Speaker-elect Pelosi Throws Her Weight…And Stumbles
by Bill Simon
Rumors have it that even with Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) endorsement of John Murtha (D-PA) for the new Majority Leader position in the House, Murtha went down by a vote of 149 to 86 in favor of electing Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) as Majority Leader.
Apparently, Murtha’s mouth doesn’t carry-over as strongly among his colleagues as it does in the media.
November 16th, 2006 at 7:36 pm
I understand Murtha’s got a not so reputable past, with his hands in lots of pockets. I know nothing about Hoyer, but he was probably chosen as the cleaner of the two choices.
November 17th, 2006 at 10:12 am
The funny thing to me is that the media made this guy out to be the untouchable VET with the VIETNAM know how of how to deal with Iraq. That we as the public should all take this guy seriously. It looks like the majority of us believed the half truth of the media about the credibility of John Murtha only to find out the other half when his services weren’t needed anymore. The Democrat machine (mainstream media, Hollywood, and the intellectual elite) no longer needed him so they spit him out.
If you watched the liberal news balanced with talk radio before the election you would’ve seen and heard the tape that’s now so readily on the liberal news now about Murtha’s questionable dealings back in ’80. “The Culture of Ethics?” as Nancy put it. Dealing with people who are patently dishonest gets you nowhere. Don’t go near Nancy for the next couple of years if you’re in Congress. You’ll end up worse off as a Democrat than you did before.
Hoyer’s the “machine’s” choice. Plain and simple.
November 17th, 2006 at 11:54 am
Muthra is a pro-life, pro-NRA moderate Democrat. The far left will allow moderate Dems into the congress, btu will not give them leadership possitions.
November 17th, 2006 at 2:20 pm
Moderate means that middle to me which means that you want it both ways. The Democrats understand this…we should too regarding MODERATE Republicans.
Either you get squashed as a Moderate in the Democrat party or you get a voice in the Republican party.
It’s time to follow the example of the Democrat party and squash Moderates. Of course the Democrats have use for Moderates…they help them to lie about their true liberal colors and then when they have what they want from the American people they get smashed again.
Conservatives need to shore up the base and move ahead…moderates step aside or get run over….
November 17th, 2006 at 2:21 pm
It’s sad to think that McCain and Guiliani have a shot being moderates.
Romney in ’08
November 17th, 2006 at 5:08 pm
MikeS, then explain how pro-life, pro-gun moderate Harry Reid got his leadership post.
November 17th, 2006 at 5:11 pm
Although I think both Murtha and Reid are about to be hit with scandals on their own. I understand Reid’s got some ties to Abramoff, and Murtha’s got some appropriations nepotism bubbling to the surface. It’ll be interesting to see how the Dems handle these revelations.
November 18th, 2006 at 3:23 am
Harry Reid is a team player and not the loose cannon that Murtha is. Plus the Senate Democrats are usually more tolerant of descent and social conservatism than the House. The Senate includes a number of Western and Mid-western and even a few Southern Senators who are at least as moderate as Johnny Isackson is on social issues. On the other hand, the Democrats in the House are dominated by the liberals in the New York and California deligations.
November 18th, 2006 at 8:49 pm
Reid doesn’t have any ties to Abramoff. He received legal campaign donations from the tribes that were bilked by Abramoff. The stuff about Murtha has been floating around forever with no proof.
November 19th, 2006 at 8:00 am
Murtha got defeated because he’s a corrupt, POS. Once the tape came out of him saying he could possibly “work with” the undercover FBI guy by taking future bribes, he was done!
November 19th, 2006 at 8:06 am
Team player is code for sell-out!!!
November 19th, 2006 at 8:12 am
Afu
Do you think President is conservative?
November 19th, 2006 at 9:17 am
Afu
Give us meat not sound bites!
November 19th, 2006 at 3:41 pm
I am going to weigh in here on Murtha. I am a moderate Dem passing through today.
I had never heard the tape – guess I was busy elsewhere those years. But upon hearing Murtha’s own words, “I’m not interested…at least not at this point, maybe in the future…”
Once heard, no spin is going to change it. Whatever his service record, whatever he has done since, that tape IS proof of some intent toward dishonesty.
He can’t be trusted to do the right thing any more than Tom Delay and Ralph Reed who used the faith based voters to their increase their personal wealth. Fool me once, shame on you – fool me twice, shame on Republicans.
As for a Republican candidate for president, where is Jeb when you need him? Any takers on another Bush?
And team player = sell out? Maybe in Republican terms – To Dems, I think it means compromise to achieve the best you can.
Bush is not a team player – his ego will not allow it. He is only willing to talk now or even consider options now, and he only fired Rummy because he was FORCED to by the election results. Otherwise, it would have been “stay the course” and business as usual.
It may still be with his Vetos. But the point is, this is precisely the case for a TWO party government of checks and balances.
I hope the people of Georgia and the people of Cherokee remember this lesson. One party rule is a breeding ground for corruption and absolute power corupting absolutely.
Okay – you can have your blog back now – as I said, just passing through today.
November 20th, 2006 at 12:44 pm
John, what do you mean by meat? Sound bites?
The President is a politics first president with a strong values base that gives him a conservative core. The difference between Bush and a Reagan is that Reagan’s conservative core is what drove him first. The problem is politics for Bush. He may not be poll driven, but he’s driven by the eutopian political principle that he’ll be able to work together with Democrats to get things done. He can’t! He needs to come to the realization that he can’t. There’s no way to work with them because to do that you have to have someone on that side that thinks the way that you do. Can you think of anyone?
To think that Reid is a moderate Democrat is laughable. Right now in politics today, there’s no such thing as a moderate Democrats! Right now they’re Democrats first, everything else comes fifth and lower. Democrats don’t care about anything other than their self absorbed belief that they know what’s best not basing it on anything other than they’re the smartest most thoughtful people in the world. Because of this they need their power to make things right. The question at this point is what is that? Not even the President can tell you but he thinks that it’s worth it for them to work with him. Why? They won the elections without having to work with one Republican on anything.
Don’t think for a minute that all this talk about Pelosi and Reid wanting bi-partisanship is anything they want. They showed their willingness to put this country at stake undermining it in a time of war among other things! And they will continue to. Even after they’ve won the election they’re calculating, scheming. Not about how they should work with Republicans and with the President and what’s best for the country but rather they’re scheming about how they’re going to cement their power.
While the President believes in negotiations expensing a few principles here and there, to him this is okay because the other side is losing some as well. It’s all a part of negotiating I guess. To him the most important thing is that we’re moving forward in a bi-partisan manner.
The problem with this thinking is that because the Democrats aren’t pushing their principles which are fundamentally flawed and even they know it, the only ones losing anything are the Republicans and to a smaller degree conservatives.
If Reagan had the political capital that Bush had after 9/11 he would have destroyed the liberal Democrat machine in this climate by pointing out the differences and focusing on them until there was no doubt in anyones mind about who’s for what and who is right and who is wrong. Not even the Democrat machine could hide it. Bush spent NONE. His court appointments didn’t cost much at all if he did spend any which I believe he didn’t. Still he chose not to and here we are today at square one.
The arrogance of the Democtratic Party right now is scary, they’re talking about a draft…what is that about? A poll taken has 70% of the public against that! Again they are the most intelligent and elite among us so there must something there that they see that we don’t.
Pelosi, Reid, and their minions are going for the jugular and they have the Republican party by the neck. If we aren’t careful they’re going to find that sweet spot and squeeze. If that happens then conservatives won’t have a home for a long time.
The President is conservative but that again is not what drives him and in the end what does it matter if he’s conservative or not? He won’t push our values to the full extent possible.
In ’08 we need new vision…a conservative one.
November 20th, 2006 at 12:53 pm
AFU
Bush is not Conservative. You should read this to find out why the base is mad!
Why Conservatives Are So Angry
Debt Matters
We elect congressmen and congresswomen to represent our interests. We vote for self-described fiscal hawks who favor less government. But all we get is:
• A Congress that represents the lobbyist-money-changers in Washington
• A near $9 trillion debt
• An explosion in government spending that puts Liberal tax-and-spenders like Lyndon Johnson to shame
Integrity Matters
The moral lapses of the Clinton administration were, of course, distressing. We voted for self-described conservative representatives who claimed they would do better. But all we got was a never-ending chain of scandals ranging from sex crimes to bribe-taking to gambling promotion.
Each is driven by a combination of greed, power-lust, and arrogance. Of course, mistakes do happen. But even when individuals are caught red-handed, they refuse to take responsibility. All that results is finger pointing and excuses from congressmen hiding in rehabilitation centers. Misbehaving congressmen should be removed—period. Are we supposed to look up the definition of is again?
Immigration Matters
We are a country of laws. If you don’t like a law, change it. But a government that intentionally refuses to enforce select laws is weakening the whole “rule of law†and breaking its most sacred pledge to the governed.
Some employers are using illegal immigration to drive down wages and eliminate hard-working Americans from their payrolls. And of illegal immigrants gangs run roughshod over our communities, bringing with them:
• Violence (and the threat of violence)
• Crystal meth and other illegal drugs
• Prostitution
• And perhaps terrorists
Yet Congress and the White House repeatedly turn a blind eye in exchange for big business campaign donations and lobbying loot. The best they’ve done is pass a lame fence bill that covers no more than 10% of the problem (and they aren’t even obligated to follow through on that much). Yet many existing laws remain un-enforced.
What Should We Conservatives Do?
The Democratic Party is not the answer. It is at best beset by the same corruption as the Republican Party, and at worst completely at odds with our values. The only practical solution is to challenge Republican incumbents who fail to:
• Vote against bloated spending bills
• Demand immigration reform
• Hold their fellow members to the highest level of ethical conduct
We must stop giving money to any candidate who represents special interests over our interests.
November 20th, 2006 at 1:02 pm
Pelosi – Doesn’t care that she stumbled and the machine will make sure that it’s nothing more than just a pebble in the scheme known as her “well-deserved” speakership.
There isn’t going to be anything short of undeniable scandal that will affect her at this point.
Murtha’s done. We won’t hear from him except only when Iraq’s discussed in the context of pulling out.
November 20th, 2006 at 4:25 pm
John,
I don’t disagree with everything that you stated about the base but again my belief is that Bush is conservative.
Again his problem is that he thinks he can work with Democrats, and in working with them he gave up principles that outweighed what they gave up which was nothing. In fact they gained by his need for bi-partisanship. Republicans in Congress followed and their problems only fueled the fire that was the beginning of the end and cleared the pathway for them to be where they’re at now. The Democrats did all of this unchecked. I think that they get credit on some things but I don’t believe that even they and their machine know how they got there completely.
The only time that Bush showed some fire of his own was maybe two weeks before the elections. This fire that he had was what I believe he truly feels. But it wasn’t going to overcome what has been burning now for over five years. Now had he been this forceful creating his fire from day one I believe things would be different. Had he been on fire with Republicans in Congress things would be different.
He’s the standard bearer. He thinks that this is what America as a whole wants for him to do. He still believes it. So here we are now – “thumped” and he’s gone back to this idea that he can work with the Democrats. No more fire.
The deficit is big but declining and spending is out of control but if you look at the overall picture of the big spending programs that were passed, they were in the spirit of bi-partisanship. The funny thing is that when the education, medicare, and a few other big spending programs were being debated Democrats fought but they didn’t fight hard to stop them because they knew that they were getting not all of what they wanted but a lot of it and they didn’t have to give up anything for it. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Now there’s the possibility of doing it again only now you don’t have a serious check (Republican Party) that was supposed to be there. I think that this is where McCain will try to fit in and create a movement for himself as the “conservative” in that direction. This is where the base needs to be careful and not fall for his trap. McCain only looks out for himself and his friends from either party. If you think that he’s a conservative and Bush isn’t? They may be similar but you only need to look at issues that show his true colors — McCain/Feingold, the gang of 14, and look at his stand on social issues.
November 20th, 2006 at 6:14 pm
Bottom line President Bush did not use the veto on pork spending end of story. He will go down in history as the Presidant who expanded Government beyound the days of any Democrat President.
November 21st, 2006 at 11:18 am
No doubt that will be an issue for him that hopefully the Republican candidates in ’08 can correct. I won’t hold my breath for Guiliani or McCain to do it.