| Topic: DeMint goes lame as the Fiscal Cliff approaches, Joins the creators of ObamaCare | < Next Oldest | Next Newest > |
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High_Sierra_Fan 
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Posted on: Dec. 06 2012, 12:32 pm |
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/politic....hpid=z1
Nice timing.
So with the announcement he's leaving has he effectively withdrawn himself from any effective role in the discussions currently going on regarding the fiscal cliff etc? He'll still have his own vote but he's a lame duck of his own choosing so his institutional power just evaporated.
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| Post Number: 2
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wwwest
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Joined: Dec. 2002
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Posted on: Dec. 06 2012, 12:53 pm |
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Pretty interesting development. I see it as a clear admission that President Obama is going to win this round, that taxes on the rich are going up, and DeMint is taking his ball and going to play on the media side.
Also probably his recognition that Republican power in Washington is on a steep decline, so might as well cash in on some big bucks, always a top consideration for Republicans who believe that money is the answer to life's persistent questions!
“It’s a creative, innovative move, and demonstrative of the newer way of thinking about how to use new tools today to move an agenda, where service in government is just one way, but not the only way, to drive the conversation,” said Eric Ueland, a former Senate chief of staff and now a lobbyist with the Duberstein Group.
That way of thinking marks a sea change from even a decade ago when the idea of DeMint abandoning his relatively prime perch in the Senate — he had built a sort of conservative hub within the GOP conference — to head a think tank (even one that pays as well as Heritage) would have seemed unthinkable.
But, the past decade has shown the influence that figures outside of elected office — Rush Limbaugh, Grover Norquist to name two — can have on the shape and direction of the conservative movement. Serving in the House or Senate is no longer — in a world of social media, 24 hour cable news heavily focused on politics and online grassroots organizing — the sine qua non for a conservative wanting to push his (or her) ideas on a national level.
“He sees his role now as working with the grassroots on the outside to bring out real change in Washington,” said Matt Hoskins, a longtime political adviser to DeMint who now runs the Senate Conservatives Fund, a super PAC once affiliated with the South Carolina senator. “It also means that Republicans have a strong leader on the outside to support them when they do what’s right and hold them accountable when they don’t.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs....ovement
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| Post Number: 3
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Old Frank
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Posted on: Dec. 06 2012, 7:15 pm |
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Firing parting shots at Boehner.
http://news.yahoo.com/demint-jokes-firing-boehner-quits-211415348.html
On Tuesday, DeMint ripped Boehner in a public statement that many observers saw as a sign of a deep split in the Republican leadership over the fiscal cliff.
“Speaker Boehner’s $800 billion tax hike will destroy American jobs and allow politicians in Washington to spend even more, while not reducing our $16 trillion debt by a single penny,” DeMint said, in terse language usually reserved for Democrats.
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My favorite compliment: "GrandPa, I've seen other old men, and their faces are a whole lot cruddier than yours is".
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| Post Number: 4
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wwwest
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Posted on: Dec. 06 2012, 7:33 pm |
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I love it when the hyenas start to eat each other.
Makes the future look bright for Democrats in future elections.
DeMint is going out to double down on his losing strategy from this year. Maybe he sign up Rove to assist him??! heh
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| Post Number: 5
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High_Sierra_Fan
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Posted on: Dec. 06 2012, 7:53 pm |
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Rove's got some free time on his calendar from what I read. "Time out" from FOX.
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| Post Number: 6
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Ben2World
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Posted on: Dec. 06 2012, 8:26 pm |
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Remember Ross Perot running for president -- doing surprisingly well -- and then backing out with some of the most bizarre 'reasons'.
Some people will do everything they can to push the pedal to the metal -- but can't bear the moment of actual contact.
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The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page. -- St. Augustine
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| Post Number: 7
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hbfa
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Posted on: Dec. 06 2012, 10:07 pm |
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Let's see.......he makes $174,000/yr. as a Senator.
The dude he is replacing at The Heritage Foundation was paid in excess of $1,000,000 annually.
And he won't have all those pesky Senate rules to worry about over at THF.
He'll be able to say almost anything, and the followers will lap it up. And paid handsomely to do it.
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JimInMD
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Posted on: Dec. 07 2012, 6:19 am |
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I honestly think this is a good move for him. The real influence is indeed from outside if he hopes for party purity. Either he believes that the way forward IS to the right, and he's doing this to be able to chart his own course, or he thinks the party is too weak in the Senate and this is a better gig than beating his head against the wall. Either way, it's good to be the kingmaker if you'll never be the king.
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Checking out for a while, find me on FB.
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| Post Number: 9
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Land Rover
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Posted on: Dec. 07 2012, 8:03 am |
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It's amazing how many of the key figures of the tea party are running to the money.
Dick Armey, Palin, now DeMint. How many more you think?
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| Post Number: 10
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JimInMD
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Posted on: Dec. 07 2012, 8:05 am |
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Watch Rand Paul. Some of them need to stay in elected office if they want to compete in 2016 and I PERSONALLY feel like his stature in the party as a whole will tell us a great deal about the relative health of the Tea Party movement.
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Checking out for a while, find me on FB.
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| Post Number: 11
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Land Rover
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Posted on: Dec. 07 2012, 8:05 am |
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It also given him four years to build a fundraising network and the ability to run for higher office without four years of senate votes around his neck.
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ol-zeke
me in the Tetons
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Posted on: Dec. 07 2012, 11:27 am |
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and Vice Presidents. Bush 1, Nixon. Although, Nixon was a Senator earlier in his career.
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Everything I know, I learned by doing it wrong at least twice.
The easiest way to ruin a Friday is to realize it is only Tuesday.
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| Post Number: 14
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JimInMD
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Posted on: Dec. 07 2012, 3:06 pm |
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Good catch Zeke
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Checking out for a while, find me on FB.
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| Post Number: 15
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High_Sierra_Fan
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Posted on: Dec. 07 2012, 3:50 pm |
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and heck Nixon was a Vice President earlier in his career... Reagan was "between jobs" as I recall, having ended his time as California Governor in 75.
Historically there is a good track record for executives, governors, mayors and such, oh and the occasional winning general. (Washington, Grant, Eisenhower)
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| Post Number: 16
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Drift Woody
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Posted on: Dec. 07 2012, 4:11 pm |
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Ike was Prez when I was born, back when Commies controlled our government and income tax was 90% on the top bracket (Maybe Tailgunner Joe was onto something) 
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We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.
-- Native American proverb
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| Post Number: 17
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| Post Number: 18
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Old Frank
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Posted on: Dec. 07 2012, 4:39 pm |
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Willl be interesting to see what happens to the GOP between now and 2014 (much less 2016).
My fear is that instead of remaining intact with movement to the center, it will essentially splinter, leaving democrats with no real opposition.
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My favorite compliment: "GrandPa, I've seen other old men, and their faces are a whole lot cruddier than yours is".
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| Post Number: 19
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Dennis The Menace
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Posted on: Dec. 07 2012, 7:05 pm |
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I've wondered about this. I've thought how possible is it for say most of the Republican
party just to splinter or hook up with some way right-wing parties like the so called
"Constitutional party" and that any of the remaining Republican moderates(there are so few)
hook up with the Blue Dog dems to create a Centrist moderate party and the Democratic
party then consists of a higher % of liberals/progressives than it does now. I kind of
doubt that will happen.
I doubt the current Republican party will dwindle any time soon. Sure it will continue to
weaken if it clings to its current path of extremism but it has such a strong support
network among the wealthy special interests and the right-wing entertainment complex that
it will be around for a while.
I do think the Democratic party and America as a whole would be better served if they had
a credible smart opposition party. Good honest smart opposition is always a good thing
but that just isn't being offered by the Republican party these days.
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if you first punch someone and then that someone punches back and then you complain to
someone else that you were punched, then you're a silly fool
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| Post Number: 20
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Gabby
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Posted on: Dec. 08 2012, 5:33 pm |
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(Old Frank @ Dec. 07 2012, 4:31 pm)
QUOTE I saw Ike's inaugeration. First televised inaugeration, per my 5th grade teacher. She arranged for our class to watch it on the tv of the only kid in class who had one.
inAUGURation
A note: Misspelling a word is one thing, but your misspelling indicates something other than mere failure to accurately regurgitate a memorized word from a school spelling bee – it shows that you do not understand the word itself as fully as you probably should.
The word “augur” is the very essence and core of this word “inaguration” (as I tried to indicate graphically above), a word which bears some freight for one whose character and essence is “gabby”, for an “augur” attempts to tell the future through signs transmuted to official (if not officious) babble and chatter, for the benefit of those who would run the state.
Mind you, the officials and representatives of the state decide, then the augur observes the path of birds in flight and conveys what he sees to be the favor (or contempt) of the gods.
An “inauguration” is, therefore, the official and auspicious consecration of a chosen person or path of action at its inception.
ETA: The "Heritage gang" has been moving consistently further right from a position that was very near the edge already, as I think I have indicated here before, so it's not all that surprising that Mr. DeMint is their new leader.
Immediately after the election, they posted this little gem on their website:
"Heritage Action: Stand With Us"
Amazingly, the appearance of this scurrilous video the day after the election means that they had to have created it during the election. Its clear reference to the opposition with all the apocalyptic imagery usually reserved for documentaries on Nazi atrocities reflects what the subconscious of what is called "the Tea Party" must be like.
Mr. DeMint is an appropriate leader.
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"I wouldn't even know how to begin to find the 'peyote lady', even if I thought it was possible in this incarnation...I'm completely tripped out on everyday life."
"By the way: where am I?"
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| Post Number: 21
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