It seems that Bob Menendez has jumped off a cliff and has gone over to the Dark Side. It seems that since his appointment to the Senate, he has gotten drunk with power and has taken to representing narrow right-wing interests over the good of the country. Right now, as we read in the news, millions of people are losing their jobs. GM is the next company which will have to be bailed out (again!). But it seems that Bob Menendez has decided to put the welfare of narrow right-wing special interests over the good of the country when he decided to hold this country hostage over the Obama administrations relaxed policies towards Cuba.
But this is not the only time in which Menendez has caved into the extreme elements of the Republican Party, led by Rush Limbaugh. Courtesy of Progressive Punch, here is a whole list of votes in which he caved in and did the bidding of Rush Limbaugh and the Bush administration:
Bob Menendez supports the guest worker program.
He was the deciding vote to kill an amendment that would have phased out the program. The problem is that the guest worker program has been too easily abused by large corporations, who have engaged in the practice of wage suppression by firing American workers and replacing them with guest workers who work for much less. We must eliminate this program and replace it with a way for immigrants who want to start businesses and create jobs to come here while implementing safeguards against corporate abuse of power. He also voted for the guest worker program here as well.
Bob Menendez opposes increased subsidies for biofuels.
Along with his buddy John Kyl, he voted for an amendment that would have prohibited subsidies for animal-fat based biofuel.
Menendez undermined efforts to import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada and elsewhere.
He did that by joining with his buddy Thad Cochran in voting for an amendment to require that the Bush administration certify that prescription drugs were safe before allowing them into this country. That would have killed the whole purpose of the bill, seeing that it was the Bush administration which blocked importation of these drugs in the first place. Either Menendez was gullible in this regard, or he values the pharmaceutical industry over the interests of this country.
While, to be fair, Progressive Punch finds that he is one of the most progressive members of the Senate, these particular votes show a troubling pattern of caving into the Bush administration and Rush Limbaugh and the radical right and putting narrow right-wing interests over that of the American people.
A two thirds vote is needed to proceed. Here is a preliminary list of people whom we could replace him with:
Congressman Robert Andrews
Congressman John Adler
Congressman Frank Pallone
Congressman Bill Pascrell
Congressman Steve Rothman
Congressman Donald Payne
Congressman Rush Holt
Congressman Albio Sires
Environmental Secretary Mark Mauriello
Attorney General Anne Milgram
Health and Senior Services Commissioner Heather Howard
Labor Commissioner David Socolow
Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells
Public Advocate Ron Chen
Update: M Sullivan reports that Menendez has dropped the hold; however, I have not seen this in the news as of 4:25 Eastern. I will return at around 11:30 Eastern or a little after; if the hold goes, then this diary will self-destruct.