Fiscal Cliff: Republicans Will Get What They Want

When you're holding a hammer, everything looks like a nail. And when you're in Washington, every "crisis" is looks like a great opportunity to expand government. 

Repubs are no exception to this rule. A dwindling few of them want to rein in government, but in general, Republicans go to Washington and become intoxicated with the head trip that comes from doing Big Important Expensive Things.

So a bit like Brer Rabbit (to mix metaphors), congressional Republicans will throw fits about raising taxes. But in the end, they'll get the big government and big taxes they love so much.

If Romney Wins...

Conservatives' work is never done:

CALLER:  Too many Republicans apologize for wanting conservative fiscal policy, and we gotta stop apologizing for that, and I think we're there now.
RUSH:  Well, that's yet to be seen, but we're on the right road in that regard.  Look, I don't want to go there now.  I'm gonna do that after the election, but there are challenges....  

...if Romney wins, there will be a competition in the Republican Party for people who want to take credit for it.  Basically you're going to have two factions.  One faction will be the Republican establishment, which will say their strategy of moderation, cooperation, reaching across the aisle, not scaring the independents, Romney's first debate performance, that's what did it.  

The other faction will be the Tea Party and conservatives who will say, "If you guys don't wake up and realize that what won this election for you is this far-left agenda of the Democrat Party scaring this country to the point that people didn't want any more of it, if you don't realize what that means, you're gonna have to go back to the 2010 midterms. If you want to understand why Romney won this election, go back to the 2010 midterms.  Everything Obama stands for was rejected and there wasn't a Republican on the ballot then." 

CALLER:  That's right.  I agree. 

RUSH:  But that's for down the road.  That may not even materialize.  But if it does, that will be the... you know, even in the best families, there are arguments and there are disagreements, and it'll be the case here in due course.  But if Romney wins, there will still be a lot of work to do. 

Why a Conservative Voted for Obama (emphasis added)

Conservatives Are Their Enemies: Example #104,628

The Republican "Young Guns" of the U.S. House of Representatives are spending beaucoup bucks to help an octogenarian Senate RINO fight a losing battle against a conservative challenger:

"Young Guns ... was designed to help leaders like Eric Cantor and Kevin McCarthy chart a new course for the center-right movement and the House majority,” Young Guns Action Fund super PAC founder John Murray has said. It's not clear how this donation to Lugar furthers that cause. And it's not clear why Young Guns is meddling in a GOP Senate primary. Indeed, Mike Pence, another young gun-type House member who's now running for Indiana governor, has conspicuously failed to endorse Lugar for reelection.

More important: $100,000 could go a long way to supporting a Republican against a Democrat this year in a competitive House race. Is helping a six-term Senate incumbent who's not so conservative try to beat back a conservative primary challenge by someone who would hold the Senate seat for the GOP really the best use of that money?

This would be hard to understand if you didn't know that Republicans hate conservatives.

The Tea Party is Not Dead

TEA! Temecula

X-Posted from the Left Coast Rebel

According to Politico, Republican party power-mongers seems to think that the Tea Party is dead.

I think the death of the Tea Party is highly exaggerated.

Many are tired and dispirited. Most Tea Partiers have simply moved into underground Sons of Liberty liberty watch-guards.

Instead of orchestrating historic national protests, they are in one way or another changing the nation from within the political system.

One can argue that the system is so beyond hope and repair that it cannot even be saved at this point.

But, like it or not, that's the now-somewhat underground position the Tea Party has naturally transitioned into.

From Politico....

Bad:

GOP elders sympathize with the movement’s ideas and want to channel whatever energy the decentralized groups offer for November. But when asked about the tea-party’s influence in interviews here, the movement was always spoken of in the third person and as one constituency in the larger Republican coalition, sort of like defense hawks or fiscal conservatives. Many Republicans here said that tea-party activists now understand that things will run more smoothly if those with experience are in charge rather than those who put a premium on ideology over process.“The important thing for any group in the party to understand…is that you need experience to govern,” said New Hampshire Republican Chairman Wayne MacDonald. “Everybody has to start somewhere. It’s just important they learn the mechanics of how the party operates…It doesn’t mean new ideas aren’t welcome.”

(SNIP)

The tea party movement’s influence has waned everywhere since its apex in 2010. Most visibly, the Republican Party is poised to nominate the most pragmatic of the men who ran for president this cycle even though many tea-party groups vocally opposed him during the primary. Indeed, Mitt Romney received a coronation of sorts at a unity lunch here Friday, soaking up standing ovations and basking in blessings from 2008 rival Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Good:

In fact, libertarian supporters of Ron Paul made more successful inroads into the party organization in 2012. A.J. Spiker, the vice chairman of Ron Paul’s Iowa campaign, became state party chairman in February. James Smack, a vocal 2008 Paul supporter Nevada, got elevated from vice chair to acting state chair in February after Amy Tarkanian resigned to help her husband run for Congress. Now he’s challenging former Nevada Gov. Bob List for Nevada’s committeeman slot at next month’s state convention. Morton Blackwell, the longtime national committeeman representing Virginia, believes it’s only a matter of time before tea-party activists end up in the highest echelons of the party. But when they do, he doesn’t think they’ll be thought of as tea partiers.

Exit question: If the Tea Party is dead -- as many power-broking GOP honchos insist -- then why, as of yesterday, is progressive-statist three-decade-serving Utah Senator Orrin Hatch fighting for his political life?

Hmm?

Updated: The Tea Party is dead! Or is it?

Check out former Commmunist sympathizer David "comb-over" Axelrod's ridiculous statement today on the Tea Party's congressional "reign of terror." That's some pretty violent imagery from the White House Occupier's chief campaign adviser, no?

Added (by RightKlik): While we all know that the Tea Party is practically dead, we also know that the Tea Party is actively destroying the GOP (and the entire country) with its radical extremism. It works both ways like that.

George Will Pistol Whips Mitt Romney

On Sunday, George Will compared Mitt Romney to liberal Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis, the infamous robotic candidate for president who was pulverized by George H. W. Bush in 1988. (See the short video below for Will's comments.)

Tomorrow, George will stand apart from the rest of the elite GOP talking heads with some unvarnished truth on pretty boy Mitt Romney:

Romney, supposedly the Republican most electable next November, is a recidivist reviser of his principles who is not only becoming less electable, he might damage GOP chances of capturing the Senate: Republican successes down the ticket will depend on the energies of the tea party and other conservatives, who will be deflated by a nominee whose blurry profile in caution communicates only calculated trimming. Republicans may have found their Michael Dukakis, a technocratic Massachusetts governor who takes his bearings from ‘data’ ... Has conservatism come so far, surmounting so many obstacles, to settle, at a moment of economic crisis, for THIS?

The normally restrained George Will reacts in frustration to his disappointment in Romney by writing in ALL CAPS.

I'm shocked.

UPDATE: The rest of Will's column is already out...

The Republican presidential dynamic — various candidates rise and recede; Mitt Romney remains at about 25 percent support — is peculiar because conservatives correctly believe that it is important to defeat Barack Obama but unimportant that Romney be president. This is not cognitive dissonance.

Read the rest.

Hitting the Debt Limit ≠ End of World

Contrary to popular Washington memes, hitting the debt limit would not end the world as we know it:

The [Bipartisan Policy Center] study found that the United States is likely to hit the debt limit sometime between August 2 and August 9. “It’s a 44 percent overnight cut in federal spending” if Congress hits the debt limit, Powell said. The BPC study projects there will be $172 billion in federal revenues in August and $307 billion in authorized expenditures. That means there's enough money to pay for, say, interest on the debt ($29 billion), Social Security ($49.2 billion), Medicare and Medicaid ($50 billion), active duty troop pay ($2.9 billion), veterans affairs programs ($2.9 billion).

That leaves you with about $39 billion to fund (or not fund) the following:

• Defense vendors ($31.7 billion)
• IRS refunds ($3.9 billion)
• Food stamps and welfare ($9.3 billion)
• Unemployment insurance benefits ($12.8 billion)
• Department of Education ($20.2 billion)
• Housing and Urban Development ($6.7 billion)
• Other spending, such as Departmens of Justice, Labor, Commerce, EPA, HHS ($73.6 billion)

The decision to prioritize payments would fall on the Treasury department, and Powell points out it would be chaotic picking and choosing who gets paid (in full or partially) and who doesn't.

Powell notes, however, that Congress made sure during a budget standoff in 1996 that Social Security recipients would not be affected. “In 1996, during an impasse, [Treasury Secretary] Bob Rubin gave the Congress notice that he would be unable to pay the March ’96 Social Security payment. Congress immediately—and I mean, immediately—passed a law that allowed the Treasury to borrow money specifically for that purpose and exempted that borrowing from the debt limit.”

Why should we cut another blank check for Obama and his cronies when American voters believe that spending cuts are a much better idea?

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 55% of Likely U.S. Voters now think decreases in government spending help the economy. Twenty-four percent (24%) believe decreased spending hurts the economy...

Now is the time for the GOP to stop listening to the New York Times, Politico, the Washington Post et al. and do what's right ― for once.

Does This Look Right?

From the NYT.

The relative sizes of the circles apparently represent name recognition. Vertical axis: insider vs. outsider. Horizontal axis: liberal vs. conservative (big government vs. small government).

From Limbaugh's Lips To America's Ears: Americans Say Obama Will Fail

Rush Limbaugh's hopes have become America's expectations:

Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama enters the new year with a growing number of Americans pessimistic about his policies and a growing number rooting for him to fail, according to a new national poll...

"Twelve months ago a majority of the public said that they thought Obama's policies would succeed; now that number has dropped to 44 percent, with a plurality predicting that his policies will likely fail."

Americans are also glad that the Dems' monopoly on power has been busted, but their expectations for the GOP's performance is low:

...while a majority of the public says Republican control of the House of Representatives is good for the country, only one in four say the GOP will do a better job running things than the Democrats did when they controlled the chamber.

Good. Keep the expectations low and the leashes short.

Discussion: Memeorandum

X-posted

Updates:

Raw numbers on the failure question:

In general, do you think it is more likely that Obama's policies will succeed or more likely that his policies will fail?

Succeed 44%

Fail 47%

In general, do you hope that Barack Obama's policies will succeed or do you hope that his policies will fail?

Succeed 61%

Fail 27%

More bad news for progs: Americans have more confidence in Republicans in Congress than in Obama or the Democrats. In fact, Republicans crush the Democrats...

Thinking about the major issues facing the country today, who do you have the most confidence in -- Barack Obama, or the Republicans in Congress, or the Democrats in Congress?

Obama 35%

Republicans in Congress 40%

Democrats in Congress 15%

Some "glass half empty" analysis from an astute commenter at Gateway Pundit:

So… 35% of the people are mentally ill? That’s really sad.

Add the 35% to the 15% who think the Pelosi/Reid Congress is just ducky, and this country is in serious trouble.

Caveats:

1. CNN reports that a growing number of Americans are "rooting" for Obama to fail, but in their poll they ask respondents whether they hope Obama's policies fail, not whether Mr. Obama fails:

In general, do you hope that Barack Obama's policies will succeed or do you hope that his policies will fail?

2. This poll does not reflect the views of the voters:

Interviews with 1,008 adult Americans conducted by telephone by Opinion Research Corporation on December 17-19, 2010. The margin of sampling error for results based on the total sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Remember... polls of the general adult population generally give results that are more sympathetic to Democrats (in contrast to polls that only include Americans who vote).

3. Demographic data on the poll sample are conspicuously absent.

Full poll results.

A Lesson for the GOP: Chris Christie Makes Tough Choices and Wins Public Opinion by Doing the Right Thing

Image: Chris Christie looking out for taxpayers and polling well

by the Left Coast Rebel

Now and then a story comes along that smashes ruling class Republican orthodoxy to pieces. Typically the squishy, statist-appeasing Republican leadership trembles at the sight of blood or a good fight for the American taxpayer, left to cower in the shadows --- reading the New York Times --- betraying the party's limited government platform.

And then in the meantime these pols then lose public favor and elections as recent polling has shown that America is 40+ % self-identified as conservative.

But what about tough, plain spoken leaders like Chris Christie?

I'm sure that he is hated by the New Jersey taxpayer-pillaging interest groups/liberal-leftist lobby. And New Jersey is a deep blue state too. But what does the overall public in the state think of him and his tough governance?

Via Another Black Conservative:

New Jersey Online: The Quinnipiac University survey of 1,190 registered voters found 51 percent approve of Christie’s job performance, while 36 percent disapprove. Voters are also more likely to identify Christie as a “leader” (51 percent) than as a “bully” (39 percent) when asked to choose.

It’s a significant improvement from June, when voters were split down the middle on both Christie’s approval rating and whether he’s more of a bully or a leader.[…]

Christie’s ratings are better than what his predesessor, Democrat Jon Corzine, chalked up in his first summer. Coming off a battle with the Legislature that temporarily shut down state government, Corzine had a 44 percent approval rating in a July 2006 Quinnipiac poll.[…]

Garden State voters are split on how they feel about President Obama, with 47 percent approving and 47 percent disapproving — his lowest rating in any New Jersey Quinnipiac poll. [MORE]

Clifton easily sums this news up:

If Chris Christie can make the hard choices in a blue state like New Jersey and no suffer from it, then national Republicans need not worry about making the hard choices when they take control of Congress. The American people have pretty much figured out that the bill for decades of reckless spending has come due. They are pretty much ready to take the harsh medicine needed to put our financial house in order. All that is required is a dose of honesty from Washington and change in the national narrative.

Christie has successfully changed the narrative by casting the tax payer as the victim and government largess as the victimizer. Christie will continue to be a success so long as he stays clear of foolish comments like opining on Snooki and the Ground Zero Mosque.

Republicans running now and running the show after November - do you have the cajones to take on the statist special interests that are bleeding the wealth and future of our nation?

Paging Chris Christie.

Cross posted to Left Coast Rebel.

Republicans Won the Internet?

Conservatives are enjoying great success with social media. The Massachusetts senate race illustrates that fact very vividly.

Liberals are wailing and gnashing their teeth, but they are learning. And eventually they will catch up. In the meantime, we need to accurately acknowledge who has been responsible for winning recent online battles.

I disagree with those who say that in recent elections, the GOP "won the internet." Republicans didn't win the internet. Grassroots conservatives did. Scott Brown's remarkable win in Massachusetts gives the impression that some Republicans have awoken to the power of social media, but the Beltway GOP has no bragging rights.

As evidenced by their surprisingly weak presence in the online world, few Republican leaders understand how much the social media have changed the world.

Twitter has changed the game entirely. William Jacobson takes note:

While Facebook and blogs were important to fundraising and messaging, Twitter is what allowed pro-Brown activists to stay in contact with each other, to feed each other news links, and generally to keep up each other's spirits at a time when the radar was showing that Brown had no chance.

I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that this was the first American Twitter revolution.

Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) told us this was coming:

We could move heaven and earth when the American people understand the power of social media, and everybody is simultaneously, of their own free will, asking their elected representatives to take action. There's not an elected official in the nation who could withstand that. And we the people, we'll take back our government — once people understand how easy this is.

The results of the Twitter revolution have been amazing, but the GOP should not take credit:

January 19 was an amazing day for grass-roots conservatism. But the Beltway GOP should be warned against unjustified triumphalism. They were late to the game. Activists still haven’t, and won’t, forget the massive amounts of money Washington, D.C. Republicans wasted on Dede Scozzafava. And Scott Brown quite noticeably didn’t mention the word “Republican” once during his prepared remarks...

The Brown victory was very clearly a strike against machine politics of all kinds and business as usual in Washington. That includes top-down meddling by tired old GOP operatives. The party bosses have tried to install their preferred Senate candidates in Florida, Colorado, and California. They will use Brown’s win to argue for more “mooooooderation.” As I wrote yesterday in my analysis of how Brown unified a center-right-indie coalition, that is not the lesson of the Massachusetts miracle.

The social media are important tools, but they won't help to get the GOP very far if establishment Republicans don't embrace and hold on to conservative principles. The vast majority of conservative bloggers and social media users are more loyal to their principles than they are to the still-tarnished Republican brand. If the GOP abandons its conservative base, the internet ATM will break down and the online soldiers will log off.

The Tea Party movement has gravitated toward independent candidates who are willing and able to take on the establishment machines (e.g., NY-23, MAsen, Chuck Devore). The strong anti-incumbent sentiment rolling across the land will favor candidates who don't come across as old-school insiders. If the GOP doesn't figure that out pronto, we will soon see the same kind of apathy on the right that we currently see on the left, and the Democrats will hold on to more power than they deserve.

More

Conservatives: Beware of McCain Regression Syndrome

Candidates who would have had no chance before the Internet can now overcome huge odds.

Illinois Senate Race: The Beltway GOP establishment has made another BIG mistake.

Everybody Wants to Rule The World

A beautiful arrangement that perhaps you've never heard before:

Help me to decide

Help me make the most

Of freedom and of pleasure

Nothing ever lasts forever

Everybody wants to rule the world

Always timely, yes?

PelosiCare: Gory Details

The Democrats' Health Care agenda cleared an important hurdle on Saturday night, finally passing the house by a vote of 220-215.

Among the Blue Dogs, here are Pelosi's poodles who voted "aye" (contact info, FYI):

Arcuri, Mike (NY-24) Phone: (202) 225-3665 Fax: (202) 225-1891

Baca, Joe (CA-43) Phone: (202) 225-6161 Fax: (202) 225-8671

Berry, Marion (AR-01) Phone: (202) 225-4076 Fax: (202) 225-5602

Bishop, Sanford (GA-02) Phone: (202) 225-3631 Fax: (202) 225-2203

Boswell, Leonard (IA-03) Phone: (202) 225-3806 Fax: (202) 225-5608

Cardoza, Dennis (CA-18) Phone: (202) 225-6131 Fax: (202) 225-0819

Carney, Christopher (PA-10) Phone: (202) 225-3731

Cooper, Jim (TN-05) Phone: (202) 225-4311 Fax: (202) 226-1035

Costa, Jim (CA-20) Phone: (202) 225-3341 Fax: (202) 225-9308

Cuellar, Henry (TX-28) Phone: (202) 225-1640 Fax: (202) 225-1641

Dahlkemper, Kathy (PA-03) Phone: (202) 225-5406

Donnelly, Joe (IN-02) Phone: (202) 225-3915 Fax: (202) 225-6798

Ellsworth, Brad (IN-08) Phone: (202) 225-4636 Fax: (202) 225-3284

Giffords, Gabrielle (AZ-08) Phone: (202) 225-2542 Fax: (202) 225-0378

Harman, Jane (CA-36) Phone: (202) 225-8220 Fax: (202) 226-7290

Hill, Baron (IN-09) Phone: (202) 225-5315 Fax: (202) 226-6866

Michaud, Mike (ME-02) Phone: (202) 225-6306 Fax: (202) 225-2943

Mitchell, Harry (AZ-05) Phone: (202) 225-2190 Fax: (202) 225-3263

Moore, Dennis (KS-03) Phone: (202) 225-2865 Fax: (202) 225-2807

Murphy, Patrick (PA-08) Phone: (202) 225-4276 Fax: (202) 225-9511

Pomeroy, Earl (ND) Phone: (202) 225-2611 Fax: (202) 226-0893

Salazar, John (CO-03) Phone: (202) 225-4761 Fax: (202) 226-9669

Sanchez, Loretta (CA-47) Phone: (202) 225-2965 Fax: (202) 225-5859

Schiff, Adam (CA-29) Phone: (202) 225-4176 Fax: (202) 225-5828

Scott, David (GA-13) Phone: (202) 225-2939 Fax: (202) 225-4628

Space, Zack (OH-18) Phone: (202) 225-6265 Fax: (202) 225-3394

Thompson, Mike (CA-01) Phone: (202) 225-3311 Fax: (202) 225-4335

Wilson, Charles (OH-06) Phone: (202) 225-5705

And here are the "no" votes, the real Blue Dogs, the ones who can bark and bite:

Altmire, Jason (PA-04) Phone: (202) 225-2565 Fax: (202) 226-2274

Barrow, John (GA-12) Phone: (202) 225-2823 Fax: (202) 225-3377

Boren, Dan (OK-02) Phone: (202) 225-2701 Fax: (202) 225-3038

Boyd, Allen (FL-02) Phone: (202) 225-5235 Fax: (202) 225-5615

Bright, Bobby (AL-02) Phone: (202) 225-2901 Fax: (202) 225-8913

Chandler, Ben (KY-06) Phone: (202) 225-4706 Fax: (202) 225-2122

Childers, Travis (MS-01) Phone: (202) 225-4306 Fax: (202) 225-3549

Davis, Lincoln (TN-04) Phone: (202) 225-6831 Fax: (202) 226-5172

Gordon, Bart (TN-06) Phone: (202) 225-4231 Fax: (202) 225-6887

Griffith, Parker (AL-05) Phone: (202) 225-4801 Fax: (202) 225-4392

Herseth Sandlin, Stephanie (SD) Phone: (202) 225-2801

Holden, Tim (PA-17) Phone: (202) 225-5546 Fax: (202) 226-0996

Kratovil, Jr., Frank (MD-01) Phone: (202) 225-5311 Fax: (202) 225-0254

McIntyre, Mike (NC-07) Phone: (202) 225-2731 Fax: (202) 225-5773

Marshall, Jim (GA-08) Phone: (202) 225-6531 Fax: (202) 225-3013

Matheson, Jim (UT-02) Phone: (202) 225-3011 Fax: (202) 225-5638

Melancon, Charlie (LA-03) Phone: (202) 225-4031 Fax: (202) 226-3944

Minnick, Walt (ID-01) Phone: (202) 225-6611 Fax: (202) 225-3029

Nye, Glenn (VA-02) Phone: (202) 225-4215 Fax: (202) 225-4218

Peterson, Collin (MN-07) Phone: (202) 225-2165 Fax: (202) 225-1593

Ross, Mike (AR-04) Phone: (202) 225-3772 Fax: (202) 225-1314

Shuler, Heath (NC-11) Phone: (202) 225-6401 Fax: (202) 226-6422

Tanner, John (TN-08) Phone: (202) 225-4714 Fax: (202) 225-1765

Taylor, Gene (MS-04) Phone: (202) 225-5772 Fax: (202) 225-7074

Show the real Blue Dogs some appreciation and encouragement for their courageous stand.

Finally, the biggest disappointment, the only Republican to vote with the Democrats, Joseph Cao.

If ObamaCare is not defeated, and if Cao does not reverse his vote the next time around, I solemnly pledge to join the effort to defeat Cao in 2010. I'd prefer to see Cao replaced with a conservative Republican, but if we can't make that happen, we might as well give that seat back to a Democrat and redirect Cao's resources to candidates who will vote with conservatives.

We can't always expect 100% purity from everyone in the Republican Party, but is a TRACE of loyalty too much to ask for?

Hoffmania: What does it mean?

Establishment, beware.

As independent Conservative candidate Doug Hoffman has emerged as the front runner in the congressional race in New York's 23rd District, the political establishment is trying to figure out what it means:

...neither major party knows what to think about the Hoffman candidacy and both are trying to adjust their spin to accommodate what a victory by the Conservative Party candidate would say about the national political field.

Instead of spinning, the pols should be begging...for mercy:

Hoffman's rise is a manifestation of a series of recent poll numbers that show Americans growing increasingly frustrated with and distrustful of the federal government.

...the strong anti-incumbent sentiment may well hurt Democrats more in 2010 simply because they hold more seats in the House and the Senate. But, a Hoffman win is rightly understood not as a rejection of either party but rather a rejection of the political system as a whole. And, if it comes to pass, that will mean lots of competitive races and nervous incumbents next November.

On November 3, a fed up Mr. Smith, goes to Washington.

More

The Real Significance of Hoffman in NY-23

Hoffman picks up Pataki

Video: Governor Pataki endorsing Hoffman (h/t: Left Coast Rebel)

Note to Mike Huckabee

Public option premiums higher than private plans

Kerry wants Law Library report on Honduras retracted

The GOP is suicidal

If the GOP wants to go the way of the Whigs, the Republican establishment is on the right track. Instead of backing away from their support of the tax-and-spend, Big Union-loving, ACORN-affiliated Democrat wannabe, the Republicans continue to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in RINO Dede Scozzafava's campaign. And instead of backing down from their attacks on the Conservative challenger, the GOP is planning a relentless barrage against Doug Hoffman so that Scozzafava does not finish last.

Those afflicted with Mad RINO disease forward arguments such as the following:

I understand the urge to clean one’s own house, but as I learned from Morton Blackwell, “don’t make the good the enemy of the perfect.” The issue in New York’s 23rd may very well be resolved due to pressure from national conservatives, but a campaign of eating our own is not something we should relish.

Question: What's "good" about a GOP nominee who is far to the left of center on fiscal and social issues?

Question: Why is alienating the conservative base preferable to sweeping the Arlen Spectocrats into the dustbin?

Question: Who's eating whom in this situation?

Over at Breitbart's BigGovernment, readers have strong opinions on the subject:

• "You cannot ask people to compromise their values anymore for the sake of liars and cheats."

• "When you ask people to vote party over principle we get leftist idiots like Snowe, Collins, Specter and Jeffords. Say no."

• "Once we cut the tumor of liberalism out of our party, the healthy body of the GOP will start to attract new voters. So what if we lose a bit of weight getting rid of these RINOS? We'll gain it all back, and more, when we're a party that embraces and embodies conservative values."

• "The GOP establishment seems hellbent for destruction. And they want our money to help them take us down too. We have to push back. NY-23 is an excellent place to do it."

• "Republicans should view this New York race as a wave of the future and get their act together ASAP."

Are we naive to hope the GOP will finally change its tune when Hoffman wins?

Discussion: LCR: The Little Engine That Will

More

Hoffman Surges Into Lead in NY-23

Will the GOP will go down in flames before it corrects course?

A grassroots movement so powerful, so energized…it doesn't wait around for the next Reagan to show up

5 reasons to support Doug Hoffman in New York's 23rd congressional district

Profits for filthy trial lawyers: 14%. Profits for Health Insurance Providers: 2.2%.

Associated Press FACT CHECK: Health insurer profits not so fat.

The Inevitability Myth: Health care reform is not a fait accompli.

New York Times: How an Insurance Mandate Could Leave Many Worse Off

How this country punishes work effort