Posted on 05/11/2010 4:32:18 PM PDT by TitansAFC
TARP is, of course, the prime (but certainly not only) reason offered by Bennett’s opponents as to why he had to be torpedoed in Utah. The problem, as Dave Weigel notes: A lot of Republicans voted for TARP and not all of them are notorious RINOs. Why, here’s one now… RN: You’re not facing opposition in South Dakota. How have you finessed this issue — how do Republicans explain why they voted for TARP?
[JOHN] THUNE: There was a tremendous, broad support in South Dakota among the small business community, the financial community, the South Dakota pension funds, the governor — there was a tremendous amount of support at the time for taking the steps that we took. I think a lot of people would dispute or take issue with how it was used. But people felt like, even though many disagreed with it, we took the steps necessary to prevent the economy from a complete meltdown.
I’ve been watching the Bennett thing play out for the past few weeks and can’t figure out how he came to be seen as some sort of McCain/Graham/Frum/Brooks/Kathleen Parker hybrid who had to be purged post haste. I get the political logic of dumping him — the seat is entirely safe so there’s no risk in replacing him with a more conservative novice nominee — but the idea that Bob Bennett, who flew almost completely under the blogosphere’s radar until recently, is some sort of archenemy of the right is strange. Correct me if I’m wrong but what’s really going on here is (a) the grassroots wanted to flex some muscle by beating up an incumbent, (b) Utah’s caucus system gave them their best shot of doing that, and (c) in order to get people motivated, the resident Utah incumbent had to be depicted as the second coming of Nelson Rockefeller or something. Right? Again, it’s no big deal since the seat is safe, but if voting for TARP is a mortal sin, you’d better be prepared to excommunicate some people you like. Exhibit A: Enjoy the following video flashback from the C-SPAN archives. September 29, 2008.
Exit question: Is Bennett going to go the Lieberman route and run as an independent? If he does, he’ll do so without NRSC support. Looks like Cornyn’s finally learned his lesson.
Demint - enodorsed Romney Santorun- endorsed Fiorina Thune, Pence - TARP Paul - open borders (flip-flopped last run) Coburn, Inhofe, Kyl - Endorse Fiorina Rubio - open borders
There's nobody left by the standards of the anti-Palinites!
Thune has to answer ultimately to his own constituents. If they resent his vote on that issue, they’ll let him know at the ballot box.
Time to change my tagline. God I am so sick of gutless spend monkeys.
Anti-Palinite=Don’t worship every step she takes and won’t defend her for every single little thing.
I’m a RINO — I supported TARP.
Nope. Anti-Palinites = people who won't hold other candidates to the same standards to which they hold Palin, just because they dislike her. Also, people who go out of their way to attack Sarah Palin, a Conservative, on Conservative websites.
True. But he joins Palin now in the TARP cheerleading section. They both need to stay on the sidelines and let real conservatives compete.
I’m only a RINO on major election days....The rest of the time I hate all the socialist MuthaF’ers in DC.
He's unopposed in his race this year and has a multi-million $ war chest he won't need to use. He's running for president. Book it.
Of course you did. Because Mittens did.
It's about equivalent to measuring who is a bad person by using Keith Olbermann’s “Worse Person in the World” segment as a reference.
Good, God. I’m not talking about particular candidate.
We had no choice but to do it.
The banks/financial institutions have paid back the money with interest.
It may have not been run the best way, but it worked.
TARP1 was probably one of the more conservative fiscal actions of the federal govt:
1. Bush spent barely half of the allocated funds $380 billion rather than 800 billion.
2. The funds were specified to known entities unlike anything under Obama.
3. The funds had to be paid back.
4. The funds had to be paid back with interest.
5. The bush funds have been paid back.
I don’t believe in unicorn conservatives. Tarp1 was a reasonable response to dem and soros goons trying to destroy the economy prior to the election.
He voted for Health Care Reform didn’t he?
Never mind. *shakes head*
Funny. I like lots of conservatives:
DeMint, Hunter I , Hunter II, Chaffetz, Pence, Tancredo, Steve King, Bachmann, Jeff Sessions, Jim Inhofe, Ted Poe, Mike Rounds, Ollie North, Ronald Reagan, Jesse Helms, Gunny Pop, DeVore, Vaughn Ward, Jesse Kelly, Henry Hyde, Franks, Hayworth, Issa, Rohrbacher, Hoekstra, Blackburn, Sam Johnson, Cubin, Doc Hastings, McMorris, West to name a few.
BS. It was a worthless boondoggle.
Well, that’s your opinion.
It’s a FACT.
Thune? Damn
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