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Sarah Palin holds up a large soda as she speaks about New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposed large soda ban, at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference March 16, 2013 in National Harbor, Md.
Their guy lost badly in 2012. They’re not quite sure whom they want to pick up the pieces. But this weekend, the thousands of activists gathered on the shores of the Potomac outside Washington had an overarching message for the Republican Party’s political class: Butt out.
At the Conservative Political Action Conference this weekend, the stars were Marco Rubio and Rand Paul -- both men who won their elections even though the GOP establishment didn’t think they could.
Sarah Palin, the fiery former vice presidential nominee who some blame for John McCain’s 2008 loss, brought down the house when she took a 7-Eleven Big Gulp onstage in protest of the New York mayor’s ban on large sodas. That came after the laughter and cheers for her statements in opposition to gun control -- she declared that she and her husband have a deal: “He’s got the rifle, I’ve got the rack,” she said.
Sen. Rand Paul captured the coveted straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday, as the Republican Party works to find a path forward. NBC's Kristen Welker reports.
After three days, dozens of speakers, over a hundred hours of panel discussions, and a strong straw poll showing from a guy who didn't even get invited, here are eight takeaways from CPAC.
2016: It’s on
Call it the parade of presidential prospects, marching by nearly four years out from the 2016 election. With Paul, Rubio, Jeb Bush, Paul Ryan, Scott Walker, Bobby Jindal, and more all in attendance, the list of potential contenders goes on and on. (Bush and Walker have pointedly left the door open to presidential bids, with both refusing to rule it out.)
And almost all delivered speeches with an eye toward positioning themselves as the person best suited to lead the party to victory in 2016.
Related: With eye on 2016, Walker rouses CPAC crowd
"The GOP of old has grown stale and moss-covered," Paul declared to cheers during the conference's first day. "In America, we believe in the people and not in the government," said Walker, the Wisconsin governor.
For the first time in a generation, the party has no frontrunner
For cycle after cycle, the Republican Party has been rewarding the next-guy-in-line with their presidential nomination -- but this time, it's all a jumble.
Romney was waiting in 2012 after he lost in 2008 to John McCain, who had been waiting since he lost to George W. Bush in 2000.
Bush, Bob Dole, George H.W. Bush, even Ronald Reagan, were all the next guy up. Now, there's no clear heir to the GOP throne. Many of CPAC's old guard -- Romney, Palin, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum -- don't hold elective office.
Among the new -- Rubio, Paul, Walker, Jeb Bush -- there's no clear favorite.
It leaves a wide-open -- and crowded -- GOP primary field.
Gay marriage isn't the wedge issue it used to be
In 2011, opposition to same sex marriage was front and center at CPAC -- the opening day featured a panel on "traditional marriage" on the main stage. Not this year.
While the conservative Republican group GOProud was relegated to a small room on the sidelines of the conference, the group's evening panel -- at the invitation of a different conservative group -- was packed.
There were still plenty of older attendees who defended traditional marriage, but many of the younger ones had a different take.
"I'm of the prospect that government should not be involved in marriage, and that should not be an issue if people of the same-sex want to get married, they should be able to do so," said Mike Fox, a 23-year-old student at Northeastern University who came to Maryland for the conference.
The other two legs of the GOP stool are also wobbly
President Ronald Reagan famously defined the Republican coalition as a three-legged stool of social, economic and foreign policy conservatives.
Gay marriage moving to the back burner takes one animating issue from social conservatives. And now there's confusion on the other two fronts, too.
Paul's stand against drone strikes and his call for a more isolationist foreign policy separates him from Republicans like McCain -- who labeled Paul a "wacko bird" when he took his anti-drone politics to the Senate floor.
The GOP's also divided on the sequester, with some warning that the cuts are terrible for defense and some looking the other way.
Conservatives are hanging more tightly together on economic policy, but they're still divided on what specific policies to push.
Risk proposing cuts in Medicare and Social Security? Threaten to shut down the Department of Education at a time when many Republicans identify student learning as a top priority?
And earlier this year, they lost the argument on taxes to President Obama.
Politicians who want immigration reform are still afraid of the Right
Rubio is supposed to be the Republican champion for immigration reform -- a Cuban-American who ran as a Tea Party conservative. But he didn't even mention it from the stage at CPAC.
Contrast that with the right wing talk radio blitz Rubio launched after he announced that he was supporting a bipartisan immigration reform framework in the Senate.
Back then -- just months ago -- he even argued with Rush Limbaugh about how good it would be for the country.
But at CPAC, other speakers largely followed his lead in ommitting immigration talk. The cheers from the crowd came instead for lines like this, from Ann Coulter: "If amnesty goes through, the country will turn into California and Republicans will never win again."
When she questioned why Rubio was supporting immigration reform, someone in the audience yelled: "Traitor!"
No one really argued conservatives need a fundamental change in attitude — except Jeb Bush
Conference speakers railed against the consultants -- "the Republican consulting class is just plain wrong," said Newt Gingrich.
They insisted new thinking isn't needed -- "We don't need a new idea. There is an idea. The idea is called America, and it still works," said Rubio.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush paints a bright picture for the Republican Party and America by highlighting ingenuity, education and his successes in CPAC address.
And while Paul labeled the party "stale and moss-covered," his pitch wasn't aimed at widening its appeal to new voters -- but rather embracing libertarian values.
Almost completely missing from CPAC was the demographic handwringing that has consumed Republican Party leaders since Romney lost badly to Obama in the general election.
Instead, they were angry and defiant, with Rep. Allen West labeling such sentiment "malarkey" and Sarah Palin declaring: "We're not here to dedicate ourselves to new talking points coming from D.C."
Bush was an exception. "We're associated with being anti-everything," he said in a speech on Friday. "Way too many people believe that Republicans are anti-immigrant, anti-woman, anti-science, anti-gay, anti-worker. Many voters are simply unwilling to choose our candidates because those voters feel unloved, unwanted, and unwelcome in our party."
CPAC stands with Rand
This year, CPAC stands with Rand Paul. The libertarian senator brought down the house on Thursday -- his speech drew cheers almost as loud as Palin's rousing address -- and his filibuster was constantly cited as an example of the kind of courage the new GOP needs.
"Stand with Rand" stickers were all over the lapels of college kids' blazers -- and by Saturday, the similarly designed posters were scarce on the ground and became a hot commodity.
He follows in his father's footsteps; former Rep. Ron Paul won the straw poll here in 2010 and 2011. The elder Paul's ardent supporters famously organized to win the straw polls, believing they would help give him national attention -- and some of that infrastructure helped his son out in 2013.
Chris Christie won by not showing up
The bombastic New Jersey governor was barely mentioned by speakers, but his presence loomed over the conference.
His specific non-invitation just drove headlines before CPAC. In the halls and ballrooms, everyone was talking about him.
"I was fundraising for him just last Thursday," said Walker, who shook his head in disbelief when asked about CPAC's decision not to invite the popular Christie.
The snub made CPAC seem at odds with the GOP push to build a bigger tent if the party's to win elections in blue states and nationwide.
And anyway, Christie didn't need to take the train down from Trenton for the cattle call to get noticed here -- he came in fourth in the straw poll, ahead of all the speakers except Paul, Rubio and Santorum.
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A couple of minority members of GOP asked Ann Coulter for a date during the Q&A after her speech.
Ann Coulter was livid inside, but outside she managed a smile, saying something like, "Go ask your mother and see what your mother has to say.'
P.S. (Pig $hit):
The Last Supper for these dimwits?
Ann Coulter is just Rick Scott in drag...same height, same brow, same attitude.
Once a year we get chance to witness all that is wrong with America... It's the clown show called CPAC.
What's next for the GOP? Well, how about eat sh*t and die...
During the CPAC, Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) says there is no Republican War On Women....It's the Democratic Party that has one.
I didn't know both Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock are Democrats?
Can never figure out since the GOP only helps out the top 2 percent of the people why Romney & Co. got more than 2 percent of the vote...stupidity and racism can't add that much.
Actually, Obama got more of the 2% vote. Romney won the biggest in the middle class and Obama won the bottom 30%. Romney's policies would have been much better for our country and we wouldn't be experiencing this sluggish growth.
Big Gulp?
I can't believe the GOP has made the size of a drink as symbol of freedom. Usually Republicans have gone bigger than 'big gulp' in making a point about their freedom. The previous Republican favorites to make a point about their freedom include 'Great Depression', "Great Reession,' and large groups of minorities to screw up such as gay and lesbians.
Are YOU f*cking kidding me?
Why in the WORLD are you giving this half-term governor who forces her children to practice abstinence, while 2 of her five brats defeat Grama Grizzly with her BS by putting a bun in their oven?
Granny Grizzly needs to stop the attention whore routine while getting a boob job.... No one like to look at two dead eggs hanging on a fence post! lol
As I said the other day, these so-called
journalistspaparazzi are GUILTY of journalistic malpractice....Spin that any way YOU can...
Pigotry.....don't forget Bob McDonell of Va and his Vaginal Probes.....so much for less "Big" governement....unless it involves women's rights...
Hey, Paul S, NY NY
Bob's Anatomy? instead of Grey's Anatomy. Yuck.
Surgeon Bob chisels away our freedom with our own bodies.
Outrageous.
"He’s got the rifle, I’ve got the rack"
Great sexual innuendo by republicon "leader" Sarah Palin. I bet that got all of her republicon "worshipers" hot and bothered, wondering how many times he puts his "rifle" into her "rack".
From what I can see, if the GOP persist with these ridiculous standpoints, they're soon going to be the party of 'no longer relevant'. The modern age is upon us, and they just don't seem to be able to keep up.
Some nut at the CPAC argued that the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act sponsored by Ted Kennedy was a conspiracy by the Democratic party to boost Democratic voters and condemn the GOP to the minority party status forever.
The GOP has forgotten to blame itself - for example, if the GOP discriminates against various groups of minorities, the GOP will become minority. This explanation is more credible and convincing.
The Reagan stool analogy is outdated. It is still applicable, but the characterizations of the legs are not valid.
The first leg is not "social conservatives", though. It's "religious fundamentalists". Whereas social conservatives might have had some centrist appeal on shared values, the religious fundamentalists have moved so far to their extremism that they have utterly lost the mainstream. Their values do not reflect the values of families and individuals across most of the country. They are radical, not conservative.
The second leg are not "foreign policy conservatives". They are "neo-conservatives", and as above, they are totally radical. There is nothing conservative about them.
The third leg are not "economic conservatives" but rather "libertarians". Economic conservatives might want to balance the budget rather than opposing taxes at all costs. Economic conservatives understand the point of Keynesian stimulus, while the libertarians oppose such things out of ideology, not efficacy. The libertarians should be aghast as the agendas of the fundamentalists and neo-cons, but they seem willing to overlook them for the most part in the name of tearing down government and its protections in the name of a naïve ideology, no matter how disastrous the real world consequences would be if their vision were ever actually implemented.
Most important, however, is to see that three legs do not complete the stool. There must be a seat of power connecting them, sitting on their support, and running the party. This is the establishment. These are the plutocrats. Their agenda is only to increase their own wealth and power by taking more and more from everyone else and condensing it in their hands only. They see the fundamentalists as gullible tools, easily led with promises of support on meaningless side issues. They see the libertarians as useful for their agenda of cutting taxes and regulations, but far too dangerous to ever let them have the reigns of control to the system. They see the neocons as useful for extending their reach to subjugate and exploit people the world over, rather than just those Americans at home. The "conservative" movement and the modern Republican party is nothing more than a scam designed to con people into voluntarily throwing away their economic and personal liberties to these plutocrats.
This was the first legitimate straw poll vote since Ron Paul started running for president. Ron Paul would buy large numbers of tickets to CPAC and give them to people who supported him. Apparently Ron Paul lost in 2012 because Romney bought more.
8 Lessons Learned! #1 We are the party of stupid. #2 We are stale. #3 We like big gulps. #4 We like looking like idiots. #5 We have no clue. #6 I have the rack. #7 People come to see this crap. #8 Go back to number 1... !!!!
Oh My Freaking Gawd
Ain't that some beyond-the-pale-male -weirdo coming with his weak tea bull@!$%#? I agree the GOP/Tea Suckers don't need grumpy old white men.
"Oh Katie, what do I read? Oh, everything! Why I just finished reading everything on this cup not 10 minutes ago! When I saw 'Big Gulp' I couldn't help but think of Michelle Bachmann's husband."
"the Republican consulting class is just plain wrong," said Republican Consultant Newt Gingrich.
Jeb Bush said: "We're associated with being anti-everything, Way too many people believe that Republicans are anti-immigrant, anti-woman, anti-science, anti-gay, anti-worker. Many voters are simply unwilling to choose our candidates because those voters feel unloved, unwanted, and unwelcome in our party." Bingo, Jeb, the problem is your party keeps attracting racists, misogynists,creationists, homophobes, and union busters, so you're stuck with the anti-everything crowd.
DB, Rand, but yes.
CM, Jeb is the only sane one in the crowd. I'm a little surprised he attended. Unfortunately, it looks like the Repubs are drifting further to right into the crazysphere. This will reduce pressure for democrats to move to the center.
Headline reads: "what's next".
Answer: extinction, it's as clear as day to all but those in the actual party.
Sadly this is NOT the republican party i was once a part of.
I remember Ike, shakes his head and walks away.
Nathan-1680585
Yup, Nathan
That's because that cancer occult blood for stool in that colon cancer fecal check test package is expired.
And no winner either. Hilary wouldn't even have to break a sweat to embarrass these clowns.
If this isn't a political party divided and in deep doo doo, then I don't know what is. Ike, Reagan and even Tricky Dick must be rolling over in their graves and screaming "what have they done to my once proud party?" I'll tell you what they did. They let this small fraction of misinformed, homophobic lepers that call themselves the Tea Party take the reigns and they drove it straight into the ditch.
Let's just hope that Barack Hussein Obama was watching today and if so he got an ear full of just what a failure he has been for America for the last 4 years. Our country cannot survive with his agenda and quite frankly his being unqualified to lead this country.
What's further frightening are the 44% that continue to support his failed policies but these numbers are declining daily, thank God people are finally waking up.
Our only hope is that the GOP will continue their adamant refusal to raise taxes (again) so he can continue his out of control spending.
Is this a liberal news site? MAN, they're congratulating each other on ANY AND ALL CONTENTS OF THEIR COMMENTS regardless of how it affects the country.
Obama has really affected their minds to the point that they believe and approve of everything he does, even the many failures that have been a total disaster for all Americans.
How sad.....
"And no winner either. Hilary wouldn't even have to break a sweat to embarrass these clowns."
The Republicans have less of a jumble than the Democrat cat fight - if you think Joey is going to roll over.
So, the teaser for the story asks: "What's next for the GOP?"
Based on recent history, I predict the tea party co-opting will cause the GOP to begin to take on even more aspects of someone trying to herd cats, leading to greater internal dissent, cannibalism, and a quicker slide into irrelevance by the end of the decade.
The CPAC meeting serves as a nice microcosm and peek into that future.
Good Lord! I hope you all watched Bill Maher last night. Saying "America" to everyone's ills and problems is not a solution. When the GOP gets to the point that they want to shrug off the @!$%# they have accumulated - Romney, Palin, Bachman, Cruz, and become relevant to the American public, I'd be willing to listen.
Kasie, I applaud you for the picture you chose to add to your story.
GOP lessons from CPAC, dump the crazy Tea party starting with Rand Paul, next Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio, Cleanse these Clowns from the GOP and your party could have a big impact in 2016 !!!
Ha ha, Palin schooled Obama! Libs are pathetic, the really stupid ones still clinging to that "hope". Obama is a liar, a meglomaniac, and an arrogant azz who is drunk on power. You useful idiots that voted for him again deserve all the crap coming your way.
ROTFLMAO!!!!!
WOWWWWWWW!!!! Looks like the little Liberal/Progressive miscreants are out in force.
Did the latest "Organizing for Action" directives and talking points just come out?
I was on that imbecilic site the other day. I see they still have the $4 trillion dollar deficit reduction plan on there that has NO explanation.
I think another better cartoon about the “Life of Julia” would be more in line with your comprehension level, no?
But what's even more hilarious, they still have the adolescent propaganda that claims federal spending growth has actually been slower under Barrack Hussein than under any other president since Dwight Eisenhower!!!!
Yeah that little piece of gutter trash created by Max
NuttingNuthead with his typical Liberal/Progressive fuzzy math. Of course nowhere on the site is there any explanation how that cutesy little graph was created.More typical Liberal/Progressive symbolism over substance.
And now the typical low-information Libbies are here blathering their usual nonsense. I imagine all your checks came in the mail so you can all just sit here 24/7 and mentally masturbate all over each other and try to maintain some level of significance in your pathetic lives.
Don't you people get tired of waking up every morning with the sole intent of finding something that offends you? It must be miserable to live that way.
It must be terrible to go through life constantly looking for another opportunity to be a victim.
Maybe if you did something constructive with your lives, LIKE GET A REAL JOB, you wouldn't feel so victimized all your life. I know all those wonderful jobs that you keep claiming Barrack Hussein has created only pay about $10 an hour, but at least you'll feel better about yourself.
Funny isn't it, although six in 10 jobs lost during the Great Recession, the jobs created by your favorite bogeyman George Bush, paid mid-level wages of about $18/hr, the majority of new jobs created in the recovery by our Job Creator in Chief pays about half of that -- positions such as store clerks, laborers and home healthcare aides -- according to a new study by the National Employment Law Project.
You Libbies need to start working on your resumes so you can land one of these wonderful jobs.
Oh, you may want to start practicing your lines too, they're usually not real hard for your qualifications. Things like, "Welcome to WalMart", and "Welcome to McDonalds, may I take your order".
I think this will help you much more than the bobbleheaded nonsense you're posting here.
Liberals, so easy!
Jim Spence ... go rant and rave on your loves ... Romney, Trump, Palin, Santorum, Geingrich, Paul X2 ... and while you are loving on them the rest of us and I DO MEAN THE REST OF THE AMERICAN CITIZENS are moving on and moving forward!
Jim Spence .... so COWARDLY!
Crystal-569996 . . . .
Yep we voted for President Obama. Note that word ... we VOTED. The likes of you did not vote for A N Y T H I N G, including local goverment, judges, school boards, state senators, etc. LAWS but I hate those that BITCH about the game but never get in it!
At the next GOP convention, they're going to adopt "I'm a loser" as their new anthem. What a horrific line up of has-beens and never-were's.
Based upon her "performance" at the CPAC, America has learned one thing:
Sara Palin is a farce to be reckoned with!
Actually, Obama beat Romney in everything except white folk. And even amongst white folk, Obama won the highly educated vote. So I have a feeling that you are using "bottom" just to be annoying; there is no other logical reason to call people who voted for Obama as "bottom."
Indeed. We wouldn't be experiencing growth at all. But don't worry, if the Republicans in Congress have their way and slash spending the way they want, we will essentially have Romney's policies, and we will experience economic contraction as the newly laid-off folk stop spending.
I'd guess if "people who vote for Obama are bottom", then you would also define "economic contraction" as "much better for our country."
Sometimes I regret the self-destruction that the Republican party is going through, and feel a bit sorry for them. But then I read something like this, and stop worrying about it; they absolutely deserve what they are going through.
Hispanics have zero incentive to do anything with Republicans about immigration. As long as there is a Democrat President and a Democrat majority in the Senate, the undocumented immigrants have de facto amnesty.
Republicans have no incentive to do anything about immigration, because the Hispanic community isn't going to forget what Republicans have said about them. (Who'd've thunk Trump would have said something that wasn't completely kooky.) The best-case scenario for Republicans is that they create no more Democrat voters. They won't get anything else out of the deal.
It's very doubtful anything really will happen on immigration, which basically means Rubio gets nothing out of it.
There was a lot that I wanted to say regarding this article. Y'all beat me to it. Everything that needed to be said regarding the rapidly exploding and self-destructing GOP by the left was dead on. Everything that needed to be said regarding the rapidly exploding and self destructing GOP by the right only confirmed the conclusions of the left.
God bless Sarah Palin. She finally acknowledges that her "rack" was the ticket to McCain choosing her as his running mate. Her "rack" was the only reason so many sexually depraved Republican old white guys cheered her on. Her "rack" was the only reason Democrats (like me) watched her antics on television with the volume muted. Her "rack" would have prompted me (and many other males) to elect her as the town's slutty librarian, but never as Vice President (just a heartbeat away from the Presidency under angry and senile McCain begging for a massive heart attack).
This CPAC convention was almost as entertaining as the Republican primary clown race in election 2012. A few new faces among the regulars, but the same old rubber noses, heavy make-up and clown suits. The definition of insanity has become the modern day GOP. Logic tells us all that Jeb Bush is their last great white hope while he is carrying enough baggage to sink the most sea-worthy battleship. Christie may have proven to be the GOP savior. He will never pass the smell test of the Christian, Tea Party and neocon far right in Republican primaries.
Disillusioned Republican party conservatives need no longer call themselves Independents or Libertarians to escape this insanity. They simply must grow a set and rescue their party from the many crazed hijackers.
Send Cruz on a cruise with Carnival. Send Rubio back to Cuba or Miami(one and the same). Send Palin back to her dysfunctional family. Put Akins on a Republican free diet. Send McCain to any old folks home willing to put up with him. Call a taxi to transport Boehner to his favorite bar. Deliver Cantor and Graham to any one of those gay bars that they have always yearned to enter. Openly admit that Rand Paul is proof of the necessity of abortion in extreme cases. Mitch O'Connell would be the perfect candidate to play a starring role in Deliverance 2 if Karl Rove would play the reluctant visitor.
Have I forgotten anyone? Beck and Limbaugh could suck on each others cigar. Hannity could decapitate Coulter and place it's head in President Obama's bed. Rupert Murdoch could simply drop dead and do the whole world a great service.
I'm pulling for y'all by giving you good advise. Every ideology desperately needs a counter-weight to keep things in perspective. Friends don't let friends run away from their problems. Stand up and fight for what is yours before the crazies destroy it all.
One photo (see above) graphically illustrates the problems the Republican Party faces. Ann Coulter verbally answers the question; what happens when 'civility' is removed from 'civilization'? Ref Rush Limbaugh.
Lessons to take away from CPAC???? They're all @!$%#ing crazy and Palin's voice still makes me cringe. That's about it.
Between the pic at the top and her quotes (not to mention her "Big Gulp"), Palin just oozes "Presidential", doesn't she?
JimSpence
You're just toooo f@#king funny.
No, CPAC just gave the world about 6 months worth of comedy material... was a whole gaggle of clowns gathered in one place to dust the dirt off each other's butt after the last election trouncing... LOL, no change needed here!
These are some seriously stupid, crude, demeaning, and self-serving people with nowhere to go but away.
Do we have to be subjected to this attention whore again?
Can't she just do a Bush / Romney and fade into oblivion never to be seen again?
Palin does have some value though.
She condenses and coalesces ALL of the Republican idiocy, ideological flaw and incompetence all into one singular comical package for us to throw rotten fruit at.
Where else can we get this much moron in human form?
Palin always gratefully obliges.
Thanks Sarah. Your mouth is the best organizing tool the Democrats have had since Nixon.
mattfromwash...........don't ever underestimate the stupid and racist vote in America !
kkwilson...yup, creating jobs, decreasing unemployment, ending a war and about to end another, highest stock ever, saving GM and millions of jobs, bringing opportunity to buy health insurance to millions, it's been terrible, hasn't it. Guess you long for the economic conditions of 2008, right ?
Crystal-569996...deserve the crap coming our way ? You mean stuff like health insurance, jobs, 401Ks back above where they were in 2008, troops home from Iraq and on the way home from Afghanistan, womens rights and equality, American industry growing and creating jobs, people buying homes again ? Stuff like that, right ?
CPAC shows the American people that it is the right wing extremists who are in charge of the Republican party. We'll remember that at the next election.
Their strategy for everything scemes to be: tax breaks for the rich, and then push everything as far to the right as possible.
Not being invited to CPAC is probably the best thing to happen to Chris Christie.
Well Gee Jin Spence if liberals are so easy, uneducated and uninformed why can't the republicans beat them in the elections. Truth is Jim republicans have a huge political problem, they can't win without the likes of the people that buy into the notions presented at CPAC and they can't win when they promote them. BTW Jim if you are concerned about low wage jobs, why not rant at republicans who are the ones who are fighting the raising of the minimum wage, they don't even want people to make the "$10 an hour" you complain about. You perfectly represent the self contradiction the republican party has become, and I could explain and illustrate that in many more ways if I cared to.
I'm not sure which is scarier...
The Wasilla Hillbilly dissing the President for using a teleprompter while she *gasp* is READING off one herself.
Or, her stuck on stupid fan base cheering her on...
Pricelss coming from the broad who prefers to use her "palm pilot"... lol
Say Jim Spence and others can you explain to me why republicans do not automatically get the the "bottom" vote from Latinos since Ronald Reagen is the only president to ever grant unconditional amnesty to 11 million illegal aliens. Do you think that fact, and the fact that republicans do not get the Latino vote flies in the face of the republican theory that people vote for democrats because they are rewarded with giveaways. Republicans seem awfully concerned that the president wants to provide a path for citizenship for these people because he wants to lock in their vote for years to come, however a republican president gave 11 million aliens unconditional amnesty, and republicans can't get their votes, any republicans here care to explain that.
Sarah Palin, the runaway Governor of Alaska, Granny Grizzly to two illegitimate children, talking about leadership? And work ethic? And family values? Oh, the irony! (Lost on her...)
Thank god we don't have to listen to that fingernails-on-the-blackboard voice every day.
And that old hag Coulter, turning away from Chris Christie because he favors immigration reform? Now there's a winning stance. ;)
And both of them, multi-millionaires, talking about the middle class. Lord love a duck.
Ya gotta be grateful for those conservative nuts... those crazy lemmings, running straight into the sea with their koo-koo ideology.
FORWARD!!
So the only unifying theme from CPAC is to continue to denigrate the duly elected two term president, and the electorate that voted for him, this is what brings the cheers from the audience. That strategy has already failed them and failed them badly, they are lost politically. You want to talk about low information, uneducated and delusional voters, not learning from your own mistakes is a real sign of stupidity. Politics 101 says a politician should go out and shake hands and kiss babies, republicans have decided at CPAC that what they must do is to continue to kick people in the shins and pinch their babies. If we just insult people long and hard enough we will win them over, seems to be the only play in their playbook. They should have subtitled Palins speech, "Watch and listen to this women and get a clue as to why we are polling lower than a STD", or maybe "Why we lost the oval office, seats in the senate, and seats in the house".
Feisty, the real trick to making Palin look smart would be to duct-tape her mouth shut.
The trick to making Sarah Palin look smart is to turn the sound off on your TV so you can't hear what is coming out of her mouth, "also too" do not ask her any questions, not even a simple question like what do you read. Her answer to that question was the beginning of the end to McCain's campaign, she should have just been honest and said scripts, I read scripts Katie, also too I read little notes about those scripts that I write on my hands.
Let's face it friends, there is no way to make Sarah Palin look smart.
Stupid becomes her.
At least Palin has double the capacity to run this country effectively and not spend us into oblivion
Rand Palin 2016.
You may be able to make her look smart, but you could never make her sound smart. The only thing I like about her is that she is like a little rock in Rove's shoe.
Ann Coulter ... There were more jokes on stage than I delivered.
Why don't the Democrats have good looking women? Com'n now, Hillary vs. Pallin?
Maybe superficial, but why?
Why doesn't the party of gimme have any eye candy?
Where is your evidence? Her history says otherwise:
Sarah Palin is stuck on stupid. Don't you be too.
RobWI
Why don't the Republicans have any smart women? Com'n now, Palin vs, Hillay?
"At least Palin has double the capacity to run this country effectively and not spend us into oblivion"
Pro Freedom she did not even have the capacity to finish her term as governor of a state that has less population than many American cities. BTW the president does not have the authority to spend, spending is not in his scope of power, never has been, more importantly she does not have the capacity to win a general election, I seriously doubt she could now win reelection to any kind of office in Alaska. Rand/Palin would be a dream ticket for Democrats, and a nightmare for republicans. I would like to see that ticket, even Ann Coulter's head would pop right off her body, while her headless body stumbled on stage her head would be trying to bite members of the CPAC audience that wished for that. Karl Rove would drop "turd blossoms" in his shorts, and the defense industry would fill the democrats campaign coffers like never before. Bring on the Rand/Palin ticket now that would be some big fun.
First, it's not the party of gimme. Second, we don't base our qualifications for leadership on looks, unlike the GOP.
Third, you must be blind. Can't you see Ashley Judd, Kirsten Gillibrand, Nancy Pelosi, and Tulsi Gabbard?
This is a joke...right?
RobWI, this may be superficial but in your opinion is Gov. Christie to fat to win a general election, is Scott Walker to cross-eyed, is Ashley Judd hot enough to beat McConnell, enquiring minds want to know.
Palin does nothing for me, I'll be honest here and tell you for me personally a big part of a women being "sexy" is between the ears. Snooki for example is kind of cute but anything more than a booty call would be like torture, I'd have to poke my own eardrums out with a pencil.
What does that have to do with how they look? And who is Hillay?
And do not get on your high horse about the libs being above looks, explain old Billy Boy's proclivity to dip into alternative female sources.
No...having personally met Ashley, she is attractive, but does not have the attributes to garner my base instincts.
Intelligence is a whole different subject and like the superficiality of appearance, one generally attributes intelligence rated on subjectivity of their own personal opinions. Very few of us actually make assumptions of intelligence based on factors such as using symbolic logic or look at the unintended consequences of the assumptions in the future.
So therefore, one's opinion of attractiveness can be either of the physical or of the mental, but they are still opinions. Which one gets my woody up is the one that counts, it holds no prejudice.
Jim Spence - I sure hope you carry a can of Glade around with you. The stuff you leave behind on here truly does stink. Just thought I'd let you know since you can't seem to figure out for yourself.
Tony - he couldn't hear you over the industrial sized turbines required to dissipate the stench. Wouldn't matter anyway, if he makes that stench, it must be God's will - rather like that belief God created the United States.
RobWI
So, you are now the typo Gestapo? Your original question was idiotic at best and the only reason it got any answer. Sunday is be kind day.
Do of course continue with perhaps a post using 'symbolic logic'. Maybe toss in some modal stuff too?
Name another 72-year-old woman who looks as good as Nancy Pelosi.
Barbara Boxer
The important thing politically about Palins looks is that however judged, objectively or subjectively, she looks like a loser. She lost in 2008, she did not finish her term as governor, she lost her reality show, she lost almost every campaign she involved herself in, she lost her gig at Fox. She has miserably failed the test with the electorate. She looks like a loser because she loses, and all she ever has are complaints about the guy who looks like a winner, because he wins. It is a politcal mistake for republicans to let her represent any part of their party, but they continue to make that mistake over and over again. She has not damaged the president or democrats one bit, they continue to win elections, she damages the republican party, they lost the oval office, the senate, and seats in the house, Ha but you tell em Sarah.
Ten lessons for Republicans from CPAC:
1. Boy, a few years of aging sure hasn't treated Miss Wasilla kindly.
2. Wheeew. Thank goodness Mitt the goofball didn't get elected president.
3. It's all Chris Christie's fault.
4. I want to be Chris Christie.
5. The bimbo of Palm Beach doesn't like fat people.
6. We all want to be libertarians instead. Don't they have their own conference?
7. Gays and minorities are the spawns of satan. Now, how to do we get them to vote for us?
8. From now on, our main strategy for winning elections is voter suppression and fraud. Let's begin by rigging our own straw poll.. vote as many times as y'all want!
9. We really should split into two or three different parties.
10. Let's party!
"Libs are pathetic, the really stupid ones still clinging to that "hope"."
Hey Crystal-569996 -- those "stupid libs" you run your yap about are sure good at kicking the crap out of Republicans in elections. You've lost 4 of the last 6 presidential elections, lost the popular vote in in 5 of the last 6 presidential elections, lost seats in the House in 7 of the last 9 Congressional elections and lost seats in the Senate in 6 of the last 9 elections.
The DNC must have some under-cover agent planted deep inside the Republican Party. That agent must have been in charge of the most recent CPAC gathering. How else could you explain a political party, with approval numbers that are already in the toilet, making such fools out of themselves??
First you would have to know what it is:
Second, it would not fit within a liberals agenda, it takes the "touchy-feely" out conjecture.
Loved watching Walker get slammed on Meet the Press today. On each question served up to Walker, all he was able to muster were Bachman-shuffle responses. Never really answered the questions with his misdirection and deflective grade school level off-subject responses. Walker subsequently slithered into oblivion as the other panel members easily chewed him up one side and down the other on said responses.
I'm not a big Chris Mathews fan, but I especially liked Chris Mathews explaining the premise of the question Walker was asked about the relevancy of same sex marriage, which Walker said was a current non-issue for the party. Mathews explained the various constitutional aspects of what a viable GOPer should already know regarding the pursuit of happiness and personal liberty with regards to same sex marriage and the conflict with GOP ideology in the last election.
Walker went mute after that. And so did his relevancy as a presidential candidate.
"It leaves a wide-open -- and crowded -- GOP primary field." Fortunately, issues like immigration, reproductive rights, medicare, etc.
(Also, "America still works" despite the best efforts by the Tea Party.)
A battle between the neocons and the libertarians over foreign policy and our military should cause the Republican party to self destruct.
WOW, the hypocrisy.
Remember a Gingrich scandal?
$1.8 million in consulting fees for eight years of work with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Grinch sold his soul to the higest bidder. Yeah you Republicans just keep railing against the government and making money from providing consulting services to the very same govt at the same time
What exactly is the conservative agenda for America? Doesn't look very different from last year. We're just angrier 'cause we couldn't buy enough votes. But here it is . . .
Keep on protecting the wealthy from the tax man.
Republicans want to represent the 1% and ensure they own all the assets in an America that operates like the game Monopoly. Let's promote and protect predatory, unregulated, unrestrained commerce that favors only the wealthy class. No prosecution for the fabulously wealthy. Pay the ransom.
Eliminate any social supports, every social service.
The poor, the aged, the retired, the returning soldier-heroes should figure out how serve the wealthy. . . or die with minimal demand on those wealthy resources. Welfare is only for corporations. Welfare is intended only to ensure the wealthy feel welcome and wanted in our USA.
The planet is a toilet. Just remember to flush when you take off for moon-base Gingrich.
No need for the EPA. Oil and/or gas in the water will eventually provide another fuel source for the mega barges we all need to drive. When the air is thick enough to chew, food will be just outside the door. When the oceans wash away the shore, the rest of us will have ocean-front property.
Healthcare is too expensive for everyman.
Eliminate Medicare. Eliminate Healthcare for America (Obamacare). Protecting the health of average Americans is simply too expensive. Let'em die in their homes. Let'em learn to pray. Healthcare is only for those who can pay out-of-pocket. While the rest of the planet sees this a a critical right for their citizens, our new conservative America prefers to watch you quietly die.
Monitoring your sex life, controlling your reproductive life? We'll make laws to keep you under our thumb.
While we won't pay for anything, we will make laws so you are forced to follow our religious beliefs, forced to follow our values, forced to accept our ignorance of science. Gay? We've got laws to protect us from you. Defective fetus. Get over it. We'll let you know what our god has to say about that. Raped? We'll decide whether to punish you.
The Dept of Education is a waste of money.
Ignorance is bliss . . . literally. Education is so anti-religion it undermines our belief in myths. Everything we need to know is in the bible. We'll raise kids who are sports' stars, reality show starlets and mega-bucks TV-charlatan preachers. Let the rest of the world raise kids who can understand math and science. Everyone in the USA will work for the Chinese, Japanese, Indians and Germans.
Election reform?
We've figured out how to cash in on lawmaking (Citizen's United) by selling our votes to the highest bidder. Why any more pretense? Let's sell anything not nailed down to those with money? Lincoln Memorial? Anyone, anyone? Yellowstone Park? Anyone?
Government sponsored better-heath initiatives are unwarranted and unwanted. Being overweight, undernourished, without necessary exercise has no influence on health costs, so let our people be foolish. It's our American right to die sick and young.
Guns? Don't even think about limiting our right to slaughter our neighbors, to arm our insane with quasi-military weapons, and to watch our children drown in the bloody carnage of our modern toys of death We know our rights!
Vote conservative. Ignorance is bliss. Greed is good. Come on out of those bunkers.
Bill Austin
You just said what most of us are thinking.... Nice job, Thank You.
Excellant Points Bill.....but then again...its not the message that needs to be changed...only the packaging...
Pigotry, And Obama took how much from mobil / Exxon? Your point is?
@Bill-Austin/Paul NY - I hear Herman Cain is working on a new pizza box that will smartly package all the points in Bill's post. It will be 9x9x9.
You forgot they are against voter fraud, unless they control it. "We must stop minorities, women, and liberals from stacking the vote with poor people" is what they want done. These RWNJs will only be satisfied when only rich conservatives can vote. $1,000,000 one vote.
Bill-Austin
Every point you've made is spot on but you missed a couple:
Stonewall on immigration reform to placate your angry white guy base and hope that minority voters will somehow not notice.
Be sure to label anyone that's actually willing to sit down at the negotiating table to try to arrive at reasonable solutions that involve a little compromise by all parties is immediately labeled RINO and run out of office as soon as possible.
Looks like they're doubling down on the Party of Stupid platform that worked so well for them in the last election.
Was that Palin big Gulping the old boys club, what a Nut !!!
Yep I knew it ..........didn't even have to read the article ,and low and behold ...........pigotry , Feisty redhead, and sea skip posting your mindless left wing extremist drivel ...........You lefties have a psychosis with the the right . The three of you are basically insecure people ..............aren't you !!!
Never a rational comprehensive post about the article its self ............just hatred !! It's a basic personality disorder to hate something your scared of , or don't understand ..........thus you attack !
Get some help !!! Therapy should help .............ask Feisty she can tell you.....can't you feisty
Why were you in therapy before ????? Oh and one more thing you'll have to face reality , and provide the doctor with your real name !No more fantasizing that your actual a tax payer !!
Ed . . . boobala . . . liberals are no longer allowing conservatives to paint their greedy, self-centered, hate-filled solutions as patriotic, godly and righteous. Annoying? I'll bet it is.
Yep, I worked without a break for almost 50 years, earned a fair living and put away money for my retirement in investments and SS and Medicare. Earned everything I now get. Listening to conservatives, too many of whom inherited their wealth, too many who earned their wealth swindling the poor, too many who got rich exploiting their employees with minimal benefits, I'm not sitting by and allowing the lying right wing to suck the oxygen out of the room. The sick and insane right -- Limbaugh, Santorum, Trump, Palin, Aisles, Rove -- now have to face the truth squads. Annoying? I'll bet it is.
Great points, Bill-Austin!
Would that be Austin, Texas? An island of sanity in a sea of stupid.
The single biggest reason the right wing doesn't get it is simply because they CAN'T! They are clinically unable to function as part of a society. On an individual basis they tend to be anti-social and conspiratorial, so even though they can always find someone they say they agree with, their basic nature says that sooner or later they will find something wrong even with their "friends". The tea party is so fragmented it cannot stand over time - eventually, it will self-destruct. It was not that long ago that these same people were all gaga over Ross Perot, saying the exact kinds of things that were said over the past week. Yet, what they say they believe in means nothing, even though they truly do fervently believe the words, and that's because, in the end, they just don't trust or like other people. Individually, they are the loners, the social hermits, the self-proclaimed "mavericks" and "rebels". These are attributes they say they admire in others, and labels they claim for themselves. "But even if you say the same words I do, don't try to get too close to me, because I know eventually you will somehow try to screw me. Everyone is out to get their pound of flesh from me". The motto of the tea party, if they had one, would be "Distrust, Paranoia, and Conspiracy Forever".
The tea party cannot exist for long because it represents only 12 - 15% of ANY population that is mal-adjusted and anti-social. It just keeps turning over the same percentages; it cannot actually grow.
Stop badmouthing women.
Stop badmouthing Hispanics.
Stop badmouthing blacks.
Stop badmouthing gays
Stop badmouthing people who are paid by the hour.
Stop badmouthing unions
Stop badmouthing teachers.
Stop badmouthing firemen.
Stop badmouthing policemen.
Stop badmouthing poor people.
Stop badmouthing people who work at any level of government.
Stop badmouthing college graduates (Rick Santorum)
Stop badmouthing anyone who disagrees with you about anything.
Stop badmouthing the media (constantly)
Stop badmouthing mainstream churches.
Stop badmouthing atheist.
Stop badmouthing Muslims.
Stop badmouthing science.
Stop sucking up to Rush Limbaugh.
Stop sucking up to Fox Propaganda.
Stop sucking up to conspiracy theorist like Glen Beck.
Stop sucking up to the craziest of the crazies at the NRA.
Stop sucking up to fundamentalist so called "Christian" ministers.
Stop talking about rape.
Stop talking about a whole wide range of subjects you know nothing about.
Find something to sell other than fear, fear and more fear.
Call out your crazies like Michelle Backnamm.
Call out your crazies like the Donald.
Call out your crazies like Sarah Palin.
Call out your crazies Rick Santorum.
Call out your crazies like Ted Nugent.
Call out your crazies like Wayne LaPierrer
Call out the birthers among your own.
Call out flagrant racism among your own.
Stop trying to win electing by making it harder to vote.
Stop trying to win electing by changing the way votes are counted.
Admit you are NOT losing elections because of voter fraud.
Stop your hypocrisy.
Either stop telling everyone how much you love the Constitution or stop trying to amend the Constitution time after time after time.
Understand you need a whole lot more than a “cosmetic” makeover. What you need is a TOTAL MAKEOVER.
Question to Rubio: How's that make you feel coming in second to Rand Paul?
That's gonna leave a mark.
I was going to write a sequel to, "Being John Malkovich" called, "Being Sarah Palin." But I can't; for one, I didn't write, "Being John Malkovich", Charles Kaufman did. And two, I like and respect John Malkovich too much AND, Mr. Malkovich is SMART, so there is no comparison or even a hint of resemblance except by a few words in the title.
So then my mind wandered to a time far away and a paperback novel once read; and that's when it hit me! Sarah must be a psycho prop in a "Perky Pat" layout designed by a cracked Chew-Z addict. But alas, to even think that would be like a sacrilegious hawked phlegm upon the grave of Philip K. Dick. NO CAN DO.
So, I have resolved myself to this: Palin's attraction to the GOP masses is a mystery. Initially, she appealed to the (Redneck) MEN for shallow reasons and to the (Redneck) WOMEN as a "classy" role model? I honestly DON'T KNOW the why's and how's about it. I think Woody Harrelson's portrayal of Steve Schmidt, said it all; "SHOCK and AWE" but not in a good way. More like, "Shock and Oh What the Phuck"?!
Wow, Paul finally got one right calling the GOP "stale and moss covered".
Chris Christie wasn't invited to the CPAC, they said it was the Bear Hug !!!
N.J. Republican voters are so mad they will not vote for any Republican in 2016 unless its Chris Christie !!!
The powers that be in the republican party seem to agree their brand needs a make over. They've got this guy Christie who seems perfect for the job of helping them with that make over. The guy even has respect from democrats and independents. His approval rating leads all of them.
So, naturally, they don't invite him.
Just consider for a moment: Those people would rather hear what Sarah Palin has to say than Christie. How in the world can that possibly be?
It's like at the top level a democrat is in charge making decisions designed to make them look as foolish as possible. And he's doing a great job.
Nevada:
Your Christie/Palen question puzzles no one except those in attendance - and their followers. Finding answers to very difficult questions with a panel that includes Palin, Coulter, etc, etc? Where's SpongeBob SquarePants?
Rubio said it all...."We don't need a new idea. There is an idea. The idea is called America, and it still works.." The proof lies in the past two national elections. I wonder what he was thinking? I wonder what the audience was thinking?
OK all you teatards, birthers, science rejecters, religious fanatics, mindless dittoheads, evolution deniers, Fox noise cultist, conspiracy theorist, gun crazies and all around 15th century Republicans -- as you know, March Madness is upon us. President Obama will be filling out his brackets very soon. So be sure to start your whining and crying, bitching and complaining, moan and groaning about how he’s not doing the business of the nation and instead wasting the tax payers time and money on basketball.
Exactly what I was thinking, NevadaJ. I know it's still a ways off, but time passes quickly and as I see it Chris Christie is the only potential republican candidate who could garner the kind of independent and moderate support it would take to win a presidential election. Does anybody think this guy or any other palatable candidate could navigate the 3 ring circus they call a nomination process?
Here what the GOP should do.
1. Praise Obama when Obama proposes good policy.
2. Criticize Obama when he proposes bad policy.....AND EXPLAIN WHY IT IS BAD.
3. Promote policy of their own.....AND EXPLAIN WHY IT IS GOOD!
4. Quit being hypocritical with spending cuts and tax increases. You look pathetic when you want to cut everything but spending.
5. Have a reasonable approach to illegal aliens in order to CLOSE THE BORDER!
Those are excellent points. All, however, require reason. The GOP doesn't do that.
Put-great post! No one should be averse to civil, intelligent discourse! Of course, if it's not civil or intelligent...........
It's beyond me how fast these clowns can line up to lose again.
It's getting so SNL can't compete with these "Masters of Disaster" - nothing they write could be as funny as the nonsense the rwnj's spout to themselves.
node:
You're reading my mind. I said exactly the same thing to my wife yesterday. They could just have a SNL monologue, then a tape of this meeting. Would be just as funny, and the SNL staff could take the week off at the expense of the GOP.
You don't suppose they are trying to be sarcastic? Sadly, probably not.
SDN: no, unfortunately, the farce that TP / GOP / CPAC Insane Clown Posse has become is all too real -- and actually appears to believe the nonsense they spout. One of the funniest bits I ever saw on SNL was when Tina Fey did a parody of Palin being interviewed by Katie Couric. It wasn't till later, that we all realized she was had used the actual lines and mannerisms from Palin.... then it wasn't so funny any more. And I think that is the way an increasing number of American voters view these rwnj's: they're pretty entertaining as long as we don't elect them.
You say "Marco Rubio and Rand Paul -- both men who won their elections" against the expectation of the Republican establishment, which is true. But that was in 2010, not 2012. The 2010 election was not a normal election because of the energy infused into the We Hate The Middle Class Party, a.k.a. the Tea Party, because of the passage of Obamacare. Now that even Republicans are admitting that Obamacare is the settled law of the land, I doubt you're going to see that level of enthusiasm for the Tea Party any time soon. After all, it's big mouthed Tea Party nitwits who made the Republican loss so pronounced in 2012. These leftovers like Rubio and Paul are either going to conform to a new and more reasonable Republican message or they're going to get flushed into the drain of obscurity.
If a couple of misspoken words is what caused our country to be swayed from one party to the other, then we have much bigger problems. I would also hardly call keeping the status quo a pronounced loss. It would have been an upset for the GOP to win either the Senate or the Presidency.
FYI....Only idiots and the gullible think that the GOP are anti middle class. In fact, Romney won the middle class.....but Obama won the low income voter which carried him over the finish line.
What you pass off as "a couple of misspoken words" actually reveals a deep seated misogyny that permeates the Republican Party as it exists today. As for the Republican Party being against the middle class, no one with the slightest hint of sanity believes that the Republican Party is not completely beholden to the most wealthy minority of our society, who are fighting viciously to keep from paying their fair share in taxes. Also, I do not call the substantial turnover of seats in both the House and Senate from Republicans to Democrats a maintenance of the status quo. If the Republicans didn't lose in 2012, why are they in such turmoil in 2013?
You are in denia SteveRl. Where is your evidence that Romney 'won the middle class'? I think he lost across the board. He lost Ohio for example, where most people think of themselves as middle class.
GOP may think they are for the middle class, but the policies they promote say just the opposite. We middle class thinkers and workers are not stupid.
Um, if you're talking to me, john-1453080, I did not say that Romney won the middle class. Quite the opposite. It was PutAmericaFirst who made that claim. I have no idea what makes him think that happened; I certainly don't think Romney won the middle class, and I'm a middle class person. (And no, I'm not on welfare, and I receive no government assistance at all, and yet I voted for Obama.)
OK Steve, I misread your post. In fact I agree with you. The Right seems fixated on the myth that Democrats or 'the Left' are all welfare queens. In fact most of us are hard working and dedicated to our families and jobs, just like they are.
john - The Right is not fixated on the myth that Democrats or the left are welfare queens. But we Right is aware that the left wants the Federal Government to dictate what is or isn't good for the American people. For instance gun control, the left thinks all will be good if the Federals Government writes the gun control laws instead of the individual states. The left thinks that the Federal Government should be responsible for paying our local teachers, and 1st responders. The left think that the wealthy don't pay the fair share in taxes, however they fail to acknowledge that the tax laws have been written and expanded for years depending on the party in power. The left think that the Federal Government can better run our schools than the local school districts. Just a few examples of where the left and right differ.
Neither side will acknowledge that there is billions in waste, fraud and duplication of programs in Federal spending. Neither side will acknowledge that GAO and Department IGs have found much over spending or fraud, over payments or duplication of programs.
One good example of stupidity by our Federal Government is as follows:
The Federal Government has hundreds of million dollars in vacant property, both commercial and residential, which could be sold to private investors or businesses. Instead the tax payers are stuck pay for maintaining these properties, which because they are Government owned, pay no state or local taxes.
sfcret @ 6.6
"For instance gun control, the left thinks all will be good if the Federals Government writes the gun control laws instead of the individual states."
In 2011 the ATF traced the source of the 8,793 guns used in crimes that had been seized in New York City. Almost 7,200 of them came from another state and over half were from Virginia and the vast majority of the rest came from Pennsylvania, North Carolina & Florida.
Here's the story (and in Rupert Murdock's rag, no less)
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/ny_thugs_guns_flood_in_from_all_jQBgtK1Kjv0EGOTRksDgEJ
There's also growing evidence that a majority of the guns being used in crimes in Chicago, particularly on the south side, are coming from Indiana and in fact that a majority of those can be traced back to just a couple of gun shops- one of which is in Hammond, Indiana the setting for the movie A Christmas Story and a quick 15 or 20 minute drive from the middle of Chicago's east side.
What the NRA & the Republicans (and you, apparently) are proposing amounts to trying to stop a boat from sinking by plugging half the holes while at the same time drilling out the holes you don't plug so they're even larger.
sfcret:
Therein lies the fundamental problem....there is no 'left' except in the minds of those that feel a need to blame something/someone. There are many independent, critical thinkers here in the US that belong to no organized political machinery - anathema for conservative thinkers. "Change is bad" - even though it's the only constant in the universe.
Kudos to ya' sfcret, pretty much gave the short analogy of the primary differences.
Do not know why anyone would try to refute your comments as they could choose ether side.
Personally I do not want my life dictated by another, because of how it is in their neihborhood a thousand miles away.
Why Golly Gee - lookie here - The Obama administration is actively working to address these vacant properties sfcret is railing on and on about. What have the GOP done to push this forward? Oh, I forget, sfcret would rather sit on his hind-quarters and rant and rave about ugly democrats vs. finding out if anything is being done.
Not true. Progressives believe that in order to keep our country globally competitive EVERY child in America deserves a first-rate education, not only the children from wealthy school districts. Education varies considerably from place to place here but in top-rated countries like Norway there is a standard of excellence in every school.
We are hobbling ourselves by denying a good public education to every child. Money spent on a child's education is money that doesn't have to be spent later on welfare and prisons.
Of course education is administered locally by each school district, but it must begin earlier, extend into the summer and serve the needs of the poor as well as the rich.
RobWI @ 6.9
"Personally I do not want my life dictated by another, because of how it is in their neihborhood a thousand miles away."
Great idea. I can see tomorrows news story already:
"In an effort to free up more money to fight crime, the city of Chicago is no longer going to spend money treating it's sewage but rather will run a couple of big pipelines across Lake Michigan and just pump all of it's raw sewage over there. "After all" said the mayor "it's not in my neighborhood so why should I care?""
Hartvig-guess geography is not your long suit...the Chicago river is the sewage dump for the city and it runs towards St. Louis. As they say, feces runs down hill.
That would be like peeing in the wind.
Therefore, once again, what starts in FibLand should stay in FibLand. Do not dictate to me what you might think is best comrade.
Alan West is a "former Representative", not Rep. Alan West.
Also: No mention of the Minority Outreach forum, where a Black woman was shouted down and guys in Confederate t-shirts talked about how great slavery was: Free food and shelter!
It's ... RIP, Alan West...
Politically dead.
Pigotry
Oh, so that's why Allen West said Black people are afraid of him; Pigotry. Black people don't like zombies.
Correction: Alan West said...
“there's nothing on this green earth that a liberal progressive fears more than a black American who wants a better life and a smaller government!”
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-the-record/2013/03/15/allen-west-liberals-fear-conservative-blacks-me
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
W-T-F
.
Mitt Romney, Allen West, Rick Santorum, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, the Donald, Michelle Bachmann -- this CPAC gathering was the biggest collection of LOSERS since the 50th reunion of the 1962 New York Mets.
Well thanks CPAC for pointing out the obvious - the GOP is full of a bunch of Big Gulp drinkers (ask Boehner about that one), is leaderless, is full of pale-mossy guys, supports the re-implementation of slavery, and the most popular girl in their whole wide world is the gal with a rack capable of keeping her guy's rifle as snug as a bug in a rug. Is this an improvement over the porn star and the witch?
Sorry, but it is the democrats who are talking about indentured servitude. They are planning on making that part of immigration reform.
Are they now - regale us with a bill that outlines that plan.
Did Boner attend this meeting or was he too drunk to crawl on-stage.
Let's ban "racks" so the redneck morons will have no choice but to put their "rifles" back in their long johns. Can we PLEASE make this embarrassment to all women go away?
It would be nice if the republican part would propose some new fresh ideas. A strong republican party is good for everyone then the debate can be moved forward in a constructive way insttead of everybody just throwing tantrums when they can't get their way.
I AGREE!. Their policies of economic growth, opportunity for success and financial stability is better for the country, but they don't spend hardly any time promoting their policies.
What are you talking about? They spent hundreds of millions on the last presidential campaign telling us corporations are the elite of people, and that 47% of the population are lousy low-life takers, you know, this disgusting people like students, retired people, the working poor. Their policies and view points were spelled out loud and clear and rejected by voters at the polls.
Republicans policies are better for our country?
What would those be? Giving tax cuts to the rich while driving our country into recession, that appears to be Ryan's great ideal. Let us make the poor and sick, our education and future of our country pay for our wars seems to be the republican plan.
Making women into second class citizens? We want smaller government except when we are trying to control women's bodies like they do in China. Once the government is in charge of our bodies, it is only a vote away from forcing women to have abortions like in China.
How about starting wars based on lies and then not paying for them. Wasn't that great for our country?
Now best of all the republicans are willing to send our country into another recession to protect their rich donor base. Wow I can't believe the republicans policies are so good for us.
Or maybe you were talking about the republicans goal of privatizing the post office to make the workers poor and without rights and their rich friends richer.
For the life of me I can't think of any conservative policies that have been good for our country. In fact I don't see much conservative policies in the republican party. When did destroying the American economy for the rich become a conservative policy?
A true conservative would have raised taxes to pay for their wars like all the responsible conservative leaders in the past have done.
Faux, the propaganda wing of the republican party has made them nothing more than the party of hate and lies. I would hardly call that a conservative principle.
If the GOP are dinosaurs Sarah Palin is the asteroid.
Story to story, you're getting some good mileage out of that one. ;)
Yep.
A big gulp of Coca Cola is the perfect symbolism of Palin and the T-Tards.
Vacuous sugary calories, in a substance devoid of nutrients, bubbling with appeal, and containg the only way to make you not throw up from the sugar is the Acid (phosphoric, truly in Coke), and to top it all off the stuff will actually eat through your gut and/or kill ya.
PERFECT metaphor for the GOP/Tea brand. Truly telling that the teabaggers want more and more and more of it. Absolute lunatic fringe.
I wonder if the sane GOPers will ever realize that they have a mutiny on their hands, and split the group, retaining the "GOP" brand, while letting the "Conservative" brand go to the T-tards. This will only marginalize both, and appeal to no one, since neither will have a snowball's chance in hell to get anyone elected.
They are all goners.
That picture of Palin would scare Jack the Ripper.
So it sounds like Rand is the new driver of the GOP clown car. How special is that. What's another name for the GOP clowns? Chock Full of Nuts!
I once knew a kind,caring and compassionate Republican,alas he's dead,last of his kind. RIP GOP.
Sarah Palin is the poster child for everything wrong with the Republican party of today. If you are going to bring a big gulp out, Mrs Palin, how about you offer an alternative in your speech that would possibly help solve a major health crisis instead of just resorting to your usual folksy simpleton theatrics. That's called being a relevant leader.
Well as she said, her hubby has the rifle and she has the rack. What more proof of her genius do we need?
John...they're called speech writers. Maybe her speech writer should run?
Maybe Rubio should've had a big gulp instead of poland spring water.
@Jack Colton - that Big Gulp stunt was supposed to be about thumbing her nose at Bloomberg's attempt to ban super sized sugary drinks in NYC. What do you want to bet her stage prop contained Diet Coke? And what do you want to be the irony of this went right over her head. lol
The greatest enemy of the GOP is not the President, the pollsters or the consultants. The greatest enemy of the GOP IS the GOP.
I agree with that. When a democrat gets out of line a little bit, the democrats protect their own. When a republican falls on hard times, the republicans eat their own.
Republicans have become such an awful bunch. It is sad to see that they cannot see how they are their own problem.
Their own seeds of self-destruction.
Hear that rumbling sound coming from California? It's Ronnie spinning in his grave.
One thing about the conference is that Rick Santorum ended up no. 3 in the straw poll. This man is so monumentally prejudiced against what the founding fathers conceived as American values, which contrary to his mono-theme had little to do with religion or Christianity. The Colonials came here to evade religious oppression, they came for freedom and opportunity. Santorum seems to want to impose theocratic rules on everyone, and people from Pennsylvania when here served almost universally think he was a poor leader. This proves that the CPAC crowd is still hooked on forcing evangelical Christianity on everyone. There are many kinds of Christianity that don't take this approach. He would be a horrible president and is unelectible, as is Rand Paul and I think Rubio also. The GOP leaders need to accept this and figure out why it is true, and not reject it.
Don't be so foolish. Reality is no where near what you suggest. Quit being gullible and look up the facts. Protecting the freedom of religion is hardly setting up a theocracy.
Of course you think Freedom of Religion is important....so does the GNOP.....as long as it is THEIR religion you believe in....
The only government worth having is one where there is 100 percent separation of church and state. Theocracy is responsible for most of the evil in the world, all throughout history. Naturally I support freedom of religion, but that does not include using law to force your religious rules on me. People like Rick Santorum do not understand or appreciate how evil theocracy is.
Actually they came here so that they could engage in religious oppression without being interfered with by those nasty secular authorities in the old country. The "seekers of religious freedom" in the Massachusetts Bay Colony used to kill anybody they caught whose religion offended them--that included, for example, Quakers. The British government finally had to step in to make them stop doing so.
The image of the colonists coming to America so they could be "free from oppression" is an attractive fiction but it doesn't have much to do with reality.
Further, several states had official state religions when the Constitution was ratified and the First Amendment was worded the way it was to reassure them that the Federal government wasn't going to take away those state religions. State religions were actually lawful in the US until the 1970s when the Supreme Court decided that "Congress shall make no law" also applied to state legislatures.
The last U.S. state to disestablish its religion was Massachusetts in 1833, so the following points are mostly academic. While some states did (and still do) retain words in their constitutions about a state religion, this was made illegal by the 14th Amendment in 1868. While some states continue to have clauses about state religions, it was formally determined by SCOTUS in 1947 that these were not legal--which means that they were technically not legal since 1868 when the amendment was ratified, not the "1970s". In 1961, SCOTUS further determined that states could not ban atheists from holding religious office--again due to the 1st and 14th Amendments as interpreted in 1947.
Palin looks like the Wicked Witch from the North,come to think of it,she is! Evil bitch!
"They insisted new thinking isn't needed -- "We don't need a new idea. There is an idea. The idea is called America, and it still works," said Rubio."
You have to have your head firmly planted in the sand or your own arse to believe that. America is in peril on a good day. Denying that IS the problem.
Abraham Lincoln,Teddy Roosevelt,Dwight Eisenhauer and Ronnie Reagan would be shunned by todays GOP and not allowed to attend CPAC. Too decent,too sane and too Liberal.
Roosevelt and Eisenhower for sure. I'd add Lincoln to that list. As for present day republicans, I think we can add Colin Powell. Probably the only genuinely compassionate and honest republican left alive.
But, Reagan? He was the original steal from the poor and give to the rich guy.
It is a shame---conservatives are done because we have finally reached the point where there are more takers than producers. This is what the founding fathers were afraid of.
Bull@!$%#, A---rand. Conservatives are done because they hate science, hate gays, hate voting rights, hate brown and black people, hate progressives, hate the duly elected president, hate single moms, hate women's rights, and hate the poor.
How dare you get on this site and espouse that nonsense.
Conservatives should stick to their ideals.
Sticking your nose into every bodies business is not the job of government.
Conservatives should return to their goal to extend rights to everyone, to making America strong, and to law and order. Instead they are concentrating on women's vaginas, persecuting the different shades of humanity, policing the world for corporations and spending, spending, and more spending overseas and on give aways to their corporate sponsers.
good gawd - is everyone with a rand at the end of their name insane?
Yes.
a__rand. The vast, overwhelming majority of this country are not "takers". I agree with the Dr. Take your BS somewhere else where it can be appreciated, last next years CPAC!
Yawn.
I don't know what to say. Chris Christie comes along and has reasonable ideas about America's future. And doesn't get invited. Donald Trump takes the role of racist in chief of a whole nation of bigots ... and gets center stage. I can't help govern with those people.
Donald Trump is not a racist.
And OJ Simpson has respect for women.
The GOPS " tent" is a pup tent. Only Teabag racists need apply.
Jeb's right. The current GOP is anti-everything. As Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff so aptly put it: "Whatever it is, I'm against it!"