The Next Republican Showdown

Michael Brendan Dougherty has an eye on the battles to come:

The Tea Party isn't the only force on election day. Moderate Republicans are looking to reclaim House seats in suburban districts across the country and have several Senate candidates. This is the most under-reported story of this election cycle, but it will have incredible consequences for Republican Congressional leadership. There will be a lot of endzone dancing by Tea Partiers tonight. But this new class of moderates will give them trouble sooner than they think.

Comments

[Tim]

After the revolution comes the purge.

[Fluffy]

If there's a Lindsey Graham show trial, can I be the guy who waterboards him until he confesses his treason and begs the court tearfully to be hung while his contrition is fresh and his spirit is pure?

[Tim]

As long as you honor our Democratic ideals.

[SIV]

Good to see you coming around on torture Fluffy.

[Marshall Gill]

I am also glad to see that Fluffy and I agree on something.

[ChrisO]

Based on appearances alone, that should take about, oh, five minutes of torture.

[P Brooks]

I suppose by "moderate" you mean the sort of people who will look at the gargantuan clusterfuck which is Obamacare and say, "Let's not be hasty, and throw the baby out with the bathwater."

Note to "moderates": There is no BABY in there.

[Andrea Yates]

+5

[sage]

Too soon.

[Baby Damien]

Bullshit, I'm right here.

[Chad]

The Republicans have a real problem come January: They can no longer hide their plans, and have to submit them, in writing, for a veto.

I wonder how they will handle it.

[Barry D]

Hate to feed the troll, but I can't help myself...

Probably in a manner just as utterly shitty as the utter pieces of shit in the majority right now.

[sr7]

The only thing expected from them is to not be as bad as Obama. That is so much pressure, I don't know how they'll manage to pull it off!

[Publius Cato]

FUUUUUCK, that sounds like no string attached sex to a politician. Sound as radical as you want to appease the base and then force the president (from the other party mind you) to veto it.

[Mike M.]

I hope that they can't agree on anything and that there's an extended government shutdown much longer than the one in '95, so that you'll be out of a job.

[Chad]

What makes you think I work for the government? I work in the private sector.

However, a government shutdown would certainly be bad for my business in a number of ways. I can't fathom a reason it would help us.

[Conclusion:]

You work for a "private sector" company whose survival depends on government contracts huh..?

[So...]

... you work in the private sector for a company whose life depends on government contracts huh?

[Ayn_Randian]

I suppose you think that 1.6 trillion it spends a year comes from...unicorns?

[?]

The Tea Party isn't the only force on election day.

That's not what MSNBC told me. And told me. And told me.

[Spoonman.]

Good. The infighting will hopefully keep them from passing any dumb-ass laws that Obama will sign like the shiteating "team player" he is.

[East Bay Jay]

I think you're confusing 'team player' with 'no experience requires him to be led by others'. But the result is the same.

[F 'em up Chuck]

The calm before the storm....

[Ken Shultz]

Job #1 should be denying leadership to John Boehner.

John Boehner voted for TARP, and if the Tea Party put the Republicans over the top, then John Boehner is unfit to be their Speaker.

Actually, I hope the Tea Party targets John Boehner's district next go 'round--John Boehner voted for TARP, so John Beohner should pay with his seat.

Did I mention that he's unfit to be the Speaker since he voted for TARP?

P.S. John Boehner is unfit to be the Speaker because he voted for TARP.

[Tango Mike]

Why, it almost seems as though you don't like TARP.

[wylie]

Be fair, it's not like he voted for TARP.

[Average Voter]

What the fuck is TARP?

[Admiral Ackbar]

It's a TARP!!!!!

[TrickyVic]

A fish?

[John]

Boehner got kicked out of the leadership once in the late 1990s. He just keeps coming back like a bad penny.

[Chad]

And what, precisely, do you not like about TARP? Be explicit.

[FOX News]

It's the bad thing that icky people did.

[FOX]

It's the bad thing that icky people did.

[R C Dean]

And what, precisely, do you not like about TARP? Be explicit.

It opened the door for the executive to carry out a grossly illegal and unconstitutional transfer of wealth from the public to selected private enterprises. The actual wealth transfers that occurred were inconsistent, BTW, with the express terms of the statute itself.

That's what. I can throw in some swear words if that isn't explicit enough.

[Chad]

TARP has made a profit so far, so how can it both have done this AND "transfered wealth" without creating it?

[TrickyVic]

""TARP has made a profit so far, ""

Citation?

[East Bay Jay]

Obama said it in a speech. That should be good enough for everybody.

Tarp will be paying off for years to come as big banks know they have the gubmint in their corner if they screw up again. So they can take all kinds of risks and make all kinds of money. Win-Win (unless you have kids or are under 40).

[TrickyVic]

Oh, well that settles it. A sitting President would never lie.

[Nixon]

Of course a sitting President wouldn't lie. It would be beneath the office.

[Fluffy]

Example:

Certain institutions had made very large bets on AIG's creditworthiness by engaging them as counterparties in the derivatives market.

Those were bets they deserved to lose.

The TARP intervention turned those losing bets into winning bets.

When the federal government uses taxpayer dollars to turn private investments that deserved to lose billions into winning bets that made billions, it is a patent injustice, and it undermines our entire system in numerous ways.

For our system to be fair, rich people who bet the wrong way have to be allowed to lose, and turn into poor people. Even if that causes macroeconomic disruption.

TARP was affirmative action for Wall Street. I used to think that if I met someone successful on Wall Street, they were probably a smart guy who had in one way or another earned his money by putting his balls on the line. Now, like affirmative action hires, if I meet someone on Wall Street I have to think, "Did this fucker earn his money, or did TARP bail him out of a jam?"

[Barry D]

This fucker put YOUR balls on the line. He and Obama (to whom he donated the max in 2008) laughed about it over a drink.

"Fuck you, taxpayer!"

[Ken Shultz]

That's absolute bullcrap.

When the US is done losing our money on GM and Chrysler, you let me know...

Oh, and how much economic growth have we lost as a result of all the new regulation TARP supposedly justified?

TARP has made a profit?!

That's a joke.

[Ken Shultz]

P.S. When is AIG giving me my money back?

[East Bay Jay]

Next Tuesday. You didn't get your notice?

[Ken Shultz]

TARP put me on the hook for Wall Street's bad investments.

TARP was used as a justification for reinventing Wall Street in Barack Obama's image, crimping Wall Street's ability to engage is some desperately needed creative destruction.

TARP put me on the hook--personally--for the UAW's pension plan. If it wasn't for TARP, the UAW would have had to renegotiate with GM and Chrysler management, but not with their man in the White House.

...not when he could use TARP to bail them out. And who ends up paying for it? It's comin' out of my futre paychecks! It's comin' out of your future paychecks too.

All because of TARP.

And John Boehner voted for TARP.

Twice!

John Boehner is no friend of capitalism--and he's no friend of libertarians like me. And if he ends up being Speaker of the House because of the Tea Party, a movement which sprang into existence as opposition to bipartisan TARP?!

Then the Tea Party will be in big trouble.

Always remember--the Tea Party didn't start within the Republican Party for a reason, and the reason it didn't spring into existence within the Republican Party?

Was becasue of Republican leaders like John Boehner.

He has no business leading a party that retook the house out of opposition to his own policies. It'll be a disgrace to the Tea Party.

Absolute disgrace.

[Ken Shultz]

Did I mention that John Boehner voted for TARP?

Well he did!

And if it's the Tea Party that gave the Republicans a majority in the House? Then that makes him unfit to be Speaker.

[John]

PJ O'Rourke has it right. This is not an election. It is a restraining order.

[P Brooks]

They can no longer hide their plans, and have to submit them, in writing, for a veto.

Wait- are you saying "obstructionism" is good, as long as the Right People are no longer in charge?

[Hobie Hanson]

Preventing the progress that's already been made from being rolled back is not obstructionism.

[Episiarch]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Bill]

It does not matter that much who wins. The only sure thing is that the free market will lose (i.e. never be implemented) and then will be blamed when things get fucked up.

The FED will have everything fixed soon since they now have a new plan of action. Hint: It involves doing a lot of the same stimulus shit they've been trying. We are all F%^^**'d I predict 8% inflation this time next year.

But they will blame it on the "free market" because they are supposedly following Uncle Milty's advice. Problem is, as far as I know, he was never that big on using the Fed to solve problems. He simply said, try to keep a small steady increase in the money supply to keep pace with population growth. He was not necessarily against the gold standard (was he?) as much as thinking it will never come back so let's work with what we have. At least that is my impression.

[Nor West]

Whoever wins just means that the driver(s) of the car get it out of the ditch and continue toward the cliff.

[Tim]

Please, can they just let regular lightbulbs stay legal after 2012?

[Oso Politico]

No! No! No!

That would endanger my business plan to export incandescent bulbs to the States, black market, of course, using the Mexican Mafia, who are looking to diversify.

[Nor West]

http://cfact.eu/2010/10/15/bri.....eat-bulbs/

[creech]

The Tea Parties claim they will hold elected officials accountable. We will see. Their message to these "moderates" may just be the old Cosby line: "I brought you into this world and I can take you out."

[sage]

The upshot of all left all the time finally going away is that the Daily Show may become funny again.

[dantealiegri]

Please let it be true!

[East Bay Jay]

Craig Kilburn is coming back?

[Warty]

Since this is not Pajamas Media, and because I sit at the kids' table, I'll go off-topic: Apparently, fatophobia exists. Don't oppress me with your cisbody!

[C'mon man]

What the fuck is a moderate Republican. A bipartisan rapist? What's a moderate Democrat?

I love the narrative here. A moderate. What does that mean: lube the public before inserting giant gubmint dong?

I like the whole "people wanted Obama to 'focus' on the economy" from the MSM. That's just what we need is for Obama to roll up his sleeves and dig into the economy. I want Obama to pursue his golf game and vacation.

[Barry D]

Personally, I think he should ditch golf, a game for preppy white pussies, and vacations, which sound so... suburban!

Guerilla BASE jumping. That's what Obama should take up. A jump a day, is that too much to ask?

[alan]

A moderate is someone on the left or the right who objects to his perceived ideas of what others may think of the left or right, so how he describes his own leanings is based on offsetting that perception.

[bobby]

http://millermeeks.com/

Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks is the Republican nominee in Iowa's 2nd Congressional District.

Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks retired with an honorable discharge as a Lt. Colonel after 24 years in the United States Army. And, after years of serving Iowa families as an ophthalmologist in Ottumwa, Mariannette left her practice in 2008 but continues to serve others. Today, she volunteers her time and medical services at a free health clinic for families who have fallen on hard times.

She doesn't start or end campaign appearances with references to Jesus. So, I don't know exactly how she made it through the Iowa nominating process.

But, it looks like she's going to take out Dave Loebsack (D) today.

[R C Dean]

Seriously, the donk's name is Lobesac?

[bobby]

Yes. I can hardly restrain my enthusiam for voting against him after work today.

[doomboy]

Clearly she is just a puppet of the contact lens industry.

[hmm]

Is Obama Keynesian?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_23Nt5XumaU

[moe19]

No. Kenyan.

[East Bay Jay]

It's all the same you racist!

[John]

I think they will put a repeal of Obamacare on his desk. You have to remember there are a bunch of Democratic Senators up for re-election in 2012. They will vote for repeal knowing it will be vetoed. That will allow them to tell voters they voted to repeal it. But their leftist voters won't get too upset because the thing won't actually be repealed. That will get the 60 votes for repeal.

Then things get interesting. The problem Obama has is that there are a lot of parts of the bill people really hate. So what does Obama do when repeal of those pieces are put on his desk? Bill Clinton would sign a few of them. And then tell the country how bi-partisan he was being and use it to defang the Republicans. But Obama is no Bill Clinton. It would take a tremendous about of shamelessness and political skill to turn that quickly and be willing to repeal parts of your signature achievement. I don't think Obama has that kind of skill.

Worse still, Obama has to worry about a challenge from his left. He has really made fools of the left on the War on Terror. You can see this every time Tony or Chad get on here and call Republicans war mongers and there are about ten posts immediately pointing out how Obama has basically continued all of Bush's policies and wars. If he sells them out on domestic policy, they will finally fight back and we will see a return of the anti-war movement.

Clinton didn't have that problem. The left was still scared by Reagen. And it had only been a few years since the Left had run against Carter and helped Reagan win. They were along for the ride no matter what under Clinton. They are not under Obama.

So what if Obama just vetoes everything? Then he is telling the country that he doesn't care how they vote, he is in charge. If he does that he is probably doomed in 2012. But if he gets a primary challenge from his left is his probably doomed anyway.

[P Brooks]

I'll go off-topic

You're gonna get a scolding from the Old Mexican, dude.

[P Brooks]

No fat chicks.

I don't care if they make awesome bed warmers. That's what cats (and down comforters) are for.

[John]

Cats are nothing but lazy heat ticks. They suck heat. My cat can sense a warm spot from a mile away. It is just uncanny.

[JW]

I never figured you for a cat person, P.

[Episiarch]

Would you have figured Warty for one? I'm still shocked. I figured he'd be a badger guy if anything. Maybe reptiles.

[John]

Wolverines would have been my bet.

[Episiarch]

Possibly llamas.

[Warty]

Have you ever rubbed an alpaca? Don't dog it, yo.

[Oso Politico]

Porcupines?

[Episiarch]

Skunks?

[John]

Him and Warty. Warty is downright fanatical about it.

[Warty]

"Now a diabetic cat is in play? We can't catch a break."

[Spoonman.]

I am a rabbit person.

Yeah.

[John]

Little bastards chew your electrical cords.

[Spoonman.]

I have lost a pair of headphones to her. Conveniently they are too stupid to seek them out, so as long as you keep electrical cords out of the "this might be delicious" zone 1.5 feet off the ground, you won't have any problems.

[John]

They are very cute. And without the cord issue, nice pets.

[Bunny Love]

(\ /)
( . .)
C(")(")

[Chad]

Conservatism in a nutshell: My father

1: Thanks to TARP, my father has a job. Without it, GM and Chrysler would have collapsed, sinking many of their suppliers. My father sells stuff primarily to these suppliers. His company almost collapsed *with* TARP. It certainly would have without. Not to mention they had serious issues with cash flow and loans, which were alleviated by TARP as well.

2: My mother and brother both work for a medical facility that was also teetering on the economic edge last year due to Medicaid cutbacks and delayed payments. Without the stimulus, it is almost certain that one or both of them would have lost their jobs.

3: My father's job does not offer health insurance, which he gets via my mother's job. Without the evil socialist Obamacare, due to his "pre-existing conditions", my father would be one highly-plausible layoff, or divorce, or death away from being both uninsured and uninsurable after his 18 months of COBRA.

So without the these three awful programs, my father would likely be unemployed, along with either my mom or brother or both, hanging on to COBRA and milking UI as long as possible and praying he makes it to 65 without some disease bankrupting us.

His logical conclusion?

Vote Republican.

*facepalm*

[kinnath]

A man of true integrity then. Must skip generations.

[capitol l]

If he were a man of integrity he self-castrate to save the world from any accidental repeats of Chad.

[Chad]

Ummm....

Milking UI and subsidized COBRA until you reach SS and Medicare age equals "integrity"?

lol!!!!

I know of a number of hard-core conservatives who are doing exactly this. Thanks to the above programs, my father hasn't joined them yet.

[Barry D]

So you're saying that, if he voted Democrat, he would THEN be acting with integrity?

[Warty]

Good for him. I hope he beats you the next time you darken his door, dipshit.

[Episiarch]

Don't be silly, Warty. Sockpuppets don't have fathers, let alone fathers who deservedly beat them.

[Tulpa]

Maybe your father believes in something greater than himself. Something that prevents him from voting purely for his own selfish gain.

[Tman]

Amazing that the acorn has fallen so far from the tree.

[Chris]

THIS

[capitol l]

That was touching, really.

Everybody give Chad a round of applause for his story. Just goes to show you that stupid does indeed run in families.

[Spoonman.]

Yeah, because no cars would be made in America if GM and Chrysler had failed.

[Chad]

Actually, this is not so far from the truth. A GM/Chrysler collapse would have taken down a lot of their supply chain, which in turn would have likely knocked Ford over as well.

Once lost, most of these jobs would not have come back.

[kinnath]

As it should be.

I don't mourn for Zenith either.

[Tman]

Actually, this is not so far from the truth.

So Toyota, Honda, BMW, Nissan, etc.- they stopped building cars in the US?

When did this happen?

[Spoonman.]

Yeah, because nobody would have taken advantage of the skilled workers and already-present supply chains. Nope, innovation and growth only come from the government.

[Chad]

No, they wouldn't have, because nobody is expanding anything.

There are zillions of skilled workers and capital assets just setting there right now, unused. What makes you think throwing more on the heap would have made anything better?

[Pip]

"There are zillions of skilled workers and capital assets just setting there right now, unused."

You mean retired UAW workers?

[Chad]

The blindness of libertarians is staggering. Of course, it needs to be for you to be able to allow the vast contradictions of your ideology and reality from exploding your brain.

Millions of construction workers and tradesmen are unemployed, factories are abandoned everywhere...and you just refuse to see it.

[Obama]

But without the stimulus, unemployment will exceed 8%!

[Yes, Chad]

Especially in your Democratic strongholds like Detroit. You will close your eyes, cover your ears, stomp your feet and blame-shift.

[Barry D]

When the Toyota gas pedal scare was trumped up, it turns out that some other American brands were using the same pedal assemblies from the same suppliers.

Apart from captive suppliers, the parts for various vehicles come from the same places. The supply chain would suffer some shocks initially, but in the long run jobs wouldn't be lost, unless people quit buying cars altogether.

[Chad]

In the long run, we are all dead.

You are right that supply chains and auto sales would have eventually recovered in the long term...probably in China or the like, a few years from now.

[Cytotoxic]

Or Ford would just buy stuff on the cheap right now. Which actually sense.

[East Bay Jay]

And then: no cars to buy. It will be like 1970s Cuba in America with everyone driving around in 30 year old smoke blowing Bonnevilles and drinking rum out of the bottle. Way cool.

[R C Dean]

Without the evil socialist Obamacare, due to his "pre-existing conditions", my father would be one highly-plausible layoff, or divorce, or death away from being both uninsured and uninsurable after his 18 months of COBRA.

I see you don't understand the protections for insured people with pre-existing conditions before ObamaCare. Hint: The first three letters of HIPAA are short for Health Insurance Portability.

[Chad]

HIPAA is related to switching between group plans. You are assuming that he or my mother would be able to find a job that provided insurance. This would be virtually impossible where they live and at their age. So your proposed solution to their insurance problem, even if possible, would involve them selling (in a deeply depressed market) a home that has been in the family for more than a century and moving across the country.

Either way, it is absolutely clear that my parents are much better off because of these programs. They are not anomolies.

[Nick]

Yes, they should have moved or sold their home. It's no one's business but theirs how they manage to survive. Government's only job is to protect and defend their rights, none of which are violated by having to sell their house and move.

[TrickyVic]

""Government's only job is to protect and defend their rights,""

Really? I can't tell?

[Citizen Nothing]

Sounds good to me. Does your family have any kittens we could set on fire?

[Nick]

So, your dad hates you. It's unanimous!

[tmp1701]

So he votes against his own self interest, in the name of smaller government? You are aware that you're on a libertarian website, correct?

[Chad]

The problem is that he refuses to admit that it IS in his best self interest to vote Democratic. And mom's. And my brothers's. And mine. And countless numbers of his friends and families.

And not by just a little bit, either.

[Pip]

Hey Chad, I don't give a fuck. There is simply no reason to destroy this country just to make life easy and sweet for the morons that brought you into this world.

[P Brooks]

TARP has made a profit so far, so how can it both have done this AND "transfered wealth" without creating it?

Wheeeeee!

[P Brooks]

Either way, it is absolutely clear that my parents are much better off because of these programs.

Fuck off, slaver.

[robc]

I couldnt have said it better myself.

[Marshall Gill]

Either way, it is absolutely clear that my parents are much better off because of these programs.

Because, as long as they get a check, nothing else matters? If they also robbed a couple of banks, murdering the clerks and got away scott free, would they also be "better off?"

In my world, being a thief, however rich or successful, doesn't equal "better".

[Ayn Rand]

THANK YOU

[DJ Drugs]

What if you're Bodhi from Point Break? I bet you didn't think of that one, eh?