Tag: Republicans
Nothing Like Professional Respect Among Republicans
[Why would the House] heed the votes of sleep-deprived octogenarians?
— Lame duck U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio), demonstrating that perhaps the senators to whom he refers aren’t the only ones who get cranky without enough sleep.
Republicans Still Can’t Figure Out How to Say Yes
We harmed ourselves by undercutting our leader on Plan B
— Lame duck U.S. Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.), ruing the action by House Republicans that defeated Majority Leader John Boehner’s offer to accept tax increases on income of more than $1 million. The bill passed recently by the Senate would increase taxes on household income of $450,000 or more.
Marco Rubio Votes No on Senate Fiscal Cliff Bill
It’s hard to explain why Florida’s junior senator would vote against the economic bill extending the Bush tax cuts on household income under $450,000. Or maybe it’s painfully easy to explain: Rubio is indeed planning to run for president in 2016.
Rubio stood with the handful of his peers who voted against the package, including Rand Paul (R/Tea-Ken.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Michael Bennett (D-Colo.), and Thomas Carper (D-Del.).
Those looking for a less cynical explanation of Rubio’s vote won’t find any help from the senator’s office, which issued this statement.
Could Rick Scott Be the Best Thing to Happen to Florida Democrats in the Next Election?
The path to power for Florida Democrats might run through Gov. Rick Scott’s office, if recent polls accurately reflect opinion.
The “let’s run government like a business” Medicare cheat won Florida’s highest office in the 2010 tea party wave that crested that year and ebbed a bit in 2012, sweeping some of those, like Rep. Allan West, back out as swiftly as they rolled in.
Scott, despite spending $75 million of his own money on his campaign, won by only 1 percent over Democrat Alex Sink. After taking office, his approval ratings plunged lower than anyone thought an elected official could go and not simply announce an early retirement, ala former Sen. Mel Martinez (R). Even the infamous former Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris (R) didn’t poll this badly.
71% of Floridians hate Scott’s idea of setting different education goals based on race and ethnicity
The new numbers show that not only might Scott lose in 2014, he could take lots of other Republicans down with him.
A stunning 43 percent of Florida voters view Scott unfavorably in new polling and just 31 percent viewed him favorably. Scott is in a rare position political operatives call “upside down” because his unfavorable percentage is much greater than his favorable — an ominous state for any political candidate.
Maybe more damaging for Scott is that a majority of his own party — 53 percent of Republicans — said they want someone else to run in 2014 instead of Scott…
If Only Romney Could Have Skipped That Whole Campaigning Part
Great, now you tell that to the thousands of volunteers, contributors, supporters and those that voted for Governor Romney. Smart move…
— Comment from a Republican friend on Facebook, linking to this story quoting Tagg Romney saying his father didn’t want to run for president. Unfortunately, campaigning and governing are two different skill sets and very few people have them both.
Justice Scalia Said WHAT?
Count Justice Antonin Scalia among those who consider homosexuality to be a lifestyle choice, like whether to drive an SUV or a hybrid; whether to vote Democratic or Republican; whether to have lunch at Taco Bell or McDonald’s.
But for those of us who know we couldn’t just wake up one day and “choose” to be attracted to one gender or the other (i.e., anyone who’s honest with him or herself and who is not bisexual) think Scalia’s recent comments, even though he’s trying to sell a book, are outrageous.
Scalia: If we legalize homosexuality, we’ll have to legalize masturbation and sex between consenting, unmarried adults too
“Many Americans do not want persons who openly engage in homosexual conduct as partners in their business, as scoutmasters for their children, as teachers in their children’s schools, or as boarders in their home,” Scalia wrote. “They view this as protecting themselves and their families from a lifestyle that they believe to be immoral and destructive.”
Reid Report: Why Republicans Can’t Make a Deal
Required reading from Joy Reid, folks:
…Congressional Republicans, and their ostensible leader, John Boehner, can’t make the deal they know they have to in order to avert across-the-board tax increases.
Why can’t they? It’s not because they care about deficits. More than 40 years of GOP history, from Reagan’s deficit-exploding tax cuts to George W. Bush’s, on top of massive defense spending, wars paid for off the books, the budget-shredding “war on terror” and Medicare Part D — which was also not paid for — proves that Dick Cheney wasn’t kidding back in the day when he said that “deficits don’t matter.” Specifically, they don’t matter to Republicans. What matters to Republicans is rich people.
Joy Reid: For Republicans, it’s not about deficits, it’s about rich donors
Reid adds that while Democrats keep expanding their base with lots of small donors who give lots of small gifts, Republicans keep concentrating very large gifts from fewer donors. And many of those donors are not…well, people you’d want to hang out with.
Big GOP donors are very, very conservative. In fact, some of them are kooky, conspiracy minded, and radical.
Donald Trump, Sheldon Adelson, the Koch Brothers, the list of freaky, axe-to-grind for being unpopular in junior high donors goes on. Any way you slice it, Republicans have made a deal with the devil. Read the whole column.
That Wouldn’t Happen If Mitt Had Won
Boehner ‘flabbergasted’ that Obama offers actual campaign promises as part of “fiscal cliff” negotiations
— Mike Poller, tweeting as @FatherGator
(Knee) Jerks: Republicans Want the Head of Reince Priebus
Far be it from us to defend Republican Party Chair Reince Priebus. But the way some of his fellow travelers on the road to obstruction are talking about him after the GOP’s sound defeat in 2012, we have to speak up. Listen to what they’re saying.
A postelection civil war is brewing among Republicans, with some conservative activists angry over the party’s poor performance this cycle gunning for party Chairman Reince Priebus and planning demonstrations at the Republican National Committee’s annual winter meeting in Charlotte, N.C…
What’s wrong with the GOP is clearly not all the fault of Reince Priebus but he might be taking the fall“Republicans want a change. They have had it with Priebus,” said Mike Karem, a Kentucky GOP strategist who has been involved in Republican presidential campaigns since Richard Nixon’s 1972 re-election victory. “We lost the presidency; we lost House seats, Senate seats; we picked up only one governor; and we had 3 million fewer Republicans turn out for Romney and other Republican candidates than turned out in 2008.”
“If [Mr. Priebus] worked for you, would you keep him based on his record?” Mr. Karem added. “The answer is, ‘Hell, no!’”
