Posted on 11/15/2010 10:35:41 PM PST by FredJake
On Monday, Republican Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), agreed to a ban on earmarks.
Originally, he had resisted such a ban, arguing that it would put the president in charge of state spending, but noted that most Americans were upset over abuses in the system.
According to an article at Fox News, McConnell said:
"As the leader of my party in the Senate, I have to lead first by example," McConnell, R-Ky., said from the floor of the Senate on the first day of its lame-duck session.
"Nearly every day that the Senate’s been in session for the past two years, I have come down to this very spot and said that Democrats are ignoring the wishes of the American people. When it comes to earmarks, I won't be guilty of the same thing," he said
Americans for Prosperity, a Tea Party backed group, along with newly-elected Republicans, called for a two-year moratorium on earmarks.
One new member is Raul Labrador, the Congressman-Elect from Idaho's 1st Congressional District.
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
“...Me thinks with all the new blood showing up this week for congressional orientation, he has been scared straight...”
Hee hee. You used “orientation” and “straight” in a reply about McConnel. Snicker, snort!!!
Translation: McConnell is up for re-election in 2 years......
His future depends on it... so we wait and see. We are an army... they work for us.
LLS
Two years ago his constituency's will was to ban earmarks and slash wasteful spending. What has happened in the past two years that would change his mind?
So long as they do what we want, I don’t care what you call it.
Character matters, especially in tough times. Part of having character is having guiding principles that you do not compromise. Some people call it having a "conscience". You either support the notion of limited gubmint (supposedly the very cornerstone of the Republican Party platform) or you don't. Up until this flip flop McConnell obviously didn't. We need leaders with character who have rock solid guiding principles because we can't see what is going on behind the scenes (when character matters).
Being a sleezeball, grab everything you can, spend every dime and more politician is easy. Having the character to stick to your convictions takes courage. McConnell is a lot of things but courageous ain't one of them. He does read the TEA leaves well, though, doesn't he?
he has got to go...no more country club, go along to get along types fer me...
I haven’t been watching him closely but he does appear to have seen the writing on the wall. I agree with everything you said BTW. I’ve no tolerance for RINOs at this stage of the game. At the same time, I don’t want to label Republicans as RINOs because they have one or two non-critical votes that a few people disagree with. I think most of these guys that have been in office for multiple terms are familiar with the concept of “representative democracy”. They wouldn’t still be there if they weren’t. Now would be a bad time for any Republican to disregard the will of his/her conservative base. The eyes of the tea party are upon them.
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