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.
Jesus was a carpenter and a fisher of men... I voted Him ... King of Kings, Lord of Lords.
Only a person that has run out of true debate ideas would cut Old_Mil 's quote into that section and then reduce it to Nazi comparisons. .. Below is what He said (and which I agree fully with)...
This having been said, if you count yourself amongst those who favor inking unrestricted free trade deals with everyone on the planet and support an open border policy, Hunter will sound like Pat Buchanan to you.
China by not play fair, or you may see it as America does not play fair by requiring employers to uphold standards of pay, safety, enviromental factors.. but any way you look at it, you must admit there is no China = USA equation...
I know, my job of 15 years went to China last year... I have since found another career, but any fool that thinks it went because China is playing fair is not seeing eye to eye with me come election time.
I am for fair trade.. but when China will not even allow it's currency to be standardized... it ain't FAIR trade... and it ain't FREE to America either...
If that makes me a Nazi in your eyes, so be it.
I must have mistaken Pat's cheering for Hamas last summer.
If that makes me a Nazi in your eyes, so be it.
I feel your pain. I lost my job making Burkas once the Taliban fell.
Do you know what the 527 bill was? No one can be characterized as a flip flopper for voting NO on McCain-Feingold and YES on the 527 bill. The Club for Growth is being disengenious in saying that.
McCain-Feingold was BAD law. The 527 bill was an attempt to fix some of the BAD in McCain-Feingold. It called for 527 organizations to name their contributors. Of course, the Club for Growth IS a 527 organization and they have an axe to grind with any lawmaker that voted for the 527 bill because they vigorously opposed it.
http://thehill.com/business--lobby/527-bill-splits-republicans-2006-04-05.html
You didn't, I didn't, and Old_Mil didn't mistake anything and you know it. The only mistake was you doing exactly like Old_Mil said you would, comparing a good man (Duncan Hunter) to Pat for ABSOLUTELY no reason other than you have ran out of reasonable objective points to argue.
You can have the last word, I see no reason to futher this discussion in which you seem only able to muster gutter levels of replies.
It is you who are mistaken. I have posted positive articles about Hunter, but have taken a dislike to this thread. That's your perogative. That other poster (Old whatever) compared Hunter to Pat, which in my book is not a positive aspect to his candidacy.
You can have the last word, I see no reason to futher this discussion in which you seem only able to muster gutter levels of replies.
Oh, so you're cutting and running. Don't expect me to lose any sleep over your whining.
“He’s anti-free-trade agreements and that is just fine with me”
Likewise, i’m for fair trade.
Gag the State Department and just send a letter to every country stating that until further notice every subside and tarrif you supply or impose will be matched on your products, end of letter.
Here is EXACTLY what Old_Mil wrote.. In quote...
This having been said, if you count yourself amongst those who favor inking unrestricted free trade deals with everyone on the planet and support an open border policy, Hunter will sound like Pat Buchanan to you. ~~ Old_Mill in post 671
He said YOU (IF your an open border one world globalist.. paraphrasing to save space) would compare Hunter to Pat... you went a step lower and compared Hunter to a Nazi...
Old_Mil did not compare the two, you did.
I compared Pat to a Nazi and that comparing Hunter to Pat isn't exactly a good aspect to his campaign.
Old_Mil did not compare the two, you did.
No kidding, Sherlock. He compared Hunter to Pat and I compared Pat to a Nazi.
BTW, it's you're. I hate Nazis, but I love being a spelling Nazi.
I don’t remember the discussion at this point. Nor does that language about flip-flopping sound like mine. I don’t track legislation like this very closely. Wherever you cut the quote from, are you sure I wasn’t quoting someone else?
I suspect I was, given that I don’t know what the 527 bill was.
Free Republic isn’t representative of the entire American electorate. Get a grip!
***I never said it was. The polls from FR would be an indicator of the socon base, and I said it was an indication that rudy splits the party. After the week of the bug zapper thread are you going to hold on to saying that rudy does not split the base? Rudy is incredibly dangerous for the party.
First one I’ve seen that isn’t. It was bound to happen sooner or later, I suppose. :p
That may not be a resounding endorsement, but he's the best we've got to work with. :)
How many of them there founders were lawyers?
I hope you don’t make a habit of posting to me, because I’m getting tired of responding to someone whose intellectual capacity is limited, to say the least.
***After seeing so many rude rudybots go down in flames, it reminded me of the personal attacks you were slinging on this thread.
You have posted that you can say whatever you want about Rudy Giuliani, and you certainly have. Still, your libelous remark about Rudy being a homosexual is beyond the pale.
***You have reading comprehension problems. Where did I call him a homosexual? One can be effeminate without being homosexual.
From Dictionary.com
Main Entry: effeminate
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: not manly
Synonyms: chichi, chicken, cream puff, delicate, emasculate, epicene, faggy, fairy, feminate, flaming, foppish, fruity, gay, lily, limp wrist, mama’s boy, milksop, nancy, overnice, pansified, pansy, pantywaist, pretty boy, puss, sappy, sissified, sissy, soft, swish, tender, twinkie, unmanly, unvirile, weak, womanish, womanlike, womanly
And you call yourself a conservative? There’s no room in conservatism for bigotry, much less for throwing around libelous remarks.
***Playing the victim card, about what I expect. Bigotry? Baloney. It’s rudy and his followers who are antichristian bigots.
Everyone knows that “tootyfruity” means homosexual,
***Then why doesn’t it show up on dictionary.com or ask.com? I guess that’s everyone but the most commonly used definition sources. That’s not everyone, not by a long shot. Good try, though. I’m sure it played well in the gallery at the time, but now it sounds very hollow.
and Rudy isn’t one, but that doesn’t stopped you for continuing using this forum to slander a major Republican candidate.
***Maybe you should have checked out the bug zapper thread while you had a chance to go out in a blaze of glory. Things probably aren’t going to be much fun for you from hereon in.
Another thing, quit threatening me. Though I’m not surprised of your repeated threats - after all, that’s what bullies do.
***What threat, exactly? Huh? How about if I hit the abuse button for you, since it seems so hard for you to find if you’re being truthful. But you’re not, you’re lying, just like lotsa other lying that’s been going on in support of this ridiculous candidate.
I however, don’t just say whatever I want when it comes to presidential candidates – I stick to the facts. And your candidate isn’t immune to criticism as this article points out:
***Of course he’s not immune to criticism. But at least he’s conservative. And if you’re supporting rudy, your conservatism is in question. Like I said, you’re doing real damage to the republican party.
Yeah, right, our Duncan’s a fiscal conservative. ... He loves spending your grandkids’ money, and by the truckload.
***I put down a challenge to prove it earlier upthread and the challenge went unanswered. Typical crickets from team rudy.
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.
***Right here you prove my point that Duncan is getting docked for his loyalty to the party. Oh, and you’re using guilt by association. Some intellectual heavyweight you are.
Duncan Hunter, RRRINO: Reincarnated Reagan Republican In Name Only
***Let’s see you stick with that kind of tactic now that JimRob has made it painfully clear that he doesn’t like your kind of liberal nonsense on this forum. Your candidate is a loser. If that’s libel, then sue me. If you’re a conservative you should reconsider your support for this liberal train wreck of a candidate. If you’re a closet liberal you should just own up to it.
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