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Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on June 20, 2015 24 Comments
There has been a lot of speculation, including by me, about what the Republican-controlled Congress will do should the Supreme Court rule against Obama in King v. Burwell.  Should the Court strike down federal subsidies, Republicans will need to have a plan in place to address this decision as it impacts those who are currently receiving subsidies for ObamaCare from the federal exchange because their state did not set up a state exchange. Republicans are still talking about a "fix" but are now stressing that it is to be "transitional" rather than permanent.  According to Bloomberg:
[Representative Dennis Ross of Florida] added, “There’s a strong consensus in that room” that the subsidies must be continued in some form “until Republicans can substantively change the law.” Participants at Wednesday’s closed-door meeting said key aspects of a transition plan were presented to lawmakers by Ryan, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price of Georgia and Education and Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline of Minnesota. Along with immediate repeal of the law’s individual and employer mandates, the plan would give states the option to build their own insurance exchanges and offer subsidies, using federal money. Alternatively, people in states affected by the ruling would receive a subsidy to purchase an insurance plan either from healthcare.gov or on the open market.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on May 29, 2015 36 Comments
While we await the Supreme Court decision regarding federal vs. state subsidies, Republicans can't decide if they want the subsidies upheld or struck down.  Indeed, some believe that upholding them will be best for Republicans (note, not best for America or Americans).  Sharyl Attkisson reports:
It would theoretically be a victory for Republicans who oppose Obamacare: Americans would likely find the health care law less palatable if tax money isn’t helping pay for their mandatory policies. They would suddenly be exposed to the reality faced by those who aren’t getting subsidies: insurance may cost more, come with higher deductibles, and provide less coverage. But some Congressional Republicans are more worried about winning the Supreme Court case than losing it. “There are Republicans right now scared to death that we’re going to win,” says one Republican leader who did not want to be quoted by name. “They’re in meetings right now planning ways to revive the subsidies if the [Supreme] Court strikes them down.”
They are "scared to death" because they are worried the Democratic and media narratives would place the blame on Republicans for the loss of subsidies by those who've purchased ObamaCare through the federal exchanges.  Attkisson explains:

Posted by Mike LaChance on May 12, 2015 6 Comments
Newt Gingrich has always been an ideas guy, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that when he looks at what recently unfolded in Baltimore he sees a unique opportunity. Republicans, who haven't had a chance to influence politics in Baltimore for decades, would be wise to follow his advice. Transcript and video via National Review:
Former House speaker and Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich had advice for Republican candidates on Sunday’s Face the Nation:
The number one thing that Cameron did was emphasize working Britons. I’ll give you an example that’ll probably be controversial: A party which goes into places like Ferguson, Baltimore, and says, ‘It is the working African American who was hurt by the riot. It was the working, small-business African American and Latino American and Asian American who was hurt by the riot. Somebody ought to stand up for the people who are trying to create a decent future.’ That party’s going to start a debate that’s really important for this country, between those who want to work and those who want to disrupt and destroy, and I think that’s a very important debate for the next year.

Posted by Mike LaChance on April 17, 2015 21 Comments
By now, you've probably noticed that most of our completely unbiased media is treating Hillary Clinton with the same hard hitting scrutiny they're applying to Republicans candidates. Don't take my word for it. Here's Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post: According to Cillizza, it's all in our minds:
Look, I get it. Hillary Clinton is a Democrat. Conservatives have been convinced for a very long time that the media is populated almost exclusively by Democrats who, because they are secretly rooting for that party's candidates, are willing to overlook things that they would never overlook if it was a Republican. And, there is no Democrat this side of Barack Obama that drives Republicans crazier than Hillary Clinton.
Doug Powers responds: You've probably seen the media's mad dash for Hillary's "Scooby" van:

Posted by Mike LaChance on April 16, 2015 18 Comments
MSNBC's Chris Matthews has never had much love for conservatives, but he's been on a roll lately. Here's what Matthews had to say about the current GOP field on his show yesterday. Ken Shepherd of News Busters:
Chris Matthews's 'Snake-Charmer' Dog Whistle?; Will Leftists Complain About Racist 'Microaggression'? MSNBC Hardball host Chris Matthews loves to slander Republicans as often speaking in code or blowing racial "dog-whistles." Of course, doing that should open him up to charges of the same when he speaks carelessly. Before I continue, I must add that I don't in any way think Matthews was making a veiled reference here to Republican Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's Indian ethnic heritage, but even so, given his network's political correctness, it seems pretty odd that Matthews feels comfortable comparing the GOP primary field to a Middle Eastern bazaar that's just missing its "snake charmer." Here's the relevant transcript:

Posted by Mike LaChance on April 03, 2015 64 Comments
Ann Coulter appeared on the O'Reilly Factor last night and addressed the story of the Indiana pizza place which was forced to shut down because of threats. She pointed out that the left has adopted a regular cycle of outrage which usually turns out to be false. She also urged Republicans and conservative Christians to stand up to bullies. Watch the video:

Posted by Mike LaChance on March 15, 2015 7 Comments
As we recently noted, every problem for Democrats is ultimately spun as the fault of Republicans and Obama's policy on Iran is no exception. The panel on today's edition of Face the Nation began laying the groundwork for talking points which will soon become all too familiar. Ryan Lovelace of National Review:
CBS Panel Is Ready to Blame GOP Sen. Tom Cotton If Obama’s Foreign Policy Toward Iran Fails The panel on CBS’ Face the Nation appears ready to blame Arkansas senator Tom Cotton if the Obama administration’s negotiations with Iran fall through. Cotton, along with 46 other Senators, penned a letter warning the Iranian regime not to rely on any agreement with President Obama that did not have the approval of Congress. “Yes, Cotton is well intentioned in doing this, but it’s backfiring,” said Dana Milbank of the Washington Post. “If the Ayatollah is going to give out the Ayatollah’s Medal of Honor this year, I think Cotton’s going to be a finalist because it gives them an excuse if they pull away from the agreement now.”
Watch the exchange below:

Posted by Mike LaChance on March 14, 2015 7 Comments
As we've seen time and time again, there's no Democrat problem that can't be solved by Republican overreach. Here's how it works: A Democrat gets caught in a scandal, Republicans react to it, and suddenly the story is all about the Republicans. MSNBC is particularly fond of this practice. David Rutz of the Washington Free Beacon has put together a clip video you can watch below. You may notice a pattern:
MSNBC Is Overplaying Its Hand It didn’t take long for MSNBC to unveil one of its favorite talking points in response to Hillary Clinton’s email scandal at the State Department. Wednesday, the day after a grisly press conference where Clinton tried to answer for deleting thousands of emails and why she had a personal server in the first place, host Alex Wagner posed a question the network loves when Democrats are in tight spots. “To the Trey Gowdy part of the equation, there is a danger here for Republicans which is a frequent danger, that of overplaying their hand,” she said. “The fact that Trey Gowdy has said before Secretary Clinton’s testimony has even begun that he may need to talk to her twice, is he at risk of overstepping here?”
Here's the video:

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 16, 2015 13 Comments
Most Americans would be happy to hear that Obama is going on offense against ISIS, the people who carried out the attacks in Paris, or any of the other enemies of America. Unfortunately, there's only one group Obama consistently views as a threat: Republicans. Last night's headline on the Drudge Report was a story by Manu Raju of Politico. It looks like Obama is all fired up and ready to go:
Obama to Senate Dems: ‘I’m going to play offense’ President Barack Obama made clear Thursday in a closed-door session with Senate Democrats that he’s prepared to veto hostile legislation from the GOP-controlled Congress, including an Iran sanctions package on the front-burner of Capitol Hill. According to several sources at the Thursday summit in Baltimore, Obama vowed to defend his agenda against Republicans in Congress, promised to stand firm against GOP efforts to dismantle his agenda and called on his Democratic colleagues to help sustain his expected vetoes. The president also was explicit over his administration’s opposition to an Iran sanctions bill, promising to veto legislation with his administration in the midst of multilateral nuclear negotiations with the Middle Eastern regime. Even though Obama’s position on Iran sanctions differs from a number of powerful Democrats, the session, several sources said, was more of a pep rally than confrontation. Despite his lame-duck status, the president promised that he would not sit on the sidelines in the next two years. He vowed more executive actions to implement his agenda, something bound to prompt anger from Republicans who have called the president’s unilateral moves, particularly on immigration, an unconstitutional power grab.
Noah Rothman outlined Obama's current political stance in a new article for Townhall:

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 09, 2015 39 Comments
When I helped co-found a San Diego Tea Party group in 2009, one of our biggest action items was battling against Obamacare. Our members dialed Congress relentlessly, believing our representatives might weigh the will of the people.  What ever delusions I had about that concept utterly vanished when then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi paraded through a Tea Party rally by the Capitol with her big gavel. As for Obamacare passage, that's history, courtesy of congressional Democrats -- and reports on the new law's progress show that it is an even larger failure than we originally projected. So, imagine our opinion of of the Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner when he gave Pelosi a big kiss and a warm hug---especially since he holds that position courtesy of the hard work of Tea Party members across the country.

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 07, 2015 14 Comments
The new Republican congress was sworn in yesterday, and one of their first orders of business is an attempt to advance plans for the Keystone XL Pipeline. Unfortunately, obstructionist Democrats in the Obama administration are standing in the way of progress. Timothy Gardner and Richard Cowan of Reuters reported:
Republicans push Keystone bill, White House threatens veto Republican senators kicked off the new U.S. Congress with legislation to approve the Keystone XL pipeline to bring oil from Canada, but the White House promptly threatened a veto. With Republicans assuming full control of Congress on Tuesday after victories in the November elections, they have put Keystone at the center of their agenda and plan weeks of debate. They believe that the public spotlight on Keystone will pressure President Barack Obama to eventually approve the project. The White House was adamant that Obama would not sign the Keystone bill. "There is already a well-established process in place to consider whether or not infrastructure projects like this are in the best interest of the country," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.
A vote is set for Thursday.

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 05, 2015 35 Comments
For the last several weeks, we've been living in a sort of Twilight Zone episode where many people on the left including Obama and the media haven't realized how big the midterms were for Republicans. Until now. Reid Wilson of the Washington Post has just begun to notice:
Republicans in state governments plan juggernaut of conservative legislation Legislators in the 24 states where Republicans now hold total control plan to push a series of aggressive policy initiatives in the coming year aimed at limiting the power of the federal government and rekindling the culture wars. The unprecedented breadth of the Republican majority — the party now controls 31 governorships and 68 of 98 partisan legislative chambers — all but guarantees a new tide of conservative laws. Republicans plan to launch a fresh assault on the Common Core education standards, press abortion regulations, cut personal and corporate income taxes and take up dozens of measures challenging the power of labor unions and the Environmental Protection Agency. Before Election Day, the GOP controlled 59 partisan legislative chambers across the country. The increase to 68 gives Republicans six more chambers than their previous record in the modern era, set after special elections in 2011 and 2012. Republicans also reduced the number of states where Democrats control both the governor’s office and the legislatures from 13 to seven.
Was the election yesterday? Is this new information about how many Republicans won?

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 03, 2015 14 Comments
Democrats, who have spent the better part of the last six years politicizing... everything, are suddenly concerned that Republicans might politicize the Congressional Budget Office with a new appointment. Vicki Needham of The Hill reported:
Dems warn GOP: No 'ideologue' in budget job Senate Democrats are warning Republicans to tread carefully with their selection of a budget scorekeeper for the new Congress, saying they will “strongly object to any effort to politicize this important office." "Appointing a new [Congressional Budget Office] director on the basis of ideology would fundamentally compromise the integrity of an institution that has served as a trusted scorekeeper," a group of Senate Democrats wrote in a letter sent to Republican leaders and budget chairmen. As one of their first acts this year Republicans must decide whether to give another term to Douglas Elmendorf, the director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). While the CBO job is little-known outside Washington, it holds enormous power. The “scores” handed out by the office — measuring the impact of legislation on the budget — are often make-or-break for legislation, particularly if a bill is found to add to the deficit.
Too bad Senate Democrats didn't have the same concerns about politicization when they released the so-called "torture report" last month, huh?

Posted by Mike LaChance on December 27, 2014 8 Comments
2016 is still quite a way off but that hasn't stopped speculation about the chances for each of the major parties. Bill Barrow of the Associated Press looks back at the last few elections and raises an important question for the next one:
Can GOP shatter 'Obama coalition' in 2016? Republicans crowed in 2004 that freshly re-elected President George W. Bush had established a "permanent governing majority" for the GOP. Eight years later, Democrats were touting the enduring power of the "Obama coalition" to keep their party in the White House. But Democrats couldn't sustain that coalition for this year's midterm elections, leading to Republican gains in Congress, governorships and state legislatures nationwide. "The notion of demographics as destiny is overblown," said Republican pollster and media strategist Wes Anderson. "Just like (Bush aide Karl) Rove was wrong with that 'permanent majority' talk, Democrats have to remember that the pendulum is always swinging." So how will it swing in 2016? Is the path to 270 electoral votes so fixed that one side just can't win? Does Obama's unpopularity carry over into the next race for the White House? Or will an increasingly diverse electorate pick a Democrat for a third consecutive presidential election for the first time since Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman won five straight elections from 1932 to 1948?
Again, it's still early. Neither party has even begun the primary process. Still, when it comes to the so-called Obama coalition, Democrats are going to realize that their coalition and Obama's are two separate things.

Posted by Mike LaChance on November 15, 2014 26 Comments
In the wake of the 4th, 5th and 6th new Jonathan Gruber videos, the Republican National Committee has created a new video called #Grubering. GOP Chairman Reince Priebus explained why in a press release yesterday:
RNC Releases New “#Grubering” Video WASHINGTON – Today, the Republican National Committee (RNC) released a new web video entitled “#Grubering,” highlighting clips of ObamaCare comments made by Jonathan Gruber and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. “Gruber’s comments reveal how President Obama and Democrats like Nancy Pelosi took advantage of Americans and violated the trust of voters. Like Gruber, they clearly think Americans are too ‘stupid’ to figure out what’s in our own best interest,” said Chairman Priebus. “In 2009, Nancy Pelosi encouraged Americans to read Gruber’s ObamaCare analysis, and now she is claiming she doesn’t know who Gruber is. The lack of transparency from the White House and Democrat leaders is appalling.”
Here's the spot: Gruber's insulting remarks have gone viral and even CNN is reporting the story now.

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 24, 2014 9 Comments
Early voting is looking good for Iowa Republican Joni Ernst. In fact, it's looking better than usual. Kirsten Hunter of the Washington Free Beacon reports that even CNN is acknowledging the trend:
CNN: Iowa Early Vote Data Shows Unprecedented Republican Numbers Elated Republicans are celebrating the unprecedented success of U.S. Senate candidate Joni Ernst (R) in Iowa’s early voting. Iowa Republicans banked a surge of early voters this week, a practice usually dominated by Democrats in the state. Ernst’s unprecedented success is also the result of her opponent, Rep. Bruce Braley’s, failure to mobilize Iowa Democrats despite receiving support from high-profile figures including the Clintons and the seat’s current holder, Sen. Tom Harkin (D., Iowa). “Braley hasn’t run a great campaign,” said CNN reporter Peter Hamby. “Look at the early vote numbers in that state. Democrats in the last two or three cycles have really done well by running up the early vote number.” Hamby elaborated that Republicans are at a “parity” with Democrats after assessing this week’s early Republican votes. This “has never happened before,” Hamby said. “Braley wants that number to be higher.”
Here's the video segment: This surge may explain why liberal news sites are attacking Joni Ernst for expressing her completely Constitutional views on the Second Amendment.

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 12, 2014 8 Comments
The last time we checked in with former White House spokesman Jay Carney he was predicting doom for Democrats in the midterms. It looks like he hasn't changed his mind. It's also interesting to note that Carney is acknowledging the fact that so many Democrats are distancing themselves from Obama. From the Washington Free Beacon:
Jay Carney: ‘No Question’ It Will Be A Good Year For Republicans, Bad Year For Democrats “The Democratic candidates have to thread this needle very carefully,” Carney said. “It is true that when you have an unpopular president of your party, you don’t want to be associated with him.” Carney acknowledged that a number of candidates are jumping the Obama ship and going to great lengths to distance themselves from the president, but warned them against “going too far.” “Look, it’s not a good dynamic for Democrats out there,” Carney said. “The goal has to be, in this cycle, to run local and state races and not have their races be nationalized. Because if they’re nationalized, they’re going to be hurt by the overall perception of president Obama right now.”
Here's Jay Carney on Don Lemon's CNN show: Carney may be onto something.
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