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Entries in GOP (35)

Monday
Sep122011

Tea Party Underwhelmed By Current GOP Field

TAMPA — Conservatives will be paying particularly close attention to tonight’s Republican debate, the second of three scheduled for this month and the first ever to be co-hosted by the Tea Party.

At a pre-debate luncheon sponsored by the Heritage Foundation, voters listened to analysts explain what candidates must do to win the support of the Tea Party crowd. Most of the 150 or so in attendance raised their hands when CNN’s John King, who moderated the panel discussion, asked them whether they were satisfied with the current field. Moreover, only a handful said they wanted former Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin to enter the race.

That would appear to be good news for the current crop of contenders. Except that there are still some out there who question whether the candidates will truly represent the Tea Party’s interests.

For example, ever heard of Agenda 21? Probably not. But ask members of the Sutter Buttes Tea Party based in Yuba City, California. These folks argue that the plan, adopted by 178 nations at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) back in 1992, is allowing governments worldwide to force “green” lifestyles upon citizens. The issue most recently came up during a townhall event hosted by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who downplayed concerns over Agenda 21 after being confronted about it. Larry Virga, Coordinator of the Sutter Buttes Tea Party Patriots, told me that even the most conservative of candidates this cycle have not paid enough attention to the issue. He doubted that any of them have even heard about the program.

It’s extremely unlikely that the topic of Agenda 21 will surface either at tonight’s debate or any others that will follow. Candidates will instead be asked about their plans to grow the economy, strengthen America’s safety net programs and manage the nation’s wars abroad. In the end, the vast majority of those who align with the Tea Party will vote for a Republican — whether it’s Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin or anyone else — against President Obama next year.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll feel comfortable with their choice.

Larry Calabretta, who made the roughly one-hour trip down I-4 from Orlando, told me today that he doubts whether Republican leaders in Washington “get” the Tea Party. “I don’t know,” he said. “That remains to be seen.”

“Absolutely not,” added Billie Tucker, a leader in the First Coast Tea Party based in Jacksonville, Florida.

When I asked Calabretta about Perry, the presumptive frontrunner who leads the rest of the field according to recent polls, he sounded skeptical.

“I think a lot of [Perry’s success] is media driven,” he said. “Rush [Limbaugh] is right…you listen to what the media is saying and that’s who you want to steer away from.”

Monday
Sep122011

Perry Defends His Position On Social Security

Republican presidential candidate and Texas Gov. Rick Perry continues to be a vocal advocate of reforming Social Security, despite having drawn an increasing amount of criticism after calling the program a “Ponzi scheme.” 

In a USA Today Op-Ed, Perry defended his stance on the entitlement program Monday, saying Americans must know the truth about the potential for insolvency in the program. 

“The first step to fixing a problem is honestly admitting there is a problem,” Perry wrote. “But Americans deserve a frank and honest discussion of the dire financial challenges facing [Social Security].”

Perry argued that by 2037, retirees will only be receiving 76 cents for every dollar they put into the program. 

“Imagine how long a traditional retirement or investment plan could survive if it projected investors would lose 24 percent of their money?” he argued.

For too long, politicians have been afraid to speak honestly about Social Security,” he wrote. “We must have the guts to talk about its financial condition if we are to fix Social Security and make it financially viable for generations to come.”

Perry has weathered much of the storm follwoing his “Ponzi scheme” remarks and continues to lead a narrowing GOP presidential field just ahead of Monday’s debate in Florida.

Thursday
Sep082011

GOP Senators Expect More "Hopeless" Policies From Jobs Speech

A group of Republican senators blasted President Obama’s economic policies Thursday previewing his highly anticipated jobs speech.

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters that he expects more of the same “hopeless” measures from Obama’s speech, but acknowledged that the GOP stands ready to work with him.

“I think tonight you’re going to see, probably, some of the same plays from the same old playbook,” Thune said. “There’s a gap between what [Obama] says and what he does. He says some of the right things but his policies tell an entirely different story.”

Thune was joined by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) who previously opposed Obama’s proposal to spend as much as $300 billion to boost job growth and spur the economy. Sessions argued that spending more would only increase the nation’s debt, something the Alabama Republican said is stalling economic growth.

“The debt is the jobs crisis,” Sessions said. “There’s no doubt about it that the debt of the United States is causing great concern through our entire economy.”

Sessions said he wants to hear the president lay out specifics regarding how Obama plans on paying for his proposals to extend payroll tax cuts and extending jobless benefits that will soon expire. These two measures combined amount to nearly $170 billion in spending.

“I’ll be looking tonight to see if this proposal is, indeed, paid for, or is it just another attempt to gain a sugar high by immediate spending that will increase our debt and will weaken our economy.”

Wednesday
Jul132011

Obama Using Debt Limit Scare Tactics, Say House GOP'ers

A trio of GOP lawmakers blasted President Obama Wednesday for using fear as an ultimatum and a means to convince Americans that the nation’s debt limit must be raised by August 2.

Reps. Steve King (R-Iowa), Louis Gohmert (R-Texas) and Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) accused Obama of threatening Americans after saying he could not guarantee seniors would receive their Social Security benefits if the debt limit is not raised.

“I would encourage the Speaker not to believe the President anymore… because if he did his homework, [Obama] will find that there’s such a thing as a Social Security Trust Fund.”

Gohmert said the fund would provide the government with enough money to pay Social Security beneficiaries for months to come, even if Congress did nothing to raise the nation’s debt limit.

Both Gohmert and Bachmann blasted the Obama administration for using scare tactics against Americans, attempting to make a potential default seem life-ending and comparing these negotiations to the CR debate that took place earlier this year.

“This is a misnomer that I think the President and the Treasury Secretary are trying to pass of on the American people,” Bachmann told reporters. “That is simply not true.”

The three conservatives introduced a piece of legislation that would ensure that the interest on the country’s debt and members of the military be paid in the event of a default. The bill, known as the PROMISES Act, will allow the country to avoid default on August 2, according to the trio.

“There’s money there no matter what we do,” Gohmert said.

Friday
Jul082011

Boehner Blames Obama, Senate Dems For Weak Job Growth

By Philip Bunnell

Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) took President Obama and Senate Democrats to task Friday following the release of new labor data that shows rising to 9.2 % and few new jobs.  

The Republican leader was quick to point to the several “job creating bills” that passed the GOP controlled House but were stalled by the Democrat controlled Senate.

In an appearance before reporters Friday morning, Boehner and other Republican Representatives pointed to several bills that they claimed could create “millions of jobs.”  Bills to end the drilling moratorium and rid the private sector of government imposed regulations, the House Republicans said, would drastically reduce unemployment.

With regards to the debt ceiling negotiations, Boehner described the situation as “urgent, even dire.”  However, when pressed over how he could “sweeten the deal,” to make the entitlement cuts more palatable to Democrats, the Speaker simply joked “if you have any suggestions, pass them on.”

Boehner and other Republicans will meet with the President again on Sunday to try and reach a deal on the debt ceiling.