House GOP Funk Worsens

House GOP Funk Worsens

The Politico   |  John Bresnahan and Josh Kraushaar   |   March 9, 2008 06:45 PM


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For National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole (Okla.), every week seems to bring a new set of problems. On Saturday night, things got even worse.

With Democrat Bill Foster's victory in the Illinois 14th District special election, Democrats now hold the seats occupied only 21 months ago by former Speaker Dennis Hastert (Ill.) and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (Texas) -- the two GOP lawmakers who ran the House from 1998 to 2006.

Since September, Cole has faced a barrage of bad news:

• The NRCC lags behind the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee by nearly $30 million in cash on hand.

• GOP House leadership endured an embarrassing scuffle when Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) tried to fire Cole's top two staffers, during which Cole threatened to resign.

• There has been a wave of retirement announcements by veteran Republican lawmakers that will force the NRCC to defend what were once seen as safe GOP seats.

• Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) was indicted on 35 federal corruption charges, which puts another Republican-controlled district in play.

• And the FBI continues its criminal investigation into a brewing accounting scandal that centers on the former NRCC treasurer's activities.

But the GOP's defeat in Illinois' special election Saturday may trump those setbacks, at least in the short term. Cole and the House Republican leadership are blaming the loss directly on GOP candidate Jim Oberweis. A dairy owner who lost three consecutive statewide elections before Saturday, Oberweis has a long history of political baggage. He won the recent nomination without receiving the support of his Republican primary rival, state Sen. Chris Lauzen.


 
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It's hard not to break out in the neener-neener dance.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:36 AM on 03/10/2008

This is easy, the war party Neo-cons and the reject everyone that doesn"t embrace my beliefs Christian Conservatives, not to mention closeted perverts have alienated just about every moderate in the country. Movement conservatives have elevated Milton Friedman Supply Economic theory to a religion in a consumer economy. George Bush, Cheney and his extremist secret staff of neo-cons are destroying the coalition Regan built, at the same time destroying the party. The lock step discipline of the Republicans is no longer an asset, not breaking with a bunch of warmongers and religious extremist will drive them out office in moderate parts of the country.

Movement, Neo, and Social conservatism has been taken to such an extreme that a diverse swath of Americans, not only liberals feel left out of the political process. There just aren"t enough Neo-conservative intellectuals and pundits, religious extremist, and politicos to paper over the failure and perversion of so-called conservative principles. In 2000 I had concerns that Gore could be to liberal, bad for the economy, but I voted for him any way. When Bush stole the election with help from his brother, Catherine Harris, and the partisans on the Court, I thought at the very least a W administration would look like George H. Bush administration, I never imagined this rare blend of incompetence, as well as the extreme big government fascist perspective that these thugs brought to Washington. Authoritism is not in the DNA of most reasonable Americans. Radical talkers, media types, and religious conservatives have turned up the heat in order to fire up the ever decreasing base so much, that they are actually turning off the main stream, the big middle that Regan rallied to his cause and than screwed. I hear the neo-cons retro swift boat FDR as a Fascist yet the country wept when he died, I remember the sadness in the country when JFK died. The same will not be said when Bush-Cheney leave the Whitehouse.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:24 AM on 03/10/2008

What did everyone expect?????? The Chief Thief (Bush) has been getting away with it for 8 years now. Starting with stealing the office in 2000! It's the 'trickle down' theory folks! When your leader is corrupt to the core the corruption trickles down to the rest of the pack!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:13 AM on 03/10/2008

This gruesome Cabal of Criminals, breaks our Law with the arrogance of entitlement right in our face. We sit and complain about it. I say no more. These crimes against one man, are crimes against all men. The Nation must remove this cancer now.On April 1st 2008, if Congress has failed to begin Impeachment proceeding against these heinous criminals. We The People will ABOLISH this Government in its entirety. It is our solemn duty, from which we shall not shrink nor waiver, under our Constitution, to ABOLISH any Government that has failed in it's duty to uphold the Rule of Law. There is no room for alternate interpretation, no mitigating circumstance, no argument nor excuse, that can be brought any longer. OPERATION RESTORE TRUST will direct Federal law enforcements Agents to take into custody pending trail, all senior members of this Criminal organization, (The Bush Administration). The interim Government will be temporarily administered by the Governors of the Fifty States and the districts. A date certain for a Constitutional Convention will be set for April 19th 2008, Patriots Day. Congress will be discharged from it's duties and all sitting members sent home for new elections in their respective states. All Bush Appointees including within the Supreme Court will be suspended from their duties pending reconfirmation by the newly elected Government. The intent and ability for this criminal organization to influence the internal deliberations of the courts is well documented. Never before in the history of Our Nation has such an insidiously aggressive cancer, reached it's strangling tentacles throughout every aspect of our government. It STOPS here and NOW. The Clock is ticking Congress, you have 21 days to act as charged in your oath of office. FAIL NOT!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:50 AM on 03/10/2008

Who picked the date? Who's organizing this Constitutional Convention? Where are these actions - suspension of judges, etc - documented? (I don't recall them being enumerated in the Constitution!)

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:52 AM on 03/12/2008
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What could possible have led the GOP to this point? A trillion dollar money pit in Iraq? No weapons of mass destruction? Halliburton? Blackwater? Abu Gahraib? Guantanamo? Bin Laden still running loose? Terry Schaivo? Dubai ports? DeLay? Hastert? Craig? Foley? Collapsing dollar? Mortgage meltdown? Recession? Heavens, what is it that they did wrong?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:13 AM on 03/10/2008
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God (R) will get you for that.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:21 AM on 03/10/2008
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God(I) will get them all for that... >;D

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:00 AM on 03/10/2008
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No kidding. You kind of have to feel sorry for the GOP in Congress. They're paying the price not only for how badly they've screwed things up, but also for supporting Bush's fiascos. So, they can't run on what a great job they've doing governing and the fear card is just about played out. No wonder so many are bailing.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:20 AM on 03/10/2008
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A better question is "what have they right?"

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:17 PM on 03/10/2008
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That should be "what have they DONE right?"

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:19 PM on 03/10/2008

With the help of Chavez, FARC is attempting to legitimize and mainstream itself, much as the genocidal PLO transformed, with the aid of useful idiots like Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, from criminal terrorists to pseudo-statesmen. Democrats in Congress, succumbing to lobbying from FARC sympathizers and Marxist apologists, are stalling military aid and a free trade agreement. Undermining a close ally, in a despicable attempt to undermine President Bush and any success he might claim in South America. The Colombian people be damned, and the consequences, well, when are they ever a concern? The long view is an anathema to the left.

Found on a laptop in the terrorist camp and released by Colombian security services, a series of letters between FARC hierarchies confirms the substantial support of FARC by Hugo Chavez. A passage from one letter is particularly troubling:


"The gringos will ask for an appointment with the minister to solicit him to communicate to us his interest in discussing these topics. They say that the new president of their country will be Obama and that they are interested in your compatriots. Obama will not support "Plan Colombia" nor will he sign the TLC (Colombian Free Trade agreement). Here we responded that we are interested in relations with all governments in equality of conditions and that in the case of the US it is required a public pronouncement expressing their interest in talking with the FARC given their eternal war against us." Raul Reyes, FARC Terrorist Commander

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:00 AM on 03/10/2008

Did you drink the Koolaid or do you get a cut of the profits.

There are only two kinds of people that try to spread your form of propaganda; Profiteers or Parrots

Pick one.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:31 AM on 03/10/2008
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How convenient is that laptop. How convenient is that "Zimmerman Telegram" of the 21st Century.

Amazing, the FARC have a crystal ball that they can foresee the outcome of our November presidential election and We The People haven't even finished voting for our candidates yet.

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:07 PM on 03/10/2008
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This is just awful.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:22 AM on 03/10/2008

Republlican- Its Whats for Dinner - in 239 days.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:20 AM on 03/10/2008
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"Repedophiles" are essentially inedible, as the flesh is too bitter for the most indiscriminate palate, the heart is useless because it is too small and made of stone, and the brains are clearly contaminated with Mad Cow Disease (just look at their voting records), while the carcass is irredeemably riddled with maggots (K Street Lobbyists like Fred Thomson).

One would do better to dine on random road kill.

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:03 PM on 03/10/2008

The Rs are in utter disrepute. Dennie Hastert, Mark Foley, Larry Craig and the innumerable other hipocrites and losers.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:15 AM on 03/10/2008
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Repigs, self destructing?

HOW SWEET IT IS!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:32 AM on 03/10/2008

It would be sweet if they had not murdered hundreds of thousands unnecessarily and bankrupted the country. Now for years, we'll be living with guilt , destruction, isolation, and huge economic problems, thanks to the Greedy Old Boys.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:25 AM on 03/10/2008
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The neocons made fools and hypocrites of the rethuglicons and their conservative principles.

The neocon-lite, DLC will do the same to liberals and the Democratic party if we allow them to.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:08 AM on 03/10/2008
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But will impending defeat make the Republicans turn from their evil ways?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:36 PM on 03/09/2008

No it will not. Greed is blind and so is pride. These People suffer from both. They are consumed with the Arrogance of Entitlement.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:35 AM on 03/10/2008

The end is near for the Republican Party.

Minor party status could be in the offing.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:11 PM on 03/09/2008
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3/9/08
11:10pm
Alexandria, VA

Too bad they can't get rid of Rep. King--maybe they should send him to Iraq since he believes he can predict what "alQ" will do next.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:10 PM on 03/09/2008
- loki I'm a Fan of loki permalink
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So Illinois traded a snake for a wolf in sheep clothing.
Im not impressed with the current crop of Dumborats.
Both GOP and DNC are whores to the corporations, and no matter who is in, we are all being played for the fools we are.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:05 PM on 03/09/2008
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