GOP in Knots

Aw Knots Report: RNC Staffers Instructed to Leave if They Don’t Back Trump Staffers at the Republican National Committee have been instructed to leave by the end of the week if they don’t support presumptive nominee Donald Trump, according to a report Thursday. According to an article in New York Times, some RNC staffers “were told Wednesday that if they were unable to get behind the nominee, they should leave by the end of the week.” A spokesman for the party quickly dismissed the report, calling it “not true.” Then there's this: GOP pollster: Trump will lose in November Staffers at the Republican National Committee have been instructed to leave by the end of the week if they don’t support presumptive nominee Donald Trump, according to a report Thursday. According to an article in New York Times,some RNC staffers “were told Wednesday that if they were unable to get behind the nominee, they should leave by the end of the week.” A spokesman for the party quickly dismissed the report, calling it “not true.” Should we call it a purge? Or a realignment?

TRUMPED

More GOP Boners

“ TEXT A GOP plan to repair Obamacare, not repeal it Now some Republicans are looking at what might be done to undo as much as possible of the Democrats' national health care scheme without actually repealing it. If Obamacare's problems continue to mount -- and Republicans believe they will -- could the GOP create any political momentum behind proposals to limit the harm? [...] At last Wednesday's Senate Republican retreat at the Library of Congress, Sen. Ron Johnson presented an extensive PowerPoint proposal to "repair the damage" of Obamacare. Johnson had once hoped to repeal the law but conceded that now, after its implementation, "you don't just wave a wand and repeal it and it goes away." So he is collecting ideas for a bill he hopes would instead remove some of the most problematic parts of Obamacare. Johnson stressed that his proposal, in whatever final form it takes, will not be a systematic replacement but rather a set of individual fixes that could offer relief to some of the Americans most burdened by Obamacare. Johnson outlined to his GOP colleagues a set of proposals that included doing away with all of Obamacare's mandates -- employer, individual, plus the requirement that all insurance policies contain specific government-dictated features. He also suggested what he calls "a true grandfather clause" -- a provision that would allow anyone to keep his or her health coverage. Yet another proposal would allow any state to opt out of Obamacare. Still another would end the "bailouts" of insurance companies. [...] Related: Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told Republicans at an event in Houston that Texas would “be a Democratic state within 10 years if you don't change,” according to reports of the event. ”

Obama Taunts Republicans

Obama’s Threat of Climate Change Executive Order Taunts Republicans “ FULL Article "Some congressional Republicans continue to privately discuss the idea of impeaching the President were he to continue bypassing Congress and ignoring the constitutional limitations on his authority." Some? Privately? "...were he to continue? " ”

If Obama wins the GOP will go on as usual

Laura Ingraham to GOP: ‘If you can’t beat Barack Obama… shut down the party’                “ Laura, I think Chris Matthews for once is closer to the truth. Chris Matthews: If Obama beats ‘the right-wing’ in November, ‘they’re finished’ It will be the conservative voice that will be shut down (I man that literally).  The GOP will just comfortably,  officially, and in the spirit of comity, blend in.  I'm not even confident that a Romney administration can reverse our slide into a socialist theocracy.  An Obama win means the Mayan calender was right.  The world as we know it will have officially ended.  IMO.  ”

Towards an Open Convention

Against All Odds

“ Mitt Romney extended his lead in delegates in the Republican presidential nomination fight this week, but his hopes of avoiding a contested convention dimmed slightly after third-place finishes in Tuesday night’s two biggest contests. Ahem While the former Massachusetts governor won the most delegates overall in Alabama, Mississippi, Hawaii and American Samoa, his three opponents — Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Rep. Ron Paul — combined to win nearly 60 percent of the delegates awarded on Tuesday. Every night that Mr. Romney wins less than an outright majority makes it tougher for him to capture the magic number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination before the August convention in Tampa. [WaTimes Analysis] ”

Palin Quips Mitt

That's The Spirit

“ A day after Mr. Romney stood before thousands of conservative activists at the conference and called himself a “severely conservative governor,” Ms. Palin conceded that she was puzzled by his description. “I wasn’t quite sure what the word ‘severely’ meant,” she said with a smile. “It sounded severe.”  [Palin Says Brokered Convention Would Not Hurt G.O.P.] ”

The GOtP - Great Ideas Series

GOtP?

“ ” S2 (formerly stoo-pid)  suggests that could well be the GOP's  new logo.  Yes; yes it could.  Which lead me to again brain wrestle with the problem of how to repudiate and help destroy a party that has become little more than the democrat party in  drag, and then raise out of its  ash the Grand Old Party that defeated Democrats on slavery; put teeth into the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and exposed the degree of the Communist Party's infiltration of our body politic and culture in the post WWII era? .  The answer of  course is the Grand Old Tea Party.  GOtP?  We need a suitable logo too.  Maybe this?   So, what do you think?

View from a smoky budget battlefield

So, Who Won and Who Lost?

“ Anything can happen, but it appears the GOP is on the verge of pulling off a political victory that may be unprecedented in American history. Republicans may succeed in using the threat of a potential outcome that they themselves acknowledged would lead to national catastrophe as leverage to extract enormous concessions from Democrats, without giving up anything of any significance in return. Not only that, but Republicans — in perhaps the most remarkable example of political up-is-downism in recent memory — cast their willingness to dangle the threat of national crisis as a brave and heroic effort they’d undertaken on behalf of the national interest. Only the threat of national crisis could force the immediate spending cuts supposedly necessary to prevent a far more epic crisis later. [WaPost's Greg Sargent] ” It is admittedly fun to listen to the anguished bleating coming from the left.  Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said early reports of the new deal appeared to be “a sugar-coated Satan sandwich.”  The thing is, Liberals are by virtue of the very DNA that makes them Liberal,  unable to comprehend economics.  Never have, and never will.  So they, along with some non Liberals, viewed this as another action fought over losing or gaining face.  But what did the Dems get for sure?  Well, they wanted  the debt ceiling raised  through the 2012 elections. Harry Reid said that was non-negotiable. “ It guarantees the debt limit will be hiked by $2.4 trillion. Immediately upon enactment of the plan, the Treasury will be granted $400 billion of new borrowing authority, after which President Obama will be allowed to extend the debt limit by $500 billion, subject to a vote of disapproval by Congress. [TPM] WIN.  What Republicans won is entangled in words like: “ That initial $900 billion will be paired with $900 billion of discretionary spending cuts, first identified in a weeks-old bipartisan working group led by Vice President Joe Biden, which will be spread out over 10 years. ” Going into negotiations Speaker Boner was concerned that "discretionary" cuts would come at the expense of the military. and he took that off the table.  Evidently Mitch McConnel gave it back, so now up to one-half  will come out of the military's hide. LOSE What did the Country get for sure?  It's still early, and God knows I only got a C in Econ 244, but it appears we got institutionalized indebtedness and insolvency.  Mommy and Daddy sold the kids for a weekend in Acapulco. There is a different view however ... The debt deal is a rare bipartisan victory for the forces of smaller government.

Boehner Fox News Sunday

Boehner was brilliant  ... Well, acquitted himself nicely anyway

“ Boehner was brilliant on his FoxNews Sunday interview with Chris Wallace. Compared to the waffling of Tim Geithner in the preceding interview ...  It is the first time, in following politics for 40 years, that I have seen a Republican politician exhibit real political courage. Republicans, especially in the Senate, have become very frightened of the power of the mainstream media. They cower in fear at the thought of getting bashed by the liberals. The Old Guard Republicans have been reduced to operating in the shadows, in back rooms, committees and commissions; with their only strategy consisting of trying to win elections to get more power in Washington D.C. They have no fight in them. They have become cowards. That's why Boehner was such a refreshing surprise on Sunday. Watch the video. He is actually standing his ground and fighting when most all of the Old Guard Republicans, even conservative commentators, have turned and run, scared silly of being blamed for an Armageddon. (If the stock market drops significantly on Monday, I am buying because it will be a short term panic, which are always great money making opportunities.) Boehner is going to do the right thing for the country -- he said just that, literally, several times during the interview, and I believe him. He said that he didn't take the job for the fancy title, he took it to get something accomplished. He said he doesn't care about the Asian Markets, because he cares more about jobs and the future of America.  [Free Republic comment] What I took away from this is, yes, give Boner some credit for his public display of backbone.  Clap clap clap.  But it's clear that only pressure from House Teaparty Republicans have kept him from agreeing to even more "revenue" than the 800B in "flatter, fairer taxes"  he says are still on the table.  BTW, calling tax increases  "new revenue" doesn't show the same creativity as the  Milhouse Solution (see below)," but nice try. And again, what is this default thing I keep hearing about, if we refuse to print more Monopoly money? Default on what?  Really.  I'm old and afraid to go outside.

Four Horsemen

Santorum: Why Doesn't Fox Suspend Palin, Huckabee?

Rick Santorum asks an almost good question here, but for the wrong reasons.  “ Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, a likely candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, understands why he and likely fellow presidential contender Newt Gingrich were suspended as commentators for Fox News. But he doesn’t understand why potential presidential candidates Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee weren’t suspended, too, The Hill reports. ” Starting with Santorum: He's running for what?  I have not forgotten that Santorum acted on behalf of President Bush in getting Sphincter reelected, when we could have had Sen. Pat Toomey. And Newt: Newt's   running for what? And Huckabee: I don't like Huckabee because he's a "program" candidate. That is, he fingers the political winds, and he gets stuff wrong.  His latest "birther moment" is a good example.  Just about everything he said was factually wrong, which allowed equally ignorant Obama apologists, like here,  to spew away, unabated. Here Mike, read this and get it right next time. And Sarah : Her strength is I think diluted by scheduled appearances on FOX. Making sane, timely observations via Facebook and Twitter allow3ed her to change the political landscape last year.  Sarah Palin's Alaska series was a tour de force.  As things stand Sarah Palin is a kingmaker with a following much larger, and more diverse than either party wants to acknowledge.  Still, who needs to be king when you have the king's ear?  Besides, Chris Christie is unbeatable as things stand. Yes, I'm trurned off anymore by old talking heads whose sentences I can finish before the question is asked.  Still, I love FOX NEWS.  Who else could prompt fumbling New York Times executive editor Bill Keller to say: . “ "I think if you're a regular viewer of Fox News, you're among the most cynical people on planet Earth," Keller snarled. "I cannot think of a more cynical slogan than 'Fair and Balanced' " ” Unless it's "All the news fit to print"

First Orange Speaker

It figures Democrats judge man by the color of his skin!

What's really important ...

Cute, but ...

RNC HQ Who Won 2010? November 5, 2010 5:27 P.M. By Ramesh Ponnuru  William Saletan says: Pelosi and the Democrats. I think he’s right if, and only if, Obamacare is here to stay.

DON'T!

Uh oh: Top NRSC lawyer headed to Alaska to advise Murkowski? Rumor: Al Franken hired as vote recount consultant

There is a reason the Tea Party was able to establish a political  beachhead; the GOP is run by RINOS (Republican In Name Only), and  MFe)OSS  (Go-Along-to_Get-Along Rat Bastards - don't ask) that nobody trusts anymore. The NRSC claims this gambit is only a  courtesy call. Allahpundit thinks more along these lines. “ Let me get this straight. After taking loads of abuse from the grassroots for endorsing Charlie Crist before Rubio’s campaign got off the ground, and with Murkowski already pointedly refusing to rule out a third-party bid if Miller’s (shrinking) lead holds up, John Cornyn and the NRSC are … sending their top lawyer to help her out? And framing it explicitly in terms of retaining incumbents?  Do they really have no idea of how bitterly ferocious the backlash will be among the Republican base — especially, but not only, among Palin’s supporters — if they’re seen as tilting the election to Murkowski? And how embarrassing it’ll be if they try to do so and fail and then get knifed in the back when she bolts to run as a libertarian? [There's more] ”

New Beginnings

Tea party chucking another favorite

“ The pattern has become familiar in GOP primary fights this year, with "establishment" candidates such as Gov. Charlie Crist in Florida, Sen. Robert F. Bennett in Utah and Mrs. Lowden all pushed aside by more conservative rivals. ” Without the Tea Party then, Crist.  'Nuff said.

Wanted -Under New Management Sign

Unshackle That Elephant!

I clipped this from Insta-Pundit's post election summary yesterday. Of course, what the GOP apparat does is less important nowadays than it was. As I noted before, there’s a whole lot of disintermediation going on here — Scott Brown got money and volunteers via the Internet and the Tea Party movement, to a much greater degree than he got them from the RNC. Smart candidates will realize that, too. And lies don’t work as well as they used to. Obama promised transparency and pragmatic good government, but delivered closed-door meetings and outrageous special-interest payoffs. This made people angry. If Republicans promise honesty and less-intrusive government, but go back to their old ways, the likelihood that the Tea Party will become a full-fledged third party is much greater. Are the Republicans smart enough to realize this? I don’t know. The Democrats weren’t smart enough to look at Virginia and New Jersey and realize that what they were doing was a mistake that would backfire. And on the third-party front, the Tea Party enthusiasm for Scott Brown bespeaks considerable pragmatism. Republicans who are seen as sellouts may face third-party challenges — or primary challenges, or both — but support for Brown indicates that people aren’t in a “take your marbles and go home” mode yet. Throwing a monkey-wrench into the ObamaCare works was seen as more important than getting the perfect candidate in, and that was a very wise move. I suspect that we’ll see similar pragmatism between now and November, but the GOP should also remember — as was shown in NY-23 — that making an example to encourage the others can be pragmatic, too. ” I'm in no way hinting at an ideo-parallel between the GOP apparat and the commie pigs from Animal Farm, but .. I do obviously think of  Michael Steele's Napoleon,  hiding under the bed until the battle is over, then giving himself a medal after a surprising victory.   The only way the GOP can regain it's vitality IMO, is to give Sarah Palin (sorry, but I can't think of anyone else I'd trust) the job of restructuring the party from the top down.   Restructuring means replacing the apparat with Tea Party veterans.  Axe-chop-whack.  Alear gets to stay. Newt doesn't. Dunderhead

Helping?

Snail better get off dem tracks

Not being a Bat Stater, and unfamiliar with Scott Brown's story, I found this WaPo article interesting [Democrats scramble in Massachusetts to retain Ted Kennedy's old Senate seat].  Especially the "but it kept the results to itself" part. The fundamental dynamic of the race fell in place months ago, when Brown set off in a pickup truck for the only campaign the Republican could afford: retail, door-to-door. The campaign was so strapped for cash that aides described the $40,000 spent in the primary as a major hit. Brown could not afford to mail out absentee ballots, often so crucial in a close race. "So our program consists of e-mail and Facebook and Twitter," said Eric Fehrnstrom, a campaign official. In mid-December, the National Republican Senatorial Committee conducted a poll that showed Brown trailing by only 13 points, but it kept the results to itself. Coakley continued operating on the assumption that for all intents and purposes she had won the seat with the Dec. 8 primary, a common assumption in the state known as the bluest of the blue. ” Could be I'm reading into this stuff that validates my own impression of the Rockefeller-winged GOP leadership, but, wtf?

Pat Toomey

Toomey Can't Possibly Win in Pennsylvania! Oh Wait...

“ From the Campaign Spot:     Stuart Rothenberg writes, "Republicans should be concerned about Toomey's ability to hold together the GOP coalition, as well as whether he can appeal to blue-collar voters."     The Wall Street Journal followed him on the campaign trail and noticed the lack of response, writing, "A few people accept his brochure at the door; at other homes, there's no response at all."     Of all the top campaign watchers — Roll Call, Campaigns and Elections — nobody favors him to win.     The Boston Globe called him "an Allentown restaurateur whom the pros don't take seriously." The New York Times notes that the opposition has galvanized "more than 40,000 telephone calls through paid and volunteer efforts." ”   Oh, wait, all of those quotes are about his 1998 race for the open House seat in Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district, which he won, 55 percent to 45 percent. - Paul Ibrahim's original  has the sourcing

Steeled

Steele in Race to Be Chairman of the RNC

“ Hannity said he would support Steele's candidacy and asked Steele if he would stand for conservatives as Chairman. "I stand in the tradition of this party," Steele said. "I stand for the values we have fought for. The value of life, the value of the born and the unborn, the value of opportunity, the value of growth." "It's time to step up and I plan to be that leader to move us forward," Steele said. ” "I stand for the values we have fought for."   Oh-Oh.

Steele Balls?

Steele

Mike Steele is a rock conservative - for a Marylander.  I can't say one way or another whether he's the no nonsense conservative executive  this Party needs right now.  But, both Fred and Mitt are too tied to the old establishment for my taste, so I'm glad they declined. Bad News, Good News   [Kathryn Jean Lopez] The bad news from USS NR this morning: Both Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney turned down the RNC chair job when I offered it to each this morning. (Aren't you glad to know it's mine to give away?) The good news: Mike Steele seems to be a frontrunner in the hearts of the crowd here. ”