REPORT: At Least 40 GOP Lawmakers Fail A Principle Of The ‘Purity Test’
REPORT: At Least 40 GOP Lawmakers Fail A Principle Of The ‘Purity Test’
Yesterday, Republican National Committee member Jim Bopp unveiled a resolution to deny funding of candidates who do not uphold right-wing conservative values. The resolution, termed a “purity test,” is being touted as a mechanism for actually avoiding the party schism that occurred in the NY-23 special election, when the Republican Party nominated a moderate who violated several of the resolution dictates.
As the Hotline has noted, the resolution, if adopted, would boot key Republican candidates running for the Senate next year. National Republicans recruited Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE) to run for the Senate, even though they have bucked conservative orthodoxy in the past.
ThinkProgress has conducted an analysis that finds at least 40 current Republican members of Congress have violated at least one principle of the purity test:
Purity Pledge #1) We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama’s “stimulus” bill
– The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the stimulus) was passed with support from Republican Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME).
Purity Pledge #2) We support market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run healthcare
– Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA) voted for the health reform bill passed by the House.
Purity Pledge #3) We support market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation
– The Waxman Markey cap and trade clean energy bill was passed with support from GOP Reps. Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), Mike Castle (R-DE), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Leonard Lance (R-NJ), Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), Dave Reichert (R-WA), and Chris Smith (R-NJ).
Purity Pledge #4) We support workers’ right to secret ballot by opposing card check
– In 2007, the House passed the Employee Free Choice Act with support from Republican Reps. Tim Murphy (R-PA), Don Young (R-AK), Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), Peter King (R-NY), and Steve LaTourette (R-OH).
Purity Pledge #5) We support legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants
– The McCain-Kennedy 2006 immigration bill would have “legalized millions of undocumented immigrants already in the U.S. if they paid fines, paid back taxes and learned English.” Republican Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Dick Lugar (R-IN), George Voinovich (R-OH), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Bob Bennett (R-UT), Sam Brownback (R-KS), Susan Collins (R-ME), Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) voted for the bill.
Purity Pledge #6) We support victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges
– In 2007, both Republican Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) cosponsored resolutions opposing a troop surge in Iraq. In the House, Reps. Bob Inglis (R-SC), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Dean Heller (R-NV), Walter Jones (R-NC), Tim Johnson (R-IL), Mike Castle (R-DE), Howard Coble (R-NC), Ron Paul (R-TX), Tom Petri (R-WI), Fred Upton (R-MI), and Steve LaTourette (R-OH) supported a resolution opposing the Iraq surge. In addition, Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Ron Paul (R-TX), Walter Jones (R-NC), Ed Whitfield (R-KY), Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), John Duncan (R-TN), and Tim Johnson (R-IL) have signed onto a letter opposing a troop surge in Afghanistan.
Purity Pledge #7) We support containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat
– Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Dick Lugar (R-IN) both voted to remove North Korea from the state-sponsors of terror list. Sen. Lugar also voted against a 2007 resolution urging action against Iran. In the House, Reps. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Ron Paul (R-TX), and Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) voted against further sanctions against Iran in 2007.
Purity Pledge #10) We support the right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership
– Earlier this year, Sen. John Thune’s (R-SD) “concealed carry” gun amendment failed to receive the 60 votes it needed to pass. Republican Senators Dick Lugar (R-IN) and George Voinovich (R-OH) opposed the measure.
Already, conservative leaders like RedState’s Erik Erickson are saying that Bopp’s purity resolution doesn’t even go far enough. On Monday night, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann noted that President Ronald Reagan violated 6 of the 10 purity tests. “Ronald Reagan was a Democrat?” asked Olbermann, tongue planted firmly in cheek.
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If this is the new GOP, they need to change their logo. I’m thinking something 1940’s Germany.
November 25th, 2009 at 9:53 am“Purity Pledge”??? Um, their all supposed to be “Virgins”?
Are they AGAIN confusing their non-issues?
November 25th, 2009 at 9:55 am;)
Purity Pledge #10) We support the right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Even the Constitution can’t pass their test.
November 25th, 2009 at 9:56 amGOP ‘Purity’ test = guaranteed extinction.
Pass the popcorn.
November 25th, 2009 at 9:57 amNot one word about faithfully representing their constituents.
November 25th, 2009 at 9:57 amIs Sarah Palin going to another turkey farm this year?
November 25th, 2009 at 9:57 amThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
They’re turning into a bunch of brown-shirts! Do they really expect anyone to take them seriously?
November 25th, 2009 at 9:58 amWelcome to the Senate, Beau Biden and Alexi Giannoulis.
Both Mike Castle and Mark Kirk would be formidable opponents in DE and IL, but without RNC funding, they’d never be able to keep up. I hope the purity pledge passes; it should be enough to convince the moderates to jump ship and either become independents and caucus with the Dems, become independents and form a new party (hopefully), or just outright join the Democratic party.
Ideological purity does not breed electoral success. It’s interesting, though…the Dems were able to get such large margins in the House and Senate because they are a “big tent” party, which also means they have a hell of a time passing legislation against a unanimously opposed GOP and more conservative members of the Democratic Party. The GOP has a much tougher time getting into power, but are able to steamroll over opposition because they all follow in lock-step.
Our political system is in dire need of reform.
November 25th, 2009 at 9:58 ameebeeno:
November 25th, 2009 at 9:59 amI am now going to commence beating you senseless? Is that okay with you? Jess can watch if she would like to…
Beeno, what’s with the damn security link? we’re not going to click on it and you know it, so why keep bringing it up?
November 25th, 2009 at 9:59 amSo much for the big tent they pretend to have.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:00 amDidn’t N. Korea become a nuclear power during the Republicans’ watch?
November 25th, 2009 at 10:00 amC’mon, I know the kissing of Rush’s assboil is in there somewhere@!!
November 25th, 2009 at 10:05 amPurity Pledge #1) We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama’s “stimulus” bill
Except when it is a Republican that does it. Then they keep their mouths shut. They only complain about this stuff when the Dems are in charge.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:05 amThey forgot to include the part where nobody who is mixed race need apply. I guess that is common knowledge among their type.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:05 amsmaller national debt, lower deficits
November 25th, 2009 at 10:07 amThat means everybody who voted for Bush’s unfunded warneeds to go, right?
Repub “Purity Test” sounds like an Aryan uberman brownshirt thing.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:08 amPurity Pledge #1) We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes
Purity Pledge #6) We support victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges
Now just how do you plan to reconcile these two? Bake sales for Bombs?
November 25th, 2009 at 10:14 amThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Hi Tundra:
November 25th, 2009 at 10:20 amWhat are you talking about? Are you trying to make some weird blanket statement?
Caption contest, “Da plane, da plane!”
November 25th, 2009 at 10:21 amGood old Tundra is playing the usual game of it took 8 years to screw things up but you guys have 10 months to make it all better again.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:26 amThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
I look at this and simply say that if they push this or an even harder version, then they will make it easier for the Democrats to win more and stay in power longer.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:28 amExcept that Speaker Pelosi is talking about a surtax to fund the war and while while President Obama stated during the campaign that he was going to finish the job in Afghanistan nobody on our side is happy about that now. Al Qaeda is no longer in Afghanistan and many of us assumed he was going to finish hunting them down.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:30 amHow do you pay for a war and lower taxes without leaving debt? Apparently you don’t. You just hide the debt off the books and leave it for the next guy to fix. I guess that’s why they call it “trickle down”.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:32 amThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Tundra:
November 25th, 2009 at 10:32 amYou are sort of reaching around randomly it seems or maybe just having a hard time making yourself clear. Are you trying to say that someone has changed their ideas as to what should be done to get the nation out of the wars and if so who are you suggesting has done so?
Politicians can pass that purity test as long as they agree with at least 7 of the 10, they don’t have to agree with all of them.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:32 amThis story is inaccurate and misleading in that regard.
The fact that Reagan, who the thing is named after, wouldn’t even pass it, however, is a big deal.
I think this is a dumb move for the GOP, but if you are going to point out lawmakers who wouldn’t pass it, please use the methods the test is actually going to be employing.
It looks like all GOP’s are RINO’s =)
Now is the time, Republican Base, GET EM!!
November 25th, 2009 at 10:36 amRepublicans also need to establish a personal morality clause that would not allow Republicans to be in the party if they violate their morality requirement. If the Republicans care to listen I would suggest the following:
No adultery allowed. (Ensign, Sanford, Gingrich,Guiliani, Palin?)
November 25th, 2009 at 10:38 amNo homosexuals allowed. (Craig, Crist?,Foley,Graham?)
No ethics violators. (Palin, Gingrich, DeLay)
No family members born out of wedlock. (Palin)
No facilitation of bribery. (Colburn)
No association with prostitutes. (Vitter)
No abandonment of office responsiblities. (Palin, Sanford)
No criticism of Limbaugh. (Steele, Jindal, Cornyn, Hatch)
No support of RINOs. (Gingrich)
No RINOs. (Crist, Collins, Snow, Chaffe, McCain, Graham)
No service in Democratic Administrations. (LaHood, McHugh)
No divorcees. (Reagan, McCain, Guiliani)
I don’t own a gun, I know the 10 commandments, perhaps you can tell me what an abortion murder is though.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:39 amNice set of talking points there, Tundra. Fallacious as usual. The democrats had to deal with a veto president until last January. First lie. The minority party is very good at obstructing and adding things that make a bill very different than the original intent. Second lie.
And contrary to the popular meme, the democrats do care for the troops and are working at bringing the troops home. That they are trying to do so in a workable manner is somewhat frustrating but necessary in order to minimize the damages in the occupied countries.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:40 amMorning OSTL
November 25th, 2009 at 10:40 amFor real will you be sharing how you spend your day with your family members this Thanksgiving. Do you print out your weird shit and have Mom give suggestions? Tell the truth you know you weird need for negative attention is abnormal so you hide it mdon’t you?
@36 Is that what he’s doing?
November 25th, 2009 at 10:42 amsecular atheists?
November 25th, 2009 at 10:42 amPurity Test = HYP-O-CRITE!
November 25th, 2009 at 10:42 amThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
But the ones who pass will be true Americans!
November 25th, 2009 at 10:43 am—
And this gets them what?
its like a Nazi Socialist only different.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:43 amOlby Sucks,
Here’s a good way to judge if you’re a good American.
Did you contribute to a charity this Thanksgiving?
November 25th, 2009 at 10:44 amTundra should read the ThinkFast post directly below this thread. He would find us debating the war in Afghanistan and Iraq and complaining that President Obama is failing us, and the troops.
Of course that would require Tundra to be an honest operator, and not a whiny troll…
November 25th, 2009 at 10:46 am@37 I believe in God OSTL, just not in churches.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:47 amOh, geez, OSTL is channeling Frank Burns!
November 25th, 2009 at 10:47 amYou know you’re a negative Nelly.
— and you are a fraud and a poser…
November 25th, 2009 at 10:47 amOSTL, abortion is not murder. Murder is illegal, abortion is legal, therefore abortion can not, by definition be murder. it’s pretty basic logic. idiot
November 25th, 2009 at 10:48 amOSTL says:
You know, you can just come out and say your previous comments were stupid and that you retract them. You really don’t need to do this “WAAH IT WAS REALLY TEH NAMEJACKER” thing every five minutes.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:49 amThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
@51.Hey now, he could be talking about reporting the deaths of doctors who perform abortions, which is in fact murder. Wishful thinking on my part though.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:50 amWhat is with these people? Purity pledges, promise keepers, real this, true that…always focused on style, rather than substance…what a circus…
November 25th, 2009 at 10:52 amSo turdrama, why don’t you go and read the thinkfast thread and then come back and complain some more about how we aren’t thinking about the troops now that President Obama is in charge?
November 25th, 2009 at 10:52 amTundra do you want the troops home? If so what do you suggest? Up and out or are you more of the listen to your military advisors type
November 25th, 2009 at 10:52 amTurdrama @53
And if President Obama fails the troops, and his base, we will hold him accountable. Unlike you and your ilk who suckled cheney’s flaccid dingaling for 8 long years…
November 25th, 2009 at 10:55 amI don’t own a gun – nor do I see how it matters on any sort of purity test.. you have a right to own a gun.. I don’t – which is covered by that right.
as far as Abortion.. I think it’s a bad thing if done as birth control.. but I’m pro-choice.. don’t see how it’s a national purity standard.
I know the 10 commandments – though I doubt I could rattle them all off in order… I will try without google’s assistance..
Thou Shalt not Kill
November 25th, 2009 at 10:57 amThou Shalt not Bear false witness AGAINST thy neighbor
Thou Shalt not covet thy neighbors house or thy neighbor’s wife
Thou Shalt not worship false Idols
Thou Shalt not commit adultery
Thou Shalt not Steal
Thou Shalt honor they father and mother
Thou Shalt.. hmm.. well there’s three more and I’m drawing a blank – I’m sure I’d realize if they were said.. but 7 out of 10 isn’t too bad.. I passed the commandment purity test by Republican standards after all.
DB, tundra doesn’t want them back, he wants to whine about something. if he cared about the troops he would have been advocating to bring them home back when bush was ruining our country instead of questioning the patriotism of anyone who spoke out against the war.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:57 amOSTL, and at least we know 30 year old crybaby who is still nursing off his mama’s sagging, vein ridden breasts when we see one…
November 25th, 2009 at 11:00 amThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Was Davey that whiny kid or was that the talking dog?
November 25th, 2009 at 11:04 amI like tundra better frozen.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:05 amUSNclerk.. I don’t support organized religion either..
I feel that people go to church to show to others they are ‘good christians’.. Christ said to not pray in public, because it shows a lack of humility (obviously paraphrased).. I can’t see how church doesn’t fall into this category.. it’s just grand standing in my opinion.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:08 amI was bring them home when Bush was in charge and still am. I had a whole lot more company in that camp back then though. If someone even said “Phased slow deliberate withdrawl, they were called neoCONS, CONservatives etc..
—
November 25th, 2009 at 11:08 amI don’t agree. I think you wish this to be so. Can you point to any tangible supporting evidences? Most of the folks I know have been quite consistant in their stance
This comment has been voted down. Click to read.
This “purity” is nothing more than McCarthyism practiced by Republicans on Republicans. They have become cannibalistic and will surely fail fade into oblivion. The base that supports this move is small at best. What a tragedy for America.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:11 am37 Jeffy Bovine impersonator
You make some good trolling points but nowhere near the actual Jeffy Bovine.
I mean, you are trying REALLY, REALLY, REALLY hard to sound stupid like Jeffy Bovine but you are failing, my friend.
Will the actual Jeffy Bovine step up and show this poser the real stuff?!
November 25th, 2009 at 11:11 amTundra says:
I was bring them home when Bush was in charge and still am. I had a whole lot more company in that camp back then though. If someone even said “Phased slow deliberate withdrawl, they were called neoCONS, CONservatives etc..
Really? They must have been the “silent majority” in that case, because they certainly didn’t make a peep between 2003 and 2008.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:11 amHow do repugs pay for two invasions and go to Mars?
November 25th, 2009 at 11:19 amI’m put in mind of Captain Black’s Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade in Catch-22.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:23 amThey’ve had the brown-shirts for quite some time now, USN… what they’re going for w/ THIS new cr*p is the brown-pants, to complete the ensemble…
From the looks of things… they’re succeeding… wildly…
November 25th, 2009 at 11:24 amThis is too funny. Are we witnessing the implosion of the Republican Party? Soon they’ll be riding in chuck wagons and living in caves.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:25 amOh, that’s way too easy to answer, you silly…
“On Someone Else’s Dime!!™” The same way they pay for everything…
November 25th, 2009 at 11:27 amYou should see a doctor about your condition…it would explain a lot…
November 25th, 2009 at 11:28 amThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Parlezvous says in #70..
Oops.. I voted you up before I read the line ‘what a tragedy for America’…this is no tragedy.. this is a good thing. Unless you mean Republicans as a whole… cause yes, they are a tragedy – and have been since the Great Depression and I imagine previous to that.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:31 amWhen is our Afganastan redeployment home starting anyway?
—
November 25th, 2009 at 11:32 amDo you think there are any loose ends or issues which should be considered first or can we just pack up?
Here’s a good way to judge if you’re a good American.
Did you contribute to a charity this Thanksgiving?
I contribute year round, not just during the holidays.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:32 amThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Why didn’t the GOOPers just make up a short, simple list that said:
1. We’re gonna pretend the last eight years never happened and admit ZERO responsibility for the mess we’re in.
2. We hereby oppose everything and anything that Democrats will ever propose, for all eternity.
3. We all agree… Obama is a an Islamonazified CommunoSocialistic CryrtpoFascisticMaoistic Angry Black Nationist… and he’s B****K too!!!!
November 25th, 2009 at 11:34 amI was asking OSTL, Tundra. Sorry if I wasn’t very clear.
I’m still awaiting Kenneth to match my contribution this Thanksgiving.
Heck, a match from OSTL would be outstanding.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:42 amPurple State,
Whatever anyone can do that helps is always appreciated by those in need.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:44 amNow as to the poppy situation. What thoughts do you have there?
November 25th, 2009 at 11:45 amWith their virginity pledges and father-daughter purity balls, American conservatives have taken to public proclamations of their chastity and propriety. Now with its proposed “Ronald Reagan Unity Principle,” the Republican National Committee is considering its own purity test for GOP candidates. But just like the right-wing teens that invariably violate their oaths of premarital abstinence, even the holiest of Republicans would fail the GOP’s new Ten Commandments. Just like Ronald Reagan.
For more on GOP virtue lost and promises broken, see:
November 25th, 2009 at 11:45 am“The Republican Virginity Pledge.”
Now as to the poppy situation. What thoughts do you have there?
Let them poppy it up. I’m against “the war on drugs” in general, Certinaly don’t think it’s worth the rising number of dead US soldiers.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:52 amA Puritan pledge list, just in time for Thanksgiving?
I’m guessing pledge #11 has to do with burning GOP heretics…
November 25th, 2009 at 11:53 amRepublicans are perilously close to holding Salem witch trials.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:54 am1.) BRAVO to comment #30, I completely agree. TP, there is enough in this RNC policy to point out its fallacy on its won without twisting it Drudge style. Disagreeing with 1 point does not remove funding for a candidate.
2.) Can we STOP with the Nazi/Brown-Shirt references?! I counted at least 5 in the comments. Certain members of the right continue to polarize political discourse with such imagery (See: Parties, Tea) Let us not follow suit!! Let us rise above such cheap criticism and hit them on substantial policy matters.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:56 amOops, sorry barfly. GMTA.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:56 amIf I didn’t know better, I’d think that they are following the compulsive route of instituting purity rituals in order to cover up their failings.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:56 amas to the poppy situation..
I don’t see it as a useful thing for us to destroy the poppies and get them to plant other crops.. to what gain? The other crops won’t be as profitable.. and they will just put return to poppies.. it’s an exercise in futility. It costs troops and money to support what seems to be a useless agenda. The poppy crops in afghanistan have been destroyed before.. – and they were replanted. To me, it’s pointless.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:59 amI agree the poppy matter can not be resolved through crop destruction. I also agree that the War on Drugs is farcical and always has been.
November 25th, 2009 at 12:03 pmLove the picture. Is that the conservatives new salute?
November 25th, 2009 at 12:19 pmThink of how high the failure rate would be if they included those GOP attack points– being gay, adultery, someone in the family having an abortion, soliciting prostitutes, cross-dressing, etc.
November 25th, 2009 at 12:26 pmThe Republicans are getting dumber by the day. We should encourage the purging because they will not be many party members left.
EnnuiDivine says:
Both Mike Castle and Mark Kirk would be formidable opponents in DE and IL…
I think Kirk is moving so far to the right he will lose moderate voters in Illinois. The more Kirk expounds his positions, the more people will see him as far right rather than a moderate. This will make it easier for the Dems to hold onto the Senate seat.
November 25th, 2009 at 12:29 pmMy previous comment was a little inaccurate, here is the quote from the article, can the post please be fixed?
“President Ronald Reagan believed, as a result, that someone who agreed with him 8 out of 10 times was his friend, not his opponent,” the resolution states.
But if a candidate disagrees with three of the above, then the group wants the RNC to withhold financial assistance and an endorsement from that candidate.
The fact Reagan himself would have failed this test is a wonderful thing to point out. Pointing out politicians who failed one of the 10 doesn’t prove anything.
Pointing out politicians who failed three of the ten, however…
This post is misleading and should be fixed.
November 25th, 2009 at 12:49 pmYeah, they are all for small government when that benefits large corporations, but all for “big government” when it comes to invading people’s bedrooms and personal lives.
November 25th, 2009 at 1:44 pmShouldn’t these asshats be wearing opal rings and be staying faithful to their wives instead? Because the GOP Adam sure likes to eat all the apple with and off of Eve, Evie and Argentine Eva.
November 25th, 2009 at 4:30 pmalways a gimmick with those guys…
and almost always too many rubes willing to buy into their faux-populist, glibertarian, “values-centered”, free marketeer-y mythos.
i’m sure a doocy-ed up example if one will pop up any minute now.
November 25th, 2009 at 4:36 pmsorry, i just have to object to the characterization of eric erickson as a conservative “leader”. he’s nothing more than a flim-flam artist and sideshow host. even calling hiim “conservative” is a stretch, ’cause he has no principles, he’s just an opportunistic showboating bottom-dweller.
November 25th, 2009 at 4:46 pmThe GOP is now ruled by the ‘Gawdsensers’ (Gawd + nonsense) of the Christian right. Nice thing about having an imaginary friend that is a god; you are never responsible for the stupid BS you do.
November 25th, 2009 at 5:22 pmAwwww, isn’t that sweet? A Purity Pledge!
Maybe we should send them some cute little tee shirts that read, “True Conservatism Waits”…
November 25th, 2009 at 5:52 pmTo break into politics you have to be an excellent manipulator. Right now the best manipulators are on the left. Enjoy your present reign but don’t confuse this with leadership. Compliance, Comformance, and submission are your dividends you good subjects. The Sheepdog has returned to monitor this liberal bubble and my how nothing has CHANGED! Happy Thanksgiving you subjects and sheep; leaders of nothing. Wolves are enroute to keep the natural balance, unnaturally for the unarmed. Woof!
November 25th, 2009 at 7:39 pmIn the Nazi regime, they created a checklist that defined who was Jewish and who wasn’t. A list, I might add, that Hitler himself failed, since he couldn’t prove his grandparents weren’t Jewish.
November 25th, 2009 at 7:52 pmSo much for the “BIG TENT”
November 26th, 2009 at 6:09 amNot one word about faithfully representing their constituents.
November 26th, 2009 at 12:35 pmHow does this “victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges” …….
….. happen at the same time as this “smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes” ?
November 26th, 2009 at 5:14 pmWhen the “Contract With America” came out, we balked and laughed and then they used it to kick our asses.
Let’s take this seriously. It’s a good way for them to show uniformity and to scare away anyone that won’t support the kitchen sink strategy.
November 26th, 2009 at 10:26 pmNothing tells voters that Republicans are a party of ideologues, rather than pragmatic problem solvers, like the announcement last week that conservative activists are pushing a proposal to deny funding to candidates who fail a litmus or “purity” test.
How long are Republicans going to keep walking around, sticking their tongues into light sockets to see what the electricity tastes like?
The Republican Party needs to run candidates that fit the district for which they are running, regardless of whether they pass a litmus test—“Just Win Baby.”
The only litmus test that matters is the one that matches a candidate to the issues in the specific district for which he or she is running, period. This might come as a shock to the party, but Republican candidates come in many colors and flavors, much like voters and the districts in which they reside.
Let’s have a reality check. Eight years of Republican leadership has left America choking on a $12 trillion national debt, a $787 billion taxpayer bailout, 10.2% unemployment and two wars whose purposes and astronomical costs are still unclear, with no end in sight. Middle America wants jobs, fiscal responsibility, affordable healthcare and quality public education for its children, none of which were delivered under a Republican administration and Republican Congress. Republicans had eight years to produce for America and they failed, breaking the spirit of Middle America along the way.
http://americanmuser.wordpress.com
November 30th, 2009 at 2:42 pm