Boehner said, “It would be irresponsible to pass this massive debt onto our children and grandchildren, and Republicans will continue fighting for their interests – and the interests of all taxpayers.”
Rep. Mike Pence, chairman of the House Republican Conference, denounced the Democrat bill Tuesday saying, “The Democrat bill won't stimulate anything but more government and more debt. The slow and wasteful spending in the House Democrat bill is a disservice to millions of Americans who want to see this Congress take immediate action to get this economy moving again.”
Despite President Barack Obama’s trip to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to try to convince Republicans to vote for this pork-laden redistribution of wealth, it would appear that Republicans in both the House and the Senate are coming to the realization that the only role they are allocated in this big-government spending scenario is that of offering Democrats political cover for the economic fallout that will come as a direct result.
At the pretense of an executive session markup of the spending bill in the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), summed up the state of affairs quite nicely during his opening statement: “Let no one be mistaken that this bill is the result of bipartisan negotiations,” Grassley said. “While Republicans were courteously consulted at the member and staff level, we were never at the negotiating table. Speaker Pelosi best described the bottom line on the process. She said, ‘Yes, we wrote the bill. Yes, we won the election.’… Indeed, there is a rumor floating around about an informal agreement among Democratic members. The agreement appears to be to vote against any Republican amendment, no matter the merits. So, let’s be clear. We know, at the outset, the markup will ratify a deal made between the Democratic Leadership and the Obama Administration. No Republican ideas need apply.”
Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) do not need one single Republican vote to pass this bill through the House of Representatives and need only two Republican votes for a veto-proof majority to get their bill through the Senate should Democrats vote in usual lock-step fashion.
The Democratic leaders are shopping for Republicans to be on record in support of this bill when it fails miserably to provide stimulus to a troubled economy while now officially doubling the budget deficit. If this bill were actually going to be the success Democrats are purporting it to be, they would be eager to accept sole responsibility. Republicans are well advised to simply get out of the way of the coming Democrat train wreck they can do nothing to stop.
Holder Nomination gets Specter’s Support
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) yesterday announced his support for Obama attorney general nominee Eric Holder. As a deputy attorney general, Holder was at the epicenter of every major Clinton administration scandal (save only sex with Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office) including the pardon of international fugitive Marc Rich and the highly questionable clemency for the FALN Puerto Rican terrorists responsible for bombings, bank robberies and murders throughout the United States -- at a time when Hillary Clinton needed the Puerto Rican vote in her inaugural run for the Senate.
Having been one of Holder’s toughest critics in the Senate Judiciary confirmation hearing, in the press conference Specter explained that his vote of support comes at the recommendation of others. “Weighing heavily in my mind were recommendations of people who know him very, very well. Know him beyond what we can determine in the course of a confirmation hearing,” Specter said.
I’ll admit I was hopeful after the senator’s strong showing in Holder’s confirmation hearings, yet I’m sure it comes as no surprise to our readers that Specter has once again infuriated Republicans and the conservative base alike with his show of support for this unfit nominee. Specter admonished Holder as an accomplice at the Justice Department to the Clintons’ nefarious activities. “My evaluation is that a man in your position knew better,” Specter said at the confirmation hearings.
It would appear that in Senator Specter’s “evaluation,” knowing participation in pay-for-play pardons and politically-expedient grants of clemency do not disqualify one to hold the office of Attorney General of the United States. And -- oh yeah -- there’s that little matter of the Second Amendment.
Cartoon by Brett Noel.