Hagel Misses Small Government

Top News- Sen. Hagel Says GOP Has Lost Its Way - AOL News: "Sen. Hagel Says GOP Has Lost Its Way
By WILL LESTER
AP
WASHINGTON (AP) - Republicans have lost their way when it comes to many core GOP principles and may be in jeopardy heading into the fall elections, Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. says. Hagel, a possible presidential candidate in 2008, said Sunday that the GOP today is very different party from the one when he first voted Republican.

'First time I voted was in 1968 on top of a tank in the Mekong Delta,' said Hagel, a Vietnam veteran. 'I voted a straight Republican ticket. The reason I did is because I believe in the Republican philosophy of governance. It's not what it used to be. I don't think it's the same today.'

Hagel asked: 'Where is the fiscal responsibility of the party I joined in '68? Where is the international engagement of the party I joined - fair, free trade, individual responsibility, not building a bigger government, but building a smaller government?. . .'"