This should be stating the obvious. Unfortunately, this reality alludes far too many in both the Republican Establishment and so-called conservative media outlets...
NewRepublic: Apparently, it’s become fashionable to wonder whether fissures in the GOP might eventually grow into a schism, with tea party candidates mounting independent challenges to the GOP in the 2014 elections. Last night, David Frum went a step farther, writing that a tea party exodus might actually help Republicans by freeing them of Sarah Palin and Ted Cruz, allowing the GOP to slide back to the political center. It's a centrist fantasy.
If Republicans think they have a pathway to victory without the tea party, they’re sorely mistaken. The tea party is not some small, fringe element of the Republican coalition. It's not the Buchanan 2000 vote, or something. The tea party is the Republican Party, at least as much as any single constituency can claim, with the possible and overlapping exception of Evangelicals.
According to a July Pew Research survey, Tea Party Republicans make up nearly half (49 percent) of the Republican primary electorate and fully 37 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaners. So long as Democrats remain modestly unified, it is not conceivable that Republicans could compensate for the loss of anything near 37 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaners with gains among moderates and independents. Once a Republican realized there aren’t enough opportunities to win without the tea party, the centrist fantasy would come to an end. Republicans would immediately tack back to their right, in an effort to consolidate the Republican coalition.
Perhaps a better question for the Republican Party might be, 'does it actually want to survive?' Per the previous few posts (here & here), it's difficult to optimistically answer that.
No time to waste for progress. Looks like Rush was right about the next step that will secure the GOP's irrelevancy...and complete Obama's screw job on America!
USAToday: President Obama says he hasn't given up on an immigration bill, and will push it after the government shutdown and debt ceiling disputes are resolved.
"Once that's done — you know, the day after — I'm going to be pushing (Congress) to say, call a vote on immigration reform," Obama told the Los Angeles affiliate of Univision, the Spanish language television network.
Obama's immigration hopes figure to continue hitting opposition in the Republican-run House, where members describe a proposed path to citizenship as amnesty for lawbreakers.
And it would appear that the surrendering Republican Party leadership is suiting up to proceed on their way to permanent minority status under one-party rule.
Earlier in the day, Breitbart obtained a copy of the Senate's debt limit bill:
Breitbart: Breitbart News has obtained a legislative summary of the provisions in the Senate deal to reopen government and extend the debt ceiling. Breitbart News has also obtained a copy of the legislative text. Currently, Senate staff are able to review the summary and legislative text in the Senate cloakroom, but aren't allowed to retain a copy or make it public.
As expected, the deal provides full back-pay for furloughed federal workers who haven't been at work for two weeks. It also provides back-pay, though, for state government workers who were furloughed because their work is supported by federal grants.
Furthermore, Levin reported more troubling insight about this so-called deal:
On Wednesday's Mark Levin Show: The Senate votes to approve the debt ceiling deal that reopens the government. The bill they passed includes many earmarks and further limits Congress' future power when it comes to setting spending limits. Everything we have been told has been a lie from the establishment and anybody that goes along with them has chosen to surrender rather than fight with conservatives. Why is it so hard for John Boehner and Mitch McConnell to stand with the American people on this? We have a system that's not working, a health care system that is going to put the country further in debt, and yet the Republicans have no problem caving in.
Here's additional details about how that deal weakens the legislative branch, relinquishing more power to the executive...
Breitbart: Capitol Hill talk regarding the Senate deal apparently includes a provision that would take away the Congress’ power to increase the debt ceiling. According to Politico, it looks like the buzz appears to be true:
The plan includes a proposal offered by McConnell in the 2011 debt ceiling crisis that allows Congress to disapprove of the debt ceiling increase, which means lawmakers will formally vote on whether to reject a debt ceiling increase until Feb. 7. Obama can veto that legislation if it passes. If Congress fails as expected to gather a two-thirds majority to override the veto, the debt ceiling would be raised.
Meanwhile, the debt will continue to balloon as Obamacare destroys more lives...
WashingtonExaminer: The U.S. debt, which has jumped 55 percent under President Obama, is now so high that if working Americans had to pay their full share, the bill would be over $123,000, according to a new Harvard University Institute of Politics study of the nation’s empty bank accounts.
Another excellent interview between the Great One and the Great Statesman of our time...discussing the rotten deal dealt from an unrelenting ruling class Senate (later passed by the House establishment)...
Boy, oh, boy...I'm starting to think I should have stayed on vacation. Continuing the sentiment of Palin, Levin, Beck, Hannity and others, Rush expresses the sorry state of this Republican Party and how the establishment has unmoored the party from its fundamental principles, in essence becoming irrelevant...
"I was trying to think earlier today, if ever in my life I could remember any major political party being so irrelevant. I have never seen it. I have never seen a major political party simply occupy placeholders, as the Republican Party is doing. ...
Now, look, I’m not living in a false reality here. I was thinking about this last night, too, while I was pondering if I can ever remember a greater political disaster in my lifetime, if I could ever remember a time when a political party just made a decision not to exist for all intents and purposes."
And alongside the paralysis and the political trickery, Rush gives us a glimpse of the GOP's final solution if you will: drive conservatives out of the party.
“You guys, we’re trying to help you,” the Democrats say. You’re never gonna win the White House again, unless you come out for amnesty.” The Democrats really want to advise us on what we need to do to win the White House away from them? The Democrats really want to advise us on how to act so that we take some of their voters? That’s absolute insanity to believe that, and yet amnesty is the next card to fall. Now that this deal has happened, you watch.
There will be a fast move in Republican circles to push “comprehensive immigration reform,” to go all-in now. I can’t tell you what the Republicans think they’re gonna achieve, except this: I really do believe that some of this is oriented toward driving the conservatives out of the party. I really think some of this is oriented toward the Republicans actually seeking to get rid of their conservative base.
And with the latest decision to give up only after a few weeks of not executing a unified, concerted effort to fight, the GOP's downward spiral continues towards its own demise...
ADDENDUM:Cruz also released the following statement concerning today's proposed agreement:
“Washington’s indifference to the plight of the American people has never been more apparent. Countless Americans all over the nation are being notified their premiums are skyrocketing. Others are losing jobs or seeing their work hours reduced, and thousands upon thousands are losing their healthcare plans altogether. All because of Obamacare.
“I am saddened to say that today, the Senate did nothing to help them. Washington did nothing. This town has created all the problems they are facing and refuses to do a single thing about it.
“The House of Representatives, however, deserves to be commended. They have taken a bold stance and listened to the American people, but unfortunately, the United States Senate has taken the traditional approach of protecting the status quo.
“Still, the deal made in Washington today provides no help to those who are scrambling to figure out how to afford insuring themselves and their families, or who are unable to get full-time work because of Obamacare. Washington decided to ignore their pain and suffering.
“Throughout this debate, I have had one standard for whether I would support any deal: ‘Does it provide meaningful relief for the millions of Americans who are being harmed by Obamacare?’ The answer is no.
“Obamacare is the nation’s number one job killer. To all the young people who are graduating from high school and college and are looking for jobs, Washington refuses to remove this obstacle that prevents them from climbing up the economic ladder. To all the single parents who are seeing their hours reduced to 29 hours to avoid Obamacare’s penalties for employers, Washington has turned a deaf ear to their pleas for help.
“As a result of Obamacare, families of special needs children will face a new penalty for using savings to pay for medical therapies and health-related expenses. That's not part of the discussion. Seniors who are facing higher prescription drug costs as a result of this law won’t be given any consideration, either.
“Moreover, the Democrats have adopted the untenable position of forcing Americans to buy health insurance from a website that doesn't even work. This is indefensible and indicative of the arrogance that underscores the entire law.
“President Obama promised Americans if Obamacare was made law, their premiums would drop, their taxes would stay low, millions of jobs would be created, and if they liked their healthcare they could keep it. It has failed on every single account.
“The fight against Obamacare must continue in the face of Washington’s apathy. That is where my attention will remain focused.”
UPDATE: Boehner waves the white flag...
WLW: US Speaker of the House John Boehner was on with Bill Cunningham on Wednesday afternoon.
He says he will bring the deal reached in the US Senate to a vote in the House, and he’s encouraging Republicans to vote for the plan. “We fought the good fight, we just didn’t win,” Boehner said.
He says his party did everything it could to try to negotiate with Democrats, but Democrats kept refusing. Boehner says he believes the federal government will reopen on Thursday.
Ohio...that should write off Boehner for reelection, just as it should write off McConnell in Kentucky. These men are not leaders.
The RNC's got an interesting new ad exposing the usual Democratic hypocrisy on the debt ceiling, and debt in general. You'll recognize the major players...
Let me supplement that, though, with then-Senator Obama's own words...
(I'm certain it's not gonna happen under your so-called leadership!)
This is what you get with a rogue president wielding power...
USAToday: A week after World War II veterans struggled to gain access to a memorial on the National Mall due to the government's partial shutdown, thousands of people pushing for a new immigration law have been cleared by the government to proceed with a concert and rally Tuesday on the Mall.
The march, dubbed the "Camino Americano", or "American Road," is hosted by groups including the Service Employees International Union and Casa de Maryland. The rally will feature speeches by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other members of Congress.
Peculiar how much contempt this supposed Commander-in-Chief has for the military. But you see, whatever he and his Democratic cohorts approve of will be 'open'...then where ever he wants to inflict punishment, that'll be 'closed'. Folks, that's dictatorial behavior...
