Buckeye RINO

The State of Ohio Blogger Alliance has undertaken the task of highlighting criticisms of the Obama ticket that the in-the-tank MSM works hard to downplay or outright ignore.  The effort has been titled “Help Ohio Prevent Electing Obama Now” (HOPE ON), and, in all, 13 installments will be rolled out for blog readers to peruse and reflect upon.

Here are my recaps of Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

Porkopolis has the video with the scoop on Part 5.  The tally for less than 4 years of Obama in the U.S. Senate: about 100 earmarks totaling about $740 million.  The tally for 26 years of McCain in the U.S. Senate: 0 earmarks totalling $0.  Obama conveniently stopped requesting earmarks during this presidential bid.  Michelle Obama’s employer received $1 million of those earmarks, and until 2006, Michelle Obama’s employer was Barack Obama’s biggest campaign contributor.

From the Buckeye RINO perspective:

There are several reasons why my detractors call me a RINO.  Among the chief reasons is that I have publicly criticized prominent Republican officeholders in the past, particularly in Ohio’s General Assembly.  Pay-to-play politics leads to marketplace inefficiencies and distortions as legislators, more focused on re-election than they are on fundamental fairness, angle for legislation that will garner campaign donors.  Barack Obama fits the pay-to-play political profile.  So does Joe Biden.  The pay-to-play brand of politics must stop.  It’s what has led to our current financial meltdown.

John McCain’s message of reform is exactly the change that needs to be sought.  During the debates, Obama has scoffed at McCain’s pledge to eliminate the earmark process by saying that complete elimination of earmarks would save just $18 billion, a drop in the bucket compared with the total federal budget.  However, this sort of reform goes to the very heart of what is wrong with Washington, where, as Obama himself said, “It also means that investment goes to the companies that are best connected instead of the ones that are most productive.”  Washington has interfered for years upon years with the marketplace, and the best connected are the ones that have benefited from the interference.  Barack Obama doesn’t practice what he preaches.  John McCain does, and his passionate push for reform is what ignited his campaign as the Republican National Convention drew to a close.

If I were to begin to compare Biden with Palin, there really is no comparison.  Biden has been entrenched in the U.S. Senate for 29 years, and has ridden the gravy train throughout.  I’ve written several blog entries about Palin that touched upon the topic of earmarks and reform here, here, here, here, here, and most recently, here and here.

When it comes to reforming Washington, John McCain has identified the correct starting point.  Obama’s scoffing at it in favor of the status quo means that the reforms Washington needs will not be undertaken during an Obama presidency.