Yesterday, we pointed out a the hypocrisy that is Eric Cantor. Today, we could call it hypocrisy, but Mitt Romney has invented a special art when it comes to flip-flopping, so we’ll call it Romney’s flip-flop, but it amounts to the same thing… Republican hypocrisy.
The video below speaks for itself, as Ed Shultz of MSNBC pointed out that in a matter of six hours, Romney completely changed his position on the protesters at Occupy Wall Street.
The video.
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In 2004, in the midst of hurricane season, another Republican Congressman from Texas, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, introduced an amendment designed to offset emergency disaster relief with spending cuts. Eric Cantor, the Republican House Majority Leader, emphatically voted against the amendment. As fate would have it, that very year, Mr. Cantor’s district of Richmond Va. was the victim of a tropical storm Gaston.
But that was 2004, and although Cantor found it necessary to kill that amendment then, he is now calling for spending cuts to offset the victims of hurricane Irene. Why the flip-flop? Cantor’s spokesperson Brad Dayspring explains;
“[T]he national debt at the time was under $8 trillion and was $8.67 trillion when Nancy Pelosi became Speaker, Today the debt stands at $14.625, meaning that while Democrats controlled the purse string, the national debt literally exploded. We are living in different times. Majority Leader Cantor, Whip [Kevin] McCarthy and Chairman [Paul] Ryan wrote an entire book last year about how the previous Republican majority lost its way, particularly on spending issues. That was one of the major reasons the Republican majority became the Republican minority from 2006-2010. House Republicans then ran, and won, an election pledging to be responsible stewards of federal tax dollars.
People and families affected by these disasters will certainly get what they need from their federal government. The goal should always be to find ways to pay for what is needed or to find offsets whenever possible, that is the responsible thing to do. Is the suggestion that Congress should completely ignore the $14 trillion debt and make no effort to try to pay for things? That seems quite extreme. People also expect their government to spend their dollars wisely, and to make efforts to prioritize and save when possible. They aren’t and shouldn’t be considered mutually exclusive concepts.”
In 2004, an $8 trillion debt was unheard of. If Cantor was so concerned about spending and the debt then, it would seem the obvious thing to do would be to vote for Jeb Hensarling’s amendment and try to bring the debt under control. Hurricanes and other natural disasters were the same then, people affected by these events felt the same need for help then as they do now and the moral thing to do, as it was then, would be for the government to help its citizens. So this argument Cantor’s spokesperson is making is filled with holes.
The only difference now is the political party in control, and the Republican’s colossal effort to make this administration a total failure.
While the people of the hurricane affected states suffer, Cantor and the Republicans are satisfied with playing politics. As usual!
Rick Perry wants to be president of the United States, and in order for that to happen, he must not only gain the votes of independents, but also the votes of the Religious conservative base. That’s why last Saturday Perry led a “Prayer Session”, pandering to this sect. Turns out though, that there was more pandering needed to win over the this group, so admitting that he made a major mistake in Texas, was as good a place as any to start.
The mistake Perry is now regretting, was a mandate he set up in 2007, requiring all sixth grade girls in Texas to get the HPV vaccine. HPV – Human Papillomavirus – is the cause of, among other things, cervical cancer. Although this decision to have girls be vaccinated seemed like a good idea, conservatives have been getting down on Perry for making this decision. They claim this mandate is “too much government involvement.” At the time of his decision, Perry explained it this way;
“I understand some of the concern some of my good friends have about requiring this vaccine, which is why parents can opt out if they so choose. But I refuse to look a young woman in the eye 10 years from now who suffers from this form of cancer and tell her we could have stopped it, but we didn’t.”
“Others may focus on the cause of this cancer, but I am going to stay focused on the cure. And if I err, I’m going to err on the side of protecting life.”
That was his decision in 2007. The issue even followed him up to the 2010 Texas election, when his Republican primary rival Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, said this in an interview;
“[Perry] mandates 12-year-old girls to be vaccinated with an executive order for heaven’s sakes. “Didn’t even ask; didn’t even ask for an expert opinion; didn’t even ask the legislature for their approval. That is dictatorial.”
Now, realizing he’s on the national stage, Perry feels the need to flip-flop and explained his decision as “a mistake.” This is his new position, as he explained Saturday in New Hampshire;
“The fact of the matter is, I didn’t do my research well enough to understand that we needed to have a substantial conversation with our citizenry.”
It should also be noted that the drug Perry was mandating for the HPV vaccine, was made by Merck. Perry’s former chief of staff was a top lobbyist in Texas for Merck.
Call him a flip-flopper, call him a panderer. Just don’t call him a man of conviction.
It is so confusing working in a circus. For Texas governor, and possibly another Republican savior for the 2012 Presidential election, Rick Perry keeps dropping the balls as he juggles his statements. Today, he says one thing, tomorrow, it’s a different story.
Forgetting his previous statement that he agreed with New York’s decision to allow gay marriages, Mr. Perry suddenly remembered that he may run for president, and would need the votes of the Christian Conservatives. In his interview with Family Research Council’s president, Perry did try to juggle, but he just couldn’t keep all his balls up in the air:
After initially telling reporters that it’s “fine with me” if states like New York legalize same-sex unions through their own legislature, Perry is pulling a 180 and calling for a Federal Marriage Amendment…
“I probably needed to add a few words after that ‘it’s fine with me’ and that it’s fine with me that a state is using their sovereign rights to decide an issue,” he said. “Obviously gay marriage is not fine with me. My stance hasn’t changed.”
Perry said he supported changing the Constitution in order to ban gay marriage, a position that he characterized as supportive of states’ rights even as it would overrule New York’s own decision on the matter.
These people will say and do anything to get a potential vote, but once in office, their Corporate masters dictate the policies.
Picture this for a second…
You start a non-profit charity that deals mostly in religion and faith issues. You then write a book for profit, then get your non-profit charity to buy your books and DVD’s. The non-profit charity that you started, then paid $220,000 to another for-profit company, a company that you also started.
Well, if you’re like me, you’ll see something very wrong here. Your non-profit company giving your for-profit company $220,ooo just seems to be breaking – if nothing else – some moral ethical barriers. But apparently, if you’re a Republican running for President of the United States, and if your name is Newt Gingrich, this behavior is not only accepted, but welcomed.
The charity, Renewing American Leadership, not only featured Gingrich on its website and in fundraising letters, it also paid $220,000 over two years to one of Gingrich’s for-profit companies, Gingrich Communications. It purchased cases of Gingrich’s books and bought up copies of DVDs produced by another of the former House speaker’s entities, Gingrich Productions.
“The spirit of operating a non-profit organization is to work for the public good regardless of the politics that are involved,” said Daniel Borochoff, president of the American Institute of Philanthropy, in an interview with ABC News. “I believe it violates that spirit.”
Asked about the allegations this morning prior to a speech in New Hampshire, Gingrich urged an ABC News reporter to focus on his speech.
“I’m not concerned about that. The American people aren’t concerned about that. Try covering the speech,” Gingrich said as he left a campaign event. When the reporter tried to follow up, Gingrich got in his waiting car and slammed the door.
And all Anthony Weiner did was send texts to different ladies, and he’s being ask to resign? Really?
Tripping over himself in all manner of ways, is Republican hopeful for the 2012 presidential elections, Newt The Gingrich.
Mr. Gingrich exemplifies the Republicans response to President Obama in all his policy endeavors, and that is – look at the President’s position, and find a way to say and do the complete opposite.
So in keeping with that philosophy, the video below shows Newt Gingrich, criticizing President Obama for not acting on behalf of the Libyans being killed by Muammar Qadhafi. Asked what he would have done differently, Newt replied;
Exercise a no-fly zone this evening!… All we have to say is, slaughtering your own citizens is unacceptable and we are intervening.
Breaking News: President Obama and the International Community Exercised a No-Fly Zone over Libya.
Let’s now rejoin Newt, and see how he feels about this no-fly zone…
Mr. Gingrich, how do you feel about President Obama’s no-fly zone over Libya?
I would not have interveneD. I think there are a lot of other ways to affect Qadhafi.
Of course Newt, of course!
