Cultural Right Has Taken Over Economic Right

Paul Krugman voiced that observation: The cultural right has taken over the economic right. This Week's roundtable was especially good this morning. And finally, some truth on the stimulus. Politics aside, the stimulus worked. More stimulus would've worked better.

Cynthia Tucker calls Michael Steele the republicans' "affirmative action hire gone bad." If you ask me, Steele represents exactly how republicans feel about non-whites.

McCain was also on.

George Will Calls Rand Paul Frivolous

George Will calls Rand Paul "frivolous." Will said Paul doesn't understand that he's running for a Senate seat. He also said morality can be legislated, which was good to hear.

The people who supported Paul will continue to support him. But will the independent voters vote for him in the general election? It seems to me Americans are so frustrated with politicians that they're grasping at straws.

Cokie Roberts has it right, voters aren't anti-Washington, anti-democrat, anti-republican, or anti-Obama. They're looking for non-phonies, even if they're wacky, or ordinary, or in Sarah Palin's case, wacky, ordinary and ignorant.

Also, if the democrats were smart, they'd find a replacement for Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut Attorney General running for Senate. Is the pool so shallow that democrats can't even find someone with a bit of integrity?

Tim Kaine and Michael Steele

Republicans Go Around Steele With Shadow RNC

Republicans, reluctant to give money to the RNC, are going around Michael Steele to raise money. Now there is an organization called American Crossroads, which is raising money for midterms. Crossroads is backed by former RNC chair Ed Gillespie and Karl Rove. There are other shadow RNC organizations as well.

I don't understand why republicans don't just fire Steele. I imagine it's because he wouldn't go pretty. He'd go out stomping his feet, causing more troubles for the republicans. But it could be because the republicans are cowards. If Steele had a shred of dignity, he'd resign.

From This Week:

TAPPER: But, Karen, in addition this problem, tell our viewers what American Crossroads is.

FINNEY: So, American Crossroads is an organization that is being formed by, you know, Republican Party stalwarts like Karl Rove, Jo Ann Davidson, a former co-chair of the RNC, Ed Gillespie, among others, essentially with the goal of raising money to support candidates going into the next election.

TAPPER: It's a shadow RNC.

FINNEY: Exactly. And so when you have this -- and I -- you know, this is really not about the strip club expenditures. This is about a chairman who doesn't understand his job. And when you are the party out of power, your job is to raise money, to win elections, and build the party infrastructure.

On the one hand, when you talk to folks at some of the other Republican committees, sure, will the money help from the shadow RNC? Yes. But you need a strong RNC during a midterm election to do the ground game and to do GOTV activities. And it is an embarrassment for the Republican Party to have to talk about an expenditure. It's not just about going to strip clubs. It's about, when Michael Steele walks into a room with a donor and asks for a big check, and that donor is looking at an FEC report that shows travel on jets and travel in limousines, what am I giving you the money for? ABC

RNC Spending More than it's Taking In

Forget about the bondage club. The party of fiscal conservatism's fundraising arm, the RNC, headed by Michael Steele, is spending more than it's taking in. Steele's spokesman calls the spending an "investment." Now that's American style fiscal conservatism!

The Impending Implosion of Democrats - Meet the Press Jan. 10

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is really mad about Nebraska's Ben Nelson's healthcare deal, as he should be. It perturbs me that Ben Nelson cut himself such a sweet deal for his state. To do that with a clear conscience means you have none. But I'm sure that deal is hardly unique.

This Week's roundtable was dreary. But Meet the Press was dreary as well.

No doubt, the tea party is definitely making headway with the press. But if the democrats implode, as they appear to be doing, we're going to get republicans, not better leadership. How are we going to be better off with republicans? People have very short memories.

Republicans don't bother me much on the fiscal end.

I think our economy can weather government, though there would be suffering like there is now due to the free-for-all caused in part by a lack of regulations under Bush.

Americans were even more responsible than government for the economic downturn, buying houses they couldn't afford and using their homes like ATM machines. Americans are correcting that behavior, saving money, cutting debt and cutting up credit cards. After much pain, the economy will always right itself, no matter who's in control of government.

But I don't think republicans have the right mentality to lead the nation in today's world when it comes to international policy. Republicans still have a chest thumping, bully on the block, we're-the-best kind of mentality. That's just not going to cut it. It'll come to nukes and that will be that.

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Michael Steele says Harry Reid should resign:

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MIchael Steele Tries too Hard

After seeing this, I had an aha moment about RNC's Michael Steele. He spends too much time trying to please people and pretending he's like them. He did that with the hip hoppers. Now, he's trying to align himself with the tea partiers. He should just be himself because he comes off as insecure and not authoritative.

Steele should be a little more thoughtful about who he aligns with, especially as a black man. The tea party movement is being infiltrated by white supremacists. I posted this video yesterday, but I'm going to keep posting it because it needs to be seen. Underlying the tea party movement is a group of people who are afraid that their white society is disappearing. I'm not sure why it's so important to them that people be white. What is white anyway?

But I think it's a fear of change and different-ness. These people probably come from places where there is a lot of sameness and they see Hispanics as people who take their jobs and black people as people who commit crimes. There is a lack of understanding by tea partiers and a lot of scapegoating and stereotyping. They feed off of one another's fears. Putting it nicely, they're just not as enlightened as others are.

Healthcare Nuttiness Reid Quotes Rodney King and Burris Does Twas the Night

It's getting nutty out there. First it's DNC's Tim Kaine vs. the always nutty RNC's Michael Steele:

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Harry Reid quotes Rodney King and Roland Burris' rendition of Twas the Night Before Christmas:

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Gregg Calls Steele's Language Foolish

Judd Gregg calls Michael Steele's "flipping the bird" comment foolish, which it is. Steele often uses foolish language, not just because he's frayed.

Gibbs Has Little Appreciation for Steele's Chippiness

Robert Gibbs on the RNC's Michael Steele recent "chippy" interview.

Republicans Stalling Healthcare Bill on Senate Floor

I've lost ALL respect for the GOP. Now they're reading Bernie Sanders' single payer amendment on the floor of the Senate. A special note to Sanders: Just like Obama has to acknowledge the reality of war, you must acknowledge the reality that the American people just aren't on board yet with a single payer system.

Now, back to the republicans. Early on it was decided that republicans had to stop Obama at healthcare. Waterloo.

Michael Steele chimes in on polls. All of the healthcare polls popping up lately mean nothing. That's because most Americans don't know what's going on in healthcare. I pay attention daily and I can barely keep up. If people can't understand it (thanks largely to the republican scare tactics), then they're not going to support it. Steele says they're standing with the American people. There they go again thinking that the American people are tea partiers. I'm insulted:

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Bernie slams the GOP, who are mistaken if they're think they're winning points with the American people. Go Bernie!:

RNC Insurance Covered Abortions Since 1991

Hypocrites. After being found out, Michael Steele puts his foot down:

Steele instructed staff to inform the insurance carrier that the RNC wanted to opt out of elective abortion coverage, RNC spokeswoman Gail Gitcho said. She said the policy has been in effect since 1991.

A memo earlier from RNC Chief of Staff Ken McKay to the organization's members said the RNC received a phone call from a reporter on Wednesday asking whether the RNC's health care policy, through Cigna, covered elective abortions for employees. On Thursday, Politico.com published a report citing two sales agents for Cigna who said the RNC's policy covered elective abortion.

The Cigna employees said the RNC didn't choose to opt out of abortion coverage when given the opportunity, Politico.com reported. MSNBC

Local Politics Ruled Elections

People have been reading too much into yesterday's elections. Today is political pundit Happy Day. Michael Steele says that it means republicans are transcendent. Ha! That's a good one. Others say voters served a message on Obama. Don't think so.
The only real loser was Sarah Palin, who inserted herself into the NY 23 race and popped out a democrat. Nate Silver says the night went to local politics:

Hoffman, indeed, had some initial success. The original Republican nominee, Dede Scozzafava, dropped out of the race after polling showed her trailing both Hoffman and Owens. But when push came to shove, Hoffman lost.
Why? Because those activists -- however well-meaning they might have been -- misunderstood the district. The 23rd is a Republican district, but it is not a particularly conservative one, having split its vote between Barack Obama and the moderate Republican John McHugh last November.
If Nancy Pelosi is regarded suspiciously in the 23rd, so are Sarah Palin and Fred Thompson, who cut commercials and robocalls on behalf of Hoffman. What the voters there wanted was a candidate who understood them. Owens -- superior to Hoffman in his command of local issues -- provided the best approximation. CNN

As for Jon Corzine, the guy was a dud:

Alternatively, consider the outcome in New Jersey, where Republican Chris Christie knocked off incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine. This election is being touted as a referendum on Obama, who took a risk -- a bad one, indeed -- by campaigning on behalf of Corzine.
But Obama was the least of Corzine's problems: Voters in Tuesday's election approved of Obama's performance 57 percent to 43 percent, according to exit polling. It was Corzine they didn't like; 27 percent of the voters who approved of Obama nevertheless found someone other than the Democratic incumbent to vote for. Read more at CNN

My contention is that the elections were a referendum on party politics. People like Obama well enough, despite all the focus on the haters, so Obama didn't have anything to do with who people voted for. Corzine and Deeds may have lost bigger without him. But people aren't going to vote for a democrat just because he or she is a democrat. If you're a politician and you're not doing your job, you're going to be ousted because Americans are getting impatient with politicians.

Michael Steele the Mad Cow on the Tracks

Steele's good with coming up with analogies but as a cow, he's no match for the train on the tracks. Besides, Joe Biden is the boss of trains. Steele makes me giggle. Health care legislation is coming. Choo Chooo:

GOP Future Leaders "Could Not Be Found" Online

Update: After being mocked, Steele changed the name of his blog to "Change the Game."

The GOP had a little trouble with its website today. Michael Steele's new blog is called "What up?" Need I say more.

Remarkable Cynicism Over Obama's Nobel Peace Prize Win

Even Obama supporters are being snarky. Even Pat Buchanan acknowledges the irony. As with all things Obama, hate, idiocy and jealousy rears its ugly head.

Limbaugh looks to delegitimize the Nobel Prize committee. He says the award was their way of urging Obama not to send more troops to Afghanistan. My question is: Why are these haters having such a big say in the national conversation? Here's my theory. Obama's potential to change the tone of the planet, to work toward peace, has shaken hater types to the core. Beck, Hannity and Limbaugh's voices will fade but not without kicking and screaming first.

Obama is donating the $1.4 million prize money to charity.
Nicholle Wallace says republicans shouldn't be snarky but offers one dig after the other. Wallace excels at snark:

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Gibbs Asks: Who's Steele Rooting For?

Michael Steele, leader of the Opposite Party (as in the opposite of whatever Obama says/does), jumps on an easy target whenever he sees one. He's been criticizing Obama for a one-day trip to Copenhagen. Obama hopes to score the 2016 Olympics for the U.S.

You'd think republicans would be rah rah patriots! Go America! Bring home the Olympics.

Michael Steele in La La Land

Michael Steele is so ineffective and so very strange.

Obama Enlists Religious Leaders to Fight for Health Reform

Religious leaders and Paul Krugman have called on Obama to tackle health care as a moral imperative. Frankly, I don't think Americans care much that others don't have health care, especially the ones who oppose reform. They are the bootstrappers--if you don't have health insurance, it's your own fault. Selling health insurance reform as a moral obligation is a good tactic with religious leaders, but it's not a good overall strategy.

On a conference call with 140,000 people today, Obama said reform doesn't fund abortions and it doesn't give healthcare to undocumented workers, contrary to what RNC's Michael Steele and every other republican is saying. Republicans don't know how to oppose anything without deceit as far as I can tell.

But I sense a shift in the debate. I think those who support reform have seen and heard enough from the opposition (and have been sickened along the way) and are now in gear. People are rallying again. Now the democrats need to get it together to come up with an awesome health reform bill.

The president directly addressed a number of pervasive rumors about his proposals.

The allegation that health care legislation would set up "death panels," Mr. Obama said, is "just an extraordinary lie." He also rebutted false claims that health coverage would be provided for undocumented immigrants, that there would be government funding for abortions and that there would be a "government takeover" of health care.

These fabrications, Mr. Obama said, are distracting the country from its "core ethical and moral obligation... that we look out for one another."

"In the wealthiest nation on earth, we are neglecting to live up to that call," he said.

After kicking off the conference call with a prayer led by Dr. Cynthia Hale, senior pastor of 6,000-member Ray of Hope Christian Church in Decatur, Georgia, religious leaders echoed the president's message that there is a moral imperative for health care reform.

Rev. Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, one of the groups sponsoring the initiative, said he has been "deeply concerned" by the shouting and hostility at town tall meetings. He said the fatih community is putting out "a clear call for truth telling" in the health care debate, and is "calling on people of faith to make our political representatives understand the faith community will be satifisied by nothing less than accessible, affordable care for all Americans." CBS

Tomorrow, Obama will conference on health care with the peeps at 2:30 pm.
Update Aug. 20: Nancy Snyderman also thinks Obama should argue the morality of health care. Ha! The skeptic in me has arisen. Obama telling people what's in it for them is the best way to sell reform. If we morally cared about people in a way that called for individuals to sacrifice, we wouldn't have people who are homeless and health care would've been taken care of a loooooong time ago. I don't agree with the token republican strategist, who says Obama is talking to religious leaders because he's desperately seeking a miracle:

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Steele Perpetuates Death Panel Rumor

Even though the death panel rumor has been shot down and gutted, RNC's Michael Steele pushes on, just like the birthers. Facts? No matter.

CNN Asks Steele to Grade Obama

CNN: Mr. RNC head what grade would you give the president?
Talk about a softball. That was a Nerf. She let him talk and talk and had no ammunition.
On the new DNC ad, Steele says stop using the bogeyman. Ha! That's republican tactics--Obama is going to kill your grandma!