"I am glad that we passed an agreement in time to avoid default - the consequences of which would have been disastrous for middle class families. And while I did earlier support a more responsible version of the agreement raising the debt ceiling, I could not support this legislation as I believe it will have a harmful effect on job creation and further weaken the economic security of millions of American families.
"The spending cuts specified in this deal will slash critical investments in education, infrastructure and research, among other things-- public investments critical to job creation and economic growth. The majority's insistence that these priorities are to blame for our deficit problems is simply untrue. The primary reasons deficits have grown so large is because revenues are lower than they have been in sixty years, thanks to the recession and the Bush tax breaks for the wealthy, and we initiated two wars on the nation's credit card. If this majority were at all serious about deficit reduction, they would at least allow for additional revenue by asking the wealthiest Americans and corporate special interests to share in the sacrifice rather than protecting them.
"Without assurances that Congress will pursue a balanced approach, the additional cuts called for in a few short months as part of the agreement will threaten the promises made to generations of hard-working Americans by ending Medicare as we know it, cutting Medicaid, and compromising the future of Social Security. I could not in good conscience support such an unbalanced approach that places the burden of deficit reduction on the backs of middle class families and our seniors while further weakening our shaky economy."
Murphy:
"From the beginning of this manufactured crisis, I have said that I would be willing to support a compromise deal that fairly shares the burden of deficit reduction. This bill isn't a compromise - it places almost the entire burden of deficit reduction on Medicare beneficiaries, middle class families, and the poor. Not one corporate tax loophole is closed. Not one billionaire will pay a cent more in taxes. But seniors will lose Medicare providers, and programs for the poor and disabled will be slashed. That's not what my constituents believe is a compromise.
This deficit was created by two trillion-dollar wars and tax cuts for the rich. But the wars are exempted from these cuts, and the Bush tax cuts aren't touched either. This bill, which we all had about 24 hours to read and dissect, does virtually nothing to address the root causes of our deficit and instead asks middle class America to pay the check for decades of fiscal mismanagement."
Interestingly, the words "middle class" do not appear in either Himes' or Courtney's statements (assuming the Courant provided the statements in full).
You have to wonder if the Tea Party won this one...
Or Connecticut Democrats!
"Help me, help you, Dump DeLauro!" -- Jerry Labriola
"It's all about the Constitution!" -- CT's new GOP Chair
Video taken at the 4/15/10 New Haven Tea Party Protest.
In order of appearance:
Tanya Bachand -- CT Tea Party Organizer
Jerry Labriola -- Lost with only 33% of the vote
Daria Novak -- Failed Tea Party candidate CT-02
Peter Schiff -- Does he still live here? Lolz
Mark Greenberg -- Running again in CT-05
Sam Caligiuri -- Abortion foe who lost CT-05 in 2010
Tom Scott -- former State Senator/Talk Radio guy
Joe Markley -- Rising GOP star
Martha Dean -- Can we ever get enough Martha?
Scott said he helped bring in some Tea Party activists into the campaign, reaching out to a movement whose members sometimes shy away from campaigns. "Their philosophy and values I share," Suzio said.
In case you have forgotten, here are the philosophy and values that he shares:
Recently, several elected Republican state officials, including Sen. Toni Boucher, Sen. Sam Caligiuri and Rep. Lawrence Cafero have asked for review of the rules that have prevented Tea Party activists from scoring a desired symbolic victory and fly the "Don't Tread On Me" flag over the Capitol building in Hartford. That familiar flag, known as the Gadsden Flag, has become the flag-of-choice for the tea partiers nationwide. The fact that Boucher and Co. are trying to assist them and force the Capitol Police to abandon their policy of non-partisanship, is transparent and, frankly, disgusting.
Some background: Last April, a group of Connecticut tea partiers wanted to fly the Gadsden Flag over the state Capitol in Hartford during their rally. A mini-controversy erupted when the Capitol Police wouldn't allow it. Initially it had been OK-ed, but then after complaints that it was, in fact, a flag with contemporary political significance, the approval was rescinded.
Since then, the Tea Party crew has been eager to find a new strategy to get the flag flown, so they can - I don't know - say they won something other than the elections they can't win in Connecticut. So now, they are leveraging the fact that some tea partiers are US Marines (non-active) and pretending that the request to fly the flag is simply a display of respect for the Corps. It's a preposterous claim, and any politician with a hint of a conscience should know that and rebuff the effort. Instead, sensing an opportunity to ingratiate themselves to the people who don't think the US Supreme Court has the authority to decide the constitutionality of laws, they go along with the charade and hope you don't know the history.
Sen. Boucher was particularly shameless in her appeal to patriotism and respect for the military as a rationale for carrying on an obviously political skirmish:
"Independence Day celebrates the birth of our nation and the freedom we cherish," Boucher says. "Granting the U.S. Marines' request to fly their flag over our State Capitol on July 4th is a wonderful way to show our gratitude for the sacrifices that members of our armed forces make to keep us free."
Boucher says she is disappointed previous requests to fly the Gadsden Flag over the Capitol were denied, considering it's been associated with those who fight for our country since the Revolutionary War. She says she understands the desire to protect the Capitol from being used to promote any political agenda, but the flag's attachment to the military makes it appropriate to display, "regardless of who else has since adopted it for their own reasons."
Ms. Boucher needs a quick education on this matter. So, Toni, prepare to be schooled (and Sam and Larry, you guys can take seats in the back of the room and take notes).
Hi Guys and Gals! Nice to be back where I won't automatically be piled on @ "Hello" just because I'm a liberal. I think ;-)
So are you sufficiently panicked by the upcoming Snowmaggedon? I had to look up "Thunder Snow". Can you spell A-W-E-S-O-M-E? Surely another sign of the Snowpocalypse.
But back to politics.
1) For some reason that I find extremely curious, Stu Rothenberg's Political Report has put the 5th CD in play, although still in the Democratic favored category.
After meeting with state Sen. Sam Caligiuri (R) and former state director of military affairs Justin Bernier (R), it's clear that Cong. Chris Murphy (D) can't take his reelection for granted.
Clearly no one can take their reelection for granted, particularly in a mid term election when people's pocketbooks are hurting. But here's why I think he's wrong:
Caligiuri has made enemies within his own party. It's not like he's locked up the support of the RTC's in the 5th. Far from it.
Bernier's a solid candidate, but he's got a fight on his hands before he even gets to Murphy. Not just with Caligiuri but with the other GOP candidates, most of whom don't register, but one of whom, Mark Greenberg, is willing to dig into his deep pockets for the fight.
Meanwhile, Chris Murphy is has $942K cash on hand as of the 4th Q, and continue to fund raise while he waits to see who survives the GOP primary free for all. As a comparison, Bernier has $200K on hand, Caligiuri, $70K and Greenberg $256K of which $150K is a personal loan to his campaign.
I'm not a big gambler (the stock market was enough to take care of that urge) but I'll bet Stu Rothenberg a beer that Chris Murphy is still the Congressman in the 5th come November.
2) The shape of things to come? South Carolina Republicans are uniting with Tea Party activists to "share resources, coordinate messaging and push the GOP in a more conservative direction".
"This is not something the state party by edict pushed down," Floyd said. "This is something the grass-roots pushed up with an understanding that we are stronger together than apart."
Floyd said that working with the groups accomplishes her goals of "growing the Republican Party, electing conservative Republicans and growing the strength of the party," though she was careful in describing what the party intends to do in working with the tea parties to elect more conservative members.
"What we mean by that is being ideologically in step with our platform of creating a small government and advancing individual liberty," she said, insisting that partnering with the tea parties would not block support for more moderate candidates.
Yeah. And if you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn. But the CT Tea Partiers, at least one branch of them, are taking a different tack having registered the name with an eye to becoming a political party in the state, although not all the TP'ers agree with this strategy. Maybe we'll have a Tea Party Free for All!Oh Please...
Several people who attended Saturday's forum expressed skepticism at what they view as Simmons' fairly recent turn to the right.
"There's room for redemption, but he's got a ways to go to square his record with us," said Bob MacGuffie of Fairfield, founder of the conservative political action committee Right Principles.
MacGuffie doesn't buy Simmons' portrayal of himself as a fiscal conservative. "The whole Republican Party went off the deep end" during the Bush years, MacGuffie said, and Simmons "got swept up in that."
MacGuffie has even harsher words for one of Simmons' GOP rivals, Linda McMahon, saying that the former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO has "no record" to run on.
Guess they're not convinced by that Tea Bag Simmons has been carrying around.
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