Seems that the little tiff the GOP money people are having with the Todd Akin wing of the party that Anne Laurie was talking about this weekend is now turning into an outright donnybrook over at WIN THE MORNING.
Two powerful conservative groups reacted with scorn Sunday to a newly unveiled American Crossroads initiative, dubbed the Conservative Victory Project, that plans to work against Republican primary candidates it views as unelectable.
Crossroads president Steven Law told the New York Times that Crossroads allies are creating the new organization to oppose candidates such as former Missouri Rep. Todd Akin, who lost a once-competitive Senate race last year. “There is a broad concern about having blown a significant number of races because the wrong candidates were selected,” Law said.
Both the Club for Growth and the Senate Conservatives Fund – two of the most prominent groups that have boosted candidates on the right – mocked the new initiative as yet another hapless establishment-side attempt to muzzle the GOP base.
Matt Hoskins, executive director of the Senate Conservatives Fund, branded it the “Conservative Defeat Project.”
“The Conservative Defeat Project is yet another example of the Republican establishment’s hostility toward its conservative base. Rather than listening to the grassroots and working to advance their principles, the establishment has chosen to declare war on the party’s most loyal supporters,” Hoskins said. “If they keep this up, the party will remain in the wilderness for decades to come.”
Yeah, this is going to be fun. Both sides know that at this point that GOP races where the Republican has a shot to win in the general are completely determined by the amount of crazy that gets through the primaries. Both sides want control of the primary process going into 2014. Both sides are confident they’re going to win, the other side will knuckle under, and that the GOP will happily get back to taking over the country.
Of course, both sides of course are filled with reactionary mustache-twirling meatheads who thought Mitt Romney and Todd Akin were winners too. Let’s watch the bloodshed, shall we?
balconesfault
I needed something to smile about this morning!
After I’d read Rove’s first salvo, I was afraid the right wing would line up behind the proposal and use it as a tool to control the rhetoric that kills their chances with moderates (while still sheparding the same extreme policies). This has the potential to consume huge piles of cash while further sullying the (R) brand.
eric
Just another example as to how black, godless, vagina-loving gay democrats use the media to sully the good intentions of god-fearing republicans.
more popcorn please
Rustydude
Is this a more appropriate response… Proceed, idiots!
reflectionephemeral
I was just writing about this too. It’s an entertaining matchup, for sure, but I want to know what on Earth a “Conservative Victory Project” ad will look like.
They can’t attack anyone for being extreme– in a GOP primary, that’s a plus. So what are they going to do? Just try to flood the market with ads that promote folks like Castle and Lugar without even mentioning opponents like O’Donnell and
AkinMourdock?Grumpy Code Monkey
Popcorn futures are going through the roof.
I know various wings of the Democratic party have come to blows before, and that some of those battles cost us dearly over the years in terms of botched races, but it never seemed as nasty as what the GOP is going through now.
Or was I just too young to notice?
Joey Maloney
This looks to me like professional wrestling. There’s the Good Guys and the Bad Guys and they each have their fans, and the more the Good Guy and the Bad Guy act like they hate each other, the louder their fans get. Except in this case the fans open their checkbooks instead of their throats. And afterwards, the Good Guy and the Bad Guy take off their makeup and sit down over drinks, count their money, and laugh about the rubes.
Seriously, it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if this is just a new twist on the grift.
Zandar
@Joey Maloney: Meet the new boss. Just as 1% as the old boss.
But we won’t get fooled again, right?
LGRooney
And didn’t Obama say in November, after his victory, that this would cause a civil war within the GOP? Yes, my prescience!
Carl Nyberg
I can’t wait until Republican A asks Republican B, “On what issue am I too conservative?”
Getting Republicans to talk about “Conservatism” is specific terms instead of broad principles will be a real problem for them.
Putting money into less stridently and less foolishly “Conservative” candidates will probably tempt more millionaire businesspeople to run for the U.S. Senate. Most of these people will be shitty candidates.
balconesfault
@reflectionephemeral: So what are they going to do? Just try to flood the market with ads that promote folks like Castle and Lugar without even mentioning opponents like O’Donnell and Akin?
My guess was to build up big enough piles of cash that they could bribe the O’Donnell and Akins to stay out of the races where extremism will cost the party.
Fred
What I want to see is where FOX lands in this fight. Are they with Karl (they ran over my dog) Rove and the money boyz or will they stand by their gollum, the Tea Party?
Can I have butter on my popcorn?
Rick Massimo
OK, anyone who breaks the Republican habit of taking the actual name of something, changing it to your own bastardization, and then using it constantly, is on the way to righting the GOP ship. That’s not the most damaging habit conservatives have, but it’s way the most irritating. Most of us outgrew that by about age 12.
Gindy51
@reflectionephemeral: “I want to know what on Earth a “Conservative Victory Project” ad will look like.”
I suspect a clusterfuck of epic proportions.
GregB
@Rick Massimo:
Adults with the intellect of a 12 year old boy, or as I like to call them, the Republican base.
Bulworth
I’ll admit I’d not heard of this wonderfully FAIL successful grassroots organization before.
Steeplejack
@LGRooney:
Off topic, but here’s a clip of that Tears for Fears song you were looking for the other day. I finished reading that thread after it died.
Hill Dweller
The oligarchs have no one but themselves to blame. They openly embraced and stoked the wingnuts’ rage during Obama’s first two years, but ultimately lost control. Too f’n bad.
I hope the wingnuts destroy the party.
Roger Moore
@reflectionephemeral:
I think the logical approach is to focus on the very specific rather than the general. Instead of saying “Joe Schmoe is unelectable because he spends too much time justifying rape”, they find some minor point on which Mr. Schmoe voted against the Republican line or some personal peccadillo and hammer him endlessly on that.
I still think it’s a good time to look into popcorn futures.
aimai
They have a saying in dealing with crazy family members “They can be angry, but you can be gone.” That’s basically what will happen if the Corporate/sensible wing of the Republican party really pissess off the actual, you know, voting lunatic base. Rove can run Steve Forbes or another Mittens B. Moneybags and a mealy mouthed liar all he wants but the harder he publicly attacks the teaparty base voter the more likely they are to take their ball and go home and just vote third party or sit the election out. And they won’t sit out the primary–their blood is up–they’ll turn out to vote for their own candidates in the primary and screw the general.
Southern Beale
It’s not just the money thing. Here in Tennessee we have a state senator proposing a new system that would get rid of “costly” primary battles for U.S. senate candidates and have the party caucuses decide who the candidates will be. Not surprisingly, the plan would,
Ha ha ha. What a coinky-dinky, this story hit the same day we got this story about Lamar Alexander voting with Obama “more often than any Republican from the South.” Teanuts hate Alexander — and Corker — for not being “true conservatives.”
My resident GOP troll hopped over to explain to me that this plan really empowers the states by making the Senators more accountable to them, not “special interests.” BULLSHIT! It’s another way of trying to gut the Tea Party! LOL.
Petorado
Interesting to see the capitalist looter wing of the Republican Party recognizing that the ideologically crazy wing of their party are no longer the useful idiots they used to be. It appears that a diminishing and unpopular base of backwards-thinking hyper-conservative zealots is no longer good for business.
jibeaux
I hope the Conservative Defeat Project gets a new cheerleading routine from Michelle.
They may go down, but they will go down fapping!
Tokyokie
Rooting for one side or another in this contest strikes me as about the same as picking sides in the recent Alabama-Notre Dame game.
Baud
I’ll be interested in seeing where the fundy churches line up in all of this. My impression is that they are a big part of the GOP messaging, volunteering, and turnout machine.
Scott S.
My only regret is that I don’t like popcorn. And I don’t have any pretzels left after sending them all to the Bush clan. I suppose I’ll have to make do with enjoying the bloodshed while snacking on string cheese…
Rustydude
@Carl Nyberg: I can’t wait until Republican A asks Republican B, “On what issue am I too conservative?”
Or, if they’re really self-reflective they might ask… Does this policy make my ass look too conservative?
jibeaux
@Tokyokie: Speaking for myself, I’m rooting for injuries.
Jay in Oregon
@Southern Beale:
I’ve got a cheaper idea.
Give each primary candidate a knife, put them all in a large room, and turn the lights out. The last one standing gets the nomination.
jibeaux
@Rick Massimo: I agree, but I think this is not likely to happen. Changing “victory” to “defeat” = the apex of conservative wit.
Roger Moore
@Southern Beale:
Yeah, they’re accountable to the state party apparatus rather than to the “special interest” known as the party base. I guess that goes hand in hand with the Republicans being the party of the oligarchy.
Tokyokie
@jibeaux: Yeah, even a well-placed meteor would still be too messy.
Kip the Wonder Rat
@Carl Nyberg: Millionaire idiots get voted in all the time. Just ask Wisconsonites.
Zandar
@Tokyokie: That’s why there’s orbital ion cannons.
amk
so adelson and other such moneybag preeks are in which camp?
LGRooney
@Steeplejack: Cool, thanks.
Mr Stagger Lee
@Gindy51: Whom the gods destroy, they first make mad.
patrick II
@Fred:
I was wondering about that too. I was thinking that it would be right-wing TV (FOX) with O’Reilly & Cavuto vs. Right Wing Radio (Limbaugh, Michael Savage, etc.
I have no idea where those who have a strong presence on both (Hannity, Ingram) would be.
JGabriel
Anne Laurie @ Top:
Neither can live while the other survives.
.
redshirt
Isn’t the entire point of Koch money and the various front groups (AKA Grover) to enforce Republican orthodoxy? And if some Republican wavers, to primary their ass with a more “compliant” candidate?
And now they’re against it? Hilarious.
LGRooney
@Baud: That will depend on whether we’re talking about those enriched by the prosperity gospel message or the “real” grassroots.
MattF
And all the frustration that wingers feel about the scandal-free Obamas will likely leak over into their fights with “the skeletons in your closet have skeletons in their closets” Republican opponents. Good times.
NotMax
Grassroots are great.
If your objective is to grow grass.
Bubblegum Tate
@Carl Nyberg:
It really will be, won’t it? They’re seriously opposed to that. Various Wingnut Barometers of mine have been on a serious kick the past year or so (especially post-election) that conservatives should refuse to talk about issues altogether (because issues are just “distractions,” you see) and instead should solely talk about “the philosophy of limited government.” They want to keep things as theoretical and hypothetical as possible, and they want to launch a massive “re-education” program to get the public to forget about any issues that matter to them and instead think solely in terms of broad principles.
I think that on some level, wingnuts know the public isn’t with them on issues, so their answer is to never talk about issues. Sounds like a great plan, right?
Baud
@LGRooney:
I’m sure money will play a big part, but I think one of the things you’re starting to see is that there is money on both sides of the GOP divide now.
Bubblegum Tate
PS: I just got a “malware found at balloon-juice.com” warning from Chrome after posting my comment above. Maybe one of the ads being served up has been compromised?
Face
For once, he’s absolutely correct. They’ve finally figured out that the base is batshit insane.
Good luck putting that crazypaste back in the tube.
Ben Franklin
Is there a brewing war between Young and Old. There’s already been some grousing about the Boomers using up SS. ACA may flame that up.
The forecasts in the study are higher than most so far by allies and foes of the Affordable Care Act. But it is likely that some in the group will face increases. That’s because the same new insurance market rules that will make coverage more affordable for older and sicker people will make insurance for young and healthier people more expensive.
Most other studies have tried to estimate average premium increases, which have ranged anywhere from negligible to 85 percent and higher. This survey looks at individual examples in specific markets to show the itemized impact of the major Obamacare reforms.
The insurers estimated that a healthy 27-year-old man in Austin, Texas, who pays $54 a month for insurance this year would have a $153 premium if Obamacare’s market regulations were in effect.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/02/premium-price-shock-could-fuel-some-aca-foes-87116.html#ixzz2Jwj5kzt3
Higgs Boson's Mate
“No one could have anticipated” that empowering the lunatics would result in their running the asylum.
Baud
@Ben Franklin:
Does that compare apples-to-apples in terms of the quality of insurance coverage, and does it take into account federal subsidies?
Southern Beale
@Jay in Oregon:
Shouldn’t that be a GUN not a knife? :-)
Bubblegum Tate
@Jay in Oregon:
So like SNL’s Tizzle-Wizzle Game, basically.
JGabriel
@reflectionephemeral:
CVP will air ads that promote folks like Castle and Lugar while accusing extremists like O’Donnell, Akin, and Mourdock of being secret liberals stabbing them in back by planning to strategically split the GOP for vile Democratic gains.
.
reflectionephemeral
@balconesfault:
Not at all implausible, though that could backfire, too. O’Donnell was probably a pure grifter, but some of these guys, I think including Steve King & Todd Akin, are True Believers. They’ve actually bought all the stuff that guys like Rove have been shoveling at them for years, and have gotten it into their heads to act on it. They’d have to be bribed cleverly. It’s a real headache for the would-be puppetmasters.
@Roger Moore:
That sounds like a good strategy. That’s actually what they did to Santorum— “look at all this awful stuff Rick Santorum did, because he was a Republican US Senator when George W. Bush was president!”
ADDED: @JGabriel: Ok, that would actually be pretty awesome.
Woodrowfan
that takes some good coordination….
MomSense
Remember several months ago when the Metrosexual, black Abe Lincoln predicted there would be a war within the Republican Party after the election and it was dismissed by all the villagers?
JGabriel
@Bubblegum Tate:
I got that today at Eschaton (aka Powder Blue Satan). Some adserver is being targetted by Google as delivering malware — I’ve no idea whether they’re right or not, though.
Better safe than sorry is probably the better dictum to follow in this situation. Don’t click through the warning — instead, backtrack and reload until the warning goes away (meaning the page is re-loading without the offending content).
.
Ben Franklin
@Baud:
I’m not sure about subsidies, but the article says this is a basic policy.
reflectionephemeral
Well, just sent myself into moderation by editing my comment, listed at #53 to me above. Will repost most of it here.
@balconesfault:
Not at all implausible, though that could backfire, too. O’Donnell was probably a pure grifter, but some of these guys, I think including Steve King & Todd Akin, are True Believers. They’ve actually bought all the stuff that guys like Rove have been shoveling at them for years, and have gotten it into their heads to act on it. They’d have to be bribed cleverly. It’s a real headache for the would-be puppetmasters.
@Roger Moore:
That sounds like a good strategy. That’s actually what they did to Santorum– “look at all this awful stuff Rick Santorum did, because he was a Republican US Senator when George W. Bush was president!”
@JGabriel: Ok, claiming that Todd Akin is a secret liberal would actually be a pretty awesome thing for Rove to do.
Roger Moore
@Baud:
That’s been true for a while. The Bircherite wing has been supported by Koch money for a long time. I think the bigger issue is that the combination of income inequality and Citizens United has made a handful of ultra-rich donors more and more important and ordinary supporters less important.
Ben Franklin
Holy Shite. Is this true? Yowza ! The Airwaves really belong to the People?
The federal government wants to create super WiFi networks across the nation, so powerful and broad in reach that consumers could use them to make calls or surf the Internet without paying a cellphone bill every month.
The proposal from the Federal Communications Commission has rattled the $178 billion wireless industry, which has launched a fierce lobbying effort to persuade policymakers to reconsider the idea, analysts say. That has been countered by an equally intense campaign from Google, Microsoft and other tech giants who say a free-for-all WiFi service would spark an explosion of innovations and devices that would benefit most Americans, especially the poor.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/tech-telecom-giants-take-sides-as-fcc-proposes-large-public-wifi-networks/2013/02/03/eb27d3e0-698b-11e2-ada3-d86a4806d5ee_story.html
Chyron HR
@Ben Franklin:
Oh, I love this party game! Okay, give me a second…
“I estimate that a healthy 27-year-old man who pays $54/month for health insurance shoots Hannukah gelt from his fingertips.”
MattF
@reflectionephemeral: ‘Seekret librul’ is good, but I’d expect more claims that **** is a secret ****. Republican operatives know their audience.
Litlebritdifrnt
Well someone was wondering what side the right wing radio hosts would take. I am listening to my local station and Andrea Tancrero(?) (the woman that replaced Ingraham) has just gone off on a rant about Rove being a disgrace to conservatives and he should leave the party. I’ll let you know what Limbaugh and Hannity say later.
Ben Franklin
@Chyron HR:
Well, it is Politico, after all.
bjacques
Clearly the thing to do is encourage our Tea Party friends and relatives to realize the GOP is selling them out (which is true), and that they shouldn’t let it happen without a fight. It’ll be fun to see how many rallies and marches on Washington they can organize when the money men cut the purse strings. Continental Army costume rentals don’t come cheap.
Also, too, GOP caucuses and rallies should allow open carry, to demonstrate fealty to the NRA. And liquor should be served.
ETA: @Littlebritdifrnt:
Funny, that’s what KTRH radio pipsqueak Mike Berry says. Hmm…
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Chyron HR: That’s what I was thinking. When did a healthy 27 year old pay $54/month for coverage? And what kind of coverage was it: You get to have this plastic card each month to help you believe you have coverage.
? Martin
@Ben Franklin:
It’s true. We’ll see if Congress has the stones to do it, though. The FCC offered the spectrum to the carriers to do something useful with, but they were too afraid to disrupt their own revenue streams, gambling that they could buy off Congress to make sure it never gets used.
The supporters for this are themselves larger, but they aren’t big lobbyists (Apple, Google, etc.) compared to the carriers. As great as it sounds, it does come with a catch – the larger area you propose covering with a node, the greater the bandwidth that node will need to carry because it’ll pick up more users. Balancing that with the public won’t be easy. There’s no room to stream video there, but sending a text or email or even a voice call? Sure.
Woodrowfan
$54 a month? WOW! I bet his insurance covered as many as 3 bandaids and 2 aspirin a month!
MomSense
@Ben Franklin:
Oh the telecom companies must be sooooo mad!
Yutsano
@Chyron HR: Feds like to pick examples for easy maths. And insurance rates were predicted to rise because the actuaries have to account for everyone in their insurance pool now not just their cherry-picked favoured customers. This has been a known issue, but the rise would smooth out over a few years. The other consequence is there will also be insurance company consolidation as insurers feel the need to expand their pools to make the actuaries happy. Believe it or else, this is working exactly as it was planned out to.
Ben Franklin
@? Martin:
Can it be good if Google and Microsoft back it? Mebbe….
fuckwit
I was kind of squicked by the mention of “bloodshed”. Not appropriate. Also, considering how well-armed the nutbar wing of the R party is, kind of scary too. Would they consider it irresponsible to resort to actual bloodshed? Some of them already consider it irresponsible not to.
As for the popcorn, however, please proceed.
catclub
@Fred: “Can I have butter on my popcorn?”
How about that yellow petroleum product they put on it at the movies? Not good enough for ya?
Ben Franklin
@MomSense:
Imagine their response if Hagel has been appointed head of the FCC.
MomSense
@Belafon (formerly anonevent):
1980
@Woodrowfan:
The aspirin is for his girlfriend to keep between her knees in lieu of contraception coverage.
catclub
@Ben Franklin: “benefit most Americans, especially the poor.”
Well, there’s your problem plain as day.
Yutsano
@fuckwit: ALLE DE POPPE DE CORN!!
(Watch it with the captions on. It’s genius.)
burnspbesq
@Litlebritdifrnt:
I was not previously aware that you are a masochist. What other self-abuse rituals do you engage in?
catclub
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): “You get to have this plastic card each month to help you believe you have coverage. ”
One should probably suspect something from Placebo Health Corporation Insurance.
On the other hand the placebo effect is amazing.
(After search on placebo effect morphine resistance)
“Somatic pathways
In the mid-1990s, researcher Fabrizio Benedetti conducted a novel experiment whereby he induced ischaemic pain and soothed it by administering morphine. When morphine was replaced by a saline solution, the placebo presented analgesic properties. However, when naloxone (an opiate antagonist) was added to the saline solution, the analgesic properties of the water were blocked. Benedetti reached the conclusion that the placebo’s analgesic properties were a result of specific biochemical paths. Naloxone blocked not only morphine but also endogenous opioids—the physical pain-relievers.”
eemom
OT, but so durn cute I had to share: little Tagg Romtron considering Mass Senate run.
Ben Franklin
@catclub:
EFF had nothing on this specifically, but did link to this…..
“If a government wants to peek into your Web-based e-mail account, it is surprisingly easy, most of the time not even requiring a judge’s approval.
That is a problem, according to Google, which said it had received 21,389 requests for information about 33,634 of its users in the second half of last year, an increase of 70 percent in three years. Google handed over some personal data in two-thirds of those cases.”
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/28/google-says-electronic-snooping-by-governments-should-be-more-difficult/
Sounds like they are passing the ball off…..
handsmile
Holy wars are always so bloody, and surely this must be a holy war now that the Eleventh Commandment of St. Ronaldus Maximumus is being shattered with such impunity. How good it is to be a heathen!
danielx
More, please.
The Republican “establishment”, what’s left of it, has figured – finally – out that the base is insane and the the crazies are dancing naked around the flaming asylum.
That very same “establishment” fed the insanity for four decades because it served their purposes and helped win elections. Now teh crazy isn’t enough to win elections (unless there’s cheating involved), because the 27% just won’t get it done. Which why the likes of David Fucking Brooks, voice of “reasonable Republicans” keep asking who shit the bed…
The Republican base would rather see the Republican Party lose elections than lose ideological purity. They don’t care that much about elections anyway unless they win; if they don’t win it can’t possibly be because their positions are batshit insane, it has to be because the blacks and browns and dirty fucking hippies and dykes on bikes and the fluffy bunny bund cheated.
Jay C
@MomSense:
Well, it will probably still be continued to be “dismissed by the Villagers” – who, after all, do still know who it is who signs their grossly inflated paychecks. Barring some absolutely unmistakable Omen Of Doom (like a Republican trouncing in the 2014 midterms), the Washington media are most likely to ignore, or, if pushed, underreport and underplay any trends of disarray and/or ideological ruptures in the GOP. And utterly bury any serious examination of behind-the-scenes Party money-manipulations. After all, in the Beltway Village, Both Sides (always) Do It, and only Democrats are supposed to be “in disarray”.
Was it Josh Marshall who coined the phrase “Washington is wired for Republicans”, or did he just repeat it? In any case, it’s still quite true….
Litlebritdifrnt
@burnspbesq:
All of them Katie :)
handsmile
@eemom:
Many thanks, you bearer of such glad (and hilarious) tidings.
From the linked Boston Herald article: “There is no doubt that Tagg Romney, if he decides to run, could be a shining knight to crestfallen Republicans who had set their hopes on Brown.”
THERE IS NO DOUBT. The motto of the contemporary Republican party.
And this is what their faith is built upon:
“Tagg Romney, who has been fairly silent on Twitter since his father’s loss in November, seems to be bolstering his profile. He even posted a pic on Saturday of his two sons getting a haircut at Frank’s Barbershop in Belmont, a neighborhood staple.”
Woodrowfan
@MomSense: I love you!
MomSense
@Woodrowfan:
I love you back!
catclub
@handsmile: “a neighborhood staple.”
Sounds like a pretty painful haircut for a little kid.
Ben Franklin
2013 is the year the rubber hits the road? We’ll see…
Reforming Draconian Computer Crime Law
The Computer Fraud and Abust Act (CFAA), was one of the key laws the government used in its relentless and unjust prosecution of Aaron Swartz. Zoe Lofgren has proposed “Aaron’s Law,” which ensures that breaking a terms of service or other contractual obligation does not amount to a CFAA violation. Lofgren’s reforms are a terrific start and will be introduced in Congress over the coming weeks. EFF has also proposed revisions to Lofgren’s language and overall reform to the CFAA that reduces the draconian penalties and clarifies key definitions in the statute. The proposed reforms will go a long way in preventing a similar situation from happening to a freedom fighter like Aaron again. It’s unclear where the language stands in the Senate, but Senators like Ron Wyden have voiced support for Lofgren’s bill and should take up CFAA reform. You can take action and email your members of Congress to tell them to support reform of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act here.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/01/congress-will-battle-over-internet-privacy-2013
EriktheRed
“WIN THE MORNING”???
Clue me in on this one.
Suffern ACE
@handsmile: Seriously – the kids getting a haircut is a sign that he’s preparing to run for office?
? Martin
@Ben Franklin: Sure. Google and Microsoft (and Apple) don’t get their revenue from carrier fees, and they see carrier fees as a HUGE pot of money that they could convince consumers to give to them instead.
I mean, for every $1 you give to Apple for an iPhone, you’re giving $2.50 to the carriers to use the thing. Apple would be happy to relieve you of that $2.50 burden and maybe you’ll give them an extra $1 instead with the extra money now in your pocket.
Yutsano
@Suffern ACE: But don’t you see? Tagg let the press take PICTURES! It’s totally a sign he’s gonna jump in and defeat all the enemies of his father!
? Martin
@Suffern ACE:
Well, no. But people’s behavior changes when they decide to run for office. If Tagg never posted photos of his kids online and then suddenly starts posting photo-op looking photos of his kids, well, even (or maybe especially) Politico can draw a reasonable (if unnecessary, because who gives a fuck 2 years out – oh, right, Politico) conclusion from that.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
The only people we hate more than the Romans are the Judean Peoples’ Front!
Jewish Steel
@Suffern ACE: It’s not just getting a haircut. Bolstering his profile.
Don’t you understand anything about politics?
Ecks
I had basically exactly that five or six years ago. The deductable was something like 5 or 6k. It would mean I didn’t go bankrupt if I was hit by a bus, was the idea, but other medical costs were basically all on me.
Basically it worked from the insurance Co’s POV because if you’re healthy at that age, the odds of you requiring truly expensive care that year are minuscule. Of course, as I aged my risk of medical expenses would have gone up, and so they would have no longer been happy to sell me anything for that low price…
Insurance is good at spreading risk across lots of people (if there are 100 people, and one of them is going to need $100k in health costs a year, it makes sense for them all to pitch in $1k each to cover themselves in case that person is them). The model breaks down for things like health where you start to get a pretty shrewd idea in advance who the person will be, who needs the care. If you know it’s the old guy who’ll have the $100k incident, then nobody else would agree to pay $1k, because there’s no longer anything in it for them… Which leaves the old guy trying to cover the full cost himself… which is exactly the problem that insurance was supposed to solve in the first place.
punkdavid
Headline should read, “Shit Consumers Accuse Shit Peddlers of Being ‘Full of Shit’.”
punkdavid
Headline should read, “Sh*t Consumers Accuse Sh*t Peddlers of Being ‘Full of Sh*t’.”
Bubblegum Tate
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Hannity has never been able to get Rove’s cock out of his mouth, so his show should be…interesting.
Roger Moore
@Ecks:
IOW, the comparison between the old and new minimal coverage is apples to oranges, since the new minimal coverage policy covers a whole hell of a lot more than the old one did. It’s mostly an attempt to say that ZOMG, the sky is falling, rates are going to skyrocket without making a fair comparison.
Forum Transmitted Disease
The SS has finally had enough of the SA.
Looking forward to the Night of the Big Money.
liberal
@Ecks:
Which is one of the arguments for single payer—there’s one risk pool.
handsmile
@Suffern ACE:
Well, he wouldn’t want the damned brats to look scruffy in the campaign photographs, now would be? (Sadly, the enterprising reporter for whom this was the single, solitary event cited as evidence for Tagg’s possible entry into the MA Senate race, neglected to mention whether the children were among those delivered into Tagg’s world by surrogate mothers; 3 of his 6 were.)
And I see the story has now gone national this morning with the help of stenographers at Kaplan TPD, Politico, CNN, ABC ad nauseum.
As you may recall, Taggart Romney, aged 42, spoke about wanting to take a punch at President Obama following the second presidential debate. Scott Brown may have been too much of a wuss to hit a girl, but I bet Tagg would be willing to slug Ed Markey if that Irish-Catholic mick gives him any lip during the campaign.
Ben Cisco
@Suffern ACE: The voters hate hippies – ESPECIALLY the little ones…
reflectionephemeral
@EriktheRed: “Win the Morning” is POLITICO’s mission statement:
Lurking Canadian
Is there not some way for Democrats to help this process along? Rigging a bunch of three-way races between one Dem, one Tea party nutjob and one corporate stooge might be the way to break gerrymandering.
ET
Need to get me some popcorn…….
Frankensteinbeck
I wish to note that this is not the Money vs. the Base. This is the Political Machine vs. the Crazy. The biggest GOP money spigots are the Koch Brothers, and they are very much on the Tea Party’s side. Hell, they created and funded it. Even Birchers kneel in the holy presence that is pure and unrestrained Koch family batshit.
eyelessgame
@Carl Nyberg: “On what issue am I too conservative?”
Karl Rove is running this show. You know how he operates: he goes after strengths, not weaknesses. His plan will be to paint every Tea Party candidate as being to the left of Cesar Chavez.
As for where the churches will come down on this: churches are big money. They’ll align with Rove and tell their followers what to do, and their followers will do it. The evangelicals are a lot more hierarchical than they let on.
xian
@reflectionephemeral: hence the batshit crazy commenters
Anoniminous
@Joey Maloney:
But it’s got to be naked mud wrestling All In Alabama Style gougin’ and bitin’ grudge match between Eric “The Viking Man” Son of Eric and Karl “Turd Blossom” Rove.
And I want pictures or it didn’t happen.