American Politics Thread 2013: I'm a cool Rodham grandma in the USA

lol, bourbon just out of frame

Ross Douthat ‏@DouthatNYT 17m
So per @robertCostaNRO, current GOP strategy is: Shut down govt for almost 3 weeks to obtain ... repeal of medical device tax.

heh

It appears Charlie keeps the bottle at the office.

One would hope so

important ongoing shift imho http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-03/republicans-are-no-longer-the-party-of-business

^ yeah, my current hope is that business interests will force moderate republicans to stop backing the madmen. or at least that the indulgence of lunatics will hurt the party's voter and $$$ draw as time goes on.

the latter cold comfort if they manage to re-tank the economy along the way

The saddest aspect of this whole fiasco is that any "solution" will likely really just mean, per the last few similar battles, that yet another repeat of the exact scenario merely gets pushed back a few months. And then here we go again.

we don't have government, just elections and shutdowns

if the gop doesnt get anything and takes a hit in public opinion the chances they'll try it again soon are p low - last shutdown was 17 years ago - but the debt ceiling def needs to be eliminated, that is a for sure time bomb

listened to Glenn Beck for a minute in the car last night, and it was the usual wacko crazy about Obama personally kicking WWII vets in the balls, then I almost ran off the road when his proposed solution was "de-fund the GOP. never give them another dime." I guess he's always been out there, but I assumed Tea Party intransigence was solely directed at Democrats.

will is the weirdest guy

― lag∞n, Thursday, October 3, 2013 11:59 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

http://www.goatsandglory.com/videos/549/

never forget george will's sports machine

I assumed Tea Party intransigence was solely directed at Democrats.

it's funny since the Tea Party seems to see the stakes in terms of "purity" that it's ALWAYS gonna be the pathogen that closest to home that is seen as the most dangerous. it's almost like the old communist party.

and of course it's a fruitless self-defeating pursuit.

tbf the gop has been playing them forever

since 1952 at least

it's hard to resist apocalyptic rhetoric like "this is the end of the GOP as we know it"--which is probably way overstating it--but i dont see how they can keep squaring that circle. a party which emphasizes exclusion to the extent they do are always gonna be vulnerable to autoimmune disorders (which is a way of interpreting this Tea Party insurrection from within).

but i dont think a conservative party can really be recalibrated along other lines. that's kinda what conservatism is.

yeah theyve got some problems going forward

its interesting they have still managed to nominate fairly moderate presidential candidates, if they could do that w/o making them jump through sick hoops and promise all sorts of vile things they might not be in such bad shape, seeing as they have a structural advantage in congress

also known as "cheating"

its not cheating it bad rules

http://24.media.tumblr.com/37a70bb3028bc93f10980d5d73d1619b/tumblr_mu3ay3gfyr1qzjlovo1_500.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/mHZiM3H.png

republicans think everything is lynching, weird

jesus christ, that cartoon

i love that cartoon tbh

The shorts are fin sweet

This focus group study of the current Republican party is pretty amazing.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hw1lpW9gNhE/Uk7l8D75ASI/AAAAAAAAOQk/uOgXFvMyb3E/s400/1157cbCOMIC-school-time-rock-just-a-law.jpg

Gotta admit, skimming that focus group report really does depict the GOP as a desperate, flailing, reactionary minority whose virulence stems from its belief that it's losing. Like a cornered dog.

it's hard out there for a simp

From the Business Week article lagoon linked:

Asked by the Associated Press if he had heard business groups express alarm about the economic impact of a shutdown, Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher of California replied, “No. And it wouldn’t make any difference if I did.”

That's rather breathtaking coming from a Republican Congressman. This is why conventional wisdom about the Wall Street tycoons stepping in and stopping the House crazies is mostly wishful thinking.

they're seriously going to have to put up and start threatening these clowns with big money donations to moderate/ Dem challengers.

well big business doesnt have to stop the house crazies they just have to convince boner to allow a vote

It would be easier to make him weep in self-pity than to get him to grow a pair.

naw all signs point to him caving, and hes done it before

http://a2.img.talkingpointsmemo.com/image/upload/c_fill,fl_keep_iptc,g_faces,h_365,w_652/gop-tax-cuts.jpg

look at that young man back there

fucking Rohrabacher. the Rep for where I grew up iirc

TEACH ME WISE ONE

godddamn newt's weird fat misshapen head

i fear it will be my destiny :( :(

http://www.theforce.net/kids/coruscant/probe_droid/palpatine.jpg

Can we leave that pic of a Pope Palpatine up forever?

Running in 2016, iirc.

cool dino tie

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2013/10/04/mr_buckley_was_the_tea_party

http://www.rushimg.com/cimages//media/images/mtp-cruzbuckley/1190009-1-eng-GB/MTP-CruzBuckley.jpg

limbaugh being a little unfair to the tea party i think, by and large they're not nearly as virulently racist, antisemitic, and cryptofascist as buckley was

I don't have to open the link to know that the url is otm

Robert Costa:

But details are floating to the surface as the leadership reaches out to internal power brokers about what’s within the realm of the possible. What I’m hearing: There will be a “mechanism” for revenue-neutral tax reform, ushered by Ryan and Michigan’s Dave Camp, that will encourage deeper congressional talks in the coming year. There will be entitlement-reform proposals, most likely chained CPI and means testing Medicare; there will also be some health-care provisions, such as a repeal of the medical-device tax, which has bipartisan support in both chambers. Boehner, sources say, is expected to go as far as he can with his offer. Anything too small will earn conservative ire; anything too big will turn off Democrats.

Another tidbit: One House Republican familiar with the talks says parts of sequestration may be something Republicans will discuss, should Democrats inch toward them on taxes or health care. For example, if Democrats start to talk about chained CPI, Republicans may budge a little on sequestration and look at trading some entitlement reform for renewed funding. Senate budget chairman Patty Murray and Ryan have been having related talks for months, and they’re poised to guide the negotiations, should they pick up speed. House leadership, per several sources, seems open to such trades.

Not gonna happen

Dems/Obama shouldn't trade shit with these assholes, it only validates their tactics

jesus fucking christ, bullshit