Ex-RNC Chair Michael Steele to Vote for Harris

“I choose the love of my country over my party. I choose the noble responsibility of my civic duty. I choose my conscience because it reminds me of what I value as a citizen. I choose to stand with my neighbors against those who would lie to them, undermine their freedoms, turn neighbor against neighbor for the sake of one man. I choose a leader who, despite our political differences, values us more than herself.”

— Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele announced that he voted for Kamala Harris for president.

Former RNC Chair Steele Joins Lincoln Project

“I get my role as a former national chairman. I get it, but I’m an American. I get my role as a former party leader. I’m still an American. And these things matter to me more than aligning myself with a party that has clearly decided it would rather be sycophantic than principled.”

— Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele is joining the Lincoln Project, a group of Republicans working to prevent President Trump’s re-election, CNN reports.

Steele: A Black Man’s Life Not Worth a Ham Sandwich

They tell us, at least, a prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich. Well clearly a black man’s life is not worth a ham sandwich when you put these stories together. And that is the frustration.

— Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele, criticizing two grand jury decisions to not indict white police officers in the deaths of black men in New York and Ferguson, Mo., The Hill reports.

The Problem is Bigger Than Black Friday Protests, Even if You Don’t Shop at Walmart or Eat Twinkies

Numbers sometimes paint a more vivid picture than words. For instance, these numbers:

Largest private sector employer in 1950: General Motors
Largest private sector employer in 2012: Walmart

Average worker wage by largest private sector employer in 1950: $50 per hour
Average worker wage by largest private sector employer in 2012: $8.81 per hour

Percentage of the labor force that belonged to a union in 1950: 34
Percentage of the labor force that belonged to a union in 2012: 7

Those figures come from former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, and the $50 per hour includes benefits and is adjusted for 2012 dollars. Reich adds that one-third of Walmart workers are allowed only 28 hours per week, so they are not eligible for benefits. They are also barred from unionizing.

Which brings us to Twinkies.

Michael Saylor: ‘Mobile technology is a stunning gift to economies in places like India and Africa’

When the company told its employees recently that they would have to surrender their benefits or the company would liquidate, management tried to blame the situation on the union. But there have been six management teams over only eight years, a dizzying revolving door in the executive suite, with one Bain Capital-esque restructurer after another asking for more concessions from workers while sending the resulting profits to investors. As union president Frank Hurt told it:

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GOP Continues to Spotlight White Males

RubioPissed
Sen. Marco Rubio

Jeb Bush’s recent plea for his party to pay more attention to its Latino members seems to have fallen on deaf ears. Their selection of a white guy Midwesterner to perform the Republican rebuttal to the State of the Union address ignored rising star sunbelt Latinos, including New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) will give the speech, which according to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, will deal with economics.

“Paul Ryan has spent the better part of the last two years explaining exactly why the Democrat agenda has been so bad for jobs and the economy, and why we need to ditch the government-driven approach in favor of creative, common-sense solutions that put the American people back in charge.

Maybe Gov. Bobby Jindal’s poor showing reinforced the natural Republican inclination to stick with white guys

Republicans apparently noticed the economic crisis after the inauguration of Pres. Obama. It slipped past them when they were voting to allow Pres. George W. Bush to run up the deficit to unprecedented levels in order to wage war on a country that had not directly threatened us. They also must have been confused when they voted for Bush’s plan to spend $700 billion to bail out banks and other large corporations that had invested in mortgage-backed securities. Bush signed that Republican-approved law on Oct. 3, 2008.

Rubio, like Rep. Michele Bachmann (GOP/TEA-Minn.), plans his own State of the Union rebuttal for the benefit of his followers.

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RNC Beverly Hills Fundraiser to Feature Race-Baiting Tea Bagger Andrew Breitbart

Beverly Wilshire Hotel, viewed from the north on Rodeo Drive
Beverly Wilshire Hotel, viewed looking south on Rodeo Drive
Talking Points Memo has obtained an invitation being circulated by Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele for a fundraising event in Beverly Hills next month that will feature Andrew Breitbart, the right-wing propagandist behind the doctored videos in the ACORN and Shirley Sherrod scandals:

invitation-rnc-breitbart-eventThe fundraising event, billed as an “Election Countdown,” will take place from August 12-14 in Beverly Hills, California, and will also feature other politicians such as California Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, and Nevada Republican gubernatorial nominee Brian Sandoval. Steele and Breitbart are scheduled to co-headline a welcome reception on the first evening, August 12…

RNC spokesman Doug Heye confirmed to TPMDC that the event is going on, but declined to comment further on the nature of fundraising events…

The Four Seasons hotel company, which owns the Beverly Wilshire, has also confirmed to TPMDC that the event is booked for those days, but was unable to confirm a guest list.

I guess the RNC figures, what the heck, we weren’t going to get votes from blacks and others who oppose racism in California anyway, so why not bring out the David Duke of new media to raise money for the party in the heart of the Southern California liberal enclave.

(And it’s fitting somehow that the event will be held in the hotel that was the setting for “Pretty Woman,” the Disney movie that sent a powerful message to young girls that all they had to do to find fulfillment in life was become a street whore and and then fall in love with a wealthy john.)

It will be interesting to see how the city fathers and mothers of Beverly Hills deal with their city being tarred by association with an event featuring a notorious racist, not to mention the protest rally that is sure to be scheduled for the street in front of the hotel, at Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive, on August 12.

RNC Chair Steele Insists Party Will Waste Money, Resources on California GOP Campaigns This Year

Steele
Steele
Despite the fact that the two highest profile Republican candidates running in California this year — gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman and U.S. Senate nominee Carly Fiorina — both oppose abortion in a state that is solidly pro-choice, RNC Chairman Michael Steele says the national party will pour money and resources into GOP campaigns this year:

[National] Republicans, buoyed by what they see as a potential resurgence in California, pledged on Tuesday to send significant financial, logistical and strategic resources to the state in coming weeks.

[Steele], speaking to reporters on a conference call, said Republicans in years past have treated California as a “flyover” state because of Democrats’ electoral edge, or little more than fertile grounds for fundraising.

“The days of just grabbing and going or just ignoring altogether are over,” he said, after meeting with California Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring in Washington. “We’re going to be full partners on the ground.”

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