To start, anyway. May pick up the pace later.
"Only 32 percent of voters say their member of Congress deserves to be re-elected, compared with 57 percent who want to give a new person a chance."
Makes you wonder how some of the scum incumbents won by such wide margins.
One who did not:
"Tea Party-backed David Brat topples GOP heavyweight Eric Cantor" by Jonathan Martin | New York Times June 11, 2014
WASHINGTON — In one of the most stunning primary election upsets in congressional history, the House majority leader, Representative Eric Cantor, was soundly defeated on Tuesday in Virginia by a Tea Party-backed economics professor who had hammered him for being insufficiently conservative.
Cantor’s defeat jolted the Republican Party — he had widely been considered the top candidate to succeed Speaker John A. Boehner one day — and it has the potential both to change the debate in Washington on immigration and to reshape the midterm elections, which had been favoring his party.
With just more than $200,000, David Brat — a professor at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland — toppled Cantor, repeatedly criticizing him for being soft on immigration and contending that he supported what critics call amnesty for immigrants in the country illegally.
The amount of money is a big key. This guy did not have the backing of even a faux front group.
Going into the elections, most Republicans had been watching for how broad Cantor’s victory would be, with almost no one predicting that he would lose.
I must admit, I didn't see it coming.
Cantor’s defeat — the most unexpected of a congressional leader in recent memory — will reverberate in the capital and could have major implications for an immigration overhaul.
See: Treating Immigration With Kid Gloves
Cantor, who is in his seventh term (or sixth?), had sought to rebut Brat’s charges on immigration, using some of his $5.4 million to send fliers and air television ads in which he claimed to oppose an “amnesty” policy. But with significant help from conservative talk radio figures such as Laura Ingraham, Brat was able to galvanize opposition to Cantor in one of Virginia’s most conservative congressional districts.
So it was a bitch and a brat that did him in?
Cantor’s loss recalled the defeat of former speaker Thomas S. Foley, a Democrat who lost to a little-known Republican, George Nethercutt, in the 1994 general elections that delivered control of Congress to the Republicans. It is extremely rare for a member of the congressional leadership to lose a primary, and he won his race for a sixth term with 58 percent. He was not seen as vulnerable in this cycle.
Yes, throwing away seniority is not an easy thing to do so Virginia's voter's must have been really pissed.
Cantor had won primary elections in his district around Richmond — which stretches more than 100 miles from the Tidewater region nearly to the Washington suburbs — with as much as 79 percent of the vote.
Within the Republican Party, he was seen as a star, with the ability to tap into the energy of the House’s more conservative members while at the same time not alienating the party’s establishment wing.
In the House, his relationship with Boehner reflected some of the larger tensions within the party. Cantor strongly opposed, for instance, negotiations between the speaker and President Obama that could have restructured entitlement programs and the deficit.
Cantor received what amounted to a warning shot from local Republicans at a district convention last month in Henrico County, his political home base, when conservatives ousted one of his loyalists as Republican chairman while he looked on.
Yet he seemed to recognize the seriousness of the threat only in the final weeks of the campaign, when he suddenly shifted his advertising and began sending aides from Washington to his district. At that point, it was too late to stave off defeat.
In addition to Brat’s criticism that Cantor was insufficiently conservative, Cantor faced anger in his district for the perception that he was too detached from the area. While he kept a home in the Richmond area and sent his children to school there, he spent much of his time in recent years traveling across the country to raise money and campaign for Republican candidates.
The corporatization effect of Washington can not be discounted.
Cantor, who began his career as the youthful driver to his predecessor, Representative Thomas J. Bliley Jr., had a longstanding ambition to become speaker of the House. Reaching that pinnacle had, of late, seemed as close as ever, with Washington full of speculation that Boehner would soon retire.
“I’m in shock,” said Representative Patrick T. McHenry, Republican of North Carolina, expressing the mood on Capitol Hill.
Cantor was part of the team that led the GOP to victory in 2010 and the mastermind of a program that propelled the very sort of Tea Party candidate who ultimately spelled his doom.
He was the original friend of freshman Republicans who, against the wishes of Boehner, resisted raising the debt ceiling and other fiscal deals.
With Cantor gone from the leadership suites, David Wasserman, an editor at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, predicted “a free-for-all” when House Republicans assemble after the November elections to pick their new leaders. At the very least, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, the No. 3 Republican, will seek to move up to majority leader, but he could also challenge Boehner.
More broadly, Cantor’s defeat will embolden conservatives like Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., who has openly complained that the leadership positions are occupied by Democratic or swing-state Republicans.
Web and rewrite adders:
The push will be for “red state” leadership.
Candidates could include Price, Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas, and brash newcomers like Rep. Tom Graves of Georgia, Wasserman said. The message is that the House must be run by more conservative leaders.
Brat will face Jack Trammell, a Democrat who is also a professor at Randolph-Macon, this fall in the heavily Republican district.
‘‘This is a miracle from God that just happened,’’ exulted Brat as his victory became clear.
With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, Brat had 56 percent of the votes to Cantor’s 44 percent.
The outcome may mark the end of Cantor’s political career, and aides did not respond Tuesday night when asked if the majority leader, 51, would run a write-in campaign in the fall.
Speaking to downcast supporters, Cantor conceded, ‘‘Obviously, we came up short.’’
Republicans were so sure that Cantor would win that most party leaders had been watching for how broad his victory would be. His defeat will reverberate in the capital and could have major implications for any chance of an immigration overhaul.
Democrats seized on the upset as evidence that their fight for House control this fall is far from over.
‘‘Eric Cantor has long been the face of House Republicans’ extreme policies, debilitating dysfunction, and manufactured crises. Tonight is a major victory for the Tea Party as they yet again pull the Republican Party further to the radical right,’’ said the Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi of California.
All the political $hit-show fooley and rhetoric no longer works when it is one party, two factions, both serving the war and corporate agendas.
Ingraham, one of the few high-profile conservatives to put her muscle behind Brat, said on Fox News on Tuesday night that the primary results were “an absolute repudiation of establishment politics” and that Republican leaders should take note.
“I think there will be a lot of people out there saying this could be the beginning of something really big for the Republican Party,” she said.
We thought Ron Paul was, but....
The majority leader also faced anger for the perception that he was too detached from his district.
--more--"
Also see:
"In South Carolina, Senator Lindsey Graham won the GOP primary outright, defeating six Tea Party challengers. The conservatism critique didn’t matter to Ben Lister, a 48-year-old financial planner from Greenville who voted for Graham. Meanwhile, Graham’s fellow Republican Senator Tim Scott won his primary by a wide margin, setting the stage for South Carolina to elect a black person to the Senate for the first time. Scott was appointed to the seat in 2012 after Jim DeMint stepped down, and the general election winner will serve the remainder of DeMint’s term. The Democrats had two primaries, though it’s widely expected that the Senate seats will remain in the GOP’s hands."
Well, we know South Carolina's elections are rigged.
What is notably absent from the discussion in my Zionist-controlled pre$$ is any indication that service to Israel was a factor. Their narrative is it was all about immigration.
"GOP looks for lessons in Eric Cantor’s loss; Tea Party victory raises question of a turn to the right" by Matt Viser | Globe Staff June 12, 2014
WASHINGTON — In the wake of House majority leader Eric Cantor’s stunning primary defeat Tuesday at the hands of a Tea Party insurgent, the Republican Party is once again in the throes of soul searching, and the urgency may be even greater. Cantor announced Wednesday that he will step down from his leadership post at the end of July, throwing the party’s leadership and direction into disarray.
Some observers believe that Cantor’s defeat — one of the biggest primary upsets in congressional history — could diminish any hopes the establishment wing of the Republican Party had of quelling the Tea Party movement’s fervor, doom plans for immigration reform, and upend planning for this year’s congressional midterm elections and the 2016 presidential race.
Given the failure of pundits to foresee Cantor’s defeat, such predictions may be fleeting. But if there’s one certainty from the 63,008 ballots cast in a congressional district based in Richmond, Va., it’s that nothing is certain until the voters have spoken.
Still, it seemed clear Wednesday that the Tea Party has been reinvigorated, prompting Republican candidates to recalibrate their appeals to the most conservative elements of the party, even if polling and other evidence suggests Cantor’s loss had more to do with how badly he ran his campaign than with his failure to embrace Tea Party positions on immigration and other issues.
“The narrative of the ‘Return of the Jedi,’ with the establishment flexing its muscle on any dissident group out there, is probably wrong,” said Tom Rath, a veteran Republican consultant in New Hampshire. “Republicans are not going to be able to duck this in November. This is going to be used a lot by Democrats to say that, ‘See, they’re not back in the middle; they’re on the fringe.’ It’s going to hurt.”
To also divert attention from Obummercare, Iraq, spying, torture, and all the other failures of their rule.
I'm not saying Repuglicans will fix things. I'm just telling you the pulse of the people.
Indeed, after Romney’s 2012 campaign, the Republican Party spent months analyzing why he had lost.
Related: Romney Still Running Republican Party
The party concluded that it needed to adopt more inclusive rhetoric, engage with minority voters, and embrace comprehensive immigration reform.
Party leaders, as if following marching orders, set up political committees designed to boost establishment candidates and doom the Tea Party.
That strategy had been largely successful during the midterm elections so far, with the establishment securing most of its desired candidates. Two top Republicans — House Speaker John Boehner and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell — both beat back Tea Party challengers. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, easily won his primary on Tuesday night.
Related: Reading the Tea Leaves of the Republican Primaries
Also see: Sasse Nebraska Tea Party
Any more silly stuff?
Cantor, in a move foreshadowed by his March 2013 appearance at the Kennedy School of Government, confidently ran on the party playbook, and it may have cost him the election.
His opponent, 49-year-old college professor David Brat, ran a campaign largely focused on immigration, casting Cantor as too lenient on illegal immigrants.
Brat won, 56 percent to 44 percent.
It was lost on no one that just a week ago people were writing off the Tea Party. And the Tea Party itself wrote off Brat, who got few major endorsements outside of conservative commentators Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham.
Oh, then it was two bitches.
Brat won despite a significant fund-raising disparity — Cantor spent as much on steakhouse meals as Brat did on his entire campaign — and the challenger claimed some divine intervention.
“God acted through people on my behalf,” Brat told Fox News on Tuesday night. “It’s an unbelievable miracle.”
Cantor, in a Wednesday news conference, batted away several questions about what larger meaning he thinks the GOP should take from his loss, saying that was for political analysts.
*********
Now the question is whether Republicans will run to the right and, if so, whether they will go too far and hand seats — and possibly the next presidential election — to the Democrats.
Romney, who in 2012 often kept his distance from the Tea Party, signaled concerns about the message that could be taken from Cantor’s defeat.
“The outcome of the primary proves once again people are concerned with the state of our immigration policy and that action must be taken to correct it soon,” he said in a statement.
There they go, pushing the immigration agenda despite the clear signal not to!
Even though Cantor has been seen as a chief obstacle to passing immigration reform, Brat was able to cast him as too moderate on the issue. Brat also criticized a budget deal negotiated by Representative Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican and 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee.
On those messages, Brat trounced the House’s second-ranking Republican, a man who was next in line to be speaker of the House — and the first Jewish one at that.
First I've seen any mention of that angle, and it makes me believe Cantor received a resounding rejection! Just can't get a Jew into the seat of power. Lieberman lost as VP, and now this.
With Republicans considering a move to the right to win primaries, Democrats are salivating.
“As far as the midterms elections are concerned, it’s a whole new ballgame,” said House minority leader Nancy Pelosi.
I no longer want to play, sorry.
Some Republicans said the lessons to be drawn from Cantor’s loss should not be far-reaching. With reports that Cantor’s internal polls had him with a comfortable lead, they said, he was not well served by his staff. And Cantor spent part of Election Day not in his district, where voters were heading to the polls, but in Washington.
“If 4,000 votes had changed, Cantor would have won,” said Stuart Stevens, a top Republican strategist. “There’s 317 million people in the country, give or take. . . . I would hesitate to make much out of it except Cantor didn’t do a very good job getting out his vote.”
The Cantor loss could also change the thinking about the US Senate race in New Hampshire, where Scott Brown, the former Massachusetts senator, is facing a primary challenge from former New Hampshire senator Bob Smith, a more conservative candidate.
“Someone like former senator Smith, who’s running against Scott Brown, may feel a sense of his people are still out there and willing to vote,” Rath said. “If the more motivated voter is the one who is more ideologically committed than pragmatically committed, that could surprise people.”
Jim Rubens, one of the Republican candidates hoping to defeat Brown, said he hoped to emulate Brat’s victory.
“Eric Cantor’s defeat is an air raid siren loud enough to be heard even through the Washington establishment’s tin ear,” he said. “Voters are fed up to their eye teeth with career politicians busy feathering their own nests and who have forgotten about their constituents. Their river of campaign money will not defeat the candidate who has built the grassroots support.”
--more--"
Related: Globe Baking Up Brownie
For the Brat:
"Once snubbed, Brat turns the tables" by Jennifer Steinhauer | New York Times June 12, 2014
WASHINGTON — Three years ago, David Brat, a conservative economics professor, decided to have a go at politics, making a run for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates. But the backroom deal-makers of his Republican Party snubbed him for someone chosen by allies of Representative Eric Cantor, the US House majority leader.
“All of us got bullied to get out in favor of the one guy who had a connection to most of the Republican office holders in Virginia,” said Steven Thomas, who also sought the nomination.
Disillusioned by the experience — which he viewed as strong-arming by the local party establishment of which Cantor was the titular head — Brat, 49, went on with his career in academia but maintained his political ambitions, said several people who work in local politics.
Speaking last year at a rally for E.W. Jackson, a fiery preacher who ran unsuccessfully on the Republican ticket for lieutenant governor, Brat (rhymes with “chat”) impressed Larry Nordvig, the executive director of the Richmond Tea Party, who was looking for a challenger to Cantor. Brat took the unlikely opening.
His bid to unseat Cantor, the second most powerful Republican in the House of Representatives, was akin to a youth soccer league taking on Brazil. But Brat’s ability to connect with voters combined with the perception that Cantor was not engaged in his district to deliver one of the most stunning upsets in modern political history.
Despite running an anti-establishment campaign in which he criticized government bailouts and budget deals and frequently invoked God and the Constitution, Brat failed to secure the endorsement of Tea Party groups with national networks, and he struggled to raise enough money to mount a serious advertising campaign.
I'm liking him already.
Instead, he used speeches and media appearances to rail against Cantor as a creature of Washington, a stooge for big business, and a supporter of amnesty for immigrants in the United States illegally.
And friend of Israel, right?
So it is that the Republican candidate for the Seventh Congressional District of Virginia is no longer the man who would be speaker, but rather an obscure professor whose central interest is religious freedom and its effect on the economy, and a leader of the university’s competitive ethics team who wears pedagogic glasses and a C-SPAN-ready shock of lacquered auburn hair.
“His passion for the structure of government and belief in free markets” inspired him to run for Congress, said Christopher K. Peace, who has collaborated with Brat on state budget issues at Randolph-Macon College, where Brat is a professor. “I don’t think even he expected to win.”
It was not long before Brat — who did not return e-mails and whose spokesman’s voice mail was full — had his just-folks campaign style tested by an excitable media maelstrom. When pressed by Chuck Todd on MSNBC Wednesday morning to articulate a view on a federal minimum wage, he seemed flummoxed: “I don’t have a well-crafted response on that one,” he said.
Asked about wisdom of arming Syrian rebels, Brat seemed frustrated and unmoored.
“I thought we were just going to chat today about the celebratory aspect,” he said. “I love all the policy questions, but I just wanted to talk about the victory.”
He's looking like a REAL PERSON, isn't he?
Not some bought-and-paid for corporate cutout.
Brat is fully on his game, said his peers and students, when it comes to talking about his theories on business and the economy, based less in high-grade mathematics than an appreciation for a Protestant work ethic that he believes has fueled American growth.
Brat holds a masters in divinity from the Princeton Theological Seminary, and religion, particularly the importance of Christianity, is a theme in his work, including his thesis, “Human Capital, Religion and Economic Growth,” and a presentation to the Virginia Association of Community Banks titled “The Moral Foundations of Capitalism, From the Great Generation to Financial Crisis . . . What Went Wrong?”
While Brat is firmly pro-free-market, during the campaign he repeatedly denounced crony capitalism, a catchphrase of the early Tea Party movement, and criticized Cantor’s ties to lobbyists. At times he is critical of Wall Street and what he sees as forms of market manipulation. “I am anti-distortions to the free markets,” he told Todd.
I hope he has a good security detail.
In 1996, he began teaching at Randolph-Macon College, a liberal arts college in Ashland, where his Democratic opponent, Jack Trammell, also teaches. There, Brat helps run the Ethics Bowl, a competitive debate team of sorts. He lives outside Richmond with his wife, Laura Sonderman Brat, and two children, Jonathan, 15, and Sophia, 11.
“Most professors have a liberal bias,” said Rodney Jefferson, who has served on the college board of associates with Brat. “In that regard, Dave Brat stands out at Randolph-Macon College.”
--more--"
Related: It’s often hard to see the line between religious fanaticism and mental illness
Same with a war-criminal government and newspaper.
"Potent voices of conservative media propelled Cantor opponent" by Jeremy W. Peters | New York Times June 12, 2014
If Eric Cantor needed evidence that his political career was in real trouble, all he had to do was look outside his living room window one night last week. At a stately country club about half a mile from his home in the affluent Richmond, Va., suburb of Glen Allen, so many people had come to see Laura Ingraham, the radio talk show host, stump for Cantor’s opponent in the Republican primary, David Brat, that the overflow parking nearly reached his driveway.
Ingraham was so taken aback at the size of the crowd — inside the clubhouse, hundreds of people crammed onto staircase landings, leaned over railings, and peered down at her from above — she wondered aloud what was really going on.
“We all looked at each other, saying, ‘He could totally win,’ ” Ingraham said in an interview. “I’ve had two moments in American politics in the last 15 years where I knew there was a big change afoot. One was when I left the Iowa caucuses in 2008. I walked out of there and said to a friend, ‘Barack Obama is going to win.’ And the other was when I left that rally last Tuesday.”
Few people did more than Ingraham to propel Brat, a 49-year-old economics professor who has never held elected office, from obscurity to national conservative hero.
And few stories better illustrate how his out-of-nowhere victory was due in large part to a unique and potent alignment of influential voices in conservative media.
Crucially, voices like Ingraham’s combined with shoe-leather, grass-roots campaign work by a highly organized local conservative movement to fill a void left by the absence of support from national Tea Party organizations and boldface Republican Party names.
Brat may have been turned away when he asked for financial support from well-funded conservative groups, and he was largely ignored by the national and local media, which considered Cantor, the number two Republican in the House, a shoo-in. But he was a known quantity to the loyal audiences of radio personalities like Ingraham and Mark Levin, a Reagan aide and a revered figure in the conservative movement, and Breitbart.com, the website founded by the provocateur Andrew Breitbart.
Maybe I should slow down, because "we" are obviously having an effect!
Together, Levin and Ingraham reach nearly 10 million people each week. And the Breitbart sites log 60 million page views each month. Those audiences are heavy with engaged, motivated voters who turn out in Republican primaries — the kind of voters who came out for Brat on Tuesday.
“Of the 70,000 voters yesterday in Virginia, I am sure 95 percent go to Drudge, Breitbart, Mark Levin, or Laura Ingraham every day, multiple times a day,” said Stephen K. Bannon, who wears many hats as a radio host, a filmmaker and the executive chairman of Breitbart.
I would just like to thank each and every one who comes here, regardless of any affiliation.
Breitbart flew a reporter to Glen Allen last week to cover the Ingraham-Brat rally, providing some of the scant media attention the event received. Over the course of the campaign, Breitbart writers churned out dozens of articles about Brat.
In fortuitous coincidence for Brat, many of the most influential media players who helped tip the election in his favor have long-standing ties to Virginia and were steeped in knowledge of how the state’s political system works.
--more--"
And the Globe's take on it?
"Don’t fault immigration issue for Eric Cantor’s surprising defeat" June 12, 2014
Genuine surprises are so rare in modern elections that Tuesday’s shocking results in Virginia
have left politicos grasping for explanations — and coming up with some
duds. In a sharp rebuke to a senior party leader, a Tea Party-aligned
challenger knocked off House majority leader Eric Cantor, a prodigious
fund-raiser who had seemed to be cruising to reelection. Unfortunately,
though, there are signs that Republicans and Democrats alike may be
jumping to the wrong conclusions about Cantor’s defeat, blaming his
openness to very minor immigration reforms instead of focusing on his
problems closer to home.
Within hours of the defeat Tuesday, a new conventional wisdom was
taking shape: Immigration reform, always a tough sell to the House GOP,
is surely now dead.
Then why is my agenda-pushing media promoting it and suggesting it could pass?
If even Cantor — who compiled a strong conservative
record, and signaled an openness to only the most modest of reforms —
can’t escape the Tea Party’s wrath, what Republican would dare vote for
reform now? Democrats, meanwhile, cheered the results and said the
election shows how much the Republican Party remains captive to its most
extreme wing.
Actually, the abrupt end of Cantor’s career should sound a warning to
all politicians, of all parties.
Agreed. Incumbency is a hindrance this year.
Even in a deeply conservative district
like Cantor’s, hostility to immigration alone doesn’t cause political
earthquakes like this one. Cantor spent too much time building his
national profile, raising money from out-of-state-donors, and schmoozing with business lobbyists,
and not enough tending to his district. Until a few weeks ago, he
seemed to be taking his reelection for granted — the worst kind of
political malpractice. That was a quality he shared with two Republican
grandees who ran into primary trouble this year, 91-year-old Ralph Hall,
who lost a Texas House primary, and 76-year-old Thad Cochran, who is in
imminent danger of losing his Senate seat in Mississippi; both were
viewed as simply too Washington.
See: Mudslinging in Mississippi
Because of the tumultuous GOP infighting of the last few years, it
has seemed only natural to fit each of those three elections into the
Tea Party-vs.-establishment storyline. And all three challengers did
draw from the Tea Party playbook. But the differences are also notable.
Unlike some of the legislators the Tea Party felled in past elections,
like Mike Castle in Delaware or Robert Bennett in Utah, the three
victims this year were each notable for the way they simply let their
guard down. Tea Party or no, each let himself become a ripe target.
Other, more prepared Republican politicians easily swatted aside Tea
Party challenges this year, including Senator Lindsey Graham, an immigration-reform supporter whose South Carolina electorate is as conservative as they come.
If Speaker John Boehner and the remaining House GOP leadership accept
the idea that Cantor’s defeat means they must abandon immigration
reform, they’ll be misdiagnosing his demise. Cantor’s defeat isn’t a
warning to Republicans to avoid immigration; it’s a warning to all
politicians, of all parties, that getting too cozy in office and
ignoring the basic duties of a lawmaker can lead to consequences that
are sudden, swift, and brutal.
They mean start representing America and following the Constitution.
--more--"
Of course, the message there was plow ahead on immigration reform.
"GOP assesses Eric Cantor’s defeat" by Philip Elliott | Associated Press June 16, 2014
WASHINGTON — Republicans, including the vanquished majority leader himself, on Sunday considered Representative Eric Cantor’s primary loss last week to a little-known Tea Party challenger and what it means for the GOP heading forward.
The monumental rejection of House Republicans’ No. 2 lawmaker left many in Washington stunned and searching for a way to prevent another upset.
After his defeat, Cantor, Republican of Virginia, announced he would soon step down from his GOP leadership post but serve the remainder of his term.
‘‘I don’t think there’s any one particular reason why the outcome was what it was,’’ Cantor said, adding, ‘‘I don’t think anybody in the country thought that the outcome would be what it was.’’
He appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union’’ and ABC’s “This Week.’’
Although Cantor said the party’s internal division “pales in comparison” to its differences with Democrats, he said Republicans must resolve their party’s turmoil. “I think that what we need to focus on, and I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to do something about, bridging this divide,” he said.
Fellow Republicans offered a litany of reasons but no single flaw fueling Cantor’s loss.
‘‘People are making all kinds of claims about what happened or didn’t happen in this primary without actually realizing what the facts were on the ground,’’ Representative Greg Walden, Republican of Oregon, said on “Fox News Sunday.’' Walden runs the GOP House campaign committee.
Cantor’s challenger, economics professor Dave Brat, campaigned against Washington as a whole and railed hard against the seven-term incumbent for seeming to be flexible on an immigration overhaul.
At the same time, Cantor did not take his challenger seriously and was not in his district enough for some voters.
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2008 and 2012, said pundits were making too much of Cantor’s defeat.
--more--"
"More than ever, losers head for the low road" by Joseph P. Kahn | Globe Staff June 17, 2014
In the political arena, Eric Cantor, the defeated Republican House leader, has largely taken the high road following his loss to Tea Party favorite David Brat. But his pollster John McLaughlin has not, blaming the loss in part on Democratic meddling.
Perhaps mindful of his place in history, not to mention his political future, Cantor has said he will not run as a write-in candidate in the general election. In 44 states, Virginia included, so-called “sore-loser” laws prohibit a candidate who lost in his party’s primary from running as an independent. By taking the high road, he may be paving his way to another shot at elective office.
What spin!
--more--"
Time to start galloping:
"GOP leadership fight awaits Boehner’s exit" by Carl Hulse | New York Times June 19, 2014
WASHINGTON — House Republicans will vote on their leadership Thursday, but the outcome will essentially keep them in a holding pattern, with the real contest months if not years away.
Though the reason for the election was the shocking primary loss by Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the immediate drama will end with his replacement as majority leader. Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio will retain the top spot, and Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, who currently holds the number three spot, is likely to ascend to Cantor’s position. Such an outcome would not represent any significant change in course for the party.
But the departure of Cantor, who had positioned himself as the inevitable successor to Boehner, significantly altered the dynamic of future House Republican leadership politics. Now the coming months will determine who can emerge as heir apparent to Boehner in the absence of Cantor and get established as the new voice and face of the House majority.
Will it be McCarthy, if he can demonstrate the leadership skills required to shepherd the sometimes unruly conservative majority, despite his roots in blue-state California? Will it be one of the committee chairmen, such as Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas, who passed on this leadership fight but will now wield increased power with Cantor gone? Or can some surprise candidate rise up and find a way to unite the House Republican factions?
“When Boehner steps down, it will be a free-for-all,” predicted one top House Republican official, who asked not to be identified.
The key factor is the status of Boehner. Significant uncertainty had remained about whether he would run again for speaker, given his frustrations with his own members and some of their very public frustration with him.
Cantor’s unforeseen departure from leadership quickly put to rest any talk of Boehner’s retirement.
Members of his circle said they made clear to the speaker that he could no longer even consider stepping down, because it would leave the fractious House Republican conference without its top two leaders and an extremely short list of colleagues able to fill that void. The day after Cantor’s loss, Boehner told his colleagues that he intended to run again for speaker, and the declaration was met by many with relief.
Key cut: "The shake-up has strengthened his hand in many respects, giving him stronger control of the agenda."
Hmmmmmmmm!
--more--"
"McCarthy elected to be House majority leader; Republican from California takes Cantor’s place" by David Espo | Associated Press June 20, 2014
WASHINGTON — Representative Kevin McCarthy of California capped a meteoric rise through the ranks of power Thursday, winning election as House majority leader as Republicans shuffled their leadership in the wake of Representative Eric Cantor’s primary defeat in Virginia.
Louisiana Representative Steve Scalise, 48, was elected to replace McCarthy as whip, a clear indication that the rank and file wanted a red-state Republican in the upper ranks of leadership for the first time since the party gained control of the House in 2010.
McCarthy, a former aide who won his seat in Congress less than eight years ago, pledged after his victory to make sure the GOP ‘‘has the courage to lead with the wisdom to listen, and we’ll turn this country around.’’
Right.
*******************
The challenges facing the leadership aren’t likely to change. They must guide an often fractious rank and file into the fall election season, while contending with a Democratic-controlled Senate and President Obama.
Within moments of McCarthy’s election, the League of United Latin American Citizens issued a statement calling on him to schedule a vote in the House on legislation to overhaul immigration law, including a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants currently living in the country illegally.
WTF?
The issue has long divided Republicans and figured prominently in Cantor’s defeat a little more a week ago, when he was trounced by David Brat, a little-known, underfunded Tea Party movement-backed challenger.
In setting quick elections, Speaker John Boehner and other leaders hoped to avoid a drawn-out, divisive struggle that might complicate the party’s drive to retain its majority in midterm balloting Nov. 4.
Yet the timing of the day’s events made it unclear whether the winners — or perhaps Boehner, himself — might face fresh challenges when the rank and file gathers in the fall after national elections.
At a news conference after the closed-door elections, Scalise and several Republicans stressed the party is united as it heads into the last several months of the year. They were at pains to project that image, as well, refusing even to provide the vote totals that might betray any internal division.
I'm tired of the imagery and illu$ion of the $hit-$how fooley, sorry.
******************
McCarthy is the first House member to become majority or minority leader after serving fewer than five full terms in the chamber, said Eric Ostermeier, research associate at the University of Minnesota’s Center for the Study of Politics and Governance.
If McCarthy’s ascension seemed a foregone conclusion, the battle to take his whip’s spot was anything but — so much so that there was speculation that a second ballot might be required to settle the contest.
In the end, it wasn’t necessary, as Scalise won on the first round.
Scalise campaigned as head of the Republican Study Committee, a group of that sometimes serves as a conservative thorn in the side of leadership.
Good. It doesn't matter what side you are on; leadership needs more thorns there.
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Who else is on the ballot?
"Cesar Chavez family opposes candidate using name" AP June 12, 2014
PHOENIX — The grandson of Cesar Chavez filed a challenge Tuesday against an Arizona congressional candidate who has been using the farm labor leader’s name.
Alejandro Chavez filed a legal complaint in Phoenix, asking that Scott Fistler be removed from the Democratic primary ballot.
Jim Barton, the attorney representing Alejandro Chavez, said on Wednesday that Fistler’s campaign is ‘‘an effort to corrupt the election by confusing the voters.’’
Fistler, a former Republican who has lost two bids for elected office, legally changed his name to Cesar Chavez last December and his party affiliation in April, the Arizona Capitol Times reported.
Fistler, now Chavez, is running for a seat in the heavily Democratic Seventh Congressional District.
In court documents, Alejandro Chavez alleges the candidate misled voters by gathering signatures to get on the Aug. 26 ballot before officially registering as a Democrat. He is also accused of collecting signatures from people who are not qualified to vote in that district.
A message left with the candidate was not immediately returned.
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Also see: Grandson looks to Jimmy Carter in gubernatorial run
Hey, what's in a name?
We care about issues:
"Mass. poised to be pacesetter for minimum wage" by David Scharfenberg | Globe staff June 13, 2014
Massachusetts lawmakers are on the brink of approving the highest minimum wage of any state in the nation.
The state Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday to increase the minimum wage from $8 to $11 per hour by 2017. The House of Representatives is expected to approve the legislation next week, and Governor Deval Patrick has signaled he will sign it.
Why was it so low to start?
“I think it’s a question of fairness,” Senate President Therese Murray said in an interview after the vote. “When people work 30, 40 hours a week and they’re making $8 an hour, that’s not making it in Massachusetts.”
The minimum wage push comes amid growing national concern about stagnant wages and growing income inequality....
Related: Minimum Political Coverage
Then it is back to bu$ine$$ as u$ual.
A handful of cities have taken particularly aggressive action. The Seattle City Council approved a $15 minimum wage earlier this month, surpassing any state minimum wage. And this week, Mayor Ed Lee of San Francisco proposed a $15 minimum wage.
See: Seattle $ets Minimum Wage
The state Senate’s 35-to-4 vote came one day after House and Senate negotiators agreed on a compromise measure in the conference committee....
The bill, in a nod to business, also includes unemployment insurance reform, including a three-year rate freeze for employers.
I KNEW IT! They had to be BOUGHT OFF to GO ALONG!
Governor Patrick did not take a position on the bill Thursday night, but he has signaled repeatedly that he will support a hike.
Advocates for minimum wage increases were generally pleased with the compromise legislation....
Noah Berger, president of the left-leaning Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, said he was disappointed that the bill made only a modest hike in the minimum wage for tipped workers, from $2.63 per hour to $3.75.
The failure to index future wage increases to inflation was also a concern. Without automatic increases, Berger said, the value of the minimum wage will erode shortly after it hits the $11 peak in 2017.
Already behind!
The advocacy group Raise Up Massachusetts — a coalition of labor, community and religious organizations — has been gathering signatures for a November ballot measure that would raise the minimum wage to $10.50 and index it to inflation....
That's why the state took it up. Business wanted them to preempt the referendum!
Economists are divided on whether raising the minimum wage leads to job loss. But most agree on another sticking point in the debate: Increasing the minimum wage is not a particularly efficient antipoverty strategy....
That is what I've been saying!
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Related:
Mass. House OK’s minimum wage rise
Obama lauds Mass. on wage bill
And while you get chump change rai$es:
"House votes to make business tax break permanent" by STEPHEN OHLEMACHER | Associated Press June 13, 2014
WASHINGTON — The House voted 272 to 144 to make permanent a tax break that makes it easier for small businesses to buy equipment and improve their property, part of an election-year showdown over tax breaks.
The break allows business owners to more quickly write off the costs of computers, machinery, and other equipment, as well as improvements to retail property. It expired at the beginning of the year, along with other temporary breaks Congress routinely extends.
Democratic leaders oppose the bill and the White House threatens a veto because it would add $73 billion to the budget deficit over a decade. But 53 rank-and-file House Democrats voted in favor.
It's the Bu$ine$$ of Politics!
The House also voted Thursday to make permanent two smaller tax breaks, including one that makes it easier for small business owners to deduct charitable contributions.
Related: The wealthiest philanthropists did not give as much in 2013 as they gave before the Great Recession, even as a strong stock market and better business climate have continued to concentrate American wealth in the top 1 percent of earners.
Also see: Charitable Po$t
Giving increases for some sectors, not for others
Oh, the crumbs from the king's table make me feel so much better, especially when the charity is $elf-$erving!
I was surprised to read it was fourth straight year of increased overall giving, seeing as I was told giving dropped in 2013, but who has time to keep track of all the mixed me$$ages from the propaganda pre$$ these days?
The Senate has been working on a package that would extend nearly all the temporary tax breaks through 2015, including dozens for businesses and individuals. The biggest tax break for individuals allows people who live in states without an income tax to deduct state and local sales taxes on their federal returns.
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At least the Senate is investigating Wall Street in what can only be described as the Land of Oz.
"The federal government issued a total of $3.5 billion in the tax credits to some 87 nonprofits and other applicants around the United States."
Related: "nonprofits provide new ways for corporations and individuals to influence"
Need I say more?
"House OK’s defense bill that halts Guantanamo transfers
WASHINGTON — In an election-year challenge to President Obama, the Republican-led House overwhelmingly approved a $570 billion defense bill that halts any Guantanamo transfers for a year amid the furor over the American-for-Taliban swap and pulls back on government spying.
Also see: House votes to close loophole on NSA searches
Still allowing Obama to spy on you, though.
The vote Friday was 340 to 73 for the measure that provides money for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, personnel, ships, and aircraft.
Weeks after the prisoner exchange, Republicans railed against Obama’s decision to trade five Taliban leaders who had been held at the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for more than a decade for Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, a captive for five years in Afghanistan."
That coverage is a bonus.
Also see: U.S. Out of Contact With Cuba
Poll: Miami Cuban-Americans support end to embargo
Last I heard of them from the Globe.
Time to walk the horse to rest.
