Breaking: DeMint retiring from Senate
posted at 10:46 am on December 6, 2012 by Ed Morrissey
Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), who has led conservatives in the upper chamber for years, will resign his office next month, according to a statement from his office earlier this morning. DeMint will move across town to the Heritage Foundation and will become its new president:
Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) announced that he will leave the Senate at the beginning of January to become the next president of The Heritage Foundation, the largest and most respected conservative think tank in America.
“It’s been an honor to serve the people of South Carolina in United States Senate for the past eight years, but now it’s time for me to pass the torch to someone else and take on a new role in the fight for America’s future.
“I’m leaving the Senate now, but I’m not leaving the fight. I’ve decided to join The Heritage Foundation at a time when the conservative movement needs strong leadership in the battle of ideas. No organization is better equipped to lead this fight and I believe my experience in public office as well as in the private sector as a business owner will help Heritage become even more effective in the years to come.
“I’m humbled to follow in the footsteps of Ed Feulner, who built the most important conservative institution in the nation. He has been a friend and mentor for years and I am honored to carry on his legacy of fighting for freedom.
“My constituents know that being a Senator was never going to be my career. I came to Congress as a citizen legislator and I’ve always been determined to leave it as citizen legislator. South Carolina has a deep bench of conservative leaders and I know Governor Haley will select a great replacement.
“One of the most rewarding things I’ve done in the Senate is work with the grassroots to help elect a new generation of leaders who have the courage to fight for the principles of freedom that make this country so great. I’m confident these senators will continue the legacy of conservative leaders before them.”
Jim DeMint was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1998 after owning a successful advertising and market research company for twenty years. DeMint left the House after limiting himself to three terms and then was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004 and re-elected in 2010.
During his time in office, DeMint has been tireless advocate for Americans taxpayers. His goal has been to support and defend the Constitution, which was written to preserve liberty by restraining the federal government. Toward that end, he authored legislation to balance the budget, ban earmarks, replace the tax code, and reform our entitlement programs. He also led the fight against unconstitutional power grabs like the Wall Street bailout and Obamacare.
The Wall Street Journal breaks down the political situation of DeMint’s departure:
Sen. DeMint’s departure means that South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, a Republican, will name a successor, who will have to run in a special election in 2014. In that year, both Mr. DeMint’s replacement and Sen. Lindsey Graham will be running for reelection in South Carolina.
Mr. DeMint was reelected to a second term in 2010. The 61-year-old senator had announced earlier that he would not seek a third term.
Frankly, I’m disappointed by the move, although this gives Heritage a big boost. I had hoped to see DeMint act as a conservative leader in the Senate for the next four years, especially with Democrats taking a bigger majority after this past election. Haley will make a wise appointment, I’m sure, and other Republicans in the chamber will get an opportunity to fill his shoes. However, considering the fights ahead of us, it would have been much better to have DeMint as a stalwart on the inside rather than an activist on the outside.
Regardless, I wish Senator DeMint the best, and thank him for his invaluable service to the conservative cause over the last several years. I’m glad we’ll see him at Heritage, and look forward to the great work he will do there.
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The President of the United States requires twelve very expensive pens to sign his name.
Axe on May 2, 2013 at 8:04 PM
And a reach around from Reggie Love.
Polish Rifle on May 2, 2013 at 8:07 PM
I’m sorry if this is a little off topic.. okay… maybe a lot… but I just noticed the size of that watch Obama is wearing in the signing photo.
Is he suffering from presbyopia? Does he need contacts or glasses but, for some reason known only to him, refuses to wear them so he wears a gigantic watch just so he can read the time accurately?
OR.. is it a super secret, president use only, computer/communicator, one of a kind wrist version of an iphone? Maybe instead of the ‘nuclear football’ he now has it digitized in a watch. Might be a great way to keep him from losing it.
As to that regulation bonanza upon which he’s embarked… we all knew it was going to be costly… and painful. We have to wonder just how bad it’s going to get this term… and how much of it will remain a constant hangover after he’s left office.
thatsafactjack on May 2, 2013 at 8:09 PM
brainfreeordie: wage gap; ebil corporations; to each according to his need, etc.; something, something; outrageous claims without proof about regulation not costing businesses anything; ebil corporations
NotCoach on May 2, 2013 at 8:09 PM
He’s doing exactly what he meant to do and he has only 1357 days to complete his total subordination of both our economy and our society. And he as the total cooperation of Manure Spreading Media. If the lousy 3% differential in the voters can’t figure this out by 3rd Quarter of 2014, we as a nation are doomed.
The social science folks will be studying and writing about this catastrophic ‘community organizer’ for decades to come. Many will simply ask: “How could this have happened?”
Missilengr on May 2, 2013 at 8:22 PM
It was Reagan who said Government is the problem:
To paraphrase: If it exists, tax it. If it moves, regulate it. If it cannot survive, subsidize it.
Only a government program can violate the Laws of Thermodynamics, that is to make a ‘perpetual motion machine’ a reality.
Missilengr on May 2, 2013 at 8:26 PM
Conservatives and their representatives in government have only one goal; stand to stop every law, proposed law, or directive from the Obama administration.
Tater Salad on May 2, 2013 at 8:27 PM
Figure that the numerous US Government Regulation increases that my industry has seen since January of 2009 has cost each average small business owner in our field something like 25% more than under the previous Administration.
That’s not good.
Del Dolemonte on May 2, 2013 at 8:39 PM
Jackie, that’s really not a large watch but that surely is a skinny feminine wrist it’s on.
D-fusit on May 2, 2013 at 8:42 PM
LOL! Perspective is everything. :)
thatsafactjack on May 2, 2013 at 8:44 PM
thatsafactjack on May 2, 2013 at 8:09 PM
The watch..my guess?
Its the style right now…huge watches.
What I have noticed. Even women’s watches.
Case diameter and band width.
just 2 cents J. I am a watch-aholic..I like a bigger one..
but they are huge now.
You know..Barry is so fashionable.
bazil9 on May 2, 2013 at 8:45 PM
lol@defuse
bazil9 on May 2, 2013 at 8:46 PM
Hands of a woman. Yikes.
SouthernGent on May 2, 2013 at 9:39 PM
The President of the United States requires twelve very expensive pens to sign his name.
Axe on May 2, 2013 at 8:04 PM
I noticed that too. He’s not the first to use a dozen pens every time he signs some official and important document. Each of those pens gets given to someone, so every time a new signing occurs, that’s twelve more pens to be bought…
What a waste. Tradition? Phooey. If I were President, it might be a small thing, but that’s one tradition I’d do away with.
Logus on May 2, 2013 at 10:50 PM
Most of that is now sitting in offshore bank accounts, Saudi Arabia and a few other places. There is intended Cloward-Piven waste sprinkled with good old fashioned D.C. incompetence going on, but ultimately it’s a cover for money laundering and theft.
It all doesn’t make sense until you view such things as criminal operations. Who would really think that these guys are going to let billions of dollars simply evaporate? Hell, they lose sleep over the idea that kids can operate lemonade stands without paying tribute.
Dr. ZhivBlago on May 2, 2013 at 11:56 PM
regulation compliance is just as much a cost as taxes. When those costs are not part of the calculation, you get falsely low numbers.All taxes, and regulation compliance, and minimum wage, and all insurances, and and and …..
All government actions that increase costs add to the probability that part or even all of the jobs in that business are moving somewhere else. If the inflicted costs are local, then maybe just out of state. When national, then certainly out of the country.
jhnone on May 3, 2013 at 12:12 AM
I think we have gone over the cliff and are heading for the rocks,
Make sure your helmet is on and your seatbelt is fastened.
losarkos on May 3, 2013 at 1:15 AM