A group of venerable moderate Republican millionaires are starting a new group, Republicans Who Care. As Ellen Miller writes on TPM Cafe, “Does that mean that the rest of the Republicans are members of ‘Republicans Who Don’t Care’?”
And what precisely do the moderates care about? According to Bloomberg News, the group is raising money for “Republicans who favor balanced federal budgets and believe government should take a hands-off approach on such issues as abortion.” The candidates they’re planning to help include Senator Lincoln Chafee in Rhode Island and Reps. Chris Shays, Nancy Johnson, Rob Simmons, Martha Rainville and Deborah Pryce.
But do these candidates stand up on the aforementioned issues? Take abortion. Pryce had only a 40 percent rating from NARAL last year and is the fourth-ranking Republican in a GOP leadership that is adamantly pro-life.
The rest of the aforementioned Republicans voted for the Bush tax cuts that bloated the federal deficit.
And if Lincoln Chafee is re-elected to the Senate, he’ll vote for Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, hardly a moderate.
It doesn’t seem like the rich Republican “moderates” are getting too much bang for their buck.
