RINO Ray burning bridges with his own party

Ray LaHood has never been a true conservative, which plays very well in Peoria, a town whose politics leans toward the traditional rather than ideological.

That’s earned Ray the title “RINO” — Republican In Name Only.

Still, it was somewhat surprising to read the venom directed at LaHood over comments he made that questioned the Patriotism of fellow GOP members — specifically Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R.-Tex) who dared to oppose some $507 in military spending projects that were added to a bill at the last minute:

The really outrageous part of this whole episode, despite the spending shenanigans, was LaHood’s response to Hensarling:

“You picked the wrong bill to have your earmark fight,” answered Illinois Rep. Ray LaHood, a Republican member of the Appropriations panel. “Please do not tell us you support the troops. Please do not tell us you support the war, when you came out here and X’d out all of these important projects that help our troops, that help us win the war.”

Mr. LaHood, might I suggest that you should not tell voters — or anyone else for that matter — that you support the American taxpayer. Please do not tell us you support the economy of the U.S. and our fiscal footing when you take to the floor to defend sneaky, underhanded attempts to designate earmarks as “emergency” funding.

And please don’t tell us you’re a Republican. Republicans are not supposed to support Big Government.

First, LaHood opposed cutting on financial aid to Hamas. Now, he equates patriotism with paying for pork-barrel projects.

I think LaHood is counting on the GOP losing control of Congress (thanks to President Bush’s bungling). Time and again, the conservatives who run the GOP have shown LaHood the back of their hand when it comes to plum committee assignments because they wisely do not trust him. So perhaps LaHood is casting his lot with the Democrats by voting the way they do.

Maybe I’m overthinking things. It’s entirely possible Ray’s problem with the conservatives may simply be because his personality has all the charm and warmth of a paper cut.