Tag: Republicans

Join Jim and Greg as they welcome a new Associated Press poll showing Americans can clearly see President Biden’s weak performance on the economy and his overall job performance. They also groan as the CEO of TikTok tries to dodge questions about whether the app is spying on users and TikTok’s connection to the Chinese Communist Party. Plus, they hammer the Democrats for glibly opposing the effort to crack down on TikTok after agreeing to ban it on government devices last year. Finally, they break down Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s strategy of cozying up to the right in advance of a likely 2024 re-election bid.

GOP House Can Get Off to a Great Start – If They Don’t Blow It

 

Decades of institutional self-neglect have left Congress dysfunctional and unfit to fulfill its constitutional role as the most consequential branch of government. Government of the people has morphed into government by bureaucrats, by the executive, and by the courts. The decision-making mechanisms of the People’s House are broken.

If you were fortunate enough to be educated in “civics,” you may remember being told of the process by which a bill becomes law. It is introduced by sponsors, assigned to committees, vetted with testimony and amended, referred to the whole body if approved, debated and amended again, passed out and then sent to the corresponding legislative body if successful.

Known as Regular Order, the process can be tedious but it has a purpose: to ensure a free, fair process in a lawmaking body where input from all is accepted and the final vote reflects the informed decision of a majority of members.

More year-end awards today!  Jim and Greg embark on the second half of their six-episode saga known as the 2022 Three Martini Lunch Awards. Today, they offer up their selections for the best political idea, worst political idea, and boldest political tactics for the year. Their selections range from the campaign trail to the halls of Congress to the biggest land war in Europe in more than 75 years.

Jim and Greg wade into the sharp debate on the right over how to approach Ukraine, Zelensky, and their war against Russia. Their biggest frustration is the accusations being lobbed from both sides at anyone who shows the slightest bit of nuance on the issue. They also hammer Republicans for going along with tons of earmarks in the new omnibus bill – wasting countless more taxpayer dollars on frivolous projects. And they react to the Florida GOP pushing for the ouster of Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel and wonder why so many RNC committee members are so loyal to a leader with a pretty dismal electoral record.

Join Jim and Greg as they assess Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign announcement. They also applaud how Gov. Ron DeSantis responded to Trump’s criticisms of him last week. And they breathe a sigh of relief that the deadly missile strike in Poland was not a deliberate Russian strike – or even a Russian missile at all.

 

Join Jim and Greg as they breathe a dejected sigh of relief as NBC News projects the Republicans will take control of the House by a very slim margin. They also brace for the GOP leadership wars as some conservatives seem ready to move on from Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy. And they suffer a wave of fatigue as President Trump reportedly prepares to kick off the 2024 presidential campaign tomorrow – even as the midterm vote counting continues in several states.

 

Analyzing the Midterm Mess

 

Some people hate Republicans. Others hate Democrats. But everybody hates polling firms.

No bones about it: the most recent midterm election is a profound disappointment to conservatives and independents hoping for a mandate for the governing class to move decisively away from the progressive base of the Democratic Party toward the center. But expectations are the enemy of happiness. It’s one thing to expect the sun to rise in the east, as it does for everyone every day; expecting pollsters to get elections right despite their execrable recent track record is something else entirely.

To reiterate: Republicans have reason to be disappointed in the just-passed election. But the pollsters have every right to respond as Otter did to Flounder in Animal House: “You ****ed up – you trusted us.”

Join Jim and Greg as they eagerly welcome news that national Democrats are “retrenching” their financial strategy for keeping the House of Representatives, which is the fancy way of saying they are pulling money from races they no longer think they can win. On top of that, a major pollster says there is no doubt that Republican candidates are looking stronger and stronger over the past few weeks. They also discuss the bizarre decision by Arizona Democrat Katie Hobbs to refuse any debates with Republican Kari Lake, even as more polls show Lake winning. Finally, they defend NBC reporter Dasha Burns as Democrats and their media allies savage her for sharing her honest observations of how poorly Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman holds up in casual conversation. They also blast the Fetterman campaign for keeping his health records under lock and key and blasting any honest assessment of his health as “ableism.”

Democrats Hide from Republicans and Themselves

 

In race after race, Democrats are refusing to debate their Republican opponents despite how the media will stack any debate in their favor. The Democrat candidates for governor in Pennsylvania and Arizona refuse to debate their opponents, likewise the Democrat senate candidates in New Hampshire and Washington State. The unelected Democrat governor of New York only grudgingly agreed  The Democrat Attorney General in Michigan also refuses to debate.

On the one hand, Democrats don’t have to debate because their media allies will give them cover whereas a Republican would be hounded. Look at the Democrat Senate candidate in Pennsylvania. A charlatan who cosplays as blue-collar, refuse to debate, can barely make it through a five-minute public speech,  and once pulled a shotgun on an innocent black jogger. And all the media can talk about is how clever his memes are.

Join Jim and Greg as they welcome better polling news for the likes of Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson and and GOP hopefuls in the critical states of Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, and even Pennsylvania. They also notice the odd trend of Democrats like New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Washington Sen. Patty Murray refusing to debate their Republican opponents. And they may have sprained their eyeballs as the very rich Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard presents himself as a socialist who regrets becoming so wealthy and is now dedicated to saving the planet.

Join Jim and Greg as they are glad to see a new poll showing the Ohio Senate race narrowly favoring the GOP. They also grimace as the Fed expects inflation to stay stubbornly high for awhile – even with persistent interest rate hikes. And they fire back at former NSA and CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden for absurdly agreeing that Republicans in the U.S. are the most “nihilistic, dangerous, and contemptible group” recently seen anywhere in the world.

Former federal prosecutor and National Review Online Contributing Editor Andrew C. McCarthy is in for Jim. Join Andy and Greg as they break down a Supreme Court ruling on whether double jeopardy protections exist between different systems or “sovereigns” – in this case whether a conviction is allowed in federal court after a verdict was rendered on similar offenses in the Court of Indian Offenses in Arizona. They also parse two rulings on immigration cases that came down on Monday. Finally, Andy also lays into the January 6th committee for being little more than a political performance by not allowing Republicans to choose their own committee members and not permitting cross-examination of witnesses.

[Member Post]

 

Our political class has finally begun to take notice of inflation; because it’s beginning to affect them (or so they claim). Only after Rep. Katie Porter put bacon in her cart at her local grocery store recently did she notice that its price had spiked to $9.99 a pound. Reluctantly, she put the package back. […]

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Join Jim and Greg as they review the latest predictions out of the Cook Political Report and  UVA Crystal Ball, which shifted 11 house races toward the Republicans. Many races were updated from ‘Likely R’ to ‘Safe R’, but it casts an ominous shadow over the Democrats’ chances of keeping the House in a critical midterm election. They also cringe at MSNBC host Nicole Wallace for calling Gov. Ron DeSantis’ education bill “dehumanizing” and comparing him and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin Russian soldiers raping Ukrainian children. And despite being even older than Joe Biden, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is considering running for president in 2024, according to a leaked memo.

Join Jim and Greg as they congratulate the Virginia legislature and Gov. Glenn Youngkin for passing common sense, bipartisan bills that outlaw formal or informal quotas on arrests and tickets by Virginia police. They also continue to be surprised at the messaging failures of the Biden White House, often with the President himself out of the loop, with transportation masking as the latest example. And despite no obvious constituency or hope of beating Donald Trump or Governor Ron DeSantis, Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger floated his name as a potential candidate in the 2024 presidential race.

Join Jim and Greg as they encourage Republicans like Virginia Lt. Governor Winsome Sears to continue to push against the Democrat’s radical education agenda and speculate that the left’s decision to insist upon controversial subjects in classrooms will culminate in a ‘Red Wave’ in November. They also scratch their heads at a floundering Biden administration that seems unable to find a way to curb the rising inflation. And after lambasting Tulsi Gabbard for putting her political career before her constituents in the 2020 presidential race, Hawaii Rep. Kai Kahele has not shown up on Capitol Hill since January.

Join Jim and Greg as they cover President Biden’s latest all-time low approval rating. Despite delivering a Supreme Court Justice and the waning of the COVID-19 virus, Biden’s approval percentage sank to just 42% in the latest CBS New/YouGov Poll.  They also analyze the host of factors contributing to increasing despair and hopelessness in the American teenager including social media, COVID-19, and the media. And in a desperate attempt to appease his increasingly dissatisfied base, President Biden is taking steps to counter “ghost guns” this week.