WASHINGTON — George W. Bush never had this much unchecked and complete power.
Nor did Richard Nixon or Harry Truman. Sen. Arlen Specter’s defection to the Democrats yesterday will place all the political reins of the federal government in President Obama’s hands.
By giving Democrats a 60-vote super-majority in the Senate, Benedict Arlen eviscerates the filibuster and obliterates the only refuge left for those in Congress hoping to block or slow this runaway train headed for socialized medicine, monstrous government and — ultimately — higher taxes.
BENEDICT ARLEN FREES A MON$TER
EDITORIAL: SPECTER’S ‘PRINCIPLE’: HE COMES FIRST
The last presidents to have this much unchecked authority were Jimmy Carter and Lyndon Johnson.
Everybody remembers how Carter, a onetime Georgia peanut farmer, fared in the White House with his little sweaters, stagflation and sweltering gas lines.
And isn’t this Great Society Johnson left us just grand?
Medicare and Medicaid are now on the verge of collapse and threaten the solvency of the federal government. And Congress has stolen enough money from your Social Security savings to make Bernie Madoff look like Mother Teresa.
It was just last month that Benedict Arlen was vowing never to switch parties. The notion of “check and balance” against giving Democrats such absolute power was a “very important principle” to him.
So what changed?
His pollster called and told him that he couldn’t win the Republican primary.
Specter, you see, is a world-class “negotiator” who can wrestle with any shred of his conscience and win every time.
He could teach Eliot Spitzer hooker Ashley Dupree a thing or two. At least, she wouldn’t compromise on requiring johns to practice safe sex — even if he was the governor of New York.
For Specter, anything is for sale and everything is negotiable. It’s why he has thrived so well and for so long.
Republicans on Capitol Hill are wondering why with both chambers of Congress at his beck and call and the entire press corps in his back pocket, Obama needs Arlen Specter, too.
For more principled conservatives, this will be remembered as the day when Swine flew. They are relieved to be done with the constant thorn in their sides that was “Snarlin’ Arlen.”
And, of course, they are praying that he will be as helpful to Democrats as he has been to Republicans.
churt@nypost.com