The New Republican Leadership in the General Assembly

Senator Gary Simpson has been reelected by his Republican colleagues to continue as Senate Minority Leader. I am somewhat surprised that Lavelle did not grab the job to position himself for the 2016 Gubernatorial race. Yes, it would have been audacious for a newly elected freshman Senator to become Minority Leader, but not out of the realm of impossibility, since, after all, Lavelle did get elected as the Minority Whip, the second highest position in the Senate caucus. I think what we will see in Simpson stepping down after down the 2014 elections after six years in the leadership role to pass the mantle over to Lavelle.

QOTD — Who Should Be In Obama’s Second Term Cabinet?

So we know that there will be some departures from the first term -- Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner is out; Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is out (after doing a spectacular job); Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta; Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank (acting); Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar; Press Secretary Jay Carney; Attorney General Eric Holder (maybe not going for a year or so) look like they are at the top of the list to go. Other possibilities include:

I get the feeling John Carney is being had by these charlatans

Carney via Facebook:
This morning, Rep. Jim Renacci, a Republican from Ohio, and I organized our first bipartisan policy meeting since the election. Our group -- divided evenly among Democrats and Republicans -- meets every other week to brainstorm legislation and try to find common ground. We had great turnout today and took the opportunity to hash out our priorities for the upcoming Congress. If you're not familiar with the group, you can read about it in this short article from 2011.
The Partisan Republican voting record of Renacci is 99%. Keep looking Congressman. Your bipartisanship should be the kind that demands at least some small demonstration of good will by your Republican counterpart.

By Their Oppression of People Not Like Them Shall You Know Them

Dana Millbank tells the story of how Rick Santorum went back to the US Capital this week to help lobby against the human rights of disabled people. That's right -- Mr. Culture of Life is fearlessly lobbying against the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities. This treaty was actually negotiated by the George W. Bush's administration and has been ratified by 126 nations, including China, Russia, Iran, Cuba, and Syria.

Boehner: If my taxes go up, so will yours.

House Speaker John Boehner today rejected a proposal from former NRCC head Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) to extend existing tax cuts for middle class Americans, primarily because Boehner (and other wealthy Americans whose incomes have been going up while everyone else's has been going down) doesn't get a piece of the tax cut action.

In Which We Find John Stapleford Blaming Black and Brown People for Big Government

That was the nicest title I could come up with after reading this new bit of stupidity from John Stapleford of the brain dead CRI. Titled What role does government aid play in elections?, we find Stapleford trying to gin up some numerical proof for Mitt Romney's claim that Obama won because he gave out gifts to key voter groups. And as usual for Stapleford, he produces a ton of numbers that aren't sourced anywhere, counting on readers not to notice and counting on readers to not ask questions about the numbers he provides. In other words, it is the usual CRI bullshit. And I want to know how he gets paid for this. Seriously. And explain to me how it is that wingnut welfare -- which Stapleford is clearly a beneficiary of -- isn't it's own gift to the angry white people being paid to push this bullshit to people who really need better information than this. Because I'd bet ALOT OF MONEY that the number of wingnut welfare recipients that voted for Mitt Romney approaches 100%.

Wednesday Open Thread [11.28.12]

A new Quinnipiac poll in New Jersey finds voters overwhelmingly favor Gov. Chris Christie (R) for re-election, 67% to 25%. 95% of voters think Gov. Chris Christie (R) did an "excellent" or "good" job responding to Hurricane Sandy, and Christie now holds a sky high 72% to 21% approval rating. The strongest possible Democratic challenger, Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D), trails Christie by 18 points, 53% to 35%. I bet you that Booker abstains from the 2013 Gubernatorial race and runs to replace Frank Lautenberg in 2014 in the Senate. Christie is frankly unbeatable in New Jersey right now. Hell, even I think he deserves a second term. There is no reason for Booker to be the sacrificial lamb. Happy 10 year Anniversary to the Delaware indoor smoking ban!! The best thing RAM ever did. Meanwhile, this painting was painted in the 1990's, so it doesn't include Obama, but I always thought it was pretty awesome:

John Carney’s Mythical Rational House Republican – DISCOVERED !

Diogenes wandered the streets of Athens with a lamp in search of an honest man. Similarly, John Carney seems to have devoted his tenure in the House to searching out a rational Republican. He feels that the Delaware electorate is really looking for a guy with he tenacity to keep searching for rationality among Republicans in spite of everything we know about the Lunatic Party. Well, you can knock me over with a feather because a rational Republican may have just emerged.

GOP Puppetmaster, Grover Norquist, Predicts No Deal

If the GOP's Leader, Grover Norquist, is right - taxes will reset to the pre-Bush tax cuts rates. Republicans talking about possible deals are full of it according to Norquist. Why? because they are imagining deals in which $1.00 of tax increases is matched by $10.00 in cuts to Medicaid.

Pay Attention To What Republicans Do, Not What They Say

Since losing the election, Republicans are trying to employ the "I have a black/brown friend with a vagina" strategy.  Every time I turn on the television or surf the net I'm bombarded with Republican politicians and pundits performing mea culpas over their past behavior.  But their words ring hollow when you look at their actions. Take a look at this picture ....

From the office of obvious facts: Large Majorities Back Raising Taxes on Wealthy, Oppose changing Medicare

Only in the US Congress is the notion of raising taxes on the wealthy controversial. And similarly, only in Congress is the idea of raising the Medicare age looked at as a good idea.
The proposal to raise taxes on those earning more than $250,000 annually — one of President Obama's central campaign pitches — continues to be popular among a large majority of Americans, according to the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll out Wednesday. Sixty percent of those surveyed support the proposal, compared with just 37 percent who are opposed. The debate over raising taxes on the high-income earners was one of the defining issues of the 2012 campaign, although polls have consistently shown broad support for the proposal backed by Obama and the Democrats. Meanwhile, an even larger portion of Americans — 67 percent — are opposed to raising the age for Medicare coverage from 65 to 67. via TPM