GOP tactics // Current

Boehner: 'Rebellion' occurring in U.S.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Thursday that the day’s tea party... more

WakeUpPeople
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19 days ago
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131 comments

G.O.P. introduces house resolution honoring tea party protesters

Republican Reps. Eric Cantor and Joe Wilson introduced a resolution Tuesday afternoon... more

WakeUpPeople
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28 days ago
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147 comments

AHIP Lobbyist To GOP: Don't Give "Comfort To The Enemy" On Health Care

A top lobbyist for the major private insurance industry trade group, America's Health... more

WakeUpPeople
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1 month ago
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6 comments

Republican Bait-and-Switch On The Individual Mandate

In recent days, GOP leaders have focused their crosshairs on the individual mandate, a... more

WakeUpPeople
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1 month ago
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2 comments

Maddow: Republicans vow to protect Medicare despite being against it from the start

Interesting how the GOP now makes it a point of pride to protect Medicare, even though... more

WakeUpPeople
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1 month ago
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3 comments

Joe Wilson wasn't the only disrespectful Republican

Whoever came up with House Republicans' strategy for a real-time response to President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress Wednesday night should probably have given the whole thing just a little more thought.

The original Republican plan, which was to carry in copies of various GOP-sponsored healthcare bills with the words "What bill?" written on the back in case Obama accused the opposition of not having proposed its own solutions, might not have been so bad on its own. It would have looked petty, sure, maybe a little childish -- certainly it wouldn't have been the most dignified thing to do while sitting in the House chamber as the president speaks. But it might not have gotten much attention, save a few puzzled questions, were it not for Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., who interrupted the president's speech with a shout of "You lie!"

Wilson has already put out a statement apologizing for his outburst, and even called the White House to offer his apologies to Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. (After the speech, Emanuel reportedly approached two Republican leaders and demanded that apology, saying, "No president has ever been treated like that.")

But the damage has already been done. The story now -- and, most likely, on Thursday -- is congressional Republicans looking like a bunch of townhall protesters during the speech, being generally disrespectful to the president. And there's more fodder for that story still percolating out there. There's video of Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., the Minority Whip, on his BlackBerry during the speech, for instance. And then there's this, from an article by the Washington Post's Dana Milbank:

When Obama addressed the charge that he plans "panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens," someone on the GOP side shouted out "shame!" The president went on: "Such a charge would be laughable if it weren't so cynical." "Read the bill!" someone shouted back. Obama mentioned those who accuse him of a government takeover of health care. "It's true," someone shouted back .... Even as Obama delivered a tribute to the late senator Ted Kennedy, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga), a leader of House conservatives, perused his BlackBerry. Shortly before the speech ended, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) walked out to beat the rush.

All of this is a gift to the White House. All of it will serve to reinforce the impression, which reform supporters have been working hard to create and spread, that Republicans have gone around the bend, that they're more interested in attacking Obama than in reaching across the aisle to work on reform. And it makes Obama look calm, bipartisan and presidential.

There's some damage to Wilson himself, too. As of this post, his Democratic opponent for 2010, Rob Miller, had raised about $50,000 since the speech.Whoever came up with House Republicans' strategy for a real-time response to President... more

WakeUpPeople
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2 months ago
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204 comments

Sponsors are pulling ads from Glenn Beck

Companies that have run ads on the Glen Beck show are pulling them. (It's about time)

dagodiva
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3 months ago
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183 comments

GOP politics: Obama Tags, right wing terrorists, great white hope

GOP politics are being reduced to a terrifying absurdity. Obama tags, right wing... more

locutus
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3 months ago
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4 comments

The big lie: H1N1 contradictions (Part II)

One Marine said, "I see the way propaganda and information war is waged on America's... more

Deborah_Dupre_
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3 months ago
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2 comments

More advertisers pull out of 'Glenn Beck program'

As the title notes more advertisers are pulling their ads from the Glenn Beck program.... more

current89
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3 months ago
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117 comments

Huckabee: Kennedy Would Have Been Urged To Die Earlier Under ObamaCare

Conservative media figures are blasting Democrats for trying to draw political gain... more

WakeUpPeople
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3 months ago
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89 comments

Proud Right Wing Terrorist

It's no longer the end of the beginning but the beginning of the end for the haters... more

eldamon
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3 months ago
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3 comments

THE MILKING OF THE CASH COW vs. REAL HEALTH CARE REFORM...

PLAYING THE HEALTH CARE GAME... We have all watched in amazement as the defaced... more

gerardange
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3 months ago
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1 comment

White House "fishy" e-mails ploy to be investigated?

Rep. Darrell Issa, Republican of California has sent a letter to White House Counsel... more

ladybugaz
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3 months ago
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1 comment

Christ on a Cracker: Jon Voight accuses Obama of provoking civil war

Voight asks, "Is President Obama creating a civil war?" Actor Jon Voight is on his... more

RFIDemocracy
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3 months ago
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86 comments

Mike Enzi, Gang Of Six Republican, Admits He's Simply Blocking Health Care Reform

Mike Enzi, one of three Republicans ostensibly negotiating health care reform as part of the Senate's "Gang of Six," told a Wyoming town hall crowd that he had no plans to compromise with Democrats and was merely trying to extract concessions.

"It's not where I get them to compromise, it's what I get them to leave out," Enzi said Monday, according to the Billings Gazette.

Enzi found himself under attack at the town hall simply for sitting in the same room as the three Finance Committee Democrats. Republicans in the crowd called for him to exit the talks. He assured conservatives that his presence was delaying health care reform.

"If I hadn't been involved in this process as long as I have and to the depth as I have, you would already have national health care," he said.

"Someone has to be at the table asking questions," Enzi said. "If you're not at the table, you're on the menu."

Enzi was also hit from the other side, as constituents criticized him for taking significant campaign cash from the health insurance industry while opposing a public insurance option that would compete with private plans and take a bit out of their bottom line.

Enzi's blunt portrayal of his real role in the negotiations makes bipartisan compromise that much less likely to emerge from the Finance Committee. Democrats around the table have already conceded the public option, yet appear to be no closer to winning any Republican support. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), another of the three Republicans continuing to negotiate -- or at least to meet -- has said that even if he agrees to a deal, he won't vote for it unless he can persuade a good many of his fellow Republicans to go along as well -- a prospect that would only be possible in the face of a dramatic Democratic capitulation.

The Republican negotiators are under intense pressure from GOP leadership to walk away from the discussions.

Earlier this week, one of the three Democrats in the talks, Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, said that he would support passing health care with a simple majority if it became clear the GOP wasn't serious.Mike Enzi, one of three Republicans ostensibly negotiating health care reform as part... more