Specter’s Spectacle

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

Senator Arlen Specter
Photo by Michael Ruhl

Senator Arlen Specter (Penn.) says that he left the Republican Party because they had stuck their nose into party affairs to the point of breeding extremism. Ironically the Democrats are doing the exact same thing to their newest member. Micromanaging from the highest level doesn’t seem to be exclusive to the Republicans.

Yesterday Specter walked away from the party he has been with for nearly four decades, because he felt they were ignoring moderate voice. Specter announced his decision to defect to the Democratic Party, only the twenty-first time that a Senator has done such a thing since 1890.

President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) have both said they will fully support Specter in his 2010 election, but Congressman Joe Sestak (D-Penn.) was not sure that the party establishment should be backing Specter in this way.

“If decisions and candidates are being chosen in Washington, you may just reemphasize that divisive barrier that’s between the parties,” Sestak said. “I think we cannot afford to have a decision that is so important to Pennsylvanians be decided by the party establishment,” and that the voters should be the ones to choose their candidate.

Sestak is rumored to be considering running for the Pennsylvania Senate seat, and would come up against Specter in the Democratic primary. When asked directly, Sestak said he had not decided yet whether or not he would run. Another contender, Representative Allyson Schwartz (D-Penn.) said today that she would not run for the seat.

The republican response has ranged from anger to confusion. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steel likened Specter to Benedict Arnold.

“Clearly, this was an act based on political expediency by a craven politician desperate to keep his Washington power base - not the act of a statesman,” Steel said. “Arlen Specter handed Barack Obama and his band of radical leftists nearly absolute power in the United States Senate.”

Specter responded, “I have not represented the Republican Party, I have represented the people of Pennsylvania.” He was referencing the fact that in the past months there has been an exodus from the Republican Party in Pennsylvania, where over 100,000 individuals changed their party registration from Republican to Democrat.

Specter is defending his position as being one of riding with the tides of his constituency, instead of bowing to the will of a national political party. Critics see it as a survival move of a desperate politician.

Speaking today with President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden, Specter said that staying in the Senate would allow him to carry forward important initiatives for his constituents, speaking specifically about expanding medical research.

Specter would prove to be the 60 Democrat in the Senate, provided that comedian Al Franken prevails in his court case for the Minnesota Senate. Sixty votes, called a supermajority, is enough to override a Republican filibuster. Specter said previously, though, that he was not going to simply back the Democrats automatically, and President Obama acknowledged that, saying, “I don’t expect Arlen to be a rubber stamp.” According to Obama, he and Specter agree in the areas of health care, education, medical research

Breaking News: Arlen Specter Switches Parties (Update)

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

Senator Arlen Specter
Photo By Michael Ruhl

Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, a long-time Republican, is defecting to the Democratic Party. This switch potentially gives Democrats in the Senate more leverage in passing their legislation and overriding Republican filibusters, if Al Franken is found to win the Senate seat in Minnesota. It's also a crippling blow to the Republican Party, which has been struggling to have its voice heard since the beginning of the 111th Congress.

Specter, 79, is Pennsylvania's longest serving senator, elected in 1980

Specter said that the increasing "extremism" within the Republican Party over the past few years has put both him and his constituents in a difficult position.

"I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans," Specter said. "I think it is very important to have a two party system, and a moderate wing of the two party system...The extremes in both parties are taking over."

He highlighted the partisanship which was amplified in Congress by the stimulus vote, saying, "it has become clear to me that the stimulus vote caused a schism which makes our differences irreconcilable."

Specter said that his defecting would not make him the "automatic sixtieth vote" for the Democrats, and that he would not be a "party-line voter" who is used to break filibusters.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said that he anticipates continued disagreements with Specter, but both of them hope to work together towards common causes. One area that Specter already said he would be opposed to most Democrats on is in reigning in executive power.

Although Specter will run as a Democrat in the 2010 election, he has not decided whether or not he will caucus with the Democrats immediately.

He informed Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) of his decision last night. He then released a written statement at noon today, sending shock waves through the halls of Congress. Specter said that he made the decision gradually over the past few months, and that numerous Democrats encouraged him to defect, including Reid, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and Vice President Joe Biden. Reid said that he has been trying to convince other Republicans to switch party as well.

Reid said that both he and President Obama would personally campaign for Specter in his 2010 election after today's events. When President Obama found out, he reportedly telephoned Specter and welcomed him to the party. Specter was one of the few Republicans to vote for President Obama's stimulus package and budget.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Photo by Michael Ruhl

Commentators are already shouting down Specter's move as one of political strategy, as the Senator said that he would find a strong challenger in a Republican primary to be a big threat to his career. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) called it "nothing more, nothing less, then political self-preservation." He continued by saying Specter's, "Own pollster told him that he could not win the Republican primary in Pennsylvania, so his only options were to leave the Senate or join the Democratic Party.”

“I’m not prepared to have my 29-year record in the United States Senate decided by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate, not prepared to have that record decided by that jury,” Specter said.

Former Pennsylvania Congressman Patrick Toomey was seen as a strong candidate who could possibly have defeated Specter in the Republican primary. Additionally, Toomey is widely acknowledged as the more conservative candidate, and Specter said he did not want his career ended in a primary by his own party. He said that the Republicans don't want moderates anymore, which is why he was being targeted. "There ought to be a rebellion, an uprising," Specter exclaimed.

Incumbents in Congress have a significant advantage in winning reelection, but Specter was concerned after seeing recent polls. He said that his full constituency does not turn out to vote because the Republican party breeds extremism. Specter said that there are plenty of his constituents who agree with his positions, "but they're non-participants."

McConnell called this a "threat to the country," because it would allow the majority to "have whatever it wants, without restraint, without a check or a balance."

Reid said that with Specter's seniority within Congress, it would be as if he were elected as a Democrat in 1980. Reid was careful to say, however, that committee assignments would only be changed voluntarily, and that Specter's presence on the Democratic side would not bump any other Senators off a particular committee.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), a longtime friend of Specter, doesn't believe that this is going to affect judicial confirmations or any potential Supreme Court vacancies that might surface in the near future.

Specter is "just as independent as ever," Leahy said.

Specter's said that in his time in the Senate, he has exercised "independent judgment to do what [he] thought was best for Pennsylvania and the nation," and that it was not his party that defined him.

Updated 5:00pm EST

Dept. of Justice disgraced by hiring discrimination

The Senate Judiciary Committee discussed a report on politicized hiring at the Department of Justice in favor of conservative candidates. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said the report realizes his worst fears - pervasive partisan hiring in the Department of Justice.

Glenn Fine, the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Justice, said his investigation revealed that qualified candidates for hire at the Department were deselected because of liberal political beliefs. Politically conservative or neutral, yet under-qualified and junior applicants, were preferred. Fine said Monica Goodling, the Department’s former White House Liaison, regularly considered political affiliations in making hiring decisions.

Fine said the discrimination performed by Goodling and others in the Department violated the Constitution and civil law, but not criminal law, therefore criminal prosecution is not possible. But, Fine said the actions of those transgressors were revealed, and they have since left the Department so disciplinary actions are impossible as well.

Fine said inadequate supervision of the Department’s hiring practices led to the discrimination and as a result inexperienced candidates were hired into not only intern positions, but career positions as well. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) called the details of the report a “despicable” and “beyond disgraceful.” Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said he was disturbed that the Department of Justice had become so tainted.

Republicans: Democrats “playing politics” over judicial nominee

A group of Republican Senators headed by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) chastised Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) for what they viewed as “playing politics with a judicial nomination. The nomination of Judge Robert Conrad to be on the fourth district circuit court of appeals is currently being held up by Sen. Leahy who has yet to give Judge Conrad a hearing.

The Senate Republicans which included Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), Sen Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah.) all focused their attention on the lack of fairness that they view towards Judge Conrad. Hatch, who has been in the senate 32 years, said that because both Senators Dole and Burr are supporting Judge Conrad that holding a hearing should not even be an issue.

“Judge Conrad has the support of both the senators (from North Carolina) that doesn’t happen all that often.” Hatch added that by the senates judiciary committee not holding a hearing it “denigrates the judicial process.”

A key sticking point that infuriated Republicans was that the hearing has been in limbo for now 338 days, a testament to the strife that is currently on going in the Senate. When asked what she viewed as the reason for the hold up Sen. Dole said that it must have “something to do with politics.”

Judge Robert Conrad was nominated by President Bush 338 days ago to be seated on the North Carolina fourth circuit court of appeals. Conrad has previously been confirmed by the Senate to be a U.S. Attorney in 2001 and has been unanimously rated “well qualified” by the American Bar Association.

Counterfeiters take more than products

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, presided over a hearing on protecting intellectual property. He said that the counterfeiting of products has reached a record high in recent years. He said that this theft has cost the American economy almost $200 billion and the loss of 750,000 jobs per year. He said that if the U.S. wants to maintain the position of an economic leader, then it must protect the intellectual property rights of U.S. industry.

Mike Rose, Vice President of Supply Chain Technology for Johnson & Johnson said that according to the World Health Organization 8 to 10 percent of pharmaceutical products outside the U.S. are counterfeit and in some countries over 50 percent of their medications are counterfeit. He said that counterfeiting of pharmaceuticals has become such an epidemic that in 2007 the Pharmaceutical Security Institute seized 24 percent more “bogus drugs” than in the previous year.

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said that the U.S. should take the lead in enforcing global piracy. He said that it counterfeiting is not just pirated music or fake designer handbags, it has infiltrated many U.S. industries such as auto parts and electrical accessories. He said that these cheaply made counterfeited products can pose a great danger to American citizens and stopping their production should be a priority.