Specter’s first vote as a Democrat: No on Obama’s budget.
By on Apr 29th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Specter’s first vote as a Democrat: No on Obama’s budget.
In a 53-to-43 vote tonight, the Senate followed the House in passing President Obama’s budget. Not a single Republican voted in favor of the budget resolution, but a number of key Democrats including Sens. Evan Bayh (IN), Robert Byrd (WV), Ben Nelson (NE), and most notably Arlen Specter (PA) voted against it. Just yesterday, Specter reportedly said to Obama, “I’m a loyal Democrat. I support your agenda.” The budget resolution that passed tonight allowed for health care reform to be implemented using the budget reconciliation process, which Specter expressed his opposition to yesterday.
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Alright Specter. Keep voting NO and the people will vote NO in 2010. Payback is a Byaatch.
April 29th, 2009 at 8:43 pmLike I said earlier, he’s going to leave all of his pending decisions the same so it doesn’t look like they weren’t originally made based on whatever principles he claims to have.
Once all open currently business is water under the bridge, we may get a few more votes from him than before. That’s better than nothing. The mere fact that the R’s can’t twist his arm any more should help a bit. But we shouldn’t expect much.
April 29th, 2009 at 8:47 pmSpecter is a Repuke and needs to be put on war crime trial like all his ilk!
April 29th, 2009 at 8:47 pmJust glad he is not a YES-man, but has his own thoughts and beliefs.
April 29th, 2009 at 8:47 pmbrothabazillion Says:
Ive been following the Spector trial in California…
OK, you made me laugh. Good one.
April 29th, 2009 at 8:48 pmBrotha, dude, get back on the meds, man! What in the hell are you blathering about?
Back on topic, was anybody fooled by Specter’s swap? Altogether now, in your best Gomer Pyle voice– SUPRIZE-SUPRIZE-SUPRIZE!!
April 29th, 2009 at 8:50 pmI’m willing to cut him slack on this, provided he works on the effort. Robert Byrd also voted against this, purely because of reconciliation.
April 29th, 2009 at 8:56 pmWell, we were forewarned yesterday that he wasn’t a guaranteed 60th vote on everything. I’m willing to give Specter a chance for now, but, I’d really like to see Specter lose in 2010 because it’s time for alot of these old a$$ cronies in Congress to retire. Bring in new blood, new ideas, etc.
April 29th, 2009 at 8:57 pmLipstick on an opportunist pig……nothing more than lipstick on a pig!!!
April 29th, 2009 at 8:58 pmSpecter will have to be walking a fine and precarious line up to the next election. I wouldn’t count on him to help the democrats much. He’s more like a little salt in the ever festering wound of the GOP.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:02 pmI’m here in PA and a Democratic Committee person in my county. If the Party insists on endorsing this guy next year without even exploring some other great candidates (I’m biased, Patrick Murphy is my congressman and Joe Sestak is in the neighboring district) there is going to be hell to pay in the Democratic community.
I’d rather not have Specter at all than to have my party in the position where they must suck up to him. Specter is old, his time has come and gone and he needs to retire.
PEACE
April 29th, 2009 at 9:09 pmi now know what the rest of you knew from day one: my shtick as a parody doesn’t stand a chance. my moment came after reading #2 @ 8:45.
i’m calling a meeting between alfred hitchcock, angela landbury & dick wolf.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:11 pmDid TP’s Ryan Powers even read down the vote list for “Nays”? It says right there that Arlen is still a Republican! I expect a correction soon. Arlen has yet to vote as a democrat.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:28 pmYou know BrothaBazillion people in this country are considered innocent until proven guilty.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:28 pmLeopard can’t change his spots.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:29 pmDon’t mix pollen meds with mad dog!
April 29th, 2009 at 9:30 pmIf Specter was following what his constituents wanted then I cannot fault his decision, but if he overrode his constituents for his personal view then he has wronged his constituents.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:30 pmIf your gonna do that at least use the /parody or /snark or /sarcasm tags at the end of your posts because we have seen many people post what you say with sincerity. From now on I will ignore you but you will just change names again.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:33 pmNot positve that Spector was a good trade for the team.
Spector and others didn’t have to hit (vote for) the runniers in because of the pitcher (reconciliation.
But when the bases are loaded with two outs and the game is tied (filibustered). Will Spector get a hit and plate a run (vote for cloture).?
Perhaps we should have run a real progressive against republicans in his state. It might have been better to bring up someone from the farm club.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:41 pmGood ol’ Magic Bullet. You can count on him to steal the coat off an old lady’s back in a snowstorm if it’ll keep him in office.
The change of Specter is as real as the change of Obama.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:42 pmBefore too many people come down with an iron fist on Specter…keep in mind that Dennis freakin’ Kucinich voted against the budget in the House.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:46 pmecho
April 29th, 2009 at 10:12 pmSince yesterday:
Specter is still a liar
Specter votes republican
Not a thing changed.
April 29th, 2009 at 10:15 pmGee… I wonder where Prod heard that? At his weekly Klan meeting perhaps?
April 29th, 2009 at 10:15 pmSen. Spectator gets off on the right foot just like a righty would. Was there a microphone around to record the sound of this guy slapping himself so hard on the back it could be heard in Pennsylvania? What a grandstander!!!
April 29th, 2009 at 10:22 pmEnnuiDivine Says:
Before too many people come down with an iron fist on Specter…keep in mind that Dennis freakin’ Kucinich voted against the budget in the House.
More wingnut heads exploding. I’m not sure what Kucinich’s reasoning was. Probably complaining about the trees that died to make the paper the budget was printed on or something…
There might be good reasons to reasonably limit overspending at present, but unfortunately there are no reasonable voices left to make them when it counts.
.
Proud Says:
A little off topic, but it was once said that a black man would be president when pigs flew. Well behold, 100 days into his presidency swine flu.
Not bad… not bad at all. We may be in trouble if y’all actually discover a proper sense of humor.
April 29th, 2009 at 10:25 pmElBruce, you sure are in a generous mood today.
April 29th, 2009 at 10:27 pmThe DNC is now demanding (more) money from me. I don’t think so in light of their embrace of a man with no party and no principles. No primary? Crap.
April 29th, 2009 at 11:19 pmYeah, the parody thing is hard to maintain.
April 29th, 2009 at 11:27 pm.
Shorter Specter: “Hey everybody, look at me. I want to keep my job.”
.
April 30th, 2009 at 12:59 amralph the wonder locust Says:
ElBruce, you sure are in a generous mood today.
Dude, I’m center-left. Hardcore center-left, but center-left nonetheless. Thus, Kucinich and Nader are as much grist for my mill as Boehner or Santorum. The downside is I don’t get to make fun of Hillary (and trust me, I’m giving up a lot there)…
April 30th, 2009 at 1:17 amif Specter wants to marginalize his old arse, let him… as long as we don’t screw around, and go for reconciliation on the big issues, that the non-party and wayward dems sabotage.
April 30th, 2009 at 2:31 amIt passed . . . so Spector played the safe shot and I’m SURE the key players were in on it . . . the shock value of dumping the Republic Party was enough pain to explode their heads and begin the Rush to attack the remaining moderates still clinging to the fantasy that the Republic Party has a future . . .
April 30th, 2009 at 4:58 amHaving spent years helping to screw up the Republican Party, Specter is now helping to screw up the Democratic Party.
April 30th, 2009 at 5:58 amThanks SitesSesli Sohbet
April 30th, 2009 at 8:17 amSesli Chat
SesliSohbet
SesliChat
It doesn’t matter how Specter votes on the issues as long as he votes for closure!
April 30th, 2009 at 8:27 amDearest big d o u c h e r, on behalf of the Democratic party, a hearty “no thanks” to your party switch.
Shallow, loser idiot, welcome to the beginning of your irrelevancy.
April 30th, 2009 at 8:40 amThe Pennsylvania voters need to pay attention to Specter’s actions, not his claim of which party he now belongs to.
If the milk in your fridge is spoiled today, it will still be spoiled tomorrow.
April 30th, 2009 at 8:45 amI consider Specter too conservative for my tastes, but I will give him a pass on his votes on specific legislation. As a member of the caucus, however, he does have one over-riding obligation: He must – must – vote for cloture to allow votes to take place on specific legislation. That is an absolute requirement. He doesn’t get to pick an choose on that item. He must allow the business of the Senate to take place.
April 30th, 2009 at 8:54 amJust because Specter switched parties doesn’t guarantee that he will win the Democratic primary. If he continues to vote with the “party of no”, then the voters will skip his name next April and vote for the a real Democrat.
April 30th, 2009 at 9:14 am#2 — What on heaven’s earth are you talking about? The Spector trial in California is Phil Spector, a music producer. This Specter (note different spelling) is Senator Arlen Specter from Pennsylvania.
April 30th, 2009 at 9:21 amSpenser’s Butterfly Mom – I, too, am a Democratic Committee person in Tim Holden’s District (PA 17) and I will be furious is the State Democratic Party supports Specter over another lifelong Democrat. Stop by my blog and contact me. We Committee people may need to work together next year.
April 30th, 2009 at 9:22 amI’m from Pennsylvania and Specter was not following the wishes of his constituents. He was following the wishes of the “Pat Toomey teabaggers” and not the Pennsylvanians that are hurting due to job losses and no health care.
April 30th, 2009 at 9:26 amSpecter is an A$$. He voted for W’s 3.4 Trillion dollar budget. What’s different about this one? No wonder the repugs were glad to get shed of this guy. He’s a moron.
April 30th, 2009 at 11:55 amProud, that’s a pretty clever joke. Most people would call you racist, that’s because they don’t understand clever parody.
April 30th, 2009 at 12:06 pmI am a proud Liberal. I also know how Congress works. The truth is the Democrats did not need any of those votes to pass the budget. When a vote is easily won or it is sure to be a loss, the party should give a pass on the vote to members from districts where a party line vote would hurt them. Unless of course you have no interest in having your party remain the majority party.
A party that always demands a lockstep party line vote, will soon look like the Republican Party does today, a radical, regional party of ideologues.
Liberals better look close at the Republican Party’s problems and learn from them. The path they followed is a very easy course to choose. Everyone wants to create the country of their dreams. But the US is an ideologically diverse country and compromise is the foundation on which our country was built. If their had been no compromise in the Constitution, instead of there being a United States, there would have been 13 divided states.
There may be a day when Specter, Byrd, Bayh and Nelson’s votes will be needed, till then let them have their pass on this vote.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:19 pm#45 — If you’re having dinner with friends, and someone makes the comment “you’re pulling my leg”, do you immediately look under the table to verify this occurance?
April 30th, 2009 at 4:26 pmToo many “no” votes will translate to a “no” vote from Obama on supporting Specter in the 2010 primary. He’s walking a tightrope.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:56 pm