All of you “The GOP Let Us Down, Why Should We Ever Support Them Again?” types: To quote LTCDR Montgomery Scott, “you can’t change the laws of physics”. Or the Constitution, in this case. The Republicans – RINOs, Tea Partiers, Cruzes and Boehners alike – control one chamber of the Congress. The Dems have the other one, and the Presidency. No law is going to be changed while we are the minority. The best we can hope for is to stall some of the Dems’ plans until, hopefully, somehow, someday, we get majorities in both chambers and the Presidency. Someday.
All of you “What has Ted Cruz gotten us?” folks: Hopefully, a sense from the base that there are some people on Capitol Hill who aren’t cowed by the system, and among independents that someone is publicly bucking against the insurance plan that’s jacking their rates up through the ceiling.
Remember the 2012 election? When the GOP base and not a whole lot else came out to vote, tepidly, for Mitt Romney and the guy who should have been the candidate? That’s what going along and being polite and playing the Beltway’s game the beltway’s way gets us.
To Both Of You: Not a single concession? After all that? Are you kidding me?
More Monday.
If they’re not going to help, not even going to provide any rear echelon support, the very least old guard GOP members can do is get the eff out of the way.
People like me are pissed as hell; we’re not gonna take it anymore, and if that means withholding material and financial support so be it. There are lots of stalwart GOP voters that are ready to do that even if it means the leftist hoard overruns the walls of government.
I’m sick and fucking tired of being told I’m an unsophisticated dolt if I refuse to bend over to compromise with a bunch of leftist scumbags that hate me, hate my family and everything we hold dear. I don’t accommodate them in my private, personal life, certainly I don’t give any quarter on the internet, why should I act like I approve of it by those that are supposed to be representing me?
Elected Tea Party leaders are not smooth; they don’t know the ropes…that’s kind of the point. Mistakes will be made, but those mistakes are easily recognized as being made with the very best of intentions.
I put guys like John McCain and Lyndsey Graham in the same category as Hakim X Ellison; self serving power mongers who put my best interests in their back pockets, or worse crush them into the dirt.
BTW, you can bet I’ll be working to make sure Graham has seen his last days in the Senate. Many don’t think he can be beaten but there are lots of us down here chomping at the bit to give it one hell of a try.
“To quote LTCDR Montgomery Scott, “you can’t change the laws of physics”. Or the Constitution, in this case.”
Sure you can, Mitch, and the Democrats did, by passing a spending bill that originated in the Senate. That is black-letter unconstitutional. There was ample opportunity to stop Obamacare because the Framers gave the power of the purse to the House of Representatives. The only reason they failed was the same reason they always fail — lack of Republican will. I for one have had it up to my back teeth with the Republican establishment telling me as a conservative to go to hell. Now it’s my turn. If the Republican candidate for office is a conservative, he or she gets my vote. If it’s a RINO squish, they can look elsewhere for support. Bottom line. I won’t vote for someone who doesn’t represent me simply because they claim an “R”. That’s what got us into this mess.
In the meantime, I’m waiting to see if anyone primaries John Kline. Thanks to the coming of Obamacide and the sending of my insurance rates through the ceiling thanks in part to Republican weakness, I won’t be able to give much to political candidates. But if a Tea Partier shows up in the 2CD in 2014, he’s getting some money.
I recently received a phone “survey” which, when I indicated dissatisfaction with the current state of republican politics, turned into a call for the support of a person (I forgot his name) who will be challenging Kline next election. While I didn’t appreciate the subterfuge, the guy sounded worth considereing. Stay tuned, I guess.
I doubt if many conservatives expected to “win” this last round of foolishness. However, there’s a big difference between being captured in battle and being captured while in retreat. Now, the president gets to chicken walk all over the republicans then spike the ball off their heads.
I especially loved the president’s gracious thanks to Mitch McConnell for making all this possible; intended to be a great boost for McConnel’s reelection resume, no doubt, and putting the blame for all current and future economic ills on a few radical republicans.
President Obama now has a permanent pass for whatever bad happens to the economy for the rest of his tenure. President Bush II must be quite relived to have finally been bailed out of that spot …
At last we now know that rumours of the Tea Party’s death have been greatly exaggerated …
David Gerson is challenging Kline, and self-financing to a large extent. His focus has been on doing meet-ups to get people organized for the caucuses.
With redistricting, Kline is my “new” rep, but his voting record looks a lot like my old rep’s, Betty McCollum.
http://gerson2012.com/
While I’d be interested in someone giving Kline a challenge, Gerson’s fundraising numbers are pretty feeble.
And yes, I know – he may “self-finance”. But lack of any external fundraising gives me the impression he’s a caucus-only candidate.
Just what the GOP needs – another Kurt Bills-style debacle.
Spending goes up, up, up, and taxes for most voters do not go up. It is a dynamic that is hard to beat.
The American Conservative Union rated John Kline at 96% in 2012. Betty McCollum was rated at 4%.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/126485325/2012-Ratings-of-the-United-States-Congress#page=21
Yup, they’re just alike.
I believe they’ve both voted “Yes” on every bill to increase the debt ceiling without any spending cuts, and on TARP, and on CISPA.
Oh, here’s a difference: Kline voted in favor of the NSA’s spying on U.S. citizens, while McCollum voted against it.
Night Writer: The name Gerson sounds right. His promoter made him sound good, as I would expect. I’ve pretty much been an automatic vote for Kline, but recent events involving long-term office holders have made me reconsider automatic voting. Again, I didn’t appreciate the “poll” – I’m a sucker for those, but the NRA uses the same tactic.
It’ll be interesting to see how this shakes out. I hope we don’t wind up with any third party spoilers. I’d be close to voting for one in some races and I’m usually an indication of what most average to below average people do.
Emmer really tested my resolve, and I’ve told myself that I would have voted for Hillary over “The Maverick.” Perhaps President Obama’s nomination saved me from a lifetime of self-detest. As the saying goes, you wire one outet and nobody calles you an electrician, but … you know the rest.
Whatever happened to the 2012 election autopsy report by Reince Priebus chairman of the Republican National Committee? That reform movement lasted about ten minutes.
Joe, I got a similar “poll” call from the Gerson folks the last election, and it was a little annoying – especially since it was my first time being able to vote for Kline with the redistricting. It did get me to question my assumptions about Kline’s record, though, and to dig a little deeper. I did end up voting for Kline, but his performance since then has turned me off (though we have exchanged some good emails and he surveyed his constituents before the Syria vote – and made the right decision, imo). Without that first call, though, I might not have given the situation as much thought.
Emery’s preferred message for the GOP:
“If you are an American worker, there is nothing we won’t do to replace you with cheaper labor. Also, if you are over 65, we hope you die quickly. The future is barreling down on us like a giant train driven by a psychopath. Out of the way, common man!”
It’s the classic:
“Are you a communist?”
“No, of course not.”
“That’s exactly what a communist would say!”
Emery’s preferred message for the GOP:
I’m trying hard to think of the last Republican president who stopped “runaway spending”….but that’s too many decades ago. Maybe Eisenhower, who wouldn’t make it past a modern Republican primary. But I can think of one who actually managed to get a budget surplus, and it’s definitely not the feverish Republican over-spenders GW Bush and Reagan.
Figured out which one that was yet?
You haven’t corrected my paraphrase, Emery. Do you find it inaccurate?
FYI, the government is beginning to strictly enforce ITAR, EAR, and CCL regs. This has the effect of limiting certain technical jobs to American citizens and permanent residents — no H1-B’s. I suspect that some kind of trade was made — greater number of H1-B’s, but renewed enforcement of regs that prohibit H1-B’s from working on certain tech and from conducting certain research. I’ve seen this in the academic research area, but I imagine it is going on in industry as well. You heard anything about this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX7wtNOkuHo&noredirect=1
One hardly knows what to think, Mr. Clown.
I would prefer to stay on topic. Maybe you should take your nihilism over to Zero Brains (Zero Hedge). http://www.zerohedge.com/
They’re your kind of people…..
‘Nihilism’? I am a Christian, Emery.
I do not know about this ‘zerohedge’ outfit. It’s an economic absurdity to believe that anyone has the ability to systematically beat the market, unless they have insider info or the ability to move the market themselves.
Emery, that “balanced budget” trick is wonderful!
The reason the last time a Republican President had a balanced budget was it occurred before Democrats exploded the federal budget to fund The Great Society. Since then, budget surpluses only occur when Republicans in Congress force spending cuts, such as Newt Gingrich’s Contract With America or the decreasing deficit caused by The Sequester.
I’m all for a balanced budget. Do you think your buddy Obama will propose one soon?
It is very, very difficult to imagine a scenario in which Clinton, if he had had a Democrat House and Senate, would have produced a balanced budget.
Anyhoo, people who praise Clinton’s balanced or Cinton’s prosperity of the 90’s never seem to be able to explain what Clinton did to achieve these things.
$20/bbl crude will buy you a lot of prosperity.