Free Republic

You know, it’s one thing for far Left bloggers to go bananas and blame the Republican Party for killing people because they opposed increased federal spending on principle — as the dextrosphere did last week over swine flu funding in the porkulus. Arlen Specter, Turncoat-Pennsylvania, takes it to a whole ‘nother level — blaming Republicans for not adopting his research spending priorities and actually exploiting Jack Kemp’s death from cancer to take a shot at fiscal conservatives.

Yeah, he was a good guy, but his capitalist economics were all wrong. So don’t “put him on a pedestal.” That’s Roger Simon’s epitaph for the late—great—Jack Kemp . . . The Politico personality was Chris Matthews’ guest this afternoon, and to the Hardball host’s credit he spent a good bit of the show lauding the former Buffalo Bills QB who passed away yesterday. But that didn’t stop Simon from taking a shot at the man who believed passionately in the power of free markets. View video here.

Friends of Bennett and Kemp

Upon learning of Jack Kemp's death Saturday at 73, there was so much to say about the Buffalo Bills football great and New York congressman that it was difficult to keep any reminiscence brief. As quarterback, president of his players association, congressman, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and vice presidential nominee, Kemp seemingly lived several lives in one brief lifetime. What frequently stunned people upon learning it was that, while the father of the concept of tax cuts (now universally identified with the modern Republican Party) and a leading GOP voice for free trade zones, Kemp was self-taught in...

This is just a despicable statement on the part of a politically expedient Congressional relic. If only the Republicans had spent more money on research, Jack Kemp would be alive. Set aside the fact that he offers absolutely no evidence more government money would have led to a cure of Jack Kemp’s cancer, what he seems to be suggesting is that had Congress listened to “Ole Arlen” and if he remains in office … there will be a cure for all cancer. To even suggest this 24 hours after Mr Kemp’s death is despicable. Very reminiscent of John Edwards “elect...

Editor's note: Congressman Jack Kemp died Saturday at age 73. The following are excerpts from his many op-eds for The Wall Street Journal.

Jack Kemp passed away this weekend, of cancer at age seventy-three. Former vice-presidential candidate, congressman, and Housing secretary, he was the most improbable and the most important hero of the Reagan Revolution after the Gipper himself. Without Jack’s true-believer’s passion for tax cuts as a remedy for the stagflation of the 1970s, Reagan would not have staked his presidency on an untested and controversial theory. His death should remind us how lucky we were to have leaders like Reagan and Kemp, and a political system that allowed improbable leaders—an ex-actor and a retired quarterback—to appear at providential moments.It was impossible...

Sen. Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Democrat, said part of the reason that he left the Republican Party last week was disillusionment with its health-care priorities, and suggested that had the Republicans taken a more moderate track, Jack Kemp may have won his battle with cancer.

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Fresh from switching from the Republican to the Democratic Party, pro-abortion Sen. Arlen Specter upset pro-life advocates again over the weekend. He blamed the death of pro-life former Congressman and vice-presidential candidate Jack Kemp on pro-life policies that he claimed are anti-science. Kemp died over the weekend about a bout with cancer, with which he was only diagnosed in January. By the time it was caught, it had spread throughout his body. Now, Specter has, as some pro-life advocates say, "shamefully" used the occasion of Kemp's death to justify his political switch. "Well, I was sorry...

The guy is obviously eating up all the attention. Arlen Specter can't seem to keep his mouth shut. He is even offering advice on how the GOP can make a comeback; run more people like me in elections. Perhaps Specter is unaware how difficult it is to find such extraordinarily crass, opportunistic, false, perfidious, disloyal, and traitorous candidates - even among the political class. No matter. Specter's latest finger waving rant posits the spectacularly ridiculous idea that if only Republicans had been more like him, Jack Kemp would still be alive. Tom LoBianco of the Washington Times reports on Specter's...

There were two big ideas that changed the world in the 1980s: Supply-side economics and a bold strategy for winning the Cold War. One was the handiwork of Jack Kemp, the other of Ronald Reagan. It’s important to understand that the first, introduced into American politics by a then-young Kemp in the 1970s, preceded the second. No look back on the life of Jack Kemp is complete without the recognition that, without Kemp’s success, the Reagan-led peaceful victory in the Cold War could never have happened.

Politico: Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) says former congressman and vice-presidential candidate Jack Kemp, who died Saturday from cancer, might not have if the federal government had invested more in medical research.

Specter: GOP priorities contributed to Kemp death By Tom LoBianco May 3, 2009 Sen. Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Democrat, said part of the reason he left the Republican Party last week was disillusionment with its healthcare priorities, and suggested that had the Republicans taken a more moderate track, Jack Kemp may have won his battle with cancer. Mr. Specter, responding to a question from CBS's Bob Schieffer over whether he had let down Pennsylvanians who wanted a Republican to represent them, said he felt his priorities were more in line with those of the Democrats. "Well, I was sorry to disappoint...

Jack Kemp was always the consummate quarterback. Long after he stopped wearing a helmet and cleats, long after his uniform became a suit and tie, long after his workplace switched from a field and a huddle to a desk and a podium, he remained a leader. You felt compelled to listen to him, to follow him, to believe he was the man with the plan. It had nothing at all to do with what he espoused in a political career that made him a larger national figure than he ever was as a professional football player. And we're talking about...

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - There is already a movement taking place to have Jack Kemp's papers and speeches enshrined at Pepperdine University. Some of the people who were close to the former Congressman remember Kemp as a major player in the national arena. President Obama says Jack Kemp's work in politics helped shape more than the Republican Party. It helped shape the nation. "He was more concerned about the direction of the country than his political party," said Ed Rotkowski. Ed Rutkowski was a longtime friend and Kemp's former Bills teammate. He recalls his friend's outlook on facing the challenge...

Jack Kemp was my kinda guy. An athlete who was not only talented, but a great leader. He had to work harder, being only 5'10", and he was cut by several NFL teams -- and served some time in the Army --before hitting it big and winning two AFL championships.When his time on the gridiron was over, he continued to lead as he became a respected member of Congress. He went on to be Reagan's Secretary of HUD, and all the while, married to his high school sweetheart and raising four children.Kemp described himself as a "bleeding heart conservative." I could relate...

The strobes of cameramen spill hot light on the new Congressman moving through the crush and triumph of Election Night, through the dance of placards that bear his name, through the whirl of red, white and blue boaters. Jack F. Kemp, until last January the All-Star quarterback of the Buffalo Bills, has just been elected to the House of Representatives from New York's 39th District. He edges through the crowd to a telephone; the White House is calling to offer congratulations. "Do you think tomorrow morning's headlines will read JFK VICTORIOUS?" someone asks. The Republican Party has high hopes for...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Jack Kemp, the former pro quarterback who turned fame on the gridiron into a career in national politics and a crusade for lower taxes, has died of cancer at age 73. Family spokeswoman Marci Robinson said Kemp died shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday, surrounded by his family. Kemp died at his home in Bethesda, Md., in the Washington suburbs, friends said. Kemp's office announced in January that he had been diagnosed with an unspecified type of cancer. By then, however, the cancer was in an advanced stage and had spread to several organs, former campaign adviser Edwin...

WASHINGTON - Jack Kemp, the former pro quarterback who turned fame on the gridiron into a career in national politics and a crusade for lower taxes, has died of cancer at age 73. Family spokeswoman Marci Robinson said Kemp died shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday, surrounded by his family and pastor. Kemp died at his home in Bethesda, Md., in the Washington suburbs, friends said. May 3, 2009 snip Feulner, president of the Heritage Foundation, a Kemp family friend and his former campaign deputy chief of staff, said Kemp's legacy will be his compassion. "The idea that all conservatives really...

...as much as I loved the man, Reagan worship does sometimes have the unfortunate side effect of obscuring the accomplishments of other conservative heroes who helped build the so-called "Reagan Revolution". One of those heroes is Jack Kemp...