Miccheck Archives
Tag: Republican
Just Plain Cool
Source: UTexas/UTexas
Reagan Tapes Restored
As part of the two-year celebration of the former president, all 208 episodes of television's "General Electric Theater," hosted by then-actor Ronald Reagan, are being delivered to former first lady Nancy Reagan today. The 1954-1962 "General Electric Theater" tapes were believed to have been damaged or lost, but were recently uncovered in the General Electric/NBC Universal archives. [AP]
Posted 1:30 PM | Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 | Permalink
Political Junkie
Source: flickr/Linda McMahon for Senate
UMM…WHAT?
According to the Stamford Advocate, Linda McMahon, a Republican who is running for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut, owns a 47-foot sport yacht. While owning a yacht may be normal, the name of McMahon's boat, "Sexy Bitch," certainly isn't. Last year, McMahon stepped down as the CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment to run for office. We just couldn't make this stuff up. [Political Wire]
Posted 3:35 PM | Monday, March 15th, 2010 | Permalink
Right Wing Wackiness
Hush Money
Utah House Majority Leader Kevin Garn (R) admitted "to a nude hot tubbing incident with a teenage girl 25 years ago," for which he paid off the woman. Recently, the woman went public with the story, leading to Garn's admission. In his own words: "Years later, when I was running for Congress, she decided to bring this incident to the attention of the media. Shortly thereafter, my wife and I met with her, and at her demand, I paid her $150,000. While this payment felt like extortion, I also felt like I should take her word that the money would help her heal. She agreed to keep this 25-year-old incident confidential. Now that this issue is coming up again, it is apparent to me that this payment was also a mistake." No, really? Paying off a woman with whom you had a nude hot tubbing incident was a bad call? [Deseret News]
Posted 11:30 AM | Friday, March 12th, 2010 | Permalink
Just Plain Cool
Source: USGov/USGov
When Ari Met Tiger?
According to two sources, Ari Fleischer, the former spokesman to former President George W. Bush, has been "huddling" with Tiger Woods, helping the golfer plot "a strategy for his return to golf -- at the Arnold Palmer Invitational starting March 25 at Bay Hill in Orlando." The duo has definitely grown close: According to one source, Tiger and Ari were spotted "in his living room this week going over a strategy for how to handle Bay Hill in two weeks." Only time will tell. [Political Wire]
Posted 1:14 PM | Thursday, March 11th, 2010 | Permalink
Right Wing Wackiness
Representative Paul Ryan
Quote of the Day
"It’s difficult to design a tax plan that will lose $2 trillion over a decade even while requiring 90 percent of taxpayers to pay more. But Congressman Ryan has met that daunting challenge".--Citizens for Tax Justice report. [The Atlantic] Ed note: the rich would overwhelmingly benefit from Ryan’s tax cuts. By 2014 people making in excess of $1 million-a-year would enjoy an average tax cut of more than $600,000. To put it another way, their after-tax income would rise by nearly 30 percent.
Posted 10:45 AM | Thursday, March 11th, 2010 | Permalink
Political Junkie
Mitt’s Bestseller
Mitt Romney's new book, "No Apology: The Case for American Greatness," will debut on top of the New York Times bestseller list due out March 21 according to a source. So far, his book tour has attracted large crowds, sometimes over 1,000. While not on par with Sarah Palin's book tours, Romney supporters are taking the tour numbers as a sign that he's a figure of genuine popular interest. [Politico]
Posted 9:29 AM | Thursday, March 11th, 2010 | Permalink
Political Junkie
Cut It Out
The House of Representatives yesterday voted to outlaw misleading fundraising mailers (you know, like the ones that appeared to be official documents from the U.S. Census but really were fundraising letters from Michael Steele and the RNC). And who says there's no bipartisanship in DC these days - this measure passed 416-0. [MSNBC]
Posted 10:12 PM | Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 | Permalink
Right Wing Wackiness
Budget Roadmap to Nowhere
So, as for that Republican “budget roadmap...” As it turns out, not only does it call for sharp cuts in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, defense, and all other government programs combined with privatization of Medicare so that a larger share of your diminished benefit goes to for-profit insurance companies, apparently when the Center for Tax Justice (PDF) ran the numbers, they discovered that most Americans will pay higher taxes under Ryan’s plan than under Obama’s. Only the very richest will pay less. [Yglesias]
Posted 3:56 PM | Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 | Permalink
Right Wing Wackiness
Shocker: Hypocrisy in D.C.
The National Republican Congressional Committee has been attacking Democrats for not returning contributions from Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), who this week stepped down from his Ways and Means chairmanship over an ethics investigation, calling his donations "tainted money." But House Minority Leader John Boehner doesn't have a problem with the "tainted money" Rangel gave to Rep. Parker Griffith (AL), a Democrat-turned-Republican who switched parties in December. In an interview with an Alabama TV station during a fund-raising visit Monday for Griffith, Boehner said it didn't matter to him if Griffith accepted Rangel's money. [Talking Points Memo]
Posted 2:42 PM | Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 | Permalink
Right Wing Wackiness
Source: Wikipedia
Romney Stands up to Rush…Wait, Nope.
And just in case you thought maybe Mitt Romney wasn't running for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2012, there's this:
Last month, Rush Limbaugh criticized Mitt Romney for endorsing Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in his campaign against J.D. Hayworth in Arizona’s GOP Senate primary. “I think he’s risking his career over a guy, endorsing McCain, who is so out of step with what’s going on right now,” Limbaugh complained. Today, though, Newsmax asked Romney about Limbaugh’s criticism in a new interview. But while Romney stuck to his position, he couldn’t help but seize the moment to pander, saying, "Well, you know, I find it hard to disagree with Rush Limbaugh on topics..." [ThinkProgress]
Posted 2:40 PM | Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 | Permalink
Right Wing Wackiness
Source: wikipedia/wikipedia
Delay looking for a job
Boy, how we've missed former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Last week, Sen. Jim Bunning stood on principle and continually blocked an extension to unemployment benefits in the Senate. In case you missed this yesterday, DeLay says Bunning was "brave" for blocking the benefits package. Why? DeLay subscribes to the notion that people only try to find jobs when their benefits run out. Here's his exchange with CNN's Candy Crowley: "There is an argument to be made that these extensions, the unemployment benefits, keep people from going and finding jobs," said DeLay. "In fact there are some studies that have been done that show people stay on unemployment compensation and they don't look for a job until two or three weeks before they know the benefits are going to run out," he argued. People are unemployed because they want to be? " asked Crowley. "Well, it is the truth. And people in the real world know it," said DeLay. [Rawstory]
Posted 4:22 PM | Monday, March 8th, 2010 | Permalink
Source: Nasa Images/Nasa
What’s In A Name
In a new interview with the St. Petersburg Times, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) says he thinks former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) would be a great candidate in 2012 -- except for one thing. Said DeMint: "He would be a great president. He'd probably be the best on the list, if he didn't have the Bush name. It may not work in 2012.." Hey, at least his last name isn't Madoff. [St. Petersburg Times]
Posted 12:18 PM | Monday, March 8th, 2010 | Permalink
Right Wing Wackiness
Scaring Donors
President Obama. The threat of Socialism. Death Panels. Change. (gasp!) Are you scared yet? The Republican National Committee hopes you are. A presentation given by RNC Finance Director Rob Bickhart, that was not intended for the public to see (oops), divides Republican donors into two groups which are not so kindly described. The smaller donors are "reactionary" people who will donate out of fear or simply because they have "extreme negative feelings toward existing Administration," while the major donors are "ego-driven" people who give for networking purposes. [Politico]
Posted 9:39 AM | Thursday, March 4th, 2010 | Permalink
Right Wing Wackiness
Source: flickr/ChicagoPublicRadio
Karl Rove’s Reality
In his new book "Courage And Consequence," Karl Rove blames himself for the handling of the war in Iraq...but not in quite the way you'd think. Far from finding fault in helping the administration's push to start a war in Iraq over non-existent weapons of mass destruction, Rove says the one thing he's sorry for is not managing the spin well. The man formerly known as "Turdblossom" says that, after it became apparent there were no WMD and Democrats blasted the White House for the war, "we should have countered in a forceful and overwhelming way. We should have seen this for what it was: a poison-tipped dagger aimed at the heart of the Bush presidency." He added: "So who was responsible for the failure to respond? I was. I should have stepped forward, rung the warning bell, and pressed for full-scale response. I didn't." And that, ladies & gentlemen, is Karl Rove's take-away from the war in Iraq. [Washington Post]
Posted 5:41 PM | Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 | Permalink
Right Wing Wackiness
Source: flickr/thomasroche
Gettin’ all Journalismy
Here's our money quote for today; Sarah Palin talking last night about why she joined Fox News:
"I studied journalism, my college degree there in communications. And now I am back there wanting to build some trust back in our media. I think the mainstream media is quite broken and I think there needs to be the fairness, the balance in there — that’s why I joined Fox. Fair and balanced, yes. You know because, Jay, those years a go that I studied journalism it was all about the who, what, when, where, and why, it was not so much the opinion interjected in hard news stories. … As long as there is not the opinion under the guise of hard news stories — I think there needs to be clear differentiation."
We can't make this stuff up. [ThinkProgress]
Posted 3:34 PM | Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 | Permalink
Political Junkie
Gov. Ritter Involved in Bike Accident
According to reports, Gov. Bill Ritter suffered "multiple rib fractures" in a bicycle accident early today. Luckily, the governor was treated at Denver Health Medical Center and is said to be OK and "in good spirits." Here's the rundown of what happened: Ritter was riding his bike around 6 a.m. with a group of friends, when he somehow collided with one of the other cyclists in the group near 23rd Avenue and High Street. The other cyclist had a minor injury and was not taken to the hospital. [Denver Post]
Posted 11:45 AM | Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 | Permalink
Right Wing Wackiness
Record Breaking Performance
Congratulations to Senate Republicans, who are officially on pace to break the record for most filibusters in a single Congress.
From the AP story: "The numbers are astonishing in this Congress," says Jim Riddlesperger, political science professor at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.
Last year, the first of the 111th Congress, there were a record 112 cloture votes. In the first two months of 2010, the number already exceeds 40.
The Republicans are on track not just to break the record, but to shatter it; if they keep their pace, they will more than triple it. [Associated Press via Rawstory]
Posted 4:29 PM | Monday, March 1st, 2010 | Permalink
Money Money Money
Wake Up, Senator!
Maybe John McCain slept through the hearings, but in his appearence yesterday on NBC's Meet The Press, the Republican Senator from Arizona repeated his claim that he -- and the country -- was lied to about the TARP program in 2007. Asked about the claim by host David Gregory, McCain was adamant. "We were all misled" by Bush administration Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, McCain said. McCain went on the imply the he believed the money was going to "main street" and to address toxic assets, and not to bail out large financial institutes. [Talking Points Memo]
Posted 4:26 PM | Monday, March 1st, 2010 | Permalink
Green Is Good
I know, there is lots of snow, but…
With all the talk of Americans being frustrated with both political parties, Lindsey Graham might be on to something. Last week, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) spoke with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman to discuss clean energy legislation. During the interview, Graham warned his party that it would be making a big mistake to brush off climate change -- especially with younger voters. From ThinkProgress, "according to the Benenson Strategy Group, 58 percent of voters in 16 battleground states support a cap-and-trade bill like the House-passed American Clean Energy and Security Act that invests in clean, renewable energy sources. The same poll shows that Americans desire regulation of carbon polluters so much that 59 percent of voters believe the Environmental Protection Agency should act on the issue if Congress does not." [ThinkProgress]
Posted 4:23 PM | Monday, March 1st, 2010 | Permalink
Political Junkie
Source: White House/wikipedia
Palin, Bush Crossing Paths?
Laura Bush and Sarah Palin are rarely seen together in public, but both are set to appear at the same forum this June in North Carolina. Bush and Palin are the featured speakers at the Blueridge Educational Resource Group "Women's Expo" on June 5 in Charlotte, according to reports. Bush will speak around 1 p.m. following a VIP luncheon while Palin will address the crowd at 4 p.m. The two will also hold a book signing for the first 75 people who purchase the $300-a-piece tickets. [CNN]
Posted 2:00 PM | Monday, March 1st, 2010 | Permalink
Right Wing Wackiness
Bunning Effect
Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) didn't just stop extensions of unemployment and health insurance benefits with his hold last week. He also stopped an extension of the Highway Trust Fund for 30 days, leaving 2,000 federal workers on furlough due to lack of funds. Doesn't stop there: the DOT says that number could climb if this stalemate over funding drags on, leaving 41 critical construction projects in limbo and thousands without a paycheck. [ABC]
Posted 9:43 AM | Monday, March 1st, 2010 | Permalink
Political Junkie
Census Shenanigans
What do you do when you get in hot water for sending out shady fundraising letters tricked out to look like official Census Bureau letters? Send out another round, of course! Just weeks after getting busted for the first faked Census letter, Michael Steele and the RNC sent a part 2, in an envelope reading, "PROCESS IMMEDIATELY -- 2010 CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT CENSUS ENCLOSED...DO NOT DESTROY -- OFFICIAL DOCUMENT." The inside reads, "I have authorized a Census to be conducted of every Congressional District in the country. Enclosed is your official 2010 CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT CENSUS registered CODE .... in your name as a representative of your area." The letter then asks leading questions about how awful Democrats are then asks for a contribution. Luckily, Talking Points Memo was there. [TPM]
Posted 10:19 PM | Thursday, February 25th, 2010 | Permalink
Political Junkie
In Case You Missed It
"Of course it's the nature of the modern Congress, which hires lots of nice young staffers who have never had a real job, who spent their entire life being arrogant to visitors from back home, who end up thinking they know a lot because they stay up until 3 o'clock working on a word processor, and who write legislation as though they have some contact with reality." --Newt Gingrich, on Congressional staffers. [Politico]
Posted 9:14 AM | Thursday, February 25th, 2010 | Permalink
Money Money Money
Things are a little different now
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA) was never a big fan of the stimulus bill – at least not when he was runner for Governor. He repeatedly criticized the bill, saying that although it was “massive,” he didn’t think it would “have a stimulus effect.” From the Virginian-Pilot in 2009:
How quickly things change, though. Now that he’s in office, apparently he feels differently. On Monday, McDonnell proudly “announced that Virginia will receive a total of $24 million in federal funding to advance health information technology” — money made possible by the stimulus, which McDonnell conveniently failed to mention. And yesterday, McDonnell went even further and asked for more stimulus dollars and said he would support Congress extending the stimulus bill. [ThinkProgress]
Posted 3:57 PM | Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 | Permalink
Page 1 of 1
Subscribe to our RSS Feed
Subscribe to the MicCheck Podcast
Follow MicCheck on Twitter
Become a fan of MicCheck on Facebook
Subscribe to the MicCheck Newsletter
