43 “Republicans” Who Suck…

…and one Republican who DOESN’T:
Senator Tom Coburn, M.D., of the great state of Oklahoma.

I’m a Conservative first and a Republican second.
I think that’s an important distinction to draw. I vote Republican because that’s the party that comes closest to my own ideology. Well, except for this week. If there were elections this week, I’d write in “Mickey Mouse” before I’d vote for 43 particular Senate Republicans. Who are they? Well, I’ll tell you…and then I’ll tell you why.
Now, I know. I know…I know…I know… I know. Reagan’s 11th Commandment of “Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican” should come into play here, but…I just can’t take these guys anymore. They’ve got a majority and still can’t manage to lead. I’m tired of holding my tongue and, with sincerest apologies to Ronaldus Maximus, I’m going to say my piece.
So, without further adieu, here they are—43 Republicans who suck:
Alexander (TN)
Allard (CO)
Bennett (UT)
Bond (MO)
Brownback (KS)
Bunning (KY)
Burns (MT)
Chafee (RI)
Chambliss (GA)
Cochran (MS)
Coleman (MN)
Collins (ME)
Cornyn (TX)
Craig (ID)
Crapo (ID)
DeWine (OH)
Dole (NC)
Domenici (NM)
Enzi (WY)
Frist (TN)
Grassley (IA)
Gregg (NH)
Hatch (UT)
Hutchison (TX)
Inhofe (OK)
Isakson (GA)
Lott (MS)
Lugar (IN)
Martinez (FL)
McConnell (KY)
Murkowski (AK)
Roberts (KS)
Santorum (PA)
Shelby (AL)
Smith (OR)
Snowe (ME)
Specter (PA)
Stevens (AK)
Thomas (WY)
Thune (SD)
Vitter (LA)
Voinovich (OH)
Warner (VA)
Now, here’s why they suck…
A series of anti-pork amendments designed to eliminate roughly $450 million in federal funds for bridges in Alaska and divert $75 million of that total to a bridge in Louisiana damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
The measure was defeated 82-15. 82 United States Senators decided to tow the inside-the-Beltway line and continue to spend our money on wasteful spending.
According to the Associated Press, “One [bridge], called by critics the “bridge to nowhere, would connect Ketchikan, Alaska, to an island where there is an airport and about 50 people. The highway bill allotted $223 million for that project and $229 million for another bridge near Anchorage.”
$223 million. That’s $4,460,000.00 per person that lives on that island.
The anti-pork amendments were written by Oklahoma Senator Dr. Tom Coburn who, in doing so, challenged an unwritten Senate rule that says Senators will not attack spending legislation sought by another Senator. Great, so because the Senate has some “code” that they live by, the rest of us get screwed to the tunes of billions of dollars to pay for their pet projects. It sounds like they’ve forgotten who pays the bill around here.
That’d be you and me.
Other projects that Dr. Tom tried to kill were $500,000 for Seattle’s sculpture garden, $200,000 to help finance a parking garage for an art museum in Nebraska and $200,000 for an animal shelter in Rhode Island, among others.
“In the state of Washington alone there are 17,590 homeless people and we’re going to take money … to build a sculpture park? I think not,” Coburn said. “I think that’s not the right priority.”
That measure failed 86-13. These are the 12 Republicans who were courageous enough to vote the right way on this measure:
Allen (VA)
Burr (NC)
Coburn (OK)
DeMint (SC)
Ensign (NV)
Graham (SC)
Hagel (NE)
Kyl (AZ)
McCain (AZ)
Sessions (AL)
Sununu (NH)
Talent (MO)
I’m tired of seeing my damned money spent on bridges that go nowhere, sculptures for a park or other similar projects. My taxes are high enough already, thanks, and I’m tired of hearing I don’t need my tax cut when we’re paying for all kinds of crap. The Federal Budget exists to run the Federal Government and that’s it. It’s not there to be a slush fund for Senators to bring money home to their districts.
Oh, and get this jackass:
81 year-old Senator Ted Stevens, a Republican from Alaska, called Coburn’s amendments “an offense, a threat to every person in my state.” He went on to say, “I’ve been here now almost 37 years. This is the first time I have seen any attempt of any senator to treat my state in a way different from any other state.”
“I will put the Senate on notice — and I don’t kid people — if the Senate decides to discriminate against our state, to take money only from our state, I’ll resign from this body,” he said. “This is not the Senate I came to. This is not the Senate I’ve devoted 37 years to, if one senator can decide he’ll take all the money from one state to solve a problem of another.”
Let him resign. Get out, and don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out, Ted. You disgust me and you shame the party.
If one of your Senators was one of the 12 who voted for the Coburn amendments, please call or write them and thank them for their vote. I wrote Senator John Sununu from my home state of New Hampshire this morning and did just that.
However, if your Senator was one of the 43 who suck, then you should call them and issue them a stinging rebuke. It’s time WE put the Senate on notice and got people like Ted Stevens and his buddies the hell out of Washington, Republicans or not.
William Smith
ConservativeBlogger.com