Republican Senator, Vietnam Veteran Endorses President Obama

Huffington Post

This decision is not easy for any lifelong Republican. In 2008 I voted for Barack Obama, the first time I ever voted for a Democrat, because the Republican Party was drifting toward a dangerous path that put extreme party ideology above national interest. Mitt Romney heads a party remaining on that dangerous path, proving the emptiness of their praise as they abandon our service members, veterans and military families along the way.

I think what this man has to say about the current tone of the GOP is very important and I hope it serves as something to really consider. This isn't an attempt to sway anyone to vote for Obama (I'm voting for Gary Johnson), it is an attempt to bring a viewpoint, that may not be being talked about in Right Wing Media, to those on ATS that consider themselves Conservative. Personally I feel that the GOP is on a very dangerous march towards something akin to Nazi Germany or the Taliban.

President Obama ended one war, is ending another and meeting our national security needs with support of our military leaders. He's laid out a clear plan that would reduce the deficit and prevent the mandatory military spending cuts that no one wants. But today's Republican Party, including Ryan who voted for the deal that would trigger the cuts, is willing to bring our country's defenses to the fiscal cliff -- just so a multimillionaire doesn't have to pay a single extra penny in taxes. And the real lack of leadership? Failing to own up to your role in racking up a record debt from two unpaid wars and two massive unpaid for tax cuts. Mitt Romney leads the party that fails this leadership test.

I veer off from agreeing with this paragraph 100%. It's true that the President ended the War in Iraq but he seems to be opening up a whole new bag of trouble in the ME. I also believe that it wasn't only Republicans that voted to begin two wars without a budget to do so as well as the massive tax cuts that had no alternatives in place for revenue. It would however be nice to hear today's Republicans acknowledgement of two major facts behind today's economic troubles.

I hope you all get as much thought out of the editorial as I did.

reply to post by Kali74


Made me think of the the Piece by the typically conservative Brookings Institution...

The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.

www.brookings.edu...

It goes hand in hand with the RINO (Republicans In Name Only) hit lists put out by the extreme right...and the purging of the party by anyone who might be considered a "moderate"....which has come to be defined by new Republicans as anyone that seeks compromise for the sake of the people...or more broadley anyone that prioritizes the countries well being over the party's political and idealogical agenda.

Ronald Regean would have been driven from the GOP if he ran today.

Got a Republican that says this.....who isn't an Obama political appointee at the same time he's saying it? Err.... Shame on Huff-Po. Their biased, but this is outrageous for missing. They aren't some neighborhood blog site.

Currently Senator Larry Pressler works as a lawyer, a member of three corporate boards of directors/advisors; and holds a Fulbright professorship. Attorney-at-Law, Member of the Bars of New York and Washington DC. Appointed by President Barack Obama, on November 10, 2009, as a Commissioner for the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad.

Source

He's by no means a cabinet level guy, but The Huff-Po piece would suggest he's a serious, long time conservative or something and just now turning to view Obama as the best thing since sliced bread....when we can see they've had a personal relationship at some level since 2009 at least. I'm assuming Obama meets and talks with those he appoints to Gov't agencies, anyway.

The Commission is an independent agency of the Government of the United States of America. It was established by U.S. Public Law 99-83. The law directs the Commission to—

identify and report on cemeteries, monuments, and historic buildings in Eastern and Central Europe that are associated with the heritage of U.S. citizens, particularly endangered properties, and
obtain, in cooperation with the Department of State, assurances from the governments of the region that the properties will be protected and preserved.

Source

So I can't say it shocks me that this particular former Senator has a preference for the guy who hired him to a pretty cushy post by the sound of it. Hmmm

LOL. What a joke! Obama may claim credit for ending the war in Iraq, but it happened under GWB's watch. Balancing the budget? No wonder he strayed, the DNC must be paying this guy a heafty sir charge for his tyranny! We need to lean this country back to the right, even if Romney is the horse we are saddled with!

The fact that the man is a lifelong republican, and yet voted democrat in the last election speaks volumns about the party. I agree with him 100%. The GOP is charting a dangerous course and no longer has the people's well being at heart. This is pointed out by the GOP's candidate disowning 47% of the population as if they don't matter.

I'm not saying that the dems are all sweet and nice. Personally I don't like any of them. They have their faults to, but I don't feel that they are driving the car off a cliff,like the GOP. The republicans are all about the rich and I find it quite humerous that people who aren't rich fall for their baloney, and support them. Guess those foolish folks think they will get rich to by their support. Hope that works out for them when they are at the local food pantry after the republicans bankrupt the country so their buddies can get rich.You won't be seeing the people who did the bankrupting in the line.

Didn't think too much of that "editorial".



The Democrats' Support for Bush's War

The capitulation of the Democratic Party’s congressional leadership to the Bush administration’s request for nearly $100 billion of unconditional supplementary government spending, primarily to support the war in Iraq, has led to outrage throughout the country. In the Senate, 37 of 49 Democrats voted on May 24 to support the measure. In the House, while only 86 of the 231 Democratic House members voted for the supplemental funding, 216 of them voted in favor of an earlier procedural vote designed to move the funding bill forward even though it would make the funding bill’s passage inevitable (while giving most of them a chance to claim they voted against it).

www.fpif.org...


10 Facts About US Withdrawal from Afghanistan

countdowntodrawdown.org...





Then when we add Pakistan,Yemen,Somaiia,Libya,Syria,the attacks on Iran via Operation Olympic games clearly tells me who the "nazis" are.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


With credentials such as he has, he could have easily taken an appointment etc... from a Republican. I'm sure he had offers.

And yes, Huffington doesn't hide her bias.

Both are heading to a cliff, and both parties seem to be handed over to their extremist and ideological ends, instead of governing. I' have always been conservative, but have been an independent for about 5 years now.


Right now, QE3, is leading us to fiscal doom within probably 18 months and that's being WAY conservative, it's likely less than 3 months. If Romeny will stop that he pretty much has my vote, everything else be darned. I heard on Glenn Beck that supposidly Romney called Bernake and BEGGED him not to begin the printing. Guess we shall see.

Other than that, I am probably voitning libertarian or possibly just not voting.

reply to post by Indigo5


Thanks for that link, very interesting.
Ronald Reagan would have indeed been run off by today's GOP.

Originally posted by Kali74
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

With credentials such as he has, he could have easily taken an appointment etc... from a Republican. I'm sure he had offers.

And yes, Huffington doesn't hide her bias.

edit on 8-10-2012 by Kali74 because: (no reason given)

Yes, indeed... People do cross lines for accepting appointments and Obama's Secretary Of Defense is a decent example. Obama didn't seem to mind Bush's war plans too much, because Robert Gates was kept on from Bush's tenure not just a short transition period but clear up to July of 2011. Now if that doesn't show some agreement I don't know what does. Consistency, at the very least, was maintained and...ahem...then some by carrying him on 2 1/2 years.

In this case, the former Senator left the Senate in 1997, so we can't say he knew Obama there but surely, as noted, he appreciated the job appointment. I saw in his Bio he was a member of the Board of Directors for the Philadelphia Stock Exchange until NASDAQ bought it a few years ago. That's also on his own site. Interesting guy for Obama to like, but he personally seems to go with the tides.

I just get curious when someone is presented as having gone against what one would expect of them in some major way. In this case, it appears that knowing him a bit better, this isn't unexpected at all, IMO. Oh Well. The article gave a very different impression.

*He was also off lecturing on the benefits and upsides for Obama's Foreign Policy in 2009. Yikes... He's an Obama man saying he likes Obama. He was a Republican Senator 15 years ago.

Lectured at Bar-Ilan University, Tel Aviv, on "President Obama's Foreign Policy: Engagement and Its Limits". Israel – March 2009

(Former Senators Biography on his site)

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
Got a Republican that says this.....who isn't an Obama political appointee at the same time he's saying it? Err.... Shame on Huff-Po. Their biased, but this is outrageous for missing. They aren't some neighborhood blog site.

He's by no means a cabinet level guy, but The Huff-Po piece would suggest he's a serious, long time conservative or something and just now turning to view Obama as the best thing since sliced bread....when we can see they've had a personal relationship at some level since 2009 at least. I'm assuming Obama meets and talks with those he appoints to Gov't agencies, anyway.

So I can't say it shocks me that this particular former Senator has a preference for the guy who hired him to a pretty cushy post by the sound of it. Hmmm

Oh you wascally wrabbit... did you miss this part of the editorial?

This decision is not easy for any lifelong Republican. In 2008 I voted for Barack Obama, the first time I ever voted for a Democrat, because the Republican Party was drifting toward a dangerous path that put extreme party ideology above national interest.

Same Source as OP's

I got the impression from reading your response (excerpts quoted above) that you thought he was appointed to his position in 2009 and that is why he is voting for Obama this go around. As you can see.... he voted for Obama in 2008, was later appointed to his current post in 2009 and chooses to continue to support the Democratic ticket this time around due to the fact that this is what his conscious dictates.

reply to post by MyMindIsMyOwn
Naww.. By the record and dates, he was still on the Board of Directors for the Philadelphia Exchange in 2008. He took his appointment to Obama's admin in Nov of 09. So almost a year later. His lecture on Obama's policy was March of 09.

It's an interesting footnote to the whole thing anyway....and just details I thought an article headlining such a major implied change in someone's position and in reference to statements made now might have included that. In fact, his background and professional loyalty to Obama rather makes all the difference to my thinking?

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000

He's by no means a cabinet level guy, but The Huff-Po piece would suggest he's a serious, long time conservative or something

THANK YOU...for proving the OPs point....He is not a "Serious" or "Long Time Consevative"??? Just because he isn't following marching orders and backing Mitt???

Larry Pressler was a member of Congress for twenty-two years, serving in the U.S. House (R-S.D.) from 1975–1979 and a member of the U.S. Senate (R-S.D.) from 1979-1997.

Pressler held such notable positions as the Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, Science and Transportation Committee, Foreign Relations Committee and European and Asian Subcommittees. He briefly sought the Republican Presidential Nomination in 1980.

en.wikipedia.org...

22 years as a Republican in Congress and sought the GOP nomination for President...not like he is a "long time conservative" or anything

Originally posted by neo96

The Democrats' Support for Bush's War

You mean when the Republicans lied to the Democrats and the world and claimed that there were WMDs and Al-Qaida in Iraq?



Lord...you do understand the difference between "entitlements" which are PAID FOR and wars that are not?????

Convenient word "Expenditures"....It omits the fact that Entitlements is a holding account of other peoples money.

The WARS were not paid for....

God...the effen lies and BS is exhausting.