Showing posts with label Little republicans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Little republicans. Show all posts

Friday, September 17, 2010

Murkowski Running As An Independent????????

What a loser. What a candidate so out of touch with what is going on in America. What a woman so desperate to cling to the little power she may have.

I was actually planning to go work for O'Donnell. I think I will go work to organize grassroots support against Murkowski because she is exactly what is wrong with the Republican establishment.

Murkowski is a whining little entitlement loser.

I will work, since she has announced a NRSC loser position, to defeat her. Not just defeat her, embarrass her, by electing Miller.

Murkowski and the establishment in Washington, DC needs to be put down. What the Hell is that group in DC looking for? A handout from daddy?

UPDATE:
Hot Air has some thoughts as well.
R.S. McCain also has some thoughts on "Lisa the Loser".

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Murkowski Is Like Crist: Screw'em. Give Me The Power And The Money

NRSC Triptik

Murkowski, like Crist of Florida, might be busy proving that they are little republican in the Republican Party that believe only in themselves and are only out for themselves. That the NRSC is assisting her in undermining real Republicans in Alaska is a sign of bureaucratic bloatedness and comfort in positions they feel are no longer answerable to Republican voters nationwide.

300,000 - 500,000 people in front of the Lincoln Memorial feel differently. The left is paying close attention to that rally to find imagined racism and any other fault they can find. The Republican power elites seem to not only have not heard of the rally, but seem to have forgotten where the Lincoln Memorial is sited. If they were to find the memorial they'd be able to read Lincoln's words and then possibly find their way back to believing in what the Republican Party stands for.

If they don't know where the Lincoln Memorial is they just have to remember the next time they go to the Public Affairs Office for the US Mint for some coin, that they continue on west to their favorite, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Then hop back on Independence Ave going west until they see the Lincoln Memorial on the right. Maybe it might be more simple to just ask any tourist in town to guide them.

Once there they will find Lincoln quotes such as, "Allow all the governed an equal voice in the government, and that, and that only, is self-government," which is actually part of this quote, "I have quoted so much at this time merely to show that, according to our ancient faith, the just powers of governments are derived from the consent of the governed. Now the relation of master and slave is pro tanto a total violation of this principle. The master not only governs the slave without his consent, but he governs him by a set of rules altogether different from those which he prescribes for himself. Allow all the governed an equal voice in the government, and that, and that only, is self-government."

Remember the "just powers of government" part of the quote if remembering all of it is just too much.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Who Says Pols Can't Do Honest Work?

Abramoff, From Prison to a Pizzeria Job

Personally, I would have him shoveling      out of barns. With his hands.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Conservative Republican Caught With Pants Down Resigns

As he should. Once out of office he should go door to door and apologize for his lies and the shattering of the trust his supporters put in him.

Indiana Rep. Mark Souder to Resign Amid Allegations of Affair With Staffer

Some will say he made a mistake, which he did. More than just a mistake he has distracted from important debates about our future by living the lie of being a "family values" representative of the people. Now he needs to pay for that mistake before he can begin to rebuild his life. Good.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Biggest DUH! Of The Day

Illegals plan to leave AZ over law...


BONUS: Moron of the Day:
 
Mack (R) compares Ariz. law to Nazi Germany
"This law of 'frontier justice' – where law enforcement officials are required to stop anyone based on 'reasonable suspicion' that they may be in the country illegally – is reminiscent of a time during World War II when the Gestapo in Germany stopped people on the street and asked for their papers without probable cause," Mack said in a statement.
 
Nice, Connie. Our frontier is Nazi Germany?Our law enforcers are like the Gestapo? Unfortunately Connie, your statement that law enforcers are "required to stop anyone based on 'reasonable suspicion' that they may be in the country illegally" is false. Read the legislation before you employ your mouth.

Sooner Or Later He Will Be Crucified

Crist to Run as Independent in FL Sen Race

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Tea And Coffee: A Constitutional Republic VS The Tyranny Of The Mob

To understand our form of government is not hard. Read the Constitution and amendments usually is a pretty easy way to start. To respect and honor our form of government is obviousley not so easy, just look at progressives, the courts and local and state governments and the federal government. They backstab our founders seemingly at will.

The Coffee Party believes the middle is consensus. The Tea Party believes the middle is the Constitution.

The Constitution is not a living document. It is based in principle as the vision for the United States of America's future and the founders deplored the idea of the mob controlling America whether it was the tyranny of the large states stepping on the rights of smaller states, industrial over agriculture or large government crushing the liberty of individuals.

let's start a coffee party . . . smoothie party. red bull party. anything but tea. geez. ooh how about cappuccino party? that would really piss 'em off bec it sounds elitist . . . let's get together and drink cappuccino and have real political dialogue with substance and compassion.

Progress is patriotic, they tell the camera. Wake up. Espresso yourself. Something is brewing, America.

How about a Latte Liberal Party? Yes, progress is patriotic, but not all progress(ivism), only progress that fits within the Constitution.



About Us
We are diverse — ethnically, geographically, politically, in age and in experience.
We are 100% grassroots. No lobbyists here. No pundits. And no hyper-partisan strategists calling the shots in this movement. We are a spontaneous and collective expression of our desire to forge a culture of civic engagement that is solution-oriented, not blame-oriented.


Your web presence shows that you are 100% grassroots, eh? Sharing goals, venues and projects with MoveOn, Organizing for America, unions, MSM and others and your coming out of the gate with professional logos, videos, websites and all of you fellow groups pounding the intertoobs to create the sense of an overnight avalanche of support. You're so hyper-partisan and non spontaneous, it will be interesting to unravel your finances to see who has really been funding you from inception.

We demand a government that responds to the needs of the majority of its citizens as expressed by our votes and by our voices; NOT corporate interests as expressed by misleading advertisements and campaign contributions.


We want a society in which democracy is treated as sacrosanct and ordinary citizens participate out of a sense of civic duty, civic pride, and a desire to contribute to society. The Coffee Party is a call to action. Our Founding Fathers and Mothers gave us an enduring gift — Democracy — and we must use it to meet the challenges that we face as a nation.


Any group is the sum of its parts. The Coffee Party is growing quickly and absorbing a variety of views and opinions. The one thing we all agree on is that Government has to change… and we would like it to change for the better instead of rolling back to the last Century.

Demand all you want as long as those demands are within the Constitution which clearly lays out the reason and the form of our form of government.

Democracy may be sacrosanct somewhere, but not here. You will call it nitpicking, which belies an ignorance of governance, but the United States of America is a Republic which is quite different than the tyranny of Democracy's majority. Again, you can demand all you want concerning the needs of the majority (who decides those needs to be prioritized by the majority?) as witnessed by your votes and voices, but again, Constitution; Republic; Law.

Vienna, Va.: If you look at the recent Pew study on the Millennial Generation, that group is more progressive than the preceding generations. How are the Coffee Party Groups specifically reaching out to that cohort? They are really important.

Annabel Park: Great point, Vienna! The Millennial Generation, frankly, has a lot to teach the rest of us when comes to appreciation of diversity and a sense of collective identity that transcends the usual lines that divide us. We want to appeal to them to not only be involved, but to take on leadership. We are starting chapters on college campuses where students can come together to practice democracy as a community.


I'm sure one of your instantaneous grassroots support groups will help you with this. Maybe the NEA and the Department of Education?

We believe that, when the Millennial Generation steps up for our country's future, it will lead to profound changes in our politics.

Annabel Park: We want to shift the paradigm from thinking of politics as a zero-sum game with two opposing sides. If one side loses, the other side wins. This is not a democracy. This is a misunderstanding of the tenets of democracy.


And you misunderstand the tenets of the Republic of the United States of America.

Democracy is based on the notion of the common good. People should come together to go through a deliberation process to produce collective decisions that benefit the common good.

Here in our Republic that deliberation process is called elections. You'll see the process in action next November.

What would Abraham Lincoln suggest if he were living today? Would he be willing to sit down and have a cup of coffee and discuss our nations issues? I think so (just maybe not with me). After the Civil War, the North had won a significant battle. He did not tell the people to follow the rules of a zero sum game. He did not recommend that we obstruct democracy but that we be "flexible in our efforts."

Lincoln never stated that we should be "flexible in our efforts." If the Civil War was not a zero sum then Lincoln would have compromised and toned down the rhetoric with the Confederacy. The unconditional surrender of the Confederacy was definitely zero sum. One wins. One loses.

The snowballing response made her the de facto coordinator of Coffee Party USA, with goals far loftier than its oopsy-daisy origin: promote civility and inclusiveness in political discourse, engage the government not as an enemy but as the collective will of the people, push leaders to enact the progressive change for which 52.9 percent of the country voted in 2008.

Oopsy-daisy my butt and that 52.9% is evaporating as quickly as they find out who Obama is and that progressive is just another way to spell socialist.

Republic, constitution and law. Form, process and the way things must be done. Fairly damned simple for most people.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Excellent Advice On NY-23

I have long countered that 3rd parties are destructive to Republicans and dilute the power of the people. NY-23 is an example of the antithesis in that locals are sending a clear message that machine politics is wrong for Republicans.

Newt Gingrich has become embroiled in the hopes of retaining a unified Republican showing at the polls, which is laudable, but is also interference in local politics, which is not laudable.

Instapundit has some excellent advice which to me cuts the Gordian knot of this conundrum:

To my mind, it’s more important — that people not divide into permanently warring camps than that anything in particular happen in this election. The nice thing about NY-23 is that it’s an opportunity to send a message at low cost, but the cost won’t be low if it produces long-running enmity. Instead, it should be a spur for people to get involved in politics at the state and local level now, rather than complaining about the nominees later.

A Republican Party filled with activists that work together and ignore the petty politics of "my way is the only true way" will lead us back out of the nightmare that is Washington, DC today.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

I Agree With LaHood

And he should start with the biggest mouths such as Reid, Rangel, Pelosi Emanuel, Schumer and Durbin for starters.

I mean we should at least try to get back to the good old days of Cynthia McKinney.

Secretary slams political 'trash talk'
"Now, when you get farmers picking their corn and beans, driving around in their (tractor) cabs listening to, from 9 to 3, these guys all revved up against Obama, against everything that he's trying to accomplish, that gets people stirred up. "

Yeah, nothing worse than those hick farmers listening to Limbaugh, Hannity and Beck. They just might grab a pitchfork when they hear what this administration has planned.

LaHood went on to say, "And it also gives the idea that maybe these politicians don't know what they're doing."

Yep, he'd be right about that.

Jeez, do these guys know why we had our butts kicked in elections of late. We acted and voted like Democrats, tried to be really really nice guys and finally ended up as corrupt as Rangle.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Entrepreneurs VS Bad Government & Unions In Ohio

via Instapundit from the American

Ohio has had a bad run these past years. When I left for DC to work many years ago Ohio had one of the lowest tax rates in the country and the state was thriving. Upon returning, I told my wife how great Ohio was and we were shocked at what we found. Liberal Democrats were in place and little republicans acted just like them. Ohio, my home state that I love, was looking like Michigan and losing jobs almost as fast while taxes continued to go up and up. We actually pay higher taxes than we did in the People's Republic of Montgomery in Maryland.

Ohio is dying. Dying at the hands of do-gooders supporting legislators at all levels garnering power in the name of the people in order to keep and grow their power. They have, like blue states, harnessed the power to bribe large sections of the electorate and money people. They are killing one of the best states in the nation that used to be a bell weather state that quietly suggested the future of the country through large and small industry, agriculture, a vast higher education system and politics. As Ohio went, so went the nation.

Now, as the nation goes, so went Ohio, downward to the "common good" to the detriment of all that is good. Small sections of society were held up by special interest groups and politicians as those that deserve the ideal of an America that gives grace. Large chunks of the economy were taken from the majority to finance this grace, but those chunks, in both large and small amounts, started to erode the financial base and goodwill of Ohio's people and employers. Both started leaving for states that envied what Ohio had, thus those other states did something smart, they lured them with lower taxes and less government. They went. Not Ohio, they, our people, our best, went. Ohio became a coastal state in thought, but without the coast.

As the outward trickle of "doers" grew, politicians, organizers, special interest groups and bureaucrats drew from the past, failed models of ideals. They bemoaned that if only we "helped" resurrect failed ideals such as (forced) government supported unions, larger governmental intrusion into the failed sections of society and more taxes as examples, Ohio would prosper and become a "good" state, but not if we returned to our old hayseed ways. Ohio became a union state with the government, including teachers, as the largest union. A union of bureaucrats.

There are a few who belie this trend through entrepreneurship and the ability to keep ahead of the blackmail payments to the federal, state and local authorities. I don't believe they are all Republicans or Democrats, they are driven to do their best. They give their best to their workers, their community and the state.

Below is such a story.

A Tale of Two $100,000 Jobs — A Tale of Two Americas

(Be sure to link through to the BusinessWeek story)

Ohio needs entrepreneurs, but most will go elsewhere to find a better environment in which to do their magic. Our environment will not improve until Republicans stop acting like liberals.

Until then, Ohio will continue its decent into a third-state environment. Like Michigan.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

NYTs Excuses 8 republican Votes For Passage Of Cap & Trade

I have seldom tied one vote to a members tail, but these eight have no excuse. The legislation has no redeeming value for anyone, anywhere in the country, except bureaucrats and federal power grabbers.

Conservative Ire Rains on 8 Republicans Who Voted for House Climate Bill
"I don't think one can minimize why this was a truly hideous vote for those eight folks," a commentator on the conservative blog the "Next Right" wrote. "Here we had a chance to derail the Obama socialism train and restore the Republican party to policy relevance, and these guys bailed out so they could get a nice mention in the NY Times."
...

But the NYTs has an excuse for all of them.

The eight House Republicans who voted in favor of the bill generally represent the remains of the party's moderate wing and some have to deal with political circumstances that are unique in the GOP caucus.

But there is no excuse. None, nada and zip and if they voted this way to save their political butts, well, then I suggest they all look to Mr. Specter. His old allies look away when walks in and his new allies don't trust him.

Now the Left has eight new patsies and the Republican Party has eight members they can't trust.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Outrage Over republican Pelosi Pets & Passage of Cap and Trade Energy Bill

The bill passed 219 - 212.

Eight (8) republicans voted for it.

Without their support, the vote would have been 220 against and 211 for the bill.

The eight republicans passed the bill.

The Republican Party and members should be publicly outraged and call these eight out for ridicule.

This bill is actually a cap and tax power grab by Congress and that eight republicans voted for it is absolutely outrageous. That Congress as a whole voted for it is unbelievable, especially when the whole bill is based on silly science that is being disputed by muzzled scientist worldwide.

These so-called republican Pelosi Pets that voted for this big government intervention lie:

Bono Mack (CA) 202-225-5330
Castle (DE) 202-225-4165
Kirk (IL) 202-225-4835
Lance (NJ) 202-225-5361
Lobiondo (NJ) 202-225-6572
McHugh (NY) 202-225-4611
Reichart (WA) 202-225-7761
Chris Smith (NJ) 202-225-3765

44 democrats voted against the bill. Many did so for CYA, but some voted against this governmental boondoggle out of principle.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Arms twisted & Broken Off - What Did Pelosi Bribe Them With?

I am so ashamed by these losers.

Bono Mack (CA) 202-225-5330
Castle (DE) 202-225-4165
Kirk (IL) 202-225-4835
Lance (NJ) 202-225-5361
Lobiondo (NJ) 202-225-6572
McHugh (NY) 202-225-4611
Reichart (WA) 202-225-7761
Chris Smith (NJ) 202-225-3765

When Steny Hoyer praises them, there is trouble in River City and we have trouble in River City when these losers help Obama's agenda move forward.

What jerks. Traitors.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Obama's World (Our World) Imploding, But Save The NCAA From Itself

Schwarzenegger Opens Up Fairgrounds to Residents of Tent City... but CA can give everybody...
States consider drug tests for welfare recipients... bout time
NKOREA LOADING ROCKET just chat with them
CLINTON WARNS Minnie Me is quaking in his Blow Fish skin boots
PENTAGON DEPLOYS ANTI-MISSILE WARSHIPS Obama the militarist
Roubini Says Stocks Will Drop, Government Will Nationalize More Banks... Obama the Socialist
SOROS: 'I'M HAVING A VERY GOOD CRISIS'... Soros the Socialist who preys on countries
Postal chief says post office running out of money... try email
NYC transit agency adopts fare hikes, service cuts... but NYC can give everybody...
PAPER: Rahm Emanuel's Short FREDDIE MAC stay made him $320,000+... teh insiders insider
PAPER: FOREIGN FAILURES, NEW PREZ FLUNKING GLOBAL TESTS... shoulda studied
EU leader condemns US 'road to hell'; Attack highlights growing rift... just chat with them
URGENT MATTERS: Senate reviewing how college football picks No. 1... R's found some impact
Obama's Spending Plan Faces First Voter Test in New York Race... Developing... rigged test
Back in Boston, Obama's aunt fighting deportation... call nephew, chat
Geithner to Propose Vast Expansion Of Government Oversight... Obama the Socialist
Power to Regulate Hedge Funds, Markets... Obama the Socialist
Task Force to Overhaul Tax Code; 'Rebalance'... Obama the Socialist
AIG employees detail numerous, vile, outrageous death threats... Obama has found the enemy
TENSION: China criticizes new US report on its military... Hillary sure can chat
OBAMA SHOW: Viewership declines for press conference... Obama the long winded bore
CLINTON: USA to blame for much of Mexico violence... Hillary sure can chat

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Bill of Attainder: Republican Hall of Shame

Article I, Section 9, Clause 3 of the Constitution. It's not good to pander. Otherwise just be a Democrat. It's bad business to go about your business badly.

Aderholt
Alexander
Barton (TX)
Biggert
Bilbray
Bilirakis
Blunt
Bono Mack
Boozman
Brown (SC)
Brown-Waite, Ginny
Buchanan
Calvert
Camp
Cantor
Cao
Capito
Cassidy
Castle
Crenshaw
Davis (KY)
Dent
Diaz-Balart, L.
Diaz-Balart, M.
Duncan
Ehlers
Emerson
Fleming
Fortenberry
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Gerlach
Goodlatte
Guthrie
Heller
Herger
Hoekstra
Johnson (IL)
Jones
Kirk
Lance
Latham
Lewis (CA)
LoBiondo
Manzullo
McCaul
McClintock
McHugh
McMorris Rodgers
Mica
Miller (MI)
Moran (KS)
Petri
Platts
Putnam
Rehberg
Reichert
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Rooney
Roskam
Ros-Lehtinen
Royce
Ryan (WI)
Schmidt
Schock
Shimkus
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Smith (WA)
Stearns
Tiberi
Turner
Upton
Walden
Wamp
Whitfield
Wittman
Wolf
Young (AK)
Young (FL)

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Swedish Banking First Step Of Nationalizing Into Socialism

And McCain and Graham Leading Republicans Who Agree With Obama

Bank nationalisation gains ground with Republicans
Long regarded in the US as a folly of Europeans, nationalisation is gaining rapid acceptance among Washington opinion-formers – and not just with Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve chairman. Perhaps stranger still, many of those talking about nationalising banks are Republicans.

Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator for South Carolina, says that many of his colleagues, including John McCain, the defeated presidential candidate, agree with his view that nationalisation of some banks should be “on the table”.
...
“You should not get caught up on a word [nationalisation],” he told the Financial Times in an interview. “I would argue that we cannot be ideologically a little bit pregnant. It doesn’t matter what you call it, but we can’t keep on funding these zombie banks [without gaining public control]. That’s what the Japanese did.”

You cannot be ideologically a little bit socialist either. A government that accepts a little socialism, as our government already has, is more willing to accept more and more, arguing that we've always returned to capitalism in the past.

At what point will Congress decide that there is no reason to return to capitalism and retreat from socialism? We may be at that point.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

How Much Did Specter, Collins & Snowe Charge For Their Yes Votes?

As I wrote before, Specter, Snowe & Collins: Republican Repercussions, it is now apparent that the three Republicans who voted for the power grab by government, known as the Stimulus Plan, had a price for their vote. They were bought.

Renegade Republicans Push Stimulus Over The Finish Line
President Obama owes the passage of his stimulus bill to three senators from the losing side, reports CBS News correspondent Kimerly Dozier.

Renegade Republicans – senators Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine – tipped the balance toward Mr. Obama's plan in a late night Senate vote on Friday, forwarding the package to the president's desk by a 60-38 margin. "I really believe that what I decided to do was right," Collins said.

She and Snowe used the political weight of their swing votes to wield influence far greater than their state's 1.3 million residents, Dozier reports.

I know what people are called that sell themselves, but do Specter, Collins and Snowe? They should give Eliot Spitzer a call. I hear he pays better.

Of course, I'm sure there is a section buried in the Stimulus bill to nationalize brothels and unionize pimping that will mandate a set price, but the OSHA regulations will be the most interesting.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Obama Unions Quid Pro Quo United Against Republicans

UPDATE: I wish I could post the response to AFSCME's attack ads put together by Rep. Cantor's staff, but it is too vulgar. Made to sound like a Jersey union goon, it is funny and makes fun of the self righteous attitude of the unions.

Via The Plum Line
Update: Brad Woodhouse, the head of Americans United for Change, which is also funding the initial ad hitting the GOP leadership, sends over a statement demanding that Cantor apologize.
"This is a childish and disgusting response to one of the most serious crises facing America in our lifetimes. This spoof of AFSCME has been floating around on YouTube for years — but its use in this context shows how completely and utterly out of touch with the current economic crisis and the lives of Americans Eric Cantor and the GOP leadership really is. Cantor should apologize."

Unfortunately Rep. Cantor has already apologized for the parody. Personally, I would start pumping them out, minus the vulgarities, as fast as I could. The unions, Democrats and all their internet thugs deserve all the ridicule hurled at them. That they act with such righteous indignation only makes this funnier.

Original:
Oh my. Unions spent millions to elect Obama to get in return support to buy Card Check legislation to enlarge unions and now that Obama is promising the unions millions back in repayment the unions can go after Republicans. That is what Obama and the unions colluded on from the beginning of his candidacy.

Obama allies attack GOP leadership
The labor-backed, pro-stimulus group Americans United for Change and the public workers' union AFSCME are going up with a national cable spot, also airing in Washington D.C., with the sharpest attack yet on Republican leaders in the House and Senate.
...
The radio spot targets Senators Voinovich of Ohio, Ensign of Nevada ,and Murkowski of Alaska and Reps. Shelley Moore Capito (WV). Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO), Jo Ann Emerson (MO), Jim Gerlach (PA), Charlie Dent (PA), Fred Upton (MI), Todd Platts (PA), Mike Castle (DE), Candice Miller (MI), Michael Turner (OH), Steve LaTourette (OH), Patrick Tiberi (OH), Eric Cantor (VA), Dave Reichert (WA), Bill Cassidy (LA), John Fleming (LA), Brett Guthrie KY), and Jim Cooper (TN).

Collusion between unions, special interest groups and the Democratic Party has never been more apparent and never more unAmerican.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Obama's Viagra Plan Slow To Raise Stimulus




But it puts a big glow in the unions sack full of coersion.

Specter, Collins & Snowe

I wonder just how much did their votes cost the Democrats and Obama?

Stimulus bill narrowly survives Senate test vote
An $838 billion economic stimulus bill backed by the White House survived a key test vote in the Senate on Monday despite strong Republican opposition, and Democratic leaders vowed to deliver legislation for President Barack Obama's signature within a few days.

The vote was 61-36, one more than the 60 needed to advance the measure toward Senate passage on Tuesday. That in turn, will set the stage for possibly contentious negotiations with the House on a final compromise on legislation the president says is desperately needed to tackle the worst economic crisis in more than a generation.

The Senate vote occurred as the Obama administration moved ahead on another key component of its economic recovery plan. Officials said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner would outline rules on Tuesday for $350 billion in bailout funds designed to help the financial industry as well as homeowners facing foreclosure.

Monday's vote was close but scarcely in doubt once the White House and Democratic leaders agreed to trim about $100 billion on Friday.

As a result, Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania broke ranks to cast their votes to advance the bill.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., battling a brain tumor, made his first appearance in the Capitol since suffering a seizure on Inauguration Day, and he joined all other Democrats in support of the measure.

"There is no reason we can't do this by the end of the week," said Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. He said he was prepared to hold the Senate in session into the Presidents Day weekend if necessary, and cautioned Republicans not to try and delay final progress.

He said passage would mark "the first step on the long road to recovery."

Moments before the vote, the Congressional Budget Office issued a new estimate that put the cost at $838 billion, an increase from the $827 billion figure from last week. Ironically, the agency said provisions in the bill intended to limit bonuses to executives at firms receiving federal bailout money would result in lower tax revenues for the government.

In this, the first major test of Republican will, these three rolled over like little puppies anxious to please, but it is worrisome to wonder who they were really pleasing.

How much will these three, and others if they feel there is no personal price to pay, cost our party and our nation over the next 4 years?