In recent years, GOP establishment figures have accused the Tea Party of thwarting a Republican majority in the Senate by nominating conservatives whom they believe are unelectable.  One would expect them do elicit a commensurate degree of outrage from the following story reported by The Hill:

Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) has endorsed Rep. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) in her Senate bid, a surprising move since the seat could be in play for Republicans this fall.

Young praises Hirono for working across the aisle in the lighthearted web ad, in which he repeatedly jokes about criticizing House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) before hugging Hirono at the end.

“While Mazie and I don’t see eye to eye on everything, we’ve done something too many people in Washington refuse to cross the aisle and do: We’ve worked together,” Young said in the ad, and praises Hirono for working with him to protect funding for education programs for native Alaskans and Hawaiians. “If you’re looking for a United States senator who doesn’t just talk about bipartisanship but actually knows how to work with Republicans and Democrats to get things done, Mazie Hirono will be that senator.”

Let’s put this in perspective.  Republicans are running a liberal former governor for the seat, yet she is not liberal enough for Young.  Even within the Democrat primary, the other major candidate is a more centrist blue dog, Ed Case.  He is evidently not liberal enough for Young.  Instead he endorses the most liberal candidate in the race.

In reality, it’s not surprising being that Young is one of the most liberal Republicans in Washington.

Then there’s another story from The Hill:

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) says he supports Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin’s re-election because he believes Manchin is not beholden to short-sighted political interests.

Coburn recently gave $250 to Manchin’s re-election campaign.

“I think he votes thinking about the long-term interests of the country. We don’t agree on everything but he’s a good guy,” Coburn told The Hill.

And what type of long term interest does Macnhin support?  Tax increases, of course:

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced Tuesday that he will vote on Democratic legislation to extend the Bush-era tax rates.

Manchin said he will join Democrats in voting to extend the rates for income up to $250,000 a year. The Democratic legislation would allow Bush-era rates on higher annual income to expire. Republicans want to extend all the rates for another year.

Folks, we’ve got a problem with members playing team ball, and it’s not coming from the Tea Party.