Senate
INDIANA – Dick Lugar
The term RINO rarely fits anyone as well as it does Senator Dick Lugar. He is the classic case of someone who has become part of the problem in Washington. Notorious for willing to compromise on everything, he has been unwilling to stand up to the big spending that has permeated the whole Washington DC culture. Most offensive, Lugar continues to attack the Tea Party movement rather than appreciating the dedication of millions of Americans to get active so we can restore fiscal responsibility to our government. Rarely seen in recent years in Indiana, the Tea Party Express seems to be in Indiana more often than Mr. Lugar. He frequently receives praise from liberals and heralded for his votes contrary to a majority of Republicans. Most disappointing to conservatives is that Lugar has been unwilling to stand up to Harry Reid and the big-spending U.S. Senate.
MAINE – Olympia Snowe
Maine Senator Olympia Snowe is the most liberal Republican in the U.S. Senate. While the Tea Party Express respects legislators who vote to represent their state or district, we are continually annoyed by how she often undermines Republican positions rather than just voting as she believes her constituents desire. While Senator Snowe likes to proclaim that she is a fiscal conservative, she is too often on the wrong side of spending votes. From TARP to the $814 billion stimulus bill, this career politician is constantly having an identity crisis, confused between her progressive big-government voting pattern and the fiscal responsibility values promised to her constituents. The Tea Party Express will no longer allow Senator Snowe to only pay lip service to her constituents. While she has tempered her more liberal ways in the last year, we are committed to supporting a fiscally conservative candidate that will be more reliable in voting against big and higher spending.
MICHIGAN – Debbie Stabenow
Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan has been ranked as the Senate’s Most Liberal Member according to National Journal rating. Her record has been the antithesis of Tea Party values as she epitomizes a leftist big spending and big government agenda. Always believing government knows best, she has voted to expand the broken Medicare system without any reform and the infamous Obamacare. Her constant demagoguery, including comparing Republican leaders to Al Qaeda, coupled with her calls for censorship of conservative talk radio with a so-called Fairness Doctrine, show she has no interest in backing away from her ultra-liberal views. She has continuously disregarded the calls from concerned voters to fix America’s grave fiscal problems. As a career politician from the Michigan State Legislature, Congress and now the U.S. Senate, Stabenow is always looking for ways to expand the government rather than getting America’s fiscal house in order. She continues to support extravagant federal government spending.
NEBRASKA – Ben Nelson
Senator Ben Nelson has no business being in the U.S. Senate representing a conservative Republican state like Nebraska. While Nelson tries to convince his constituents that he is a conservative, the truth of his liberal leanings came out when Nelson cast the decisive 60th vote to pass Obamacare. As bad as the vote was, his conduct in selling his vote before hand was just reprehensible. The public scrutiny brought to light by the Tea Party caused the infamous Cornhusker Kickback to be eliminated, but it didn’t keep Nelson from voting for a socialist health care system. He has the dubious honor of being called the 2010 Porker of the Year for putting his own self-interests before those of the American people. Fortunately, the voters of Nebraska have gotten wise to their liberal Senator, and his poll numbers show that a strong conservative, like Tea Party Express endorsed Attorney General Jon Bruning, can beat Nelson in November.
UPDATE: On December 27, 2011 Senator Ben Nelson announced he would not seek reelection in 2012.
House of Representatives
MASSACHUSETTS – Barney Frank
There is probably no other public official that is more responsible for the irresponsible housing lending policies that crashed the housing market and ushered in the economic downturn we continue to endure. As a member of the Financial Services Committee, Frank opposed the efforts of the Bush Administration to bring greater oversight to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Continuing to resist the warning signs, as late as July 2008, Frank said in an CNBC interview, “I think this is a case where Fannie and Freddie are fundamentally sound, that they are not in danger of going under…. I think they are in good shape going forward.” This is the kind of thinking that government knows better than free markets that caused the disastrous housing crisis. Maybe some of his political blindness came from campaign contributions totaling $42,350 between 1989 and 2008 from Fannie and Freddie that influenced his support of their lending programs. Barney Frank warrants being our first target for 2012.
UPDATE: On November 28, 2011 Congressman Barney Frank announced he would not seek reelection in 2012.
