Obama takes on Boehner, McConnell in rather feisty language

The President's remarks in Cincinnati earlier today were darn good. This extended excerpt in particular. Now, I know... we need more than just speeches - been there, done that. But I think we've proven our bona fides in terms of our willingness to challenge the President when we disagree with him.  And on this speech, we don't disagree with him.  This is the guy I voted for.

So my question to Congress is, what on Earth are you waiting for?

Now, the bridge behind us just so happens to connect the state that’s home to the Speaker of the House with the state that’s home to the Minority Leader of the Senate. Sheer coincidence, of course. But part of the reason I came here is because Mr. Boehner and Mr. McConnell are the two most powerful Republicans in government. They can either kill this jobs bill, or they can help us pass it.

I know these men care about their states. And I can’t imagine that the Speaker wants to represent a state where nearly one in four bridges is classified as substandard. I know that when Senator McConnell visited the closed bridge in Kentucky, he said that “roads and bridges are not partisan in Washington.” I know that Paul Ryan, the Republican in charge of the budget process, recently said you can’t deny that “infrastructure does create jobs.”

Well if that’s the case, then there’s no reason for Republicans in Congress to stand in the way of more construction projects. There’s no reason to stand in the way of more jobs. Mr. Boehner, Mr. McConnell, help us rebuild this bridge. Help us rebuild America. Help us put this country back to work. Pass this jobs bill right away.

[...]

It is time to build an economy that creates good, middle-class jobs in this country. It’s time to build an economy that honors the values of hard work and responsibility. It’s time to build an economy that lasts.

Cincinnati, that starts now. That starts with your help. Maybe some of the people in Congress would rather settle our differences at the ballot box than work together right now. Awhile back, Senator McConnell said that his top priority for the next two years is to defeat the President. Not jobs. Not the economy. Just politics – from now until the election.

Well I’ve got news for him, and every other Member of Congress who feels that way: the next election is 14 months away. And the American people don’t have the luxury of waiting that long. A lot of folks are living week to week; paycheck to paycheck; even day to day. They need action, and they need it now.

Read the rest of this post...

Hostage takers have increased spending cuts to $3 trillion. Deal "very close" says McConnell

Roll Call posted this "Breaking News" alert:

Breaking News
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday that negotiators are moving closer to finalizing a debt ceiling and deficit reduction package of $3 trillion in spending cuts with no new revenues. It would include a vote on a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution and a joint commission to recommend entitlement reforms.

This is based on McConnell's interview on CNN today. More from the NYT:

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, said Sunday morning that he is “very close” to recommending to his members that they sign on to a debt deal with President Obama and the Democrats.

Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Mr. McConnell said the deal includes as much as $3 trillion in cuts over the next 10 years, with much of that decided later this year by a joint congressional committee.

“What conservatives want to do is cut spending,” he said. “We’ve come a long way. This agreement is likely to encompass up to $3 trillion is spending cuts.”

That's more cuts than either the Boehner or Reid bills. Read the rest of this post...

McConnell: Boehner and I are now dealing directly with Obama on debt ceiling

The Senate has rejected the House bill and the House just voted down Reid's bill (even though Reid's bill isn't finalized) by a vote of 173 - 246. So, why does this matter? According to the NY Times, it makes Minority Leader Mitch McConnell a key player:

The pre-emptive vote could strengthen the hand of Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, as he seeks additional concessions from Mr. Reid.

Mr. Reid, for his part, said Mr. McConnell was dragging his feet on beginning talks to find a compromise solution, and he called on Republicans to offer their plans to alter his measure.

And, it gets worse. McConnell wants to be the one running the show -- and bypassing Reid to go directly to Obama:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Saturday he and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) are fully engaged with the White House on a debt deal and expressed optimism an agreement will be reached.

“I’ve spoken with the president and the vice president within the last hour and a half," McConnell said at a press conference with Boehner shortly after the House rejected Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) debt ceiling plan.

"We are now fully engaged with the one person … who can sign a bill into law,” McConnell told reporters.

Yeah, that doesn't inspire confidence. Obama's one-on-one interactions with the other GOP leader didn't pan out so well.

Ken Bazinet tweeted that Reid and Pelosi were "summoned" to the White House. (UPDATE @ 5:43 PM: The White House meeting is over. Via Roll Call's John Stanton:

The question is are we closer to agreement? The answer is no - sen. Reid on #debt deal

)

Not sure what kind of game McConnell is playing, but let's hope he's not playing the President. The sad part is that it will probably easier for McConnell to get 13 Democrats to vote for his plan than it has been for Reid to get seven GOPers on board with him. Read the rest of this post...

Mitch McConnell impressed with Obama's selection of Daley

Oh boy.

“I frankly think it’s kind of a hopeful sign,” said McConnell to reporters. “He has the business background.”

McConnell said he used to joke that there’s “nobody down at the White House who’s ever even run a lemonade stand, all these professors or former elected officials” – although he allowed he’s not sure if that’s “technically true or not.”

“This is a guy who’s actually been out in the private sector, been a part of business,” he said. “Frankly, my first reaction is that it sounds like a good idea.”

Read the rest of this post...

GOP Senate leader McConnell still dodging questions about his secret Wall Street meeting

GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell recently met with two dozen top Wall Street executive to talk about how to block Wall Street reform. Right after, McConnell announced his opposition to such reform. From President Obama's Saturday radio address:

Just the other day, in fact, the leader of the Senate Republicans and the chair of the Republican Senate campaign committee met with two dozen top Wall Street executives to talk about how to block progress on this issue.

"Lo and behold, when he returned to Washington, the Senate Republican Leader came out against the common-sense reforms we've proposed."

During a CNN interview on Sunday, McConnell was asked about the meeting, and was also forced to admit that the Democrats' financial reform package doesn't include any taxpayer bailouts for big business as McConnell is alleging.

When reminded by CNN Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley that the money in the disputed fund would be provided by banks themselves rather than taxpayers, McConnell responded, “Regardless of where the – how the money is produced, it is a bailout fund that sort of guarantees in perpetuity that we’ll be intervening once again to bail out these big firms.”

Sorry, it does matter. When I use my own money to help myself in times of trouble it's not a bail out. It's simply delving into my own piggy bank. McConnell is lying. It's unfortunate that when asked the other day if McConnell was lying, Senator Dodd refused to answer the question and went off on how some Republicans were being fair brokers.

This is how we got death panels. Dems need to learn how to call a lie a lie. Read the rest of this post...

GOP won't stop filibuster of Sebelius despite swine flu emergency

This just says everything we need to know about Senate Republicans. They are committed to their filibuster of the Sebelius nomination despite the growing fears of a flu pandemic. Republicans put politics first. Greg Sargent has the story:

So Kathleen Sebelius will get her confirmation vote as Health and Human Services secretary tomorrow in the Senate — but even with the flu outbreak, her confirmation will still have to clear a big hurdle, requiring 60 votes.

So says the office of GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell, anyway.

As you know, Senate Republicans have been filibustering Sebelius over lingering questions about her views on late-term abortions and some campaign contributions she received from an abortion doctor. Late last week, the Senate Dem leadership announced that in the face of GOP opposition, they had agreed with Republicans to bring Sebelius’ confirmation to the floor for a vote tomorrow that would indeed require the 60 votes.

The outbreak of the flu epidemic had led some Dems to hope that the GOP would drop their filibuster, which would mean the 60 vote threshold would no longer apply. And even GOP Senator Susan Collins called for the Senate to expedite her confirmation today.

Want to know why? Sargent explains it succinctly:

Bottom line: The filibuster over an abortion controversy is still throwing a hurdle in the way of this nomination, despite the flu epidemic.

McConnell is more worried about throwing a bone to the right-wing extremists than he is about having a Secretary of Health and Human Services during a health crisis. Read the rest of this post...

Senate Republicans are filibustering Sebelius

The right-wing crackpots have been in a frenzy over the nomination of Kathleen Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). And, as we all now know, the right-wing crackpots are all that's left in the GOP. Today, GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell announced, in so many words, that on behalf of the extremists in his caucus, the Republicans are filibustering the nomination of Sebelius. From Think Progress:

The Senate was expected to confirm President Obama's choice for Health and Human Services Secretary today, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D), but Senate Republicans refused to allow the vote, calling her a "fairly contentious" candidate:

At the start of the session today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) proposed taking a vote after five hours of debate. But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) objected, arguing that lawmakers needed more time to consider her "fairly contentious" selection.

A handful of Republicans have complained about Sebelius' support for abortion rights and her failure to report the full extent of campaign contributions she received from a physician who performs abortions.

McConnell told the Washington Post that it's not a filibuster, but, big surprise, McConnell is being disingenuous. It is a Filibuster. Senate.gov provides a definition of filibuster:

"Informal term for any attempt to block or delay Senate action on a bill or other matter by debating it at length, by offering numerous procedural motions, or by any other delaying or obstructive actions."

That's what McConnell and his wingnuts are doing. Now, the Democrats need to roll over the Republicans. We need a Secretary of HHS. And, we don't need any more of the GOP's obstructionist tactics. Let's see if there are any Republican Senators who will stand up to the right wing whackos. Her nomination already got two Republican votes in Committee: Pat Roberts (KS) and Olympia Snowe (ME).

I'll never forget walking through the press corps in the East Room after Obama's first press and hearing one of the more famous reporters bitching to other reporters that Obama "filibustered" his answers. That said so much to me about the D.C.-based press corps. When the president can provide thoughtful answers, that meets the definition of a filibuster. But, when the Republicans actually filibuster in the Senate, reporters will almost never use the word.

Roll them, Senate Democrats. Put an end to this obstruction. Read the rest of this post...

Finally, a Labor Secretary who supports workers: What a concept.

For the last eight years, America's workers have had the crap kicked out of them by the Bush administration and Republicans on the Hill. We had an anti-labor Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao, who is married to the vehemently anti-labor GOP Senate Leader, Mitch McConnell. Those two are worth millions (she was on 13 corporate boards before becoming Labor Secretary) so you can imagine they didn't have much in common with people who actually work for a living. Chao and McConnell were a potent (and very wealthy) combo determined to undermine the safety and job security of America's workers:

When it comes to workplace-related issues such as mine safety, the McConnell-Chao marriage presents an intriguing target for industry donors. At the Labor Department, Chao has taken what some reports say is a relaxed attitude toward the regulation of coal mines and an approach that labor unions perceive as hostile.

Sometimes Chao achieves what her husband cannot in the Senate, such as a wage freeze her department instituted on certain farmworkers.

Chao attends her husband's fund-raisers, chats with his donors and seeds her agency with his former aides.

Those days are so over. On Tuesday, the full Senate is expected to confirm Hilda Solis as the new Secretary of Labor. She was confirmed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee late last week. The Republicans have been doing their best to prevent this nomination. Their tactics and arguments have been ridiculous. Wonkette captured the absurdity of the GOP's position in a post titled, "She's no Elaine Chao: Labor Nomination Held Up Due To Nominee’s Support Of Labor."

The GOP Senators didn't want Solis to have any involvement with the Employee Free Choice Act, which Elaine Chao was lobbying against right up til the end of the Bush administration. If the Republicans had their way, Solis probably wouldn't be able to get involved with the key responsibilities of the Department of Labor like job creation, unemployment benefits, mine safety, job retraining, worker safety and fair wages.

But, Solis is going to be the Labor Secretary despite the GOP. SEIU put together a video of her in action. What a difference an election makes:



It should give great comfort to America's working men and women. They'll have a champion in the Cabinet. This will be another in what will hopefully be a string of victories for Americans. Read the rest of this post...

Republicans don't want Obama's Labor Secretary to work on key labor issue, but Bush's Labor Secretary (Mitch McConnell's wife) could fight it

Apparently, Republican Senators want to establish a new standard for the Secretary of Labor: Stay out of pro-worker legislation. Wonkette captures the situation perfectly in the post titled, "Labor Nomination Held Up Due To Nominee’s Support Of Labor."

Of course, there were no similar restrictions applied to Secretary of Labor for George Bush, Elaine Chao, who was the wife of GOP Senate Leader, Mitch McConnell, when she was working against the interests of working men and women. If the Republicans get their way, Hilda Solis would be prevented from working on pro-worker policy, particularly the Employee Free Choice Act:

Underscoring the bitter debate over a proposal to make it easier for workers to form unions, Republican senators are suggesting that President Obama's pick for Labor secretary must recuse herself from lobbying for the bill's passage.

A Senate committee will vote today whether to confirm Rep. Hilda L. Solis, a Democrat from El Monte.

In a written exchange with Solis, Republican senators indicated they are wary of her ties to a tax-exempt group dedicated to helping workers unionize.

That's beyond absurd. The Republicans, at the behest of their corporate masters, are apoplectic about the Employee Free Choice Act. They really, really don't want to give workers a chance to unionize. Preventing a cabinet secretary from working on an issue of direct concern to the cabinet secretary's domain is just unheard of. They wouldn't tell Geithner to stay out of issues involving the Federal Reserve, even though he ran the NY Fed. The Republicans have a special disdain for America's working men and women.

Now, this won't come as a surprise, but it's also pure hypocrisy. Elaine Chao used her bully pulpit to fight against the Employee Free Choice Act. She railed against the legislation in on the op-ed page of the Wall Street Journal on January 14, 2009, less than a month ago. But now, Republican think it's wrong for the new Labor Secretary in the new administration, which supports the Employee Free Choice Act, to speak out. Wow. They really have no scruples. None. Read the rest of this post...

Republican Senator Mitch McConnell doesn't sound very confident. He's worried about the coverage tonight.

Kentucky votes will start rolling in soon. The GOP's Senate Leader, Mitch McConnell, doesn't want us to read anything into the numbers. This doesn't make McConnell sound very confident:

Mitch McConnell's campaign is advising the media not to prematurely call the tight race between the Senate Minority Leader and millionaire Democrat Bruce Lunsford. Political forecasters show the race as leaning Republican but some have already written off the Kentucky senator.

McConnell, a four-term senator, has seen his popularity slip due in part to a weakened economy which has taken a hard toll on a state that is already one of the country's poorest. Lunsford has tried to capitalize on this by promising change that only Democratic leadership can bring.

"Because of the high profile of this race and the early poll closings in Kentucky, there will undoubtedly be a rush to assess the Senate race," McConnell's campaign said in missive titled "What to expect in the Kentucky Senate race."

Read the rest of this post...

Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell is in very tight race

The latest SurveyUSA poll in Kentucky shows Mitch McConnell leading his Democratic opponent, Bruce Lunsford, by just a 50% - 46% margin.

Mitch McConnell is in BIG trouble. He's already spent millions on t.v., which he started running last November according to the Associated Press -- yet, he's barely breaking 50%. Sure McConnell has a huge campaign war chest, but his opponent is a multi-millionaire who can self-finance part of the race.

Clearly, McConnell's obstructionist antics in the Senate aren't doing much for his stature in his home state. Let's hope Mitch keeps it up. He's going to have to work extra hard and spend even more money just to defend his own seat. And, it's not a sure thing at all. That means less time campaigning and raising money for his other endangered GOP colleagues.

There used to be an "unwritten rule" in the Senate that the leaders weren't targeted by leaders on the other side. That ended when the GOP went after Tom Daschle:

Senate Republican leaders broke an unwritten rule about campaigning directly against an opposition leader and targeted Daschle for defeat, charging that he was an obstructionist liberal in a moderate's clothing.

Now, it's their turn. Read the rest of this post...

Kentucky has a new Democratic Governor

The incumbent Republican, Ernie Fletcher, got thumped:

Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher, a Republican whose lone term was dogged by a hiring scandal, lost badly Tuesday despite an election-eve effort to woo conservative voters by displaying the Ten Commandments in the state Capitol.

Democratic challenger Steve Beshear, a former attorney general and lieutenant governor, pulled off a political comeback 20 years after last holding office.

On to Mitch McConnell. Matt at Ditch Mitch KY is analyzing the results and had these reports:

20.45: Beshear doing EXTREMELY well so far in western Kentucky, which is arguably the state’s most socially conservative region. Gay-baiting didn’t work here, it appears. Troubling sign for Sen. Mitch McConnell (R) next year?

21.00: Ladies and gentleman, one image is striking fear into the heart of Mitch McConnell tonight, and it’s western Kentucky going dark, dark blue.

21.30: Ernie Fletcher did best where Republicans hate Mitch McConnell the most.

21.45: I am going to get some nachos and salsa. And I am going to chill for a bit and soak it all it. Good stuff. Good, good stuff.

21.55: Waiting on Henderson County to report. Should go dark blue.

22.10: Henderson County reports. That’s all she wrote.

22.15: What did we learn tonight? Kentuckians are thinking hard about their votes. That’s bad news for Mitch McConnell.

Read the rest of this post...

Republican Senate Leader MItch McConnell's office led attack on 12 year old

This says almost everything you need to know about Republicans. Major hat tip to Think Progress for exposing the heartless, sick, callous bastards.:

ThinkProgress has obtained an email that congressional sources tell us was sent to reporters by Sen. McConnell’s communications director Don Stewart.

On Monday morning, Don Stewart sent an email with the following text to reporters:

Seen the latest blogswarm? Apparently, there’s more to the story on the kid (Graeme Frost) that did the Dems’ radio response on SCHIP. Bloggers have done a little digging and turned up that the Dad owns his own business (and the building it’s in), seems to have some commercial rental income and Graeme and a sister go to a private school that, according to its website, costs about $20k a year ‹for each kid‹ despite the news profiles reporting a family income of only $45k for the Frosts. Could the Dems really have done that bad of a job vetting this family?

In the email, Stewart attacks Democrats for allegedly doing a bad job “vetting this family.” That effort to blame Democrats for the smear campaign seems to have swayed some reporters, as CNN this morning claimed that the real story is that “the Democrats didn’t do as much of a vetting as they could have done.”

The New York Times reported yesterday that “an aide” to Sen. McConnell “expressed relief that his office had not issued a press release criticizing the Frosts.” No, what the McConnell staffer did was worse — he used the power and privilege of the Senate office to secretly propagate a baseless smear campaign against a 12-year old boy and his family simply because they disagreed on policy.

And, let's be clear. McConnell's staffer is the voice and the conscience of his boss. This is what the GOP leadership office spends time on -- bashing sickly 12 year olds. Well, the GOP leader is also doing everything he can to stay the course in Iraq, too.

One other thing: Someone in McConnell's office basically lied to the NY Times. When the communications director is sending text messages to reporters, it's hard to understand how the unnamed "aide" to McConnell can claim "relief" over their non-involvement. The Times reporter got duped. So, why would any reporter trust McConnell's office? But, then again, the entire Washington press corps has simply regurgitated the lies of Bush and his GOP allies for years. Read the rest of this post...

GOP Senate Leader McConnell hurting in polls in KY over support for Bush and war

McConnell is up for re-election. This is getting interesting.

More than half of Kentucky voters disapprove of the way Sen. Mitch McConnell has handled legislative issues regarding the post-war occupation of Iraq, see the war as "not worth" it and are torn over McConnell's overall performance as senator, according to newly released poll figures.

The statewide Herald-Leader/Action News 36 poll, which was conducted last week and included 600 likely voters, found that 55 percent of those polled disapprove of McConnell's position on Iraq while 38 percent approve and 7 percent are undecided.

Similarly, 57 percent of Kentucky voters polled said the war wasn't worth the loss of life and expense while 32 percent feel the war effort was worth it and 11 percent are unsure. Voters are split on McConnell's job performance with 47 percent approving, 44 percent disapproving and 9 percent unsure.

But I'm sure the Republicans feel that losing every election in 2008 is a small price to pay for victory in Iraq. Read the rest of this post...

Craig forces McConnell's hand. How did that happen?

UPDATE: Pam has one of the best headlines ever: "Craig has Mitch by the short ones"

Last week, Mitch McConnell was the aggressive defender of all that was right and good within the GOP when it came to Larry Craig:

The Senate's top Republican says many GOP senators believe Larry Craig should resign.

Mitch McConnell describes Craig's conduct as "unforgivable." And he says Senate Republican leaders have "acted promptly to begin the process of dealing with this conduct." McConnell adds, "We will see what happens in the coming days."

Mitch thought he got what he wanted when Craig announced his "intent" to resign.

Larry Craig is getting his revenge this week -- and today, McConnell had to admit that this issue isn't over:

“He said he is going to try and get the case in Minnesota dismissed,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate Republican leader, telling reporters he had heard from the Idaho lawmaker earlier in the day.

McConnell spoke several hours after Craig’s lawyers appealed to the ethics committee to dismiss the complaint against him, saying it stemmed merely from personal conduct, and did not relate to his official duties.

Josh Marshall asks the question that everyone is asking:

What's Sen. Craig got on Mitch McConnell?

Read the rest of this post...

Louisville Kentucky Take A Stand participants march to Mitch McConnell's house

Got goose bumps reading the live blogging post from DitchMitchKY when I got to these updates:

UPDATE #5:

Aniello Alito, who has been absolutely tireless in his efforts, and he is closing now, leading the group to Mitch McConnell’s house.

Apparently, HE IS HOME!!

I’ll have more when I can.

UPDATE #6:

Oh. My. God.

There was an absolute army, an seemingly endless stretch of people marching from Frazier Hall to Mitch McConnell’s home. Simply mind blowing.

Mitch had corralled about 20 bikers to stand in front of his house and intimidate us, but they pissed their pants when they saw 300 chanting, sign carrying protesters.

This was one of the most amazing scenes I’ve ever witnessed. Just 15 yards from Mitch’s house 300 people “screaming support the troops end the war”, “Hey Mitch, come out and face the people”. I can’t really put it into words so I’ll just post all of the pictures.

This is why I love live blogging. Very, very cool.

Mitch McConnell wouldn't come to Take A Stand, so they brought Take A Stand to Mitch McConnell.

Read the rest of this post...

GOP Senate leader McConnell: New French president proves that "we won"

I'm not sure what "we won," but GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell seems to think that the fact that French president Nicolas Sarkozy jogs is indicative of some great victory. Hmm. I can think of better evidence of a great American victory: catching Osama. But then again, I don't claim to understand the far-right that controls today's Republican party. I'm sure "jogging" is just as important as catching the guy who murdered nearly 3,000 innocent souls.

And as an aside, as I wrote the other day, what an incredibly rude and un-statesmanlike speech to give only days after the French president visited the United States as George Bush's guest. The Republicans truly aren't ready for the world stage. Here's a snippet:

“Well, I can tell you that in the Senate it seems as though the other side is still looking to Old Europe for answers. In one of the great political ironies of our time, the new Majority in Congress seems intent on taking America down the path of bigger government and higher taxes just as Europe is frantically trying to steer themselves away from it. These guys want to turn the United States into France when even the French are beginning to have second thoughts.

“Well, as far as I’m concerned, when the French President prides himself on being a tax-cutter, jogs around Paris in an NYPD t-shirt, and spends his summer vacationing on a lake in New Hampshire, it can only mean one thing: we won. But the only people who don’t seem to have gotten the memo just took over the House and the Senate. For the last seven months, Republicans have been fighting off a raft of proposals that seem better suited to The Hague than The Heartland.

Read the rest of this post...

So is McConnell criticizing Bush for sucking up to Sarkozy?

I mean, the GOP leader in the US Senate is criticizing Europe - maligning Europe, actually - only days after the new French president is invited for lots of private buddy-buddy sessions with George Bush. Bush seems to have made Sarkozy his new best friend. So then what are we to make of Mitch McConnell blasting anyone and everyone who would associate with "Old Europe?" In the grand scheme of Republican hate speech and bigotry, the only thing they have going for them any more, it doesn't get any more "Old Europe" than the French. Yet, it's the French who Bush have now embraced as, I'd argue, his potentially new best buddy in Europe, if not anywhere (he just lost Tony Blair).

So is Mitch McConnell implicitly blasting George Bush, and what kind of leadership and maturity does it show to malign the French head of state only days after he came to our country to visit our own president?

Not quite leadership material, that Mitch McConnell. Not to mention, the most inventive idea he could come up with is to plagiarize someone else's comments from years ago. It's a new world, Senator McConnell. The same old Republican talking points - the ones that lost you the Senate - just won't cut it. America voted for change. Read the rest of this post...

GOP launches attack on Harry Reid for telling the truth

The Chair of Republican National Committee, Robert M. "Mike" Duncan, just launched a full-scale attack on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The funny thing is that the first line of the e-mail could be a fundraiser for Democrats:

On Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) called President Bush "a liar" and a "part of the culture of corruption."

Both true.

Duncan's e-mail devolves into a rant from there. But you have to love the fact that the RNC is attacking Reid for doing something most Republican will never, ever do: Tell the truth.

Yes, Harry Reid had the audacity to say that George Bush lies. George Bush does lie and most Americans know it. Bush lied about the Iraq war -- and just today lied to all of us about Al Qaeda -- again.

The problem for Mr. Duncan and the RNC is that, as the ABC News/Washington Post poll found, even Republicans are abandoning Bush. The Republicans on Capitol Hill are in big trouble. And, it's getting worse by the day.

Look at the Senate. Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans have followed Bush's lead. They've enabled Bush's lies. And, they're going to pay a big political price. Just today, Chris Cilizza reports that McConnell could be in serious trouble in 2008. Last week, Tony Blankley, an editor of Reverend Moon's paper who is also a mouthpiece of the institutional GOP here in DC, basically wrote off the re-election efforts of Republican Senators Susan Collins and Gordon Smith on the Diane Rehm show. Blankley said both of those Senators are in "desperate straits" and "Bush's policy is terribly unpopular and it's going to reflect on them and they are going to lose their re-election bids." Sounds like the GOP brain trust has already decided those two are history.

So, while the RNC is attacking Harry Reid, the GOP, especially the Senate Republican caucus, is falling apart -- because of George Bush and his lies. No wonder they don't want Harry Reid telling the truth. Read the rest of this post...

Bush has been talking about progress in Iraq for over four years. Only the Hill Republicans believe him.

This ad, from Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, starts running in Kentucky tomorrow -- that would be the home state of the leader of the GOP filibuster strategy, Mitch McConnell. It's good:
Read the rest of this post...