Posted on 03/09/2007 6:44:43 PM PST by LdSentinal
Periodically, I get e-mails from supporters of the presidential candidacy of Alpine Rep. Duncan Hunter who express disbelief, befuddlement or fury, or a mix of all three, at my flat contention that he is a populist demagogue and anything but a principled conservative. These folks cannot fathom any talk that he's not free-trade, small-government Ronald Reagan reincarnated.
Here's a typical example of Hunterista reaction to my comment that he's been against trade deals that have been important boons to our economy:
You're supposed to be a columnist, an informed person. This is not an informed statement.
OK. If you don't believe me about Duncan Hunter's RRRINOitis, here's what the influential, admired-and-respected-in-conservative-circles Club for Growth has to say about him:
Like most Republicans, he's strong on tax cuts, but he's been part of the big government spending spree of the last 6 years. He also has a protectionist streak in him. Here are some of the more troubling votes:
NO on NAFTA YES on No Child Left Behind YES on Sarbanes-Oxley YES on the 2003 Medicare Drug Benefit NO on CAFTA YES on 2005 Highway Bill YES on the 527 bill (like most Republicans, he flip-flopped, having first voted NO on McCain-Feingold) Hunter also went 0 for 19 on the Flake anti-pork amendments.
Despite being a member of the Republican Study Committee, Hunter frequently votes NO on their fiscally conservative annual budgets (2006, 2005, 2003...)
We gave him a 49% on the 2005 Club for Growth scorecard. That places him 187th within the House GOP conference, out of roughly 230 members.
National Taxpayers Union shows a more telling trend. He was strong in the early 1990s, getting "B's" and one "A", but as time went by, like most politicians, his score dropped. For the past few years, he's been getting "C's".
Those Cs are incredibly generous. As CATO noted last year, with Duncan Hunter cheering him on ...
... President Bush has presided over the largest overall increase in inflation-adjusted federal spending since Lyndon B. Johnson. Even after excluding spending on defense and homeland security, Bush is still the biggest-spending president in 30 years. His 2006 budget doesn't cut enough spending to change his place in history, either.
Total government spending grew by 33 percent during Bush's first term. The federal budget as a share of the economy grew from 18.5 percent of GDP on Clinton's last day in office to 20.3 percent by the end of Bush's first term.
The Republican Congress has enthusiastically assisted the budget bloat. Inflation-adjusted spending on the combined budgets of the 101 largest programs they vowed to eliminate in 1995 has grown by 27 percent.
The GOP was once effective at controlling nondefense spending. The final nondefense budgets under Clinton were a combined $57 billion smaller than what he proposed from 1996 to 2001. Under Bush, Congress passed budgets that spent a total of $91 billion more than the president requested for domestic programs.
And as bad as things are on the budget front, they're about to get a whole lot worse because of a pending nightmare that Duncan Hunter -- supposed tough guy, supposed truth-teller, supposed fiscal conservative -- has chosen to ignore. To borrow from what I wrote last year ...
... the single worst problem facing this country in coming years, with the possible exception of nuclear terrorism, is dealing with the massive fiscal impact of baby boomers retiring. As we slowly transition from a nation where there are 4 working adults for every adult getting Social Security and Medicare to a nation where that ratio is 2 to 1, we will face an incredible fiscal squeeze.
As a veteran member of Congress, Duncan Hunter knows this. He's heard the warnings, seen the bipartisan studies. So what did this self-declared fiscal conservative do in 2003? He voted to make the problem much, much, much worse by extending prescription drug benefits to seniors, three-quarters of whom already have coverage. The money that was saved by all the triumphant stands he claims to have taken is infinitesimal compared to the staggering long-term national debt he helped add with this one vote, which was tantamount to civic arson.
Yeah, right, our Duncan's a fiscal conservative. ... He loves spending your grandkids' money, and by the truckload.
Duncan Hunter is no Ronald Reagan. To those who say Ronald Reagan really wasn't Ronald Reagan -- that government didn't get smaller when he was president -- well, he tried harder than any president in modern times to get Congress to control spending and wipe out whole government agencies. By contrast, Hunter and the GOP Congress of 2001-2006 kept the national credit cards hanging on a string around their necks for easy and constant use.
You need to stop getting all your news from White House press releases.
Yep.
Pro-lifers should NOT be fooled into thinking that Rudy will pick good judges:
"A Politico review of the 75 judges Giuliani appointed to three of New York state's lower courts found that Democrats outnumbered Republicans by more than 8 to 1. One of his appointments was an officer of the International Association of Lesbian and Gay Judges. Another ruled that the state law banning liquor sales on Sundays was unconstitutional because it was insufficiently secular.
A third, an abortion-rights supporter, later made it to the federal bench in part because New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer, a liberal Democrat, said he liked her ideology.
Cumulatively, Giuilani's record was enough to win applause from people like Kelli Conlin, the head of NARAL Pro-Choice New York, the state's leading abortion-rights group. "They were decent, moderate people," she said."
excerpt from politico.com
"criticism of the Rudy charity speech is featured prominately at the the Democrat website."
Sometimes evil fights evil.
you're welcome...
However, I do like the NO on NAFTA vote.
Tell us your "perfect" candidate, and why.
"Hmmmmmm...for some reason I think Mayor Guliani missed those votes in Congress."
Yeah, but if Rudy thinks we don't know where he stands, just because he's never been a member of Congress, Rudy is in for a rude awakening, because WE KNOW WHAT RUDY STANDS FOR AND CAN PROVE IT - scratch that - RUDY can prove it in his own voice:
Culture of life:
ABC clip:
George Will: "Do you think Roe v Wade was good constitutional law?"
Rudy Giuliani: "Yes I believe, I believe it is."
Cnn Clip:
Announcer: "Giuliani was then asked whether he supports a ban on what critics call partial birth abortions, something Bush strongly supports."
Rudy Giuliani : "No, I have not supported that, and I don't see my position on that changing."
Immigration
CNN clip:
Announcer: "Back in 1996, mayor Giuliani went to federal court to challenge new federal laws requiring the city to inform the federal government about illegal immigrants."
Rudy Giuliani: "There isn't a mayor or a public official in this country that's more strongly pro immigrant than I am. Including disagreeing with President Clinton when he signed an anti-immigration legislation about two or three years ago."
Gun control:
CNN clip
Rudy Giuliani: "I'm in favor of gun control"
Meet The Press:
Tim Russert: "How about registration of all handguns?"
Rudy Giuliani: "You know I'm in favor of that. I've been on your show many times."
Gay Rights:
CNN Clip:
Announcer: "As mayor he supported civil unions, and extending health and other benefits to gay couples."
ABC Clip: "I supported domestic partnership legislation and signed it"
Meet The Press:
Tim Russert: "So should gay people be openly allowed to serve?"
"I think people should be judged on the merits. And there should not be a specific focus on someone's sexual orientation."
First Amendment:
ABC Clip
Cokie Roberts: "Would you vote in the senate in favor of Mccain / Feingold?"
Rudy Giuliani: "Yes, I'm a big supporter of Mccain / Feingold. I have been for a long time."
Party Loyalty:
ABC Clip:
Rudy Giuliani: "Frankly George, I'd like to run on all the lines. I'd like to run on the liberal line, the conservative line, I'd like to run on the democratic line if I could figure out how to do it."
Conservative Values:
Meet The Press:
Tim Russert: "Whether it's gays in the military, gun control, campaign finance, late term abortion - you and Hillary Clinton are in sync on those issues."
Rudy Giuliani: "Well then maybe the other side should stop the 'He's part of the vast right wing conspiracy'."
....
See Rudy for yourself on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVBtPIrEleM
As a Congressman, it's hard to fight against upper-level pressure (particularly when the President is for open borders).
As a President, it's far easier to get things done.
I can tell you this much, it isn't Duncan Hunter. To being with, his voting record on spending shows that he is just another big spending Republican. That makes him part of the problem, not an answer.
Follow that up with his penchant for taking BIG money from the defense industry and I have no use for yet another typical politician...hand out, spending large.
Let me make sure I've got this straight: You'd rather have an adulterer who is "man enough" to admit that he is scum, and stay that way, rather than a guy who admits it and asks for forgiveness.
I guess you've never had to ask God for mercy. I pray that you will always be perfect and never have to.
BTW, the thief on the cross asked The Lord for forgiveness just in time before he died. How dare he. According to your reasoning, you prefer the "real man" on the other cross who was man enough to admit that he was a sinner and is now in hell.
Bwahahahaha. gasp. Bwahahahaha. Tell that to President Bush.
Heck, tell that to the last, oh, I don't know 43 Presidents. It's hard to get things done no matter which branch of the government you belong to. Intentionally so. LOL.
My biggest concern with Hunter is his protectionist stance. My biggest concern with Rudy is his libertarian social views.
I'm still waiting. :-)
Compared to a Congressman? Yes, being President DOES make it easier to get things done.
Exactly. It is way too early to pick a candidate and already people are wrapped very tight.
You can't tell us who YOU support, based on who entered the race as of now????
But yet you make up lies about another candidate?
Hmmmmmmmmmmm
Is Hillary your candidate? Obama? Rudy? Are any of these lefties your candidate?
"My biggest concern with Hunter is his protectionist stance."
Can you give us a few specifics?
Hmmmmmmmmmm, twenty months out from the primaries. Yep, that's about right...way too early to pick a candidate when there is plenty of time for other people to enter the race. Gingrich has said that if he decides to run he won't even file till this fall.
"But yet you make up lies about another candidate?"
Fortunately for conservatives who are interested in curbing government spending, Duncan Hunters voting record is very telling. He is just another big spending Republican; part of the problem, not the solution.
As for his penchant for big bucks from defense contractors, that's a matter of public record. I'll give him this much, he's slipped to number two in most money received now that the Democrats are in control.
I guess if you're heavily invested in him as your candidate, his voting record, and public records, are damning lies.
link, please.
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