At a crucial period in the Senate’s history, Arlen Specter joins the ranks of the Democrats.  Specter, a Jewish senator from Pennsylvania, is a veteran Republican serving in his fifth term.  Specter has always been a left-leaning Republican, or a “moderate conservative,” whatever that means.  From his actions in the past it was always obvious that his real intentions were to undermine any conservativeness left in the Republican party.  But now, along with the future appointment of Al Franken, the Democrats will have a 60 seat filibuster-proof majority.  This means that the Republicans will not be able to stall any legislation advanced by the Democrats.  It theoretically gives them a blank check to pass whatever they want, whenever they want to. 

This is very bad news.  Specter, who will surely side with his other Jewish counterparts, could make it possible for the Obama administration to pass key Democrat issues before the next round of Senate elections in late 2010.  Massive healthcare spending, liberal pro-minority education funding, firearm bans, and amnesty for illegal aliens could all be passed within the next year and a half with almost no opposition.

There is nothing random about Specter’s sudden switch.  A change now ensures the Democrat agenda could be advanced before the American public turns on the Democrats in 2010.  Specter is claiming that he is only changing parties in lieu of his next Pennsylvania Senate election.  But if that’s the case, why announce it now?  My guess is so that no one is surprised when he starts siding with the Democrats on all of the new Obama-era legislation. 

Specter is one of the many Jewish “moderate Republicans” who have tirelessly worked to liberalize the party.  In fact, even Rush Limbaugh constantly complains about the moderates who keep claiming that the party needs to move more towards the center.  These same people also championed John McCain, who is anything but a conservative.   Of course, Rush Limbaugh fails to make the connection that these people are all Jewish Neoconservatives.  They have been instrumental in turning the Republican party into a bunch of pro-Israel, big-government egalitarians.  The party has been so castrated that they refused to act on even one traditionally conservative principle in the eight years Bush was in office.

WASHINGTON – Veteran Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania switched parties Tuesday with a suddenness that seemed to stun the Senate, a moderate’s defection that pushed Democrats to within a vote of the 60 needed to overcome filibusters and enact President Barack Obama’s top legislative priorities…

“I have found myself increasingly at odds with the Republican philosophy and more in line with the philosophy of the Democratic Party,” he said at a news conference…

Sen. Mitch McConnell, said the switch posed a “threat to the country.” The issue, he said, “really relates to … whether or not in the United States of America our people want the majority party to have whatever it wants, without restraint, without a check or balance.”

As a result of last fall’s elections, Democrats control the White House and have a large majority in the House. Specter’s switch leaves them with 59 Senate seats. Democrat Al Franken is ahead in a marathon recount in Minnesota. If he ultimately defeats Republican Norm Coleman, he would become the party’s 60th vote — the number needed to overcome a filibuster that might otherwise block legislation.

His move comes as Democrats are looking ahead to battles on health care, energy and education.

Specter was one of only three Republicans in Congress who voted for Obama’s economic stimulus bill earlier this year…

Ironically, Specter had spoken recently about the importance of a strong Republican presence in the Senate.

“If we lose my seat they have 60 Democrats, they will pass card check, you will have the Obama tax increases, they will carry out his big spending plans.

Pennsylvania has voted increasingly Democratic in recent elections, and Obama’s candidacy in 2008 prompted thousands of voters to switch their registration to his party. Specter said their migration had left the GOP primary electorate “very far to the right.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090429/ap_on_go_co/us_specter_switch

The Republican party is moving very far to the right?  What planet is this guy on?

 Below is a statement by the National Jewish Democratic Council:

The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) welcomes Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter to the Democratic Party.

The Democratic Party of 2009 is an inclusive party that believes political parties should be big tents. In contrast, the Republican Party of 2009 is a party which believes in circling the wagons into an ever smaller and smaller circle until only the ideologically pure are welcome. Senator Specter has been a Republican since 1966 but he has never been a conservative ideologue.  It has become increasingly clear in recent years that he is not ideologically pure enough for the Republican activists of today.

The Republican Party’s continued shift to the right has had negative implications for GOP support in the Jewish community. Despite the fact that in every election cycle conservative Jewish activists claim that Jews are becoming more Republican, the Jewish vote for Republicans at the national level is stuck at about 20%.  Moreover, over the last decade there are fewer and fewer Republican Jewish office holders at the national level.

With Specter joining the Democratic Party, he becomes the 12th member of the Senate that is Jewish and caucuses with the Democrats.  When Al Franken, another Jewish Democrat, gets seated as the second Minnesota senator, there will be 13 Jewish senators who caucus with the Democrats in the Senate (compared to zero who caucus with the GOP). Democrats will then have 60 seats in the Senate, reducing the possibility of Republican filibusters.

Filed under: Nation

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