Give Credit Where It’s Due…
February 11th, 2008 at 08:31pm Leo Pusateri
As can be plainly seen on the sidebar of my blog, I am not by any stretch of the imagination a fan of John McCain. While he is right with regard to most of the major issues of defense and the prosecution of the war on radical Islam (save for wanting to close down Club Gitmo), he has been wrong on so many domestic issues, from his “Gang of 14″ megalomaniacal episode; to his penchant for amnesty for illegals a-la McCain-Kennedy, to his full frontal assault on the First Amendment with the advent of McCain-Feingold.
While his overtures at CPAC may be considered a start to healing the rift with movement conservatives, much is yet required in the way of action before movement conservatives will trust that he will indeed carry the conservative mantle to the White House on January 20, 2009.
Yet, credit must be given where credit is due. For instance, McCain’s opposition to the big government behemoth created by the Bush administration (one of my few areas of disagreement with the President), otherwise known as the prescription drug benefit for seniors.
Today, Tom DeLay, whom I at one time defended to the hilt, attacked McCain for not being liberal enough:
Washington (CNSNews.com) - Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay criticized likely Republican presidential nominee John McCain - and by extension some of the more conservative members of Congress - by calling McCain’s 2003 vote against the Medicare prescription drug plan a non-conservative vote.DeLay made his remarks in an interview with Cybercast News Service at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.
While in Congress, DeLay had helped quashed a rebellion by House conservatives, who tried to defeat the prescription plan then being promoted by President Bush.
“I’m very proud of the Medicare bill,” DeLay told Cybercast News Service. “… We took a welfare state program and applied conservative principles to it.” Listen to Audio
Asked if McCain’s vote against the Medicare expansion bill was un-conservative, DeLay responded, “Yes, it was, as a matter of fact. It was taking the easy way out.”
Mr. DeLay, just which conservative principles were applied to the Medicare Prescription Drug bill? You can’t take the greatest expansion of a government program in the recent history of these United States and call it “conservative” any more than you can take a pig, apply lipstick on it, and call it Bo Derek. Calling the Medicare Prescription Drug benefit “conservative” is not only balls-on intellectually dishonest, but in fact requires a suspension of disbelief so enormous as to make it an exercise in futility.
There are plenty of issues for conservatives to disagree with John McCain.
This isn’t one of them.
Entry Filed under: CPAC 2008, Campaign 2008, Uncategorized
14 Comments
1. LiberalMind | February 11th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Tom Delay is entirely “balls-on intellectually dishonest” but you Leo only want to see a very small part of the total picture.
We liberals can see the bigger picture of what a total hypocrite, liar and immoral individual he is.
He has no respect for the democratic process and even less respect for fair elections.
And to think he wanted a Republican majority forever.
2. Brett Michaels | February 11th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Ronald Reagan rolled over in his grave when the Prescription Drug Benefit was passed by the Republican controlled congress and signed into law by President Bush.
That bill was strictly vote pandering and a prime example of what happens to politicians when the prime objective is to stay in power at all costs.
On the flip side, my 85yo grandmother is going thru radiation and chemotherapy. Before the bill, the costs of her medicines would have driven my family and several of my siblings families into bankruptcy.
So on that note I have to thank Mr Delay for allowing my grandmother to live.
3. neocon | February 11th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Hillary Clinton is entirely “ballslessly-on intellectually dishonest” but you only want to see a very small part of the total picture.
We conservatives can see the bigger picture of what a total hypocrite, liar and immoral individual she is.
She has no respect for the democratic process and even less respect for fair elections.
And to think she wanted a Democratic majority forever.
4. coulterfan | February 11th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Deleted - insults which add nothing to the debate.
5. Kahn | February 11th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
LiberalMind - so if you want to see DeLay twist in the wind, why deny his trial? He’s been indicted for how long now, but the local Democrats who the legal system deny him his trial. Talk about Gulag tactics!
Hey - on another note, look at this!
“Clinton said that her staff had sent her “some independent study” “which seemed to suggest that” “in terms of the fairness of the coverage,” Fox News Channel has treated her campaign more fairly than MSNBC.”
6. Mark Noonan | February 11th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
On the other hand, Tom DeLay did fight against and vote against the 1986 illegal immigration amnesty bill - something Reagan supported.
7. Adrian | February 11th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Nobody has a perfect conservative record including, as Mark points out, Regan. The problem though is that rather than adhere to true conservative principles, modern Republicans want to redefine what “conservative” is.
“I fought for a huge expansion of an entitlement program. This is the conservative thing to do.” Huh? If they want to stray they’ll stray. Can’t let them redefine what we are when they do it though.
8. congressive | February 11th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
“We took a welfare state program and applied conservative principles to it.” Translation: we took cash out of senior’s life savings and gave it to big pharma, who by law cannot be asked to give senior’s a group discount. Let grandma starve. There are profits to be grown.
Market forces, indeed.
9. Max Power | February 11th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
I admire Mr. McCain for his service to this country, and for his stance on immigration reform.
I’d vote for him if I hadn’t sworn off voting for anyone with an (R) next to their name.
Never again.
10. Kahn | February 12th, 2008 at 12:01 am
Thats good Max. make an ignorant promise to yourself and stick to it.
How’s that old saying go? “Our standards are incredibly low, but rigidly adhered to.”
11. NeoClown | February 12th, 2008 at 12:55 am
John McCain is a true patriot. He has spent his entire adult life either defending the United States, or serving it. John McCain is a brave man who is not afraid to speak his mind and he will always do what he feels is right. John McCain is smart enough to know that he doesn’t know it all and he is willing to listen to others. John McCain is willing to reach across the isle to move this country forward. John McCain is a great Senator and would make a great President. The GOP doesn’t deserve someone like McCain.
Tom DeLay represents the dark underbelly of politics and I will never understand how he wormed his way back into the spotlight.
12. Magnum Serpentine | February 12th, 2008 at 7:14 am
I seem to remember that the republican congress kept the session open till 4am or so in the morning forcing those who voted against the Drug program to sit in the chamber or loose their committee spot. I believe the next president and congress can say, to heck with that and come up with a new drug program. And if we get judges in office that see the constitution as a living changing document and not a stale piece of paper, (as george sees it now) any lawsuit by the big wig drug companies will be defeated.
13. coulterfan | February 12th, 2008 at 8:44 am
There you go again deleting my posts because you have a lack of argumentative skills. So, WHO believes in fascism and stifling debate?
It’s funny how insults like ‘Hitlery’ and ‘Earbama’ are allowed to stand, but my pointing out a lack of consistency on DeLay’s part and his slurred, incoherent speech on Hardball the other night are deleted immediately!
14. coulterfan | February 12th, 2008 at 8:59 am
>>And if we get judges in office that see the constitution as a living changing document and not a stale piece of paper, (as george sees it now) any lawsuit by the big wig drug companies will be defeated.
It’s also funny how so-called ‘Conservatives’ are the ones always running to CHANGE the Constitution (marriage amendment, flag-burning amendment, life amendment, what’s next? birthday amendment?)! Is that a ‘Conservative’ principle?
Also interesting is the fact that ‘Conservatives’ are okay with restricting freedoms that aren’t specifically mentioned in the Constitution (like the right of privacy, but then Limbaugh and Coulter use it in their defense even when they have said there’s no such right!). As a liberal, I assumed that the right against unreasonable searches and seizures meant just that. I also thought that the 1st amendment read “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. ”
Silly me, I though NO LAW meant just that- not ‘decency’ laws or ‘pornography laws’ or ’sodomy’ laws, etc. Oh well, if your law is struck down as Unconstitutional (’flag-burning laws’, ‘Lawrence vs Texas’, etc). . . you can just change the Constitution you claim to love, right?!?!?