The Specter of Irrelevance

By: Mr. Curmudgeon
mrcurmudgeon@inthepublicsquare.com

Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania is most beloved by the mainstream media and his Democratic colleagues. A bloodless creature, he wanders zombie-like across the political landscape, his principles as stained and tattered as the disheveled living-dead of horror movie fame. Anemic moderate Republicans, like Sen. Specter, haven’t the stomach or imagination to lead and, instead, slavishly follow wrong-headed but energetic Democrats.

At the conclusion of President Bill Clinton’s Senate trial for high crimes and misdemeanors, the valiant Arlen Specter rose to utter those most memorable and courageous of words:

I am not prepared to say on this record that President Clinton is not guilty. But I am certainly not prepared to say that he is guilty.

Specter’s not-guilty vote spoke more eloquently than his weasely equivocations.

In an Op-Ed piece written for The Washington Post, Specter rushed to provide bipartisan cover for the bloated and economically meaningless Democratic stimulus bill:

The legislation known as the "moderates" bill, hammered out over two days by Sens. Susan Collins, Ben Nelson, Joe Lieberman and myself, preserves the job-creating and tax relief goals of President Obama's stimulus plan while cutting less-essential provisions…

Specter and other moderate Republicans negotiated with Democrats to bring the original $838-billion Senate stimulus bill down to $789-billion. Sen. Susan Collins of Main proudly told The New York Times that this moderate Republican sub-atomic accomplishment represented “a fiscally responsible number.”

Here are just a few of the stimulus provisions Democrats believe will restore our Republic’s economic vigor:

$83-billion in earned income credit for people that don’t pay income tax.

$8-billion toward renewable energy.

$1-billion for Amtrak, that hasn’t turned a profit since the federal government took the company under its wing 40-years ago.

$2.4-billion for “carbon-capture projects,” whatever that is.

$2-billion in child care subsidies.

$650-million for digital TV conversion coupons.

$600-million added to the $3-billion the U.S. government currently spends for fleet vehicles— a more modest GM bailout.

$400-million for global-warming research.

$50-million for the National Endowment for the Arts — remember Robert Mapplethorpe?

It may be next century before the full extent of the spending can be fully accounted for.

In his Washington Post piece, Sen. Specter sites House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s objections to cuts in stimulus pork as “a warning to conservatives that more cuts would be unlikely to win House approval. They are also an admission of the high price that moderates have been able to extract for their support of stimulus legislation.”

What high price? Who is he kidding?

Scott Wheeler, Executive Director of the National Republican Trust PAC announced a warning to Republicans who support the Democrat’s in their insanity. “Republican Senators are on notice,” said Wheeler. “If they support the stimulus package we will make sure every voter in their state knows how they tried to further bankrupt voters in an already bad economy.” Wheeler promised support and financing for primary challengers to Republicans that supported the Democratic plan.

Unfortunately for Wheeler and other conservatives, the Republican Party they refuse to abandon has abandoned them. So they continue to light candles rather than curse the darkness — even as Arlen Specter and his fellow moderates continually blow out the fragile flame. The Republican Party is now and forever irrelevant. Change was the cynical rallying cry for the victorious Obama campaign. Conservatives need to make a principled change by building a conservative third party dedicated to Constitutional reforms to curb our intrusive and increasingly dangerous government before the last breath of moral exhaustion extinguishes the flame of freedom granted us by our Creator.