After writing a comment listing my beef with Sen. McCain and Gov. Huckabee here, I found an article by Mark Levin at National Review Online reminding conservatives how much Sen. McCain has ticked off conservatives, lest we forget:

The McCain domestic record is a disaster. To say he fought spending, most particularly earmarks, is to nibble around the edges and miss the heart of the matter. For starters, consider:

McCain-Feingold — the most brazen frontal assault on political speech since Buckley v. Valeo.

McCain-Kennedy — the most far-reaching amnesty program in American history.

McCain-Lieberman — the most onerous and intrusive attack on American industry — through reporting, regulating, and taxing authority of greenhouse gases — in American history.

McCain-Kennedy-Edwards — the biggest boon to the trial bar since the tobacco settlement, under the rubric of a patients’ bill of rights.

McCain-Reimportantion of Drugs — a significant blow to pharmaceutical research and development, not to mention consumer safety (hey Rudy, pay attention, see link).

….
As chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, McCain was consistently hostile to American enterprise, from media and pharmaceutical companies to technology and energy companies.
McCain also led the Gang of 14, which prevented the Republican leadership in the Senate from mounting a rule change that would have ended the systematic use (actual and threatened) of the filibuster to prevent majority approval of judicial nominees.

Levin also takes on Sen. McCain’s “saving grace,” his defense strength, and points out significant flaws in his approach in this realm as well.

Conservatives beware. If nothing else, just remember how ticked off you were in 2007 about the Senate and President’s attempt to circumvent the clear wishes of the American people and pass a reckless “comprehensive” immigration bill, with McCain leading the charge.

It’s been a bittersweet winter in Washington. While Republicans were able to secure some vastly needed funding for our troops serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, we failed to block an omnibus spending bill containing over 11,000 earmarks.Democrats kicked off December threatening to pull funding from the brave men and women serving in the armed forces. We responded by writing a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates asking him to use his authority to redirect over 2,000 earmarks accounting for over $5 billion in unnecessary pork barrel spending to our troops serving overseas.

I then presented a plan to Congress that would save you, the taxpayer, $31 Billion by passing a continuing resolution rather than an omnibus bill bloated with earmarks.Robert Bluey from the Heritage Foundation wrote this on his blog:

“DeMint’s idea goes back to the end-game strategy that Republicans successfully employed last year after November’s disastrous elections. Rather than try to push through appropriations bills in a hostile Congress, the GOP instead reauthorized funding at fiscal 2006 levels. That meant spending was held in check and pork-barrel projects were cut dramatically.“Following that same strategy this year would save taxpayers $31 billion — the amount of new Democrat spending and earmarks…“…DeMint’s idea should appeal to conservatives for several reasons. First of all, it locks in spending that was set by Republicans when they controlled Congress. Secondly, it prevents the Democrats from realigning the federal government to suit their interests through the creation of new programs and additional funding. And finally, it would constrain earmarks, which would grow substantially in an omnibus.”

I thought there might be a light at the end of the tunnel when the House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-WI) said even he wanted to pass a continuing resolution rather than a bloated omnibus spending bill. Unfortunately my new found optimism gave way to the harsh reality of Washington’s Congressional Favor-Factory when Congress passed the omnibus budget, which was signed by President Bush. But our President was not pleased with the massive number of unnecessary pork barrel projects saying, “I am disappointed in the way the Congress compiled this legislation, including abandoning the goal I set early this year to reduce the number and cost of earmarks by half,” Bush said in a statement. “These projects are not funded through a merit-based process and provide a vehicle for wasteful government spending.”While those of us fighting for fiscal responsibility may have suffered a defeat, I refuse to give up. Change will only occur if we continue to fight the status quo in Washington. I look forward to keeping you up to date on our progress, and hope you will get involved in our efforts. Change begins with us.

• Learn about the “Future of the Conservative Movement” by watching this candid discussion with Sen. Jeff Sessions.
• Join the Fight. Sign The “100,000 Strong for Earmark Reform” Petition.
• Forward this E-mail to Six of Your Friends.

Sincerely,

Sen. Jim DeMint

Now that the “Thompson is lazy” meme has been put to rest after he ferociously campaigned across Iowa and garnered 3rd place even with the Politico hit job on the day of the Caucii, and he has certainly disproved that hit job piece by not dropping out and endorsing Sen. McCain, and he was on fire in the debate last night and today picked up the endorsement of HUMAN EVENTS, some people with their own agenda to fulfill (in this case being John Ellis of RealClearPolitics) still insist that Thompson is just pulling our leg and doesn’t want to run for President:

Fred Thompson can’t be back. He hasn’t been anywhere. He announced his candidacy three months ago and promptly…disappeared. Which raised the question: What in the world does Fred Thompson hope to accomplish with his non-campaign campaign? Put another way, at what point does losing to Ron Paul become too humiliating?

I’m going to interject here with two points: 1) what are you talking about? He’s got 3rd place in Iowa, beating McCain, Giuliani, and despite what you infer, yes Ron Paul. 2) He dissappeared? Really? That’s why he’s been raising plenty of money and has been reaching out to voters constantly and picking up some real endorsements and momentum. Heaven forbid he forego New Hampshire, just like the current President of the United States did.

Happily enough, politics is a dynamic business. Things change. And by the time Fred Thompson arrived on the stage in South Carolina last night, circumstances had conspired to make him useful. His task: take out the preacher man on behalf of his friend Sen. John McCain and on behalf of the national Republican Party. In return, well, let’s just say this: there would be a “quid” for the “quo.”

This is just insulting. Sen. Thompson, the guy who won’t dance to anyone’s tune as he is proud to say, who is brash with ridiculous reporters and doesn’t pander to gain votes, is somehow going to kowtow to the RNC to get rid of big bad Huckabee? You kidding me? At what point do you quit insisting that Thompson’s motives are different from what he keeps insisting? How many times does he have to overcome expectations (Iowa), meet and exceed fundraising goals, gain key endorsements (Steve King, HUMAN EVENTS), and clearly spell out that he thinks he’s the guy to be President before you quit projecting your hopes onto him?

Thompson understood the dynamics perfectly and proceeded to immediately make himself useful. He went after Huckabee as a “liberal” on economic issues and a “liberal” on foreign policy. Heaven forefend. And he did a nice job of skewering Ed Rollins in the process, thus endearing himself further to the Beltway Boyos.

Thompson will never be the Republican presidential nominee, except in some brokered convention fantasy that only Mary Matalin might believe. If he wants to be a player or even (just maybe) the party’s vice presidential nominee, he need only serve as the instrument of Huckabee’s demise. His pointless campaign now has a purpose.

You can put quotation marks around the word liberal all you want, it’s pretty darn clear as day to anybody who pays attention that Huckabee is LIBERAL on economics and doesn’t have a clue (which some would argue is the same as being liberal) on foreign affairs. Sen. Thompson has made it a point not to be told what to do by anybody during this whole race, yet John Ellis for some reason believes that now he’s gotten word from the powers that be in the RNC and has gone along with their ploy to take out Huckabee. Give me a break - he won’t campaign the way you want him to, he’s doing things his own way, and you need to get over it.

Could it be Gov. Mark Sanford?

H/T: Hot Air

UPDATE!Human Events endorses Fred. Sanford would have gone a lot further in SC but a good pickup regardless.

Lest anyone thought that the kings of corruption hailed for the Alaska GOP, a Louisiana Democrat has decided to remind everyone just who the top banana is when it comes to corruption. Topping Rep. William Jefferson, whose price was at least $90,000, Senator Mary Landrieu is now being accused of taking a bribe of a mere $30,000 for a $2 million earmark. Talk about a cheap date.

On April 25, 2001, Voyager, an educational products company, requested an earmark for the purchase of its products for the District of Columbia. By September, no Senate sponsor had been found. Randy Best, Voyager’s founder, arranged for a meeting with Landrieu. A few days later a Landrieu staffer asked Best to host a fundraiser. Four days after receiving the $30,000 in contributions from people who had never before contributed to her, she put in the earmark. What a coincidence.