Posted on 08/19/2011 8:56:32 PM PDT by rabscuttle385
As faithful readers of this blog know, I was reporting on the Tea Party movement long before it was even called the Tea Party movement and long before a legion of Johnny-come-latelys in Washington had grabbed their fiscal conservative costumes and joined the parade. I can remember not being able to get mainstream media coverage on the day of one of the first taxpayer protests in Denver in February 2009. Weve come a long way, baby. From day one, I emphasized that the grass-roots activists leading the Tea Party charge have been as opposed to Big Government Republicans as they have to Big Government Democrats. They and I have not forgotten that bailout-mania began under the Bush administration, which pre-socialized the economy and handed it on a silver platter to Barack Obama.
Which brings me to GOP Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch.
The other day, he had the unfathomable audacity to proclaim himself a Tea Party person.
Look, I think the tea party people deserve a lot of credit, he said in response to a question about Democrats and Vice President Joe Biden reportedly calling freshman GOP members of Congress terrorists.
We wouldnt be where we are without them. The fact of the matter is Ive been a tea party person I think since before the tea party came into existence."
Are you freaking kidding me?
Orrin Hatch is the antithesis of the Tea Party spirit. He is a mascot for big-spending Beltway entrenched incumbency who has consistently joined hands with destructive Democrats.
He slobbered over corruptocrat Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd.
He co-sponsored the $6 billion national service boondoggle and dedicated it to his good friend Teddy Kennedy, with whom he also joined hands to create the ever-expanding SCHIP entitlement.
He supported tax cheat Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner from day one, lavished praise on Joe Bidens balls, and embraced and defended Attorney General Eric Holders nomination because, he said, I like Barack Obama and I want to help him if I can.
He was an original sponsor of the open-borders DREAM Act illegal alien student bailout and voted for the massive TARP bailout.
How do real Tea Party people feel about Tea Party pretender Orrin Hatch?
The same way they feel about his former big-spending entrenched incumbent in Utah former Sen. Bob Bennett who got the boot in May.
As I noted back in April 2009:
If only the condescending cable TV anchors at CNN and MSNBC had paused from wallowing in gutter puns about tea bags, they might have reported an even more significant phenomenon: Tea Party protesters were as vocal in their criticism of Republicans as they were of Democrats. In Salt Lake City, Utah, a crowd of 2,000 repeatedly booed GOP Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, who both supported the $700 billion TARP bailout, and protested GOP Gov. Jon Huntsmans decision to accept $1.6 billion in porky stimulus funds.
Refresh your memories of how Utah Tea Party activists booed Hatch, Bennett, and McCain 2.0 presidential candidate and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman (at 1:24 in the video):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgeDk4jyZ5A&feature=player_embedded
Now, the six-term Hatch first elected in 1976 on an anti-entrenched incumbent platform (Hatchs campaign line then against his opponent Frank Moss: What do you call a Senator whos served in office for 18 years? You call him home) wants to stay in Washington yet another term after FOUR DECADES in government. He has been lining up some big conservative names. And now there is some sort of pro-Hatch, anti-Freedomworks website using my words to support Hatch.
I dont know what the beef is between Dick Armey and Orrin Hatch. But I will tell you this: While Armeys pro-amnesty stance bothers me, bailout Swamp Creature Orrin Hatchs desperate bid to cling to power by morphing himself into a Tea Party cheerleader aggravates me far more.
I will do whatever I can to support Hatchs challenger likely the staunch conservative GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who is a fiscal warrior, tough on illegal immigration, and has a terrific record taking down the GOP establishment.
Forty-two Thirty-six continuous years and untold trillions of dollars in expanded government is enough 42 is too much.
Its time for Orrin Hatch to go.
Hey Palinisa’s! How’s that Hatch endorsement working out for you guys?
One more reason for term limits - even the best-intentioned/reasonable folks become corrupted when immersed in "The System" for too long. Anyone who tries to make a lifetime career as a member of The Congress has no sense of what The People are all about and they forget that they represent US.
Say what you will about Hatch, but the guy does have a superb record of helping get bonafide Conservatives onto the Supreme Court. Look at Thomas, Roberts and Alito.
Maybe that’s why Plain and Levin supported Hatch.
The ACU is a joke.
“I emphasized that the grass-roots activists leading the Tea Party charge have been as opposed to Big Government Republicans as they have to Big Government Democrats.”
So where were they when Medicare Part D came around?
An ACU score of 100 isn’t that tough to get, 12 senators scored 100 last year—and you know we don’t have 12 reliable conservatives in the senate.
But more to the point, Hatch is voting as a straight conservative now to get reelected in a changed environment. As recently as 2007, he scored 76, which is quite low on their scale.
“Personally I want Hatch to stick around just long enough to usher a couple of Sarah Palins Supreme Court nominees through the Senate.”
BINGO!!
Oh, and Hatch is no Ted Kennedy on the right. Kennedy was a leading genuine leftist. Hatch has reliably ‘crossed the aisle’ to push through leftist (e.g., pro-amnesty) legislation.
There’s a reason they’ve long said in the senate, “Don’t count your Hatches until they’ve chickened.”
Can you imagine being married to this woman? Gawd.
Does she ever smile. Every time I see her on TV she’s got the sour puss going and just pissed about someone not toeing the purity line.
Sounds to me that it’s not about conservatism for some Palin supporters because their girl can’t ever be wrong. And she is very wrong on this one. Hatch has been a target for conservatives for years and now when we have a shot to take him out Palin gives him cover and her fans try to sell us he isn’t the problem. I’m not running around deflecting blame from Perry on amnesty. I even said if tht’s your #1 issue vote for Bachmann. She’s dead wrong on this one and deserves to be called on it as they all do when they screw up on an issue. They are politicians and they do not deserve worship.
Frankly, that is an ignorant take on things.
Hatch has a lifetime 88 ACU rating - he's started voting in lockstep with the ACU in preparation for this election, because he knew he'd be targeted for his liberal past.
He figures if he gets his scores up he can fool the idiot voters who don't know any better. There are a lot of suckers out there who will believe that Sharron Angle is a great candidate or that Orrin Hatch is a conservative hero.
The lifetime ACU rating I've seen for Chaffetz is 100%.
But, as you should know, ACU ratings are imperfect at best.
Orrin Hatch is the epitome of the Senate compromiser -- not a fair compromise where we get incremental improvement, but a mindset where conservatives are urged to adopt a moderately liberal position because Orrin & his friends on the other side of the aisle think it'll be so much better for America if we burn slowly rather than quickly.
By the sounds of the squeals from the stuck pigs, she's been on the mark most if not all the time.
Agree with your premise completely. We have been water-tortured into believing that the way things currently run is the way things must run. We must maintain our incumbents, while voting out their incumbents. There should be no such career choice as “politician” in our society. At all. Ever. We need citizen servants who, after a brief stint, rotate back to the world to live under the laws they themselves have legislated. And don’t hand me the “it’s a complicated, dangerous world...we need folks who know what they are doing, how the wheels of democracy turn...yada, yada.” That is exactly how we’ve gotten into this mess, by allowing “those who know how democracy works” to take us straight down the path toward America’s destruction. A pox on both their houses!
Whenever you plant a new garden you must always turn over the dirt, put in fresh fertilizer, plant new seeds...Only then will you produce a new crop.
Two of these “conservative” talk show celebrities by the way, go all weak in the knees over Romney- the person with arguably the most flawed conservative credentials in the field of candidates. So I seriously question their motivations and opinions on anything conservative.
Not sure what Sarah said about Hatch, but if she backs him, then, in my view, she is wrong. Out with the old, in with the new. We need to turn the whole thing over. Now. Before it’s too late. And I am a big Sarah supporter.
The media did not understand the 2010 election. Okay, expected. The dems did not understand the 2010 election. Again, expected. But doggone it, the Republican Party did not understand the 2010 election either! And this must not stand.
No more Dole nominees. No more McCain nominees. No more Bush presidencies. We don’t need Republican Party nominees. We need American Conservative nominees.
Time to close the Hatch so we don’t have to abandon ship.
I’m quite sure he will make out well on his lifetime retirement at our expense.
There was a time I respected him but I’m older now.
Chaffetz is a Mitt-bot. He just endorsed Mitt Romney for president.
How do you think Mitt Romney for president will workout for you?
BTW Palin didn’t endorse Hatch.
Orrin Hatch is a good conservative even if he, like Reagan, made some mistakes. Let’s keep the focus where it belongs, on Obama.
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