President Obama's Favorite Republican

Richard Lugar, 78, Republican of Indiana was first elected to the US Senate in 1976. His political career started when he was elected Mayor of Indianapolis in 1968. President Richard Nixon called him his favorite mayor. Lugar no doubt started out in politics with best intentions to serve the people by keeping his oath to them and to the Constitution. But whatever good he did in Congress is long forgotten after 43 years of doing what he considered necessary in getting reelected as each term came to an end. And therein lays the problem.

His early good efforts are now overshadowed by his votes in recent years such as on behalf of the ethanol scam, for instance –see how that worked so well for his fellow Poster Child, Sen. Grassley (R-IA).As you read ask yourself would a Sen. who goes to Washington to serve the people sign on to such expensive, counter-productive scams? This issue is a perfect example of how career pols milk their positions of power. Ethanol is the one product that is not only subsidized by US taxpayers, but mandated that 10% of US gasoline contain it (Lugar has pushed for 15% mandate even though it hurts engines and increases pollution –many green groups oppose its use). Oh, and in case competitive ethanol pops up in the global marketplace, as it has from Brazil, then the career pols put a tariff on it. Brazilian ethanol is made from sugar and actually works cleaner than corn ethanol and costs less than gasoline to produce unlike the corn product. So, Lugar and Grassley and a majority of the Senate voted a 54 cent per gallon tariff to prevent the cheaper, more efficient ethanol from competing with their tax-supported inferior product. To make matters worse, their corn ethanol mandates, subsidies and protection have caused the cost to rise as corn is used to run cars instead of food. The one reason our duly elected representatives force this great inefficiency and expense on the people is to gain contributions and votes from their farmers and others like Archer-Daniels-Midland who reap huge profits from this boondoggle. [Boondoggle: a wasteful or impractical project or activity often involving graft.] Did I mention the 45 cents per gallon tax credit? Big bucks for beneficiaries and politicians; high taxes and debt for current and future taxpayers.

Typical of the career pol, Lugar felt entitled to "his" seat and now after being defeated in the primary, he refuses to endorse or help the Republican candidate.  'It is all about ME' for this RINO.

Close friends with VP Joe Biden and friendly with President Obama, Lugar was named an honorary co-chairman of their inauguration. President Obama calls him his favorite Republican. Photos of Lugar even appeared in campaign ads that helped Obama carry Indiana. Just some of the reasons he is regarded so highly by the Obama administration:
• Lugar declined to sign a brief supporting state lawsuits against President ObamaCare;
• Voted in favor of the Matthew Shepard Act, which expanded the federal hate crime statutes to include sexual orientation and gender identity;
• The first Republican senator to support for President Obama's first Supreme Court nominee, Judge Sonia Sotomayor and also voted in favor of his second Supreme Court nominee Solicitor General Elena Kagan. (Two more liberal judges could not be found –they both follow Obama’s view of the Constitution that it is flawed. Look for more emanations from penumbras from them over time.);
• Supported ratification of the START Treaty (Obama called Lugar to thank him for his help on it);
• Voted for the Dream Act, which was defeated but would have allowed the children of illegal immigrants to gain citizenship if they attend college or join the military.

Yet, he has a mostly pro-life record and recently voted against the “Employee Free Choice Act of 2007” (a/k/a Card Check) to eliminate the secret ballot for union members. Plus he voted for the Federal Marriage Amendment, limiting the definition of marriage to one man and one woman. In October 2010, he voted against repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy—which prevents homosexuals from serving openly in the armed forces. Just weeks later, Sen. Joe Lieberman announced that Lugar promised to vote to repeal the policy the next time it comes up for a vote. But then in December, Lugar voted against DADT again. Career pols have to be flexible. This vote came as a surprise to some, including Sen. Lieberman, but not to Indiana conservatives who are actively recruiting a primary challenger for 2012. It is called “pivoting” in the political trade.

When Lugar voted against an earmark ban that was championed by conservatives and tea party activists and even supported by Indiana's other senator, Democrat Evan Bayh, he lost any remaining support he had from that quarter.

These posters are limited by space-- there is a lot more that can be written both from the right and left view of this politician and not all of our examples are given as reasons for term limits. But, it cannot be denied that long-tenured professional politicians are largely responsible for the overgrown federal government and the huge debt we now carry and are putting on the shoulders of future generations. Lugar voted for many of the entitlements that now strangle the economy and, not incidentally, have no authority in the US Constitution. Limiting terms of congress is one reform that will prevent the corruption that invariably follows unlimited tenure. Help Sen. Jim DeMint by going to www.termlimits.org and sign on to support his proposed term limit amendment. Please comment on this article pro or con or to add information --check comments for updates. Thanks.

A Classic Scammer

updated 3/3/2015
AFT!  She's finally retiring but way too late --a couple $trillion too late

“To compel a person to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.” --Thomas Jefferson


(updated with term limit vote on 2/5/12*)
So when politicians pass bills that give taxpayer money to individuals and organizations that I disapprove of I call that tyrannical per Mr. Jefferson. I don’t approve of my tax money going to government radio and TV (NPR and PBS) or ACORN or Planned Parenthood or any other group –and there thousands of them—that live off hard-working American taxpayers. Not only do I personally disapprove but so did the Founders as there is no place in the Constitution that approves of these appropriations. But Barbara A. Mikulski approves of them, all right –they are her lifeblood. Her system, learned during 40 years in politics, is the classic scam of robbing Peter to pay Paul who then contributes to her campaign.

A most recent example as described by Isaac MacMillen of ALG News Bureau: Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) has come under heavy left-wing fire for her attempts to keep ACORN and others from using taxpayer money for political purposes. House Resolution 1388, the “Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act” (more commonly called the “GIVE Act”), was designed to help President Obama fulfill his campaign pledge to multiply the number of (paid!) volunteers, at taxpayer expense. But when the House voted to expand AmeriCorps from 75,000 to 250,000 (at a cost of billions of additional tax dollars), they also passed the Foxx amendment, limiting the ability for groups receiving federal funds to engage in lobbying activities. The amendment would also preclude certain political front groups from even receiving government funds. And that is good news for the American taxpayer.

Under Rep. Foxx's amendment, organizations simply cannot receive tax funds if they fall under, among others, one of the following categories:
• Lobbyist
• Political Party
• For-profit
• Labor organization

And the organizations that are eligible may not use the funds to engage in the following highly political activities:
• Lobbying
• Endorsing or opposing legislation
• Sponsoring events that oppose or endorse legislation
• Petitioning for political causes
• Staging protests, boycotts, or strikes
• Engaging in or interfering with union organizing

Reading the list, one is left nodding his or her head, and simply saying, “Well, of course.” Unless that one, it turns out, happens to be Sen. Barbara Mikulski, her fellow Senate Democrats or ACORN, and its cronies. …. Ms. Mikulski, in what may be a new world's record in transparent duplicity, substituted her own amendment for the Foxx Amendment. Senator Mikulski removed the prohibitions on lobbyists, political parties, union organizations, and for-profits from accepting funding. Which means that, under the Mikulski Amendment, ACORN, et al, may have all of the taxpayer funds they wish…” For an update on ACORN click here One Bite at a Time.

If she stays in office until March 17, 2012, she will become the longest-serving female member in the history of the US Congress yet she has never held a chairmanship of any full standing committee in the Senate. She has a master’s degree in social work which she applied to her first job after college: community organizing against construction of a highway. Mikulski was elected to the Baltimore city council in 1971 and to the US Congress in 1976 where she stayed until being elected to the Senate in 1987 where she has been ever since.

With a lifetime rating of near zero from both Citizens Against Government Waste http://ccagwratings.org/?s=Sen.+Mikulski and the Club for Growth www.clubforgrowth.org one can logically deduce that she is one of those lawmakers that have voted to create the current $16+ trillion dollar debt and also voted to stunt the growth of the economy. A bad combination but understandable from a lifetime politician who, like our other Posters, have had no real life experience.

Her history is one of following the Party Line upholding the traditional Tax-Spend-Elect philosophy of careerists in politics. It works –for them, not for taxpayers. She voted on 2/2/12 AGAINST the proposed amendment to limit the terms of congress and it was defeated* but we'll have another vote in the next session and so we're trying to get a million signatures on a petiton to help in that cause; please sign up at www.termlimits.org thanks.

*to see how your Senator voted:
http://senateconservatives.com/site/votes/112/2/11?c=5R4F2B4F9B3A137 hint: All Democrats but Joe Manchin of WV voted AGAINST the reform even though they know full well that a super-majority of their constituents are in favor of term limits.