Archive for the ‘Republican’ Category

The Republican Party Has a Histrionic Personality Disorder – Inside Higher Ed

Singularly and obstinately, Senator Tommy Tuberville, Republican of Alabama, has refused to vote for promotion of senior military leaders, including the Joint Chief of Staff, and most immediately for the highest-ranking Marine General. His reason has nothing to do with the nominations. It is because he does not like the Biden Administrations rule that military coffers will be used to pay for a member of the military or their family member who must travel out of state for an abortion. He alleges that this stand-off will not harm our military, national defense or security. He offers no evidence for that position. It is bold-faced blackmail. He knows it, and evidently his constituents know and like it. That is the real reason why he is doing it. Military leadership unanimously disagrees. Former Joint Chief of Staff, General Mark A. Milley, under the Trump Administration has publicly denounced the action in the name of combat readiness and national security.

Earlier this week, a Trump-appointed federal judge, Judge Terry A. Doughty of Louisiana, issued an order on First Amendment grounds that restricts government interaction with social media sites on matters of disinformation. While some of the evidence does suggest overreach on the part of the Biden Administrations 2022 election efforts, this opinion paints a broad stroke, and probably violates the First Amendment on the side of the government too. Exceptions do include, according to The New York Times, that the government could still notify the platforms about posts detailing crimes, national security threats or foreign attempts to influence elections. All of those specifics fall under the rubric of cybersecurity, as does mis/disinformation. Does this judge have working knowledge of cybersecurity? Me thinks not. Like Senator Tuberville, he would prioritize his politics over the health and security of our country. Hunter Bidens computer is more important than lies about election fraud?

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For those who are not familiar with my reasons for running for Congress in a 2018 and 2020 Republican District, allow me to briefly retell the story. It was during the 2016 presidential campaign. Candidate Trump invited Russia to invade our servicers, supposedly to find Hillary Clintons emails. It may have been a joke, but it was not funny. I was eating a pizza in my new condominium in Feeding Hills, Massachusetts and I threw my dinner at the TV set, creating a little mess on the carpet. You can do better than that, Tracy, I said to myself. I revered my father, his four brothers and two brothers-in-law, who fought in World War II, as well as two cousins, one on each side of the family, who went to Vietnam. Maybe that reverence contributed to my sincere interest in cybersecurity. It is, after all, essentially national security. Frivolity about something so important, and so contemporarily in flux, was not becoming to a candidate from a major political party. Given what we came to know about his idolization of Putin, it was also boldly self-serving. I thought it was my turn to step up.

My parents were Republicans. My mother was very politically minded. She hated the Kennedys and I dont think ever voted for a Democrat. English-Irish ethnically, she loved Patrick Buchanan and, I suspect, would have been an ardent supporter of Trump. My father was more practically minded. He voted for Mario Cuomo, believed in choice, and would not have appreciated the grifter aspect of the previous president. He might have voted for him in 2016, but I dont think he would have in 2020. Dont ask me how I turned out so different. Race had something to do with it. I never once, even as a child, aligned with my parents prejudice. I credit my Catholic upbringing. Some of my middle school teachers were pro-civil rights and anti-Vietnam War, but it goes back earlier than that. The spirit of love, hope and charity struck a chord in me.

Something has shifted from those years when my parents were all about supporting our countrys national defense. Memorial Day was a very big deal in my family. My mother was rabidly anti-Communist. They both supported the war in Vietnam and voted enthusiastically for Nixon. Even as I began to translate my feelings as more in line with the Democratic politics, national security remained common ground between us. I was 12 when the United States invaded Cambodia, and I would say that is when I became more aware of the issue and against our foreign policy on that front. But still, I believed strongly in our military and have always advocated for robust national security.

What is wrong with the Republican Party? It has become so unprincipled, Machiavellian and ignorant. Applied to national security, these three traits are a disaster for the United States. I am particularly concerned about the two developments this week, Senator Tubervilles grandstand is based on polling in his state without a care for our countrys international fate. Naively, he acts as if our opponents on a global scale dont watch such antics with their own self-interest. This decision about mis/disinformation is from a judge who punches way above his weight. It is ignorant of cybersecurity and its connection to national security. Trump, of course, remains a potent threat. He will continue to run so long as the money comes in to pay his many lawyers bills and feed his ego. But what comes with it, given his predilection for autocrats, bodes very ill for our standing on the world stage. Other Republicans dont speak out. Elected officials run into elevators to avoid journalists. They shirk their responsibility embedded in the oath of office to defend the United States against threats both domestic and foreign. It is as if they live in an alternative reality.

Richard Hofstadter identified a paranoid style of American politics in the 1960s. His student, Christopher Lasch, called out the narcissism of American society in the 1970s and

My little blog post, like my run for Congress, is not going to change a damned thing. If I learned one thing from that experience it is that, try as I might, I cant fix big economic, social or political problems. But if you are reading this post, I must allow myself some degree of influence, and so here it is: Republicans voters in particular, and all voters in general, demand more of your representatives on matters of national securityrecognizing that cybersecurity is key to that landscape. As frustrated as many of us get, steer away from demonization of the other party. Remember that we are all people. My historians diagnosis, as critical as it is of Republicans, is nonetheless an attempt at giving our differences a human face. That which is human can be addressed: Manichean notions of pure good and real evil cannot. Moreover, in a democracy, the electorate has the responsibility to demand that our representatives keep us safe. That is the first order of government. Republicans as a group are not doing their job with antics such as Tuberville

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The Republican Party Has a Histrionic Personality Disorder - Inside Higher Ed

Opinion | Can the Republican Party Reverse Course? – The New York Times

William Barr, probably the most notable defector, went from leading an egregiously politicized Justice Department acting essentially as Mr. Trumps personal attorney to denouncing his former bosss criminal and unethical behavior in a string of interviews. Chris Christie, now in a quest for the White House himself, is reprimanding as unfit for office the man he once obsequiously praised as he sought a cabinet appointment.

Clearly, more Republicans who, reluctantly or not, embraced or tolerated Mr. Trumps misdeeds need to finally break their silence with the same fervor they exhibited to support him.

Any effort by members of his own party, however belated, that discredits the former president and short-circuits his hopes of re-election would be an indispensable contribution to the best interests of the majority of Americans.

Roger Hirschberg South Burlington, Vt.

To the Editor:

Finally, someone with stature addresses the elephant in the room. Liz Cheney sacrificed her congressional seat for principle. Why dont the seasoned Republicans who likely will never seek office or an appointed political post again, and have nothing to lose, show some courage?

I think of: Olympia Snowe, Dan Quayle, George W. Bush, George Pataki, John Danforth, Pete Wilson, Elizabeth Dole, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Phil Scott, Christine Todd Whitman, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Hagel, Nancy Kassebaum, John Ashcroft, Dan Coats, William Cohen, Alfonse DAmato, Jeff Flake, Bill Frist, Alan Simpson, Ted Olson, William Weld and a host of others.

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Opinion | Can the Republican Party Reverse Course? - The New York Times

LETTER: Republican candidates should look to help us – The Daily Sun

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LETTER: Republican candidates should look to help us - The Daily Sun

House Republicans move to silence Wall Street in climate fight – POLITICO

Its a delicate dance for both sides. While the committees bills have no chance of becoming law under President Joe Biden, the messaging and industrys response to it will feed into a broader political conflict that could set the table for the next time Republicans control Washington.

House GOP leaders are under pressure to score points in the rights escalating war on what many Republicans call woke capitalism even though a number of senior GOP lawmakers would rather tell government regulators, instead of executives, what to do. While framed around holding Wall Street to account, Financial Services Committee Republicans appear to be picking spots where theyll minimize friction with the industrys biggest players.

Lobbyists for their part want to avoid further inflaming tensions. Their companies are poised to be huge targets for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republican White House contenders who argue that corporations are exercising ideological agendas. Big money managers and banks already face a barrage of legislative attacks from state Republican officials over their policies on energy and guns. BlackRocks Fink, the financial industrys most prominent leader in the sustainable investing trend, said last month he will no longer use the term ESG because its been misused by the far left and the far right.

House Democrats, in a twist, are rallying behind the ability of Wall Street and investors to choose how they want to tackle societal issues such as climate change.

Well continue to be the voice thats defending the fact that the market should have choice, Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) said in an interview.

While the rights culture war has ensnared a range of major brands, such as Disney and Bud Light, the Financial Services Committee will take a more targeted approach. Its aiming at firms that play big roles in ESG investing, a strategy for managing businesses and retirement funds that elevates concerns about climate change and diversity.

Finance industry proponents argue that addressing issues like climate risk is critical for long-term investing and that theres consumer demand for it as well.

Fink, who has urged business leaders to focus on the environment, said at the New York Times DealBook Summit in November: Stakeholder capitalism is not woke its not political, its capitalism.

Bryan McGannon, managing director of US SIF, a sustainable investing advocacy group that includes investment management firms, mutual fund companies and banks, calls it free-market solutions.

Investors are demanding it, McGannon said. But also the financial industry is realizing, `Wait a second, here is a whole other set of data giving us information about how companies are run.

Republican critics who on this point have backing from other sectors such as oil and gas warn that its an outgrowth of left-leaning political pressure that threatens investor returns and the growth of the U.S. energy industry.

Adam Brandon, president of the conservative FreedomWorks, said ESG is another avenue for state control of the economy and of society. He said the Republican House majority was elected by the people to reverse this course of action.

While a number of Republicans clearly believe its a winning attack line, the House Financial Services Committee a panel where Wall Streets priorities often win the day appears to be carefully choosing which fights to take on with industry.

ESG is maybe a symptom of the larger concern of woke capitalism, Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), who leads committee Republicans ESG working group, said in an interview. This is part of the reason why [House Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry] asked me to take this on. Lets narrow the scope. Because if we go fight this multifront war were going to lose.

A report that Huizengas working group released to set the stage for this months committee work prioritizes concerns about so-called proxy advisory firms that provide recommendations to big investors on how they should vote on shareholder matters that dictate the direction of public companies.

Two proxy advisory firms Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services dominate the space and have long been targeted by business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which argue that they should be subject to greater regulatory scrutiny because of their influence over the operations of companies. Investors who rely on proxy advisory firms say they provide helpful guidance on issues like executive pay, board nominees and climate proposals pushed by shareholders.

In contrast, asset managers like BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street recurring targets for Republicans given their behemoth status and stances on ESG get less scrutiny than expected in the GOP report. Theyre called out as the Big Three but are identified by name only in a footnote. They arent expected to be the headliners of dedicated hearings at House Financial Services, unlike the two proxy advisory firms and regulators.

Republicans on a separate committee, House Judiciary, took a more aggressive tack toward the Wall Street giants Thursday, with letters that pressed BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street for information about their work as part of an international industry coalition committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Vanguard left the group last year.

State Street spokesperson Ed Patterson said Friday that the fund manager assesses and votes on shareholder proposals based on what we believe is in the best long-term interests of our clients and their investments.

Our actions and decision-making are guided by research, expert analysis and our fiduciary duty to clients, he said.

Amid the mounting pressure, the big asset managers have responded by rolling out ways for their customers to vote more directly in shareholder matters.

As an investor-owned asset manager, Vanguards interests are squarely aligned with empowering everyday investors to reach their long-term financial goals, Vanguard spokesperson Netanel Spero said. We remain singularly focused on maximizing our clients returns and giving them the best chance for investment success.

For now, bank lobbyists are also relieved that lenders appear to be getting a pass in the Financial Services Committees ESG month, despite a desire by some Republicans to pressure banks to serve fossil fuel companies and gun manufacturers.

Weve got some members who are like, Hey, you didnt name so and so and its like, OK, preliminary report, Huizenga said. The system is moving forward. Were not done with this. And when its appropriate to name names, well name names. When it is appropriate to go after a wider swath of issues, well do that. But lets chalk up a couple of wins here. This is chess. You dont declare checkmate on the first move.

He added that the ESG working group plans to release a more robust, longer report.

If the committees report and tentative hearing schedule are any indication, business groups like the Chamber of Commerce may feel little need to speak out on the endeavor. They may even see Republicans advance some of their lobbying priorities.

The American Petroleum Institute, for example, backs a bill by Barr that would require investment advisers and retirement plan sponsors to prioritize financial returns over ESG factors.

The Chamber, though it has been on the outs with Republicans in recent years, has a shared desire to rein in the proxy advisory firms and regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Chamber sued the SEC last year after it reversed Trump-era restrictions on the proxy advisory firms, whose recommendations sometimes clash with corporate management over how companies should be run.

Tom Quaadman, executive vice president of the Chambers Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness, said the group appreciates the efforts of the House Financial Services Committee to better understand the nature of ESG and its impacts across the U.S. marketplace and globally.

American markets should preserve the ability of individual investors to invest their own money based on whatever criteria they think appropriate, including their values and priorities, Quaadman said. Businesses also need the same freedom to, in conjunction with their shareholders, make decisions that they deem best for their own operations. The marketplace, not government, should be the one determining if investors and businesses have made good or bad decisions.

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House Republicans move to silence Wall Street in climate fight - POLITICO

Nikki Haley Is Focused on New Hampshire and Moving Up in the … – The New York Times

Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, five months into her first run for president, acknowledges the position she is in.

Though she was the first Republican to announce a challenge to former President Donald J. Trump, she hasnt spent a dime on television ads, is polling well behind Mr. Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and has struggled at times to make a case for her campaign.

But in an interview on Friday, at a picnic table outside a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in the small town of Lancaster, N.H., Ms. Haley downplayed concerns about her standing in the primary. Its early in the race, she said, and many voters have yet to tune in to the campaigns.

I look at it like one goal after another; I dont look at the end, she said. I know that by mid-fall, this is going to be totally different. Once you pass Labor Day, the numbers start to shift. And you can look at history for that. Thats not me just hoping, thats me knowing.

As she traversed small towns in the mountainous North Country region of New Hampshire last week, she tacitly acknowledged the uphill race, while also telling her story of overcoming long political odds to win South Carolinas governorship in 2010, making her the first woman to serve as governor of the state and the second governor of Indian descent.

During her appearances, Ms. Haley also mixed in subtle digs at her primary rivals.

I did not go to an Ivy League school like the fellas that are in this race, she told voters in a North Conway community center on Thursday. I went to a public university. Touting her degree in accounting from Clemson University, she said: Im not a lawyer. Accountants are problem solvers.

Ms. Haleys most recent swing through New Hampshire, which holds the partys first primary, was billed by her campaign as a grass-roots-focused trip, and one intended to introduce her to voters in this part of the state as a former state executive with roots in the rural South, rather than an establishment figure with Washington ties.

Frank Murphy, 54, who moved to northern New Hampshire from South Carolina in 2016, knows Ms. Haley as his former governor. When she introduced herself to the voters crowded into the Lancaster V.F.W. post, he raised his hand within the first few minutes of her speech to tell her he was from Charleston.

I got to see firsthand what she did to help the economy down there, he said, adding that he was elated to see her running for president. To come into a small town meeting like this and to speak to people and to get them to engage and to talk and ask questions? Thats what you want from a politician, he said.

The challenge for Ms. Haley is that her credentials might be more of a liability than an asset in a Republican primary that seems to be geared more toward personality than policy, with much attention concentrated on Mr. Trumps legal troubles and Mr. DeSantiss focus on social and cultural issues.

In small events and meet-and-greets, Ms. Haley spoke as much about her family and personal background as she did about the economy and foreign policy.

She complimented the scenery of the North Country, adding that its close-knit communities reminded her of her hometown, Bamberg, S.C. Her upbringing as a member of the only Indian American family in town We werent white enough to be white, we werent Black enough to be Black, she said taught her to look hard for the similarities she shared with others.

Speaking to voters at the V.F.W. outpost in Lancaster on Friday, she poked fun at the southern accents she is used to hearing in South Carolina and tested out a New England twang, asking those present if her saying Lan-cah-stah made her sound local.

Somebody said I sounded like I was from Boston, she acknowledged, to sympathetic laughs.

Ms. Haley has focused intensely on New Hampshire. By the end of this week she will have made 39 stops in the Granite State, far outpacing most of the Republican field. She is one of the few 2024 Republican contenders along with Vivek Ramaswamy to visit the counties in the states North Country region, which sits less than 200 miles from the Canadian border and has woodsy, winding roads stretching through the White Mountain range.

Her campaign says it is hanging its hopes on a growing network of supporters and volunteers in the far corners of the state, rather than spending money on radio or television ads a longstanding tradition of glad-handing and retail politicking.

The strategy has yet to generate much momentum. Most polls of the primary in New Hampshire show her in fourth place, behind Mr. Trump, Mr. DeSantis and former Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, who has also spent a significant amount of time in the state.

Ms. Haleys supporters have expressed frustration and confusion that their preferred candidate whose past roles as U.N. ambassador and governor prompted an event moderator to ask a crowd on Thursday to decide by applause which title he should use to introduce her has barely polled above 4 percent in most national public polls.

We dont understand that because shes doing so well, said Beverly Schofield, an 84-year-old Republican voter, clad in red, white and blue, who drove from Vermont with her daughter to see Ms. Haley in New Hampshire on Friday. Its very impressive that shes doing as well as she is. But Id like to see her move up that ladder quickly.

Ms. Haleys standing reflects the challenges of campaigning in this particular primary more than it does her political capabilities, her supporters say. The Republican field has ballooned to a dozen candidates, splintering the anti-Trump vote, while his recent and prospective indictments seem to have only put the former president closer to capturing the nomination. Ms. Haleys supporters are wondering how the campaign intends to turn things around.

Thats the question I wanted to ask her, said Ted Kramer, 81, a retired marketing executive who attended Ms. Haleys town hall in North Conway. Shes got to get the profile up.

Ms. Haley pointed to previous Republican front-runners who later fizzled out, such as Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and former Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin. The race so far has been painted largely as a two-man race between Mr. Trump and Mr. DeSantis, Ms. Haley said, but voters are likely to sour on one.

I know the reality of how quickly somebody can go up and how quickly they can fall, she said. The shiny object today is not the shiny object tomorrow. So its about not peaking too soon.

She added, Im very realistic about what the benchmarks are and what we need to overcome.

Those markers include securing the required number of donors and funds to make the debate stage in August which she has done. She also said she would continue to focus on Iowa and New Hampshire while building on the base she has in South Carolina, another early state, where she and Senator Tim Scott, who represents the state, are aiming to leverage similar voter bases and donor networks. The two have not spoken since he launched his campaign, she said.

Ms. Haley also admitted to feeling underestimated in the race. She is often included in conversations about vice-presidential contenders, though she has emphatically said she is not eyeing the position. She also said that many, particularly in the news media, failed to recognize the street cred that I have, listing political wins and averted crises seen during her tenure as South Carolina governor and as United Nations ambassador. I mean, these were no small jobs, she said.

Republicans longing for an alternative to Mr. Trump made up a large portion of the crowds at Ms. Haleys events, along with moderate Republicans and independent voters. Few who attended Ms. Haleys events this week said they were fully committed to supporting her, and many said they wanted to test the political waters, a signature of campaigning in New Hampshire, where most primary voters can expect to hear from every candidate in person, usually more than once.

Ms. Haley, eager to sway some of those who were on the fence, made policy points on the stump and condemned Democrats on race, education and inclusion of transgender athletes. She criticized both Democrats and Republicans for the handling of Covid-19 and chastised Congress, asking voters if they could point to anything their representatives in Washington had done for them.

She also drew on her foreign policy background, saying that the biggest threat to the United States is China and repeatedly criticizing the Biden administration on its approach, folding in terse words for Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who is visiting the country this week.

Joanne Archambault, an independent voter who lives near North Conway, said she liked Ms. Haleys message and saw her as an authoritative speaker on policy issues. Still, she said that Ms. Haleys talk of foreign policy distracted from domestic priorities.

I think theres too much focus about overseas stuff, too much talk about the border and about China, she said. Lets talk about the problems we are facing you know, gun violence, abortion, lets talk about those things. Lets focus on this country and not what other countries are doing.

Her closing message to voters has been an entreaty to them to tell others to support her. That was good news to Mr. Murphy, the South Carolina transplant who said he was committed to voting for Ms. Haley in the primary in January.

She said tell 10 people. Ill probably tell 20, he said.

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Nikki Haley Is Focused on New Hampshire and Moving Up in the ... - The New York Times