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Just What Is Mike Castle’s Voting Record? (Without the histrionics)
National Review ^ | September 7, 2010 | Jim Geraght

Posted on 09/13/2010 6:05:13 AM PDT by tlb

...a state registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 329,000 to 179,000.

Castle voting history suggests he will vote with conservatives 52 percent of the time. If Coons is elected and votes in a pattern similar to Delaware’s other senator, he will vote the conservative 12 percent; if he emulates current Democratic senator Ted Kaufman, he will vote the conservative position 4 percent.

Over his 17 complete years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Castle has voted the conservative position, as defined by the American Conservative Union, about 52 percent of the time. In 2009, ACU scored Castle at 56.

Castle opposed the Lilly Ledbetter pay act, which the ACU described as a “new Pandora’s Box for trial lawyers.” He voted for a bill that would prevent the Treasury from spending the $350 billion that remained in the TARP program. He opposed the Obama stimulus. He voted against efforts to water down legislation barring federal funds to ACORN or other organizations that employ people who have been convicted of election-law violations. He voted to eliminate the earmark for the airport near Johnstown, Pa., named after Rep. John Murtha. He voted to cut discretionary government spending in the appropriations for the Departments of Housing and Transportation by 5 percent.

He supported an amendment to the health-care bill that would ban using taxpayer funds to provide abortion services, an interesting vote for a self-described pro-choice Republican. He voted against the health-care bill.

Castle thinks trying to repeal Obamacare while Obama is president is a waste of time, but he’s open to the idea if the GOP can regain control of the White House:

This is not some new position shift, spurred by the impending primary; the video above is from April.

Castle’s sense that any repeal effort would be unable to overcome a presidential veto..

(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Extended News; Politics/Elections; US: Delaware
KEYWORDS: acu; castle; coon; odonnell
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Senator election in a blue state with a 2 to 1 dem edge. And leading is a republican with an ACU rating of 56, over a democrat with an ACU rating of 12.

Of course, the person who loses the general election ultimately winds up with a rating of 0, no matter how much red meat they throw the crowd.

1 posted on 09/13/2010 6:05:18 AM PDT by tlb
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To: tlb

He’s one of 8 “R’s” who voted for cap and tax.

Asking me to vote for a cap and traitor is one of those times where they party asks too much.


2 posted on 09/13/2010 6:06:46 AM PDT by NeoCaveman (I can see November from my house)
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To: tlb

DEFEAT MIKE CASTLE !


3 posted on 09/13/2010 6:07:14 AM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (~"This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Amber Lamps !"~~)
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To: tlb

(Without the histrionics)

...that won’t last long...

The O’Donnell campaign team has an good cyber-squad who are generating a lot of noise on the net.


4 posted on 09/13/2010 6:08:57 AM PDT by lack-of-trust
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To: tlb

when castle said he voted for tarp without reading it he lost my vote for good. i cant vote for someone who simply votes yes or no without reading what they vote on


5 posted on 09/13/2010 6:09:01 AM PDT by GreaterSwiss
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To: tlb

The guy is a Socialist. Get rid of him no matter what. It is going to take years and a total collapse to return to the Constitution. There is no way to ‘grow’ out of this mess. No economic model will save a busted Ponzi Scheme.


6 posted on 09/13/2010 6:09:10 AM PDT by screaminsunshine (counter revolutionary)
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To: GreaterSwiss

exactly. he ain’t qualified if he doesn’t even care to read what he’s voting on


7 posted on 09/13/2010 6:10:55 AM PDT by GeronL (http://libertyfic.proboards.com <--- My Fiction/ Science Fiction Board)
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To: tlb
Castle’s sense that any repeal effort would be unable to overcome a presidential veto..

The flaw in Castle's logic is that no one is saying that Obamacare can be repealed while Obama is in the WH. Rather, repealing Obamacare is a long term goal and objective.

The Dems had no problem of advocating the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" while Bush was in the WH. On issue after issue, the Dems never lose sight of their objective even when the answer is initially no. The just keep pushing and pushing until they achieve their goal. The Reps just adapt to what they believe is the immediate reality and don't have a long term strategy to roll back institutionalized socialism.

8 posted on 09/13/2010 6:11:37 AM PDT by kabar
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To: tlb

Ah, the old “Vote for a Slimy RINO Because He’s Electable” argument. Sorry, tlb, I’m not buying. We don’t fix D.C. by electing the same people who helped create the current mess.

Mike Castle: Wrong on all the right issues! Retire him!


9 posted on 09/13/2010 6:14:39 AM PDT by CitizenUSA
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To: tlb
From the comments on the NR site:
reldim

09/07/10 14:44

I don't like Mike Castle. But somebody really needs to make the case about why O'Donnell is a good candidate beyond just "she's not Mike Castle." The basic argument I hear is "she's a conservative". Okay, granted. But she's also a disaster and strikes me as a basket case. She is her own opposition research.

A conservative can win in Delaware. But I do not believe that this particular conservative can win in Delaware. And I think the movement beclowns itself by latching on to flawed candidates in the name of purity. Are we really saying Christine O'Donnell is the best candidate conservatives could find in Delaware? If that's true maybe we shouldn't win any elections there.

I haven't followed this one closely and I'm interested in what others think of this comment.
10 posted on 09/13/2010 6:14:50 AM PDT by samtheman
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To: tlb

Continuing with the policy of “Vote for X because at least they aren’t a Democrat” will leave us with a Senate full of squishy Republicans who can’t be counted on the make the hard decisions that we all know have to be made. We need to nominate honest-to-God conservatives and work to elect them. Will it cost a seat or two in states like California or Delaware? Perhaps. But perhaps not. People voted for hope and change two years ago and got kicked in the teeth with too much change and too little hope. Maybe this is the year that a true conservative can win in states like Delaware, and could have won in California. We’ll never know about the later, but we still have a chance on the former.


11 posted on 09/13/2010 6:17:21 AM PDT by Non-Sequitur
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To: tlb
Castle's Congressional Votes
2008 Bailout$ Auto$ 2009 Cap&Trade FDA/Food Healthcare
Representative HR1424 District HR7321 District Representative HR2454 District HR2749 District HR3962 District
Castle, Michael [R] Yea DE-0 Aye DE-0 Castle, Michael [R] Aye DE-0 Yea DE-0 No DE-0

12 posted on 09/13/2010 6:18:53 AM PDT by Texas Fossil (Government, even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.)
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To: tlb
A Republican Senator who votes 49% of the time with the Dems is worse then a Dem because he/she gives propaganda coverage for the Democrats to claim their disastrous policies are a result of “Bi Partisan consensus”.

All the GOP does when it spends all this effort electing Leftists Democrats in everything but name is help advance the Progressive Fascist Democrat's agenda while ensuring the GOP get tagged with an equal share of the blame with Democrats when these Democrat policy items fail in voters minds.

Spending all this time and energy trying to elect a political traitor in waiting is utterly moronic.

Why are the RNC drones so incapable of learning the lessons of history? Reagan won by offering a choice not an echo, McCain got his head handed to him in 2008 by offering an echo, not a choice. In a choice between Dem and Dem lite, the Dem wins.

13 posted on 09/13/2010 6:19:41 AM PDT by MNJohnnie (The problem with Socialism is sooner or later you run out of other people's money. Lady Thatcher)
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To: samtheman

In reality it doesn’t appear there is a good candidate in the race. Apparently in either case you have to take the bad with any good you may find.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2588135/posts?page=4#4


14 posted on 09/13/2010 6:21:01 AM PDT by deport
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To: tlb

Simple.

Castle voted for Cap & Trade.

Any Congressman who voted for Cap & Trade is either a TRAITOR or simply too stupid to hole pulic office. No Exceptions.

All Must be Removed.


15 posted on 09/13/2010 6:21:15 AM PDT by Texas Fossil (Government, even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.)
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To: samtheman

Typical Establishment politics of slime, rumor and innuendo. This sort of campaign tactic is why Mike Castle may lose Tuesday. People are totally fed up with this sort of campaign. They want people who run on issues, not character assassination and slime.


16 posted on 09/13/2010 6:21:50 AM PDT by MNJohnnie (The problem with Socialism is sooner or later you run out of other people's money. Lady Thatcher)
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To: samtheman
A conservative can win in Delaware. But I do not believe that this particular conservative can win in Delaware.

Electing Castle will guarantee that a conservative will never win in Delaware for the forseeable future because the seat will be filled with a moderate Republican RINO who will run again in 4 years.

17 posted on 09/13/2010 6:24:30 AM PDT by Non-Sequitur
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To: tlb

More support for a RINO politician from a RINO magazine.


18 posted on 09/13/2010 6:24:59 AM PDT by faucetman (Just the facts ma'am, just the facts)
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To: lack-of-trust
The O’Donnell campaign team has an good cyber-squad who are generating a lot of noise on the net.

Sorry but that is a complete projection. The only people "generating a lot of noise" are the RNC drones with their relentless campaign of character assassination, rumor and innuendo. Mike Castle may lose Tuesday. The reason he may lose is because he campaigning just like a Leftist scumbag. Voters this cycle are completely fed up with this garbage style thuggish politics. They want candidates who run on facts and issues, not gutter slime political tactics.

19 posted on 09/13/2010 6:25:09 AM PDT by MNJohnnie (The problem with Socialism is sooner or later you run out of other people's money. Lady Thatcher)
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To: tlb

http://www.redstate.com/dhorowitz3/2010/09/13/the-truth-about-mike-castles-extreme-liberal-voting-record/

American Conservative Union

Most conservatives start any analysis of voting records by studying the member’s score from the ACU. Castle receives a dismal 52% lifetime average with eh ACU. It is important to keep in mind that the ACU ratings are not nearly as comprehensive as some of the other rating systems. They merely pick 20 votes per year that are extremely high profile and fundamental to ideological alignment. In other words, just because someone scores in the 80’s or even 90’s with the ACU, doesn’t mean that they are stellar conservatives. Quite the contrary, someone who scores near 50%, indicates that they vote with the radical left on 50% of the core issues. This doesn’t even factor in their support for hundreds of lower profile big government votes.

It is also important to note that there is a distinct trend with all of the RINO’s in terms of their ACU scores. They all make a concerted effort to become significantly more liberal the longer they stay in Congress. Therefore, the future trajectory of their pending voting record will be even more disastrous than their past lifetime average would indicate. In the case of Mike Castle, he actually scored in the 20’s in 05, 07, and 08. He has only moved slightly to the right during the past year and a half because of his Senate bid. Anyone who thinks that he will not slide back to the 20’s and vote against repealing any of the Obama agenda if elected, obviously has no concept of congressional history.

Club for Growth

Castle scores a horrendous 43% from CFG for 2009. Again, since his announced Senate bid he has been much more conservative than previous years. In 07 and 08 he earned a 35% and 26% respectively. In every year, Castle has had the most liberal voting record of any member of the 175+ Republican caucus. So in 2008, when Arlen Specter scored a 44%, Mike Castle scored a 26%! The CFG ratings give us more of an idea of how much of a statist the member is than the ACU.

Guns

Castle garners an F from the NRA and Gun Owners of America. In fact, he hasn’t earned anything but a 0, F, or F- from a pro 2nd amendment group since the early 90’s. Nuff’ said.

Life
Castle has consistently earned a 0 from the National Right to Life, while usually scoring a perfect 100% from NARAL and Planned Parenthood.


20 posted on 09/13/2010 6:26:18 AM PDT by maggief
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