++Senator Inhof again proved that climate change was a hoax by throwing a snowball at Senator Cassidy in the Senate today.
++House Republicans are thinking about a three-week continuing resolution to fund DHS. Senate Republicans want to have a funding bill sans immigration to last to the end of September.
++Bobby Jindal is tied of hyphenated Americans and thinks there should be no Indian-Americans or African-Americans.
++James O'Keefe says he deserves a Polk Award for his scams about voter fraud.
++Chris Christie taunts Jeb Bush about being the establishment choice but that he, Christie would be unafraid to tell you what he thinks. He thinks the Obama White House should sit down and shut up.
++Scott Walker says if he can defeat 1,200 protesters, eating pizza from Ian's Pizza, he can defeat ISIS anywhere in the world.
++Ann Coulter says we should fear immigrants more than ISIS.
++CPAC panelists said that coke users die before the age of 50 because they have holes in their heart.
++Carly Fiorina, failed Hewlett-Packard CEO, doesn't like Hillary Clinton.
++A Nebraska judge ruled for the landowners against TransCanada's seizure of their property under eminent domain which would postpone the pipeline for at least three years. Mitch McConnell will bring the pipeline up for a vote next week.
++Loretta Lynch made it out of committee today and made be voted on next week to replace Eric Holder.
++No word about the Authorization to use military force from the Congress.
++Today marked the longest period since 9/11 when no Americans had been killed in combat--not 79 days and counting.
Showing posts with label Ann Coulter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ann Coulter. Show all posts
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
And Now For Something Completely Different-The Presidency Would Be Beneath Sarah Palin
Talking Points Memo surpassed themselves with their reporting today. The always superb website alerted us to the new trend among right-wing pundits who say that the White House would be a step down for Sarah Palin. They do quote spoilsports like David Frum that this type of lunacy ranks with Palin's reason for resigning her post as Governor to have a greater influence on change.
Matt Drudge's old sidekick Andrew Breibart talked to CQ magazine saying that Palin would be unstoppable if she didn't get bogged down by being President. After all, the office has been so tarnished by George W and Barack Obama (my intrusion). Andrew says "I think the presidency is beneath her." "It would be my goal for Palin to become Oprah and be the ultimate kingmaker for twenty-odd years." Personally, I think she should be adopted by the Koch Brothers.
Ann Coulter, who is always good for a laugh, says," I think it would be a step down for her. She's huge. She has enormous power." Coulter claims that Palin has nore influence than a President does. I guess so does Lady Gaga and she's more talented.
Apparently, National Review's Kathryn Lopez agrees with Breibart and declares, "culture is where it's at." Doesn't culture demand an ability to read? Just wondering. I didn't even get to the issue of taste and style.
TPM suggests this talk is more conservative spin to get the Right off the hook in their support for Palin and to frame the issue so that Palin has a high-minded way not to run for President. I don't think so. I honestly believe these people really see the culture wars as being the be all and end all of their once powerful movement. If you don't believe in government, why aspire to lead it?
Matt Drudge's old sidekick Andrew Breibart talked to CQ magazine saying that Palin would be unstoppable if she didn't get bogged down by being President. After all, the office has been so tarnished by George W and Barack Obama (my intrusion). Andrew says "I think the presidency is beneath her." "It would be my goal for Palin to become Oprah and be the ultimate kingmaker for twenty-odd years." Personally, I think she should be adopted by the Koch Brothers.
Ann Coulter, who is always good for a laugh, says," I think it would be a step down for her. She's huge. She has enormous power." Coulter claims that Palin has nore influence than a President does. I guess so does Lady Gaga and she's more talented.
Apparently, National Review's Kathryn Lopez agrees with Breibart and declares, "culture is where it's at." Doesn't culture demand an ability to read? Just wondering. I didn't even get to the issue of taste and style.
TPM suggests this talk is more conservative spin to get the Right off the hook in their support for Palin and to frame the issue so that Palin has a high-minded way not to run for President. I don't think so. I honestly believe these people really see the culture wars as being the be all and end all of their once powerful movement. If you don't believe in government, why aspire to lead it?
Monday, September 27, 2010
No Country For Old Men--A Reprise
Alan Simpson, the Republican co-chair of the Catfood Commission, complained about attacks from conservatives that he raised taxes while in the Senate under Ronald Reagan. While he denied it, Bruce Bartlett came to the critics' rescue by pointing out that the Big Ron did raise dozens of taxes.
John McCain looked like an old stumblebum prize-fighter in his debate with Democratic challenger Rodney Glassman and the Green and Libertarian candidates in Arizona. Actually the Libertarian got in the best shots declaring the immigration problem would not be so violent if we declared an end to the war on drugs, which he called a monumental failure, and that building the "danged" fence was futile because people were now coming in by plane and by sea. McCain kept saying he had a 10 point plan but never elaborated. McCain said it was urgent to pass the Bush tax cuts urgently as well as corporate tax breaks. He said he knew how to make America great again, something he failed to reveal when he ran for President. A couple of whoppers. McCain, who has benefited from a lifetime of government-provided health services, declared he would cut $500 billion from Medicare Advantage. (I have no idea over what time frame.) When asked what he thought his legacy would be to Arizona, McCain was speechless and started mumbling, saying fighting earmarks and his influence on security issues. It was a big bomb. Rodney Glassman scored about the need for a rational immigration policy like the one McCain used to support, a larger stimulus package for the economy and better care for veterans, Glassman failed to score off McCain with any questions about the price of tax cuts for the wealthy. But McCain looked old and beaten up--which, of course, he is.
A Quinnipiac poll was released today that shows that 2/3rds of those making $250,000 or above favor paying more taxes if it helps the government.
David Stockman, Reagan's former OMB person, is getting his revenge late in life. On NPR, he said that the Republican pledge was nonsense. He pointed out that the Bush tax cuts were paid for, two wars were not paid for, the stimulus package was not paid for and that extending these tax cuts was insane. He also pointed out that the Pledge made no sense if Medicare, Social Security and Defense are off limits, then Republicans can only cut from $500 billion and they can not possibly fulfill their pledge of a balanced budget.
Garret Gruener's LA Times op-ed caught the attention of the Wall Street Journal. Gruener is an entrepreneur and a venture capitalist who founded Alta partners. So in the words of the Wall Street Journal,"he's got street cred." He made two basic points. 1. Tax rates don't make or break the success of an entrepreneur--or the jobs he creates. He says he's paying the lowest rates of his working life. "..if you want the simple, honest truth, from my perspective as an entrepreneur, the fluctuation didn't affect what I did with my money. None of my investments has ever been motivated by the rate at which I would have to pay personal income tax."
The second point Gruener raises --which is appropriate to my last few posts--an economy built only on the rich--who account for the lion's share of income and spending--is unsustainable. "What American businesspeople know, and have known since Henry Ford insisted his employees be able to afford to buy the cars they made, is that a thriving economy doesn't just need investors; it needs people who can buy the goods and services businesses create."
Gruener says that tax hikes for the rich should be invested by the government in infrastructure and research. "What will change my investment decisions is if I see an economy doing better, one in which there is demand for the goods and services my investments produce. I am far more likely to invest if I see a country laying the foundation for future growth."
Follow that up with Paul Krugman's columm today entitled "Structure of Excuses". Krugman is on fire, if someone so phlegmatic can ever be on fire. Krugman attacks directly the growing convention wisdom that we are entering a period of "structural unemployment". He quotes various Presidents of FED Banks claiming that there is work out there but workers are either in the wrong place or lack the necessary skills. Even Bill Clinton said this. Krugman sets up the circumstances where that would actually exist but none do. There are only three states, with the combined population of Brooklyn that have unemployment rates below 5%. The National Federation of Independent Business surveys small businesses about their problems and citing problems with labor quality is now at an all-time low.
Krugman asks why are such claims so popular. Part of the reason is that during period of high unemployment pundits talking about these problems as deeply rooted makes them sound profound. Also he detects that powerful forces ideologically opposed to the whole idea of government action on a sufficient scale to jump-start the economy offer these reasons so as to ensure we do nothing about the mass unemployment crippling the economy. As Krugman notes that is important that everyone know that there is no evidence whatsoever that backs these claims. "We aren't suffering from a shortage of needed skills; we're suffering from a lack of policy reasolve."
A nice bit in his column is his review of what Very Serious People said during the Great Depression. He notes that one 1935 analysis said that unemployment cannot be brought down rapidly because the work force" is unadaptable and untrained. It cannot respond to the opportunities which industries may offer." A few years later , a large defense buildup finally provided a fiscal stimulus adequate to the economy's needs and industry was eager to employ those "unadaptable and untrained "workers.
Nice column.
And, of course, part of the reason job-creating programs are not being created is the Senate filibuster. Electoral politics.com had a nice piece on the prospects of filibuster reform. The 111th Senate had over 100 filibusters. From the years 1917-1960, there were 27, about 1 per year. During the entire 19th century, which saw the abolitionist struggle, a civil war and the rise of industrial capitalism, there were only 20 filibusters. The Republicans in this Senate have managed to hold enough filibusters in one year to equal in nearly double the number all American history combined. Stunning. The Democrats should really make this a talking point and dramatize it.
Electoral politics.com has a small entry which may have enormous implications for the mid-terms. Non-partisan polls are in on 45 contested House races. The Republicans would pick up 10 of these. In the wildest scenarios, there are 100 seats ,which people say are competitive tis year. That would mean the Republicans would pick up 22 seats. Remember they need 44 to take the House, given losses in 5. Maybe the GOP has over-reached again.
For Sarah Palin, this could be bad news. Scientific studies show that Mama Grizzlies, the name she calls her tea party women, form same-sex partnerships at a fairly significant rate. The Mama Grizzlies actually search out each other and serve as joint parents for the cubs. This won't go down with the anti-same sex mariage crowd.
Ann Coulter spoke at the Homocon meeting with wealthy gay Republicans, where she did her stand-up schtick and criticized gay marriage by reminding the audience they weren't black. Judy Garland she's not but it's clear she performed her duties, providing moments of Camp for the crowd. The audience apparently were offended by her racist remarks more than anything.
California polls are showing that there really is a Latino backlash against Republicans. Democrats are polling higher than usual with the Latino community, which now composes 21% of the electorate. This is showing up in states with growing Latino populations--Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.
Normally Republicans would be thrilled Texas will gain 4 new congressional seats with the 2010 Census. But with the rise of the Latino vote there and the GOP's efforts to alienate anyone who speaks Spanish, look to Texas to become the mother of all swing states by 2012.
Republicans are looking to turn several of Ohio's congressional seats this year. As of two weeks ago, it looked like they might pick up 5 here. But recent polls are showing that the race between Governor Strickland and John Kasich is narrowing. Kasich was running some 10 points ahead but the University of Cincinnati Ohio poll has it a four point race. And this is a very well-respected state poll.
A New Survey USA poll mirrors the recent Public Policy Poll by showing that Rand Paul is only running two points up against Jack Conway (49-47%).
I'm surprised how little support Democrats are giving Scott McAdams in Alaska. McAdams, the mayor of Sitka, is running against a true looney-toon. McAdams is worried about Murkowski's write-in campaign because "it divides the rational vote." Good choice of words. Put together, that vote tops Miller.
Mike Castle is doing a little polling for a write-in campaign in Delaware and it's showing he would have a real chance--being favored among independents over Coons. And among Republicans , he would draw roughly the same as he did in the primary.
While the GOP is funding Green candidates in Texas, Illinois, maybe Arizona and elsewhere, the Democrats are apparently doing the same with so-called Tea Party candidates. Turn about is fair play.
John McCain looked like an old stumblebum prize-fighter in his debate with Democratic challenger Rodney Glassman and the Green and Libertarian candidates in Arizona. Actually the Libertarian got in the best shots declaring the immigration problem would not be so violent if we declared an end to the war on drugs, which he called a monumental failure, and that building the "danged" fence was futile because people were now coming in by plane and by sea. McCain kept saying he had a 10 point plan but never elaborated. McCain said it was urgent to pass the Bush tax cuts urgently as well as corporate tax breaks. He said he knew how to make America great again, something he failed to reveal when he ran for President. A couple of whoppers. McCain, who has benefited from a lifetime of government-provided health services, declared he would cut $500 billion from Medicare Advantage. (I have no idea over what time frame.) When asked what he thought his legacy would be to Arizona, McCain was speechless and started mumbling, saying fighting earmarks and his influence on security issues. It was a big bomb. Rodney Glassman scored about the need for a rational immigration policy like the one McCain used to support, a larger stimulus package for the economy and better care for veterans, Glassman failed to score off McCain with any questions about the price of tax cuts for the wealthy. But McCain looked old and beaten up--which, of course, he is.
A Quinnipiac poll was released today that shows that 2/3rds of those making $250,000 or above favor paying more taxes if it helps the government.
David Stockman, Reagan's former OMB person, is getting his revenge late in life. On NPR, he said that the Republican pledge was nonsense. He pointed out that the Bush tax cuts were paid for, two wars were not paid for, the stimulus package was not paid for and that extending these tax cuts was insane. He also pointed out that the Pledge made no sense if Medicare, Social Security and Defense are off limits, then Republicans can only cut from $500 billion and they can not possibly fulfill their pledge of a balanced budget.
Garret Gruener's LA Times op-ed caught the attention of the Wall Street Journal. Gruener is an entrepreneur and a venture capitalist who founded Alta partners. So in the words of the Wall Street Journal,"he's got street cred." He made two basic points. 1. Tax rates don't make or break the success of an entrepreneur--or the jobs he creates. He says he's paying the lowest rates of his working life. "..if you want the simple, honest truth, from my perspective as an entrepreneur, the fluctuation didn't affect what I did with my money. None of my investments has ever been motivated by the rate at which I would have to pay personal income tax."
The second point Gruener raises --which is appropriate to my last few posts--an economy built only on the rich--who account for the lion's share of income and spending--is unsustainable. "What American businesspeople know, and have known since Henry Ford insisted his employees be able to afford to buy the cars they made, is that a thriving economy doesn't just need investors; it needs people who can buy the goods and services businesses create."
Gruener says that tax hikes for the rich should be invested by the government in infrastructure and research. "What will change my investment decisions is if I see an economy doing better, one in which there is demand for the goods and services my investments produce. I am far more likely to invest if I see a country laying the foundation for future growth."
Follow that up with Paul Krugman's columm today entitled "Structure of Excuses". Krugman is on fire, if someone so phlegmatic can ever be on fire. Krugman attacks directly the growing convention wisdom that we are entering a period of "structural unemployment". He quotes various Presidents of FED Banks claiming that there is work out there but workers are either in the wrong place or lack the necessary skills. Even Bill Clinton said this. Krugman sets up the circumstances where that would actually exist but none do. There are only three states, with the combined population of Brooklyn that have unemployment rates below 5%. The National Federation of Independent Business surveys small businesses about their problems and citing problems with labor quality is now at an all-time low.
Krugman asks why are such claims so popular. Part of the reason is that during period of high unemployment pundits talking about these problems as deeply rooted makes them sound profound. Also he detects that powerful forces ideologically opposed to the whole idea of government action on a sufficient scale to jump-start the economy offer these reasons so as to ensure we do nothing about the mass unemployment crippling the economy. As Krugman notes that is important that everyone know that there is no evidence whatsoever that backs these claims. "We aren't suffering from a shortage of needed skills; we're suffering from a lack of policy reasolve."
A nice bit in his column is his review of what Very Serious People said during the Great Depression. He notes that one 1935 analysis said that unemployment cannot be brought down rapidly because the work force" is unadaptable and untrained. It cannot respond to the opportunities which industries may offer." A few years later , a large defense buildup finally provided a fiscal stimulus adequate to the economy's needs and industry was eager to employ those "unadaptable and untrained "workers.
Nice column.
And, of course, part of the reason job-creating programs are not being created is the Senate filibuster. Electoral politics.com had a nice piece on the prospects of filibuster reform. The 111th Senate had over 100 filibusters. From the years 1917-1960, there were 27, about 1 per year. During the entire 19th century, which saw the abolitionist struggle, a civil war and the rise of industrial capitalism, there were only 20 filibusters. The Republicans in this Senate have managed to hold enough filibusters in one year to equal in nearly double the number all American history combined. Stunning. The Democrats should really make this a talking point and dramatize it.
Electoral politics.com has a small entry which may have enormous implications for the mid-terms. Non-partisan polls are in on 45 contested House races. The Republicans would pick up 10 of these. In the wildest scenarios, there are 100 seats ,which people say are competitive tis year. That would mean the Republicans would pick up 22 seats. Remember they need 44 to take the House, given losses in 5. Maybe the GOP has over-reached again.
For Sarah Palin, this could be bad news. Scientific studies show that Mama Grizzlies, the name she calls her tea party women, form same-sex partnerships at a fairly significant rate. The Mama Grizzlies actually search out each other and serve as joint parents for the cubs. This won't go down with the anti-same sex mariage crowd.
Ann Coulter spoke at the Homocon meeting with wealthy gay Republicans, where she did her stand-up schtick and criticized gay marriage by reminding the audience they weren't black. Judy Garland she's not but it's clear she performed her duties, providing moments of Camp for the crowd. The audience apparently were offended by her racist remarks more than anything.
California polls are showing that there really is a Latino backlash against Republicans. Democrats are polling higher than usual with the Latino community, which now composes 21% of the electorate. This is showing up in states with growing Latino populations--Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.
Normally Republicans would be thrilled Texas will gain 4 new congressional seats with the 2010 Census. But with the rise of the Latino vote there and the GOP's efforts to alienate anyone who speaks Spanish, look to Texas to become the mother of all swing states by 2012.
Republicans are looking to turn several of Ohio's congressional seats this year. As of two weeks ago, it looked like they might pick up 5 here. But recent polls are showing that the race between Governor Strickland and John Kasich is narrowing. Kasich was running some 10 points ahead but the University of Cincinnati Ohio poll has it a four point race. And this is a very well-respected state poll.
A New Survey USA poll mirrors the recent Public Policy Poll by showing that Rand Paul is only running two points up against Jack Conway (49-47%).
I'm surprised how little support Democrats are giving Scott McAdams in Alaska. McAdams, the mayor of Sitka, is running against a true looney-toon. McAdams is worried about Murkowski's write-in campaign because "it divides the rational vote." Good choice of words. Put together, that vote tops Miller.
Mike Castle is doing a little polling for a write-in campaign in Delaware and it's showing he would have a real chance--being favored among independents over Coons. And among Republicans , he would draw roughly the same as he did in the primary.
While the GOP is funding Green candidates in Texas, Illinois, maybe Arizona and elsewhere, the Democrats are apparently doing the same with so-called Tea Party candidates. Turn about is fair play.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Heat Wave at the Last Manatee
*Let's see whether my eyes can get through this without the grammatical mess of the last post.
Most interesting post I've read this afternoon is by a member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission who argues Shirley Sherrod should sue Breibart and Fox for slander. She doesn't meet the legal standard of a public figure and the author argues that she has an open and shut case, which would be beneficial to everyone fighting racism. Perhaps, the right picked this up. Ann Coulter is arguing that Breibart was set up by his source. Glenn Beck said today Shirley Sherrod is part of Obama's plot to discredit Fox. Well, I'm sure he has enough sense not to do it on his big Wall Street Reform day. Sue Shirley! Fired up! Ready to Go!
Sensing the tide has turned, the GOP whipped out their new revolutionary agenda. Senator Cornyn told NPR that he will do everything in his power to prevent 'bad laws" from passing until after elections. Senator Corker and Tan Man Boehner want the Obama Administration to pledge there would be no major legislation in the lame duck session after the elections. So this means the Republican legislative strategy is to prevent all laws until after the new Congress comes back in 2011. If you remember 2006, one of the key reasons the Democrats took power was that the Republican House was only in session six months of the year. So here we go again. Tan Man Boehner even said he would not author any legislation for the first year the GOP runs the House. Is that cool?
Instead, Michele Bachmann said today that the GOP should focus all of its attention on issuing subpoenas and holding hearings investigating the Obama Administration and Democrats. "I think that's all we should do," she told a GOP Youth Convention in Washington. "I think all we should do is issue subpoenas and have one hearing after another and expose all the nonsense that has gone on." She said that Republicans have all their chips on the table. "This is the year--this is it," she said.
If Republicans won the House, they would take control of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. We know that Rep. Darrell Issa of California is interviewing now and preparing to hire two dozen heavy weight lawyers for the staff if the Republicans win. We also remember that Nancy Pelosi took the impeachment of George W. Bush off the table before the 2006 election. This was especially important considering the case was a strong one. I guess turnabout is not fair play.
Oh ,about those small business loans. The Republican Senator from Florida is a co-sponsor and Ben Nelson supports it. What was strange was the Republican Senator telling NPR that the bill was "deficit neutral so I can't tell why my other colleagues won't support it." Utah's Bob Bennett responded that it was because Republicans didn't write the law and were not allow to submit amendments. Still it might actually get the 60 votes for cloture so a vote could really be done.
President Obama did talk to Shirley Sherrod, probably thanking her for discrediting Fox News. He also issued a statement that he wanted the tax cuts for the rich to expire. So I guess the game is on for preserving middle class tax cuts and ending the tax cuts for the upper income brackets. The political point is to draw the line in the sand prior to the mid-terms, not after. You have to make the larger political point about where the Republicans are before you make the deal. This is different from the larger legislative issues, which actually needed time to formulate. This is one of those short two page bills the Republicans like so much.
Marc Ambinder rained on the GOP parade today with his Atlantic piece "RNC Chaos Threatens GOP Chances for House Takeover". Ambinder reports Republican strategists fear that the chaos at the RNC threatens to cost Republicans the chance to take the House. The RNC serves as a bank account to shore up House races and it coordinates the party's field operations and funds "Victory" committees with state parties. Observers complain the RNC barely is fulfilling the second function and has less than $10 million on hand and probably will not be able to help by the time of the elections. The report of the failure to report a deficit to the FEC has hindered further fund-raising. Apparently, the political director, Gentry Collins, has seen his budget slashed and the state parties are complaining about the condition of the party's Voter Vault datamart.
What does that mean in terms of practical politics. It means that state parties have to outsource their voter mobilization efforts. This is inefficient, costly and probably ineffective. The deficit issue means the party can not regain its financial footing in time for the election. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has twice as much cash on hand as the National Republican Campaign Committee. Charles Cook rates 73 House races as competitive . To win the House republicans have to pick up 44 seats. Even if Republicans win most of the tossup seats and those that lean Republican , they'd still have to win about half the seats that lean Democrat right now. Without a solid field operation and facing financial disadvantage, the edge Republicans now feel will be lost.
Apparently the fights within the RNC have become downright nasty. Michael Steele hypes his recruitment of candidates, especially an unprecedented number of blacks and women, and wants his legacy to be the reform of the presidential primary rules. But the professional political operatives see the deterioration of the much-vaunted GOTV apparatus, which proved to be the prime Republican weapon of choice in the past.
That's why the Democrats retooling David Plouffe's Obama operation is so important. Once President Obama addressed Democrats a few months ago, asking blacks, Latinos and women to mobilize for the mid-terms, you saw the right-wing echo chamber rev up the anti-Latino and anti-black rhetoric. Even if the Obama surge voters do not materialize in the same numbers they did in 2008, just a fraction can mean the difference in several House seats. And, in terms of GOTV operations, the Obama operation has the superior technology and voter targeting data.
Most interesting post I've read this afternoon is by a member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission who argues Shirley Sherrod should sue Breibart and Fox for slander. She doesn't meet the legal standard of a public figure and the author argues that she has an open and shut case, which would be beneficial to everyone fighting racism. Perhaps, the right picked this up. Ann Coulter is arguing that Breibart was set up by his source. Glenn Beck said today Shirley Sherrod is part of Obama's plot to discredit Fox. Well, I'm sure he has enough sense not to do it on his big Wall Street Reform day. Sue Shirley! Fired up! Ready to Go!
Sensing the tide has turned, the GOP whipped out their new revolutionary agenda. Senator Cornyn told NPR that he will do everything in his power to prevent 'bad laws" from passing until after elections. Senator Corker and Tan Man Boehner want the Obama Administration to pledge there would be no major legislation in the lame duck session after the elections. So this means the Republican legislative strategy is to prevent all laws until after the new Congress comes back in 2011. If you remember 2006, one of the key reasons the Democrats took power was that the Republican House was only in session six months of the year. So here we go again. Tan Man Boehner even said he would not author any legislation for the first year the GOP runs the House. Is that cool?
Instead, Michele Bachmann said today that the GOP should focus all of its attention on issuing subpoenas and holding hearings investigating the Obama Administration and Democrats. "I think that's all we should do," she told a GOP Youth Convention in Washington. "I think all we should do is issue subpoenas and have one hearing after another and expose all the nonsense that has gone on." She said that Republicans have all their chips on the table. "This is the year--this is it," she said.
If Republicans won the House, they would take control of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. We know that Rep. Darrell Issa of California is interviewing now and preparing to hire two dozen heavy weight lawyers for the staff if the Republicans win. We also remember that Nancy Pelosi took the impeachment of George W. Bush off the table before the 2006 election. This was especially important considering the case was a strong one. I guess turnabout is not fair play.
Oh ,about those small business loans. The Republican Senator from Florida is a co-sponsor and Ben Nelson supports it. What was strange was the Republican Senator telling NPR that the bill was "deficit neutral so I can't tell why my other colleagues won't support it." Utah's Bob Bennett responded that it was because Republicans didn't write the law and were not allow to submit amendments. Still it might actually get the 60 votes for cloture so a vote could really be done.
President Obama did talk to Shirley Sherrod, probably thanking her for discrediting Fox News. He also issued a statement that he wanted the tax cuts for the rich to expire. So I guess the game is on for preserving middle class tax cuts and ending the tax cuts for the upper income brackets. The political point is to draw the line in the sand prior to the mid-terms, not after. You have to make the larger political point about where the Republicans are before you make the deal. This is different from the larger legislative issues, which actually needed time to formulate. This is one of those short two page bills the Republicans like so much.
Marc Ambinder rained on the GOP parade today with his Atlantic piece "RNC Chaos Threatens GOP Chances for House Takeover". Ambinder reports Republican strategists fear that the chaos at the RNC threatens to cost Republicans the chance to take the House. The RNC serves as a bank account to shore up House races and it coordinates the party's field operations and funds "Victory" committees with state parties. Observers complain the RNC barely is fulfilling the second function and has less than $10 million on hand and probably will not be able to help by the time of the elections. The report of the failure to report a deficit to the FEC has hindered further fund-raising. Apparently, the political director, Gentry Collins, has seen his budget slashed and the state parties are complaining about the condition of the party's Voter Vault datamart.
What does that mean in terms of practical politics. It means that state parties have to outsource their voter mobilization efforts. This is inefficient, costly and probably ineffective. The deficit issue means the party can not regain its financial footing in time for the election. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has twice as much cash on hand as the National Republican Campaign Committee. Charles Cook rates 73 House races as competitive . To win the House republicans have to pick up 44 seats. Even if Republicans win most of the tossup seats and those that lean Republican , they'd still have to win about half the seats that lean Democrat right now. Without a solid field operation and facing financial disadvantage, the edge Republicans now feel will be lost.
Apparently the fights within the RNC have become downright nasty. Michael Steele hypes his recruitment of candidates, especially an unprecedented number of blacks and women, and wants his legacy to be the reform of the presidential primary rules. But the professional political operatives see the deterioration of the much-vaunted GOTV apparatus, which proved to be the prime Republican weapon of choice in the past.
That's why the Democrats retooling David Plouffe's Obama operation is so important. Once President Obama addressed Democrats a few months ago, asking blacks, Latinos and women to mobilize for the mid-terms, you saw the right-wing echo chamber rev up the anti-Latino and anti-black rhetoric. Even if the Obama surge voters do not materialize in the same numbers they did in 2008, just a fraction can mean the difference in several House seats. And, in terms of GOTV operations, the Obama operation has the superior technology and voter targeting data.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Thursday Coffee--New Guinea
MID-TERMS. There seems to be a crack in Charles Cook's armor--he is flummoxed by the GOP loss in Pennsylvania's 12th District. This district had been trending toward Republicans for years and if this year was going to be a landslide GOP year that seat was easy pickings.
Former moderate-conservative congressman Tom Davis, who used to run the GOP house elections, agrees and claims that the tsunami will probably look more like tornedoes hitting ground in sporadic areas of the country. Davis had the good observation that the Republican candidate Burns ran against the "Obama-Pelosi agenda", while the Democrat Critz ran on local issues with a good dollop of economic populism. Davis thinks that the GOP's effort to "nationalize" the House elections is a disaster and that if Democrats keeping plugging away district by district on the concerns of consituencies they will minimize their losses this year.
While Obama had an approval rating of about 30% in the district, Bush and Cheney had only 24% saying they did a good job. The Republican brand still suffers a hangover from those years, even in a district that is almost all white, middle-class. Overall, Republicans still only have an approval rating of 32%, which raises doubts whether voters see them as viable alternatives.
Republicans did have a higher intensity for the primaries. Their turnout was 48% and Democrats 44%. The difference is that 2008 was a record year for Democratic registrations so the universe of Democrats is far larger than that of Republicans.
How bad was it for Republicans? We heard the dulcet tones of Ann Coulter eviscerating Tan Man Boehner, who she calls Boner, and the Republican Party for speaking only to conservatives on Fox News and bragging about how awesome their victories are going to be when they have over-promised and can't deliver. "If we gain 30 seats now, it will look like a loss." She's right. She also blasted the party for backing Linda McMahon, the owner of the World Wrestling Federation, for Senate in Connecticut, "one of the wealthiest and best educated states in the union." She favors Yale-educated Simmons, who had served in the CIA and had been a real Colonel in Vietnam. No tea-party for Ann as she launched her vitriol at the Republicans for a change saying they were a bunch of incompetent boobs.
Patrician George Will claimed Tuesday elections were as good as it gets for Democrats. He claimed that Critz won because he distanced himself from Obama and endorsed an anti-abortion position. The latter is true, the former is false. George Will has discovered three "trophy races', which Democrats will lose. Guess which coveted seats they are? Well, of course, Joe Biden's former seat in the Senate from Delaware, Barack Obama's Senate seat in Illinois, and Harry Reid's seat in Nevada. He then went on to mock those who criticize Rand Paul because he says that Paul's position are now mainstream. The proof of this is the blurb on Rand Paul's book to abolish the Fed-- by none other than Arlo Guthrie. This proves Rand Paul's popularity.
Rand Paul got himself into immediate hot water by implying that he did not think the Civil Rights Bill should have included private businesses. He was immediately blasted by Democrats, while the Republicans had no comment. Personally, I do not believe he is racist. He is a libertarian ideologue who can not envision any other threat to freedom except from the state. His lovable father, however, is a racist and did vote against the Civil Rights bill.
The President of the Tea Party Express, the former Nixon dirty trickster Mark Williams said that "Islam is a 7th Century Death Cult coughed up by a psychotic pedophile." Pretty vivid.
Family Values Vin Fossella has received the endorsement of the Staten Island GOP for his bid to return to Congress. Vin loves families so much he has two of them--one on Staten island, the other here in Virginia.
Mark Souder said in his resignation speech that he was resigning because he didn't want the publicity of his adultery to overshadow the good work he has devoted his life to in defending family values. He claims these eternal values are more important than him. This argument seems hypocritical to outsiders but to the social conservatives there is nothing odd about it. Love the sinner--sort of--condemn the sin and legislate against others.
Rasmussen has a poll out today that shows Admiral Joe Sestak leading Pat Toomey 46 to 42.
The bottom-line on Tuesday's primaries is that the Senate races in Kentucky and Pennsylvania are tied and in Arkansas the Republicans have the lead. In Oregon basically voters chose all incumbents for their legislature and a former Governor as the Democratic nominee to return. Republicans chose former Portland Trailblazer Chris Dudley, who is tall.
Glenn Beck has created an independent website that tries to smear Congressman Weiner. Did Beck killed that girl in the 1990s? Just wondering. Pass it on.
The GOPosaurs filibustered the Finance Reform Bill yesterday. Scott Brown went back on his word to Harry Reid. Otherwise we would have had a vote. So far the GOP has killed a cap on ATM fees, with Senators admitting they don't use ATMs; caps on predatory lending on payday loans; caps on credit card rates; and they have stalled the amendment on derivative trading. Russ Feingold joined the Republicans in voting against closure because he felt the bill was not strong enough.
Most outsiders believe the bill has gotten stronger by the day but progressives are disappointed in the lack of provisions to prevent To Big To Fail and its lack of strict regulations of derivative trading. The Roosevelt Institute criticized people like me saying let's not make the perfect the enemy of the good, saying that Democrats filibustered FDR's first financial reform bill until the FDIC was created. Good point.
Hapless Harry will try again today for cloture because the legislative calender is getting tight.
Former moderate-conservative congressman Tom Davis, who used to run the GOP house elections, agrees and claims that the tsunami will probably look more like tornedoes hitting ground in sporadic areas of the country. Davis had the good observation that the Republican candidate Burns ran against the "Obama-Pelosi agenda", while the Democrat Critz ran on local issues with a good dollop of economic populism. Davis thinks that the GOP's effort to "nationalize" the House elections is a disaster and that if Democrats keeping plugging away district by district on the concerns of consituencies they will minimize their losses this year.
While Obama had an approval rating of about 30% in the district, Bush and Cheney had only 24% saying they did a good job. The Republican brand still suffers a hangover from those years, even in a district that is almost all white, middle-class. Overall, Republicans still only have an approval rating of 32%, which raises doubts whether voters see them as viable alternatives.
Republicans did have a higher intensity for the primaries. Their turnout was 48% and Democrats 44%. The difference is that 2008 was a record year for Democratic registrations so the universe of Democrats is far larger than that of Republicans.
How bad was it for Republicans? We heard the dulcet tones of Ann Coulter eviscerating Tan Man Boehner, who she calls Boner, and the Republican Party for speaking only to conservatives on Fox News and bragging about how awesome their victories are going to be when they have over-promised and can't deliver. "If we gain 30 seats now, it will look like a loss." She's right. She also blasted the party for backing Linda McMahon, the owner of the World Wrestling Federation, for Senate in Connecticut, "one of the wealthiest and best educated states in the union." She favors Yale-educated Simmons, who had served in the CIA and had been a real Colonel in Vietnam. No tea-party for Ann as she launched her vitriol at the Republicans for a change saying they were a bunch of incompetent boobs.
Patrician George Will claimed Tuesday elections were as good as it gets for Democrats. He claimed that Critz won because he distanced himself from Obama and endorsed an anti-abortion position. The latter is true, the former is false. George Will has discovered three "trophy races', which Democrats will lose. Guess which coveted seats they are? Well, of course, Joe Biden's former seat in the Senate from Delaware, Barack Obama's Senate seat in Illinois, and Harry Reid's seat in Nevada. He then went on to mock those who criticize Rand Paul because he says that Paul's position are now mainstream. The proof of this is the blurb on Rand Paul's book to abolish the Fed-- by none other than Arlo Guthrie. This proves Rand Paul's popularity.
Rand Paul got himself into immediate hot water by implying that he did not think the Civil Rights Bill should have included private businesses. He was immediately blasted by Democrats, while the Republicans had no comment. Personally, I do not believe he is racist. He is a libertarian ideologue who can not envision any other threat to freedom except from the state. His lovable father, however, is a racist and did vote against the Civil Rights bill.
The President of the Tea Party Express, the former Nixon dirty trickster Mark Williams said that "Islam is a 7th Century Death Cult coughed up by a psychotic pedophile." Pretty vivid.
Family Values Vin Fossella has received the endorsement of the Staten Island GOP for his bid to return to Congress. Vin loves families so much he has two of them--one on Staten island, the other here in Virginia.
Mark Souder said in his resignation speech that he was resigning because he didn't want the publicity of his adultery to overshadow the good work he has devoted his life to in defending family values. He claims these eternal values are more important than him. This argument seems hypocritical to outsiders but to the social conservatives there is nothing odd about it. Love the sinner--sort of--condemn the sin and legislate against others.
Rasmussen has a poll out today that shows Admiral Joe Sestak leading Pat Toomey 46 to 42.
The bottom-line on Tuesday's primaries is that the Senate races in Kentucky and Pennsylvania are tied and in Arkansas the Republicans have the lead. In Oregon basically voters chose all incumbents for their legislature and a former Governor as the Democratic nominee to return. Republicans chose former Portland Trailblazer Chris Dudley, who is tall.
Glenn Beck has created an independent website that tries to smear Congressman Weiner. Did Beck killed that girl in the 1990s? Just wondering. Pass it on.
The GOPosaurs filibustered the Finance Reform Bill yesterday. Scott Brown went back on his word to Harry Reid. Otherwise we would have had a vote. So far the GOP has killed a cap on ATM fees, with Senators admitting they don't use ATMs; caps on predatory lending on payday loans; caps on credit card rates; and they have stalled the amendment on derivative trading. Russ Feingold joined the Republicans in voting against closure because he felt the bill was not strong enough.
Most outsiders believe the bill has gotten stronger by the day but progressives are disappointed in the lack of provisions to prevent To Big To Fail and its lack of strict regulations of derivative trading. The Roosevelt Institute criticized people like me saying let's not make the perfect the enemy of the good, saying that Democrats filibustered FDR's first financial reform bill until the FDIC was created. Good point.
Hapless Harry will try again today for cloture because the legislative calender is getting tight.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)