Breaking: Specter becoming a Democrat; Update: Won’t change on Card Check; Update: Obama “thrilled”; Update: Specter disavowed switch last month; Update: Olympia Snowe defends Specter; Update: GOP leaders stunned; Update: Graham hits Toomey
posted at 12:23 pm on April 28, 2009 by Allahpundit
Or rather, he’s finally making it official. Human Events broke the news, now WaPo confirms:
“I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary,” said Specter in a statement. “I am ready, willing and anxious to take on all comers and have my candidacy for re-election determined in a general election.”
He added: “Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans.”
That’s a weaselly lie, and therefore a perfect note for him to depart on. He’d have happily run for re-election as a Republican if not for Toomey getting into the race and quickly jumping out to a 21-point lead. Specter tried to make it an open primary so that the left might rescue him but couldn’t, and Pennsylvania’s election laws prevented him from doing what Lieberman did to Lamont three years ago: In PA, if you compete in a primary and lose, you’re done. No independent candidacy. So his choice, essentially, was either to switch to an independent now and skip the primary or go the whole nine yards by becoming a Democrat, giving the left a presumptive filibuster-proof majority (once Franken is seated), and extracting whatever concessions he could from them in return, e.g. committee chairmanships, DNC fundraising, etc. The Hill actually kinda sorta predicted this last month. It’s pure self-preservation on Specter’s part, expecting that he’ll be able to handle Toomey easily in the general when Democrats and indies can push him through.
Three quick thoughts. One: Does this mean he’s going to reverse himself on Card Check? I’m guessing yes. Two: Does this mean the Democrats will drop their threat to nuke the filibuster on health care? Hard to say since Blue Dogs like Ben Nelson could defect and deprive them of the 60th vote. Third: Will a lefty challenger jump into the Democratic primary now and challenge Specter as, irony of ironies, a DINO?
You know who I bet feels pretty stupid right now? John Cornyn.
Update: Ben Smith says Biden was “deeply involved” in the switch. Here’s Specter’s full statement. Interesting:
I deeply regret that I will be disappointing many friends and supporters. I can understand their disappointment. I am also disappointed that so many in the Party I have worked for for more than four decades do not want me to be their candidate. It is very painful on both sides. I thank specially Senators McConnell and Cornyn for their forbearance…
My change in party affiliation does not mean that I will be a party-line voter any more for the Democrats that I have been for the Republicans. Unlike Senator Jeffords’ switch which changed party control, I will not be an automatic 60th vote for cloture. For example, my position on Employees Free Choice (Card Check) will not change.
Update (Ed): I’m in the good-riddance category here. Normally I argue for a big tent and the need to woo moderates by focusing on core values. Specter betrayed those values in his Porkulus vote and cloture cave. He could have forced Obama, Pelosi, and Reid to start negotiating in good faith with his Republican colleagues, but instead allowed them to shove a bad bill down their throats.
Update: You’ll be pleased to know that Snarlin’ Arlen has The One’s “full support.” Meanwhile, here’s just how much of a weaselly liar he is. From a March 17 interview with The Hill:
I am staying a Republican because I think I have an important role, a more important role, to play there. The United States very desperately needs a two-party system. That’s the basis of politics in America. I’m afraid we are becoming a one-party system, with Republicans becoming just a regional party with so little representation of the northeast or in the middle atlantic. I think as a governmental matter, it is very important to have a check and balance. That’s a very important principle in the operation of our government. In the constitution on Separation of powers.
Update: Michael Steele lays it on the line:
Some in the Republican Party are happy about this. I am not. Let’s be honest-Senator Specter didn’t leave the GOP based on principles of any kind. He left to further his personal political interests because he knew that he was going to lose a Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record. Republicans look forward to beating Sen. Specter in 2010, assuming the Democrats don’t do it first.
Update: Politico says Specter was talking to the Dems about this for months and that the final straw was indeed the polls showing him getting crushed by Toomey. Question: Are any other Republicans thinking of switching? Hmmmm:
Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) a fellow moderate, didn’t seem suprised. On the national level, she says, “you haven’t certainly heard warm encouraging words of how they [Republicans] view moderates. Either you are with us or against us.”
“Ultimately we’re heading to having the smallest political tent in history they way things are unfolding,” Snowe said. “We should have learned from the 2006 election, which I was a party of. I happened to win with 74% of the vote in a blue collar state but no one asked me how did you do it. Seems to me that would have been the first question that would have come from the Republican party to find out so we could avoid further losses.”
Update: The most discouraging thing about all this may be that the GOP leadership appears to have been caught totally by surprise, even though (a) per Politico, Specter’s been talking to the Dems for months, and (b) per Toomey’s polling, we’ve been speculating about a Specter switch for weeks now. How could they have been caught flat-footed on this?
Update: Grahamnesty wants in on some of Snowe’s “viva moderates!” action.
“I don’t want to be a member of the Club for Growth,” said Graham. “I want to be a member of a vibrant national Republican party that can attract people from all corners of the country — and we can govern the country from a center-right perspective.”
“As Republicans, we got a problem,” he said.
Counters Jim DeMint, whose impending endorsement of Toomey might have pushed Specter over the edge, “I would rather have 30 Republicans in the Senate who really believe in principles of limited government, free markets, free people, than to have 60 that don’t have a set of beliefs.”
Blowback
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I hear the street corner Jumpin’ Jim Jeffords used to stand on is now available.
viking01 on April 28, 2009 at 3:18 PM
canditaylor:
How sad, that must have broken your heart. A very good friend of mine told me that when his wife lost their second child in the 5 month that it was a death to him. It still is 32 years later.
Terrye on April 28, 2009 at 3:18 PM
One’s bowels need to be emptied now and then. It keeps one healthy.
drjohn on April 28, 2009 at 3:19 PM
Bush grew the government at the fastest rate in a long time. Obama is just pressing the accelerator.
The program is going to cost like $4 trillion over the next 10 years. Who do you think pays for these “discounts” ?
lorien1973 on April 28, 2009 at 3:20 PM
I know.
Both of my parents have passed away, but when my mother was in her last years, this program would have helped her, too–medication was an expense we had problems dealing with.
I merely cited it because the Left always does to prove that Bush was a “big spender” like NObama, too.
Jenfidel on April 28, 2009 at 3:20 PM
Well we didn’t. The entitlement mentality is the norm in the majority of the population. Sara Palin is not going to change that in 2012. It is an bigger issue than politics.
One of two things are going to happen:
1. World depression/war realigns world values to normalcy.
or
2. Balkanization of America.
The current star of the GOP is totally irrelevant.
ClassicCon on April 28, 2009 at 3:20 PM
I’m not buying this spin about “Moderate” Republicans. Arlen Specter and Olympia Snowe want us to believe that the party has swung to the right. But the fact is… that they have not adhered to the very basic, core principles of Republicanism.
You’ve got to be a Republican BEFORE you can be a “moderate Republican”. Benedict Arlen, and his cohorts Collins and Specter, proved that they couldn’t even embrace the basic tenet of fiscal responsibility. They were the only three Republicans who turned their backs on that core principle.
Murf76 on April 28, 2009 at 3:20 PM
I dunno–who do you and Ogabe think is going to pay for all of his $12 TRILLION in programs?
Jenfidel on April 28, 2009 at 3:22 PM
My point, exactly.
Ya’ll didn’t protest when bush spent $4 trillion. But Obama spending $12 trillion. Well, now, that’s just too much.
Know what? Welcome to the club of understanding that government can’t pay for your life.
lorien1973 on April 28, 2009 at 3:24 PM
lorien:
My point was that there were factors like the 9/11 attack that had something to do with that growth, and that most people actually supported it. My other point and one that people routinely ignore is that I have been listening to certain people who say they are small government supporters hold Reagan up as a role model, when in fact government grew when he was in office.
It has in fact grown with the population which has doubled since 1950.
However, nothing we have ever seen compares to what Obama is doing now. Not even the New Deal doubled the national debt.
Terrye on April 28, 2009 at 3:25 PM
Oh, so NOW you are outraged. Think lorien made his point.
ClassicCon on April 28, 2009 at 3:26 PM
What was it you trolls were saying about the GOP being “finished?”
Jenfidel on April 28, 2009 at 3:26 PM
I guess from your response, and the response of
and reading many Hot Air threads, there is currently no bridge available between the various camps. As long as that remains true, Republicans will not be winning elections until there is a national catastrophe that most voters agree is due to Democrats.
Loxodonta on April 28, 2009 at 3:26 PM
And what would that point have been, exactly?
Oh, BTW, I take it that your name “Con” means “Against anything sensible and right” and not “conservative.”
Jenfidel on April 28, 2009 at 3:28 PM
Dude, you’re on the right side of this. Amazing the venom you get…
beatcanvas on April 28, 2009 at 3:29 PM
lorien:
No, I did not protest against Bush’s government because in 2006 when the Democrats took control of Congress the deficit was $160 billion. We are running that much in a month now.
Bush had wars, terrorist attacks and national disasters over the course of 8 years to deal with.
Obama has managed to find a way to triple the spending less than 3 months into office.
And you now what else? Bush is not in office now. Obama is and if Republicans want to beat this guy or even slow him down they need to stop this constant back stabbing and infighting. It serves no purpose.
Terrye on April 28, 2009 at 3:29 PM
I see your point about the infringement of morality-driven politics on the libertarian spirit, not to mention the diversion of this thread from the happily anticipated political death of Arlen Specter to the tragic physical death of Terri Schiavo… but I think it’s a mistake to characterize those who continue to feel outraged by her death as being motivated solely by an overweening desire to use government power to impose their will on other people, just to satisfy their ego or vindictiveness. Before we turn back to the topic of running Arlen Specter out of Washington on a nail-studded rail, look back at the posts from those you have been sparring with. I think you can agree their belief in the sanctity of life, even a difficult life like Terri Schiavo’s, is heartfelt. It’s only natural they should expect their elected representatives to respect and implement those values. It may prove to be politically damaging, but it’s not worthy of scorn.
It’s fair to say that government should be ruled by sober intelligence and a clear understanding of its boundaries, rather than passion, but we are nowhere near such a carefully restrained government. Why should we expect only matters of life and death to be decided with icy logic and a copy of the Federalist Papers in hand, while the rest of the multi-trillion-dollar behemoth is guided by hatred, envy, blind fear, and the lust for power? You’re right that government intrudes too much in our lives, but I’d rather have it barging into my hospital room and blocking access to my “off” switch, than having it tell me what kind of car I can drive, or forcing me to subsidize politically approved mortgages.
If the day someone is eagerly trying to pull my plug is the first time a politician marches into my hospital room, I’ll count myself a lucky man. Something tells me that after a couple of years of socialist medicine, we’ll all look fondly back on the bygone days when the government was getting involved in our health care to keep us *alive.* Meanwhile, I hope the libertarian wing of the conservative movement can keep its fire trained on liberals instead of social conservatives, who are more inclined to listen politely to the criticism, but less deserving of it.
Doctor Zero on April 28, 2009 at 3:29 PM
I disagree. I think promoting social and economic freedom is the model.
lorien1973 on April 28, 2009 at 3:29 PM
And yes, spending on Medicare patients who need affordable medicine is one thing.
Spending trillions on “green” energy, education and Socialized medicine is something else–all things we don’t want, don’t need and can’t pay for.
Jenfidel on April 28, 2009 at 3:30 PM
It is NOT a political problem it is a cultural problem. Sure the GOP may pull off a victory here and there, but the entitlement culture will only grow in strength.
I don’t understand how some of you cannot grasp the concept that this is a bigger problem than politics.
ClassicCon on April 28, 2009 at 3:30 PM
Talk to your doctor – or any scientist. They will explain to you that different DNA equals different being.
Vashta.Nerada on April 28, 2009 at 3:31 PM
I’m with Jim Demint on this.
Its the RINOS that caused this entire situation to develop.
dogsoldier on April 28, 2009 at 3:31 PM
It matters greatly because a bill might not get to the floor if the committee ties it up, or decides to make changes before all 100 senators get a vote. The majority party gets to run every committee.
Ironically, Specter was not the head of any committee yesterday but may get a committee chairmanship back with his jump to the Dems–assuming they hold their majority.
dedalus on April 28, 2009 at 3:31 PM
I love you, Dr. Zero! :-)
Jenfidel on April 28, 2009 at 3:31 PM
Bush for all his failings would have never proposed a spending bill filled with a Trillion Dollars in crap. The Medicare prescription drugs might have been expensive; however, if coupled with really Medicare reform (i.e. people choosing their own plans), it might have been less so. Bush’s failing was that he rolled over too much and didn’t use his veto pen. Obama’s failing is that he really believes that it is gov’ts job to “help” the moochers, losers, and whiners in the America get the things that they believe they deserve.
Illinidiva on April 28, 2009 at 3:31 PM
lorien:
No one is saying the government can or should pay for your whole life, but if you make getting rid of Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security part of the plan, no one will support that.
You will lose.
And what is more the fact that this on this thread we have turned into Bushbashers tells you why Democrats win. They don’t need to defeat Republicans, because Republicans do it for them.
This is about proportional growth and spending.
Terrye on April 28, 2009 at 3:32 PM
There are still ways to get bills to the Senate without going through committee… In the Senate, individual Senators and strong minorities have lots of power.
Illinidiva on April 28, 2009 at 3:33 PM
Because it would have benefited your family it is ok to spend someone else’s money.
Since these won’t benefit your family it is not ok.
ClassicCon on April 28, 2009 at 3:33 PM
It is compassionate to help the elderly. It is not compassionate to help bratty Gen Y college students spend four years boozing at like Yale rather than like State U or help T Boone Pickens and Al Gore make another few billion.
Illinidiva on April 28, 2009 at 3:35 PM
I couldn’t agree with DeMint more.
Blacklake on April 28, 2009 at 3:35 PM
Nope–I can’t see that these programs will benefit anyone’s family.
Big difference.
Jenfidel on April 28, 2009 at 3:36 PM
I’m in agreement with DeMint.
Arlen – thanks (seriously) and great job using your pathetic sophistry to try to cover the reason for doing so…it only reinforces why a lot of conservatives will be happy with your departure.
batter on April 28, 2009 at 3:37 PM
Not familiar with the protocol, but does this mean Specter has to turn in his penis?
Potfry on April 28, 2009 at 3:37 PM
Amen, sister!
Jenfidel on April 28, 2009 at 3:37 PM
Classic Con:
I work in health care. In all the years that I have done this I have never known anyone who refused to use a program, no matter how conservative they were.
Virtually everyone in this country has family that is using one or all of these programs. There are families who would not be able to send their kids to college if they had to come with $50,000 a year to pay for Mom’s care. There are older people who are able to help children and grandchildren who might not be able to do that if they had to spend tens of thousands of dollars each and every year on health care.
And these people are not parasites, they are taxpayers who worked for many years and paid a lot of taxes in the course of their working lives.
Terrye on April 28, 2009 at 3:38 PM
Been said what, a few hundred times already but I might as well pile on:
Specter, you little biotch pant-load.
Bishop on April 28, 2009 at 3:38 PM
SS and medicare will bankrupt us.
we will be repaid in worthless paper….
right4life on April 28, 2009 at 3:39 PM
Yeah. I know. I accept that.
But when the country goes bankrupt, the choice of them losing their free lunch will have expired.
lorien1973 on April 28, 2009 at 3:39 PM
And I agree with Jinfidel. A lot of the stuff Obama is talking about is a boodoggle that is not even intended to help tax paying Americans.
Terrye on April 28, 2009 at 3:39 PM
Is it compassionate to steal money from our kids’ future income?
Amazing how altruistic people can be with funds from other people.
Bankrupting kids before they even start life – what morals are those?
beatcanvas on April 28, 2009 at 3:39 PM
beatcanvas:
It is not about altruism. The truth is it is illegal to let some old person die. In the course of my job I have been required to turn people into adult protective services for allowing some helpless elderly person in their care to suffer.
What do you prefer? Do you think we should just shoot them when they can’t pay their way anymore?
Terrye on April 28, 2009 at 3:41 PM
All those years before social security, when elderly people were wandering the streets, fighting rats for food must have been miserable.
lorien1973 on April 28, 2009 at 3:42 PM
Perhaps you are right. But, I see many models in Europe where social freedom is accompanied by massive government with weak defense. So, if your approach is the future, I hope you can successfully fend off socialism and dhmmitude here.
Loxodonta on April 28, 2009 at 3:42 PM
What’s scary is that Ogabe’s budget proposes all new programs–he hasn’t even begun to deal with the looming problems of funding Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security!
Jenfidel on April 28, 2009 at 3:42 PM
I’m not completely familiar with the protocol, but does this mean Specter has to turn in his male parts? I’ve got to believe they were detachable.
Potfry on April 28, 2009 at 3:42 PM
I rest my case…
ClassicCon on April 28, 2009 at 3:43 PM
Got it. So kids don’t matter.If their tax load is 60%, 70%, or higher, it’s okay – so long as we endlessly extend everyone’s life – because that’s illegal.
Robbing kids? Where does that fall?
What’s wrong with letting adults be responsible for themselves?
beatcanvas on April 28, 2009 at 3:43 PM
lorien:
Oh please. So it is not Obama’s fault, it is Bush’s so we might as well vote Democrat or not vote at all and just let Obama have his way?
This country does not have to let old people suffer and die to avoid going bankrupt. It does not have to be one extreme or the other.
Terrye on April 28, 2009 at 3:44 PM
Exactly. I am amazed by all the “fiscal cons” on here who believe American civilization began with the New Deal.
ClassicCon on April 28, 2009 at 3:44 PM
There is no social freedom mixed with big government. They will rule your life, eventually.
lorien1973 on April 28, 2009 at 3:44 PM
Did I say that? Obama stepped on the accelerator. But let’s not pretend the road wasn’t paved.
lorien1973 on April 28, 2009 at 3:46 PM
You missed the math in this one… it is extreme. Do you realize that a trillion is a million millions?
beatcanvas on April 28, 2009 at 3:46 PM
beatcanvas:
Who said kids don’t matter? I certainly did not. In fact I made the point that if some middle aged people out there had to foot the bill to take of their elderly parents those kids might not be getting a lot of the things they thought they would get.
I have clients who grew up during the Great Depression. They worked harder and sacrificed more than most young people today can even imagine. They did without, went without, and never took a hand out during all their working lives and when they were kids, many of them worked then too.
You do not have to abandon these people for the young. You just need to reform and limit the programs.
Terrye on April 28, 2009 at 3:47 PM
They should have driven a golf cart past the senate building, picked up Specter, Graham, McCain, and the Maine twins then dumped them off at the door in front of the Democrat caucus room. We’ve already lost the super majority so why not get rid of the whole mob at one time?
rplat on April 28, 2009 at 3:47 PM
Standing by to understand how government will keep people from getting old, suffering and dying.
DarkCurrent on April 28, 2009 at 3:48 PM
Not me.
And Socialism began with Woodrow Wilson, but was made into a fine art by FDR and LBJ.
Frankly, I’m so fiscally Conservative that I think we should return to the original intent of the Founders and not fund anything on the federal level that isn’t explicitly mentioned in the Constitution.
Jenfidel on April 28, 2009 at 3:48 PM
The right Republican would win. (Speaking as a Pennsy Indie who was an R briefly for the specific purpose of voting and working against Specter.) The trick is for the Republicans everywhere to start treating politics as the non-beanbag bloodsport that it is. You don’t have to be mean and nasty, in fact that’s what you should NOT be because that makes it easy for the jackal press. They are rabid but not all that smart, so they shouldn’t be that hard to manipulate.
It’s politics. The Rs should not be so honorable about it.
“You sell your ass but not your soul.” is how one PA Dem said it works. That one sold both and ending up with his ass in jail. An R can sell the former and hold onto the latter. Yes.
Toomey may lose but it’s not as certain as some would think, and it would be partly because he’s not that impressive and/or dynamic, and neither was Santorum. I worked for Toomey’s campaign against Specter and from my experience, the campaign staff was NOT energized. Bush’s Specter-support made it hard to be, and I had forgotten about Rush giving Specter a forum for his book that day. I remember it well. Very disappointing. Maybe he’ll make up for that this time. He surely will if Specter is a D. In fact you might hear one of his rare on-air mea culpas about it.
And still, Toomey lost by what, one percent?
Good guys and gals Republicans are, by-and-large, but that’s not what it takes to win in a state that has two of the most graft-ridden cities in the union balancing on either end of it, like a perverted Scales of Justice-for-Sale.
curved space on April 28, 2009 at 3:49 PM
Wow. That effing S.O.B.
Tennman on April 28, 2009 at 3:49 PM
We already pay for kids health insurance-Schip.
canditaylor68 on April 28, 2009 at 3:49 PM
The idea of Social Security and Medicare is that they are supposed to be self-substaining. Everyone pays FICA money, which is supposed to go into a trust fund and be there for them when they get ill. Paying money into the system when you are working and expecting to get it back when you are old and cannot work is one thing. Stamping your feet and demanding that the gov’t help you because they just should when you haven’t actually contributed to society in any meaningful way is quite another.
Illinidiva on April 28, 2009 at 3:49 PM
beatcanvas:
I know how much a trillion is. I also know that if you make letting old people die part of the party platform, Obama will be a very happy man.
Terrye on April 28, 2009 at 3:49 PM
So in which state do I meet the rest of the underground? This is going to get very very bad.
Bishop on April 28, 2009 at 3:50 PM
I wrote of Santorum when he abandoned principle and endorsed Sphincter over Toomey. Told him I wouldn’t forget it. Told him he had no principles.
Now I’m holding him to his decision. I don’t forgive him (as I haven’t forgiven Bush). And NOBODY has the guts to call him on it now.
Why is that important? If Santorum pays no price for abandoning principle for party by supporting the likes of Spector, then party will ALWAYS win over principle and we’ll find ourselves where we are… with a party run by RINOs.
mankai on April 28, 2009 at 3:50 PM
Honey, we left the road and have been in outer space for quite some time, because Ogabe’s proposed budgets, the attendant deficits, and projected costs are beyond stratospheric.
Jenfidel on April 28, 2009 at 3:51 PM
What a feeling!
The Metamucil finally worked!
Bye bye, Specter….FLUSHHHHHHHHHHH
jay12 on April 28, 2009 at 3:51 PM
But won’t limiting the programs cause some to suffer and die? Where exactly do you draw the line?
Have you looked at Social Security lately? What do you expect to get from it when you get to be of age?
Do you really expect that the government is capable of sound management? Of anything? Do you really believe that the government is capable of reform?
Nope. This is about saving children. It’s extreme and you have to choose now. Kids or the elderly, Terrye?
beatcanvas on April 28, 2009 at 3:51 PM
Illinidiva:
I am not stamping my feet, I am simply pointing out that it is a crime for someone who is responsible for an old person to let them suffer and die. I would not think that should be a novel concept. I would think that most people would realize that is the law.
And I also think that social security has been given to people it was never intended for. It was not meant for widows who are of working age, or even their children. I think in the future it will be necessary to reform and scale back the program if it is to survive.
Terrye on April 28, 2009 at 3:52 PM
Well everything except your Medicare prescription plan…
ClassicCon on April 28, 2009 at 3:53 PM
I’m not sure if he has one to turn in.
Knucklehead on April 28, 2009 at 3:54 PM
the generational theft was being decried during the Bush years as “stealing from our kids”….I really do not want to see my great grandkids stolen from since I probably will not be there to apologize in their adulthood….
the kleptocratic party who started the generational theft is also oddly enough the one who is addicted to abortion and arbogating what prior to the Great Depression were familial duties to their progenitors.
Your mileage can and likely does vary.
sven10077 on April 28, 2009 at 3:54 PM
Thanks, Jim. Amen.
Christian Conservative on April 28, 2009 at 3:55 PM
no I’m pretty sure that the 195% tax rates will make sure everything can keep on truckin’ like Nan, Harry, and Barry want and everyone will be thrilled to pay…
sven10077 on April 28, 2009 at 3:56 PM
Specter would agree with Obama.
canditaylor68 on April 28, 2009 at 3:56 PM
And I was agreeing with you. I pointed out that you were right for hardworking people who paid additional money into the system to get what they’re owed when they’re old. Medicare prescription drug plan is completely different than what Obama is doing. Obama’s plan appeals to the moochers, whiners, and losers – the people who expect the gov’t to pay for their mortgage, healthcare, etc. even though they are perfectly capable of working or people who expect the gov’t to help them buy their dream house or get a Harvard MBA because equality on the law means getting what the Joneses have to them.
Illinidiva on April 28, 2009 at 3:58 PM
beatcanvas:
No, you could take younger people off of social security all together and raise the retirement age.
And I think it is absurd to say it is one or the other. I honestly think that people have no idea how many of them would have to quit their jobs to take care of Mom if it were not for government sponsored home health care. And what of the pay checks those mothers made? What if you are a single mother and your mother has a stroke? What do you do?
Those resources that go to pay for drugs, or nursing homes that come from government would come from the private sector. People would have to raid their life savings. Give up sending kids to college.
My own mother went blind and then had a stroke, she had to have brain surgery. She was a widow. I could have liquidated all of our assets, mine and hers and not been able to pay for all of her care in those last 5 years of her life.
That is the problem.
Terrye on April 28, 2009 at 3:58 PM
I blame no one who qualifies to “use” the system. That’s why we need to change the system. I didn’t think it was hypocritical for the people in Hungary who all had government jobs, lived in government housing and got government health care to REVOLT against Socialism.
You have to live in the system they’ve given you. They rob from the free market (which would provide FAR BETTER services than the government) to pay for crappy government services… so people gravitate to what is there.
The problem is continuing to VOTE for the crappy system.
mankai on April 28, 2009 at 3:58 PM
He wasn’t a Republican, but in name only. His votes won’t change one way or the other, he will vote with the dems, just like he had planned to do.
Even the card check was suspect.
And Snowe can leave to, they don’t care about values, they care about being on a “winning” team.
But every team eventually loses, and the unfaithful will be remembered.
He is counting on the dems winning more seats in congress…and the way things are going, he made a wrong choice.
right2bright on April 28, 2009 at 3:58 PM
Heading south and east will get your started in the right direction.
Balkanization will start there.
ClassicCon on April 28, 2009 at 3:59 PM
Re-read what I said: I said that I didn’t support it.
I considered it a(nother) waste of my precious tax dollars.
But I saw how it could have benefitted my mother, who had already passed on before the Bill even came up.
BTW, she paid a large amount in taxes herself, if that matters.
Happy, moron?
Jenfidel on April 28, 2009 at 3:59 PM
Illinidiva:
Yes, it is. Thank you.
Terrye on April 28, 2009 at 4:00 PM
The “crappy system” is what the voters want. Some of you have this totally backwards.
ClassicCon on April 28, 2009 at 4:00 PM
people think that the donks think euthanasia is just for kids…
the Barrycare folks will ration care based on life choices suckers…er patients made during their lives…
every nation that pays the tab wants to pick the tune you have to dance to to get the care.
sven10077 on April 28, 2009 at 4:01 PM
Jenfidel:
I don’t think most people actually want either extreme.
In the days of the founding fathers the world was a very different place.
Terrye on April 28, 2009 at 4:01 PM
Bishop on April 28, 2009 at 3:50 PM
I’ve been considering North Dakota.
Or jumping ship completely for Australia.
Otis B on April 28, 2009 at 4:02 PM
Let’s face it- call Spectre all the names you want and say that this situation only reflects his personal ambition. Yet the very fact that a Republican of his stature has to face brutal primary campaigns says it all. Because Pennsylvania is a predominantly Democratic-leaning state, any winning Senator has to respect the majority in order to win re-election. Yet the Republicans will give Spectre no slack and have given him more abuse than even Murtha.
So ask yourselves what kind of Republican party no longer feels like good old home to moderates like Olympia Snowe- certainly not a true national party that’s inclusive of opinions that fall outside the right’s unyielding ideology. This is no longer the party of ‘liberals’ like Nixon or James Baker- or moderate Wall Street Republicans for that matter. And it isn’t a party with a great future unless something changes.
bayam on April 28, 2009 at 4:02 PM
I have been reading Hot Air for a while but this is my first post.
I normally agree with the bulk of you guys but I am a little hesitant on the good riddance approach with regard to Specter.
Like Specter or not PA is a tough place for the GOP to win, especially in the post-Bush era.
Don’t get me wrong I am not a Bush hater, I have just seen his effect on the generic ballot over the last couple of elections.
From a standpoint of winning in PA I would like to see a Toomey-Specter general election. I figure that the worst thing that happens then is we get more of the same out of Specter and the Dims have to put up with him pissing off the nutroots. Or better yet Toomey wins and we just have to spend tons of money for the rest of eternity defending an actual conservative in PA.
My fear though is that Specter gets beaten in the primary by a credible Dim opponent. Then Toomey gets beaten in the general. Because, lets face it, if the political environment in PA doesn’t change really soon we’ll lose that seat for the next 20 years or more.
Spanish412 on April 28, 2009 at 4:02 PM
If any of you RINOS or your representatives are reading this thread, and we know you read HA, get this through your skull; the tea parties were just as much about you and your ilk in Congress as it was Obama and the Dems. THE PEOPLE of this nation and in the GOP are fed up with your butts and we are RINO hunting! We will not stop until we have outed each and every one of you! You can be in the party but not hold an office. So, Grahamnesty, flush your head in a toilet because quite frankly, WE DO NOT GIVE A DAMN WHAT YOU THINK!
And to those of us who love this country and are fed up with this crap, if Arlen is afraid the GOP is becoming more Conservative then that means we are winning the war and the whiney butts over this are AFRAID. If the GOP is indeed becoming more Conservative then LET’S HAVE ONE MAJOR PARTYYYYY!!!!!!!!
freeus on April 28, 2009 at 4:02 PM
Uncle Sugar’s interference is why a broken arm that once cost 40 bucks to get fixed now pegs 1200….
add in Big Lawyer to keep it real…
sven10077 on April 28, 2009 at 4:03 PM
Ouch. Being called a moron by you is like being called ugly by Rosie Odonnel.
ClassicCon on April 28, 2009 at 4:03 PM
Republicans are now down to 40 senators, distributed in these states: AK: 1, AL: 2, AZ: 2, FL: 1, GA: 2, ID: 2, IN: 1, IA: 1, KS: 2, KY: 2, LA: 1, ME: 2, MS: 2, MO: 1, NE: 1, NH: 1, NV: 1, NC: 1, OH: 1, OK: 2, TN: 2, SC: 2, SD: 1, TX: 2, UT: 2, and WY: 2.
Plot these on a map and you’ll see the direction the rump GOP is headed. Y’all.
Grow Fins on April 28, 2009 at 4:04 PM
Yes, because they’ve been lied to by the likes of Terrye here who scream that old people will starve in the streets in Obama doesn’t get to run the banks.
Rush makes the case for conservatism, but from Bush 41 to Dole, to Bush 43 to McCain to the Hannity’s on the radio… the case has been lost in the hoopla. The GOP is run by Socialist-Lites and guys like Hanniny are style over substance. It’s a sickening combination.
mankai on April 28, 2009 at 4:04 PM
Yes, because they’ve been lied to by the likes of Terrye here who scream that old people will starve in the streets in Obama doesn’t get to run the banks.
Rush makes the case for conservatism, but from Bush 41 to Dole, to Bush 43 to McCain to the Hannity’s on the radio… the case has been lost in the hoopla. The GOP is run by Socialist-Lites and guys like Hanniny are style over substance. It’s a sickening combination.
mankai on April 28, 2009 at 4:04 PM
Yes, but not in the way you mean: Today, America is much more prosperous and life is almost luxurious, even for the “poor.”
Life in the late 18th Century, when the Founding documents were written, was much more precarious and cruel.
All the more reason that Government should do less today, not more.
And statists should never use “to promote the general welfare” as an excuse ever again.
Jenfidel on April 28, 2009 at 4:05 PM
Good riddance, Specter.
Obama. You can have that piece of trash, you piece of trash.
madmonkphotog on April 28, 2009 at 4:05 PM
mankai:
I understand what you are saying, but I am very sure that many of the people who say they want to get rid of all this have someone in their family right now who is using one or all of these programs.
That is my point. Do you really think that if people had to carry the burden financially of taking care of the elderly, the chronically ill, the injured people in in their own families that they would be able to drive the cars they drive, live in the houses they live in and send their kids to expensive colleges?
In fact I am childless. But I have been paying property taxes that go to the local school system for the last 35 years. That money helps educate other people’s children.
Terrye on April 28, 2009 at 4:05 PM
Why would that be, pray tell?
Jenfidel on April 28, 2009 at 4:07 PM
Right, except he isn’t rushing to support the Republicans, if that is what you meant by “his party”. He’s doing some early campaigning for Democrat Specter.
Buddahpundit on April 28, 2009 at 4:08 PM
I am assuming someone has already quoted Madison in regard to this provision.
mankai on April 28, 2009 at 4:08 PM
Look we tolerated Specter because we hoped he would back the Republican party and were disappointed most of the time. The final straw was his vote with those two other “moderates” for that God awful porkulus bill. He had the power to do something to at least try to improve that mess. He chose to be accepted and be popular with the opposition.Glad to see him go….his votes now will not be any different
sandee on April 28, 2009 at 4:09 PM
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