And The Crazy Keeps On Coming
Republicans are a funny lot, and they keep getting funnier by the minute. How else do you explain the news that a conservative PAC in Utah has decided that Orrin Hatch, a senator for 35 years, needs to go because he just isn't conservative enough. Orrin Hatch, the man who has pursed his lips so often that now he doesn't appear to have any lips at all. Well, this news had my eyes spinning like a slot machine.
"The bottom line is Hatch doesn’t represent the state of Utah," Russ Walker, vice president of political and grass-roots campaigns for FreedomWorks PAC, said in a statement. "The state of Utah is far more fiscally conservative than Orrin Hatch is."
That is not a new sentiment. A little more than a year ago, a Salt Lake Tribune poll showed signs of a crack in Hatch's popularity. The poll, which the paper reported in May 2010, found that 51% of respondents said they would elect someone other than Hatch if he were up for reelection that year, while only 35% would support him.
Now, 35 years is a long time, so maybe it is time for Hatch to retire, but forcing him into it because he isn't "fiscally conservative" enough for his state is really reaching. According to the post, Hatch recently scored in the 90+% range in several conservative rankings on the issue. Are his constituents disgusted with the pork he has brought home by virtue of the power of his seniority? He sure hasn't been doling out the dollars to the rest of the country.
So, what's the beef? Apparently that any expenditure by the federal government is suspect because it spends taxpayer dollars. The new breed of Republicans, the Tea Partiers and their ilk, don't like that. In fact, they don't much like the concept of taxpayer dollars itself. If the federal government would just stop spending money then they wouldn't have to pay taxes at all. That apparently is the goal.
Of course, that goal would result in the end of a federal government, of the whole idea of the United States. That strikes me as totally unAmerican and possibly seditious.
We sure are living in weird times.
"The bottom line is Hatch doesn’t represent the state of Utah," Russ Walker, vice president of political and grass-roots campaigns for FreedomWorks PAC, said in a statement. "The state of Utah is far more fiscally conservative than Orrin Hatch is."
That is not a new sentiment. A little more than a year ago, a Salt Lake Tribune poll showed signs of a crack in Hatch's popularity. The poll, which the paper reported in May 2010, found that 51% of respondents said they would elect someone other than Hatch if he were up for reelection that year, while only 35% would support him.
Now, 35 years is a long time, so maybe it is time for Hatch to retire, but forcing him into it because he isn't "fiscally conservative" enough for his state is really reaching. According to the post, Hatch recently scored in the 90+% range in several conservative rankings on the issue. Are his constituents disgusted with the pork he has brought home by virtue of the power of his seniority? He sure hasn't been doling out the dollars to the rest of the country.
So, what's the beef? Apparently that any expenditure by the federal government is suspect because it spends taxpayer dollars. The new breed of Republicans, the Tea Partiers and their ilk, don't like that. In fact, they don't much like the concept of taxpayer dollars itself. If the federal government would just stop spending money then they wouldn't have to pay taxes at all. That apparently is the goal.
Of course, that goal would result in the end of a federal government, of the whole idea of the United States. That strikes me as totally unAmerican and possibly seditious.
We sure are living in weird times.
Labels: Election 2012, Musings
posted by Diane at 3:55 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home