Archive

Posts Tagged ‘Republicans’
April 14th, 2011 at 12:00 am
Gimmicky Budget Deal Causes National Review to Turn on Boehner
Posted by Print

If you’ve lost National Review — the most consistently conservative child of William F. Buckley — you’ve lost the conservative moment. Thus, House Speaker John Boehner should be insecure about NR’s new staff editorial reacting to the recently revealed gimmicks in last week’s budget deal, ominously entitled “Strike One.” Reading the content won’t assuage those fears:

There’s realism and then there’s cynicism. This deal — oversold and dependent on classic Washington budget trickery — comes too close to the latter. John Boehner has repeatedly said he’s going to reject “business as usual,” but that’s what he’s offered his caucus. It’s one thing for Tea Party Republicans to vote for a cut that falls short of what they’d get if the controlled all of Washington; it’s another thing for them, after making so much of bringing transparency and honesty to the Beltway, to vote for a deal sold partly on false pretenses.

Last week, some of us held out hope that the budget deal represented real — albeit incremental — change. The disappointment that would have resulted from a less satisfying outcome would have been bad. But the betrayal that results from feeling duped by your own leadership is far worse.

January 4th, 2011 at 8:51 am
House Republicans Post Repeal ObamaCare Bill Online

Making good on the promise to offer greater legislative transparency and in preparation forthe House vote to repeal ObamaCare scheduled for next week, House Republicans have posted the repeal bill online for all to see.

Check it out here.

December 20th, 2010 at 10:04 am
Ramirez Cartoon: “We Finally Have Bipartisan Agreement”
Posted by Print

Below is one of the latest cartoons from two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Ramirez.

View more of Michael Ramirez’s cartoons on CFIF’s website here.

November 18th, 2010 at 9:27 am
Ramirez Cartoon: The GOP’s Short Honeymoon With Voters
Posted by Print

Below is one of the latest cartoons from two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Ramirez.

View more of Michael Ramirez’s cartoons on CFIF’s website here.

April 5th, 2010 at 4:50 pm
Fighting the Good Fight

The defining battle in the war of competing political philosophies today is the one being waged between proponents of large and small government.  Clifford Asness makes a sterling contribution to the latter in his essay, “The Way Forward for Republicans, Tea Partiers.”  A sample:

We must beat them by repeatedly making the hard arguments as to why liberty works and why it is the moral choice.

We must win by explaining, no matter how long it may take and hard it may be, that free people acting in a free market is what this country stands for, is the only ethical way to live, and happens to be the greatest anti-poverty and civil rights program on earth. This is harder than saying “here’s some free stuff, now vote for us forever or you’ll lose it.” But, it’s the right thing to do for America, and even the right thing to do politically. If the other party is trying to hook the American people by pushing drugs (entitlements and such) on them, we won’t win elections by pushing slightly less attractive drugs!

The disadvantage to this approach is, again, it’s far harder. It does not fit well in a sound bite. It requires faith in our audience. I think the American people are ready for it, and will reward the party that shares the truth with them. I think so no matter how much more complex the truth is than simpler feel-good lies.

January 29th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
The President’s Question Hour
Posted by Print

Today, President Obama sparred with Republicans at a GOP retreat in Baltimore.  The debate lasted about an hour, and covered taxes, spending, health care and federal debt, among other issues.

It’s good to see the U.S. following the British tradition of the Prime Minister’s Questions.

Before the debate, Republicans were treated to a second lecture by the President.  With two lectures in one week, the GOP must feel so fortunate.

If you weren’t glued to C-SPAN this afternoon, here is the full exchange.

January 22nd, 2010 at 2:56 am
What a Difference a Week Makes
Posted by Print

One only has to go back to the first of the year to find conservatives distraught by the leftward lurch of Washington (if not the country).

What a difference the last week has made. A relatively conservative Republican won the Massachusetts U.S. Senate seat previously held by Ted Kennedy, the health care bill seems to be dying, the Supreme Court struck a stirring blow for free speech by eviscerating much of McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform, and now comes word that Ben Bernanke may not have the votes to be confirmed for another term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Conservatives shouldn’t expect this good luck streak to continue unabated. The next year will be filled with contentious battles. Even a big Republican win in this year’s midterm elections won’t inexorably alter political reality. As the sudden reversal of fortune for Democrats show, big wins can be squandered quickly. Republicans will have to develop a positive alternative to the Obama Administration and the Democrats in Congress if they plan to consolidate their gains and be competitive in the 2012 presidential election.

There’s still much work to be done. But this week has been a good start.

January 19th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
Democrats See Writing on the Wall?
Posted by Print

The current political environment for Democrats appears gloomy.  The President’s approval rating continues to hover around 50%, Democrats can claim few political victories and now there is a strong chance that a Republican will be the next Senator from Massachusetts. The GOP has not captured a Senate seat in the Commonwealth since 1972.

A victory for Republican Scott Brown would make the passage of ObamaCare exceedingly difficult and perhaps kill its legislative prospects altogether, though Democrats will not completely cede the issue to the GOP.

As voters head to the polls in the Bay State, recent predictions are confirming that Brown has a legitimate shot at the seat.  Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight projects a Brown victory based on aggregate polling data since the first week in January.  Silver writes, “Coakley’s odds are substantially worse than they appeared to be 24 hours ago, when there were fewer credible polls to evaluate and there appeared to be some chance that her numbers were bottoming out and perhaps reversing.  However, the ARG and Research 2000 polls both show clear and recent trends against her.”

Charles Franklin at Pollster agrees with Silver.  Franklin noted, “Across all models, Brown leads by between 1.0 and 8.9 points.  Three quarters of the estimates have Brown ahead by 4 points or more.”

And now, Politico reports that some Democrats are working up contingency plans if Scott Brown proves to be the 41st vote against a government takeover of health care.  Their plan: Blame Republicans.  One Democratic staffer noted, “Sure you could say it’s worse because we didn’t pass anything.  But it might be better to get past this as soon as possible, and bring it up for a vote in the Senate, let Republicans kill it – and then blame them for everything.”

Nice strategy.  Voters will surely reward you for delivering on your message of transparency, lower taxes for the middle class and affordable health care.

January 6th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Democrats Flee Sinking Ship
Posted by Print

This week has been awash in Democratic retirements.  In just two days, senior Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) have announced that they won’t be facing voters this November.

In addition, Governor Bill Ritter (D-CO) announced his retirement after just one term in Denver.

All three politicians had uphill reelection prospects and polls now show Republicans with a 44% to 35% advantage in the Generic Congressional Ballot.

For taxpayers and free trade advocates, Dorgan’s retirement comes as a welcome surprise.  He was one of the loudest and most obnoxious free trade opponents in the Senate and even authored the book “Take this Job and Ship It,” a screed against free trade and competition.

Thankfully, the book’s Amazon sales rank is a lowly 143,535, so few will miss his writing or his voting record.

November 17th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Democrats Have a Problem with Judges
Posted by Print

Republicans spent the last eight years trying to ensure an up-or-down vote for their judicial nominees.  Democrats, for the first time in history, decided to take the extraordinary step of filibustering all of the nominees that they deemed “out of the judicial mainstream.”

The Democratic standard for mainstream: ‘We don’t like them and we’ll do everything possible to keep them off the bench.’

Now, Democrats are having problems with the judicial confirmation process, even though they hold 60 seats in the U.S. Senate.

Today the Senate will hold a cloture vote on the nomination of Judge David Hamilton to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.  Senate Republicans are currently mulling political payback and will likely filibuster Judge Hamilton’s nomination.  If successful, Hamilton’s nomination will wind up just like dozens of blocked judges during the Bush Administration.

It appears that Democrats, too, have a problem with judges.  What goes around comes around in Washington, D.C.