North Carolina 's junior senator Kay Hagan defeated incumbent Elizabeth Dole in November, riding a Democratic wave that saw Barack Obama win in a normally "red" state.

That hasn't kept Hagan, who now holds Jesse Helms' old seat, from lashing out at the big government bloat of one of the most incompetent Administrations in American history.*

From WRAL:

"e;I agree with a number of ideas in President Obama's budget, but I was particularly concerned about the deficit spending in his proposal," Hagan said in a speech at the North Carolina Associated Press Broadcast annual meeting at Elon University. "It's completely unsustainable and unacceptable."

Her decision to renounce some of the popular president's ideas comes as a striking contrast to her campaign last year, when she cozied to his mantra of change as North Carolina voters swept both into office. It underscores her eagerness to depart from the big-government plans of her party even as she tries to influence legislation as a backbencher in Washington's upper chamber.

The Democratic lawmaker who took office on Capitol Hill just three months ago said she has been working with colleagues to cut the growth in non-defense spending from 12 percent in Obama's budget to 6 percent. The former state Senate budget writer said politicians right now need to discourage spending that does not create jobs or improve the economy.

Remember, folks—this is from a Democrat who used Obama's surging popularity to get into office; she's now distancing herself from him as much as she can within the party, and just after a little more than two months into Obama's Presidency.

* William Henry Harrison died of pneumonia on his 32nd day in office. That's worse, I guess, though it might be interesting to see what Harrison accomplished in 32 days versus Obama.

Harrison was replaced by John Tyler, the Joe Biden of his generation, who is generally referred to one of the worst Presidents in American history and was deemed "His Accidency" by his many critics.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 08:52 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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