tea party

Let's face it, Republican's are angry. You can't even talk to one about President Obama or the Democrats without them devolving into some shouting and name calling. But is that where their anger should really be?

In November we saw something really interesting. The Republican Party was losing Latino and women voters quicker than our savings in 2008. A lot of really bad candidates helped with this, but also the alienating legislative agenda of the GOP contributed. It's things like this:

Congress had a lengthy to-do list as the end of the year approached, with a series of measures that needed action before 2013 began. Some of the items passed (a fiscal agreement, a temporary farm bill), while others didn't (relief funding for victims of Hurricane Sandy).

And then there's the Violence Against Women Act, which was supposed to be one of the year's easy ones. It wasn't.

Back in April, the Senate approved VAWA reauthorization fairly easily, with a 68 to 31 vote. The bill was co-written by a liberal Democrat (Vermont's Pat Leahy) and a conservative Republican (Idaho's Mike Crapo), and seemed on track to be reauthorized without much of a fuss, just as it was in 2000 and 2005.

But House Republicans insisted the bill is too supportive of immigrants, the LGBT community, and Native Americans -- and they'd rather let the law expire than approve a slightly expanded proposal. Vice President Biden, who helped write the original law, tried to persuade House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) to keep the law alive, but the efforts didn't go anywhere.

The darling GOP Governor of the Tea Party, Scott Walker, is under some serious scrutiny:

Gov. Scott Walker and his top campaign and Milwaukee County aides were named Monday as part of a team that routinely commingled political and official county business.

The disclosures came during the sentencing of a former aide to Walker during his last year as Milwaukee County executive. Kelly M. Rindfleisch, 44, was sentenced by Milwaukee County Circuit Judge David Hansher to six months in jail and three years of probation on a single felony count of misconduct in office. The judge stayed the sentence pending Rindfleisch's appeal to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals or the state Supreme Court.

In a lengthy presentation during Rindfleisch's sentencing, Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf displayed numerous emails between Rindfleisch and key members of Walker's campaign staff in which they discussed how to manage county government in 2010, while Walker was a candidate for governor.

Repeatedly, Landgraf argued that Rindfleisch knowingly broke the law by doing campaign work at the courthouse. In a new development, the prosecutor made clear - without saying it was illegal - that top Walker campaign officials influenced, even directed, county strategy.

It hasn't been disclosed if Walker himself is being targeted in the investigation, but it does lead you to wonder how high this thing can go.

For claiming to be so "patriotic", the Tea Party does a lot to go against the very grains of America:

Yesterday we reported that True the Vote was attempting to place observers at precincts in Central Ohio, focusing on African American districts. We also noted that there might be some problems with the forms they submitted to the Franklin County Board of Elections (FCBOE).

The FCBOE met today and determined that True the Vote had likely falsified the forms submitted for general election observers. The new observer forms, filed over the past few days by True the Vote representative (and Hilliard Tea Party Member) Jan Loar, used candidate signatures copied from a previous set of forms filed in early October

All but one of the six candidates whose names appeared on the original form had withdrawn permission to use their signatures prior to the submission of today’s forms. During the BOE meeting Candidate Terri Jamison spoke up to say her name was “forged” on the latest round of forms.

The form for appointing observers reads ‘election falsification is a 5th degree felony’. Election officials have confirmed that there will be a post-election investigation of True the Vote.

The forms have been rejected unanimously by all members (Rs and Ds) on the board. True the Vote observers will not be allowed in Franklin County polling locations tomorrow. Poll monitoring organizations expect they may still be stationed outside of polling locations.

There is no room in our democracy for people trying to steal it. These people need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. It's time for the United States to have fair elections, and these type of actions take us much further from that goal.

Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) is running for Senate. against Claire McCaskill. This Tea Party favorite has taken the misogynistic views of America's right to a whole new low, declaring that:

“First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

Don't believe me? Yeah I wouldn't either, especially given the totally heinous claims made here, so here is the video to see it for yourself:

Now either Akin is one of the most idiotic men alive, in which case he should have been aborted, or he is just playing this card to make excuses to outlaw all abortions. Either way, this sorry piece of shit has no place in Congress, the Senate or the human race.

But sadly Akin echoes the same sentiment towards women's reproductive health that many on the right feel. I just can't wait to hear how some of these women-hating wingnuts are going to defend this.

There has always been something about Republicans and their circling the wagons around the younger George Bush.But you would think that even the "fiscally conservative" members of America's right would cut their loses when it comes to Bush's economic performance. Instead they have constantly defended him and even attempted to rewrite history making the current economic situation start under Barack Obama.

Of course they are totally wrong and today Bruce Bartlett, a man who worked for Ronald Reagan, Ron Paul and even daddy Bush. tallies up the tab of Bush's damage:

Putting all the numbers in the C.B.O. report together, we see that continuation of tax and budget policies and economic conditions in place at the end of the Clinton administration would have led to a cumulative budget surplus of $5.6 trillion through 2011 – enough to pay off the $5.6 trillion national debt at the end of 2000.

Tax cuts and slower-than-expected growth reduced revenues by $6.1 trillion and spending was $5.6 trillion higher, a turnaround of $11.7 trillion. Of this total, the C.B.O. attributes 72 percent to legislated tax cuts and spending increases, 27 percent to economic and technical factors. Of the latter, 56 percent occurred from 2009 to 2011.

And how Bartlett gets to this conclusion is the most interesting part. He highlights just how bad Republican policy is fiscally:

The projected surplus was primarily the result of two factors. First was a big tax increase in 1993 that every Republican in Congress voted against, saying that it would tank the economy. This belief was wrong. The economy boomed in 1994, growing 4.1 percent that year and strongly throughout the Clinton administration.

With Mitt Romney enjoying a huge win in Florida last night it's time to look at the exit polls. The very first question is the one that pops out to me:

Mitt Romney has almost double the support from women as does Newt Gingrich. That's a rather large split and one that really spells problems for the Gingrich brand.

It can be safely assumed that Gingrich's past marriages and the nasty way in which they ended plays a big part in this outcome. That's what really hurts Newt's overall electability problem. If he somehow does get the nomination, Newt risks alienating an important part of the electorate because of his past indiscretions. In an election that is going to go down to the wire, that is a breaking point for the GOP.

Next we have another issue that the media doesn't seem to be paying attention too - the Tea Party influence.

62% of Romney voters somewhat oppose the Tea Party as compared to 17% of Newt's. This is one that really, really jumps out at me.

The Tea Party has made it clear they want to see Gingrich win the nomination, yet Romney won huge yesterday. It really shows that the influence of the Tea Party is in serious decline. This is also a trend we have been seeing more and more.

These Tea Party congressmen. They are nothing but common people, just like you and me. Right?

One-fifth of the 50 richest members of Congress are freshman House Republicans sent to Washington last year with strong Tea Party support, according to The Hill’s 50 Wealthiest for 2011.

Ohio’s Rep. Jim Renacci, the wealthiest of the 87 freshman Republicans elected in 2010, has an estimated net worth of $35.9 million and is the 11th richest lawmaker in Congress, according to The Hill’s list.

Like Reps. Nan Hayworth (R-N.Y.), and Blake Farenthold (R-Texas), who are also numbered among the most wealthy 50 lawmakers in Congress, Renacci had a successful business career before entering Congress.

[SNIP]

Two other new members of the rich list, Reps. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) and Scott Rigell (R-Va.), made their fortunes with car dealerships. Kelly’s estimated wealth is $11.9 million, while Rigell’s is $10.7 million.

Ah yes, I feel like such a common man, much like these tea party people. Now excuse me while I bath myself in my millions!