Republican senators meet to weigh stimulus alternative [RINO alert] [McCain's Gang of 10]

CNN Political Ticker ^ | 2009-02-03

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – Ten Republican senators met in Sen. Mel Martinez's office Tuesday morning to discuss a broader stimulus measure than their leadership is proposing — but a narrower one than Democrats are considering.

CNN was the only news organization outside the meeting.

Afterwards, Martinez told CNN the details are still being debated and finalized, but they are looking at a ballpark figure of $500 billion, including the cost of tax cuts, infrastructure and military spending, and provisions to address the housing crisis.

Martinez and Sen. Lindsey Graham said they plan to present their ideas to fellow Republicans at their weekly policy lunch today.

. . . . .

The group of senators included John McCain, Mel Martinez, Saxby Chambliss, Susan Collins, Richard Burr, George Voinovich, Tom Coburn, John Thune, Johnny Isakson, and Lindsey Graham.

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"The worst thing we can do is just say no."
—U.S. Senator Susan Collins, RINO-Maine, on the Democrats' economic stimulus proposal

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The Juan McCain Truth File. "I have great respect for Al Gore." —John McCain, October 2, 2008 FR Keywords: mccaintruthfile, mcqueeg, mcbama Please tag all relevant threads with the aforementioned keywords. This can be a very high-volume ping list at times. To join the ping list: FReepmail rabscuttle385 with the subject line add  mccaintruthfile. (Stop getting pings by sending the subject line drop mccaintruthfile.) Republican Commissar’s Warning: By joining this ping list, you may be subjected to the delusional rants and ramblings of McCainiacs, of "moderate" Republicans, of pragmatic conservatives resigned to voting for the lesser of two Democrats, and of countless GOP shills who simply want to meet a new overlord.

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The group of senators included John McCain, Mel Martinez, Saxby Chambliss, Susan Collins, Richard Burr, George Voinovich, Tom Coburn, John Thune, Johnny Isakson, and Lindsey Graham.

Chambliss too?

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Grahamnesty ping!

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fyi

[mtnwmn]

That surprised me too! I wrote all of my reps and the manority leaders and asked them not to support the stimulus or Daschle. One down but one big one left.

[Shermy]

“their ideas”

Not their, but their favorite lobbyists’ plans.

[TADSLOS]

Here we go...leading in to the main event this Sunday.

[wilco200]

My alternative Stimulus package.

No more bailouts. Let all private companies fail.
Cut 50% of all non-defense government spending immediately.
Begin process of reviewing each and every govt. agency line by line.
Eliminate capital gains tax
Replace income tax with a 10% flat tax
Privatize social security

I’d also throw a bone to public works and begin construction on a double fence along the southern border.

[Obadiah]

Just watch these RINOs snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Arggh, they are so inept!

[St. Louis Conservative]

Why are Collins & Snowe so worried about opposing this? They are RINOs that routinely get re-elected in Maine with 60%-70% of the vote. They are never in any real danger.

Anyway, it won’t matter. The Harry Reids and the Chuck Schumers of the world won’t allow this package to pass. And even if it does, the communist House leadership won’t accept it.

[pallis]

But, but... when McCain was attacking conservative agendas, he had Democrats with him. Where are the Democrats?

[mort56]

Georgia’s Senators are going the way of Susan Collins. I made a mistake voting for Chambliss again. I will not make the same mistake when Isakson comes back up for a vote.

[Snickering Hound]

[rabscuttle385]

McCain et al. are drowning out DeMint's counter-proposal, which includes a multitude of permanent tax rate reductions and tax repeals (AMT, estate tax, capital gains and dividends taxes, income taxes, corporate taxes, etc.), as well as a broad simplification of the tax code!

McCain and the other nine idiots on his team are running interference for the leftists. Thanks to them, what we're going to end up with is a slightly watered-down version of the current porkulus package instead of the real change offered by DeMint's alternative.

[EternalVigilance]

Democrats: “Let’s tear down the Washington Monument!”

GOP response: “Let’s do it in 3 phases.”

New tagline...

[growingpains]

When you say Voinovich, you might as well mean Blagojevich, they’re cut from the same cloth. When I first heard the name Blagojevich on the radio being indicted, I guess wishful thinking made me think they said Voinovich, and I thought he was finally getting his due.

[Houghton M.]

But why is Coburn in on this if it’s a typical McCain RINO initiative? I’m truly puzzled. I’d assume it’s another McCain betrayal, except that Coburn is involved.

Help. Can anyone explain this?

[DoughtyOne]

That’s my overall take on it. John is merely doing what John does so well.

[georgiabelle]

I just called Chambliss office in Washington and the mailbox is full. So I called Atlanta. The poor woman got an earful from me and then I told her to tell the Rino that we could always start a recall. I am so angry right now.