No one will take on Obama, and the Washington establishment, like Newt Gingrich
Fantastic: Obama would like to replicate Detroit’s foibles elsewhere
New York Times scandalized as NYPD is trained on Muslim-perpetrated violence
Detroit boldly choosing to crackdown on the innocent
South Carolina stopped Romney. For now
Cartoon: Down and out
In which I praise Mitt (but explain why I won’t vote for him)
Bernero the gambler sells Main Street for a shot at the slots
The Emergency Financial Manager law is undemocratic, but opponents need an alternative to guard against local fiscal calamities
Memo to Snyder: Don’t stop the radical reforms now!Thad McCotter for president? Um, no
May 31st, 2011 | 
Author: 
Dan Calabrese
Hey, I like Led Zeppelin too. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to pull any punches about the idea of Thaddeus McCotter running for president.
I’m not talking about how good a candidate he would be. I’m not a political consultant, so I don’t know and I don’t care. But I know what kind of president he would be – a complete disaster, because he is neither a serious nor a sincere individual.
First of all, for those of you who think he is some sort of “true conservative hero” – mainly because of his impassioned speeches against TARP in 2008 – McCotter was called on the carpet this week for having supported “card check,” the UAW’s pet legislative priority that would allow unionization of plants without secret ballots.
Now, it is familiar territory for would-be presidential candidates to offer their contrition for past positions that run counter to the party base. But when McCotter explained away his past support for card check, well, he spun quite the yarn, telling The View’s Manny Lopez:
“As a Federalist, what happened in Wisconsin made me realize that EFCA (the Employee Free Choice Act) was something that should be decided on the state level.”
OK, wait, I’m trying to stop laughing. I’m sorry. (Sips some water.) All right.
So because he is a federalist or something, the conflict between unions and Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin “made him realize” that the question of whether union organizers can show up at your door, politely requesting that you sign a certain card, “should be decided on the state level”?
Most everyone else had no trouble figuring out that the proposal is simply a violation of worker rights, as it would have taken away secret-ballot organizing votes, regardless of which level of government would have sought to impose it. But not Thad. He couldn’t figure it out until he saw “what happened in Wisconsin”, which by the way had nothing whatsoever to do with union organizing.
That is a bunch of B.S. if I’ve ever heard B.S. McCotter was for card check when it was giving him access to union money to get elected to his Michigan congressional seat. Now that he supposedly wants to run for president, his “principles” have changed because his political ambitions has changed, so he explains away the change with a dopey tale that even the most casual observer can see right through.
Of course you know that this guy, who fiercely opposed the TARP bailout on the grounds that it was a matter of liberty vs. tyranny, has no trouble supporting the auto bailout. But since every other Michigan Republican took the same position, maybe you don’t care.
But you might care about this. In September 2008, McCotter took to the floor of the House to tell a story about Andrew Jackson, and how he refused to renew the charter of the Second Bank of the United States because Old Hickory was a man of the people. It was quite a story, and complete fiction, from a man who is clearly not the history scholar he fashions himself to be. McCotter blustered as follows:
“In the 1832 bank panic, Andrew Jackson had the question of whether he would remove the Bank of the United States Charter. The people in the bank did not like that. They threatened the prosperity of the people of the United States during a panic. Andrew Jackson looked at these bankers and said, ‘There are no necessary evils in government. The Treasury to you, gentlemen, is closed.’ This was an act of courage on the part of President Jackson because he understood what was at stake was not merely an ephemeral prosperity or the needs of people with their hand out. Andrew Jackson understood this was about majoritarian rule.”
Well that’s some story, and I guess it explains Thad’s personal principles, which are about as discombobulated as the story itself.
The bank panic wasn’t in 1832. It was in 1837. And guess who caused it!
What happened in 1832 was the Bank War, in which establishment figures like Henry Clay and Daniel Webster urged Jackson to re-charter the central bank. Jackson, whose past experiences with debt caused him to feel hostility toward banks, refused to re-issue the charter. Against the advice of his first two secretaries of the Treasury, Jackson removed all Treasury deposits from the Bank of the United States and placed them instead in a series of privately held banks around the country.
This, plus his curious decision to ban the use of bank notes in the purchase of federal lands, led to the Bank Panic of 1837, which ushered in a five-year period of deep unemployment and severe inflation.
But don’t expect Thad McCotter to know any of this, which won’t stop him from citing it. He doesn’t even know what happened in Wisconsin a few months ago, and that doesn’t stop him from citing it. McCotter only knows one thing, and that’s how to twist himself to remain politically viable.
And we already have a president who can do that.
Posted in Dan Calabrese
32 Responses to “Thad McCotter for president? Um, no”
Leave a Reply
- Listen to compelling 911 tape of 2-year-old trying to help authorities save her great-grandmother's life (AUDIO)
- 'Simpsons' joke about Sharia threat in Dearborn
- Fire Marshal: Too soon to say whether fatal fire at 230 Myrtle in Muskegon is arson; investigation continues
- Electrical problems likely cause of Strong Avenue fire in Muskegon; Investigation ongoing
- WXYZ asks a blogger with no law enforcement experience to weigh in on escort murders
- By the numbers: Detroit has spent $20 million demolishing homes since 2009
- 'Simpsons' joke about Sharia threat in Dearborn
- Age-shy Warren Mayor Jim is officially 69, two years older than he claimed, so let's all move on
[...] reading here: Thad McCotter for president? Um, no Tags: congress, dan [...]
Right on the money Dan. McCotter is one of those RINOs that we don’t need. Sorry Thad, you are out of your league, prove you’re a hard core conservative and we’ll look at you.
Gary Wellings, Chief Editor The Courant
Thad McCotter has about as good of a chance as Herman Cain.
Dan,
I have yet to do any research on McCotter, having first heard of him this afternoon on the Hannity show with Fred & Jeri Thompson subbing for Sean. I will hyperlink this column in to my Saturday column, since you are much closer to the scene than I am.
Thanx for once again being on the ball for us.
[...] got to do some digging before I form a solid opinion, since I really don’t know much about him. Friend of the Claw Dan Calabrese doesn’t care for his fellow Michigander, who appears to twist his positions according to the [...]
Gee, Gary W., you plan on telling McCotter this when he speaks tonite at the “Tea Party Fest” (aka the “Freedom Fest) in Whitmore Lake? And BTW, thanks to Gary and his like-minded brethren at WAAM, for politicizing what has traditionally been a non-partisan celebration in Whitmore Lake.
TMAC (Thaddeus McCotter), is thee most poloarizing for both sides of party lines because he doesn’t side with the every conservative view every time and I would hope he wouldn’t. Where’s the fiscal discipline from his own party when he himself was bucking the trend and introducing legislation to reduce compensation for fellow congressman who serve on select committees as he does. YES, he actually shows backbone to stand up and do what’s right despite what his party tells him to do. Fact is, as a Republican myself I am tired of seeing the Truegreen/Chemlawn style of business as usual being instituted by the National Republican party. Fill out our survey and send us money, calling for more money and sending more surveys so we can try and pick the right person to serve you, oops that didn’t work so well. Lets send more surveys to find the core of the party and by the way send more money and we’ll pick a few more options and try to do better. Democratic party is doing the same thing of course. Take a little Trump, add Reagan-like principles like Tmac’s website lists, and add a tough military view like McCain and you have a well balanced candidate that surpasses the likes of Romney who will be spit at with class war tactics used by the Left wing. T-mac is for the common man and is closer to those who served with passion and strength than we have seen in our lifetime. He’s our best chance to unite behind and stop socialism in its tracks!
Who is your alternative candidate?
Romney, author of “Obamney care?”
Bachman, who undercuts Paul Ryan’s Medicare proposal and isn’t sure about ethanol subsidies?
Pawlenty and his neo-con foreign policy?
Card check is plausibly a state issue. At some point, a Congressman is supposed to represent his constituents. I find Romney’s and Bachman’s transgressions far less forgivable.
Dan: I am not going to buy into your litmus tests, and I couldn’t care less about your “gotcha” regarding what did or did not happen in the 1830s. You should look instead at Rep. McCotter’s overall record, intellectual capacity, core conservative positions, and his potential to attract the vote of key independent constituencies. You are trashing him before we even get to hear him out. I don’t need you to tell me what to think. Best regards, Ed
Dan, You are trying to make the point that T-Mc had the dates wrong and his analysis was flawed, while you draw a conclusion that is itself conjecture.
Thad was making a point that I believe you missed. There is no conclusive evidence that Jackson’s actions caused a 5 year decline of the economy and deep unemployment. It is also believed in some quarters, that Jackson’s opponents created the problem to force the reestablishment of the central bank. This is why they called it a Bank “War”. He did not talk about 1832 events, because 1837 was more germane to the issue of eliminating the Federal Reserve Bank we have now.
As for Thad’s decision to change his mind as to the EFCA issue: Is it not possible that events in Wisconsin could have brought the to light the advantages of “Right to Work” States, that are not encumbered by what have become Socialistic Unions. I believe, Thad recognized, that Unions do not need to increase in power and scope by passing a law designed to take away the right to vote, without imposed influences, and thuggery. Wisconsin brought this point home for many people that did not realize how the unions do business. If your assumption is correct, and Thad has now given up, “access to union money to get elected to his Michigan congressional seat”, to take this new stand against the EFCA bill, why would his courage be bad? Do you believe that if a person changes their mind because new information convinces them to do so, that makes them a flip flopper. There are limits to personal knowledge at any given time. Why don’t you help Thad to stay informed and knowledgable, rather that complain because he does not live up to your expectations. You are part of the problem, why don’t you help to find the solutions. Point out the positive or negative in the issues, not the man. Knowledge of truth through impetus becomes wisdom. Help him to be wise.
I believe the notion that the US will default on its financial debt is insane. How did it arrive to this?
Hi there! Someone in my Facebook group shared this site with us so I came to take a look. I’m definitely loving the information. I’m book-marking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Exceptional blog and superb design.
Hi! I know this is kinda off topic nevertheless I’d figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest authoring a blog post or vice-versa? My site covers a lot of the same topics as yours and I think we could greatly benefit from each other. If you are interested feel free to send me an e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you! Terrific blog by the way!
With havin so much content do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or copyright violation? My blog has a lot of completely unique content I’ve either authored myself or outsourced but it appears a lot of it is popping it up all over the internet without my authorization. Do you know any solutions to help prevent content from being ripped off? I’d genuinely appreciate it.
Thanks for your marvelous posting! I really enjoyed reading it, you are a great author.I will make certain to bookmark your blog and may come back in the foreseeable future. I want to encourage you to ultimately continue your great posts, have a nice day!
I really like your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you design this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you? Plz respond as I’m looking to create my own blog and would like to know where u got this from. many thanks
It’s a shame you don’t have a donate button! I’d most certainly donate to this superb blog! I guess for now i’ll settle for book-marking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account. I look forward to brand new updates and will talk about this blog with my Facebook group. Talk soon!
Heya this is somewhat of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding knowledge so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Hi! I could have sworn I’ve been to this website before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Anyways, I’m definitely glad I found it and I’ll be bookmarking and checking back often!
Hey! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and tell you I really enjoy reading through your posts. Can you recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that cover the same subjects? Thank you!
Thanks , I have recently been searching for information about this subject for ages and yours is the greatest I have came upon so far. But, what concerning the bottom line? Are you positive about the supply?|What i don’t understood is in truth how you are now not really a lot more smartly-favored than you may be right now. You’re so intelligent.
Good day! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I really enjoy reading your blog posts. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that cover the same subjects? Thanks a lot!
When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get three e-mails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Bless you!
Terrific post but I was wanting to know if you could write a litte more on this subject? I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit more. Thank you!
Hello, I think your website might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your website in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, amazing blog!
Have you ever thought about creating an e-book or guest authoring on other blogs? I have a blog based on the same subjects you discuss and would really like to have you share some stories/information. I know my viewers would enjoy your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel free to send me an e mail.
Admiring the hard work you put into your blog and in depth information you offer. It’s great to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same outdated rehashed information. Excellent read! I’ve bookmarked your site and I’m adding your RSS feeds to my Google account.
Hi there just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text in your content seem to be running off the screen in Ie. I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with internet browser compatibility but I thought I’d post to let you know. The layout look great though! Hope you get the issue solved soon. Thanks
Hello! I know this is kinda off topic nevertheless I’d figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest authoring a blog post or vice-versa? My site addresses a lot of the same subjects as yours and I believe we could greatly benefit from each other. If you happen to be interested feel free to shoot me an email. I look forward to hearing from you! Excellent blog by the way!
I appreciate your wp theme, where did you down load it through?
Wow that was odd. I just wrote an incredibly long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t show up. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyhow, just wanted to say excellent blog!
Hello! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and tell you I truly enjoy reading through your posts. Can you recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that cover the same subjects? Thanks!