Bumbler Bee ♥♥♥ Bush

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

An earlier post noted Senator Tim Bee’s first TV ad for his congressional race in which Bee attempts to confuse voters by proclaiming himself an "independent" rather than a Republican.  Truth-in-advertising laws do not apply to politicians, unfortunately.

Republican Congressional Campaign Committee chair Rep. Tom Davis earlier this year proclaimed the Republican Party to be the equivalent of a “dead man walking.”  He said if the “Republican Party brand” was a “dog food” it would be pulled from the shelves.  If only we had an FDA that still functioned.

Despite his attempt to distance himself from his party’s toxic brand, Tim Bee will welcome President Bush to his hive this week for a fund raiser in Tucson.  Apparently the 28% of dead-enders who still think Bush is doing a good job continue to contribute money to the GOP.  Obama Leads by 8 Points In Poll – washingtonpost.com ("In the new survey President Bush’s overall approval rating hit another record low in Post-ABC polling: Twenty-eight percent said they approve of the way he is handling his job, while 69 percent disapprove, including 56 percent who strongly disapprove.  7/16/2008).  Who are these people?  They are a danger to themselves and society.

Tim Bee is trying to have it both ways, of course, just like Senator John McCain.  They are both trying to distance themselves from Bush and claim to be "independents" running against the toxic Republican brand (a false claim belied by their actual voting records), while at the same time asking the very Republicans they are dissing publicly to contribute money to their campaigns privately.

Make no mistake, Tim Bee is a Bush Republican.  In an interview Bee gave to the Sierra Vista Herald last Saturday, he made his loyal support for Bush’s policies very clear.  Sierra Vista Herald | The Bisbee Daily Review

Bee lamely asserted that Rep. Gabriel Giffords is a "single issue" candidate focused on solar energy development in Arizona.  Giffords has worked tirelessly to put southern Arizona on the map as the "solarcon" valley for advanced solar energy technology and energy independence. Giffords is to be commended for her efforts to bring new business and new jobs to southern Arizona, and to move the state towards energy independence.

Timmy, however, signaled he would be a loyal servant to the "traditional large oil companies," the master whom Republicans blindly serve, saying he supports opening off shore drilling and drilling in Alaska’s ANWR (not even John McCain supports drilling in ANWR), and developing oil shale in the Rocky Mountains.  Maybe he should consult with Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO) first, who knows quite a bit more about oil shale development than does our Timmy.  Ken Salazar – Heedless Rush to Oil Shale – washingtonpost.com ("[E]nergy companies are still years away — 2015 at the earliest — from knowing whether this technology can cost-effectively produce oil on a commercial scale.")

But wait, it gets better.  Timmy was all breathless about new energy technologies, "including hydrogen and perhaps nuclear-powered vehicles." (I kid you not, he actually said it).  You might want to check with the Department of Homeland Security, Timmy.  I’m pretty sure they have a problem with fissile nuclear material being widely available in automobiles from which terrorists could make a dirty bomb.  What about our national security, Timmy?  A simple car accident could require the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to come out with a nuclear clean-up team.  Do you really think this is a good idea?  (I have written previously about developments in electric battery-powered vehicles that are soon to be available).

Timmy also wants to get rid of "boutique" blends of fuels (e.g., ethanol blends, E-85) and adopt one national fuel blend standard.  Congress just overwhelmingly approved with bipartisan support a farm bill which continues subsidies for ethanol production.  You are not going to be popular in the Midwest, Timmy.  Those corporate welfare agri-business millionaire farmers are among the biggest contributors to the Republican Party (our tax dollars at work).  You may not want to threaten their welfare status.

Timmy also said that he wants to make the Bush tax cuts for the super-wealthy permanent and wants to end the inheritance tax (the "death tax" misnomer).  This is how Bush doubled our national debt during his term in office from $4.5 trillion to over $9 trillion and rising.  It is why the U.S. dollar has already lost more than 41% of its value during Bush’s term in office.  It is also what has led to the widest disparity in wealth between the "gilded" class (top 5%) and everyone else since since 1929 – which recent economic events indicate that history may now be repeating itself.

Timmy also says he wants to stop illegal immigration to the U.S.  "[T}he first thing is to secure the border and then to work on a guest worker plan that does not include amnesty."  Funny, I seem to recall that there was a bill in the Arizona legislature for a guest worker program which accomplished all of this during the past session, but Timmy would not schedule the bill for a vote and it died for lack of action.  That doesn’t speak to your honesty, integrity, commitment and courage to me.

(And where were these alleged attributes when Bee cast the decisive vote to put the constitutional amendment defining marriage on the ballot this fall, which he personally opposes and for which he strongly criticized the Center for Arizona Policy for promoting such divisiveness?)

Timmy also supports more free trade agreements (like NAFTA and CAFTA?)  So Timmy is in favor of American jobs being outsourced overseas to third-world countries where global corporations can exploit workers who are not protected by any laws.  And American cities and towns will lose their livelihood and shutter their community as everyone leaves town.

In summary, Bee supports the very Bush policies for which more than 80% of Americans have consistently told pollsters that "America is on the wrong track."

Tim Bee will tell anyone who will listen that he is a consensus builder who will reach across the aisle, and that we need to put partisan politics aside for the common good.  He cites the recent state budget as an example.  Actually, the recent state budget demonstrates exactly the opposite point.

While Bee was away in Washington D.C. attending fund raisers for his campaign, too busy to be bothered with the state budget negotiations, this provided an opportunity for House Speaker Jim Weiers and appropriations committee chairman Russell Pierce – two of the most hyper-partisan Republicans you will ever meet – to grandstand on the state budget.  In the end, it was a Democratic budget negotiated by Rep. Phil Lopes and Sen. Jorge Garcia with the governor’s office that Bee was forced to accept as his own.  The budget passed on the strength of unanimous Democratic support.  For all of his talk about consensus building, Bee could only deliver 4 Republican votes in the Senate and 4 Republican votes in the House.  Bee was overwhelmingly rejected by his own Republican caucus on the budget.  If he could not develop a consensus in his own caucus, do not speak to me of his so-called consensus building skills.

One final point.  If Bee were somehow miraculously elected to Congress, he will find himself among a much smaller Republican minority in Congress come January.  He will quickly discover that all this campaign talk about consensus building and reaching across the aisle will not be tolerated by his GOP leadership.  As a freshman congressman, he will be told in no uncertain terms that he will vote as his party leadership directs him to vote, or he will suffer the consequences (loss of committee assignments, RCCC campaign funds, etc.)  Bee would spend most of his time engaged in obstruction of President Obama’s agenda, not seeking bipartisan solutions for the common good.  That’s just reality.

Bee’s naivete, which the local yokel news media continue to report like it’s a virtue, is a sham.  Bee is a loyal Bush Republican who will do exactly as his party leadership tells him to do.  This is the way of Washington.  Same as it ever was.

[Graphic courtesy of the The Bee Movie, 2007]