Gibbs Blames GOP For No Tax Cuts, Press Doesn’t Bite

You can find the video here, as we can’t embed RCP videos.  The discussion between, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and the press is pretty comical.  It’s very apparent the media isn’t going to be swayed by Gibbs fairly ridiculous spin on why there is no tax cut bill in play and why blaming the Reps just won’t cut it.

-nick

RNC Chair Michael Steele Gets Hit From All Sides

The last couple of days have not been good for Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. A number of figures have hammered him, and The Corner’s Robert Costa has a pretty good rundown of some of the more prominent ones:

In case you missed it on Sunday, George Will had some tough words for Michael Steele, the embattled RNC chairman: “He has fundamentally misconstrued his job, which is to be the face and the ideological spokesman for the Republican party.”

“There are a lot of people who do that,” Will said, “but the best party chairmen are like major league umpires. If, at the end of the game, they go back into the dressing room and no one has noticed them, they’ve done their job brilliantly. They strive for anonymous perfection, and that should be the role of the party chairman. The best Republican party chairmen — Ray Bliss of Ohio, who rebuilt the party after the Goldwater meltdown, Bill Brock, former senator from Tennessee, who built the party up on the eve of the Reagan triumph — they were perfectly anonymous. And I’m not sure that this man has understood that.”

Steele doesn’t appear to have taken Will’s advice. Earlier today, he appeared on Good Morning America and told George Stephanopoulos that he has less room for error as chairman due to his race. “The honest answer is yes,” Steele said. “It just is. Barack Obama has a slimmer margin. A lot of folks do . . . That’s just the reality of it . . . My view on politics is much more grassroots-oriented. It’s not old-boy network oriented. I tend to come at it a little bit stronger, a little more streetwise if you will. That rubs some feathers the wrong way.”

Robert Gibbs, of course, had a quick comeback at today’s morning meeting with reporters. “I think that is a fairly silly comment to make,” he said. “I think Michael Steele’s problem isn’t the race card; it’s the credit card.”

I think Dan Amira at New York has it right: “Steele probably blew a chance to cool this down.” Besides, as Ben Smith notes, “Jonathan Martin made a pretty convincing case a few months ago that, in some sense, the reverse is true within a Republican party that’s almost entirely without prominent African-American officials.”

You can see the Will comments here, as well as the follow-up comments by another Roundtable contributor who explains what the job of an RNC chair is…and how Steele is not doing that job. Furthering the damage, this morning Politico reported that the top RNC fundraiser is ditching the organization, which is sure to bring more pressure to bear to fire Steele. However, I think the most damaging remark came from Gibbs- when the Democratic White House Press Secretary is getting quoted favorably, and being laughed with and not at, by conservatives against another right-of-center leader, the RNC chair is in trouble.

I saw part of Steele’s comments this morning on ABC, and while I missed his comment about being black, this is not the first time he has brought race into the debate. The fact is that he has made the RNC look ridiculous throughout his tenure, and while it has been proven this strip club fiasco is not his fault, it’s emblematic of the inept leadership he brings to the table. Blaming others just  makes it worse.

Personally, I think getting rid of Steele would have zero impact on what few Republican race relations we have, and bringing in a dynamic person like former governor Sarah Palin would not only inspire fundraising, it would bring in far more fundraising than we might (or might not) lose by ridding ourselves of a bad RNC chair, no matter what his skin color is. It would also free Steele to travel around the country, speaking on behalf of candidates, something he did well with in 2008, when he was a McCain surrogate. Additionally, we have other minority candidates we can support for leadership positions, if we must look at race. (Which, given it’s politics, we must.)

Oh, and the other good thing about bringing Palin in? It would likely prevent her from running for president. An added bonus.

The White House Supports At Least One Good Health Care Idea

Thanks to Nick Brown for sending me the link to this one:

Scarborough Makes My Morning

Joe Scarborough, co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, is a former Congressman from Florida who is unfortunately moderate but has a good grasp of the issues of the day. This morning, he was debating (along with a number of other people) one Jonathan Capart, a Washington Post editorial writer. While I cannot find the clip, even at Morning Joe’s home page, I would like to share what especially impressed me with regards to how Scarborough and one other guest made Capart look like an absolute fool.

The debate was over whether probable terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) should be tried in New York City, and if he should be tried in a civilian court. Scarborough made the case that both moves by the Obama administration (the civilian trial over a military trial and trying KSM in NYC)  are being done for solely public image and symbolism-related goals. Capart immediately denied this, of course, and was subsequently asked by one of the other guests what would happen if KSM was found innocent. Capart immediately took the following tactics:

1. Blank, deer-in-the-headlights look, with eyes wide open in horror at the question and his lack of a convincing answer.

2. Fall back on the liberal mantra that his being found innocent would never happen.

3. Back up statement #2 by stating the government has too much evidence for KSM to ever be found innocent.

4. Avoid the actual question, as there is no good answer. Granted a civilian trial, KSM can be found innocent. Plain and simple. Despite his having been allegedly willing to plead guilty in a military trial, he may now be found innocent in a civilian court of law.

This followed White House Press Secretary Gibbs’ statement on Sunday that KSM would “meet his maker” after a trial goes through. Which leads, of course, to one of the other questions Scarborough asked Capart: if we are trying to be a symbol to the world of American decency and European-style liberalism and enlightenment, why utilize the death penalty? (Paraphrased, of course.)

To steal from Ed Morrissey, an exit question: Why are we still debating this? Whatever one thinks of waterboarding, long prison stays without a trial, etc. KSM is not an American citizen. Giving him a civilian trial not only gives him the right to walk free, but also throws the idea of treating enemy combatants differently from criminals (especially terrorist combatants) overboard. Talk about a bad precedent, and one that has no legal backing.

Destruction Among The Democrats

I was at my internship with Laura Ingraham earlier today, and as part of the job I had to look up information regarding the falling house of cards that is the Democratic Party and its domestic initiatives. Below is what I found:

1. President Obama’s Transportation Security Administration nominee has resigned after Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) and other Republicans held up his nomination due to his lying to Congress.

2. Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) is calling for health care voting to halt until newly-elected Senator Brown (R-MA) is seated.

3. White House officials and House Democrats see things differently on health care and the ramifications of the Brown election.

4. Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) may very well have Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) as a challenger this year, despite his calling out the left today.

5. White House advisor David Axelrod and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs don’t get it.

Below is what I have found since:

6. Suddenly, deadlines aren’t so important to President Obama.

7. Moderate Scott Brown (R-MA) and conservative Jim DeMint (R-SC) are on the same page, it appears. Kind of makes Democrats look like the ones who are purging their own ranks.

8. Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) is kinda-sorta-not-really calling for health care reform to start over.

Update:

9. Representative Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) has been rumored to be prepared to resign from Congress if the health care debate keeps going, and is being courted by a large insurance organization.

10. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is being hammered by the liberal members of her caucus.

None of this is to take away from the fact that Republicans still have work to do in creating a big tent- though Ed Morrissey continues to do great work regarding that goal- and that the Tea Partiers and many other Americans are as angry at the Republican Party as they are at the Democratic Party. While I think the Republicans will win several Senate seats, and 20-30 House seats, I also think the divisions between conservative Republicans and moderate Republicans, and between social conservatives and fiscal/economic conservatives, will hand several House races and at least one or two Senate seats to the Democrats in 2010. Of course, if President Obama keeps using his waning political capital to help Democrats in tough elections, perhaps Republicans will be fortunate enough to have another two years to get their own house in order before the 2012 elections.

Get Rid of Napolitano

As is well-known by now, last week there was a suicide bomber attack on a plane from Amsterdam to Detroit. The attack, fortunately, failed, as the explosive device failed to go off. The alleged terrorist is suspected to be connected to at least one terrorist organization. He claimed, initially at least, to be connected to Al Qaeda.

This, obviously, is both good news and bad. First, it’s good in that nobody died, a terrorist was captured and now we know where to concentrate more efforts on the international scale. The bad news is that some people are just plain stupid, including Think Progress’ Matthew Yglesias, who wrote the other day that, “Ultimately, it does no favors to anyone to blow this sort of thing out of proportion. The United States could not, of course, be ?devastated? by anything resembling this scheme. We ought to be clear on that fact. We want to send the message around the world that this sort of vile attempt to slaughter innocent people is not, at the end of the day, anything resembling a serious challenge to American power. It?s attempted murder, it?s wrong, we should try to stop it, but it?s really not much more than that.”

Even worse, however, is the reaction from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. “The system worked,” according to Napolitano. Given that it took a failed attempt plus civilian passengers to subdue the attempted terrorist, I’d say the system failed. Plus, the guy was on a watch list, which is particularly poignant given his father reported him as a potential threat two years ago. (See the video of Napolitano’s inane comments here.)

To quote Jonah Goldberg from The Corner yesterday, “If the White House wants to assure people that it takes the war on terror seriously (a term Robert Gibbs used this morning by the way), they could start by firing this patenly unqualified hack.” Personally, I think “man-caused disasters” are a worse threat than conservatives, Secretary Napolitano. You had better figure that out soon, or your job will be gone. Unfortunately, this will probably not happen until after Americans have died as a result of your incompetence. Yes, as they said on the Real Clear Politics blog, it’s your job to reassure the American public as part of an overall security standpoint. However- and I’ll finish with a quote from the RCP blog- “…she should be smart enough to find a way of doing that without treating the American people like a bunch of morons and dupes.”

This was originally posted at THE LOBBYIST.

Update: According to The Washington Monthly blog, President Obama has been paying close attention to the Al Qaeda threat from Yemen. Kudos to President Obama for doing so.

Update II: The Heritage Foundation’s Morning Bell points out the continued failure by the Obama administration to take the proper steps to protect this country from terrorists, and offers three steps going forward.

Update III: A friend pointed out on Facebook that I misspelled Secretary Napolitano’s name- it is corrected.

Update IIII (last one, I hope): Two links from where I posted this at Race42012 showing Secretary Napolitano backtracking on her statements about the system working well. Too little, too late, I think.

TODAY Video: Napolitano: Prevention system ?failed miserably?
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/34608370#34608370

Security System Failed, Napolitano Acknowledges
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/us/29terror.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

The Congressional Black Caucus Is Out Of Touch

The New York Daily News’ S.E. Cupp said it best: the Congressional Black Caucus “…practically every month seems to find new ways to demonstrate how irrelevant and out of touch it is.” This year alone, the CBC seems to be trying really hard to throw itself on the proverbial ash heap of history.

First it was the visit to Cuba and praising of Fidel Castro’s brother, Raul Castro. Then there was the investigation of one of the caucus’ more prominent members, Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) for a conflict of interest for steering bailout money to a bank she and her husband had a financial interest in. And who can forget efforts by members of the CBC- and ally Barney Frank (D-MA), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee- to get a bailout for minority-owned radio stations? The original effort, which happened in May, carried into December when members said they would not support certain financial regulations if minority-owned broadcasters were not given specific attention.

Obviously, the name of the Congressional Black Caucus highlights their support for a particular group of Americans. Were their goal to assist what Waters called “most vulnerable of our population,” I would disagree with their avenue and tactics to help black Americans but still hold great respect for their goal. However, it is clear that is not their intent.

According to Cupp, President Obama’s Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, said, “I don’t think the President believes that we should address only one part of the unemployment rate.” The president and Gibbs have it exactly right. It is grievous fact that black Americans have an unemployment rate of over 15%, versus 10% for all of America, but the president has to worry about 100% of over 300 million Americans, not just the approximately 13% of black Americans in the country. (Of course, he seems to be trying to help the less-than-one percent of Americans who are CEOs of insurance companies…)

Unfortunately, Frank caved to the CBC, and is using part of last year’s bailout funds for the caucus’ pet projects, something that is actually illegal, as Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) pointed out recently. TARP, officially known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, was stipulated in last year’s bill to “be used automatically to pay down the federal budget deficit,” according to Gregg. Given this fact, it appears the CBC, Frank and the majority of Congress might be on the path to continuing to break the very financial laws they passed only 14 months ago.

Passing laws and getting money for constituents and special interest groups is nothing new, of course, though generally they follow the law. Unfortunately, the CBC and others in Congress are sidestepping the law and using billions of dollars for their interests- note, not for America’s- against the very laws they passed to “save” our economy. I think we should hold them and every other Congressman who supports using the TARP funds for more than its initial intent(s) accountable both at the voter’s booth and in every media possible until we reach the voter’s booth.

Of course, there is always impeachment, if some feel that is the best venue to hold our representatives accountable. I’m not certain that would work en masse, or be necessary or appropriate, though I support it in specific circumstances.

We’re All Racists Now…

Apparently we’re all racists now. Jimmy Carter told me so.

I’m from Dixie. The land of labels. The area of the country were if anyone has a problem with anything that anyone else of the opposite skin color does it’s always attributed solely to racism. The accusation usual comes from Liberals. It’s frustrating. It’s equally as frustrating to listen to Carter proclaim his excitement of the South’s progress in race relations like he is sitting on some cloud as a deity encouraging his Southern brothers toward some goal that he had already achieved ages ago.

Jimmy Carter, please go away. You aren’t President, you aren’t anything. You have failed so many times I cannot even think of a time you succeeded other than somehow tricking the country into voting for you. Oh, and congrats on that Nobel Prize for keeping North Korea free of nuclear weapons. As a Georgian, if I could kick you out of my state I would. You bring the Empire State of the South nothing but shame.

I was happy to see Robert Gibbs shoot down Carter’s assessment. It may be the first truthful and logical thing I’ve ever heard the man say.

When Maureen Dowd wrote her hate column to Joe Wilson last week she went after his affiliation with the Sons of the Confederacy. Anyone reading this without knowledge of what the SCV is would immediately associate this with some sort of secessionist or racist organization, which is what I’m guessing since it was in the New York Times. The more accurately named Sons of Confederate Veterans is a veterans organization. How dare he be apart of a veterans organization!

SCV was formed in union with the Grand Army of the Republic, which is the veterans organization of Northern soldiers during the Civil War. These groups M.O. is to research and preserve the history of the war, establish battle sight memorials, and help individuals locate information on relatives that fought in the war. The SCV has received commendation from both Republican President George Bush (Bush, George W. “Letter of Commendation.” Confederate Veteran, June, 1996: p.6.) and from Democratic President Bill Clinton (Clinton, Bill. “Letter of June 21, 1994, from Bill Clinton.” UDC Magazine, Sept. 1994: p. 9.). But how dare you be a member Joe Wilson! That makes you a racist!

It must be noted that Obamacare will cover illegal immigrants. Ed Morrissey covered this on HotAir.com when the neutral Congressional Research Office announced this a few weeks ago. I was told recently by a blue crusader that Joe Wilson was a racist because he yelled, “You lie” after Obama mentioned illegals. That somehow because Obama was lying about coverage of illegal immigrants, and Wilson called him on it means that Wilson is a racist because the lie he uncovered pertained to illegal immigrants. Seriously? Informal fallacy perhaps?

Does anyone realize what’s going on here?

That’s right Admiral, it’s a trap. Democrats want us to be having this conversation. They want us to be stirred up and talking about race relations, and our thoughts on the black president. Which is completely ironic in itself considering the fact that WE HAVE A BLACK PRESIDENT! White people had to vote for him too.

But the whole point of all of this is that we are now not talking about what we should be talking about: the health care and cap and trade bills. There is recent precedence for this if you don’t believe me. Remember how concerned we all were for the well fair of the voter in Iran? Then Michael Jackson died. Iran what? Sad but true.

What’s also sad but true is that race relations in this country may have just been set back 20 years. And at the fault of the liberals stirring up the controversy. Ironically the Democrats always proclaim to be the ones promoting minorities. But Robert Byrd is running around unafflicted by his own party for his massive involvement in the KKK. And it’s the Democrats that block conservative efforts to move minorities out of inner city schools to provide them a better education. It’s almost as if the liberals don’t want to see minorities succeed, be well educated, and find successful jobs or become business owners. I wonder why? Ask Herman Cain.

But I digress. Focus people, focus! Let’s get back to the real issue before those in power in DC try to play some sleight of hand while they have us busy with our heads in the clouds over an issue that’s not really an issue.

-nick