Beware of Bridgewater - Part II

Here is another piece from Redstate.com.  Erick Erickson is nailing it on the head with the concerns people should have with Time Bridgewater.  Read the article below and find out for yourself:

The Utah GOP state convention is this Saturday, and 3,500 state delegates will decide whether to nominate the incumbent Senator Bob Bennett or one of seven challengers to represent the party in the general election. Several polls conducted among delegates have pointed to Mike Lee enjoying a clear lead, with Bennett and Tim Bridgewater competing for second place.

From all indications, Bennett doesn’t stand a chance at surviving convention. But Bridgewater being in second isn’t good onews, either.

I’ve talked about Bridgewater before. He supported No Child Left Behind and Medicare Part D before he was against them.

Now a Salt Lake Tribune article details his use of government funding for either businesses that he has founded, currently owns, or consults with. Bridgewater claims he is the business man who knows how to make a payroll and slash expenses. Well, now we know how. He takes money from taxpayers’ wallets to do so. Here’s what we know about his business dealings:

• Bridgewater paints himself as a businessman, when in reality he’s effectively a lobbyist hired to secure government funds for companies (think stimulus and bailouts). He’s the chairman of Interlink Capital Strategies, a company that says right on its website that it specializes in accessing “funding for international projects using government support from U.S., European, Asian, and Multilateral Developmental Institutions.” Interlink works in “green energy finance through various government programs, including the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Guarantee Program.”
• As chairman of Interlink, Bridgewater has consulted for Raser Technologies, a company that won a $33 million Treasury grant in February to build a geothermal power plant. Just a few weeks ago, with Bridgewater’s help, Raser announced being awarded $1 million in Obama stimulus money for a geothermal study in Indonesia. In a press release, Bridgewater remarked that the federal money would “result in U.S. jobs”. He sounds a lot like President Obama.
• Another company Bridgewater has owned is Ignite! Software with Neil Bush — George W.’s brother. Together, they both profited from the No Child Left Behind legislation by selling computer products that catered specifically to the requirements in that legislation.
• Bridgewater also has links with Neil Bush to an organization called the CP Group. This is the same group that was tied to the Buddhist Temple fiasco with Al Gore and Bill Clinton and with influence peddling in Washington DC.

All of Bridgewater’s business operations that I’ve been able to review have received or arranged for government funding. All of them. He has expressed opposition to the stimulus while on the campaign trail, but in private he and his companies and clients have profited mightily from federal programs and our tax dollars.

And if these business dealings were not bad enough, Bridgewater was also the Western States Coordinator for John McCain’s presidential campaign in the primary. This isn’t the mark of a true conservative who is going to stand up for our values.
So, let’s go over what we know about this guy:

1. Supported NCLB
2. Supported Medicare Part D
3. Uses government subsidies, grants, earmarks and loans for businesses he has dealings with.
4. Was Western States Coordinator for John McCain in the 2008 Republican primary for president

Does this sound like a Senator who would work to correct the ills that Senator Bennett has left in his wake?

I hope the Republican delegates in Utah don’t fall for another Bennett in conservative clothing. We will just end up with more of the same.

Source: http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/05/04/beware-of-bridgewater-part-ii/

Beware of Bridgewater

This is the first bit of information that I started finding regarding Tim Bridgewater.  It has made me do a bit more digging and I have found some information that is very disturbing that I will share in later posts.  Here is the article I read in its entirety:

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In the past few days I’ve highlighted my concerns with Tim Bridgewater, one of the candidates for U.S. Senate in Utah. This started after Senator Bob Bennett highlighted Bridgewater’s support of No Child Left Behind.

I was disappointed by his support for NCLB but imagine my piqued interest when a reader told me Bridgewater also supported Medicare Part D — the bloated prescription drug benefit that created a new, $15 trillion unfunded liability.

The Salt Lake Tribune included this report on November 25, 2003 when Bridgewater was running for Congress the second time:

Matheson’s other GOP challengers, Salt Lake County Councilman David Wilde and businessman Tim Bridgewater, say they also would have voted for the legislation [Medicare Part D].

“I am running for Congress to support limited and more efficient government. This bill does neither of those things,” Bridgewater said. “Nevertheless, it is a half-step forward which begins to fix some of the problems that exist in the Medicare program.”

Rather than being a half-step forward, Medicare Part D was a giant leap backwards, rammed through a Republican-dominated government in 2003. Tim Bridgewater’s support for this bill is one more reason why Utahns should be wary of supporting him in the upcoming May 8th state convention.

Bridgewater appears to be one of those Republicans who is conservative when being conservative is popular and moderate when it’s not. Don’t be fooled by his newly adopted constitutional principles. Many of his business ventures have profited from government contracts and taxpayer-funded programs. I suspect his principles might stop at his business’s bottom line.

Based on the data I’ve seen, Bob Bennett will not make it out of the convention. The question before Utah’s GOP delegates now is this: which of the challengers will be a strong, authentic conservative? Is it Tim Bridgewater, who appears to be “Bennett Lite”, or Mike Lee who is a genuine constitutional conservative?

The Bennett and Bridgewater types have gotten us where we are today. The choice for Utah could not be clearer. Let’s support Mike Lee and help him become the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate at the May 8th convention.

Source: http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/04/09/utah-delegates-beware-of-bridgewater/

Introduction

First of all, let me introduce myself.  I am a first time Utah State Delegate.  Over the past 2-3 years, I have because more and more informed into what is going on in this country and what I believe we need to do to change the course we are on, which is not a good one.  I am also a supporter of Mike Lee for the U.S. Senate. For those who read this, that might taint you.  You might say I have a biased opinion.  That might be true.  I believe it is a well informed and well educated opinion.  I have done a lot of research and talked to other delegates and elected representatives.  I wanted to make sure that people know who Tim Bridgewater really is before they vote for him.  It's common in politics for a candidate (or any politician) to say one thing but do something else entirely.  I have yet to see that out of Mike Lee but there are some things I question about Tim Bridgewater that I wanted to share with you to help the people of Utah make their best decision on who would make the best U.S. Senator for the state.