even support you if you’re criticisms aren’t petty.
But if you make illegitimate criticisms and/or specious arguments, I’ll get in your face every time, providing that I happen to catch your comments. That’s what makes the difference an influential, prominent and worthwhile blog and a mediocre, 3rd rate, worthless blog, of which there are too many on the internet already.
BTW, Mr. Nemerov, if you make valid criticisms of Republicans, I’ll let it slide and I might even support you if you’re criticisms aren’t petty.
But if you make illegitimate criticisms and/or specious arguments, I’ll get in your face every time, providing that I happen to catch your comments. That’s what makes the difference between an influential, prominent and worthwhile blog and a mediocre, 3rd rate, worthless blog, of which there are too many on the internet already.
My update is up.
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/gop-supports-earmark-ban%e2%80%a6for-now/
As for the rest, it looks like you have two options:
1. Seek therapy. For you to explode like that only confirms that you have a deep insecurity issue that makes you need to put others down so that you feel okay about yourself.
2. Go back to Kos where you will have plenty of support for your petty whining. That way, you don’t have to mess your diaper getting upset over reading a “3rd rate, worthless blog.”
As you said, if you made legitimate criticisms, I could address them. But you’re acting silly and need professional and/or adult supervision.
Seriously, get some help.
Um, it appears to me, dude, that you’re the one who lost it here.
Get a grip, Nemerov – and, oh yeah, get real and get a life, too.
You’ve gone from sophomoric to juvenile to infantile in in your comments.
Care to go for braindead? C’mon, give it your best shot. I know you can do it.