Murkowski Loses? (lawyers, wages, military)

[Teak]

Interesting quote from the Wall Street Journal today. Jim DeMint, a Republican senator from South Carolina, has a Senate Conservatives club PAC that is used to back conservative candidates for Congress. He uses the term 'club' to indicate Senators who participate in the status quo of trying to obtain funding for pet projects in their home districts.

That club got disrupted further last week when incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski apparently lost to firebrand challenger Joe Miller in Alaska's Republican primary. (Absentee votes are still being counted.) "It's encouraging to me what happened in Alaska with Miller," Mr. DeMint told me yesterday. "It should be a wake-up call to Republicans that politicians who go to Washington to bring home the bacon aren't wanted—even in a state like Alaska that has gotten so much pork under senators like Ted Stevens. Voters are saying 'We're not willing to bankrupt the country to benefit ourselves.'"

It would be nice if Congressmen and women put the nation's interests ahead of their Congressional districts in this time of economic crisis (that being the US$15 trillion debt).

[AADAD]

Originally Posted by Teak

Interesting quote from the Wall Street Journal today. Jim DeMint, a Republican senator from South Carolina, has a Senate Conservatives club PAC that is used to back conservative candidates for Congress. He uses the term 'club' to indicate Senators who participate in the status quo of trying to obtain funding for pet projects in their home districts.

That club got disrupted further last week when incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski apparently lost to firebrand challenger Joe Miller in Alaska's Republican primary. (Absentee votes are still being counted.) "It's encouraging to me what happened in Alaska with Miller," Mr. DeMint told me yesterday. "It should be a wake-up call to Republicans that politicians who go to Washington to bring home the bacon aren't wanted—even in a state like Alaska that has gotten so much pork under senators like Ted Stevens. Voters are saying 'We're not willing to bankrupt the country to benefit ourselves.'"

It would be nice if Congressmen and women put the nation's interests ahead of their Congressional districts in this time of economic crisis (that being the US$15 trillion debt).

"nice" ? For a learned man you know little about people.... or capitalism IMO.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Floyd_Davidson

Ray, you are so confused it is pitiful. The point was that you are self centric. You call sidewalk on POW, or bridges in Ketchikan, or trails in Anchorage, or almost anything for a Native village, all a "waste of money". The criteria you use is clearly whether it benefits YOU, or not.

I'm not at all surprised that you voted for Murkowski in every election. You probably would vote for him again, even though by now the whole world realizes he never did anything of value as a Senator and was a joke as Governor.

Your monitor isn't mis calibrated Ray, it's you!

Floyd, I was responding to "waste" in relation to sidewalks and such, specifically the ones in Anchorage. But to me to build a nature trail, or a dog park... even in a Native village, would be a waste of money.

In relation to Murkowski, I am not the only one who voted for him for a number of years; it takes a majority of votes for anybody to win elections. I have been here since 1979.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Floyd_Davidson

Idiocy.

The problem is not Obama and Congress. The problem is that we necessarily have to pay for what George W. Bush did. That cannot be avoided (any more than we could avoid paying for what Ronald Reagan did). The trick is to get the economy working again so that we can afford it without resorting to something that causes massive inflation. The more the economy grows the lower the amount of inflation it takes to pay that off.

No economic grow means massive inflation at some point, so trying to prime the economy with government spending is just about the only way to avoid a total meltdown. You and other idjit right wingnuts that don't understand that are trying to force us all to commit economic suicide.

You got it all wrong, Floyd. The problem is not having to pay for what Bush did, but to spend money we don't have from the moment Obama took over from Bush.

Obama and congress have spent over $3-trillion in one year alone, and with all this spending taking place, Congress still managed to give itself a pay raise, the First Lady was spending around $75K per day in Spain, Congress and Obama passed a $26-billion bailout package for teachers, and just this week Obama was spending over $50K per day on another of numerous vacations.

While Bush created the biggest government ever, two wars, and was involved in the first bailout, Obama stepped-in as a symbol of "hope and change"

But instead of turning this nation around by reducing the size of government, stopping the wars, and curbing spending, he increased the size of government, continued the wars, created more bailouts, and passed Obamacare. All of this was done opposed by a majority of Americans. Why do you think Obama's approval rate is around 42%, and Congress' around 11%?

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

I think that having a sidewalk will benefit the community. Most of the elders who can get out and walk as much as they can and some of them get out in their wheelchairs. They built this community, gave their lives to it, and I can see that walking on loose gravel with all the potholes could be difficult for them. The kids will use the sidewalk too, and so will anyone else who is so inclined. Lots of local foot traffic keeps the community connected.

I agree with you that a sidewalk would benefit some people. Also, a dog park would benefit others, a nature trail would benefit some, and so forth. If the money is there, I have no trouble with these ideas. But in the case of Anchorage, or Fairbanks (for example), a lot of the money used for such projects come from property owners like you and me.

Take a look at an example of wasting money Californians don't have:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100822/ap_on_re_us/us_taj_mahal_schools (broken link)

[RayinAK]

On a side note about the elections in this thread: In the North Star Borough (Fairbanks and vicinity) one-third of the votes were Democrat, and the rest Republican.

[mitgreb]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

On a side note about the elections in this thread: In the North Star Borough (Fairbanks and vicinity) one-third of the votes were Democrat, and the rest Republican.

Yea and your point is? Out of both groups the majority of the voters where neither Rep or Dem.

[AADAD]

Lisa and the Libertarian Party are a NO.

[RedJacket]

Originally Posted by AADAD

Lisa and the Libertarian Party are a NO.

She can always run in 2016 again. If Miller wins and keeps his promise not to bring any to Alaska, I doubt he'll get 10% of the vote in a re-election bid.

[Moose Whisperer]

Now Crazy Joe is demanding armed troopers to guard the Division of Elections from imaginary gangs of marauding Murkowski ballot snatchers. Next he'll be demanding his tin-foil Napolean hat to protect him from Lisa's evil mind-control ray guns. This guy is a certifiable whack-job...

Alaska Politics Blog : Miller campaign alleges possible vote tampering and wants state troopers posted at elections offices (updated) | adn.com