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I recently bought the book "Against the Tide" by former Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in American politics. Chafee was known as a moderate Republican but he was really one of those old fashioned Republicans (some people call them paleo-Republicans) who believed in a strict separation between religion and state, hated the idea of deficit spending, and thought the powers of the Federal government should be kept in a well defined box. In short he believes government should be limited and responsible.
I'm actually kind of sad that Senator Chafee lost his seat in the 2006 Democratic landslide because having more Paleo-Republicans in the Republican party might help counter balance the religious right and bring the party back to its historic roots.
Some interesting facts about Senator Chafee's political career:
- He voted against Bush's tax cuts in 2001 because he thought $1.6 trillion in tax cuts would cause the deficit to explode and because there were no corresponding cuts to go with it. Boy did he get that right.
- He was the only Republican in the Senate to vote against invading Iraq because he thought it would be a quagmire and a huge wast of money which wouldn't make America any safer. He took a huge amount of negative press for this vote but I think history has proved him right.
- He voted for gay marriage because he thought the government shouldn't tell people how to live their life. This sort of libertarian point of view used to be common in the Republican party and it is interesting how rightists and leftists can come to the same conclusion but for totally different reasons.
- Became anti death penalty for personal religious reasons and thought it was better not to execute the guilty then risk executing an innocent man. Tried to get mandatory prerequisite of DNA analysis for all federal executions after it turned out several people on death row were found innocent after DNA testing was done. Unfortunately this bill got voted down by people who claimed it was a wast of money.
- Was part of "the gang of 14" which was made up of 7 Democratic and 7 Republican Senators who opposed the excess partisanism in Washington. These 14 Senators blocked attempts to change the Senate rules for partisan gain (the so called nuclear option). He thought the institution of the Senate shouldn't be undermined by either party just to seek short term political advantage.
He really does sound like an interesting fellow so it's kind of sad to read about how the religious right tried to marginalize him in the party for not towing the official line.
I'm actually kind of sad that Senator Chafee lost his seat in the 2006 Democratic landslide because having more Paleo-Republicans in the Republican party might help counter balance the religious right and bring the party back to its historic roots.
Some interesting facts about Senator Chafee's political career:
- He voted against Bush's tax cuts in 2001 because he thought $1.6 trillion in tax cuts would cause the deficit to explode and because there were no corresponding cuts to go with it. Boy did he get that right.
- He was the only Republican in the Senate to vote against invading Iraq because he thought it would be a quagmire and a huge wast of money which wouldn't make America any safer. He took a huge amount of negative press for this vote but I think history has proved him right.
- He voted for gay marriage because he thought the government shouldn't tell people how to live their life. This sort of libertarian point of view used to be common in the Republican party and it is interesting how rightists and leftists can come to the same conclusion but for totally different reasons.
- Became anti death penalty for personal religious reasons and thought it was better not to execute the guilty then risk executing an innocent man. Tried to get mandatory prerequisite of DNA analysis for all federal executions after it turned out several people on death row were found innocent after DNA testing was done. Unfortunately this bill got voted down by people who claimed it was a wast of money.
- Was part of "the gang of 14" which was made up of 7 Democratic and 7 Republican Senators who opposed the excess partisanism in Washington. These 14 Senators blocked attempts to change the Senate rules for partisan gain (the so called nuclear option). He thought the institution of the Senate shouldn't be undermined by either party just to seek short term political advantage.
He really does sound like an interesting fellow so it's kind of sad to read about how the religious right tried to marginalize him in the party for not towing the official line.
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