Day: August 4, 2009

Fla. GOP Chair Keeps ‘Ass’ in ‘Asset’

Buck Banks

Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) Chair Jim Greer continues his meteoric rise within the ranks of Der Party by being named to the Republican National Committee’s Rules Committee, the usual quote-mark-impaired press release announced.

No less of a light than RNC Chair Michael Steele offered the gregarious Greer a carefully worded congrats:

“Through his outstanding success in the private sector and during his tenure at the helm of Republican Party of Florida and on the Republican National Committee, Chairman Greer has proven himself to be visionary leader, earning the respect of his colleagues and fostering an environment that couples ambitious goals with a strategic plan of action,” said RNC Chairman Michael Steele. “I am confident that Chairman Greer will be a great asset to our leadership team as we work to build this great party.” (emphasis added to jibe with the headline)

Greer earned his ‘bones’ with the recent purge of Libertarians from the RPOF.

“Fostering an environment that couples ambitious goals with a strategic plan of action” just sounds ominous to me.

Seems Greer has a knack for making rules and enforcing them, though, from the recent purge of Libertarians from the party through manipulation of the RPOF’s Grievance Committee to his actual career, which the release describes this way:

A lifelong Republican, Chairman Greer served multiple terms in local government and worked as the President and Chief Executive Officer of a national regulatory compliance company he founded in Central Florida.

Hmmm, regulatory compliance …. Sounds like Greer’s just the guy for the RNC Rules Committee, which does this:

The RNC Rules Committee is a Standing Committee comprised of one member of the Republican National Committee from each state. The Committee is the primary body responsible for the governance of the RNC. The Rules Committee is responsible for reviewing the rules of the Republican Party and proposing recommendations to Chairman Steele as needed.

There’s no doubt that Greer runs a tight ship in the Florida Republican Party. He’s fond of pointing out that under his reign, not one state GOP congressional seat was lost in 2008, and indeed the party picked up one state congressional seat. Though I’m not so sure that’s attributable to Greer’s leadership as much as it is to gerrymandering and the fossilization of the Florida legislature. Hey, he delivered the Florida statehouse, it wasn’t his fault the state went blue for Obama.

But if the RNC wants a guy who will set the rules and enforce the rules, they’ve picked a tenacious bulldog in Jim Greer. And rules are important to a party that is hemorrhaging members but at the same time wants to maintain purity — hence the purge of the Libertarians whereby Greer earned his “bones” and received a national post as a reward.

And to show the rulesmeister’s softer side, the press release mentioned some personal details about the Greer family:

Chairman Greer and his wife Lisa Michelle reside in Oviedo with their four children, Hunter, Amber, Austin, and Aidan.

‘Nuff said.

Quote du Jour

Buck Banks

The votes you’re going to have to cast, whether it’s guns or whether it’s abortion or whether it’s any one of the hot-button items, finishes you as a national political leader in this country. You just can’t do it. It’s not possible.

— Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), quoted in “The Battle for America 2008,” advising then Sen. Barack Obama to run for president sooner rather than later.

Olbermann Names Reform-Killers in Both Parties Who Are Prostituting Themselves for the Medical Lobbies

Jon Ponder

In his Special Comment on MSNBC’s “Countdown” last night, Keith Olbermann called out prominent members of Congress who are working to kill health-care reform, accusing them of prostituting themselves to the health industry lobbies.

“We know what you are, sir, we’re arguing about the price.”
— Olbermann addressing Sen. Thune (R-N.D.), who has been paid $1.2 million by medical lobbies to kill health care reform

In particular, he accused Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., of lying in his follow-up to the president’s weekly address last week when Thune said the Democrats’ reform proposals would produce ” … government run health care that would disrupt our current system and force millions of Americans who currently enjoy their employer-based coverage into a new health care plan run by government bureaucrats.” (The Republicans’ meme that government bureaucrats are worse than, say, Blue Cross or United bureaucrats never ceases to rankle.)

Sen. Thune — whose family benefits from a very nice health care plan run by government bureaucrats — has received $1.2 million in donations from medical lobbies, according to Olbermann.

Olbermann also called out Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.), who said on the House floor that in their reform proposals, Democrats were saying to America’s seniors: “Drop dead.” Rep. Brown-Waite has received $369,255 from the lobbies.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has received $3.1 million; Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ok., has taken $2.6 million; and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. has been paid $1.6 million to kill health care reform.

And then there’s Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the chairman of the Finance Committee who has done as much as anyone to kill the government option. He has taken in $2.6 million from various medical industry groups, according to Olbermann.

Others members of Congress cited by Olbermann as turning tricks for the medical lobbies include Rep. Bart Gordon, R-Tenn., ($1.17 million); Rep. John Tanner, D-Tenn., ($215,000); Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark.; Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C.; Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D.; Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del.; and Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.

Transcript:

[…]

Happy (American) Birthday, Mr. President

Trish

As Pres. Obama blows out the 48 candles (hey, that’s one year for each of the lower 48 states!) on his birthday cake today, we wonder what he’ll wish for. Health care reform? A muzzle for Joe Biden? Retirement for Sen. Ben Nelson and two more Supreme Court members? It’s hard to say, but it’s a pretty safe bet that they won’t be celebrating Obama’s birthday in Virginia, where a new poll shows hardly any Republicans believe Obama was born in America.

An astonishing 41% of the state’s Republicans think President Obama was not born in the United States while just 32% think he was and 27% are still not sure.

The moral of the poll? If you have a half a brain, don’t be a Republican but if you must, at least don’t be a Virginia Republican.

Happy birthday, Obama!