Arlen Specter and his jangly jowls are definitely the bane of our conservative existence.
He’s a fish face. Not to mention a friggin’ socialist who has eschewed free market principles and America’s founding wisdom to sell out to the nearest big government special interest.
Along with former President Bush, indicted Alaska porker Ted Stevens and those two socialist bitches from Maine, Specter is one of the main reasons Republicans are spending some time in the wilderness right now …
Well he’s not personally in the wilderness, of course, since Specter wasn’t up for reelection during the 2006 and 2008 Republican bloodbaths.
But he’s up for reelection in 2010, and according to Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post, things aren’t looking so good.
Not only does Specter face a brutal primary challenge, but he’s in Pennsylvania, which means that Democrats are going to mount a fierce general election campaign as well.
Given this array of potentially pernicious eventualities, Specter’s decision today to oppose a major pro-union bill is obviously being viewed through a political prism.
With the Senate currently standing at 59-40 on the bill, according to most head counts, Specter is the deciding vote on the oxymoronic Employee Free Choice Act, which in typical Washington fashion does the precise opposite of what its title suggests.
As noted on FITS previously, this bill is all about removing an individual employee’s right to a secret ballot and imposing compulsory arbitration in an effort to dramatically expand union membership in this country.
President Barack Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress all support the bill (hence the 59-40 thing), but they need Specter’s vote to break a filibuster, and they learned today they don’t have it.
Good.
And good for Specter.
We’re not saying Pennsylvania Republicans should vote for him or anything, but this was (is) a big, big issue – and he did right.
The “Employee Free Choice Act” makes a mockery of the individual freedom and entrepreneurial spirit that made this nation great.
Only an Arlen Specter Republican would support it, but fortunately Arlen Specter acted like a real Republican for a change and opposed it.
By FWFIV March 26, 2009 at 10:19 am
Craven political play to keep his seat. He was one of the original sponsors of the bill a few years ago.