Less Than 2 Weeks Ago, Specter Warned of “Big Obama Spending Programs”
EmailAt a press conference just 13 days ago at the Four Points Sheraton near Lehigh Valley International Airport, Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Penn., said if Rep. Pat Toomey, R-Penn., beat him in the GOP primary "we lose the seat in the fall. He’s to the right of Santorum who lost by 18 points after spending $31 million as a two term senator. All that is standing between the Democrats and an avalanche are the 41 Republican Senators to to filibuster. If he’s the nominee we lose the seat and you have card check, and you have tax increases and you have all of the big Obama spending programs."
He kept repeating this mantra.
"If we lose my seat they have 60 Democrats, they will pass card check, you will have the Obama tax increases, they will carry out his big spending plans. So the 41st Republican, whose name is Arlen Specter is vital to stopping tax increases, passage of card check, and the Obama big spending plans….Those 41 seats are the only thing standing between a Democratic onslaught of higher taxes, more spending and card check."
It was pointed out by a reporter that he voted for the $787 billion stimulus package.
"I voted for the stimulus package, which was the twin brother for what Republican President Bush had on the $700 billion bailout," the senator said. "I voted for the stimulus because I was fearful we were on the edge of a 1929 depression. I thought it was necessary in order to put people to work, in order to maintain productivity and to avoid paying massive man hours of unemployment compensation."
He was asked if he’d considered running as independent or Democrat.
"I am a Republican and I am going to run on the Republican ticket in the Republican primary," he said.
Asked how he responded to attempts by Toomey to link him to big spending programs, Specter said, "I voted against every tax increase, I have the backing of the taxpayers association, I supported a Constitutional amendment for a balanced budget and the line item veto. You can pick out a vote here or there. I have a very strong voting record on supporting a constitutional amendment for a balanced budget, line item veto. I voted against tax increases, voted to make the Bush tax cuts permanent…"
- jpt
Sen. DeMint: GOP Race Could Go Until Convention 
Obama Avoids Questions on Contraception Rule
And, this is why I read Political Punch. Always interesting, always informative, usually first.
Posted by: Concerned | April 28, 2009, 2:24 pm 2:24 pm
Specter’s word is his bond. We will now have Card Check, Out Of Control Spending, and Higher Taxes.
Posted by: BigGator5 | April 28, 2009, 2:31 pm 2:31 pm
And he said that after voting for the “stimulus” nonsense.
What he is really saying today is, “My internal polls showed me getting creamed in a GOP primary, so I’m quitting to go where I have a better chance. My principles remain unchanged, although no one on earth has any idea what they are.”
Posted by: Fascist Hyena | April 28, 2009, 2:34 pm 2:34 pm
“The speculation about Specter switching lies in the following:
During the primaries a lot of Repubs in PA changed affiliation in order to vote Dem. They never changed back. Specter would need those Repub/Dem votes for the PA primaries in order to defeat Toomey who has a lock on the registered Repubs at this point. So Specter goes back to being a Dem in order to make use of those disaffected Repub/Dems to push back at Toomey who is currently ahead in the polls.
Essentially what Specter is saying is: “This is my seat. Has been for 30 years. It belongs to me and nobody else. I earned it. I paid for it. I expect to keep it. And, dammit, I will say or do whatever it takes to make sure it remains mine. I did not come here to serve, I came to be served. So there!!”
Posted by: switchAroo | April 28, 2009, 2:35 pm 2:35 pm
Oh Happy Day! Don’t worry boys and girls. Alls we needs now is for this rediculous fiasco in Minnesota to reach it’s rightful and inevitable conclusion and the good guys can get back to restoring the constitution!
Posted by: mike | April 28, 2009, 2:44 pm 2:44 pm
I’m wondering how all of this will play out in PA? I mean, there’s nothing in particular that has happened in the last 100 days to push Specter away other than his primary challenge, so it seems when he says “the party has moved too far to the right,” he’s really saying “I’m going to lose my seat.” Seems pretty craven. But maybe people will see it as principled? Will Democrats in PA embrace Specter? Perhaps if Toomey is the alternative… but maybe a more moderate Republican will step into the gap?
Posted by: mike | April 28, 2009, 2:45 pm 2:45 pm
Hopefully Specter will join forces with Evan Bayh. But then….Obama would probably not campaign for him. Hmm…..
Posted by: MayBee | April 28, 2009, 2:49 pm 2:49 pm
Was that before or after Specter voted for the stimulus package? I don’t get it. What’s the news here?
Posted by: Teri B. | April 28, 2009, 2:49 pm 2:49 pm
I’m sure this newspaper report from four days ago had nothing to do with the principled Mr. Specter’s decision:
“A new Rasmussen poll of Pennsylvania finds that Arlen Specter appears to be in serious trouble going into his 2010 primary against conservative challenger Pat Toomey.
“The numbers: Toomey 51%, Specter 30%.
“Toomey, a former Congressman, previously ran against Specter in the 2004 primary, and made it into a 51%-49% race. Specter has since provided Toomey a huge opening this time thanks to his vote for the stimulus bill. And Pennsylvania is a closed-primary state, too, meaning that Specter faces a conservative base vote.”
Posted by: Fascist Hyena | April 28, 2009, 2:50 pm 2:50 pm
I’ll give credit to Specter for doing this before a primary rather than afterwards.
Posted by: Ryan C | April 28, 2009, 2:50 pm 2:50 pm
The Democrat’s tent is stretched more than big enough for him to keep to his moderate principles and still have plenty of Blue Dogs to chat with. The Republicans have gone full fundamentalist. Losing the moderates is what happens.
Posted by: jhw539 | April 28, 2009, 2:50 pm 2:50 pm
As (still) a Republican, I can only say that I have been tempted, too. The Party has too much influence over its elected members. There is too much refusal to recognize errors, which makes the errors (mostly by former President Bush) incorrigible.
Posted by: John Williams | April 28, 2009, 2:52 pm 2:52 pm
Jake – Thanks for digging deeper on this one.
Posted by: tjp612 | April 28, 2009, 2:56 pm 2:56 pm
Why did Specter switch today?
Perhaps he was convinced by his new friends to do it today–to take the heat off of all the questions about Obama’s latest blunder?
People want to know who was on that plane.
How hard is it to provide a list if you are the most transparent administration in history?
Posted by: millie | April 28, 2009, 2:57 pm 2:57 pm
I’ll give credit to Specter for doing this before a primary rather than afterwards.
===========
As I understand it, he could not have switched after wards.
Posted by: MayBee | April 28, 2009, 2:57 pm 2:57 pm
“Perhaps he was convinced by his new friends to do it today–to take the heat off of all the questions about Obama’s latest blunder?”
ROFLMAO!
Which of these things is more plausible.
Specter made a political career and life altering decision to defect to the Democratic party (not become an independent) to dominate a single newscycle and push the AF1 story.
Or the right wing media is pushing the AF1 story to dminate for one more newscycle because Specter defecting is an embarrassment.
Posted by: Ryan C | April 28, 2009, 3:04 pm 3:04 pm
“As I understand it, he could not have switched after wards.”
Does PA have a sore loser law or did they enact one post-Joementum?
Posted by: Ryan C | April 28, 2009, 3:04 pm 3:04 pm
Posted by: Ryan C | Apr 28, 2009 2:50:39 PM
The handwriting was on the wall. He chose this over the obvious and ignominious defeat he would have suffered. RINO anyway.
Posted by: drjohn | April 28, 2009, 3:05 pm 3:05 pm
“Those 41 seats are the only thing standing between a Democratic onslaught of higher taxes, more spending and card check.”
Heh.
Countdown to Spector being invited to the White House for dinner:
3……2…………..1………..
Posted by: drjohn | April 28, 2009, 3:06 pm 3:06 pm
Good. He can take his seat on the bench when he gets voted out next time he’s up for re-election.
No one who votes for the crap that the dems are calling “policy” deserves to be retained. And I’m a Dem.
Posted by: beebop | April 28, 2009, 3:12 pm 3:12 pm
“I voted for the stimulus package, which was the twin brother for what Republican President Bush had on the $700 billion bailout,” the senator said. “I voted for the stimulus because I was fearful we were on the edge of a 1929 depression. I thought it was necessary in order to put people to work, in order to maintain productivity and to avoid paying massive man hours of unemployment compensation.”
What utter drivel. He didn’t read the “stimulus package” bill. No one did.
It doesn’t stimulate jobs. All it does is stimulate welfare.
Posted by: drjohn | April 28, 2009, 3:15 pm 3:15 pm
“Does PA have a sore loser law”
Yes.
Posted by: Silky | April 28, 2009, 3:15 pm 3:15 pm
“The handwriting was on the wall. He chose this over the obvious and ignominious defeat he would have suffered. RINO anyway.”
Granted his numbers were not great but the thing about elections polls 1 1/2 years out is that they don’t really count for all that much.
But hey if you choose a narrow mindset and exclude all others at the expense of your party’s growth, who am I to stop you.
Posted by: Ryan C | April 28, 2009, 3:16 pm 3:16 pm
I use to sit on the right, just right of center. Then I looked to the left and saw the same people doing the same business only calling it something else. I have no party because our two parties are a sham. They both receive money from Pelosi’s 100 list. Spector on the other hand has no such inclination to turn a tide or make change. His intentions are to remain in senate for as long as possible and pad his retirement. That ride would be over in 2010 because he would get housed. He bought job security at the expense of those who put him there in the first place.
Posted by: Nestor in Miami | April 28, 2009, 3:20 pm 3:20 pm
It’s a happy day in America!!!! Arlen Specter finally figured out who he really was!!!!! He hasn’t been a Republican for years, and today he finally figured that out. YEAH!!!!!!
Posted by: tia | April 28, 2009, 3:20 pm 3:20 pm
There are no good guy there are just bad guys, and they all work against you and me!
Posted by: one big party! | April 28, 2009, 3:20 pm 3:20 pm
beebop:”No one who votes for the crap that the dems are calling “policy” deserves to be retained. And I’m a Dem.”
Right. And I’m a staunch Republican because I voted for Bush Sr., even though I don’t support any of their current platform.
Posted by: jhw539 | April 28, 2009, 3:21 pm 3:21 pm
Does PA have a sore loser law or did they enact one post-Joementum?
========
Sore loser law?
What are we in, Kindergarten?
Posted by: MayBee | April 28, 2009, 3:24 pm 3:24 pm
dr john:”He didn’t read the “stimulus package” bill. No one did. ”
No one read it? Citation please. And do note that only minor text changes – well flagged and noted for quick review – came out of the conference committee. Just about all the text had been available for weeks.
Posted by: jhw539 | April 28, 2009, 3:24 pm 3:24 pm
millie:”How hard is it to provide a list if you are the most transparent administration in history?”
Why has the Bush administration STILL not released the list of passengers on the 2004 flight over Mt Rushmore? What are they trying to hide even years later?
(And yes, the people who were part of Cheney’s Energy Task force that set actual policy that had real impact is far more important, but my goal is to emphasize how petty and partisan such a silly question is.)
Posted by: jhw539 | April 28, 2009, 3:26 pm 3:26 pm
Schwarzenegger should be next. He’s a closet case Democrat.
Posted by: Skip | April 28, 2009, 3:33 pm 3:33 pm
Posted by: Nestor in Miami | Apr 28, 2009 3:20:13 PM
Nestor – Great post, captures the sentiments of many (regardless of party affiliation)
Posted by: tjp612 | April 28, 2009, 3:38 pm 3:38 pm
I think Arlen has lost it mentally.
Posted by: BubbaRight | April 28, 2009, 3:43 pm 3:43 pm
“Schwarzenegger should be next. He’s a closet case Democrat.”
I am kind of surprised he has not done so already and began to prime for a Senate run.
Posted by: Ryan C | April 28, 2009, 3:44 pm 3:44 pm
“Sore loser law?
What are we in, Kindergarten?”
That is how they are referred to.
It basically prevents one from running in the general election if they have lost in the primary.
According to silky, PA does have such a law.
Posted by: Ryan C | April 28, 2009, 3:45 pm 3:45 pm
“I think Arlen has lost it mentally.”
To the contrary, he came to his senses. Do think Specter kept getting re-elected with just the Republican vote? Don’t be ridiculous, he has had many Democrat supporters over the years. Specter loves his job as senior senator from the great commonwealth of PA and when that lunatic Toomey almost defeated him he decided to go with his real supporters rather than follow Santorum into political oblivion.
Posted by: Skip | April 28, 2009, 4:07 pm 4:07 pm
Wow. All of the 0pologists are out in force thinking that independent thinking is as easy to defeat as “whack-a-mole.” I guess the fact that Zero’s popularity is the second worst of any president since Nixon (who bested him at the 100 day mark) is starting to actually make it to the light of day despite the MSM’s (Marginally Sane Media) attempts to keep that inconvenient truth under wraps!
Posted by: beebop | April 28, 2009, 4:13 pm 4:13 pm
Politics makes strange bedfellows.
Posted by: DontGet818OnMeNow | April 28, 2009, 4:21 pm 4:21 pm
“Don’t be ridiculous, he has had many Democrat supporters over the years”
Exit polls from 2004
Democrats (who were 41% of the electorate) gave him 28%
Moderates (who made up 48%) went for him 53%
Liberals (who made up 22%) gave him 23%.
I could not find figures for Bush in PA in 2004 but nationally Democrats (37%) gave Bush 11%, Moderates (45%) 45% & liberals (21%) 13%.
Posted by: Ryan C | April 28, 2009, 4:22 pm 4:22 pm
Limbaugh and Hannity will be working themselves into a frenzy over this one. LOL. Let those two big mouths keep on blabbering their hate; they will lead the GOP off a cliff.
Posted by: William J. LePetomane | April 28, 2009, 4:27 pm 4:27 pm
It’s simple….Specter wants to keep his job. At 79 years old, I would think he’d want to add “stimulus” to the Senate and let someone else carry on. As for Obama, guess Specter represents the “hope and change” of his administration. The audacity of politicians!
Posted by: Max | April 28, 2009, 4:31 pm 4:31 pm
“I guess the fact that Zero’s popularity is the second worst of any president since Nixon”
History News Network just published a story claiming Obama has the lowest approval rating of any President in decades.
The author came to this conclusion by taking a satisfaction poll that Gallup ran where 56% said he was doing an excellent or good job and called that his job approval number. In that same poll 23% also said he did an ok job which would also seem to be approval.
This same author then compared that number to job approval polls that Gallup rans for past Presidents.
Which is odd because Gallup does job approval polls for Obama too, daily.
In fact they just did an assessment of Obama’s 1st Q and compared it to every President since they started polling in 1953
Obama’s 63% first-quarter average matches the historical average of 63% for elected presidents’ first quarters since 1953. However, it is the fourth highest for a newly elected president since that time, and the highest since Jimmy Carter’s 69% in 1977. The historical first-quarter average includes two presidents whose scores exceeded 70% (John Kennedy’s 74% and Dwight Eisenhower’s 71%).
Posted by: Ryan C | April 28, 2009, 4:33 pm 4:33 pm
what pork money was promised to Spector? Although Spector has been a Democrats, if not in name, for decades I’m sure there were additional “incentives” for this switch. It makes sense. He voted with the Democrats often and his proclaimations seemed to be more leftist than others. He should be warned that leaders, like Obama, will remember the switch and question his true beliefs if he ever crosses “The One”. Megalomaniacs often end up distrusting thier supporters who, they think, have false loyalites or alternatives motives. In other words, does Spector really worship “The One” or is he in for the votes and pork?
Posted by: Ed | April 28, 2009, 4:38 pm 4:38 pm
Do the Democrats really want this guy? He was already voting their way most of the time as a RINO.
Harry Truman once aid, “When given the choice between a fake Democrat and a real Democrat, the people will choose the real one every time.”
Specter is toast in 2010, no matter what. He will get crushed in whichever primary he chooses.
Posted by: carl | April 28, 2009, 4:49 pm 4:49 pm
I’ve noticed A. Specter’s thoughtfulness and circumspect thought for years. He always seemed moderate to me, as I consider myself a moderate Democrat. I voted for BO, but much preferred HRC if I could have voted for her. I welcome AS to the Dem party. I think the far left is as looney as the far right is void of comprehensive thought. I do want checks/balances, and having Arlen on our side will serve our purposes.
Posted by: kmb08 | April 28, 2009, 4:50 pm 4:50 pm
Life is short Arlen so be true to yourself.
Arlen was a Republican for 29(?) years now he wants to be a Democrat. Obama really must have a gift.
The GOP will find a way to survive without him.
Posted by: riley | April 28, 2009, 4:56 pm 4:56 pm
It would be kind of funny if he lost the general election.
Posted by: DontGet818OnMeNow | April 28, 2009, 4:58 pm 4:58 pm
Two weeks ago someone explained to him how he would benifit by joining them and putting it to the people that elected him. They probably water boarded him. HA HA
Posted by: USN,Ret in PA | April 28, 2009, 5:23 pm 5:23 pm
But Graham said that politicians like Toomey — the former Club for Growth president who was leading Specter in Pennsylvania’s Republican Senate primary — are the exact reason the GOP is languishing in places like the Northeast. Although Graham said he agrees ideologically with the Club for Growth “most of the time,” he said “the people that they run in primaries wind up losing the general election.”
“I’ve got no desire to help the Democratic party get stronger,” Graham said on Fox News Tuesday. “I am a center right conservative Republican who believes that our party has to grow, not shrink.”
Graham rejected Republican activists who seek a kind of ideological purity in their candidates, opting instead to heed Ronald Reagan’s guidance that someone who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend, not an enemy. Graham noted that Specter helped Republicans usher Supreme Court Justices Roberts and Alito through the confirmation process in 2005.
“I don’t agree with Specter a lot, but I am a practical guy,” Graham said. “We’ve got to grow this party … We need to get people in the party that can carry a fiscally conservative agenca, a center-right agenda, and that means recruiting people that are different than me, quite frankly.”
Posted by: Ryan C | April 28, 2009, 5:37 pm 5:37 pm
As more and more sane Republicans leave the party, they will be left with “gems” like this one
Michele Bachmann, speaking on Pajamas TV, noted: “I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out then under another Democrat president Jimmy Carter. And I’m not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it’s an interesting coincidence.”
Posted by: Ryan C | April 28, 2009, 5:48 pm 5:48 pm
For those who asked about a “sore-loser law” from the PA Dept. of State ..
Disaffiliation by Independent Political Body Candidates
Any person who is a registered and enrolled member of a political party during any period of time beginning with thirty (30) days before the primary and extending through the November election is not eligible to be the candidate of a political body in the November election held in the same year. The Political Body Candidate’s Affidavit includes a required declaration of disaffiliation.
Posted by: ellsbells930 | April 28, 2009, 5:52 pm 5:52 pm
Ryan C – Michelle is wrong about the swine flu & Carter. The swine flu occurred during the end of Ford’s term. She’s like the 3rd person I’ve seen today make that observation.
Posted by: ellsbells930 | April 28, 2009, 5:53 pm 5:53 pm
Ryan C – Michelle is wrong about the swine flu & Carter. The swine flu occurred during the end of Ford’s term. She’s like the 3rd person I’ve seen today make that observation.”
It is apparently making the rounds in the right wing fever swamps.
Thanks for the info on sore loser law.
Posted by: Ryan C | April 28, 2009, 5:58 pm 5:58 pm
Specter has no integrity. When he ran for district attorney he changed to democrat. He changed to republican to win a senate seat . Now he changes to democrat to keep his seat. You would think someone how has faced death would have more integrity.
Posted by: Tc | April 28, 2009, 6:07 pm 6:07 pm
Ryan C – You know I lean to the right, but I can’t stand when people get facts that are easily checked wrong.
Any respect I had for Specter is gone since he let Fast-Eddie Rendell help talk him into this. And I used to have respect for him. Although I didn’t always agree with his politics, he really helped out quite a few people I know when they contacted his office. And one of those was literally a life & death situation.
Posted by: ellsbells930 | April 28, 2009, 6:23 pm 6:23 pm
This quote is what really ticks me off – “I am unwilling to have my 29-year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate,”
Excuse me!! Who was it that elected him? And he doesn’t want to be judged by the people who elected him?
Posted by: ellsbells930 | April 28, 2009, 6:28 pm 6:28 pm
“Ryan C – You know I lean to the right, but I can’t stand when people get facts that are easily checked wrong.”
Good for you.
We may disagree but I admire a respect for the truth.
Posted by: Ryan C | April 28, 2009, 6:36 pm 6:36 pm
- Republicans are doomed to extinction as a political party….. these are their constituents, and like Michelle Bachman, they don’t make lot of sense…..
..” Concerned Women for America, about the nomination of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kans.) to run the Department of Health and Human Services. The group opposes the nomination, and Wright is raising some questions about the timing of the swine flu crackdown so close to tomorrow’s cloture vote.
“Some people think that declaring a state of emergency about the flu was a political thing to push the Sebelius nomination through,” said Wright. She pointed to news stories that ask whether the slow-walking of the Sebelius choice will hurt the response to the flu. “If there’s even a hint that [Department of Homeland Security] is manipulating the health situation to push a political appointee through, well, it almost defies imagination that they’d be willing to that.”
Wright said that she’d heard the speculation “on talk radio,” and wanted to be skeptical, but “there’s too much of a basis in that argument to easily dismiss it.”
Posted by: USA | April 28, 2009, 6:47 pm 6:47 pm
Ryan C
Michelle Bachman is ‘my girl’ ;-)
There is no finer representative or spokesperson for the Republican party.
The insight and factual evidence she brings to every topic is only matched by the superior intellects of Rush, Coulter, Gingrich, Cheney, Cantor, McConnell and a cast of thousands.
Bachman is THE reason to vote ‘fringe’.
Posted by: Dewde | April 28, 2009, 6:52 pm 6:52 pm
“Wright said that she’d heard the speculation “on talk radio,” and wanted to be skeptical, but “there’s too much of a basis in that argument to easily dismiss it.””
Is this even remotely surprising?
Rush, Beck & Hannity make their livings by lying to people and making them angry.
Posted by: Ryan C | April 28, 2009, 6:53 pm 6:53 pm
“Bachman is THE reason to vote ‘fringe’.”
That’s a great bumper sticker
“Vote Fringe!”
Posted by: Ryan C | April 28, 2009, 6:53 pm 6:53 pm
USA said “Republicans are doomed to extinction as a political party…..”
And a little over 3 years ago, the media was proclaiming the same about the Democratic party. It just takes one charismatic person to arrive on the scene & change the whole tone -as we saw with Barack Obama. We may see 2 terms of Obama & one term of another Democrat, but then the tide will shift back to the conservative side – it always does… and the cycle will begin again.
Posted by: ellsbells930 | April 28, 2009, 7:00 pm 7:00 pm
“And a little over 3 years ago, the media was proclaiming the same about the Democratic party. It just takes one charismatic person to arrive on the scene & change the whole tone -as we saw with Barack Obama”
While I think obits for the GOP are far too premature, I think it will take more than a single charismatic pol to bring back the party.
That could get the GOP the Presidency but to really come back they need to rebuild from the bottom up much like the Democrats did in wake of 2004.
We’ve seen some inklings of that thru Cantor but Steele seems clueless.
Posted by: Ryan C | April 28, 2009, 7:06 pm 7:06 pm
Rather transparent isn’t it?
Posted by: LongT | April 29, 2009, 9:14 am 9:14 am
Oh Happy Day! Don’t worry boys and girls. Alls we needs now is for this rediculous fiasco in Minnesota to reach it’s rightful and inevitable conclusion and the good guys can get back to restoring the constitution!
Posted by: mike |
—————————————-
Wow, you can really say that with a straight face considering all of the business takeovers the government is currently involved in?
Posted by: dragoon70056 | April 29, 2009, 11:34 am 11:34 am