Principles and Consequences - Stupak to Retire

Bart Stupak is due to officially announce his retirement from Congress.  On one hand Stupak never made any bones about the fact that he wanted to get healthcare passed; yet he kept saying that he wouldn't bend on his principles on the right to life.  But he did.  He sold out his own stated principles.  He knows that an executive order doesn't trump law.  If he doesn't know that, he certainly doesn't belong in the body that writes the laws. 

Reportedly, the White House reached out to Stupak to try and get him to stay in the race for re-election.  But, he was fighting an uphill battle, as the tea party and the pro-life movements in this country have already spent a half million dollars in his district on television advertising since his vote.  He is expected to say that he wants to spend more time for his family.  My advice to Stupak is he should really spend some time looking for his lost principles. 

Have They No Shame? - The Democrats on Life

Bart Stupak, the Michigan Congressman, gave an interview to National Review Online. It was quite the stunner.


“If you pass the Stupak amendment, more children will be born, and therefore it will cost us millions more. That’s one of the arguments I’ve been hearing,” Stupak says. “Money is their hang-up. Is this how we now value life in America? If money is the issue — come on, we can find room in the budget. This is life we’re talking about.”

Now, I have been pro choice my entire adult life. My entire reasoning for being pro-life is the fact that I believe that we should not go back to back-alley abortions that endanger women's lives, not because I think that it is ok. I also am very uncomfortable with the idea of telling a young victim of incest or a rape victim that they must go through with the pregnancy if she doesn't want to. Although only a tiny percentage of abortions in this country are performed for this reason.


When I read things like this it makes me wonder why I embrace this view. More children will be born, this is reasoning? Cliff over at Another Black Conservative calls this evil. I would have to agree, this is pure evil. But something that I am surprised he didn't touch on was the racial implications of this statement. The sad reality is that the poor is disproportionately in the minority communities.


Where is the Congressional Black Caucus in all this? Why are they not asking the question why the democratic party are willing to kill off black babies because they are not willing to pay for the health care of these babies? Why is the black community not asking why the first black president is not appalled at this? Just today The Washington Post had a write up regarding the CBC's view that President Obama is not doing enough to address the needs of the black community when it comes to employment, shouldn't they be asking themselves why this is the policy of the party they love so much?

Another very fascinating quote from this article is:

And the politics of the issue are pretty rough. “This has really reached an unhealthy stage,” Stupak says. “People are threatening ethics complaints on me. On the left, they’re really stepping it up. Every day, from Rachel Maddow to the Daily Kos, it keeps coming. Does it bother me? Sure. Does it change my position? No.”

Ethics complaints? Hmm, while I still think that Massa is a nut job, but it certainly puts his assertions into a new light does it not?

One thing that I must say is that Stupak is a man who deserves respect.  While I don't agree with him on most things, as he is a big government kind of guy, he is willing to stand by his principles even when it is hard.  He has even gone as far to say that he will remain in the democratic party as he knows that he isn't a republican.  Mr. Stupak I give you a hat tip.  We need more people in government like you; someone who stands up for what you believe is right.  As you have seen for yourself, that is becoming rare these days. 

For additional conversations see Memeorandum

Liberal Logic - George Stephanopoulos Edition

It seems that George Stephanopoulos doesn't think politicians should be standing by principle. Congressman Stupak is standing by his pro life principles. Stephanopoulos’ view of Stupak’s stand is that he is committing “Mutiny” against the Democratic Party.

Oh, yeah George worked for President Clinton, no wonder he doesn't understand politicians standing by principle.