Duncan Hunter: Drops out GOP race.

[Gan]

NEW YORK (CNN) — Rep. Duncan Hunter (http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/candidates/duncan.hunter.html) has abandoned his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, the California congressman said in a statement released Saturday evening.
“Today we end this campaign,” said Hunter, according to an advance copy of his remarks he was scheduled to deliver later in the evening.
The California Republican, an outspoken proponent of cracking down on illegal immigration, did poorly in the Nevada GOP caucuses held earlier in the day.


more...

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/01/19/hunter-exits-presidential-race/

[Atlanteax]

I would anticipate Fred Thompson being the next now? With a not-so-great showing in SC?

[Sean of the Thread]

I say Mitt Romney is next.. people are not happy about what happened on Gilligan's Island.

[Drew]

I say Mitt Romney is next.. people are not happy about what happened on Gilligan's Island.

He just won the last two primaries, I don't think he'll be dropping out.

[crazymage]

Romney = Devil. He fucked up Mass pretty solid !

[Parkbandit]

Romney = Devil. He fucked up Mass pretty solid !


How exactly did Romney fuck up Mass exactly? Do tell, because I'm actually leaning towards voting for him.

Serious question.

[Sean of the Thread]

I say Mitt Romney is next.. people are not happy about what happened on Gilligan's Island.

Oops I forgot the video link to go with this.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=XbksbW4AhTs

[Bhuryn]

I could be wrong, but it seems like this is the most open GOP race I can remember, I can't wait till Super Tuesday to see if someone comes out ahead.

the next one for me is probably Guliani, if he fails to capture florida I can't see him sticking around.

[Sean of the Thread]

I've had about 9 Rudy calls to the house already and there is a commercial almost 4 times an hour.

He's really working Florida that's for sure.

[Gan]

I could be wrong, but it seems like this is the most open GOP race I can remember, I can't wait till Super Tuesday to see if someone comes out ahead.

the next one for me is probably Guliani, if he fails to capture florida I can't see him sticking around.

Agreed.

[Gan]

How exactly did Romney fuck up Mass exactly? Do tell, because I'm actually leaning towards voting for him.

Serious question.

Romney supported raising various fees by more than $300 million, including raising fees for driver's licenses, marriage licenses, and gun licenses.[46] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_romney#_note-Telegram) Romney increased the state gasoline tax by 2 cents per gallon, generating about $60 million per year in additional tax revenue.[47] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_romney#_note-mooney) Romney also closed tax loopholes that brought in another $181 million from businesses over the next two years.[47] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_romney#_note-mooney) The state legislature with Romney's support also cut spending by $1.6 billion, including $700 million in reductions in state aid to cities and towns. [48] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_romney#_note-39) The cuts also included a $140 million reduction in state funding for higher education, which led state-run colleges and universities to increase tuition by 63%.[47] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_romney#_note-mooney) Romney sought additional cuts in his last year as Massachusetts governor by vetoing nearly 250 items in the state budget. All of those vetoes were overturned by the legislature.[49] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_romney#_note-40)

The combined state and local tax burden in Massachusetts increased during Romney's governorship.[47] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_romney#_note-mooney) According to the Tax Foundation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation), that per capita (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Per_capita) burden was 9.8% in 2002 (below the national average of 10.3%), and 10.5% in 2006 (below the national average of 10.8%).[50] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_romney#_note-41)

On April 12 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_12), 2006 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006), Romney signed the Massachusetts health reform law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_health_reform_law) which requires nearly all Massachusetts residents to buy health insurance coverage or else face a substantial penalty in the form of an additional income tax assessment. The bill also establishes means-tested state subsidies for people who do not have adequate employer insurance and who make below an income threshold, by using funds previously designated to compensate for the health costs of the uninsured.[51] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_romney#_note-42) [52] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_romney#_note-43) [53] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_romney#_note-44) He vetoed eight sections of the health care legislation, including an employer assessment[54] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_romney#_note-45) and provisions providing health coverage to senior and disabled legal immigrants (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigrant) not eligible for federal Medicaid.[55] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_romney#_note-46) [56] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_romney#_note-47) The legislature overrode all eight vetoes. Romney's communications director Eric Fehrnstrom responded saying "These differences with the Legislature are not essential to the goal of getting everyone covered with insurance."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_romney
______________________________________________

Some good some not so good, depending on your perspective.

This is just a gloss over, I'm sure someone from Mass would be able to chime in as well on his governorship.

[Bhuryn]

I hope Ron Paul wins Florida, I want to see Rudy's head explode.

[crazymage]

The Big Dig.

[Parkbandit]

The Big Dig was a federal funded project that was passed in 1987 and the work began in 1991.. 12 years before Mitt was even Governor.

[Tsa`ah]

The big dig has cost tax payers 14.6 billion funded from both federal and [b]state[b] taxes as of 2006.

Though pinning anything but a portion of that on Romney would be a stretch.

[Parkbandit]

Which is probably why Reagan rejected it as being too expensive. Too bad he was vetoed.

[Sean of the Thread]

The Big Dig isn't Romney's mess. It is however one of the more popular ways to pull the trump card when arguing with snowbird massholes around here.

[Gan]

For those who need some background (such as myself)... here's an excerpt from the Wiki article.



The project was conceived in the 1970s by the Boston Transportation Planning Review (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Transportation_Planning_Review) to replace the rusting elevated six-lane Central Artery. The expressway separated downtown from the waterfront, and was increasingly choked with bumper-to-bumper traffic. Business leaders were more concerned about access to Logan Airport (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Airport), and pushed instead for a third harbor tunnel. In their second terms as governor and secretary of transportation, respectively, Michael Dukakis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Dukakis) and Fred Salvucci (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Salvucci), came up with the strategy of tying the two projects together—thereby combining the project that the business community supported with the project that they and the City of Boston supported.[citation needed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)]

Planning for the Big Dig as a project officially began in 1982, with environmental impact studies starting in 1983. After years of extensive lobbying for federal dollars, a 1987 public works bill appropriating funding for the Big Dig was passed by U.S. Congress (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_of_the_United_States), but it was subsequently vetoed by President Ronald Reagan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan) as being too expensive. When Congress overrode his veto, the project had its green light and ground was first broken in 1991.[13] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Dig_%28Boston%2C_Massachusetts%29#_note-4)

100th congress: 1987-1989 (http://forum.gsplayers.com/The project was conceived in the 1970s by the Boston Transportation Planning Review to replace the rusting elevated six-lane Central Artery. The expressway separated downtown from the waterfront, and was increasingly choked with bumper-to-bumper traffic. Business leaders were more concerned about access to Logan Airport, and pushed instead for a third harbor tunnel. In their second terms as governor and secretary of transportation, respectively, Michael Dukakis and Fred Salvucci, came up with the strategy of tying the two projects together—thereby combining the project that the business community supported with the project that they and the City of Boston supported.[citation needed])
(Democrat majority in both houses)

Very interesting.

[Warriorbird]

Not that that Congress hasn't been beaten in spending stupidity by a certain group of Republican Congresses...

...I don't blame the Big Dig on Romney either.

The bigger issue to Republicans (from what I hear from my token Republican friends) is that Romney is pretty much the Republican Kerry.