Morning Briefing
For December 4, 2012
1. I am Thankful for John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and Kevin McCarthy
Not quite two weeks removed from Thanksgiving, it is worth giving thanks to John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and Kevin McCarthy. I really am thankful for them.
Yesterday the three of them purged fiscal conservatives from committees as punishment for being authentically fiscal conservatives. Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina was put on the Financial Services Committee to show fiscal conservatism had nothing to do with removing Congressmen Justin Amash and David Schweikert, but that just causes me to question Mick Mulvaney’s conservative bona fides now.
Congressmen Schweikert, Amash, and Congressman Tim Huelskamp now removed from the Budget Committee, have been punished for daring to defy John Boehner during the debt ceiling fight, etc. They pointed out what would happen with John Boehner’s deal. They were the Cassandras of the fiscal cliff, predicting we’d be exactly where we are and they voted against getting us here.
They have now been punished. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
2. The Boehner Fiscal Offer
Here are two things to keep in mind with regards to Boehner’s budget offer. First, when you begin negotiations agreeing to 60% of the demands of the other side and fail to offer a bold contrast on the other 40%, you are headed for an outcome that is 80-90% favorable to your opponent. Second, when you need to outsource your budget plan and entire view of government to Democrat Erskine Bowles, you are relegating yourself and your party to irrelevancy.
John Boehner and other House GOP leaders have offered Obama a plan to raise $800 billion in revenue through “tax reform.” I’m not sure how you raise revenue in a static framework without raising taxes, but let’s put that aside for a moment. The $1.4 trillion in savings from the spending side is the real problem. Once again, they fail to offer a bold contrast concerning their view of the role of government. . . . please click here for the rest of the post→
3. A Bunch of Squishes Chosen for the Super A House Committees
It’s not enough to merely elect conservatives to the House as rank-and-file members. As we’ve seen the past few weeks, it’s all about getting the right people into leadership and important committee assignments. Unfortunately, the roster of major committee chairmen is quite dismal, to say the least. Worse yet, it appears that the top 3 ‘Super A’ domestic policy committees will once again be filled with squishes.
In 2011, the 3 most important committees – Ways and Means, Appropriations, and Energy & Commerce – had the lowest ratings from conservative organizations. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
4. Changing The Conversation
Recently, speaking to a television station in Macon, Georgia, Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) said, “I care more about my country than I do about a 20-year-old pledge.” The Americans for Tax Reform pledge, by Grover Norquist, was signed by almost every Republican in Congress including Chambliss. His reversal on supporting the pledge not to raise taxes shone the spotlight on Chambliss as the latest Republican to bend to the Democrats since Obama’s reelection. Later on Fox News’ Hannity, Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) tried to explain his position in a spin so obvious it would make Jay Carney blush. The Saxby Spin can be seen here. Chambliss stated that he believes revenue can be created to combat the country’s debt by eliminating all tax credits and reductions. Using the time-honored Democrat tactic of word play, Chambliss insisted that raising taxes and cutting tax breaks aren’t the same, even though (as Hannity pointed out) they achieve the same result of Americans paying more to the federal government in taxes. In his original comments to the Macon television station, Chambliss also said, “We weren’t $17 trillion in debt 20 years ago when I signed that pledge. We’ve got to figure out the right way to get out of debt.” In other words, when it’s crunch time Chambliss won’t stand behind his supposed values. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
5. Kellogg Foundation, Applied Research Center Lead “Voter Suppression” Charge
The progressive W.K. Kellogg Foundation has played a key role in attacks on True The Vote and voter identification laws by funding “national racial justice organization” the Applied Research Center (ARC). In April 2012, ARC’s Colorlines.com partnered with The Nation to create an election-year feature providing “in-depth coverage of voter suppression efforts nationwide.”
Grant data show that between 2005 and 2010, ARC received $1.12 million from the ACORN-connected Tides Foundation and $715,000 from George Soros’s Open Society Institute. The Ford Foundation gave ARC $1.15 million from 2008 to 2010, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) paid ARC more than $200,000 for “consulting” in 2011. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
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