bobbyw24
05-11-2010, 09:54 AM
The Tea Party in Utah flexed its muscle over the weekend and booted longtime establishment Republican senator, Bob Bennett, from office. Hooray! (Now, Arizona, please do America a favor and show John McCain the door!) Unfortunately, Tea Party activists were unsuccessful in Indiana, as longtime establishment Republican, Dan Coats, defeated the principled patriot, John Hostettler. Boo!
Predictably, mainstream Republican spokesmen are lamenting Bennett’s ouster, saying Bennett was a true conservative, touting an 80% ranking in the American Conservative Union (ACU) index. However, the ACU index is completely irrelevant to the true measure of a congressman’s fidelity to constitutional government. The index that people should pay attention to is the Freedom Index (formerly called the Conservative Index) at The New American magazine. This index is far and away more accurate in determining a congressman or senator’s fidelity to limited government. In this index, Bennett’s latest rating was a pathetic 50.
Bennett needed to go; the good people of Utah did America a great favor by showing him the door. I trust and pray that this is an indication of how the November elections will fare. I would have been extremely optimistic that this might be the case, except for the miserable election results recorded in Indiana. Dan Coats is merely another establishment neocon in the similitude of Bob Bennett.
In the 105th Congress, Coats’ final rating was a dismal 55 in The New American’s index. On the other hand, John Hostettler’s last ranking stood at 85. Hostettler deserved the enthusiastic support of Tea Partiers throughout Indiana. It is tragic that he lost to someone such as the neocon, Dan Coats. Therefore, what was gained in Utah was lost in Indiana.
And this is going to be the danger for the Tea Party movement this year: If Tea Party activists do not truly understand the issues of limited government, or if they are fooled by establishment politicians, or if they fail to materialize at the polls on election day, all that will happen is one Big Government neocon will be replaced with another Big Government neocon. And, as Sonny and Cher used to sing, “The Beat Goes On.”
Proponents of limited government already had a setback in Texas when establishment neocon Rick Perry defeated Debra Medina. Obviously, Tea Party favorite Sarah Palin campaigned hard for Perry, and another Tea Party “leader,” Glenn Beck, did a hatchet job on Medina on his TV show, characterizing her has a “Truther” (with the associated vitriolic condemnation that such a person must be awful). Now, Texas is stuck with the same old same old establishment neocon.
This is why I again warn Tea Partiers to be very cautious of Palin and Beck. They promote limited government on one hand and then turn around and promote Big Government candidates on the other hand. If Tea Partiers do not grow a large head of discernment quickly, Washington insiders will quickly neuter both their voices and their votes.
Perhaps the biggest threat to the Tea Party movement is Newt Gingrich. Be alert, Tea Partiers: Gingrich is not a friend to limited government. He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/home/?p=1534
Predictably, mainstream Republican spokesmen are lamenting Bennett’s ouster, saying Bennett was a true conservative, touting an 80% ranking in the American Conservative Union (ACU) index. However, the ACU index is completely irrelevant to the true measure of a congressman’s fidelity to constitutional government. The index that people should pay attention to is the Freedom Index (formerly called the Conservative Index) at The New American magazine. This index is far and away more accurate in determining a congressman or senator’s fidelity to limited government. In this index, Bennett’s latest rating was a pathetic 50.
Bennett needed to go; the good people of Utah did America a great favor by showing him the door. I trust and pray that this is an indication of how the November elections will fare. I would have been extremely optimistic that this might be the case, except for the miserable election results recorded in Indiana. Dan Coats is merely another establishment neocon in the similitude of Bob Bennett.
In the 105th Congress, Coats’ final rating was a dismal 55 in The New American’s index. On the other hand, John Hostettler’s last ranking stood at 85. Hostettler deserved the enthusiastic support of Tea Partiers throughout Indiana. It is tragic that he lost to someone such as the neocon, Dan Coats. Therefore, what was gained in Utah was lost in Indiana.
And this is going to be the danger for the Tea Party movement this year: If Tea Party activists do not truly understand the issues of limited government, or if they are fooled by establishment politicians, or if they fail to materialize at the polls on election day, all that will happen is one Big Government neocon will be replaced with another Big Government neocon. And, as Sonny and Cher used to sing, “The Beat Goes On.”
Proponents of limited government already had a setback in Texas when establishment neocon Rick Perry defeated Debra Medina. Obviously, Tea Party favorite Sarah Palin campaigned hard for Perry, and another Tea Party “leader,” Glenn Beck, did a hatchet job on Medina on his TV show, characterizing her has a “Truther” (with the associated vitriolic condemnation that such a person must be awful). Now, Texas is stuck with the same old same old establishment neocon.
This is why I again warn Tea Partiers to be very cautious of Palin and Beck. They promote limited government on one hand and then turn around and promote Big Government candidates on the other hand. If Tea Partiers do not grow a large head of discernment quickly, Washington insiders will quickly neuter both their voices and their votes.
Perhaps the biggest threat to the Tea Party movement is Newt Gingrich. Be alert, Tea Partiers: Gingrich is not a friend to limited government. He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/home/?p=1534