Kim Strassel somewhat diplomatically lashes out at Senator Ted Cruz in the Wall Street Journal. Her subtitle sums up her point, which really isn’t worth delving too far into. The subtitle is, “The GOP is split between those who insist on making a point, and those who want to make some progress.” Got that? So Rand Paul, Mike Lee, and Ted Cruz want to make | Read More »
Mitch McConnell is in the headlines again for saying the odds are against those wanting repeal of Obamacare. “[I]t’s a lot harder to undo something than it is to stop it in the first place,” he said in part. For once, let’s give McConnell the benefit of the doubt and suggest he is talking about the present Congress, not the next Congress, though in actual | Read More »
Our Republican Leadership in Washington, D.C. is extremely risk adverse. It is very clear the leadership has convinced itself, despite historic truth, that Newt Gingrich lost his job because of the government shutdown way back when. They do not want to have protracted fights. They want to appear reasonable. They crave the press’s adoration of “grown ups” and “reasonable men.” I expect Barack Obama to | Read More »
Last year, Senator Ron Johnson (HAFA Score 94) ran for a Leadership post (not because he wanted to be in Leadership but because he wanted to change it). Roy Blunt (HAFA Score 63) beat him. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (HAFA 76) had hand picked Senator Blunt. Even though McConnell pulled out all the stops to help Blunt, Johnson still got 22 Republican votes, which | Read More »
A few weeks ago, I reported that the Senate Republicans’ point man on dealing with the deficit, Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), said he’d support tax increases as a means to reduce the deficit. Chambliss promptly denied it. Yesterday, in the New York Times, Chambliss admitted he and the Senate Republicans will support tax increases to pay off the deficit. Mr. Chambliss has been increasingly outspoken in | Read More »
“The public hates losers. Right now, House Republicans are looking like losers.” There is new polling out today making its way around the bathrooms of House and Senate Republican leaders. After weeks and weeks of bending over backwards to try to show they were willing to compromise on everything, guess what? The public thinks the GOP hasn’t been compromising enough. Perceived non-cooperation on the budget | Read More »
From the New York Times WASHINGTON — The Senate on Saturday rejected President Obama’s proposal to end the Bush-era tax breaks on income above $250,000 for couples and $200,000 for individuals, a triumph for Republicans who have long called for continuing the income tax cuts for everyone. The Senate also rejected an alternative proposal, championed by Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, to | Read More »
“Earmarks are certainly not the only issue, but they are the most telling as to whether Republicans really have learned their lesson in the minority.” As I write this, Mitch McConnell is privately trying to get enough votes to kill an earmarks moratorium among Senate Republicans. The measure is sponsored by Senators Coburn, Cornyn, DeMint, Ensign, and Enzi, along with Senators-Elect Ayotte, Johnson, Paul, Rubio, | Read More »
Proving they are a petulant bunch, the Senate Republicans today threw up their collective middle finger at conservative activists. David Vitter’s amendment to the Financial Deform package would have required an actual audit of the Federal Reserve. The amendment was heavily lobbied for by conservative activists across the country. in fact, so popular was Vitter’s amendment that even Senator Bob Benentt declared on Saturday in | Read More »
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