”Blah! Blah! Blah!!!”
Posted on 02/12/2012 6:30:58 PM PST by writer33
DURHAM -- Mitt Romney was the inevitable nominee - until he wasn't.
In order to sustain a lead, a candidate's message must resonate with the heart and the mind. Romney's cakewalk to the Republican presidential nomination has been stymied by the inability to get anyone excited about his campaign. He has supporters, but not believers.
Rick Santorum's message resonates with voters' hearts and minds, lately at least, because he is a true believer. He believes in his message and his message is consistent with core Republican values. What gave Santorum the edge in Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri last week can give him an edge in the general election against President Barack Obama.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsobserver.com ...
For those interested.
He has supporters, but not believers.Other than Mormonism and RomneyCare, what does Willard himself believe in? I haven't got a clue.
By the way what is Romney's message? "I'm next?"
True that Santorum is a true believer. But his economic beliefs are very confused. He doesn’t understand capitalism or free enterprise and hence it is difficult to say we are supporting him. We are even more skeptical of Mitt is what it is. And, Santorum is at least better on social issues.
”Blah! Blah! Blah!!!”
The following is from Redstate. (The votes are hot-linked at the source site.) He might be a true believer, but he’s a true believer in big government.
Source: http://www.redstate.com/erick/2012/01/06/what-a-big-government-conservative-looks-like/
NEA
Voted for taxpayer funding of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Voted against a 10% cut in the budget for National Endowment for the Arts.
Bankruptcy
Voted for a Schumer amendment to make the debts of pro-life demonstrators not dischargeable in bankruptcy.
Defense and Foreign Policy
Voted for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
Voted against requiring the President to certify that the CWC is effectively verifiable.
Voted against requiring the President to certify that that Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, North Korea, China, and all other countries determined to be state sponsors of terror have joined CWC prior to submitting the instrument of ratification.
Voted for the START II Treaty
Voted to allow the sale of supercomputers to China.
Voted to ban antipersonnel landmines
Voted against increasing defense spending offset by equivalent cuts in non-defense spending.
Voted to require that Federal bureaucrats get the same payraises as uniformed military.
Voted to allow food and medicine sales to state sponsors of terror and tyranical regimes such as Libya and Cuba.
Voted to limit the President’s authority to impose sanctions on nations for reasons of national security unless the sanctions were approved by a multilateral regime.
Voted against requiring Congressional authorization for military action in Bosnia.
Voted to give $25 million in foreign aid to North Korea
Voted to weaken alien terrorist deportation provisions. If the Court determines that the evidence must be withheld for national security reasons, the Justice Department must still provide a summary of the evidence sufficient for the alien terrorist to mount a defense against deportation.
Voted against delaying the India Nuclear until the President certified that India had agreed to suspend military-to-military exchanges with Iran.
Voted against the Conventional Trident Missile Program
Nominations
Voted for Richard Paez to the 9th Curcuit (cloture)
Voted for Sonia Sotomayor, Circuit Judge
Voted for Richard Holbrooke to be Ambassador to the UN
Voted for Margaret Morrow to be District Judge
Voted twice for Marsha Berzon to the 9thg Circuit
Voted for Mary McLaughlin to be District Judge
Voted for Tim Dyk to be District Judge
Voted for James Brady to be District Judge
Labor
Voted against National Right to Work Act
Voted against Real of Davis-Bacon Prevailing union wages
Voted for Alexis Herman to be Secretary of Labor
Voted for mandatory Federal child care funding
Voted for Trade Adjustment Assistance.
Voted for Job Corps funding
Voted twice in support of Fedex Unionization
Voted against allowing a waiver of Davis-Bacon in emergency situations.
Voted for minimum wage increases six times here here here here here and here
Voted to require a union representative on an IRS oversight board.
Voted to exempt IRS union representative from criminal ethics laws.
Voted against creating independent Board of Governors to investigate IRS abuses.
Guns
Voted to require pawn shops to do background checks on people who pawn a gun.
Voted twice to make it illegal to sell a gun without a secure storage or safety device
Voted for a Federal ban on possession of “assault weapons” by those under 18.
Voted for Federal funding for anti-gun education programs in schools.
Voted for anti-gun juvenile justice bill.
Reform
Voted for funding for the legal services corporation.
Voted twice for a Congressional payraise.
Voted to impose a uniform Federal mandate on states to force them to allow convicted rapits, arsonists, drug kingpins, and all other ex-convicts to vote in Federal elections.
Voted for the Specter “backup plan” to allow campaign finance reform to survive if portions of the bill were found unconstitutional.
Voted to mandate discounted broadcast times for politicians.
Voted for a McCain amendment to require State and local campaign committees to report all campaign contributions to the FEC and to require all campaign contributions to be reported to the FEC within 24 hours within 90 days of an election.
Immigration
Voted against increasing the number of immigration investigators
Voted to allow illegal immigrants to receive the earned income credit before becoming citizens
Voted to give SSI benefits to legal aliens.
Voted to give welfare benefits to naturalized citizens without regard to to the earnings of their sponsors.
Voted against hiring an additional 1,000 border partrol agents, paid for by reductions in state grants.
Taxes
Voted against a flat tax.
Voted to increase tobacco taxes to pay for Medicare prescription drugs
Voted to increase tobacco taxes to fund health insurance subsidies for small businesses.
Voted to increase tobacco taxes to pay for an $8 billion increase in child healh insurance.
Voted to increase tobacco taxes to pay for an increase in NIH funding.
Voted twice for internet taxes.
Voted to allow gas tax revenues to be used to subsidize Amtrak.
Voted to strike marriage penalty tax relief and instead provide fines on tobacco companies.
Voted against repealing the Clinton 4.3 cent gas tax increase.
Voted to increase taxes by $2.3 billion to pay for an Amtrak trust fund.
Voted to allow welfare to a minor who had a child out of wedlock and who resided with an adult who was on welfare within the previous two years.
Voted to increase taxes by $9.4 billion to pay for a $9.4 billion increase in student loans.
Voted to say that AMT patch is more important than capital gains and dividend relief.
Welfare
Voted against food stamp reform
Voted against Medicaid reform
Voted against TANF reform
Voted to increase the Social Services Block Grant from $1 billion to $2 billion
Voted to increase the FHA loan from $170,000 to $197,000. Also opposed increasing GNMA guaranty from 6 basis points to 12.
Voted for $2 billion for low income heating assistance.
Waste
Sponsored An amendment to increase Amtrak funds by $550 million
Voted to use HUD funds for the Joslyn Art Museum (NE), the Stand Up for Animals project (RI) and the Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Project (WA)
Voted to increase spending on social programs by $7 billion
Voted to increase NIH funding by $1.6 billion.
Voted to increase NIHnding by $700 million
Voted to for a $2 million earmark to renovate the Vulcan Monument (AL)
Voted for a $1 billion bailout for the steel industry
Voted against requiring that highway earmarks would come out of a state’s highway allocation
Voted to allow Market Access Program funds to go to foreign companies.
Voted to allow OPIC to increase its administrative costs by 50%
Voted against transferring $20 million from Americorps to veterans.
Voted for the $140 billion asbestos compensation bill.
Voted against requiring a uniform medical criteria to ensure asbestos claims were legitimate.
Voted to increase community development programs by $2 billion.
Spending and Entitlements
Voted to make Medicare part B premium subsidies an new entitlement.
Voted against paying off the debt ($5.6 trillion at the time) within 30 years.
Voted to give $18 billion to the IMF.
Voted to raid Social Security instead of using surpluses to pay down the debt.
Health Care
Voted to allow states to impose health care mandates that are stricter than proposed new Federal mandates, but not weaker.
Voted twice for Federal mental health parity mandates in health insurance.
Voted against a allow consumers the option to purchase a plan outside the parity mandate.
Education
Voted to increase Federal funding for teacher testing
Voted to increase spending for the Department of Education by $3.1 billion.
Voted against requiring courts to consider the impact of IDEA awards on a local school district.
Energy
Voted to allow the President to designate certain sites as interim nuclear waste storage sites in the event that he determines that Yucca Mountain is not a suitable site for a permanent waste repository. Those sites are as follows: the nuclear waste site in Hanford, Washington; the Savannah River Site in South Carolina; Barnwell County, South Carolina; and the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee.
Voted to make fuel price gouging a Federal crime.
what does Willard himself believe in? I haven’t got a clue...
______________________________________________________________
Well, let me help you out here. He believes it’s his turn.
LOL.... That is awesome.
It’s not that RINORomney doesn’t EXCITE us.
(He doesn’t, by the by.)
We just don’t BELIEVE HIM.
(btw—HE DOESN’T BELIEVE HIM, EITHER.)
And yet he won your state. This list just makes me tired all over.
Then don’t vote for him coloradan. That simple.
My understanding is that Santorum served two terms as a US senator in Pa. and then got blown out with a 19 point margin in 06. I don’t have an easy time believing that anybody can manufacture enough votes to produce a 19-point margin.....
Romney is the guy that oughta be kicking himself to the curb in the interest of patriotism. But we keep hearing ... he's the frontrunner...? What's he even doing in the race, since he's a Democrat registered as a Republican?
Godspeed Newt!
yes.
Gag me with a spoon. Good grief!
I’m afraid Santorum won’t beat Obama. Newt will.
There’s a very clear distinction between the two men.
Obama is the man who wouldn’t punish his daughter with a child and Santorum obviously loving father of 7.
Specter brought Santorum down. There was a real deep-seated hatred for Arlen, most couldn’t get past it.
Add to that Bob Casey who claimed to be pro-life, the son of a very popular pro-life governor and the Republican backlash and Santorum got creamed.
But don’t discount voter fraud in Phillie, they actually had 110% one mayoral election and the Black Panthers in 2008. I’m sure these creeps got quite a few phony ballots through and will in November as well.
I think it’s the other way around. I know quite a few women who cannot stand Newt and would ot vote in the presidential race rather than support him.
Ah, another seminar caller, pushing the worn out and discredited "women don't like Newt" meme.
That crap was debunked in South Carolina.
My state is full of rats now, mostly Californians (who are unable to connect the dots between whom they voted for and why they decided they needed to leave CA). We have a rat governor, two rat federal senators, and both state houses have rat majorities. State used to be red.
Economic concepts can be learned, Reagan was not an economist nor was he a businessman. Core conservative principles cannot be learned.
Well, I see Mitt’s money has been put to good use...
Seriously, regarding your list, if you’re in Congress for 16 years you’re going to take a lot of votes (unless you’re Obama and voting present most of the time) and it’s easy, if you’ve got Romney’s resources, to cull through thousands of votes and find pieces of those thousands of bills that any conservative would disagree with.
So instead it makes sense to listen to a person’s positions, evaluate their overall record, and decide whether they’re conservative and for free enterprise, and individual liberty, or not.
Now, with Romney, if you listen to where he says he’s at, that sounds great, until you see where he’s been, and what he’s specifically said he’s supported in the past. They conflict...miserably.
Even with Gingrich, you can find serious issues on which he’s managed to come down on the wrong side one time or another, and is on the right side only now, when he needs our votes.
I just honestly don’t see that problem with Santorum. He would be the anti-Obama, or close to it.
Santorum merely wants to remodel federal government not gut it..
Every President for the last hundred or more years pleged to remodel..
ONLY NEWT wants to gut the federal government and rebuild along Constitutional lines..
The federal government has long ago veered drastically from the Constitution..
Sure Newt may be blowin smoke up our behinds but at least he is SAYING what NEEDS to be done..
The other candidates are government automatons.. not far from Obama..
Why? Newt has freight not baggage. I guess he would do well in debates, until Obama limits them to two at the most. With the media controlling the debate forum the hardest question Obama will be what kind of snow cones he likes. Newt cannot even support his position as official historian of Freddy. Lord...at least McBlame was a war hero before he turned progressive...
If he can abolish Abortion than I would be thrilled with Santorum. As far as his economics, he is fine. The way the budget it you can’t cut much. The House has it so dang tied into everything. Heck we could not even get Bolton to cut the UN when we had a Republican President and Congress.
Santorum core concepts are big government which he calls conservatism and isn’t.
He can’t abolish abortion, we need a constitutional amendment for that.
I know and I believe he will be the one to get that done. I don’t believe the others would find that a priority at this time. Santorum would.
How come he praised FDR, the New Deal and even Huey P. Long?
[ Then how come Newt jumped down Paul Ryan’s throat for trying to overhaul medicare? How come he praised FDR, the New Deal and even Huey P. Long? ]
Answer: Newts not perfect.. he screws up... Has many ideas a few of them are good ideas.. but others are laughable..
You know...... like you and I..
Notes: Newts a mean son of a bitch.. <<- thats what I want as President..
Obama is a son of a bitch as well; but thats because his mother was a bitch..
Santorum can beat Obama. Romney cannot. Romney is too much like Obama, so why change?
This has been my contention all along. Further, optics wise, and one must consider this as it is in many cases the only thing many American’s consider when voting, there is not enough of a significant difference to sway voters either way. Both are young, both have supporting wives and nice looking children. Both are reasonably nice looking, slim, well-groomed, clean shaven. Obama in the winter is the same color as Santorum in the summer! Therefore, putting these two side-by-side forces people to listen to what they say, or else really vote race. It would be the first real challenge for American politics. I’d love to see it.
As much as I respect Newt’s rebel attitude, when the optics hit, it will look to the average uninformed American voter very much like the McCain/Obama match up. Newt may sound different, but those voters will only hear McCain saying “that one!”
Of course, Romney is a well-groomed man, and can survive the optics until the O team plasters the airways with the many “deer caught in the headlights” facial expressions Romney consistently delivers! Thurston Howell will look like Romney’s twin brother when the O team is through with him.
People talk about the independent vote. Fine, but let’s at least put equal time into discussing the TV fed voter! They also can be election changers! Don’t forget demographics, but also remember optics.
Obama never forgets these folks. Why do you think Michelle has been everywhere lately? She is his best campaign weapon and he knows it. She’s building the foundation for him to stand on in a few months.
Antonius is right.
Rick Santorum is a faithful member of the Roman Catholic Church. His church has taken positions on economic issues with which nearly all secular conservatives will disagree, as well as most evangelicals who have a Christian worldview about economics. As a Calvinist I have massive disagreements with Santorum on underlying views of what it means to have a Christian economic philosophy.
I cannot and will not blame Santorum for being a faithful Roman Catholic. I can and will strongly disagree with him on his faith, but as long as he is a member of the Roman Catholic Church he should believe what the church teaches.
At this point I believe Santorum is the best shot we have at winning back the White House and winning the general election this fall. I'll put up with some things I don't like about his views, knowing that the reason he supports those views is the same reason he has a long track record of trying to stop baby-killers.
Politics is the art of the possible. Right now Santorum appears to be the best possibility. One thing I **DON'T** have to worry about with Santorum is the possibility of him changing his views if the polls show what he believes is politically dangerous, and under the circumstances that's good enough for me.
Yep. And for those who think that's an exaggeration, I recommend going to Newt's offical website and taking the considerable time to read his detailed plan which is LONG on specifics -- unlike other candidates, who are mostly long on platitudes. They say they'll govern conservatively. Newt says HOW he'll govern conservatively, addressing every detail.
Godspeed Newt Gingrich.
My dear, claiming that Santorum has "lived a life above reproach" and putting it forth as a political argument is neither intellectual nor factual, hence an "intellectual, factual rebuttal" to it is impossible.
"Gag me with a spoon" is about the most appropriate response THIS Christian could muster for such a ridiculously Pollyannish statement.
You want intellecutal, factual rebuttal? Go to Newt's website and READ his detailed plan about WHAT he plans to do to CORRECT and SHRINK government. If you are able to swallow your pride and actually take the time to FIND OUT the facts on where Newt stands on the issues and his proposals to restore liberty and freedom from government oppression in the U.S., you will find that God has -- as He has MANY TIMES BEFORE -- used a very flawed man as a vessel for GOOD works. Remember too the stores in the Gospel where men who congratulated themselves for living "above reproach" and asked God to prefer them over repentent sinners, were rebuked.
Early Reagan understood economics. Check out his speeches for GE. Check out his speech for Goldwater. They were long before he was governor of CA.
Picking winners and losers among sectors of the economy has zero to do with subsidiarity. Forcing sheetmetal jobs offshore by blocking the import of sheet steel has zero to do with subsidiarity. Voting pro-labor union boss has zero to do with subsidiarity.
Subsidiarity is totally consistent with capitalism, but not with Rick’s inconsistent positions, some of which are capitalist; some of which are not.
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