The Top 5 Most Courageous Men in America

In light of the passage by our House of Representatives of a $1,200,000,000,000 spending bill (if we all paid equally, which we don't, that would be $4,000 each), I would like to heap praise upon 5 men who put principle above politics, who were actual bi-partisan agents of change. None of these men are Republicans - they merely did what their constituents sent them to Washington to do for them. Not all of them are Conservatives, although I am only enamored of those who are, but all of them stayed true to the Founding Principles. Because of that, I want to express my extreme gratitude, and do what the MainStream Media inevidibly won't do, and tell the true tale of these heroic men.

5. Congressman Allen Boyd(D - FL). The elected representative of The Sunshine State's 2nd District. Yes, this is Conservative North Florida, but it includes the Marxist enclave of Talahassee. Congressman Boyd is a principled Blue Dog Democrat, and stayed true to his Blue Dog principles with his vote. He said, " I have serious concerns that this level of deficit spending without a plan toward fiscal responsibility will only make our economic problems worse. This stimulus package does not address the issues that we know are at least partly responsible for the economic downturn, and that is years of irresponsible fiscal policies rooted in out-of-control spending and borrowing." He followed up that gleeming spotlight of truth with, "I want to see a stimulus package that quickly gets money into the hands of the people who are going to spend it and lays out some sort of framework that puts us on a path toward fiscal responsibility, I want the stimulus package to include a strategic way forward that fosters an innovative business environment and leads to job creation and a stronger economy. Economists all agree that we cannot sustain the level of spending in the stimulus package over the long run, so I want to have more confidence that each provision is temporary, targeted, timely , and truly stimulative. That is what I hope to see in the stimulus package that ultimately becomes law."
Now that's hope we can truly believe in.

4. Congressman Paul Kanjorski(D-PA). The elected representative of the 11th District of the Keystone State. This district includes Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and Hazelton - bastions of pro-Labor Liberalism. A stalwart of fiscal responsibility, Kanjo said after the I-35W Bridge collapse of 2007, Minnesotans "discovered they were going to get all the money from the federal government and they were taking all they could get." My boy.
Of the Obama Spending bill, Kanjo said, "While I absolutely agree that we must stimulate our economy to help it recover from its troubled state, I am concerned that this bill does not represent an effective plan to ensure our economic recovery. We face the most challenging economic crisis since the Great Depression, yet this bill merely throws money at the problem by expanding existing programs. We have not taken the time to fully understand the nature and the full scope of the collapse of our economy, and so we have not taken the time to understand how to target the problems with innovative solutions. While I recognize the urgency of the situation, we would do better to follow the advice of an old civil engineer friend of mine who often cautioned that to do a job correctly, it is better to go slow in the planning to allow you to go fast in the implementation." A Democrfat who doesn't want to throw our money at a problem, now that would be change I could believe in.

3. Congressman Jim Cooper (D-TN). The elected representative of The Volunteer State's 5th District, Cooper is hardly one of my favorite politicians. His domestic policy votes have been autrocious, although he is an arch-enemy of Shrillary, which gives him bonus points. However, his courage on this vote cannot be denied. His district has not voted for a Republican since 1847, which means that half of his constituency approve of unabashed government spending, and the other half lives off of it. He would not have been held to account by one voter, if he had capitulated to Pelosi's partisan pressure. But he did not. Cooper believed, "some provisions - including $200 million to repair the National Mall and $50 million in grants for the National Endowment for the Arts - shouldn't be part of a stimulus bill. And the bill's additional Medicaid funding for states could create an expectation that the higher level of support will continue in the future."
That, my friends, unlike the frequent misuse of the phrase, is "truth to power."

2. Congressman Walt Minnick(D-ID). Although Obamamania swept many freshman representatives into Congress this year, Minnick's rise was probably unrelated. He is a veteran, and help to create the DEA - two things that Liberals vehemently oppose, and he worked for Nixon, which to Liberals is almost as bad as listening to Rush Limbaugh. He won a Republican district in the Republican stronghold of Idaho. Nonetheless, he displayed magnificent Blue Dog principles on the Obama Spending Bill. He said, "every nickel we spend is going to be borrowed, I think we have to be focused and laser-like on what we can afford and what we spend money on. We can't simply afford everything that would be nice to do if we have the money. I think it's important that we look through this list and decide what really creates the most jobs soon."
The audacity of reason.

1. Congressman Frank Kratovil, Jr. (D-MD). Okay, let's put aside the fact that his name is Frank. Let's put aside the fact that he represents the Eastern Shore, playground of my forefathers. Claiming that a district in the People's Republic of Maryland leans Republican, is like saying that a parenting technique by Britney Spears leans responsible. There is nothing that I share with this guy, other than a name. Yet, given the opportunity to make bones with his new colleagues, Kratovil stood by his principles. He said, “Although these may be admirable causes, they certainly are not emergencies and should not be lumped in with legitimate efforts to strengthen our economy and get people back to work, our economy is in crisis, and it’s going to take a combination of tough choices and fiscal responsibility to give it the boost it needs.”
Although two other freshmen (Bright and Griffith - along with Minnick) voted against the bill, they all represent solidly Red states. For that, Frank, Jr. gets my Top 5 Medal of Valor.