The Real Specter’s Top Ten Worst Votes
THE ARLEN INSPECTER
In his 45 years as a Republican, Arlen Specter cast thousands of votes for his party and against Democratic principles. In the last eight years, he voted more than 2,000 times with the Bush Republicans. So when he claimed at Netroots Nation, “I’ll stand behind my votes one by one,” it makes one wonder, “Really, Arlen?”
It’s hard to imagine any Democrat would stand behind voting for Bush’s tax cuts for the richest of the rich or for Sarah Palin to be Vice-President of the United States, but the Real Arlen Specter is proud of his Republican credentials.
We are giving you the opportunity to choose the worst vote the Real Arlen Specter has ever cast. Watch the video and read below about the Top 10:
10. The Real Arlen Specter worked to make sure companies benefit from closing down factories in the United States, voting for tax loopholes for companies who ship jobs overseas [S 1637, 5/5/04]
9. The Real Arlen Specter joined his Republican colleagues in voting for the largest education cut in history, which would have cut one third of education spending over seven years [H Con Res 178, 06/13/96]
8. The Real Arlen Specter has supported many of the most reactionary judges the Republican Party could find, including voting for Justices Thomas and Alito.
7. The Real Arlen Specter still defends his vote to make Sarah Palin a heartbeat away from the Presidency, saying she and McCain were “the better choice.”
6. The Real Arlen Specter voted to privatize Social Security to put retired workers and retirement security itself at risk based on the volatility of the market. [Vote #56, 4/1/1998]
5. The Real Arlen Specter voted against extending the assault weapons ban, putting these dangerous weapons back on our streets [Vote #24, 3/2/04]
4. The Real Arlen Specter has voted numerous times to cut billions of dollars from Medicare and Medicaid, once voting to cut Medicare by $270 billion and Medicaid by $182 billion in a single bill [HR 2491, 10/28/95, Vote #556]
3. The Real Arlen Specter voted against the Climate Stewardship Act, landmark legislation to fight global warming and limit greenhouse gases [S139, 10/30/03]
2. The Real Arlen Specter helped create this recession by voting for the Bush tax cuts for the richest of the rich—53% of which went to the top 1% of earners—at the expense of fully funding SCHIP for children, Medicare for seniors, and other necessary programs
1. The Real Arlen Specter voted for the authorization of the use of force against Iraq [HJRes 114, 10/11/02, Vote # 237], starting the War in Iraq, which is still going on six years after President Bush declared, “Mission Accomplished.”
From the War in Iraq to the economic policies that created this savage recession, many of our current problems can be ascribed to one man: George W. Bush, who Specter voted for in 2000. Given the chance to correct that vote and help put John Kerry in the White House, what did the Real Arlen Specter do? Co-Chair Bush-Cheney ’04 in Pennsylvania and vote for him a second time.
Now you can chose which one of these actions by the long-time Republican Senator is most egregious. Vote in our poll on this page and check back to see which vote was the worst of the worst. We will call on Arlen to stand behind the winner.
