Odd: Newt Hits Romney On Attempted Insensitive Cuts To State Budget

Baseball Crank observed, with regard to Romney's changeable politics, that if we ended up with him as a candidate, we'd wind up defending him and nothing else. Because we'd have to contort ourselves so to champion him that there wouldn't much much of conservatism left, apart from Mitt Romney himself.

I cited that as a good observation, and I still do think that's a problem.

However, I'm getting the same feeling about Newt.

First, it was that leftwing attack on equity funds. Which I joined, of course, as I thought it was pretty important we have a genuine, instinctual conservative as a candidate. Even though that candidate was joining in this Hail Mary stuff about "vulture capitalism."

Anyway, now it's that... Mitt Romney attempted to cut the state budget by ending expensive kosher kitchens in state-supported nursing homes, and instead called for kosher meals to get prepared off-site and bused in to the locations where they were needed.

Would have saved the state $600,000 a year. The Democratic legislature put the kibosh on it.

Anyway, that plan to save money has turned into Gingrich's new attack:

“Romney cut off kosher food to elderly Jews on Medicare. Both of them have the same lack of concern for religious liberty.”

And a Newt 2012 radio spot (listen here) goes a step further and declares that Romney...

vetoed a bill paying for kosher food for our seniors in nursing homes -- Holocaust survivors, who for the first time, were forced to eat non-kosher, because Romney thought $5 was too much to pay for our grandparents to eat kosher.

Yeah, it was never the plan they'd eat non-kosher, just that the kosher meals would be prepared in a central kitchen.

Eh, it's politics, I guess. But I suppose that must be the end of all the whining about negative attacks (as Rush Limbaugh terms it) from Newt.

I mean, honestly. Surely we won't be hearing any more about maliciously false claims after that.

Any and all cuts will be attacked by the left in this way-- there is always some inconvenience or change we're supposed to be outraged about, some protected constituency we're supposed to rally behind to keep those budget dollars a-flowin'.

If I thought Newt believed an inch of this crap, I'd be worried about him on that score. But I don't, really. Just any club in the bag.

I think in the end neither Newt nor Mitt is offering much except themselves; there is no Gingrism, like there was a Reaganism, and no Romneyism either. (And there was no McCainism.)

There is no central idea animating either campaign, just the man himself, and since we're really not discussing ideas, but rather men, the negative attack on the opposing man himself is the only game in town.

For both candidates.

posted by Ace at 02:22 PM

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