Saxby Wins, Work Begins

Saxby Chambliss won the Senate runoff easily yesterday.  That's good, but it doesn't mean that we're done paying attention to Saxby Chambliss.  Now that Saxby's amnesty is over, I can go back to pointing out that, considering Saxby's legislative record, with a Republican like Saxby Chambliss, we don't need a Democrat.  He has been too quick to go along with "bipartisan" (read:  liberal) positions to try and work with Democrats in the past (Gang of 10, the bailout plan, farm subsidy pork, Medicare drug bill, his original support for the amnesty bill), whether for personal political gain or for real policy ideas.  Regardless of Saxby's motives, the point remains that he has not legislated as a conservative, despite what he tried to claim last night of holding the ideals of Ronald Reagan.  If he should have learned one thing about this year's election, it should be that if you want to win in Georgia you have to be a conservative.  Not being a liberal all of the time is not going to be enough.  If Saxby Chambliss had not been a part of the Gang of 10, and had he not voted for the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, he would have won this race by 15 points without a runoff.

 

That said, now is the time to really hold Saxby's feet to the fire, and to start looking for qualified conservatives who would be ready to challenge fellow "bipartisan" non-conservative Johnny Isakson in a primary in 2010 (my picks would be either John Linder or Jack Kingston, both of whom voted against the bailout and have strong conservative records otherwise).  On Saxby, there are some things to be pleased about, primarily the fact that he is the sponsor of the FairTax Act in the Senate.  He also has some other conservative positions; he just seems too willing to betray them when he gets an opportunity to be "bipartisan."  We need to hold Saxby's feet to the fire and make sure that he learns his lesson.  The first step, according to Erick Erickson, is to push Chambliss to fire his Democrat Chief of Staff who has possibly pushed him to accept some of the "bipartisan" compromises.  On Johnny, it seems to be the same story.  Now is the time for the grassroots of conservatism to get in gear for a primary opponent to Johnny Isakson; the only problems are the incumbency advantage and the possibility that no notable Republican will want to anger the Party by running against an incumbent.

 

How about some links now?

 

The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza has the winners and losers (other than Saxby and the Footstool) from the runoff.

 

The Big Three are just short of getting down on their knees and begging for a bailout, and they are so confident that they can get it that they admit that there is no plan B, even though GM's own business plan admits that they're doomed.  Their "business plans" do not involve restructuring the way that they need to; it's just a PR stunt to make the Congress-critters like them.  Not that members of Congress care, but 61% of the American people oppose the auto bailout.  There is one other idea that is floating around, from the latest issue of Newsweek:  let the Big Three merge into one company.

 

At least the United Auto Workers is willing to compromise a little bit to help the Big Three, but not enough to really matter.

 

Time for a moment of clarity:  the head of the FDIC said that the federal government needs an "exit strategy" to get out of the financial rescue plan.  I have a feeling this thing is going to go all quagmire on us.

 

President-elect Obama has decided that he doesn't want a windfall profits tax on the oil companies after all.  The prices just got too low to make it politically feasible.

 

Perry County, Alabama has declared an annual "Barack Obama Day" that will be a paid holiday for all county employees.

 

The girl in the famous Depression-era "Migrant Mother" photograph said that the family was ashamed by the picture.  Compare that to today, when a 29-year-old single mother of ten proudly goes to a newspaper to ask for more help because her welfare payments aren't enough.

 

Houston Health Care is optimistic about their 2009 fiscal year, largely because they have a low percentage of their patients who are paid for by government.

 

A Warner Robins man was sentenced to five years for breaking into a car because it was his eighth felony conviction.

 

Tonight is the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show!  Woohoo!