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Published On: Sat, Feb 10th, 2018

Republicans are the OTHER big government party: Shame on John Cornyn, John Thune

When the vast majority of the US Senate, including “fiscal hawk” Republicans, was wanting to vote for a bipartisan budget bill that would put annual deficits in the ballpark of $1.2 trillion and get on planes to go home for the weekend, one US Senator said to the country that this was wrong.

Image/QuinceMedia via pixabay

And remember, it is unlikely many lawmakers actually read the lengthy compromise, yet voted for it.

Read the Bills!

“When the Democrats are in power, Republicans appear to be the conservative party. But when Republicans are in power, it seems there is no conservative party. The hypocrisy hangs in the air and chokes anyone with a sense of decency or intellectual honesty“, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said Thursday night on the Senate floor ticking off his colleagues in his own “conservative” party.

He drew much criticism from fellow Republicans. The number two Republican Senator, John Cornyn from Texas said of the deficit hawk Paul’s filibuster- “grossly irresponsible” and “Why reward bad behavior?”

Bad behavior?! What about voting for that much spending? Is that good behavior?

Cornyn at least talked like it would have been “good behavior” just a few short years ago.

From his own website it states:

The truth is undeniable–Washington has a spending problem. For far too long, federal spending has gone nearly unchecked, resulting in trillion-dollar deficits, a ballooning national debt, and a government that now borrows forty cents out of every dollar it spends from places like China. If you have to balance your budget every month, so should Washington.

In early 2009, Cornyn said the following about the then $1.2 trillion deficit:

“Today’s forecast of the federal deficit reaching $1.2 trillion this year by the Congressional Budget Office is deeply concerning, especially since it does not include President-elect Obama’s spending proposal that may total more than $1 trillion. Congress cannot keep writing checks and simply pass IOUs to our children and grandchildren. Our current trajectory is unsustainable and the economic challenges are too great for business-as-usual to continue in Washington.”

Sen Cornyn is a hypocrite. He, like many others, are concerned about deficits and IOUs to our children and grandchildren depending which party is in power.

Senate passes massive spending bill to avoid government shutdown

John Thune (R., S.D.), like Cornyn voted for this massive appropriations act, also criticized Paul’s effort by saying, “It’s a colossal waste of time. He never gets a result”.

However, in May 2011, fiscal conservative Thune said concerning an Obama budget,  “The president continues to talk about fiscal responsibility and the need for government to live within its means, yet his actions show otherwise. The Congressional Budget Office has confirmed that the Administration’s spending plan will only continue the failed fiscal policies of yesterday and further saddle future generations with unprecedented levels of debt. The president’s budget is a failure of leadership.”

Even while it was well established that deficits and debt bloomed during the Bush years, many with a Republican Congress, Thune could barely shoulder the blame saying in a Sep. 2010 interview, “there’s plenty of blame to go around”.

Who was in power? Who was supposed to be the fiscal conservative party?

Hypocrite #2 who will saddle future generations with unprecedented levels of debt.

The Votes

Then there is Lindsey Graham of South Carolina who also criticized Paul’s efforts. To be fair, Graham, like all neocons, don’t truly care about deficits and debt as long as the “military is going to be flush with cash”. They (Graham, Bill Kristol and that ilk) rarely dispute overblown spending as long as there is plenty of funds to continue their overseas adventures.

People on the left also criticize Sen Paul for his “stunt”. They’ll say he voted for a tax cut for the rich without getting concerned over the deficits; however, Paul has always been for slashing spending in addition to robust tax cuts.

He wrote as recent as last month:

When I forced a vote recently on obeying the “pay as you go” rule, no Democrats, and only seven Republicans, joined me. Less than 10 percent of the Senate appears to actually care about the debt.

I, for one, hope for the day of compromise, both parties realizing that all spending must slow and come into balance with revenue. Given prevailing attitudes in Congress, I fear spending restraint will not occur until our decline manifests, a time that may be too late to save us from ourselves.

What about the Republican mouthpieces on TV and radio?

I actually watched Sean Hannity’s TV show Friday night (which was pretty painful) and he went top to bottom on the issues with Uranium One, FISA and related topics–all important.

However, not one second was spent discussing the spending bill, deficits or President Trump’s support of the spending.

Naturally, no one expects Hannity to EVER criticize Mr. Trump.

I also have to ask, while he’s all in with these privacy issues today, where was Hannity on issues of privacy in 2001?

Clearly, Sen Paul is 100% spot on. These Republicans are hypocrites. Don’t fall for their phony fiscal conservatism every time they are up for reelection.

We must get rid of the like of Cornyn and Thune, we need more senators like Paul like Missouri’s Austin Petersen and other like-minded men and women who put liberty and freedom foremost. Those who are careful with taxpayer dollars and believe deficits and debts do matter (we will pay the price if this doesn’t get under control soon).

Don’t let these Republicans fool you ever again. They have once again shown their true colors.

Grandpa Ernie’s Notebook

 

 

 

 

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- Grandpa Ernie likes to write commentary in between naps.

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