The Most Important Pledge They Forsook

Just when we thought (& hoped) the House Freshman Republican class of 2010 (& all the rest of them for that matter) had come around to a financially responsible position re America's (& your) future we find that 65 of the 87 Members of the 2010 House Freshmen Republican class have once again abandoned ship.  No, I am not referring to their stated desire to retain the most popular features of ObamaCare – which is awful & despicable enough - but rather in this case to their broken pledge to forsake (redefined) earmarks – the home-state special interest projects that many lawmakers love because of the favors that flow back from the earmark recipients to the originating politician.

 

Last month the aforementioned 65 House Freshmen Republicans signed a letter to the Speaker endorsing the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB).  Senator Jim DeMint, working against the signatories of this letter to the Speaker, reports that 90% of the tariff cuts in the bill benefit 10 or fewer companies & that 40% of the tariff cuts help just one firm so ask yourself just how does this bill benefit America? – the answer is it doesn't – but it could very well politically benefit, in the short run, the supporters of the bill, of course @ the expense of the rest of us.  In summary, the purpose of the bill is to target special interest breaks that really are earmarks in the way they effectively work in one district but not another.

 

These tariff cuts are just another example of the myriad number of so-called tax expenditures that your elected representatives use against you to funnel your own hard earned money to special interests that help these politicians get re-elected.

 

Below is the complete list of the Members of the House Freshmen Republican Class along with their percent favorable ratings from the Club for Growth, a small-government group that focuses on economic & tax issues.  The ones who signed the aforementioned letter to the Speaker are highlighted in red.  I am sorry to report to my NJ neighbors that Jon Runyan of NJ is one of the signers (& is in the bottom ten Members of the 87 Member freshman class).  Other signers who are disappointments are Lou Barletta, Rob Woodall, James Lankford, Tim Huelskamp, Tim Scott, & Allen West (whose overall anemic rating of 64% is no where near the top of this class as many of us have suspected). Ways & Means Committee Chairman David Camp also supports this tariff measure so we can clearly see that the GOP is as much about getting reelected as BO is.

 

I strongly recommend that you look @ the list below & after doing your own research see if you want to support the ones rated above 90% who did not sign the above referenced letter. You have to look to find ones worthy of support – but they do exist as I have increasingly pointed out in many recent postings. 

 

But to all of the Tea Party readers of this blog there is another & more important pledge that these 65 politicians forsook  – "...but all Duties, Imposts, & Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States."

 

 

Adams, Sandy (FL – 24) 68%                           

Amash, Justin (MI –3) 100%

Amodei, Mark not rated - Elected to the 112th Congress on September 13, 2011

Barletta, Lou (PA – 11) 47%

Bass, Charles (NH – 2) 48%

Benishek, Dan (MI – 1) 72%

Berg, Rick (ND – AL) 54%

Black, Diane (TN – 6) 71%

Brooks, Mo (AL –5) 86%

Bucshon, Larry, (IN – 8) 64%

Buerkle, ann Marie (NY – 25) 92%

Canseco, Francisco (TX –23) 64%

Chabot, Steven (OH – 1) 64%

Cravaack, Chip (MN – 8) 57%

Crawford, Rick (AR – 1) 53%

Denham, Jeff (CA – 19) 64%

DesJarlais, Scott (TN –4) 77%

Dold, Bob (IL – 10) 42%

Duffy, Sean (WI – 7) 58%

Duncan, Jeff (SC – 3) 97%

Ellmeres, Renee (SC – 2) 59%

Farenthold, Blake (TX – 27) 65%

Fincher, Stephen (TN – 8) 69%

Fitzpatrick, Michael (PA – 8) 43%

Fleischmann, Chuck (TN – 3) 86%

Flores, Bill (TX –17) 75%

Cardner, Cory (CO – 4) 70%

Gibbs, Bob (OH – 18) 64%

Gibson, Chris (NY – 20) 44%

Gosar, Paul (AZ – 1) 63%

Gowdy, Trey (SC – $) 97%

Griffin, Tim (AR – 2) 67%

Griffith, H. Morgan (VA – 9) 83%

Grimm, Michael (NY – 13) 46%

Guinta, Frank (NH – 1) 77%

Hanna, Richard (NY – 24) 77%

Harris, Andy (MD – 1) 95%

Hartzler, Vicky (MO – 4) 70%

Hayworth, Nan (NY – 19) 56%

Heck, Joe (NV – 3) 50%

Herrera Beutler, Jaime (WA – 3) 53%

Heulskamp, Tim (KS – 1) 100%

Huizenga, Bill (MI – 2) 90%

Hultgren, Randy (IL – 14) 78%

Hurt, Robert (VA – 5) 78%

Johnson, Bill (OH – 6) 70%

Kelly, Mike (PA – 3) 54%

Kinzinger, Adam (IL – 11) 56%

Labrador, Raul (ID – 1) 100%

Landry, Jeff (LA – 3) 94%

Lankford, James (OK –5) 77%

Long, Billy (MO – 7) 78%

Marino, Thomas (PA – 10) 60%

McKinley, David (WV – 1) 37%

Meehan, Patrick (PA – 7) 42%

Mulvaney, Mick (SC – 5) 99%

Noem, Kristi (SD – AL) 60%

Nugent, Richard (FL – 5) 73%

Nunnelee, Alan (MS – 1) 76%

Palazzo, Steven (MS – 4) 61%

Pearce, Steven (NM – 2) 78%

Pompeo, Mike (KS – 4) 86%

Qualye, Ben (AZ 3) 98%

Reed, Tom (NY – 29) 68%

Renacci, Jim (OH – 16) 68%

Ribble, Reid (WI – 8) 90%

Rigell, E. Scott (VA – 2) 82%

Rivera, David (FL – 25) 47%

Roby, Martha (AL – 2) 58%

Rokita, Todd (IN – 4) 88%

Ross, Dennis (FL – 12) 96%

Runyan, Jon (NJ – 3) 45%

Schilling, Robert (IL – 17) 54%

Schweikett, David (AZ – 5) 93%

Scott, Austin (GA – 8) 85%

Scott, Tim (SC – 1) 92%

Southerland, Steve (FL – 2) 94%

Stivers, Steve (OH – 15) 45%

Stutzman, Marlin (IN – 3) 99%

Tipton, Scott (CO – 3) 73%

Turner, Bob not rated - won in a special election on September 13th, 2011

Walberg, Timothy (MI – 7) 86%

Walsh, Joe (IL – 8) 99%

Webster, Daniel (FL – 8) 65%

West, Allen (FL – 22) 64%

Womack, Steve (AR – 3) 52%

Woodall, Rob (GA 7) 84%

Yoder, Kevin (KS – 3) 76%

Young, Todd (IN – 9) 77%