Sunday, May 3, 2009

Congressional Retirements etc, May 2008

From CQPolitics: Who is going where?

A related article is here.

1 comment:

  1. On a related note, Tim Pawlenty (the Republican Governor of Minnesota) will not seek reelection to a third term. Many out there in the blogosphere, inclduing myself, think Pawlenty is bypassing another term as governor in order to run against the Disciple Known as Obama in 2012. http://wcco.com/politics/tim.pawlenty.minnesota.2.1027979.html

    Pawlenty may seem like the witty, charming, and good looking moderate the GOP needs to revive the party. But taking a closer look into his voting record and positions on crucial social issues we just find another Republican that caters to the religious right. Pawlenty is pro-life, anti-gay marriage, and market driven healthcare reform. Gov. Pawlenty recently unilaterally struck down many of the budget provisions that would give much needed health care to underprivileged MInnesotans. Pawlenty used a power called "unallotment" which is: the authority granted the governor by state law to reduce spending if anticipated revenues fall short of what's needed for the remainder of a two-year budget period. This "unallotment" power has never been used by a Governor in the history of Minnesota politics.
    http://www.startribune.com/politics/48687297.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUnciaec8O7EyUsr

    All in all, Tim Pawlenty is more of a Paul Ryan (Republican Representative from Wisconsin) than Charlie Crist (Republican Governor of Florida). The GOP needs to ditch the Christian right in order to be a viable party in the future. The GOP made a great choice in 2008 with John McCain. As a senator he was very moderate and looked like he would lead the new Republican party into the future of American politics. Yet, as a presidential candidate it seemed as though the GOP went through and made McCain adhere to the base of the Republican Party: the religious right. And just in case the GOP hadn't altered McCain's original views enough, they had to appoint the spokeswoman of Christian politics to his right side, Sarah Palin. A time has come where Conservative social policies have no place in American politics, and the sooner the GOP figures that out the more competitive they will become.

    Jake V

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