Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The Republican Fear Factor

As a “blue dog,” or fiscally conservative Democrat, Cooper voted against the first version of the stimulus bill. He then subsequntly voted for the second version.

He recently commented that he spoke with 10 or 15 Republican colleagues in the House who were in favor of the $787 billion federal economic stimulus bill, but feared Republican leadership too much to vote for it.

The bill passed with no Republican votes in the House, and only three in the Senate.
...many Republicans in the House are virtually immune from Democratic challenges because of the makeup of their districts, and have more to fear from GOP primary challenges in 2010. As a result, they have relatively little political incentive to break with conservative orthodoxy and support hundreds of billions in new federal spending.
Wimps!

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