It is said that everyone has their price. In the joke, a rich old man keeps asking a young lady how much to go to bed with him. At $1 million, she says yes; he starts to lower the price and she retorts "What do you think I am" and he follows with the above….
Same with politicians – seems to be more likely the moderate one is. Why? Those at either end of the spectrum stick with principles first and don’t let go. This makes, as we all know, Arlen Specter (R-PA) smack dab in the middle of the danger zone.
Proper role of government? Remember, he wanted to use the full force of Government to investigate cheating at the New England Patriots – WHY in this green earth should the Senate be wasting its time on that? The NFL – yes. Public opinion – yes. Courts – perhaps. The Senate? Oh. My. Gosh. No.
So, going back to the title, what was the price of Specter’s act of turning his back on his fellow Republicans?
$10 Billion
Large number. VERY large number. But he asked and the Dems gave. Why wouldn’t they give – as normal, it wasn’t their money, so why should they care? And now we know what Specter rightly is – bought and paid for. Why would he settle for "wined and dined in the White House" as he battled Laura Ingraham on her show – he got much more from his fellow Congresscritters!
The place? The NIH:
But even lobbyists are stunned by the coup Mr. Specter pulled off this week. In return for providing one of only three Republican votes in the Senate for the Obama administration’s $787 billion economic stimulus package, he was able to secure a 34 percent increase in the health agency’s budget — to $39 billion from $29 billion.
Republican ideals – less government, less spending, and less taxes. Specter – acting like a Democrat, goes 0 for 3.
Why?
he has long insisted that research that results in medical cures is the best service that government can provide.
Again, putting personal interests above that of the taxpayers. Sure it is a good thing to cure cancer, and additional funds would help. BUT! Is that the proper role of government (again, looking to the measuring stick of the Constitution)?
Cancer could be cured, Mr. Specter said, if the government spent $335 billion for the research — a total he said he was “working on” getting. But for now, he said, future budget discussions for N.I.H. will begin at $40 billion, not $30 billion — more fodder for complaints from House Republicans. And if the Republicans win back control of the Senate, he promised that that number would go considerably higher.
“I think it’s scandalous that we haven’t done more to cure cancer,” Mr. Specter said.
Typical – another life long politician that believes that they have the right, simply and merely by throwing someone else’s money at a personal pet project, they can "fix" something.
I look at the Jerry Lewis Telethon and say "that is a group of private citizens voluntarily banding together to solve a problem. Why is government needed here? How does that protect our liberty, the first role and function of government?"
Sorry, but when elected Republican Politicians act counter to the principles of the Party, when they put their personal pet projects ahead of the principles enumerated above, they need to be called out (and it happens all the time at the local level too – here in NH in Belknap County, a former board member of Genesis is now directing tax money back into the budget to that group AFTER the Commissioners had cut it out).
For sabotaging the work of the House Republicans and all of the other Senate Republicans, I hope the Republican leadership does the right thing by us and to him.
Hey, PA Republicans – let me know who is going to Primary Specter out of office – I’ll contribute!
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