OOPS

I must admit this proposed Earmark moratorium in the Senate Republican Conference (SRC) has me in a bind.

When I wrote the article before I should have seen the writing on the wall. Once Sen. DeMint put out the proposition against earmarks, there was no stopping it. In this political environment even those opposed understood that to not vote for it would be way more harmful to them and the party. What I didn’t like was the way I was being treated.

People were acting towards me like I was in favor of earmarks; I’m learning what the baby feels like when it’s thrown out with the bath water. Or more fittingly I’m feeling like the messenger getting shot for carrying the wrong message.

Either way I don’t like it. But then again in a free country I don’t have to.

One more time, I HATE EARMARKS. I applaud the house under Boehner’s efforts to cut out earmarks. I will fight in the trenches alone if need be to ban earmarks. I will back any effort to have separate votes on each and every spending bill – alone and by themselves – without adding all the extra spending to it.

One more time, I LOVE JIM DEMINT. I contributed to his Senate fund wholeheartedly and rejoiced when most of his candidates won.

For the first time, I’LL KEEP MY RESEARCH TO MYSELF.
Let me give you an example to illustrate what I mean.
In the run-up to the 2008 Presidential Election I was working the County GOP HQ handing out signs for the candidates etc. when in walked a pissed off UAW union member. He said he was a lifelong Democrat but wanted all the Republican signs we had to put in his yard.

I was curious so I asked him why and he said that at a union meeting he had asked a simple question about something Candidate Obama had said. This guy told me he was just asking a question but everyone got angry with him. So he shut up and went home to bed to forget about it. When he and his wife woke up the next day his yard was covered in Obama/Biden signs. That he didn’t forget.

I felt like that guy when I asked fellow Tea Partiers about the arguments Inhofe and McConnell were using in favor of earmarks. I was asking for reasoned responses based on facts and I got the same kind of “How Dare You” response my new Union friend received.

In my previous article I did make a bad judgment call in that the “moratorium” was approved by the Republican Senate Conference. McConnell changed his mind.
Sen. DeMint has been proven right again. I applaud that and I applaud the outcome. My fear had been that McConnell would carry the day and the Republicans would be seen to be in favor of earmarks. This was a nonbinding vote of only the Republicans and only in the Senate. I did not think it was the right way to go about it. I wanted to see it come up on the floor of the Senate and voted on there.

This time the power and rhetoric forced a good conclusion that however, is not why I’ve been fighting for grassroots government. If I had wanted to follow thuggish ideology blindly I would have voted liberal. Like my UAW friend however I’m always willing to travel the road less traveled to try to get the facts under the rhetoric. For that right I will keep fighting. I hope the Tea Parties will continue to be my ally in this.

Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative


RSC Chairman Lamar Alexander put out this release last Wed about what he is also proposing at the upcoming RSC meeting.

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http://alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=056defea-23f0-417b-b153-49db66833738&ContentType_id=778be7e0-0d5a-42b2-9352-09ed63cc4d66&Group_id=80d87631-7c25-4340-a97a-72cccdd8a658
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This resolution goes directly to the cause of overspending. This too will cut government spending and intrusion into our life.