(UPDATED) I’ll Have Some Of What Boehner Is Smoking & Other Tales From The GOP Crypt
House Majority Leader John Boehner is under attack from fellow Republicans for capitulating to the White House and his Senate peers on several key deals, under attack from voters for refusing to play ball on legislation to stimulate the economy and create jobs, and faces the prospect that a Newt Gingrich candidacy would jeopardize the GOP’s House majority. Yet he blithely predicts that the party will not only hold the House next year but for the next decade.
The key to all of this, he tells Politico in an exclusive interview, isn’t legislative legerdemain or belated recognition that his party’s strategy has been disastrous to suffering middle-class Americans. It is all because of . . . redistricting.
“I think it will be nearly impossible” for Democrats to win back the House in November, Boehner said. “I think our freshman members are doing a good job preparing themselves for the upcoming election. I would also note that redistricting across the country has helped those freshman members and others in tough seats who will now have better seats. So I think we’re in pretty strong shape for the year ahead.”
Boehner said he thought it “quite likely” the party would maintain control of the House through at least 2020, “as long as we listen to the American people and follow their will.” That apparently is the 19 percent of voters who think that Congress is doing a good job.
In a separate sit-down with Politico, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Democrats are in a position to demolish the GOP’s 25-seat majority and could even gain as many as 35 seats, while independent analysts, including The Cook Political Report and The Rothenberg Political Report, project that Democrats are on track to gain seats in 2012 but will fall short of the necessary 25.
Mitt Romney went for the jugular during the Republican presidential debate in Tampa in repeatedly bashing Newt Gingrich for being a lobbyist and influence peddler of the first water.
Gingrich’s indignant pushbacks that he had never been a lobbiest were plain silly and sillier still was his explanation — an oops! moment if ever there was one — that he had hired a lawyer to explain to him how to avoid the label.
The debate was Gingrich’s to lose and he did so badly.
Mitt Romney’s belated release of his 2010 tax return and his estimated 2011 return contained no surprises other than why it took him so damned long.
Bottom line:He is likely to pay a total of $6.2 million in taxes on $45 million in income over the two tax years of 2010 and 2011, which according to a New York Times analysis puts him in the top 0.006 percent of taxpayers.
Romney also reported financial accounts in Switzerland (since closed), Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, which will be grist of his opponents as the primary season plays out and if he wins the nomination.
“I pay all the taxes that are legally required and not a dollar more,” Romney said during Monday night’s debate. “I don’t think you want someone as the candidate for president who pays more taxes than he owes.”
Well no, but that’s not the point.
Romney did have some success parrying Gingrich’s efforts to paint him as a capitalist stooge in noting that under a proposal by the former House speaker to reduce capital gains taxes to zero, he would have paid no taxes in the last two years.
Said Democratic consultant Christopher Hahn: “The drip drip drip kills political careers and it looks like Romney needs a plumber and fast. Romney should have put all of his returns out for all the world to see so he could deal with whatever pain he needs to deal with now. Instead there will be continued calls for him to release additional years.”
The wife of a wealthy Newt Gingrich backer, taking advantage of the Citizens United travesty, will inject another $5 million into a super PAC supporting his presidential bid.
The lucre will come from Dr. Miriam Adelson, the wife of Sheldon Adelson, a longtime Gingrich friend and a patron who earlier month contributed $5 million to the Winning Our Future super PAC. The $10 million could substantially neutralize the millions of dollars already being spent in Florida by Romney and Restore Our Future, a super PAC supporting him.
The donations are 2,000 times the Adelsons could legally give directly to Gingrich before Citizens United, and will have an outsized influence on how the primary season plays out. The initial $5 million already has paid for run a series of powerful attack ads and the When Mitt Romney Came To Town video
Newt Gingrich this morning threatened to not participate in future debates with audiences that have been instructed to be silent. That was the case last night when NBC‘s Brian Williams asked the audience in Tampa to hold their applause until the commercial breaks.
In an interview with the morning show “Fox and Friends,” Mr. Gingrich said NBC’s rules amounted to stifling free speech and were further evidence that the news media is trying to silence his dissenting points of view.
11 Responses to “(UPDATED) I’ll Have Some Of What Boehner Is Smoking & Other Tales From The GOP Crypt”
One thing people can not say about the Republicans is they are not consistent.
Oh how consistent they are able to snatch defeat from victory. Nevada senate race, Deleware senate race and now an apparent Gingrich nomination.
I do agree that redistricting has helped the Republicans hold seats. Just look at this link of NC and note the 3rd, 2nd and 12th districts.
http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/printableViewer-cd.html?imgF=images/preview/congdist/pagecgd112_nc.gif&imgW=750&imgH=452
This has created districts where many minorities are grouped in one district, thus diluting the democrat influence on the election and insuring districts like the 4th remain in republican control.
But does anyone really believes it makes a difference on who is in power. We will get some legislation here or there like the healthcare reform legislation or Keystone Pipeline legislation if one party or the other is in office, but we will continue to have excessive debt, excessive budget deficits and alot of talk and no action out of Washington.
Again, people will complain, a few will hold meetings, there will be some like Occupy Wall St that will try to define an objective, but in the end individuals will continue to go on doing what they have done for the past few years. Think of themselves and when only 9% of the popluation is out of work, the other 91% is not, and a large portion of the 91% is not paying attention.
Yes, I still believe it will make a difference who is in power. It may be, as I have read and tend to agree with, that due to partisan politics very little will (can) get done. However, if one or the other party were to be able to break the gridlock (either by controlling all three branches and eliminating the filibuster or some sort) then the people in charge will make a HUGE difference.
The Democrats have fundamentally changed the way that health care will be done in the U.S. (barring a Supreme Court reversal). With all the claims from some that Obama accomplished nothing, that seems to be a glaring proof of the opposite.
Requesting a quiet audience was stifling of free speech? Too funny. It must be dawning on Newt his resrurrection in the limelight is temporary. I hope we’ll be able to say the same about that balrog of a USSC decision.
“But does anyone really believes it makes a difference on who is in power”
I used to think that as well, until Bush Jr. got into the oval office. He was a case study in how bad you can mismanage the power of the office of President. And no we won’t always have huge debts, if you recall we had a surplus back in 2000. So lets not lose all hope in our govt when it comes to making a balanced budget. The GOP today seems largely interested in going back to Bush’s policies despite the concrete evidence of how they are bad for the nation.
So to sum up, yes I think it matters a lot.
Absolutely no-one is serious when they say Obama has accomplished nothing. They just are embarrassed that all his accomplishments have indeed been re-election shattering, complete failures.
I mean, for starters, Obama was elected in the exact same way that OJ Simpson was outrageously found not guilty of double murder.
Here..
Obama elected in same way OJ acquitted.
Don’t forget Michelle..
Michelle is just as bad
budias– unlike his predecessor who was able to end the war in Iraq peacefully, kill Osama bin Laden, get rid of Qaddafi without US manpower, use drones to decrease the threat of al queda, save the Big 3 automakers, pass universal healthcare plan, regulate Wall Street, establish a Consumer Protection Agency, and give the middle class a
massive payroll tax cut. …..
Oh— wait………………..
If you compare his success rate to Bush/Cheney it is staggering.
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Romney’s donation to the Mormon church was about 2 million, but tithing is 10%. Should be about some 20 million. Looks like he cheats his church too. Which I think is really funny, and I wonder if he will get a call from Salt Lake city, now that his tax records are out?
Budias-
Oh that OJ/Obama connection is a real campaign killer. Oh I’m sure President Obama will sit down and sweat that one out.
Too funny.
I think its pretty awful that he can basically go on the record that they rigged the districts to get their guys elected and THAT’S why they are going to hold onto seats. Nothing about doing a good job, making things better, just bragging that they successfully rigged the system and can shout it to the world without shame because there isn’t anything we mere voters can do about it.
I worked with a rather ruthless salesguy once. He went into an old woman’s home, inspected it, charged her almost $4,000 for about $1500 worth of work, and laughed about how he stuck it to her. He was proud of it. Bohner’s claim struck the same cord in me that listening to that salesguy did.
Gingrich is living with the sword of Damocles above his head. Nancy Pelosi holds it lightly and tauntingly and she will use it just a surely as the sun rises if Newt gets the nomination. House Ethics Committee Report.