Is 42 Years Too Long?

“What do you call a Senator who’s served in office for 18 years? You call him home.” -Senator Orrin Hatch, 1976

Many have condemned Senator Orrin Hatch for his lengthy tenure in the senate, despite his early call to be in office for a maximum of two terms. In an ABC interview, Senator Orrin Hatch said he may be running in 2018, meaning he may be seeking to be in office for a total of 48 years.

During his bid for a seat in the senate in 1976, Orrin Hatch attacked incumbent Frank Moss for his lengthy stay in Congress, saying: “What do you call a Senator who’s served in office for 18 years? You call him home.”

Now, after nearly doubling Moss’s service, Senator Orrin Hatch is fighting off criticism from opponents who want a fresh face in Washington.

“He’s been a good senator for the most part,” Chaffetz said. “I just think, conceptually, most people are opposed to 42 years of contiguous service.” (see www.ksl.com for the full article)

Why I Made this Website

Hi, my name is Mark Hopkins. I live in Provo and graduated from BYU. While studying political science at BYU, I gained a great appreciation for our liberties in America and for the Founding Fathers. Over the last couple of years I’ve felt so distraught as I see our liberties slipping from our grasps with the election of Obama and the growth of government. I want my kids to live in a better America. What I don’t want to give my kids is an America embracing socialism and I don’t want to give them an out-of-control debt-laden America.

So I decided to get involved. Two years ago, I was elected a state delegate at our local neighborhood caucus. Through this process, I helped to elect Senator Mike Lee. It was so rewarding to be able to make a change that would promote greater freedom.

I made this website to help educate people in our great state of Utah. My purpose is to give people resources to help them make an educated decision during the 2012 senate race. At this time, I’m not promoting any particular candidate. I’m just trying to help educate people on the issues of this race as well as the voting record of Senator Orrin Hatch.

Senator Orrin Hatch Not Conservative

Recently, Senator Orrin Hatch has gone to great lengths to brand himsel as a conservative by showing up at Tea Party gatherings. In fact, a central part of his strategy to brand himself as conservative has been to actively court and attempt to hire Tea Part activists for his own campaign. You can read about it on www.ksl.com.

Senator Orrin Hatch’s Voting Record

Senator Orrin Hatch’s voting record tells another story. Despite claiming to be conservative, Senator Orrin Hatch’s voting record doesn’t support these claims. Check out these very liberal votes:

Senator Orrin Hatch Cosponsored PIPA. PIPA received such a backlash from people who didn’t want government regulating the internet that Senator Orrin Hatch backed down and voted against the bill after cosponsoring it.

Senator Orrin Hatch Voted for the $700 Billion Wall Street Bailout (TARP) Voting for bailouts is unconstitutional and not fair. As a business owner in the free market, I’ve worked hard to make wise decisions. If I make a bad decision, I suffer. Why are the rich big banks and companies who have friends in Washington immune from the consequences of bad decisions? If we’re going to have a bailout, you and I should get some too, not just the rich guys.

Senator Orrin Hatch Voted for NDAA
This bill is a blatant violation of the 5th Amendment’s due process. NDAA allows the military to arrest US citizens on US soil for “suspected terrorism” and they can make almost anything suspected terrorism due to the way the language in the bill is written.

Senator Orrin Hatch Voted for the Auto Bailout
Senator Orrin Hatch voted to allow taxpayer dollars to be taken to bail out auto manufacturers. Again, I don’t believe that taking money from taxpayers and giving it to rich companies that made bad decisions is the way to fix the country. See his 2009 vote on the Senate website.

Senator Orrin Hatch Raised the Debt Ceiling 16 Times
“Part of the reason we are in this debt crisis is because 26 times Senator Orrin Hatch had an opportunity to vote no and he voted yes to raise the debt ceiling. Sixteen times a direct vote for yes, and 10 times allowed unanimous consent for the increase in the debt ceiling. That’s why, in part, we’re in this mess. –Rep. Jason Chaffetz (For futher info, see ABC News and CS Monitor)

Senator Orrin Hatch Sponsored the SCHIP health care mandate with the liberal Ted Kennedy
At its creation in 1997, SCHIP was the largest expansion of taxpayer-funded health insurance coverage for children in the U.S. since Medicaid began in the 1960s. Senator Orrin Hatch helped create a government health care program that is very expensive to taxpayers.