Matthews: Republicans are #39;party of massive resistance #39;
Chris Matthews examines the Republican Party #39;s official plan to remain competitive with the Democrats as the demographics of this country shift. HARDBALL WITH CHRIS MATTHEWS - 7:58 PM ...
By: MSNBC News
Originally posted here:
Matthews: Republicans are 'party of massive resistance' - Video
Oregon Governor to Resign / John Kitzhaber, Republicans
NBC News has confirmed that Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber will resign amid a growing ethics scandal. THE CYCLE - 3:19 PM 2/13/2015 explore: Republicans Breaking news, latest news, current...
By: MSNBC News
Read more:
Oregon Governor to Resign / John Kitzhaber, Republicans - Video
Over the past week, I have received several messages taunting me over Donald Sterling, the well-known racist and owner of the NBAs Los Angeles Clippers. Readers want to know why I dont point out this racist Democrat. There is no quetion that Sterlings comments were racist so lets start with the recording that started it all:
I didnot post this video on this website before because I dont consider Donald Sterling to be a political figure and that is the primaryfocusof this blog. However, in response to the Cliven Bundy facepalm, the Conservative Media put Sterling on my radar.
The headlines started coming out on some major right wing political websites and blogs:
LA Clippers Owner Donald Sterling is a Racist Democrat- The Tea Party News Network
Report: Clippers Owner Caught In Racist Rant Is A Democratic Donor Fox Nation
Donald Sterling made donations to Dems Politico
Media Ignoring Dem Donations of LA Clippers Owner, Allegedly Caught on Tape in Race-Based Rant NewsBusters
NBA Sterling is a Democrat The Drudge Report
Race Hate Spewing Clippers Owner Is Democratic Donor The Daily Caller
Rush Limbaugh went off on a tirade about it on Monday saying,This guy is a big Democrat The only reason he is in trouble right now is that he did not give enough money to Obama. He then went on to rant about Sterling beinga typical Hollywood Democrat and a litany of other textbook Limbaugh hyperbole.
Link:
Republicans are Racists | And they're not shy about it.
Republicans won big in November on the hopes that a GOP-led Congress could counterbalance President Obamas imperial presidency.
But as the deadline approaches to fund the Department of Homeland Security (Feb. 27), it looks like Republicans would rather play chicken with Democrats than actually get something accomplished.
The House has passed a bill funding DHS that includes provisions to undo the presidents actions on immigration.
Even many of us who support comprehensive immigration reform, including giving some illegal immigrants the ability to earn legal status, have grave reservations about the presidents approach. His decision to use executive action to circumvent Congress is a dangerous precedent.
But this is something the courts should decide. A suit filed by 26 states is before a district court in Texas at the moment, and a decision could be handed down any day.
And the bigger issue is whether a fight over what to do about 11 million illegal immigrants now in the United States is worth risking national security for all the 320 million people who live here.
The threats to US security are real and they dont come from people who simply want to work here doing jobs most Americans shun.
Republicans have allowed themselves to walk into a trap, and they seem to have no idea how to extricate themselves.
Democrats may be the ones filibustering DHS funding, but dont count on the media or the public to blame them if DHS runs out of money at the end of the month.
The fact is, most recent polls show that a majority of Americans back the presidents policy to grant temporary relief from deportation to many illegal immigrants.
See the rest here:
Republicans lemmings over the cliff
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images Jeb Bush, at an event in Detroit this month, gave a speech called Restoring the Right to Rise in America," another sign of Republicans' growing interest in the issue of inequality.
For decades, Democrats have been the party that emphasizes concerns about inequality. So why are many top Republicans including a number of the partys presidential hopefuls talking about the issue?
Issue ownership theories predict that parties and candidates will emphasize issues on which they have an advantage specifically, ones in which the public tends to see their party as more competent. For instance, Democrats historically own education and health care, while Republicans are typically seen as better on crime and national security. Given that the G.O.P. has prioritized economic growth and opportunity over distributional concerns in recent decades, we would therefore expect concerns about inequality to be voiced primarily by Democrats like Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, not Republicans.
Yet last week, Jeb Bush gave a speech in Detroit titled Restoring the Right to Rise in America the latestin a series of proposals and statements by top Republicans focusing on the rapid increase of income inequality in this country.
Though Republicans shift in emphasis has drawn some derisive commentary, its worth examining why one party might choose to trespass into territory associated with the other. Such a move may be necessary to address an issue that the public sees as especially important and to minimize the damage it can cause to a disadvantaged candidate or party. In his first presidential campaign, for instance, Bill Clinton successfully portrayed himself as tough on crime, defusing a highly salient issue that had been seen as a weakness of Democrats such as the partys 1988 presidential nominee, Michael Dukakis.
Along these lines, Mr. Obamas recent focus on inequality has helped make the issue more prominent in policy debates within Washington. But the issue is still not a top public concern in fact, fewer than half of Americans think the government should do a lot to address it.
A better explanation is that the G.O.P. needs a way to criticize President Obamas management of the economy. With more jobs being created, Republicans have been forced to shift to criticizing inequality and continued wage stagnation rather than a lack of economic growth.
Another reason candidates trespass into the other partys issues: They hope to be seen as less deficient in character traits associated with those issues. Research by the political scientist Danny Hayes finds in particular that Republican candidates who can successfully portray themselves as at least as compassionate or empathetic as their opponents can turn a traditional Democratic advantage into an electoral asset. George W. Bush, for instance, focused on the traditionally Democratic issue of education to bolster his credentials as a compassionate conservative. By contrast, the 2012 Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, was unusually poorly regarded on character traits such as empathy a possible consequence of criticism of his career at Bain Capital and a leaked video in which he described 47 percent of Americans as dependent on government.
The Republican focus on inequality could address this vulnerability by helping the party look more caring, reducing the G.O.P.s damaging reputation for caring only about the economic interests of the rich, as National Reviews Ramesh Ponnuru put it.
But there is risk in issue-trespassing of the sort that the Republicans are attempting. One political science study found that the strategy is rarely successful and that voters tend to rely on party stereotypes instead a conclusion that is reinforced by miscues like the infamous Dukakis tank ride. Democrats are already likening Jeb Bush to Mr. Romney in an attempt to buttress the stereotype of the G.O.P. as the party of the rich.
See the original post here:
Why Republicans Are Suddenly Talking about Economic Inequality