U.S. Senate: Burning Down the House

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

How are social conservatives opposed to fiscal conservatism? It is conservative to believe that Americans shouldn't suckle off the tit of the system, but rather work hard for what you've got. They could go either way, but I don't see why they are more inclined to blow their wallets all over the place.

"Compassionate conservatism" isn't well defined, but all its advocates spend like the Dems, so I don't really see the point.

Meanwhile, the neo-cons think we can invade people on the cheap, so...

[ICantSpellDawg]

"Compassionate conservatism" isn't well defined, but all its advocates spend like the Dems, so I don't really see the point.

Meanwhile, the neo-cons think we can invade people on the cheap, so...

Because Bush was an idiot, all social conservatives are spendthrifts?

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Show me a social conservative who opposed Bush's spending, both on welfare programs and bloody foreign wars.

[Xiahou]

I dont think the social conservatives themselves are the problem, I think it was the GOP's over-reliance on them. They seemed to think that they could get by on pandering to them alone and could throw the small government conservatives overboard.

I think either side trying to drive a wedge between economic conservatives and social conservatives is making a mistake- I believe there is a fair amount of overlap for both groups. I would be case in point on that.

[Lemur]

Getting back to Senatorial news, there's a multi-layered web of weirdness enfolding David Vitter (R-LA). You may only know Vitter as the diaper-wearing patron of prostitutes, but there's so much more to know about our hero!

After the many-faceted failures surrounding hurricane Katrina, FEMA has been a bit of a sore point. The Obama administration chose to nominate one Craig Fugate as the new head. I'll let the newspapers take it from here:

A Louisiana senator is stalling Florida emergency management director Craig Fugate's nomination as head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Fugate had sailed through his nomination hearing and Monday cleared the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee by a unanimous voice vote. Republican Sen. David Vitter said, however, that he'd blocked Fugate because of concerns he has with FEMA.

"I have a hold on the FEMA nomination because I sent a list of hurricane recovery questions and projects to FEMA, many of which have not been adequately addressed," Vitter said in a statement. "I'm eager to get full responses and meet with the nominee immediately."

The hold -- which comes a month before the start of hurricane season -- was reported in CQ Today, a Capitol Hill newspaper, which noted that Vitter's home state "bore the brunt of the botched agency response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005."

At that time, FEMA was led by Michael Brown, who had little emergency management experience. Fugate, however, garnered widespread praise for deft handling of back-to-back hurricanes in Florida and won bipartisan support at his confirmation hearing and was expected to be confirmed swiftly.

So diaper-loving whoremonger Vitter wants FEMA to remain leaderless a month out from hurricane season so that he can get better answers from FEMA. Still with me?

This may be why famed porn star Stormy Daniels is launching a "listening tour" through Louisiana to see if she should contest Vitter in the Republican primary, as advocated by the Draft Stormy website. For further details:

While she may seem to be a longshot now, imagine, if you will, the sight of eager throngs all over the state, waiting in anticipation for Stormy Daniels to come. When she gets there, the crowd erupts thunderously. In politics, perception is reality, and scenes like this will go a long way to establishing Stormy Daniels as a contender.

So far this story has hurricanes, diapers, FEMA, Michael Brown, porn, Stormy Daniels, the U.S. Senate, whores and David Vitter. There's nothing missing, except maybe a transsexual and the Office of Budget Management.

[Marshal Murat]

I think Specter switched parties because he is the member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and heard that Souter is retiring. The Supreme Court Justice would want another liberal to take his place on the board, and while Specter and the Republicans won't be able to block the next appointment; Specter can get some great publicity from the new appointment process not appealing to his "traditional demographic" who doesn't care about him anymore, but by appealing to his new constituency.

[Don Corleone]

Purge Watch: Huffington Post Weighs In on "Not Just Democrat, Progressive Democrat: Sestack considering primary run against Arlen Specter: D-PA".

I for one happen to agree with the Huffington Post and Mr. Mogolescu. The Democratic Party should stop worrying about the Republican party and instead focus on getting so-called "Blue Dog Democrats" out of office. And I coudn't possibly agree more with the sentiment that the first Democrat that should receive an electoral atomic wedgie by a more progressive primary challenger is Sen. Arlen Spector-D Pennsylvania. After all, Specter didn't keep his word... he voted with the Republicans on the Bankruptcy Reform Act, preventing a measure that would have allowed courts to restructure mortgages in bankruptcy.

If Specter wouldn't vote Democrat on such a crucial bill, and refuses to declare that he won't vote to always block Republican filibusters, I don't think the Democrats are getting enough for the senate seat they're selling to him and they should offer it to somebody that will embolden "hope and change".