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The Spectacle Blog

Why Republicans Are Likely to Vote No

By W. James Antle, III on 2.13.09 @ 1:41PM

Every Republican member of Congress I have talked to during the stimulus debate, whether conversing with the member directly or going through their press secretaries, has said the same thing: their constituents do not support this bill. (Obviously, that means I haven't talked to Arlen Specter, Susan Collins or Olympia Snowe.) That's why "Obama won" and "the last eight years" aren't cutting it as arguments for why Republicans should vote for the spending package. The principled, the unprincipled, the partisan, and the bipartisan among the House GOP all won their elections too and they believe the people who elected them don't want to see their money spent in this fashion.

UPDATE: And indeed, no House Republicans voted for the bill. Seven Democrats voted no, down from 11 with the original version.

View all comments (6) | Leave a comment

USS Fungus-Mungus| 2.13.09 @ 3:09PM

Does Specter-Collins-Snowe still fit into the"Big Tent?"

cliff| 2.13.09 @ 3:50PM

Honestly, when you are down to 41 seats, I don't think throwing people off a bus is really a good idea if they are with you on just about anything.

chemman| 2.13.09 @ 5:59PM

What good is it if they are with me on what I do in the bedroom but have given away the house so that I don't have a bedroom to do it in anyway.

ConservativeWanderer| 2.13.09 @ 8:33PM

Cliff, in 2007 Snowe got a 28 rating from ACU.

Collins got a 36.

Specter got a 40.

These three are not "with [us] on just about anything," quite the opposite, in fact... each of them voted against the conservative option more than half the time; in Snowe's case, nearly 3/4 of the time.

As a wise man once said, you're entitled to your own opinion, but you're not entitled to your own facts.

cliff| 2.14.09 @ 2:20PM

I may not be entitled to my own facts, but you aren't entitled to your own language.

They ARE with on on some things by your own admission. You've proven nothing. Try again.

Anyhow, 3 more D's would have just voted for it anyway. And please don't give me this "if we ran a "real conservative" in Maine we'd win crap. I'm not 5 and if you are please don't talk to me.

ConservativeWanderer| 2.14.09 @ 7:12PM

Cliff, I was just using your own words. You said "just about anything," I conclusively proved that you were wrong, so now you're insulting me and changing it to "some things." There's a gap big enough to drive the Obama Porkulus bill between "just about anything" and "some things."

Again, using your own words, you're not entitled to your own language either.