Monday, January 11, 2010

When is a conservative not a conservative?


The UK's Telegraph recently published their list of the Top 100 Most Influential Conservatives and Liberals in the United States (100 through 81, so far).

A few notables on the Liberals list...

#97 Jesse Jackson
#95 Robert Byrd
#92 Chris Matthews
#91 Michael Moore
#86 George Soros
#81...

Ben Nelson.

That's right, The Benator, Nellie himself, is now on the Liberals list.

Remember when he was the Dem's favorite conservative?

The Telegraph notes:
When he became the 60th vote for the Democrats on their healthcare bill in the Senate, Nelson was vilified by the Right and received precious little credit from the Left.

The Right hoped that this would lead him to oppose the healthcare bill but a string of financial gifts for Nebraska (which became known as the "Cornhusker Kickback") helped sway him.
And a local politico suggested to us:
Nelson's legacy as a moderate or conservative official is in serious danger of being permantly damaged by the health care vote -- and his potential votes on cap and trade, card check, and Stimulus 2 (Electric Boogaloo*).
Who knows? By next year Ben Nelson's refusal to block these very liberal major pieces of legislation may place him in the Top 20 of their list.
*Editor's suggested title.
Nelson clearly hasn't shed the rotting grain stench of the Cornhusker Kickback from his coveralls. None other than the Governator himself, Ahhnold, called Nelson's swaying by the Nebraska perks to be illegal.

And Nelson's response? "Oh yeah? Well California has tons of debt! So there!"

Nice. Nice comeback.

Think Nebraskans are getting tired of this? Note that you don't see defenders circling the wagons on behalf of their Nebraska brother.

So the Telegraph asks:
Could he change his mind again and vote against final passage of the bill?
Well...only if his vote won't matter.

9 comments:

Mr. Blackwell said...

Senator Nelson how horrible it is to see your fall from conservative grace, Despite all the flip-floping and broken promises you have made that crusty helmet you call hair never moves one millimeter from its origional place.

Anonymous said...

this makes no sense

GeosUser said...

EBN has to vote for the final bill. He's left himself zero wiggle room now after running TV spots about how great the thing is for Nebraska and the country. If he doesn't, even Mrs. Kleeb won't like him anymore and you know what that means...hubby runs against him in the 2012 Dem primary.

Turbo and Ozone said...

What a great question, where does Ben Nelson stand on Card Check, Stimulus 2 (electric boogaloo) and Cap & Trade? This doesn't get any better for Ben Nelson with the Republicans able to keep their 40 votes intact. If Nebraskans are mad now just imagine what will happen after he votes for cloture on these liberal causes.

Right Wing Professor said...

Don't forget: Nelson voted for Stimulus 1, and helped round up GOP renegades to pass it.

Benator said...

To Right Wing Professor: Just read Stimulus 1, did you read it? There were a lot of good provisions in Stimulus 1 and they would have had 50 votes anyway even if I didn't vote for it. I made a bad bill better!!!! I normally don't vote this way as I am a conservative.

One Out In The Third said...

T & O...

On Cap and Tax...ol' Nelly has stated he doesn't want to touch it this year with a 10 foot pole (or Swede) because the focus should be on the economy. HELLO...Ben you should'a said the same thing about ObamaCare.

I just read where you can save money when ObamaCare arrives. If you are married...get a divorce and live together. It will save you 2K a year.

Dayton Headlee said...

Any list that includes "influential" and Wanda Sykes is irrelevant to me.

Anonymous said...

So, Nelson finally realized what party he was registered as.