Daily Archives: Oct. 22, 2010

Why the GOP loves the tea party

Oct. 22, 20101:41 p.m.

teapartyThere is a reason so many Republican incumbents are donning the tea partiers’ patriot garb. As Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan writes: “The tea party saved the Republican Party. In a broad sense, the tea party rescued it from being the fat, unhappy, querulous creature it had become, a party that didn’t remember anymore why it existed, or what its historical purpose was. The tea party, with its energy and earnestness, restored the GOP to itself.” Not only did the tea partiers spare the GOP the grief of a third-party challenge, she continues, “It got the party out from under George W. Bush. The tea party rejected his administration’s spending, overreach and immigration proposals, among other items, and has become only too willing to say so.”

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under President Bush, U.S. politics | Comments

Is GOP really serious about deficit?

Oct. 22, 20106:02 a.m.

deficitMany GOP candidates are vowing to eliminate deficits. But as Libertarian Party chairman Mark Hinkle noted, more than 60 percent of federal spending is in Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid and the military. “It would be impossible to eliminate the federal deficit without cutting entitlements or military spending, such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Hinkle, who favors such cuts. Chris Wallace of Fox News tried repeatedly but unsuccessfully Sunday to get California GOP Senate candidate Carly Fiorina to name just one entitlement benefit she would reduce or eliminate. Wallace noted, as did Hinkle, that entitlement spending is where the money is in the federal budget. Hinkle’s suspicion: “Republicans may have no serious intention of cutting federal deficits or spending, and their complaints about ‘out-of-control spending’ might be hypocrisy.”

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Congress | Comments

Open thread 10/22

Oct. 22, 20106:01 a.m.

thread

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Open thread | Comments

Derby candidate has to pay for wig

Oct. 22, 20106:00 a.m.

heffingtonJoan Heffington of Derby, who was defeated by U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback in the Republican Party primary for governor, must reimburse her campaign for a $159 wig, the Lawrence Journal-World reported. The Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission ruled that, much like clothing, campaigns couldn’t pay for a wig, because there would be no way to tell if the wig would be used only during campaigning and not during personal time.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Governor's race | Comments