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Former RI Sen. Lincoln Chafee Leaves GOP
NewsMax ^
| 9/16/2007
Posted on 09/17/2007 10:52:26 AM PDT by RightWingConspirator
Former Sen. Lincoln Chafee said he has left the Republican Party because the national GOP has drifted too far from him on critical issues, including the war in Iraq, the economy and the environment.
"It's not my party anymore," Chafee, who represented Rhode Island from 1999 until 2007, told The Providence Journal in an article published Saturday.
Chafee said he is now an unaffiliated voter after leaving the GOP "in June or July."
He said he made the move because "I want my affiliation to accurately reflect my status."
Chafee was appointed in 1999 after his father, Sen. John Chafee, R-R.I., died suddenly, but lost last November's election to Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse.
During that campaign, Chafee made an issue of his differences with the national party. He was the only Republican senator to oppose the resolution supporting the invasion of Iraq and was also critical of the "permanent deficits" caused by Republican tax cuts.
He also noted that he opposed other Republican stances, including drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
He told the newspaper that although the bipartisan Iraq Study Group recommended in December a gradual pullback of American forces, the advice has been largely ignored.
He also criticized Republican leaders for abandoning fiscal conservatism, once a mainstay of the GOP's platform, by passing tax cuts without spending cuts to balance the resulting loss of revenue.
The strategy, he said, has undermined social programs that bolster the American middle class. He specifically mentioned Pell grants, which help students attend college, and Head Start programs, which support the education of low-income children.
TOPICS: US: Rhode Island; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: bubye; lincolnchafee; rino; seeya
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Good riddance to this loser. I can't understand why President Bush campaigned for this jerk in 2006.
To: RightWingConspirator
Traitor without a country...
To: RightWingConspirator
Chaffee leaves the GOP? How will anyone be able to tell?
3
posted on
09/17/2007 10:54:25 AM PDT
by
3AngelaD
(They screwed up their own countries so bad they had to leave, and now they're here screwing up ours)
To: RightWingConspirator
Let’s hope he joins the Dems and brings his brand of “moderation” to their party....
4
posted on
09/17/2007 10:54:56 AM PDT
by
Tzimisce
(How Would Mohammed Vote? Hillary for President! www.dndorks.com)
To: RightWingConspirator
Don’t let the door hit ‘ya where the good Lord split ‘ya you frigging RINO......
5
posted on
09/17/2007 10:55:23 AM PDT
by
Abathar
(Proudly posting without reading the article carefully since 2004)
To: RightWingConspirator
To: RightWingConspirator
Hey Chaffee, good riddance!
7
posted on
09/17/2007 10:55:32 AM PDT
by
theDentist
(Qwerty ergo typo : I type, therefore I misspelll.)
To: RightWingConspirator
I’d say he’s bored hanging out at the country club, and hopes to get a job with Ron Paul....
8
posted on
09/17/2007 10:55:54 AM PDT
by
Badeye
(You know its a kook site when they ban the word 'kook')
To: RightWingConspirator
Hasn’t he returned to his prior occupation as a farrier (that’s a horse-shoer to you folks in Rio Linda)? Regardless, he left the GOP a long long time ago....
9
posted on
09/17/2007 10:56:04 AM PDT
by
Rummyfan
(Iraq: it's not about Iraq anymore, it's about the USA!)
To: RightWingConspirator
We hate to see you go,
We hate to see you go,
We hope the heck,
You never come back,
We hate to see you gooooooo!
10
posted on
09/17/2007 10:56:21 AM PDT
by
papasmurf
(I'm for Free, Fair, and Open trade. America needs to stand by it's true Friend. Israel.)
To: RightWingConspirator
11
posted on
09/17/2007 10:56:23 AM PDT
by
Tolkien
(There are things more important than Peace. Freedom being one of those.)
To: RightWingConspirator
12
posted on
09/17/2007 10:56:34 AM PDT
by
nuconvert
("Terrorism is not the enemy. It is a means to the ends of militant Islamism." MZJ)
To: RightWingConspirator
He said he made the move because "I want my affiliation to accurately reflect my status." Like we couldn't figure that one out. Thank God another RINO bites the dust....now for the rest of them.....Snow, McCain, Specter.......you listening????
To: 3AngelaD
14
posted on
09/17/2007 10:56:58 AM PDT
by
freekitty
(May the eagles long fly over our beautiful and free American sky.)
To: RightWingConspirator
Translation, he is a Socialist.
15
posted on
09/17/2007 10:57:06 AM PDT
by
Man50D
(Fair Tax, you earn it, you keep it!)
To: RightWingConspirator
You mean he was a Republican?
16
posted on
09/17/2007 10:57:42 AM PDT
by
NeoCaveman
(Hillary 2008, the willing suspension of disbelief, or I can't remember for those of you in Rio Linda)
To: RightWingConspirator
"He also criticized Republican leaders for abandoning fiscal conservatism, once a mainstay of the GOP's platform, by passing tax cuts without spending cuts to balance the resulting loss of revenue." A pedant point perhaps, but federal revenue increased substantially after the 2003 tax cuts.
17
posted on
09/17/2007 10:59:41 AM PDT
by
avacado
To: RightWingConspirator
Slow news day
Loser in last election announces his true stripes.
18
posted on
09/17/2007 11:00:15 AM PDT
by
listenhillary
(millions crippled by the war on poverty....but we won't pull out)
To: RightWingConspirator
I can't understand why President Bush campaigned for this jerk in 2006.
Don't forget that we also sacrificed John Bolton for this clown.
19
posted on
09/17/2007 11:01:30 AM PDT
by
Thrownatbirth
(.....when the sidewalks are safe for the little guy.)
To: RightWingConspirator
"It's not my party anymore," Chafee, who represented Rhode Island from 1999 until 2007, told The Providence Journal
It never was, RINO.
20
posted on
09/17/2007 11:01:53 AM PDT
by
reagan_fanatic
(Ron Paul put the cuckoo in my Cocoa Puffs)
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