No, that wasn’t Lugar, it was Mourdock. The cartoon is about the fact that Lugar was an ideal Republican, staunchly conservative and interested in America’s standing in the world. That meant that he voted with the Democrats on an international treaty, which is enough to get you primaries out of office by the anti-American zealots of the tea party.
Lugar was one of the most respected and honest politicians around. He was my senator when I lived in Indiana, and he served us well. The Hoosier State blew it when they let the wing-nuts toss him out.
Moderate Republicans are becoming an oxymoron in DC. They’ve been replaced with Democrats who have mostly switched from liberal defenders of minorities to middle of the ground solicitors of money from wealthy donors. The Republican party of my youth has been replaced by a rather heartless organization defending the rights of corporations to profit as much as they wish without regard to safety or quality of life for the middle class and poor.There are no true progressive liberals holding office in DC, not in any voting numbers. And there is no will to be bipartisan. So we all lose.regretfully,C.
Lugar was a RINO republican, very untrustworthy, and aided and abetted the democrats when the GOP tried to pass good conservative legislation. I am glad he was replaced.
Lugar was simply too intelligent, honest, and effective, for today’s “Republicans”. While I didn’t agree with all his actions, he at least had something those campaigning today as Republicans, in the vast majority, lack totally: integrity.
Voters are too lazy to educate themselves. Here in Virginia, several years ago, Mary Sue Terry was poised to become our next governor. She worked hard, and had worked her way up through several state offices, and had a commanding lead over Jim Gilmore. Virginia is, unfortunately, a “Dillon Rule” state, which means that localities cannot initiate a tax unless the state legislature allows it. As a result, we have a lot of local taxes that have little merit other than bringing in tax dollars.
One of them is a personal property tax, which is a tax on your boat, car, and other big-ticket items. Commonly called the “car tax”, it was universally reviled, since you had to pay it every year. It went down every year, but no one wants to pay the same tax over and over. I drive a car that’s almost 50 years old, so my tax was around $6. per year. Now, if you have a new Suburban Assault Vehicle so popular with today’s “thrifty” Americans, this could be several thousand when the car is new.
Jim Gilmore (see if you can guess which party he represented) came up with an idea: the state will pay the localities instead of the taxpayer. And he put out campaign signs everywhere stating “No Car Tax”.
Of course, any thinking person has to wonder, "Where would the state get the money to pay the localities?’ Obvious answer: the taxpayers. So the plan was for the state to take money from the taxpayer, (take a cut for itself,) and distribute the money to the localities. This was instead of taking the money from the taxpayer and sending it directly to the localities. Essentially, he added a middle man, and that’s all.
To help you figure out which political party he represented, he also had this “phased in” whereby those with the biggest tax bill (the most expensive cars on the road) would get the “tax cut” first, and us peons driving older, less valuable cars could get our “relief” later.
He won in a landslide. Stupid voters. Almost bankrupted the state, and made the localities angry with the way it was divided up. The state treasury got so messed up that we almost lost our credit rating, and he left office without allowing passage of a budget. We still haven’t really recovered, and each time someone wants to get rid of this shell game, Republicans (aw, I gave it away) called it a “tax increase”.
By the bye, Mr. Gilmore was in it for the White House. He made it to the head of the Republican National Committee, and looked like a shoe-in for the nomination: he hates gay people and abortions, he’s white and middle-aged, and he “cut taxes” without regard for consequences. Two things fortunately derailed him: one was he was even too abrasive for his own party. The other was he was “allegedly” engaged in an affair with a married woman, to whose campaign for House of Delegates he donated a quarter million, while his wife just quietly disappeared. And she lost her seat soon after.
Does this make us more willing to do our homework? Ask Mr. Lugar.
It’s not because we lack laws against lying. Our President, Legislature, and Judicial members are immune to libel and slander laws. They are also immune to OSHA, the EEO act, and other laws commonly effecting the rest of us. You shouldn’t be allowed to call someone a liar without identifying the lie, but a when serving the Public Trust, our politicians should be legally required to be truthful where it does not endanger national security. Free speech is one of our most valuable rights, but the right to lie to your electorate is particularly vile.Respectfully,C.
ARodney over 11 years ago
No, that wasn’t Lugar, it was Mourdock. The cartoon is about the fact that Lugar was an ideal Republican, staunchly conservative and interested in America’s standing in the world. That meant that he voted with the Democrats on an international treaty, which is enough to get you primaries out of office by the anti-American zealots of the tea party.
cdward over 11 years ago
Lugar was one of the most respected and honest politicians around. He was my senator when I lived in Indiana, and he served us well. The Hoosier State blew it when they let the wing-nuts toss him out.
Odon Premium Member over 11 years ago
Hoosiers can send a strong word to the zealots of Indiana by seeing that Mourdock loses by a landslide.
chazandru over 11 years ago
Moderate Republicans are becoming an oxymoron in DC. They’ve been replaced with Democrats who have mostly switched from liberal defenders of minorities to middle of the ground solicitors of money from wealthy donors. The Republican party of my youth has been replaced by a rather heartless organization defending the rights of corporations to profit as much as they wish without regard to safety or quality of life for the middle class and poor.There are no true progressive liberals holding office in DC, not in any voting numbers. And there is no will to be bipartisan. So we all lose.regretfully,C.
Chillbilly over 11 years ago
You lost because you are in the wrong party.
disgustedtaxpayer over 11 years ago
Lugar was a RINO republican, very untrustworthy, and aided and abetted the democrats when the GOP tried to pass good conservative legislation. I am glad he was replaced.
Dtroutma over 11 years ago
Lugar was simply too intelligent, honest, and effective, for today’s “Republicans”. While I didn’t agree with all his actions, he at least had something those campaigning today as Republicans, in the vast majority, lack totally: integrity.
I Play One On TV over 11 years ago
Voters are too lazy to educate themselves. Here in Virginia, several years ago, Mary Sue Terry was poised to become our next governor. She worked hard, and had worked her way up through several state offices, and had a commanding lead over Jim Gilmore. Virginia is, unfortunately, a “Dillon Rule” state, which means that localities cannot initiate a tax unless the state legislature allows it. As a result, we have a lot of local taxes that have little merit other than bringing in tax dollars.
One of them is a personal property tax, which is a tax on your boat, car, and other big-ticket items. Commonly called the “car tax”, it was universally reviled, since you had to pay it every year. It went down every year, but no one wants to pay the same tax over and over. I drive a car that’s almost 50 years old, so my tax was around $6. per year. Now, if you have a new Suburban Assault Vehicle so popular with today’s “thrifty” Americans, this could be several thousand when the car is new.
Jim Gilmore (see if you can guess which party he represented) came up with an idea: the state will pay the localities instead of the taxpayer. And he put out campaign signs everywhere stating “No Car Tax”.
Of course, any thinking person has to wonder, "Where would the state get the money to pay the localities?’ Obvious answer: the taxpayers. So the plan was for the state to take money from the taxpayer, (take a cut for itself,) and distribute the money to the localities. This was instead of taking the money from the taxpayer and sending it directly to the localities. Essentially, he added a middle man, and that’s all.
To help you figure out which political party he represented, he also had this “phased in” whereby those with the biggest tax bill (the most expensive cars on the road) would get the “tax cut” first, and us peons driving older, less valuable cars could get our “relief” later.
He won in a landslide. Stupid voters. Almost bankrupted the state, and made the localities angry with the way it was divided up. The state treasury got so messed up that we almost lost our credit rating, and he left office without allowing passage of a budget. We still haven’t really recovered, and each time someone wants to get rid of this shell game, Republicans (aw, I gave it away) called it a “tax increase”.
By the bye, Mr. Gilmore was in it for the White House. He made it to the head of the Republican National Committee, and looked like a shoe-in for the nomination: he hates gay people and abortions, he’s white and middle-aged, and he “cut taxes” without regard for consequences. Two things fortunately derailed him: one was he was even too abrasive for his own party. The other was he was “allegedly” engaged in an affair with a married woman, to whose campaign for House of Delegates he donated a quarter million, while his wife just quietly disappeared. And she lost her seat soon after.
Does this make us more willing to do our homework? Ask Mr. Lugar.
Chillbilly over 11 years ago
I’m a leftist and a feminist. You are angry and very bad at detecting sarcasm.
RonBerg13 Premium Member over 11 years ago
Who would decide if some statement or saying is a lie?You????
chazandru over 11 years ago
It’s not because we lack laws against lying. Our President, Legislature, and Judicial members are immune to libel and slander laws. They are also immune to OSHA, the EEO act, and other laws commonly effecting the rest of us. You shouldn’t be allowed to call someone a liar without identifying the lie, but a when serving the Public Trust, our politicians should be legally required to be truthful where it does not endanger national security. Free speech is one of our most valuable rights, but the right to lie to your electorate is particularly vile.Respectfully,C.