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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

Republican Senators Declare Themselves Gutless Wonders

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  June 16th, 2010 at 10:00 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

The Politico has a story about Republican Senators running away from Sharron Angle. It includes this gem of gutless wonderdom:

Several Senate Republicans told POLITICO that they don’t favor privatizing Social Security, as Angle has supported. Small government conservatives said it doesn’t make sense to eliminate the Energy and Education departments – as she’s called for in the past. And some recoiled at the thought of pulling the United States out of the United Nations, a position Angle has touted.

Really?

First of all, no person can be a “small government conservative” without wanting to make government smaller. Getting rid of Energy and Education are long held small government conservative positions.

And privatizing social security is a terrifically conservative idea.

These are your Republican Senators. These are your allegedly conservative Senators.

These are the same Republicans who supported Trey Grayson, Arlen Specter, and Charlie Crist.

These are the samel Republicans who even now are supporting Tim Bridgewater and Utah and Jane Norton in Colorado.

If you support Mike Lee in Utah, Ken Buck in Colorado, and stand with Sharron Angle, we really can send some small government conservatives to Washington.

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COMMENTS

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  • jaybo

    It should read: Republican Senators Seek Early Retirement.

    I see that these cowards also will not disclose who they are either. Talk about profiles in courage………

  • earlgrey

    then the guys in DC pull the rug out.

    We need to make them know everyday either through participation in local R party, donations to real conservatives, phone calls/letters that we will not sit down and shut up. Things have changed for good.

  • mikefisk

    This is a classic case of “putting special interests ahead of principles”… never mind the largest entitlement programs in the United States, with growth rates that far outstrip even the rest of government bloat. If you’re not going to be serious about cutting the costs associated with Social Security and Medicare, how serious can you be about cutting anywhere else?

    Forget Big Oil, Big Tobacco, Big Pharma… when the chips are down, Big Granny is the one special interest nobody wants to cross.

    And since when is Social Security privatization such a radical idea? Phasing it out completely, now that’s a radical idea (even if potentially constitutionally justifiable). But heaven forbid we harness the power of the free market…

  • pilgrim

    I fear the bar has been raised way way way too high for GOP Senators when you get cranky about John Thune, Jeff Sessions, Jim Inhofe, and Mike Crapo not being in complete agreement with candidate Sharron Angle. There is no perfect man or woman in the US Senate, and there are some who should be challenged more than others. I just don’t want to join in on bashing this particular set of senators.

  • sta46

    of S.S. has worked out REALLY well in TX. Had I been working there lo these many years I would be getting about $900.00 a month more than I am getting from the feds.
    Ever since Cantor started up his You Vote I have put GET US OUT OF THE UN in the suggestion box… every stinking week. Their goal is to bleed us dry and they use our money against us. If I had one wish for a R controlled congress I would even put that one ahead of HCR repeal.

  • jeffreywturner

    It isn’t like Angle is running against someone popular and is likely to lose, which is usually the reason the cowards run like rats on a sinking ship.

    Ideologically speaking, it isn’t like it goes against traditional American values to encourage people to be responsible for their own retirement rather than rely on the collectivist mentality of OASDI, or to encourage local control of schools.

    Even politically, who has run on the issue of privatizing Social Security? George W. Bush. He won Nevada twice. Privatization has failed in opinion surveys, but not at the ballot box.

    These guys need to grow a pair and stop being such pansies. I don’t want to just see Reid defeated. I want him to be humiliated by a large margin, and then see the Senate reject him for confirmation to whatever cushy government job Obama tries to appoint him to next year. I want him to taste the bitterness of unemployment that he and his policies have inflicted on so many others.

    I just gave to Ms. Angle, now let’s all pony up and send Reid packing.

  • RedBeard

    However, that ship sailed long ago. The Politico quoted him as saying:

    ?Some candidates from time to time, perhaps attempting to show a sense of anger, outrage or whatever, express what I would characterize as very extreme views that do not have much basis in either practicality or what is going to occur in the evolution of our country.?

    So basically, here is the senior Republican in the U.S. Senate, espousing the view that constitutional philosophy is extreme and impractical, because the country is evolving. That view is, quite frankly, sickening. Evolving into what? The European utopian model? Perhaps the good senator would explain to us how well that’s working out over there.

    Why do we need Democrats, when we have people like Lugar to carry the water for the liberal agenda? Walt Kelly was more right than even he knew, when he wrote: “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

  • sta46

    cancellation of all foreign aid starting with every single penny going to Mexico

  • Wubbies World

    … gutless wonders. They have been their too long and clueless to what the American people want from government. These are the same clueless people who wanted to use “messaging amendments” to fight ObamaCare. Why? … because they did not see it the threat to liberty the rest of us see, so it wasn’t all that urgent.

    We need to keep “Primary ‘ing” these jerks out of their jobs since they are not willing to actually represent us.

    Oh course there may be another reason why they actually believe what they say they believe. These “so called” conservatives may just be Democrats in sheep’s clothing who actually believe they know better than us little people and are not afraid to foist upon us the things we don’t want, because they view themselves as smarter than us.

    That makes it all the more imperative we remove these Republican yahoos in the Senate.

  • spepper

    the Republicans in the Senate sadly remind me of the current version of the White House, both of which could easily be the subject of a documentary titled “In Search Of A LEADER”…….apparently, conservative positions are to them as foreign as illegal aliens……….

  • texasgalt

    but maybe Republicans in general could hush up a bit about where they differ with Angle. By the time it’s all said and done, she’ll have her hands full taking out Horrible Harry.

    Lugar has turned into, well what WOULD you call him? He’s been around for ever. Some may remember when he was Nixon’s “favorite Mayor”. Just another Royalist Senator who has overstayed his position.

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

    Angle and those quoted agree on so much and I hope that Angle could be persuaded to oppose major, mandatory privatization of Soc Sec and that all could be persuaded by Angle to phase out the Dept of Educ.

    Got no problem with an Energy Dept worthy of the name, although I don’t see why it couldn’t be part of the Interior Dept which is constitutional and needed for obvious reasons (Federal land management).

  • http://www.nighttwister.com NightTwister

    to compare a conservative like Jane Norton with Arlen Specter and Charlie Crist.

  • pilgrim

    4. Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules.

    Yes Senators should watch what they say, but I am suspicious that Politico deliberately went hunting for comments from this group as an Alinsky rule #4 tactic.

  • RedBeard

    Just as was the case with Mitch Daniels, so it is with this group of blabbermouthed Republican senators, missing a great opportunity to shut up.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    More interested in pork than principle.

  • IJB

    As they should.

    ‘Cos when heads start to roll, theirs are going to be among them.

    So, yeah – the Senate GOP leadership *should* be scared.

  • fpete13527

    Zero fire and zero courage.

  • mikerazar

    Hey everybody! Social Security is broken. let’s fix it. How? Privatize it!

    What about people on it or near it? Oh, of course they continue to get paid, but the younger workers…

    Private accounts….controlled by individuals… great idea! Stop the govt. from raiding the trust fund that way. And the fact that it is a pay as you go system now with no actual trust fund? How will we replace that money?

    Mere details. One trillion? Five trillion? Ten trillion? Thirty trillion? Who cares? It’s the principle that counts.

    We hate that attitude on the left, and rightly so. Hey…every body wanted health care reform. Right? But which reform? And at what cost?

    Look at the wall street reform. A hodge-podge of good and bad ideas rushed through a compliant Congress that wouldn’t know a derivative product if it hit them over the head. So who will benefit? Real capitalists? Of course not. Just the cronies. It’s easy to tell. The robber barons can only flourish when the govt. limits competition.

    I’ll be impressed when I see a detailed plan to improve Social Security with all the costs factored in.

    Until then it is as empty as all Obama’s promises.

  • pilgrim
  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    But Thune apparently prefers Reid to Angle.

  • chihank

    Back in 2005, I did not like the way Thune joined Lincoln Chafee in blocking John Bolton’s confirmation after a spending to a SD military base was going to be cut.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    That was my first impression of Thune and he’s lived up to it since.

  • jamo

    Who cares what those idiot senators think. Does anyone even listen to them? Most of them have such a history of cronyism with the democrat/socialists that they can’t even recognize a clear conscience.

    Sharon Angle sounds to me like just what we need. Eliminate the Department of Education? Does that mean that schools won’t be compelled to teach that white people are racists and that God doesn’t really exist? Good idea, Sharon. I’m with you.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    You missed the point entirely.

    Any Republican Senator who makes himself a tool for bashing a Republican nominee for Senate, has a lot of learning to do.

  • northcack34

    What’s so wrong about infusing some non-government elements into Social Security? Here’s a few ideas:
    1. Starting today, everyone who has paid into Social Security will get their benefits when they become eligible. So little old ladies who are retired and living on Social Security would not have to worry. They’ll get their money.
    2. Also starting today, all new workers entering the work force for the first time will fill out a simple check-the-box form: “Check ONE of the following – Option 1 – I want the government to take my money and put it into Social Security for me, knowing that I am taking the risk of the government handling my money.” or “Option 2 – I want to keep all my money and save for my own retirement, knowing that I am taking the risk of private companies handling my money.”
    3. Also starting today, all workers currently in the system will fill out the same check-the-box form. However, the money these workers previously put into Social Security will not be affected. Their choice on the form affects them only from today forward.

    So, how to pay for it? CUT CUT CUT. At our state (NC) Republican convention a few weeks ago, Sen. Richard Burr (www.burrhq.com) gave a speech in which he stated, among other things, that President George Washington’s original cabinet had 5 members. Sen. Burr then told us, “Don’t tell me we can’t cut!” I agree that the Departments of Education, Energy, and a host of others can go. While the savings from cutting departments may not pay for everything, it would be a darn good start.

  • acat

    Or did you miss the hints and notes around “de-privatizing” 401k monies that have been floating around recently?

    Mew

  • fpete13527

    Since the GOP, especially the Senate, want to cling to McCain / Crist “moderate liberalism” as tightly as they seem to be, I say flush 75% …or more of the GOP Senators out!

    Every one of Angle’s proposals are exactly the type that are wanted and needed.

    Obama and the Dem. Socialist Party have injected more desecration into this government than four Jimmy Carters and two Woodrow Wilson combined……and this group of GOP Senators (some of which continue to support earmarks) are making these kinds of bogus comments against true conservative initiatives?

    Even if there are huge GOP gains in November, and I’m clear there will be, do you really think that things will get turned around with cowards like this in the GOP?

    Unless there are true warriors in the GOP Congress starting in November….unlike this bunch……..the damage caused by the Dem Socialist Party will not be repairable…. even if there were 500 Rush Limbaughs in Congress.

    This problem will continue however until the core and the heads of the GOP shift …….or are shifted. The current GOP core and leadership are still functioning under the doctrine that the true GOP should operate in the footsteps of their flagship role models…..McCain and Crist. They will attempt to marginalize anyone who strays from their true core role models…….even though the most of country is asking them to shift to become real conservatives and show real courage.

  • The_Gadfly

    1) Yes, privatize it because it is the only way to permanently fix it.

    2) No, not everybody who is near retirement gets to keep collecting. The hardest part about getting Granny set after the snake oil salesman stole her life savings has always been confronting Granny with that fact. It’s gone, period. Wasted on wine women and song mostly, but gone none the less. That means Granny is broke whether she likes it or not. We do have a level of moral responsibility to ensure she survives on what we can provide. But that is precisely the starting point: what we can provide. That means all the Grannies and Grandpas who can survive without SS lose it. Period.

    3) No Trust Fund – We replace it the same way we do now: We pay for it out of the General Fund. It’s just that we do it without the smoke and mirrors.

    4) How much money? – We have only a vague concept of how much it will cost now, so that part of the equation doesn’t change. Well, actually it does. If you set a cutoff point for workers who can get on the SS dole you have now fixed at least part of the problem. There won’t be an unknown number of people coming onto the rolls in the future, you just have an unknown total cost for those who are already on it going forward. As more and more of them die, the cost starts to go down and you can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’d rather have to deal with an unknown linear growth problem than an unknown exponential growth problem.

    Stop being General McClellan and start being General Meade.

  • mikerazar

    Politics is fun. I agree that GOP senators have no business bashing Sharron.

    But no matter what the topic, nobody here seems to care about conservatives taking positions with no substance behind them. Has it not occurred to anyone that what voters really want is honest conservative solutions to problems.

    Who? What? How? Why? These words are our friends and the left’s enemies.

    And, no I didn’t miss any hints. But I don’t see the relevance to the question of how to privatize the hole (sic) system.. so the dems want to make things worse. How shocking. We want to make it better but have no clue how. How sad.

    For the record, I support Sharron Angle enthusiastically. I wouldn’t support Attila against Harry.either. But not with much enthusiasm.

  • deano64

    good ole boys/girls club. To them we are just rubes just don’t get it. We just aren’t smart enough to understand how things really work in DC. We need to send them all back home so they can get back to living in the real world like us common folk. Oh and do they really need to indetify themselves? I think we all have a pretty good idea which Senators are saying these things.

  • eburke

    (Just thought I’d save you the trouble, CW :-) )

  • http://www.teapartyfg.com ronestrada

    They still don’t get it, after all this time (heavy sight). Let me explain, Republicans: the Tea Party is going to hit hardest at the party where we feel we have the best chance of escorting big government cronies back to their home states. Guess which party that would be?

  • dfvazan

    I’m really disappointed with how many conservatives are running from Rand Paul. You left him off your closing list of small gov’t candidates that need our support. Paul is an excellent and principled conservative with libertarian leanings. To ignore him or, worse, malign him as many on the Right are doing is simply disgusting and self-defeating. I hope this changes as November draws closer.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    Erick went waaaay out on a limb for Rand Paul.

    To accuse him of ignoring Rand Paul is idiotic.

  • pilgrim

    Crapo has two terms, Thune is finishing his first term, and Angle wants to win her first election for US Senator against Majority Leader Harry Reid. I do not see any need to bash Crapo and Thune to support Angle. I really think it is better to support all three of them..
    I smell a rat at Politico who went out of his way to get some comments from Crapo and Thune that he could use to stir up a bunch of crap.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    So are you saying Crapo and Thune are just the witless dupes of Politico?

  • dfvazan

    I know he did and it was the right decision. I just hope he and other conservative pundits/activists aren’t suffering from buyer’s remorse. Can you tell me it’s not a little odd to leave Paul’s name off that list? Besides I wasn’t particularly attacking Erick. The comment was a broad criticism of the inexplicable reaction many conservatives are having to Paul, ie. Hotair, NRO, etc.

  • pilgrim
  • Scope

    with some Blue Hairs not partaking of Social Security benefits. I personally know of a whole group of Fla. Blue Hairs who look at their SS checks as pocket change, or Bridge money. But, they will be the first to scream that they paid into it all their lives, and by dang they are getting their money back. They remind me of the union protesters in Greece. They don’t care where the money comes from, or even if the money is there at all. They only know that they have that money coming to them, and they want it now. You have to change the mentality first.

    I totally agree with privatizing SS under a certain age. Then for those at or near retirement age, disperse SS benefits on a sliding scale depending on income rather than age.

  • jprice28

    Members of the Republican Party refusing to support conservatism or conservative, small government candidates should no longer surprise. This is now par-for-the-course for the GOP.

    Are there conservatives within the Party? Yes (and you all know who they are). But the GOP, as a whole, has moved to the center and even center-left on many issues.

    This is not to mention the cowardly campaigns many Republicans run. Just look at the waffling among GOP so-called “leadership” on encouraging candidates to run on a repeal of Obamacare. This is a no-brainer! Especially considering polls consistently show that Americans support repeal. But most Republicans lack courage.

    There are two problems with the Republican: Lack of conservatism and courage.

    If a Republican is conservative, he’s not courageous. If a Republican is courageous chances are he is moderate-to-liberal. Again, not ALL Republicans suffer from either or both of these problems, but most do. And that is the real problem.

    The Conservative Beacon

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    …then it’s not the Republicans who still don’t get it.

  • constitutionalconservative

    And it shows how far we have to go to elect a group of conservative senators who aren’t scared of their own shadows. From education to affirmative action and with a whole host of other issues, we’ve largely got a collection of gutless wonders that we’re dealing with.

  • acat

    Subtract the SS benefit from the gross income – if gross income is over 20k above the poverty line, then they get nothing – sliding scale it from 20k above down to the poverty line. Anyone at the poverty line or below gets full benefits.

    Reduce benefits by 10% per year for everyone from 50 to 40, i.e. 50 year olds get 90% benefits, 40 year olds get nada.

    Everybody 40 and under get no payouts at retirement – the government gets 25 years to transfer what they’ve paid in into qualified 401k or IRA plans.

    Everyone from 50 down to 40 get the 10% that they had taken away transferred in like fashion. (i.e. someone who is 45 will get 45% of his or her paid-in money transferred to a qualified 401k or IRA plan, and gets 45% of their promised SS benefit at retirement.

    Finally remove the retirement age restriction – lower the minimum age to 60 but remove the upper end requirements. If someone wants to keep working and contributing to an IRA at 70, let ‘em.

    Mew

  • mikerazar

    What I mean is it has to be passed by Congress. Old people vote. The median age of voters is around 50. So just how do you convince them to elect Congressmen who will take away their entitlement? They’ll vote to close the schools before vote for that.

    So once again I ask with all humility, how do you manage the transition? Bush never actually presented a full plan.

    Erratum: In my previous post “wouldn’t’ should be “would”

  • acat

    And yes, you missed the point.

    Coming up with a plan indicates that the thought has crossed the mind and been recognized as a good idea…. so what does rejecting an unseen plan mean? My read is “closed mind” at best, “empty minded say-anything RINO” at worst.

    Mew

  • mikerazar

    This is a very hard problem. I doubt it can be solved in a couple of paragraphs. Please keep trying.

  • acat

    Cut # 1 – means testing. That saves enough to keep the blue-hairs off the street.

    Cut # 2 – transfer from defined-benefit to defined-contribution. That saves enough to keep today’s 50somethings from becoming street-bound blue-hairs.

    Cut # 3 – over 25 years, cut enough out of the general fund to pay back the raided “lock box”.

    Mew

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

    later – feel a column inspiration…

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

    Pelosi and Obama major piece of legislation or did he used to be called Snowe or Collins when the stimulus passed?

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

    Republicans for opposing privatization of soc sec or abolishing depts of edu or energy, but do think that just because ObamaDemLib-drive-bys try to create fissures in the GOP where they don’t exist, we don’t have to aid and abet the tactic.

    more later in the column inspired by this blog and threats herein

    smile

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine
  • aesthete

    that it is politically difficult to enact such sweeping reforms, and that said difficulty means that we must have a plan in place for how to cut spending on SS, Medicare, and Medicaid that can be enacted.

    Unfortunately, Republican leaders on the hill aren’t saying that at all: they are, in effect, refusing to admit that there is a problem, or calling on the mythical “other ways” that can resolve the crisis. (I wouldn’t mind hearing these “other ways” of yore, but maybe that’s just me.)

    Just another example of how Republicans insist on being little other than the F the Dems Party, and of why we need to put people in the party apparatus interested in implementing solutions to this conundrum.

  • aesthete

    American conservatism is starting to resemble European conservatism: with many of our so-called “conservatives” arguing over which groups should get government goodies, instead of whether or not government goodies should be disbursed, Hayek’s article, “Why I am Not a Conservative” begins to apply to American conservatism in a way that it never did before.

  • texasgalt

    and a lot of the Angle types win some of these grumbling Republicans are going to decide it’s time to go. We saw some of that in ’94.

    Was it Bob Michaels who said back then that these new guys aren’t Republicans as much as they are Libertarians? The responsibility of being the majority scares some of the posers They are happy being the loyal and inadequate minority “opposition.”

    Whatever will Kaye Bailey do if she has to rub elbows with Angle? Hopefully she will make room for Williams.

  • texasgalt

    and a lot of the Angle types win some of these grumbling Republicans are going to decide it’s time to go. We saw some of that in ’94.

    Was it Bob Michaels who said back then that these new guys aren’t Republicans as much as they are Libertarians? The responsibility of being the majority scares some of the posers They are happy being the loyal and inadequate minority “opposition.”

    Whatever will Kaye Bailey do if she has to rub elbows with Angle? Hopefully she will make room for Williams.

  • texasgalt
  • texasgalt
  • Superheater

    The only usual suspect missing is McCain..

    One answer, starve the NRSC of its money.

    These idiots don’t get it: Its not that we don’t want Democrats in charge of the bureacracy, WE DON’T WANT BUREACRACY!

    Donate directly to candidates:

    Angle, Rubio, Paul and don’t forget Toomey.

  • AceInTX

    Nothing new to see here folks…move along…move along

  • cactusjack

    “I’m shocked, shocked that certain Republicans have been guilty of political deception of their constituencies. Nominate the usual hacks.”

  • Scope

    it is a good starting point, and, can be tweaked. Unfortunately, not all R’s would give it a positive vote, well, because, it is an unpopular thing to do. When the R’s keep kicking the can down the road, as they have done, we get such things as Obamacare. I wonder how all those blue hairs like that idea, where they will lose even more, even their lives in some cases. We can always wait until we are at Greece status, and then age and income won’t matter. Everyone will pay/suffer. Sometimes, some groups, are going to have to get hit upside the head with reality, no matter how they paid into it all their lives. If I’m not mistaken, SS was sold as a backstop against those that meet old age with no other source of income or savings.

  • mikerazar

    I’m no RINO but you are a conservative in name only. I see no numbers in anyone’s plan. Yes Ryan’s roadmap is appealing. Where is a cost analysis of that or any other plan? The voters in our democracy have allowed Congress to get away with making unkeepable promises for 75 years. We had better be prepared to get caught holding that bag.

  • pamdale

    MIKE LEE
    is the only constitutional conservative candidate in Utah. Tim Bridgewater is presenting himself as a businessman, and that’s fine, but Mike Lee is an expert on the law-of-the-land, our U.S. Constitution.

    Utah needs to send the message to Washington that we need to curtail their out-of-control spending AND that we want to take our nation back to the vision of our Founding Fathers. Stuff the Executive Order and get back to the law.

    Mike Lee is the only candidate in Utah who is equipped for the job.

  • mikerazar

    Cut#1- How much does it save over what period of time? How do you plan to get today’s blue hairs (lovely expression …NOT) to vote for it?

    Cut #2- No matter what words you use to disguise it, you are cutting benefits for today’s 50 somethings. Your second statement just mystifies me.

    Cut#3 – Oh yeah! the vast surpluses in the general fund sure do look tempting. OOOPs. What surpluses? Or are you really saying, let’s just keep borrowing the money for another 25 years. Now that’s a real conservative solution.

    YOU CAN”T FUND A LIABILITY WHEN YOU ARE IN DEBT!!!!!

    Capiche?

    Entitlements are up to 60% of the budget now. That’s roughly 2 trillion bucks a year (in today’s money but protected from inflation) as far as the eye can see. Defense is another 20%.

    I am not intrinsically opposed to any proposed cuts in the federal budget. But try to be somewhat realistic on the politics of it , and above all, do the damn math.

    bow wow

  • edintexas

    Judging by the writing and positions of Politico, they consider Graham and McCain to be far right wing “small government” Republicans.

    I’m at a loss as to why they are considered to be “non-partisan”, unless it is because they have declared themselves to be such. They may have been at one time, but no longer.

  • phatphan

    . . . shooting their mouths off, giving Dems opportunities to use their comments to paste Sharron Angle with an “extremist” label
    If they disagree with her, they should have done so privately, or at least waited until after November to go public. That is, unless they WANT her defeated! If that is the case, we need to know about it so that we can decide what WE are going to do about it.
    Those senators who made those statements should not mind having their names made public, since they made the statements for public release.

    The bottom line is that Sharron Angle is right, and they are wrong.
    The statements of the Founders, including Thomas Jefferson, make solid sense. Those men knew from experience whereof they spoke. There is no question that government is necessary and has a critical function. but when it starts to become repressive and intrude in areas not supported by the Constitution, those responsible need to be replaced by the voters, regardless of who they are..

  • goosecreek

    how can anyone that considers themselves a conservative, align themselves with dingy harry reid?

  • goosecreek

    how can anyone that considers themselves a conservative, align themselves with dingy harry reid?

  • GenEarly

    Any Republican Senator should support Sharron Angle and if there are issues they do not agree with,SHUT UP! Accentuate the agreement.Why pick your own team apart? (If it is truly your team)
    Establishment Republican Senators do not like the Tea Party and only tolerate the peasants if they must to win an election. Harry Reid is a friend to many Republican Senators, despite their public pronouncements, and a less than ringing endorsement for Angle will be worth some payback in the post 2010 Senate which may well be still in the control of the Democrats. Remember ex-senator Trent Lott,”conservative” from MS. attacking Talk Radio for stopping the Bushie Amnesty? That’s the real scene,CYA and Go Along to Get Along.

  • Bill

    thorough list of names for these gutless establishment republicans who are in this pack? If a conservative does not win in the GOP primary, then that candidate is expected to support the winner, even if we know the winner is a “moderate” or RINO candidate. So, Angle won the GOP primary in Nevada, correct? Well, these GOP Senators had better support the winner that the people selected in this primary election or they had better forget any conservative support when their elections roll around. Is that fair and reasonable? Stop giving Harry Reid amo to use agains Angle!

  • pittbull

    Congress doesn’t want small government. It would “minimize” their power base.
    Congress doesn’t want privitized social security. They would no longer “use” the system as their own personal “piggy bank”.
    We the people need to ferret out these gutless wonders and get rid of them. Then we can make some progress in the right direction.

  • chof

    Jane Norton was the first to support abolishing the Dept of Ed. She was first to sign the no earmark pledge. She was first to support a balanced budget amendment. Norton has been first on every issue! Ken Buck is like a little kid. Whenever Norton takes a stand, Buck chimes in “Me too”. Norton has the proven, conservative record. Buck is a wolf is sheep’s clothing. He does not have a conservative record. He is nothing but empty talk.

  • awunsch

    senators who run from the conservative views only hurt themselves and the party. They need to learn how to stand up to the press and be clever instead of providing cover for, in this case, Reids opponent. Yes, with the financial meltdown in 08, privatizing social security if it means going with the stock market will be a hard sell. But something needs to be done and that is one of the possibilities and most young people generally like the idea. I’d like it but it’s too late, as I’m already retired. As for the ideas of eliminating the depts of energy and education and privatizing soc security – sound like good ideas and fits in with smaller government so what’s the beef? As someone has already mentioned, these guys that don’t want to stand behind Angle show they are ready to be replaced.

  • awunsch

    senators who run from the conservative views only hurt themselves and the party. They need to learn how to stand up to the press and be clever instead of providing cover for, in this case, Reids opponent. Yes, with the financial meltdown in 08, privatizing social security if it means going with the stock market will be a hard sell. But something needs to be done and that is one of the possibilities and most young people generally like the idea. I’d like it but it’s too late, as I’m already retired. As for the ideas of eliminating the depts of energy and education and privatizing soc security – sound like good ideas and fits in with smaller government so what’s the beef? As someone has already mentioned, these guys that don’t want to stand behind Angle show they are ready to be replaced.

  • chuckl

    is easy to do and can be done without any problems to almost anyone. Only those who have huge income and do not need S.S. will be inconvenienced.

    S.S. is WELFARE, therefore it should be means tested.

    Then raise the limits on IRA s and 401(k) s to make them real retirement plans.

    In less than 30 years, S. S. will have died from lack of use with the only exceptions being those who actually need it and refused the better choice of a retirement plan that they own. It will be necessary to teach our children how this works.

    Put 10% of your income into a real retirement plan, at least half of which is a mutual fund, starting at age 20 or earlier and retire a multimillionaire at age 60. This will work for anyone. Those who pay more attention and learn about markets will be able to retire much earlier.

  • edwlstr

    On the eve of what could have been a significant change in the way our government operates, the agent of change (the Republican Party) pisses it’s pants. Gentlemen, Your fear of success is embarrassing to any true conservatives.

  • conservativecrusade

    as it will no longer be able to pay half of those who payed into it in a few years. But how do you do it? I am sure someone has given that answer, but for the life of me, I can not figure a way to do it.

    It is already broke. It is borrowing money from current payees to pay those receiving benefits. If they take payments from 35 and below, allow that age group to make the choice of how it is invested privatize), those who have paid for most of their work life get nothing as there is nothing to give.

    It is just such a broke system that is so debt ridden, it will just have to collapse and either be rebuilt the right way or done away with.

    But as I stated above, I do not know how it should be done, but I recognize the absolute need to keep it out of government hands. Someone let me know how it should be done so if it comes up in conversation, I know what I am talking about and know how it should be privatized, please!