Lawrence A. Hunter
Research Fellow,
Institute for Policy Innovation
Chief Economist,
Empower America
Posted on 07/16/2008 8:45:04 PM PDT by pissant
I'm a lifelong Republican - a supply-side conservative. I worked in the Reagan White House. I was the chief economist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for five years. In 1994, I helped write the Republican Contract with America. I served on Bob Dole's presidential campaign team and was chief economist for Jack Kemp's Empower America.
This November, I'm voting for Barack Obama.
When I first made this decision, many colleagues were shocked. How could I support a candidate with a domestic policy platform that's antithetical to almost everything I believe in?
The answer is simple: Unjustified war and unconstitutional abridgment of individual rights vs. ill-conceived tax and economic policies - this is the difference between venial and mortal sins.
Taxes, economic policy and health care reform matter, of course. But how we extract ourselves from the bloody boondoggle in Iraq, how we avoid getting into a war with Iran and how we preserve our individual rights while dealing with real foreign threats - these are of greater importance.
John McCain would continue the Bush administration's commitment to interventionism and constitutional overreach. Obama promises a humbler engagement with our allies, while promising retaliation against any enemy who dares attack us. That's what conservatism used to mean - and it's what George W. Bush promised as a candidate.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
“But here’s the thing: Even if my hopes on domestic policy are dashed and Obama reveals himself as an unreconstructed, dyed-in-the-wool, big-government liberal, I’m still voting for him. “
Some fine conservative this guy is!
I guess he doesn’t mind that Obama will unilaterally disarm us and will track down the source of biological and chemical weapons, AFTER thousands of Americans or more may have died.
Read Obama’s own words.
Obama Remarks On Confronting Terrorist Threats (TRANSCRIPT — “must read”)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2046488/posts
I guess the only thing that matters to some people who dare call themselves conservatives, is to take revenge on the Bush administration, even if it means allowing our enemies to nukes us and unleash WMD on us.
I have to quote Dennis Prager:
“However noble their intentions, conservatives who do not vote for John McCain will be morally complicit in what happens to America during an Obama presidency.”
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/DennisPrager/2008/07/01/why_i_support_john_mccain?page=full
Prager is wrong. Not voting for McQueeg is NOT a vote for Obama, unless you pull the lever for the commiepinko. Neither will get my vote. But Obama will get my efforts to snuff out his career in politics.
I’m glad we’ve finally outed the bastard.
Lawrence A. Hunter
Research Fellow,
Institute for Policy Innovation
Chief Economist,
Empower America
Two Big Obamacons?
by Robert D. Novak
http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/RobertDNovak/2008/06/26/two_big_obamacons
The prototypical Obamacon may be Larry Hunter, familiar inside the Washington Beltway as an ardent supply-sider. When it became known recently that Hunter supports Obama, fellow conservatives were stunned. Hunter was fired as U.S. Chamber of Commerce chief economist in 1993 when he would not swallow Clinton administration policy, and later joined Jack Kemp at Empower America (ghostwriting Kemp’s column). Explaining his support for the uncompromising liberal Obama, Hunter blogged on June 6: “The Republican Party is a dead rotting carcass with a few decrepit old leaders stumbling around like zombies in a horror version of Weekend With Bernie, handcuffed to a corpse.”
He either was paid off, someone has his FBI files or has totally lost his mind.
Maybe he just has a sense of humor?
Every election you get this crap. Someone claims to be a staunch conservative but now will vote for the rat candidate because he/she is the best. This is just the same old tired play book that the rats use over and over. It has never really worked and I don’t know why they keep doing it.
I'm a lifelong conservative activist and I'm backing Barack Obama
- - - - - - - - - -
And ...
Stupid is as stupid does ...
NO, unfortunately he is not kidding. He totally flipped his lid — was paid off, or coerced.
Here is more from another article:
Why some conservatives are backing Obama
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/06/MN3T11JI0P.DTL&type=politics
“Larry Hunter, supply-side economist who helped write Republicans’ 1994 Contract With America: “How can I possibly support a candidate who proposes domestic policies (especially tax and economic policies) that are completely antithetical to everything I believe? ... It is indicative of how much I value individual freedom and how profoundly important I believe foreign policy to be at this juncture of American history that I am enthusiastically supporting Barack Obama for president. “
It's called the "Surge". I guess Mr. Hunter is a little behind in his "studies".
Ok, then! The only other option is, he is Certifiable!
Yuh, right. And Obama will do SO much more to further the cause which this guy claims as his own. /s
You nailed it perfectly. The one thing I kept coming back to in my mind when I was seriously considering not voting at all this time around was that to do so was to basically say that it’s okay with me for the Republican party to keep getting more and more liberal. That letting the country suffer under Obama would create the tipping point we need to prevent the death by a thousand cuts.
The more I’ve learned about Obama however, I realize there would be no tipping point. It will be over. He will unilaterally disarm us in a world where there are dictators who want to be martyrs for allah and are developing nuclear weapons. At the same time, there will be no drilling of our domestic supplies, no nuclear power plants, and no new refineries.
I’m just not up for turning our military bases into gay pride parades where off duty gays can flaunt their sexuality. I’m not up for unilaterally disarming while Iran builds nuclear weapons and I’m not up for gas prices going to $7-$8 dollars a gallon when this could lead to military missions and training being cancelled. The democrats would love nothing more than to choke us off from the needed oil to defend ourselves militarily.
“Yuh, right. And Obama will do SO much more to further the cause which this guy claims as his own. /s”
Doesn’t it make you wonder, what name he is posting under on FR...
I suspect he is a Libertarian.
I agree with you.
And exactly what role did Iraq have in the 911 bombing?
Explaining his support for the uncompromising liberal Obama, Hunter blogged on June 6: "The Republican Party is a dead rotting carcass with a few decrepit old leaders stumbling around like zombies in a horror version of Weekend With Bernie, handcuffed to a corpse."
Nevertheless, Obamacons -- little and big -- are reason for concern by McCain. It also should cause soul-searching at the Bush White House to ponder who made the Republican Party so difficult a place for Republicans to stay. http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/RobertDNovak/2008/06/26/two_big_obamacons
Larry Hunter is right to indict the Bush administration and the Republican Party in general for it's betrayal of conservative principles and the faithful followers who contributed, worked countless hours, and voted for the Bush administration in good faith. They also contributed, worked, and voted for a disgraceful bunch which now serves on the Republican side of the aisle in Congress. He is right to be indignant about that betrayal but he is dead wrong to endorse Barak Obama.
We conservatives have a choice this year, we can hold our noses and vote for John McCain, or we can hold our noses and stay home. I believe that a principled conservative can honorably make either choice but, on balance, I come down on the side of voting for John McCain. Larry Hunter should stay home, holding his nose if the likes, but also keeping his mouth shut.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
