DeMint's Curious Comments

In an effort to brand himself the flag bearer of renewed small government Republicanism, Jim DeMint recently said, "We have to have a remnant of the Republican Party who are recognizable as freedom fighters. What I’m looking to do as a conservative leader in the Senate is to identify some Republicans, and even some Democrats, and put together a consensus of people who can help stop this slide toward socialism."

DeMint is the first term senator from South Carolina who took his seat in the senate in 2005. Prior to his senatorial stint, DeMint was in the US Congress from 1998 until the time of his senate win. DeMint was ranked in both 2007 and in 2008 as the most conservative senator in the senate by National Journal. This distinction likely comes from political stances such as opposing gays or single mothers from being able to teach in schools.

DeMint has clearly staked out a position as being an ideological opponent of the new administration. To his credit, he has made a name for himself when it comes to fighting pork barrel spending. But his crusade against socialism should start at home if his principles truly excite his passions as he suggests. Per the Tax Foundation (see taxfoundation.org), South Carolina receives $1.35 for every $1 in federal tax dollar it sends to the federal government. That tidy 35% return on investment ranks South Carolina as the 16th most subsidized state in the US and put's DeMint's home state in the company of states like Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas that also reliably voicing conservative cultural principles but are often less principled when it come to practicing them.

DeMint famously tried to strip funding from the city of Berkeley, California in early 2008. This flap occurred during the Code Pink protests in front of the Marine recruiting station in Berkeley. The senator was censured for his divisive tactics by his colleagues. But ironically, his state which he asserts is a bastion against socialism is in the end a net debtor to a state like California which he so richly despises. California only gets $.78 cents for every dollar it sends to the federal government. Many of those "lost" cents are surely headed to DeMint's last great hope of fiscal conservatism South Carolina.

Crying hypocrisy when it comes to politicians is not very hard to do. But, in this case the basic facts should chasten some politicians from over reaching when taking positions. The media, with an investment of about 15 minutes, should have been able to point out these simple observations. DeMint’s home state newspaper The State did not seem to have the time or energy to point out these simple incongruous facts- DeMint’s new proclamations simply don’t jive with the state’s utter dependence on Yankee and Crazy California money. Sphere: Related Content