Posted on 03/09/2007 6:44:43 PM PST by LdSentinal
Periodically, I get e-mails from supporters of the presidential candidacy of Alpine Rep. Duncan Hunter who express disbelief, befuddlement or fury, or a mix of all three, at my flat contention that he is a populist demagogue and anything but a principled conservative. These folks cannot fathom any talk that he's not free-trade, small-government Ronald Reagan reincarnated.
Here's a typical example of Hunterista reaction to my comment that he's been against trade deals that have been important boons to our economy:
You're supposed to be a columnist, an informed person. This is not an informed statement.
OK. If you don't believe me about Duncan Hunter's RRRINOitis, here's what the influential, admired-and-respected-in-conservative-circles Club for Growth has to say about him:
Like most Republicans, he's strong on tax cuts, but he's been part of the big government spending spree of the last 6 years. He also has a protectionist streak in him. Here are some of the more troubling votes:
NO on NAFTA YES on No Child Left Behind YES on Sarbanes-Oxley YES on the 2003 Medicare Drug Benefit NO on CAFTA YES on 2005 Highway Bill YES on the 527 bill (like most Republicans, he flip-flopped, having first voted NO on McCain-Feingold) Hunter also went 0 for 19 on the Flake anti-pork amendments.
Despite being a member of the Republican Study Committee, Hunter frequently votes NO on their fiscally conservative annual budgets (2006, 2005, 2003...)
We gave him a 49% on the 2005 Club for Growth scorecard. That places him 187th within the House GOP conference, out of roughly 230 members.
National Taxpayers Union shows a more telling trend. He was strong in the early 1990s, getting "B's" and one "A", but as time went by, like most politicians, his score dropped. For the past few years, he's been getting "C's".
Those Cs are incredibly generous. As CATO noted last year, with Duncan Hunter cheering him on ...
... President Bush has presided over the largest overall increase in inflation-adjusted federal spending since Lyndon B. Johnson. Even after excluding spending on defense and homeland security, Bush is still the biggest-spending president in 30 years. His 2006 budget doesn't cut enough spending to change his place in history, either.
Total government spending grew by 33 percent during Bush's first term. The federal budget as a share of the economy grew from 18.5 percent of GDP on Clinton's last day in office to 20.3 percent by the end of Bush's first term.
The Republican Congress has enthusiastically assisted the budget bloat. Inflation-adjusted spending on the combined budgets of the 101 largest programs they vowed to eliminate in 1995 has grown by 27 percent.
The GOP was once effective at controlling nondefense spending. The final nondefense budgets under Clinton were a combined $57 billion smaller than what he proposed from 1996 to 2001. Under Bush, Congress passed budgets that spent a total of $91 billion more than the president requested for domestic programs.
And as bad as things are on the budget front, they're about to get a whole lot worse because of a pending nightmare that Duncan Hunter -- supposed tough guy, supposed truth-teller, supposed fiscal conservative -- has chosen to ignore. To borrow from what I wrote last year ...
... the single worst problem facing this country in coming years, with the possible exception of nuclear terrorism, is dealing with the massive fiscal impact of baby boomers retiring. As we slowly transition from a nation where there are 4 working adults for every adult getting Social Security and Medicare to a nation where that ratio is 2 to 1, we will face an incredible fiscal squeeze.
As a veteran member of Congress, Duncan Hunter knows this. He's heard the warnings, seen the bipartisan studies. So what did this self-declared fiscal conservative do in 2003? He voted to make the problem much, much, much worse by extending prescription drug benefits to seniors, three-quarters of whom already have coverage. The money that was saved by all the triumphant stands he claims to have taken is infinitesimal compared to the staggering long-term national debt he helped add with this one vote, which was tantamount to civic arson.
Yeah, right, our Duncan's a fiscal conservative. ... He loves spending your grandkids' money, and by the truckload.
Duncan Hunter is no Ronald Reagan. To those who say Ronald Reagan really wasn't Ronald Reagan -- that government didn't get smaller when he was president -- well, he tried harder than any president in modern times to get Congress to control spending and wipe out whole government agencies. By contrast, Hunter and the GOP Congress of 2001-2006 kept the national credit cards hanging on a string around their necks for easy and constant use.
The Demonrats hated Rudy for lowering crime. They are now claiming Dinkins started the trend? LOL.
The Libs absolutely detest Rudy. When I read posters suggesting that the MSM is backing Rudy, I just chuckle- nothing can be farther from the truth. Rudy and leftists = ying and yang.
..a good man
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/03/index.html
From the link:
"Even though Giuliani will not be participating in the firefighter forum, it will still be the first bipartisan forum of the 2008 presidential campaign. Four Republicans Sens. Chuck Hagel, R-Nebr., John McCain, R-Ariz., Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and former Gov. Jim Gilmore, R-Va., will join six Democrats Sens. Joe Biden, D-Del., Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Chris Dodd, D-Conn., Barack Obama, D-Ill., former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., and Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M. at the March 14 forum in Washington, D.C."
There.
"Since 1994, Wilkes and ADCS gave $40,700 in campaign contributions to Rep. Duncan Hunter, a San Diego Republican who now chairs the House Armed Services Committee. Hunter has acknowledged that he joined with Cunningham in 1999 to contact Pentagon officials who reversed a decision and gave ADCS one of its first big contracts, for nearly $10 million. Hunter's spokesman, Joe Kasper, said the congressman was unavailable for comment Tuesday."
Duncan Hunter was interviewed by Glenn Reynolds and his wife Helen Smith for their podcast. I almost fell asleep. He is not ready for prime time.
It's far too early for a creditable debate. I'll pass.
Instead of whining about me , how about commenting on the merits of these accusations? Yes?
***Hah Hah, that's great! None of the rudybots care to answer the substantive accusations, but instead come up with apostrophes on the logo and this kind of stuff against our candidate. The bible has an expression about that -- straining at a gnat while swallowing a camel.
This stuff is gnat poop compared to the stuff that the other candidates have. I saw it right off when I was evaluating my candidate, knowing that with each candidate there are drawbacks & things that won't look so good. But the same detractors will turn right around and say that my candidate is too conservative. Yes, it's okay to FEEL like "leaving no child behind" is good, but it's not okay to put your money where your mouth is. Well, that's one reason why I like Hunter so much. He doesn't go for that namby-pamby nonsense and if a law makes sense, he votes for it. It's a PLUS, because this trait and his ensuing record will have a resonating affect across the electorate. Most voters will vote their pocket book. They want high security, good economy, good federal programs for when they need it but don't want it to cost much, and they want to know that their guy will fight for their jobs. You won't see a more clearer candidate who fits that bill than Duncan Hunter, and this is what such a candidate's voting record looks like. It is not so much an endictment of Duncan as it is of the republican party, once you realize what the republicans were pushing at the time. Well, that's about all I have to say on this thing, because it isn't nearly as important to me as some other issues. If you're a single-issue no-pork conservative who cares nothing for any of the social issues, then you'll find yourself easily outmaneuvered by liberals who can paint you with a broad brush of harsh, uncaring despotic conservative.
Now, I answered your contentions to the best of my ability on a subject that doesn't score high on my care-o-meter, so why don't you answer my contentions? This is, after all, a social conservative website and I'm pushing a socon and you're calling him a RINO. Show me the republican plank, and which items he has completely abandoned. And at the same time I'll show you way more items that rudy abandoned.
That's funny. I was just talking to a flaming liberal homosexual friend of mine today (seriously) & he said he's liking Rudy more & more each day.
As a native resident of San Diego for many decades, your comments are full of crap.
If there were any truth to this, the newspaper hee would be in their glory to blast away with it.
You don't have a clue so you resort to lies.
..in old-time political circles they used to call that a "beauty contest"...
Neither is Rudy or Mitt
Awesome speech, first time I've seen it. He looks and sounds like an American President!
Apparently he helped spend our side into the minority.
And you refuse to answer Mr. Davis' problems with Duncan Hunter. And do learn some HTML.
Perhaps you might care to comment on those items, if you're a rudy supporter? I know... crickets. Either because you don't want to answer the substantive issues against your guy or you're "undecided" and don't want to go to bat for him. Wait till the MSM & liberals have a crack at him. It won't be something you'd want kids to watch.
I don't have any flaming homo friends, so I can't comment on your friend's view.
..I'll bet he is LOL
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