GOP Failure Watch Part II

I don't want to come off as insensitive, since the recovery from today's earthquake has barely begun, but:

 

I would feel safe saying that the majority of people in horse racing don't think abuse is acceptable. You just run into an idiot an idiot every now and then.

 

I would like to nominate GOP Hall Monitor activity outside of politics as another level of GOP failure.

Seriously MasterShake... Loosen up. Innocuous, gentle jokes that don't paint your party in the prettiest light are part of popular culture.

Do I have a cow when a ref is supposed to give a red card but instead gives no card and only a "stern warning" followed by a poster saying the ref must be a Democrat 'cuz he ain't go no balls?

No. I don't.

Nor do I highlight that the negation of the negation means it's an affirmation of an affirmative.

Wait... what?

Seriously. Lighten up.

 

daboomptish!

 

nothing to see here...Let's keep moving along...

Revealed: Former Goldman Sachs VP Turned Issa Staffer Supervised Scheduling Of Elizabeth Warren Incident

Haller, who adopted his mother’s maiden name in 2008 and had escaped public scrutiny until now, coordinated an Oversight Committee letter to regulators demanding that they justify new Dodd-Frank rules impacting investment banks like his old employer, Goldman Sachs. After publication of our story, the Project on Government Oversight discovered more of Haller’s Oversight Committee letters, again on issues directly related to Goldman Sachs.

ThinkProgress has now obtained more evidence that suggests that Haller’s employment under Issa is more akin to a bank lobbyist than a public servant entrusted with protecting the public interest. In May, GOP members on the Oversight Committee invited Professor Elizabeth Warren, then a special advisor working on the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to testify about the new agency. The hearing quickly became a media sideshow, with Republican lawmakers trying to trip Warren up and embarrass her. One congressman, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), became infamous overnight for berating Warren and accusing her of lying about her scheduling with the committee. It turns out that Haller, again carrying water for financial corporations afraid of new regulations, was behind the scheduling controversy at the heart of the McHenry confrontation with Warren.

According to e-mail correspondence obtained from Judicial Watch, Haller oversaw the scheduling of the Warren testimony. According to Flavio Cumpiano, a congressional liaison for the CFPB, Haller reportedly changed the time of the hearing at the last minute, then misled Warren staffers by promising to end the testimony by 2:15 pm that day. In the emails, Haller denies ever agreeing to 2:15. But, Haller had been informed that Warren could not go beyond 2:15
...
Haller, who is visible to the C-SPAN camera in a seat near McHenry, shakes his head at Warren when she said “we had an agreement for the time this hearing” (time stamp 00:55)
..

 

You get to the point when you're not even surprised any more.

 

consequences? Those are things people without money pay

 

wtf

 

Why is this surprising? This is now a standard tactic on the right: Threaten to torpedo the whole thing if you aren't given your way.

 

Not that Trump is playing kingmaker...that's not surprising. What's surprising is how precarious Mittens and Rickie must see their general-election prospects to go curry favor with The Donald.

 

Does Trump have a show that he needs to publicize?

 

Well Trump isn't a white Southern reactionary. He just appears to be using the methods they have mainstreamed.

 

I completely understand your point. My concern is that now that the tactic has succeeded, there's very little to stop this from happening all the time, be it in Congressional negotiations, the party nomination process, or anywhere else that we depend on rational human beings to possess a willingness to compromise.

 

No doubt that the pouting/ hold your breath strategery is here to stay, but I think it has seriously damaged the GOP. nor do I think it's very sustainable.

I predict that they're going to lose the House over it.

The reality is that for the last 3 elections ppl have been sick of the constant bickering, which is why we've had 3 wave elections in a row.

 

The GOP will lose anywhere between 10-30 seats. It all depends on who their standard-bearer is. Moreover, if they pick a Perry/Bachmann type, they could lose Senate seats as well. If they get Romney, it could be a '96 redux, where Obama wins but Democrats have limited gains in Congress.

 

Budget cuts.

 

I know this is the GOP failure watch thread but in a sort of related matter it might be worth your while checking out an article by Charles Moore, biographer, (and HUGE fan), of Margaret Thatcher and all-round right wing arsehole.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/pol...nk-that-the-Left-might-actually-be-right.html

I'm starting to think that the Left might actually be right

What with the the phone-hacking scandal, the eurozone crisis and the US economic woes, the greedy few have left people disillusioned with our debased democracies.

It has taken me more than 30 years as a journalist to ask myself this question, but this week I find that I must: is the Left right after all? You see, one of the great arguments of the Left is that what the Right calls “the free market” is actually a set-up.

The rich run a global system that allows them to accumulate capital and pay the lowest possible price for labour. The freedom that results applies only to them. The many simply have to work harder, in conditions that grow ever more insecure, to enrich the few. Democratic politics, which purports to enrich the many, is actually in the pocket of those bankers, media barons and other moguls who run and own everything.

He goes on to say that it was easy to refute the argument 30 years ago but he's not sure now.

Still, at least he spotted his mistake after only 30 years so no harm was done... TWAT!