Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Say no to Fred Thompson

When the modern day guru of conservative politics talks, you would be wise to pay attention. Fred Thompson has been the subject of a lot of press the last few days. My friend Riley says it is mostly the “drive by media” attacking Fred. I disagree, there are many true conservatives that don't trust Fred. Today Richard Viguerie author of the best selling book Conservatives Betrayed and leader of ConservativeHQ wrote over four thousand words about Fred Thompson. He titled the article - Conservatives, Beware of Fred Thompson. He begins with:

“He disappointed conservatives during his eight years in the Senate. Is there any reason to think this Washington insider and veteran trial lawyer would be any better as President?”

He continues with a step by step look at Fred Thompson from a true conservative view point. Is Fred Thompson conservative? It depends on who you compare him with.

“Fred Thompson’s record may appear to be “conservative,” but only by comparison with Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, or Mitt Romney, and a Less-of-a-Big Government Republican is still a Big Government Republican. And given his lack of conservative leadership as a Senator, it would be a grave mistake to expect conservative leadership from him as President.

Indeed. Viguerie looks at Fred's senate record and American Conservative Union (ACU) ratings to reach this conclusion. He writes:

"Conservatives who look to Thompson for salvation need to pause and consider his record—a record that includes these votes:"

♦ FOR restricting the rights of grassroots organizations to communicate with the public. See ACU’s vote 3, 1998.

♦ FOR allowing the IRS to require political and policy organizations to disclose their membership—a vote against the constitutional rights of free association and privacy. (The Clinton Administration used such IRS intimidation against conservative groups that opposed them.) See ACU’s vote 11, 2000.

♦ AGAINST impeachment proceedings against President Clinton, specifically the reappointment and reauthorization of managers (drawn from the Republican membership of the House Judiciary Committee) to conduct the impeachment trial in the Senate. See ACU’s vote 1, 1999.

♦ AGAINST an accelerated elimination of the “marriage penalty.” See ACU’s vote 10, 2001.

♦ FOR handouts to politicians, specifically taxpayer funding of presidential campaigns. See ACU’s vote 6, 1995.

♦ FOR handouts to politicians, specifically congressional perks such as postage and broadcast time funded by taxpayers. See ACU’s vote 13, 1996.

♦ AGAINST restraints on federal spending, specifically the Phil Gramm (R-TX) amendment to limit non-defense discretionary spending to the fiscal 1997 levels requested by President Clinton. See ACU’s vote 6, 1997.

♦ FOR affirmative action in federal contracts. See ACU’s vote 9, 1995.

♦ FOR the Legal Services Corporation, the perennial liberal boondoggle that provides political activism disguised as “legal services” to Democratic constituencies. See ACU’s vote 16, 1995, and vote 17, 1999.

♦ FOR an increase in the minimum wage, which, of course, increases unemployment among the young and poor. See ACU’s vote 16, 1996.

♦ FOR President Clinton’s nomination of Dr. David Satcher as U.S. Surgeon General. Among other things, Satcher opposed a full ban on partial-birth abortion. See ACU’s vote 1, 1998.

♦ FOR open-ended military commitments, specifically in regard to U.S. troops in Kosovo. See ACU’s vote 8, 2000.

♦ FOR corporate welfare, specifically the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). See ACU’s vote 23. 1999.

♦ AGAINST worker and shareholder rights, specifically the Hatch (R-UT) amendment to require unions and corporations to obtain permission from dues-paying members or shareholders before spending money on political activities. See ACU’s votes 4 and 5, 2001.

♦ AGAINST property rights and FOR unlimited presidential power, specifically by allowing President Clinton to implement the American Heritage Rivers Initiative, which he established by executive order, without congressional approval. See ACU’s vote 20, 1997.

♦ FOR restricting the First Amendment (free speech) rights of independent groups. See ACU’s vote 23, 1997.

♦ FOR the trial lawyers lobby, and specifically against a bill that would put common-sense limitations on the medical malpractice suits that increase health costs for all of us. (Of course! He’s been a trial lawyer himself for some three decades.) See ACU’s vote 18, 2002.

And, last but not least:

♦ FOR limitations on campaign freedom of speech, by limiting contributions to national political parties to $2,000 and limiting the rights of individuals and groups to participate in the political process in the two months before elections. See ACU’s vote 7, 2002.

There you have it. The actor who talks like a tough conservative has, in his real political life, voted in all these ways to increase the power of the federal government, limit the rights of taxpayers and individual citizens, and shut grassroots activists out of the political process.

Fred Thompson championed McCain/Feingold....I encourage you to go read the whole article here. It also covers the abortion issue that is in question. That part will leave you wondering just where the hell this guy stands. No drive by media views here. This is the real Thompson record viewed by one of the leading conservatives of our time.

Duncan Hunter For President

2 Comments:

Blogger S.K. Johnson said...

Go Duncan Hunter! He is the man for the job bar none. Keep up the good work guys, right now is the prime opportunity for Duncan to start moving up. Fred is building up to lose his conservative base very soon. Be sure to support by voting in these polls:

ation, if we just get 500 votes we'll be in second place! (http://apps.facebook.com/elections/) (http://www.voteonthebook.com/candidates/view/Duncan_Hunter)

www.gopstrawpolls.com

www.strawpoll08.com
http://www.2008horserace.com/
http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/01/bloggers_online.html
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http://2ru.pollhost.com/
http://www.allamericanpatriots.com/%5Bpoll%5D_if_u_s_presidential_election_were_held_today_whom_would_you_vote

July 16, 2007 at 11:51 AM  
Blogger Gary C. Huggins said...

Duncan Hunter is the conservative candidate of choice. The fact that the GOP is running neoconservative RINO's, as front runners while relegating Duncan Hunter, a genuine conservative, to bench sitting in the lower tier is an indication that conservatives need to ruck up and take the GOP back Duncan Hunter is THE conservative candidate of choice. The fact that the GOP is running neoconservative RINO's, rightly labelled as "the Kennedy wing of the GOP," as front runners while relegating Duncan Hunter, a genuine conservative, to bench sitting in the lower tier is an indication that conservatives need to ruck up and take the GOP back from what Hunter has rightly described as the "Kennedy Wing of the GOP".

August 10, 2007 at 11:34 AM  

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